"Independent-minded" may best describe the life and judicial career of Justice John Paul Stevens , nominated by a Republican President to sit on the Supreme Court , but who in his three-plus decades on the bench staked out generally liberal views on the law and Constitution. Stevens died Tuesday in Florida after a brief illness. He was 99, and earlier this year released a memoir of his years on the bench. The oldest member of the Court before he retired in 2010, Stevens had been a difficult justice to peg, almost from the day he was first nominated 35 years earlier. "He's not someone who's historically been a champion of either political camp," said Eduardo Peñalver, a former Stevens law clerk. "He was a humble person who despite his position and stature, was at ease with all kinds of people, and able to bring them together." FLASHBACK: STEVENS REVEALS HE DECIDED TO RETIRE FROM COURT AFTER MINI-STROKE WHILE GIVING DISSENT On the bench, Stevens is remembered for taking out of a case only what was presented to him, refusing to issue sweeping pronouncements on judicial philosophy. This minimalist approach earned him both praise and criticism, but colleagues say he never swayed. "It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written," he once said. "Stevens was probably one of the least known justices publicly, and it's ironic because he has had as big an impact of the Supreme Court and on American society as any justice," said Clifford Sloan, a 1985 law clerk and now a private attorney. "But his niceness and his unassuming manner should not be mistaken for any kind of softness. He has the sharpest mind I've ever encountered." John Paul Stevens grew up in Chicago, and was raised quite literally in a hotel. Built by his father, Ernest, and promoted as the largest and finest of its kind, the Stevens Hotel was the product of the Roaring Twenties, of brash optimism and unlimited potential. A photo from the Chicago Daily News, shortly after the Stevens opened in 1927, shows a giggling young John and two of his brothers in a hotel playroom, dressed uncomfortably in suit and ties, working a jigsaw puzzle. "I'm very proud of the Stevens Hotel," he once said. "It's one of my dad's contributions to the city." JOHN PAUL STEVENS SAYS KAVANAUGH'S TEMPERAMENT DURING HEARING DISQUALIFYING The Jazz Age splendor came to an end with the Great Depression, and so too did the fortunes of the brand new Stevens Hotel. It went bankrupt in 1934, and things soon got worse for the Stevens family. John's father, grandfather, and uncle were indicted by the state, accused of illegally embezzling money from the family insurance company to make payments on the building. Ernest Stevens was convicted but it was later overturned on appeal. John moved on with his life, rarely speaking publicly about the bankruptcy. He attended the University of Chicago, where his generally moderate views stuck out on what was then a very liberal campus. He later became an intelligence officer in World War II, earning a Bronze Star. At war's end, following his brother's advice, Stevens enrolled in law school at Northwestern University. "At the time, I was trying to decide what to do, and it seemed like a sensible move," Stevens told me in 2009, with his characteristic Midwestern modesty. His stellar academic performance earned him a prestigious Supreme Court clerkship for Justice Wiley Rutledge in 1947-48. Afterward, Stevens settled into comfortable, familiar surroundings as a private attorney in Chicago, specializing in antitrust law. JOINING THE BENCH Stevens' judicial career began in 1970 when President Richard Nixon nominated him to the federal appeals court in Chicago. He earned a reputation as a judge who put a pragmatic eye on cases, without rigid ideology. He was a registered Republican, but never active in local or national politics. "One of the things that was said about him repeatedly was that he was a 'judge's judge,'" said Peñalver. "Especially in a day and age when both parties jockey -- certainly more on the right -- to nominate judges who they see as transforming the law and embracing fairly strong ideological positions. Justice Stevens was the opposite of that, someone who was very skeptical of that style of judging." That reputation for even-handed jurisprudence and "clean" reputation was just what President Ford was looking for in 1975 when Justice William Douglas retired after a debilitating stroke. STEVENS SAYS SECOND AMENDMENT SHOULD BE REPEALED, CALLING IT 'RELIC OF THE 18TH CENTURY' The Watergate scandal had left a nation angry and divided. Ford hoped a moderate, non-political judge would inspire greater public confidence in the government. Public reaction was one of initial confusion, as the press and pundits struggled to categorize Stevens. An ideological conservative? A doctrinaire liberal? A "centrist" seemed to fit. "When people look at the Supreme Court, they try to put people in factions-- liberals or conservatives," said Sloan. "Justice Stevens, from his first day on the Supreme Court, has defied labels. He approached cases on his own terms and he frequently comes up with original ways of approaching cases and the issues that have carried the day." "THE COURT HAS CHANGED UNDER US" Stevens' early years on the high court found him in agreement with many of his fellow conservatives. In his first year, he wrote opinions that reinstated the death penalty, after a four-year moratorium. These important rulings, however, imposed new legal standards, upholding the use of so-called "discretionary" guidelines for juries when deciding life or death -- such as mitigating or aggravating factors -- in a separate sentencing phase of a trial. And the Court threw out "mandatory" death sentences for certain crimes, like murder or rape, which disregarded aspects of the offense that might favor the defendant. Another early opinion by Stevens gained him instant public renown. In FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978), the justices upheld the government's authority to regulate "indecent" speech, which Stevens famously defined as any depiction or description of "sexual or excretory activities or organs" in a manner that it deems "patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium." The offending speech was an infamous monologue by comedian George Carlin, who spoke about society's taboo surrounding "seven dirty words." But Stevens steered clear of a philosophical discourse on the First Amendment, choosing instead what became a Stevens trademark, the practical effect of Court rulings. His justification for suppressing "dirty" speech: protecting young children, who might be watching or listening. In later years, however, Stevens led the Court away from restrictive government censorship of risqué speech or content. Beginning in 1997, he was the driving force striking down several attempts by Congress to protect children from pornography on the Internet, saying it violated the free speech rights of adults. Other cases in Stevens' early years reflected his more conservative roots: upholding federal funding restrictions for abortions, and limiting affirmative action programs. But with the elevation of William Rehnquist to chief justice in 1986, and the addition of more conservative justices, Stevens came be viewed by many political observers as a "transformed" liberal. Yet the body of legal scholars disagrees with that label. "He was thought to be what I call an 'Establishment' Republican-- not an ideologue" when he joined the Court, said Edward Lazarus, a onetime Supreme Court law clerk and author of "Closed Chambers." "Whether that label was true or not, whoever John Paul Stevens was in 1975 is pretty much what you see today. So ironically, an 'Establishment' Republican became the leader of the liberal wing of the Court, and that says a lot about how far this Court has drifted to the right over the last 30 some years." And Stevens never thought he had evolved. Justice Harry Blackmun, who joined the Court six years before Stevens, once recalled the two of them talking about their ideology. "John Stevens and I were joking the other day," said Blackmun, "the fact he being appointed by Ford and I being one of the original Nixon appointees, we're now the liberals among the court. Each of us steadfastly adhered to the proposition that neither of us had changed, the court has changed under us." Nearly every important social issue before the Court in recent years has had Stevens' imprint, including the 1985 opinion striking down Alabama's "moment of silence" for prayer or meditation in public schools. A year later he dissented in an opinion upholding anti-sodomy laws. "When I clerked for him, the Supreme Court ruled it was okay to have criminal penalties for gay, consensual sex, something he disagreed with," recalled Sloan. "Seventeen years later [in 2003] the Supreme Court reversed that position and said Justice Stevens was right." In 1989, Stevens dissented in a case upholding state laws allowing the execution of juvenile killers. That case, too, was overturned in recent years, again led by Stevens. And in 1992, he joined a divided Court in upholding the essential right to an abortion, saying states can place "no undue burden" on women seeking the procedure. When Stevens became second in seniority in 1994, his powers of persuasion made him a key player on the Court, particularly with the more liberal and moderate justices. His quiet influence became evident as he came to be author of some of the most important rulings of the 2000s. In the 2005 term, he wrote opinions striking down federal sentencing guidelines and state laws allowing use of "medical marijuana." He also permitted local governments to use eminent domain laws to take private homes and give them to private developers to build shopping malls and factories. In that case, Kelo v. City of New London, Stevens again took a practical position, saying, "The city has carefully formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to -- new jobs and increased tax revenue." A year earlier, Stevens led the way in upholding sweeping federal election reform and held states liable when they fail to accommodate disabled persons from gaining access to public buildings. And in the first terrorism case to arise from the 9/11 attacks, Stevens said foreign-born terror suspects captured abroad and held at a Navy-run prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have a right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. For him, the issue was simple: "What is presently at stake is only whether the federal courts have jurisdiction to determine the legality of the executive's potentially indefinite detention of individuals who claim to be wholly innocent of wrongdoing." He also authored the 2002 landmark appeal that banned the execution of the mentally disabled. This was one area of law where Stevens' views changed dramatically over the years, as he consistently voted to block the use of the death penalty. In a 2005 speech, he issued a biting critique of capital punishment, stopping just short of calling for its abolition. "With the benefit of DNA evidence, we have learned that a substantial number of death sentences have been imposed erroneously," he said. "That evidence is profoundly significant. Not only because of it's relevance to the debate about the wisdom of continuing to administer capital punishment, but also because it indicates that there must be serious flaws in our administration of criminal justice." FROM PAULA TO MONICA TO BUSH V. GORE A 1997 ruling written by Stevens began a chain of dramatic political events. The justices concluded the President enjoyed no executive immunity from civil claims while in office. That allowed a lawsuit by Paula Jones against President Bill Clinton to go forward. She had accused him of improper sexual advances while he was Arkansas government. That case led to disclosures Clinton was having an affair while President with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. But where individual rights collided with the power of states, Stevens was likely to side with the independence of the individual, but not always. In 1989, he authored a dissent in Texas v. Johnson, which ruled that flag-burning was protected by the First Amendment. The war veteran disagreed, arguing that the case "has nothing to do with 'disagreeable ideas.' It involves disagreeable conduct that, in my opinion, diminishes the value of an important national asset." "That case just caught an emotional streak in him, and he read his dissent in that case from the bench," recalled Lazarus, "And I don't think anybody who heard him read that dissent-- the passion with which he looked at the flag and what it meant for him-- could really ever think about the American flag the same way when you look at it, whatever you thought about the legal issue. There's a deep steak of patriotism in Justice Stevens and it was wonderful to see it on display in the court that morning." Stevens became viewed by many conservatives as a traitor of sorts, having become the leader of the Court's liberal wing after being nominated by a Republican president. Anti-abortion groups in particular criticized his rulings on that hot-button issue. Operation Rescue was one of many groups demanding he step down from the bench, saying in February 2006, "Our nation is weary of your brand of judicial activism... For the good of the nation, please announce your retirement as soon as possible." Part of the Stevens mystique is a certain "I didn't know that" quality surrounding his life off the bench. He was nationally recognized bridge player, piloted his own small airplane for years, and played in golf and tennis well into his eighties. In recent years, Stevens stayed out of the spotlight, rarely granting interviews, even preventing cameras from covering his occasional speeches. He spent much of his free time at his Florida vacation home, reading. On the bench, he was known for his thick-rimmed glasses, bow ties, and friendly manner toward the often nervous lawyers arguing before the justices. His questioning was gentle but firm. However, he was not shy with tossing sharply worded barbs at fellow justices with whom he disagreed. Stevens became more critical of the growing conservative strength of the Supreme Court beginning in President Ronald Reagan's first term. In a 1984 speech, he made unusually harsh remarks aimed at some recent cases. In one, the Court upheld federal aid to schools that might discriminate against women. "The Court went out of its way to announce that the statute did not forbid sex discrimination throughout the associated institution," said Stevens, "even though neither party had argued that it did." And during the 2000 Florida presidential recount, when the high court ultimately ruled in George W. Bush's favor, Stevens could barely contain his frustration at the outcome. "I think that case was devastating to Justice Stevens as well as some of the other more liberal justices on the court," said Lazarus. "They could not understand how the conservatives could conceivably reach the result they did in that case and I think that has hardened the feelings of Justice Stevens a bit. It has brought out a little more of an acid tongue in some of his opinions than you would have seen in the late '80s and early '90s." In his dissenting opinion, Stevens slammed the conservative majority, writing, "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. Friends and colleagues admit Stevens was something of an enigma, hard to figure personally and professionally. He was one of the few justices who has publicly supported bringing cameras into the Supreme Court during oral arguments. Currently, only sketch artists hired by the media are allowed to make a visual record. But during an exhibition of court sketches over the decades, sponsored by the Court's historical society, Stevens insisted all sketches with his likeness be removed. No reason was given. "He really savors his anonymity," said former clerk Peñalver, "and he isn't really out for personal glory and shies away from opportunities to claim it." The Midwestern-born justice mostly avoided the Washington social scene, which he found uncomfortable, but occasionally rewarding. He recently recalled his first year on the Court, when he initially turned down an invitation to a fancy white-tie event. Justice William Brennan persuaded him to attend, even lending him his tuxedo, complete with tails. "The fit was not exactly perfect," he remembered, "but I accepted and have been eternally grateful for a generous act that made it possible for me to spend an evening with the still-gorgeous and charming Ginger Rogers as my dinner partner." The paradox of John Paul Stevens will leave many historians scratching their heads over his three-plus decade influence on the Supreme Court. Most will agree he was an intellectually gifted jurist with an aversion for public recognition; a personally friendly man not afraid to hit back professionally with his pen. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP His emergence in those last years on the high court as a profound, influential voice had, in many ways, come to dominate a fractured Court. "He really strove for a kind of fairness in his jurisprudence," said Peñalver, "a nuance that resists ideological characterizations. He wasn't a hero of the right like [Antonin] Scalia, or a hero of the left like Brennan or [Thurgood] Marshall. "He's done his own thing and that idiosyncrasy has in some ways kept him from the limelight." And that probably suited the ever-cordial, ever-vigilant Justice Stevens just fine. Fox News Chief Legal Correspondent Shannon Bream contributed to this report.


Today's episode of NASCAR America airs on NBCSN from 5-6 p.m. ET and will recap Kevin Harvick 's win at New Hampshire on Sunday. Steve Letarte is joined by Kyle Petty and Nate Ryan to discuss that and other storylines. If you can't catch today's show on TV, watch online at http:/nascarstream.nbcsports.com. If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified. Once you enter that information, you'll have access to the stream. Click here at 5 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.


First things first: This is not your fault. A toxic boss can ruin your work life . It can be stressful to go to work, be at work--even think about work. Here are a few strategies to help manage a toxic boss : 1. Internalize that this is not your fault When you're in the grips of an emotional bully, it's important to not take what they say to heart. Whether they use words, body language, passive-aggressive emails, or talking behind your back, you can start to believe what they say about you: that you don't work hard; that you're bad at your job; that you're stupid. You are not bad, wrong, or stupid. Your toxic boss calling you those things doesn't make them true. In fact, your boss is the one displaying wrong behavior. The trick is to not just intellectually grasp that this is not your fault but internalize it. Positive self-talk is critical when you're regularly exposed to an emotional bully. 2. Document everything Get everything in writing. Whether your boss promises a raise; a day off; snacks in the kitchen; or fewer hours on weekends, write down the conversation and the date. There's a possibility you'll need this in court later. Speaking of legal action, know your rights. Review the labor laws and copyright laws for your state or area, and look at contracts you signed (including nondisclosure and noncompete agreements). Toxic bosses often break the law, sometimes in egregious ways. If it comes to it, don't be afraid to get an attorney, especially for labor law violations. Your city or state will often provide free help if your boss is doing shady stuff. 3. Take frequent walks If you've just been energetically or emotionally "attacked" by your toxic boss, take a walk. Literally. Walking has been proven to soothe your nervous system, and your stress hormones just spiked. If you can walk outside in nature (even just a few trees), even better. Numerous studies point to the positive effect of nature on your nervous system. 4. If you can, scream in your car later It's important that you don't bottle up your anger (which you have a right to). Pretend your toxic boss is in the passenger seat and say all the things you can't say because they're unprofessional, with all the profanity you want. Don't hold it in; get it out. This is particularly helpful if you're going home to loved ones. Get out the worst of it so you can be present with your family. 5. Support and validate co-workers Toxic bosses affect everyone to one degree or another. If you witness your boss attacking someone else, find a way to let them know it's not their fault, either. There's a difference between gossiping and listening and empathizing. Helping your colleagues also helps you see the situation from a different angle and grasp just how bad it is. Know, too, that you will not be getting a good reference from your toxic boss. Let the idea of that go, and instead look for and cultivate allies. Other people (including those colleagues you're supporting) will vouch for you and your work. 6. Connect with people you love When you're in the throes of a bully, your tendency may be to withdraw into yourself, lick your wounds, and just watch Netflix after work. Of course, take a night off if you need to. But know that human connection is what's going to get you through this. Now more than ever, it's important to spend quality time with people you love, who love you. If you want to talk about the situation, great--but sometimes you don't need to process it anymore. You just need to remember what it's like to share a meal with a close friend, laugh, and feel joy. 7. Seriously consider quitting The fact is, a lot of these strategies are just stopgap measures, because working for a toxic boss is exhausting. It takes immense energy reserves to manage the stress, and on top of that try to do your job. If it's getting to the point where you are regularly experiencing anxiety or depression because of this person (or the overall work environment), quit as soon as you safely can. Exposure to stress hormones over time is very, very bad for your physical and emotional health. There are obviously circumstances where you need to stay for survival reasons, but if you are in a position to get out, do it. You deserve to feel safe and respected at work as well as outside it. Related video: The difference between a tough boss and a toxic boss (provided by Buzz60)


Curious just how far your dollar goes in Plano? We've rounded up the latest places for rent via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to scoring apartment rentals in Plano if you don't want to spend more than $1,900/month on rent. Take a peek at what rentals the city has to offer, below. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.) 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. 2600 Ventura Drive Listed at $1,793/month, this 1,390-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom abode is located at 2600 Ventura Drive. In the residence, you can expect in-unit laundry, a walk-in closet and a fireplace. Amenities offered in the building include garage parking. Cats and dogs are welcome. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. According to Walk Score, the area around this address is car-dependent, is fairly bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Take a look at the complete listing here .) 3700 Mapleshade Lane Next, there's this two-bedroom, two-bathroom residence situated at 3700 Mapleshade Lane. It's listed for $1,810/month for its 1,175 square feet. The building features a fitness center. Also, expect to find hardwood flooring, a dishwasher and a walk-in closet in the unit. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are permitted. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area requires a car for most errands, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options. (Take a gander at the complete listing here .) 1713 Throwbridge Lane Check out this 1,591-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence that's located at 1713 Throwbridge Lane. It's listed for $1,820/month. In the residence, expect to see air conditioning and a fireplace. Neither cats nor dogs are allowed. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. Walk Score indicates that this location isn't very walkable, is very bikeable and has minimal transit options. (Take a look at the complete listing here .) 6400 Windcrest Drive Located at 6400 Windcrest Drive, here's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence that's listed for $1,830/month. Expect to see carpeted floors and a dishwasher in the residence. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate garage parking and secured entry. Pet owners, take heed: Cats and dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area requires a car for most errands, is relatively bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Check out the complete listing here .) Working with a tight budget? Here are the cheapest rentals recently listed in Plano . This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


The Bills have lost one of the players brought in as a free agent in hopes of lifting their offensive line to a higher level in 2019. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that tackle LaAdrian Waddle tore his quad muscle . Waddle was carted off the field at practice on Sunday and is likely to miss the entire season as a result of the injury, which usually requires a recovery time line of four to five months. Waddle signed with the Bills this offseason after spending the last four years with the Patriots. He made seven starts with New England over the last two seasons and made 24 starts with the Lions during the first three years of his career. The Bills are also without center Mitch Morse at the moment as he is in the concussion protocol. Russell Bodine is working as the starting center on Monday with left tackle Dion Dawkins , left guard Quinton Spain , right guard Cody Ford and right tackle Ty Nsekhe around him.


FARMINGDALE, N.Y. Brooks Koepka wore an all-black ensemble to Bethpage on Saturday as if he were going to a funeral. Which he was, having buried the field through two days at the PGA Championship in record-setting fashion. While Koepka didn't throw the final dirt on the grave during the third round, he didn't re-open the casket either, maintaining a whopping seven-shot advantage heading into Sunday. That type of lead is as close to a lock as one can get in professional golf; the engraver likely already inscribed Koepka's name back on the Wanamaker. However, there are 18 holes left to play, and according to our research, it is feasible for Koepka to blow this bad boy. Here are the 11 highly plausible ways that Brooks can lose the PGA on Sunday. He misses his tee time due to traffic The Long Island Expressway is an oxymoron, and as we saw this week , the PGA of America doesn't mess around with promptness. He's kidnapped Some view Celtic Pride as a box-office disappointment. Others see it as inspiration. He experiences an existential crisis Perhaps, as he overlooks the Manhattan skyline on Saturday night, wondering about the city's 10 million people with 10 million stories, Koepka questions his place in this fleeting reality we call life. He immediately withdraws from the tournament and announces an open-ended sabbatical to discover who he really is. He inures his knee after his shoe explodes Fact: It happened to Zion Williamson. Zion was rocking Nike sneakers. Koepka wears Nike sneakers. By the transitive property, it's a matter of if, not when. The Mets offer him a tryout Koepka's made no bones about it: though his rediscovered his passion for golf, baseball is his true love. Also not that far-fetched: we're talking about a club that's employed Tim Tebow for four seasons. The PGA calls Mike Davis from the bullpen "Hear me out: pins...in bunkers." He's wicked sore from morning workout Doing chin-ups on the Brooklyn Bridge is great for the Instagram. Not so much on the back. Brandel stabs his Brooks voodoo doll one too many times Apologies to our staff's IT guy who will see "Are voodoo dolls legal in New York?" in my browser history. He turns French Luckily for Brooks the Black's lone water hazard is on the eighth. He gets the Barkley yips Brooks, big fan of the "Haney Project." Who knew. Dustin Johnson develops a short game You're right; let's keep this realistic. Introducing Golf Digest All Access, a new way to improve See the video. Related slideshow: Best of 2019 PGA Championship (provided by imagn)


The New England Patriots' receiving corps continued to add depth with the signing of Dontrelle Inman. Inman is a 6-foot-3, 205 pound receiver that spent five seasons in the NFL - most recently with the Indianapolis Colts. The theme for New England receivers this offseason has been height, and Inman certainly fits that mold. A couple of receivers that will likely suit up for the Patriots this season include N'Keal Harry, Demaryius Thomas and Josh Gordon - if he can handle issues off the field. These receivers are all above 6 foot 2 and will create a world of competition for Inman heading into training camp. He spoke about the position battle and overall reason that he came to New England after OTAs on Thursday. "I just worry about me, myself," Inman said. "Just go out there and give the best that I can do and let everything else work out." As for his reason to join Tom Brady and the Patriots, it was pretty simple. "I like winning," Inman said. "It's one of those things like being part of a winning organization, you want to try to help the team win. That's why I made my decision." As simple as that. Inman had offers from four other teams and the likelihood of him making more money with them was a lot higher. He wanted to win and chose the team that won two out of that last three Super Bowls. He's ready to learn the playbook and acclimate himself into the offense. "It doesn't come easy to no one," he said. "It's just a matter of memorization. If you can memorize it, then it's good. If you can't memorize it, then just like any place in this league, you won't be successful." He had a tough season last year after recording 28 catches, 304 yards and three touchdowns in nine games. The Patriots will be fortunate if they can get him back to 2016 form - where he amassed 58 receptions, 810 yards and four touchdowns. MORE: This flying-knee KO just 10 seconds into a PFL fight had the MMA world in awe Great News: Jimmy Butler Wants to be a Laker Former NFL great Mark Gastineau has a GoFundMe for the fight of his life Spurs' DeMar DeRozan 'possibly could be on the trade block' to Lakers Jon Gruden ready for Raiders, new WR corps to stretch the field


The Packers have a huge season ahead of them. After an outstanding run of success, things got stale in Green Bay under Mike McCarthy, which resulted in his firing. The Packers desperately need a boost of energy, and they're hoping they found it in new coach Matt LaFleur. The 39-year-old is apparently wasting no time taking charge in his first offseason at the helm, as Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette writes that the young coach is "taking on an enormous load" during OTAs. Dougherty says that LaFleur is hovering around the quarterbacks and coaching them up at every opportunity, which he describes as a notable departure from McCarthy, who left that up to his quarterbacks coach. LaFleur is apparently sitting in on all the quarterbacks meetings, and Aaron Rodgers importantly is happy with the way he's being coached. Dougherty writes that Rodgers "appears to be embracing" LaFleur's hands-on approach. That's surely music to the ears of Packers fans, but Dougherty does caution that there's some level of concern about everything LaFleur is putting on his own plate and how much his devotion to the quarterbacks "will take away from LaFleur's panoramic view of the team once camp and the season start." That being said, a reinvigorated Rodgers is by far the most important thing to the team right now, so it certainly doesn't sound like a bad thing. Here's more from around the league on a quiet holiday weekend: The Jets have had a drama-filled offseason, to say the least. Immediately after Mike Maccagnan was fired, reports began trickling out that Adam Gase didn't want either of the Jets' pricey free agent acquisitions, running back Le'Veon Bell and linebacker C.J. Mosley . While the reports that Gase didn't want the Jets to sign Bell have more or less been confirmed, it's apparently not true that he didn't want Mosley, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini writes that Gase "was a strong proponent of signing Mosley," and notes that Gase and Mosley even share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton. It sounds as if the Jets have one less headache to worry about. Chargers pass-rusher Joey Bosa has been a star ever since he entered the league. As a rookie he had 10.5 sacks despite missing the first four games of the season due to a contract holdout, and he's been dominant off the edge ever since. But the Ohio State product was hobbled by a foot injury that cost him nine games last season, and he wasn't quite the same after he returned. Speaking to the media recently after practice, Bosa conceded that the injury is still bothering him. "It's just there. It's just something I notice. It's been getting better all offseason, so I could definitely see by camp or maybe even next year where it kind of starts fading away," Bosa said, per Adam Maya of NFL.com . Foot injuries can be tricky, so it's somewhat alarming that Bosa is still feeling soreness in his foot after this long, but Maya notes he did say it's feeling "well enough for him to avoid a Lisfranc-type surgery." This will be a situation to monitor this offseason. Rookie tight ends often don't play much right away. Tight end is widely regarded as the position that's hardest to transition to from college to the pros, other than quarterback, and many take time to develop even if they're drafted highly. It sounds as if Lions rookie T.J. Hockenson could be an exception to that rule. Hockenson has looked good during OTAs, according to Tim Twentyman of the team's official site , who notes that Detroit isn't going to treat him with kid gloves, writing Hockenson will "see the field early and often." The Lions got virtually nothing from their tight ends last season, so they made it a priority to upgrade this offseason, signing Jesse James and drafting Hockenson eighth overall. It sounds as if Hockenson is in line to start in his first 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. Sunday will be the biggest day in the history of U.S. soccer. Which is a shame, really. If things were as they should be, though, this would be the biggest weekend in American soccer. Instead, we have another soccer screw-up. For those willing to remain glued to their sofas, the schedule will go like this: 11 a.m. ET   FIFA Women's World Cup final, United States vs. the Netherlands 4 p.m. ET   CONMEBOL Copa America final, Brazil vs. Peru 9 p.m. ET   CONCACAF Gold Cup final, United States vs. Mexico "It's ridiculous and disappointing, to be honest," USWNT star forward Megan Rapinoe told The Associated Press. MORE: USWNT jerseys setting sales records The schedule for the FIFA Women's World Cup was established nearly two years ago: June 7-July 7 in France. That makes it kind of obvious on which day the final will be played. And yet CONMEBOL and CONCACAF came along inside the next year and nonetheless scheduled their finals for July 7. It would have been no problem for either, prior to their announcements, to slide their schedules by a day and conclude their tournaments on July 6, a Saturday. But they didn't. Asked about this recently by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani called it "simply an error." He told Wahl that by the time the mistake was recognized, it was too late to rearrange the men's continental championship. Some of that seems implausible, given that the massively successful 2016 Copa America Centenario tournament was finalized so quickly; questions about its viability were raised because of the arrests of key figures in the game as part of the FIFA corruption schedule, but organizers sprinted to make it happen and the event was a triumph. What is entirely believable, though, is apparently no one at CONCACAF bothered to Google the dates of the Women's World Cup when scheduling the Gold Cup. It's not at all hard to believe the women's game could be dismissed like this. FIFA dismisses the issue by saying, "The scheduling of the different events has gone through a comprehensive consultancy process" and defended the choice by saying, "It is a rare and exciting occurrence." Their position is, essentially: We knew. We think it's cool. For soccer fans, it probably is. It's awesome when there are big, important games. MORE: Alex Morgan blasts tea-sipping celebration critics It is a lot less cool, though, than it would have been had the finals of Copa America and the Gold Cup been played on Saturday, with the women having Sunday all to themselves. The women are conducting a world championship. That deserves an uncluttered stage. And they claimed their dates first. And their sport has a history of being mistreated, from organized women's soccer being literally illegal in some of the biggest soccer nations until five decades ago to the miniscule prize money awarded to women's teams that FIFA will struggle to defend considering the television ratings this tournament has generated from England to Brazil to France to the USA. This has been, in many ways, the most successful FIFA Women's World Cup, ever. There have been issues with ticket-sale methods, and the weather in just a month ranged from frigid to sizzling, but the games have been compelling, and the audience has been compelled. The final of such an extraordinary event should not be the appetizer for any soccer fan. It should be all there is to consume this Sunday. Related slideshow: Best of the Women's World Cup (Provided by imagn)


David Beckham has nothing but love for his little girl Harper ! On Thursday, David, 44, enjoyed some quality time with his 7-year-old daughter as they attended the quarterfinal of the women's soccer World Cup and showed their support for the England Lionesses. While cheering on their native team at Stade Oceane in France, David wasn't shy to display his pride and love for Harper, who adorably rocked a replica Lioness jersey and a matching red bandana in the crowd. During the match, in which England went on to defeat Norway 3-0, the former soccer pro was captured sweetly planting a kiss on his daughter's lips   a gesture that has previously caused him controversy for being deemed "too intimate" by some fans. David, who looked sharp in a black button-down and a light navy jacket, also documented the sweet outing with his daughter on Instagram. Ahead of the match, David and Harper posed for a photo outside of the arena. The father of four then took his daughter into the locker room for a special meet-and-greet with the Lionesses' head coach Philip Neville and the team's players. Harper appeared to have a hard time holding back her excitement as she was introduced to the Lionesses' forward Nikita Parris, who happily took a photo with the 7-year-old. Before heading out to their seats, David and Harper snapped a group photo with the entire Lionesses team, which he shared to his Instagram. In the caption, David reflected on his own time as a player and noted how excited his daughter was to meet the women and attend the important game. "So lucky to get to see the girls before tonight's big game," he wrote alongside the photo . "As a player I know exactly what it means to play in these competitions and to have the support from home which means so much." "I just want to say how very proud we all are of every single player, they are doing amazingly well and the whole country is behind them !!!" he continued. "As you can see Harper was so excited to meet the team & is so excited for the game…. Come On England 🏴@lionesses @philipneville18," David finished. Once they arrived at their seats, David and Harper took a moment to take an adorable photo together from midfield. In the sweet shot, Harper lovingly held her arm around her dad's neck as they both smiled for the camera. Around the photo, David supportively wrote, "We are ready," and "Come on England." Like her dad, Harper appeared to be enjoying every aspect of the soccer game, especially when she had a chance to participate in the crowd "Wave" and congratulate the team afterward in a cute video. The 7-year-old also posed in front of the stadium after the women's victory with a soccer ball underneath her foot and her arms proudly held in the air. "A very happy young lady," David captioned the shot. Though the former soccer star left the rest of his family behind for this particular outing, the Beckham family recently enjoyed a trip together to Florida. Earlier this month, David jetted to Miami with his wife Victoria Beckham and the couple's three other children, sons Cruz David , 14, Romeo James , 16, and Brooklyn Joseph , 20. The longtime pair enjoyed taking their four children on boat rides and into the Everglades as David continued building his Miami-based soccer club. "Thank you Miami what a beautiful week, creating special memories & so excited @intermiamicf so many more to come," David captioned a family photo on Instagram. "We ❤ Miami x Kisses x 🇺🇸," Victoria, 45, captioned her photo. David, the former captain of England's national team, is the director of soccer operations for the up-and-coming Inter Miami soccer team, which is still looking to find a home in Florida, according to ESPN. The team doesn't yet have a manager or roster, but has reportedly made a few hires so far, with David dropping in periodically to get work done. The family appeared to tag along for his latest trip, with David sharing a slew of snaps chronicling their day in the sunshine, including a photo of Harper fishing, selfies with Harper, Cruz, Brooklyn and Victoria and a photo of Romeo leaping off a boat and into the water. Similar to Thursday's outing, the Beckhams also spent some quality time together at the end of May when they joined forces to cheer on David as he played in the Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich "Treble Reunion" charity match in England. Harper and Cruz joined their dad on the soccer field ahead of the game, while Victoria, Brooklyn and his girlfriend, 21-year-old model Hana Cross , watched from the stands. "So proud to see @davidbeckham back at Old Trafford today!! X He's still got it!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 kisses x VB," Victoria captioned a photo of her hubby celebrating after he scored a goal. The retired athlete and the former Spice Girl tied the knot in 1999.


Amazon.com Inc has a promotion for U.S. shoppers on Prime Day, the 48-hour marketing blitz that started Monday: Earn $10 of credit if you let Amazon track the websites you visit. The deal is for new installations of the Amazon Assistant, a comparison-shopping tool that customers can add to their web browsers. It fetches Amazon's price for products that users see on Walmart.com, Target.com and elsewhere. In order to work, the assistant needs access to users' web activity, including the links and some page content they view. The catch, as Amazon explains in the fine print, is the company can use this data to improve its general marketing, products and services, unrelated to the shopping assistant. The terms underscore the power consumers routinely give to Amazon and other big technology companies when using their free services. In this case, Amazon gains potential insight into how it should tailor marketing and how it could stamp out the retail competition. "This data is often used for training machine learning models to do better ad targeting," said Bennett Cyphers, a technologist at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation. "But in the U.S., there aren't really restrictions on what you can do with this kind of data." Amazon already has more than 7 million customers using its assistant via Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, according to data published by those web browsers. Other companies offer similar shopping tools. While another technology known as tracking pixels shows Amazon information from visitors to roughly 15 percent of the top 10,000 websites, the assistant lets Amazon follow a smaller set of users from page to page, Cyphers said. Amazon's combination of tools still pales in comparison to data collection by Alphabet Inc's Google, which has tracking pixels on most web pages. Amazon did not discuss how it uses the data it gathers via the assistant for any unrelated purposes, but a job listing for an affiliated team known as Browser Integration Technologies says the group's influence "spans across advertising and marketing, pricing and selection." "Customer trust is paramount to Amazon, and we take customer privacy very seriously," a company spokeswoman said, noting compliance with the assistant's privacy policy, which says data collection is for websites that users visit "where we may have relevant product or service recommendations." The policy also notes that customers can disable certain features of the assistant, and that Amazon only links browsing data to an individual's account when the assistant is in active use. U.S. lawmakers have recently increased their scrutiny of Silicon Valley's data collection practices. A bill introduced in the Senate last month proposed requiring that big platforms disclose what information they gather from users and how much that is worth. "When a big tech company says its product is free, consumers are the ones being sold. These 'free' products track everything we do," said Republican Senator Josh Hawley in a statement announcing the bill. Amazon's Prime Day promotion offers a window into what it will pay for browsing data. For Prime Day 2018, it offered $5 off to new Amazon Assistant users who spent at least $25. This year it offered $10 off to those spending at least $50. Amazon is also fine paying nothing for the data: New customers only get the $10 credit if they install the assistant from a particular landing page, if they are Prime members, and if they make their purchase via the assistant by Aug. 2. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Leslie Adler)


Chewy's ( CHWY ) stock soared in its public debut. Shares surged 64% above their IPO pricing in their first trade to $36 apiece, as investors snagged shares of the online pet-product retailer. This comes after the Dania Beach, Florida-based company on Thursday priced its initial public offering at $22 per share, above the upper bound of the $19 to $21 per share range it had targeted. Chewy sold 5.6 million shares, and a wholly owned subsidiary of PetSmart sold 40.9 million, bringing the total amount raised to $1.02 billion. Chewy, which has called itself the "largest pure-play pet e-tailer in the United States," addresses a massive domestic market for pet supplies   and one that has rapidly been moving sales online. The U.S. pet industry hit $70 billion in annual sales in 2017, according to data cited by Chewy. Chewy derives revenue primarily through pet food, product and medication sales. It offers an Autoship service allowing pet parents to automatically reorder products, and grew subscription program to $2.3 billion in fiscal 2018, from $115 million four years ago. The company faces competition from firms including Amazon and Walmart, which also provide consumers with an assortment of pet supplies. Chewy has never reported a profit, and its net loss totaled $267.9 million for the 2018 fiscal year, from $338.1 million for the year prior. Meanwhile, total sales jumped 67% to $3.5 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, eclipsing the annual sales of other newly public companies including Lyft. However, this pace of growth was slower than the 134% top-line increase Chewy reported for the 2017 fiscal year. Before shares began trading Friday, some Wall Street investors were already optimistic about Chewy's potential. "We watched the company's IPO roadshow video and feel bullish on Chewy's growth prospects, driven by its Amazon-esque focus on customer experience and secular tailwinds from growth in the broader pet food and pet care industry," MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni wrote in a note Friday. "Investors are indeed hungry for a pure-play online retailer catering exclusively to consumers' furry friends," Kulkarni added. More than two-thirds of U.S. households, or about 85 million families, have a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association . Spending on pet products and services expanded at a 5.4% compounded annual growth rate in the five years through 2017, and is projected to grow at a 4.2% CAGR from 2017 to 2022, according to Packaged Facts data cited by Chewy. In 2017, Chewy was acquired by PetSmart for a reported $3.35 billion. The closely held company continues to be a majority shareholder in Chewy. Chewy reported that PetSmart would own about 70% of total shares outstanding of common stock and about 77% of voting power following the IPO. Chewy's IPO was led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Allen & Co. More from Yahoo Buffett on the American economy, capitalism: 'It works' Tech companies like Lyft want your money   not 'your opinion' Levi Strauss shares jump more than 30% above IPO price at open


Shortly after agreeing to a reworked 2019 contract this week, Broncos cornerback Chris Harris announced his intentions to bet on himself in advance of a 2020 free-agent venture. Harris bypassed free agency in 2015, signing a five-year extension, but is targeting top cornerback money next year . As for the chances of the Broncos being the team that authorizes such a deal, the four-time Pro Bowler, 29, said that would be the goal. "I'm definitely giving them a shot. Definitely," Harris said, via NFL.com , of the prospect of re-signing with the Broncos after this season. "The situation could always be salvaged and worked out. So, I'll go do my thing, and then at the end of the year, whatever, I'll definitely give them a fair chance, for sure. "I've always said I want to retire here and that's always been my mentality here. So, if I got to go show them in 16 games that I want to retire here, then I'm going to go do." When the Broncos and Harris discussed his deal this offseason, both sides preferred a long-term extension. But they were so far apart they shifted to this rare pay-raise agreement. The Broncos are projected to hold $50M-plus in 2020 cap space, and while Harris would stand to profile as their most talented free agent to be, it appears this situation can be tabled for several months. Here is the latest coming out of the NFL's West divisions: After converting college safety Tarvarius Moore to cornerback during his rookie season, the 49ers recently moved him back to safety. Jimmie Ward 's broken collarbone prompted this change, with The Athletic's Matt Barrows noting Moore was stationed at cornerback as recently as last week. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh praised Moore's versatility. Fellow 2018 safety draftee D.J. Reed is recovering from offseason surgery, so Moore's latest position switch might not be permanent. Given a starting role by two teams thus far in his career, Chiefs running back Carlos Hyde is again set to work as a backup. The Chiefs plan to use Damien Williams as their starter over the former 49ers and Browns first-stringer, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said (via 610 Sports' Brandon Kiley, on Twitter ). Summoned into action because of Kareem Hunt 's midseason exit and a Spencer Ware injury, Williams averaged 5.1 yards per carry during the regular season and scored four playoff touchdowns. Coming into his surprise promotion, Williams averaged 3.6 yards per carry in four seasons as a Dolphins backup. A year after signing a three-year, $15.25M deal with the Browns, Hyde is attached to a one-year, $1.5M Chiefs pact. The Raiders' Trent Brown did not voice a preference to playing left or right tackle, and the 6-foot-8, 380-pounder said moving back to right tackle will be less of a transition than sliding to the left side with the Patriots last year. The Raiders moved Brown because they prefer Kolton Miller on the left side, said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. "Certainly, we had a chance to study Trent before when he was in San Francisco. We've seen him on both sides," Olson said, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area . "We've had a chance to have Kolton, obviously, on the left side, so that's where we've started this spring."


Patriots quarterback Tom Brady posted a video of him throwing passes to Josh Gordon recently, but there's been no public word from the league about the possibility of the wide receiver being reinstated for the 2019 season. It doesn't appear that there's been any behind the scenes word about that possibility either. Wide receiver Julian Edelman was asked about Gordon during a Wednesday appearance on Pardon My Take and said he's both hopeful and in the dark about Gordon's situation. "I hope. I'm wishing for the best ," Edelman said. "His situation is different. It's a life situation and you're pulling for him . . . to get better. And selfishly, I want him because he's a really good football player and he can help us. I don't know anything going into it. Like, legit. I've asked 30 people in the organization and outside, like, 'Do you know what's going to happen?' And no one knows not one thing. So we're just kind of sitting and waiting to see what the circumstances are going to be with him. He'd be a really good tool to have. He balls." Gordon was suspended indefinitely last December, but is under contract to the Patriots after signing his restricted free agent tender and there have been reports indicating that he could be back with the team this season. He caught 40 passes for 720 yards and three touchdowns after being traded to the Patriots by the Browns last season.


Coming off an All-Star season where his game took a step forward, D'Angelo Russell is a restricted free agent. The man is about to get paid. If the Brooklyn Nets sign Kyrie Irving as a free agent   which is considered the most likely outcome   then they are going to let Russell walk (or just renounce his rights) rather than pay him the $20+ million annually it's expected to take to keep him (not max money, but not that far off it). If all that happens, where might Russell land? Phoenix has been mentioned in league circles a lot and it needs a point guard (plus Russell and Devin Booker are friends). Indiana and Orlando have long been mentioned as teams that could chase him (as was Utah, although after the Mike Conley trade just cross them off the list). A reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers is rumored . Minnesota also has been mentioned as interested, although that often gets dismissed because they are over the salary cap already. ESPN's Zach Lowe said on his podcast that there is something there ( hat tip Real GM ). "There has been a lot of Minnesota /D'Angelo Russell noise, and it's not all Karl Towns commenting on Instagram because they're friends. Minnesota has communicated to the league, not the NBA league, just the league at large that they believe they have a pathway to get D'Angelo Russell. "I can't see what it is because they're capped out and they have all of these contracts nobody wants, but they've communicated that." The question is simply how Minnesota would come up with $20 million or more in cap space. The team is right at the salary cap line in guaranteed contracts, and when you throw in the option on Tyus Jones and cap holds (for empty roster spots) they are will over it. Next season the Timberwolves will pay Andrew Wiggins $27.5 million, and he has four total fully guaranteed seasons left on his contract at a little over $123 million. Jeff Teague is owed $19 million on an expiring deal. Gorgui Dieng will make $16.2 million and has another season after the next one locked in. The Timberwolves would love to shed any and all of those contracts, but good luck with that. Wiggins is almost unmovable right now, Dieng would require a serious sweetener (like a couple first round picks) to be thrown in. Still, it's something to watch just because this rumor isn't just new to Lowe , There seems to be something there, just nobody can figure out what.


Hayden Paddon is a surprise Rally Finland inclusion after the New Zealander secured a last-minute deal to drive M-Sport Ford's third Fiesta WRC. Overlooked for a Hyundai return in favour of Craig Breen, Paddon decided not to 'cry about the decision' and get on with finding an alternative. His agreement, which is for one event at the moment, with the British team was concluded in two days, just ahead of the Monday deadline for the Jyvaskyla-based event. Paddon told Motorsport.com of his desire to be back at the highest level. He said: "After the Hyundai news came in, we were mulling it over and there's no way we were going to sit in a corner and cry about it. "It has been really hard sitting at home watching the WRC unfold this year, especially as I know we can deliver at a high level. "We decided to make things happen as we are not going to achieve anything by sitting around." Paddon, who will be co-driven by John Kennard, will test the Ford Fiesta WRC for a day in Finland ahead of the August 1-4 event. The Kiwi's last WRC action was his runners-up spot at November's Rally Australia, his final Hyundai outing before Sebastien Loeb joined the team and took the seat he was expected to take up in 2019. Paddon has a strong record in Finland and rates the season's fastest rally among his favourites. "We will be giving the rally 110 per cent," he said. "Obviously being out of WRC competition for eight months puts us a little on the back foot, but John and I are confident we can hop in, prepare well and be near the front. "A top five would be the minimum expectation from myself but as always, I will be pushing for more." Former Rally Argentina winner Paddon is clear on his objectives from the drive, adding: "The ultimate goal is to be back in the WRC more regularly in 2020. I'm in a good phase at the moment. "I feel like from a personal perspective and in terms of driving ability, things are at a good level and I want to utilise those skills again at the highest levels of world competition. "I still have a lot I know I can achieve in the WRC   we just need that opportunity." The opportunity came courtesy of a green light from Hyundai New Zealand, Paddon's partner manufacturer down under. "I have to say a huge thanks to the team at Hyundai New Zealand who continue to support me fully," he said. "For them to have allowed us to chase this opportunity, it speaks volumes of how much they support my career and aspirations. It is truly humbling." M-Sport team principal Richard Millener said he was looking to welcome Paddon back to the Cumbrian squad where he began his World Rally Car dream. "Hayden drove for us in Spain in 2013," Millener told Motorsport.com. "That was his first time in a World Rally Car, so it's great to have him back with us. "And it's great to see him back in the WRC. We're all excited to see what he can do behind the wheel of the Fiesta. He's a proven rally winner, and it's great for us to have a driver of his calibre as we set our sights on another strong performance. Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC Photo by: M-Sport


CHICAGO (CBS)   A gang of alleged tow truck scam artists preying on Chicago drivers has struck again. Anthony Walters said the company has held his truck hostage for almost two months. There appears to be a theme with the alleged towing criminals. They show up unannounced and tow drivers' cars for a reasonable amount. Then the extortion begins. "My driver Gregory Bolden got into an accident," said Walters. "He had hit an overpass." Walters' truck got stuck near Archer and Damen on March 18. Within minutes he said Jon Twist, who owns TMT Towing, showed up offering a tow. "I was under the impression I was going to pay $450 for the truck, not $10,000," Walters said. The badly damaged truck was allegedly towed to a lot less than a mile away, but instead of the $450 both sides agreed to, Twist is now demanding more than $15,000, holding the truck hostage until he gets at least $10,000. "I just felt taken advantage of, and I felt like I was being scammed, definitely scammed," Walters said. "Extortion in essence is what it is," said attorney Matt Prengaman, who just filed a complaint against Twist and his towing operation. "They preyed upon an individual with out of state license plates, somebody who was in a situation, who was stuck, and they preyed upon him." Twist was arrested in April alongside Angel Cammacho in a separate but similar incident. Police say a truck was under an overpass. Twist and Cammacho showed up, this time wearing City of Chicago uniforms. Police call it a predatory towing operation run by gangs. "People like this, they need to be behind bars and pay for the things that they're doing to innocent people out there," Walters said. Walters still does not have his truck. The complaint was just filed Thursday, so charges are possible. Police say a legitimate tow truck company will never just show up to a scene of an accident.


Although the Miami Dolphins have not played a football game in nearly five full months, there are some walking wounded among the ranks of the team as they participate in their first organized team activities (OTAs) of the 2019 offseason. The Dolphins don't have any absences that are expected to last through the summer and impact the team's health for the regular season, but there are some lingering injuries that are now worth monitoring - we are inching closer to strapping up the pads. The good news? Wide receiver Jakeem Grant was on the field yesterday and participating in a slew of drills. Grant, who ended his season on injured reserve after injuring his Achilles tendon in the team's 10th game of 2018, was still limited but he was also looking like his old self - fast. #Dolphins WR Jakeem Grant is practicing for the second day in a row at OTAs. His season was cut short last year due to a foot injury. He looks fast as hell so fast as usual. - Safid Deen (@Safid_Deen) May 14, 2019 The bad news? Three other Dolphins who ended their years on injured reserve were held from yesterdays session - cornerback Cordrea Tankersley (knee), wide receiver Albert Wilson (hip) and linebacker Chase Allen (foot). There's no word on if or when we'll see this trio step onto the field at OTAs, but it shouldn't be considered the end of the world if they don't at all. The team has time - approximately two months - before training camp. Making sure these players are totally healthy is the top priority. Reports from South Florida also have linebacker Raekwon McMillan and TE Dwayne Allen missing yesterday's session, although those absences are considered short-term, minor issues. View embedded content MORE: Why Packers' redefined defense could give Aaron Rodgers a Super Bowl opportunity NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought his wife, Amy, might break up with him over this drunken go-kart incident What If Zion Williamson Refuses to Play for the Pelicans? [UPDATE] Jarrell Owens: What the Browns are getting in their new DE


A Milwaukee man accused of fatally shooting a police officer at a bar in Racine last month has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Dalquavis Ward, 26, appeared in Racine County Circuit Court Wednesday for a hearing that lasted only minutes. Ward is accused of killing Officer John Hetland, 49, at Teezers Bar & Grill on June 17 as the 24-year police department veteran attempted to stop an armed robbery. More than two dozen Racine Police Department personnel, including Chief Art Howell, were in the courtroom for the proceeding. Ward was arrested June 27 in Milwaukee, the day after Hetland's funeral. Court records show he was released from federal prison four days before the fatal shooting. According to court documents, Ward served time for his role in a 2014 armed robbery at a Racine liquor store. He was sentenced to five years but was released after serving three. Investigators said they were able to collect DNA evidence from Heltand's body and the bar that showed Ward was the suspected shooter. An arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 7. He's charged with first-degree intentional homicide. If convicted, Ward faces up to life in prison. READ MORE: Man accused of killing Racine officer waives preliminary hearing CHECK OUT WISN: Get the top Milwaukee news weather and sports. With the day's biggest stories and ones you may have missed, our Wisconsin news team has you covered.


Atlanta will see a return of last week's hot temperatures today and tomorrow, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Temperatures will reach a high of 93 degrees on Wednesday, then ease a bit from Friday to Saturday. The immediate forecast also has clear skies in store for today. Skies will become mostly cloudy beginning on Thursday. Winds will continue to be somewhat calm through the week, with the highest speeds tomorrow at only 10 mph. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Shkodran Mustafi looks set to remain at Arsenal - for now - after his agent confirmed no Serie A clubs have been in contact over a possible transfer after reports emerged linking Roma with a move for the central defender. The Germany international has been frequently berated by Gunners fans since his move to the Premier League in 2016, but so far the club have not brought in a new centre back for the upcoming season and have failed to shift Mustafi. Roma are apparently keen on a potential deal, while Monaco are also interested in signing the ex-Valencia man, but daddy Mustafi has moved to clarify the speculation. He told Romanews : "It's news to me, there's nothing in it. There has been no contact with Roma or any other Italian club." BBC Sport's David Ornstein has also revealed Arsenal want the central defender to leave, either permanently or temporarily, but Mustafi is still eager stay at the club and prove himself. Mustafi has become something of a laughing stock in English football, even among his club's own supporters. Arsenal in talks with number of clubs over Shkodran Mustafi exit. 27yo (contract until 2021) wants to stay + prove himself. But #AFC want permanent or loan departure. Also hope to bolster central defence pre-deadline & retain interest in Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney #CelticFC   David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 30, 2019 Most of those fans quite simply can't wait to see the back of him, given he's consistently produced shaky performances at the heart of Arsenal's defence under both Arsene Wenger and current head coach Unai Emery. Mustafi's popularity - or rather, lack of it - could be seen via the uproar produced on social media when the news of his potential departure emerged. Arsenal chose to sign Mustafi in 2016 for £35m from Valencia, where he made a real name for himself, making 64 appearance as well as being a part of Germany's 2014 World Cup winning squad. Arsene Wenger signed Cesc Fabregas, made him a star and then sold to Barcelona so that he would then go to CFC and eventually become a monaco player in order to convince AS Monaco manager to sign Mustafi, to save Arsenal F.C. Arsene Wenger, he's done it again. pic.twitter.com/qjQeZK0ZRC   Anup (@BallinBellerin) July 30, 2019 Monaco interested in Mustafi? Get it done and I'll pay for the flight right now. pic.twitter.com/4v1LawbyGM   AFC Fans HQ (@AFCfansHQ) July 30, 2019 I am more excited about mustafi's departure than Pepe's arrival #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/bkPkpA1mKN   Sherlocked Gooner  (@KAVIRAJAFC) July 30, 2019 Despite the extensive criticism he's received in north London, Mustafi has still managed a total of 84 appearances for his current side. Although he has played a consistent role in the first team, he now looks likely to fall out of favour with Rob Holding returning from the long-term injury that sidelined him for the majority of last season. And after spending last season on loan with the relegated Fulham , Calum Chambers has been a significant part of Emery's pre-season plans. He too could be favoured over Mustafi in defence, potentially forcing 27-year-old Mustafi out of Emery's regular lineup.


University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi stressed Thursday there is no imminent risk of Jewish Hospital closing , even though U of L has decided not to buy it. But the long-term future of the century-old hospital appears uncertain. The university announced Wednesday evening that it was ending negotiations with KentuckyOne Health and its parent organization , CommonSpirit Health (formerly known as Catholic Health Initiatives), to potentially acquire Jewish and other local facilities. At a press conference Thursday morning, Bendapudi said she knows this situation is nerve-wracking. "Uncertainty is always that way. Change is always that way," she said. However, she emphasized that there is no immediate plan to close Jewish Hospital or reduce the services the university provides there. She pointed to the open-ended extension of the university's agreements with KentuckyOne   under which university-affiliated physicians provide a wide range of services at Jewish, in addition to U of L's medical residents being allowed to see patients and train there   as a positive sign that should give people some comfort. She also noted that the university must receive at least 90 days' notice before its contracts with KentuckyOne can be terminated. More: University of Louisville ends talks to buy KentuckyOne assets, including Jewish Hospital Bendapudi indicated that she can't predict what will happen to Jewish in the long term, although she understands KentuckyOne has been talking to other potential buyers. "All I can reassure everybody is that nothing is happening tomorrow," she said. Last year, local physicians and KentuckyOne staff members told the Courier Journal on the condition of anonymity that they feared Jewish could close if a deal to sell it isn't reached. (The hospital has been up for sale for about two years.) However, Jewish Hospital's president, Ron Waldridge, said last fall that there were no plans to shutter the hospital, which is a valuable asset to the community. KentuckyOne spokeswoman Lannette VanderToll echoed that sentiment Thursday when she said there aren't any current plans to close Jewish or any other facilities. VanderToll also said KentuckyOne and its parent are continuing talks with two other interested organizations: BlueMountain Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund that has been in negotiations with KentuckyOne since December 2017, and another entity that wants to remain anonymous at this time. "We remain committed to finding a buyer for the entire portfolio, if possible, and we anticipate this process will take some additional time," she said. (She didn't provide a specific date by which KentuckyOne hopes to strike a deal.) In the meantime, the university is working on contingency plans that would involve shifting the services U of L provides at Jewish over to other health care facilities. It began working on those plans last year for six clinical programs currently housed at Jewish: cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, motility/gastroenterology, solid organ transplant, neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation. If Jewish (or another KentuckyOne operation) were to close or if a buyer that's acquiring the facility doesn't wish to continue certain arrangements with U of L, Bendapudi said the university would have to find a different partner and location where it could start providing those services instead. "If they say that they are going to shut down a facility, then what we would do is we'd remove our programs," she said. They're looking at the university's own health care facilities as well as outside entities as possibilities. In fact, Bendapudi said she had reached out Thursday morning to the CEOs of Norton Healthcare and Baptist Health. Support local journalism Support stories like this one by becoming a subscriber today! Get unlimited digital access here! As for the university's medical residents, for whom Jewish has provided a training ground for decades, Bendapudi said there is no risk to their accreditation or education. "From an education point of view, the students are protected," she said. She also said the university is committed to keeping its transplant program alive. Previously: University of Louisville could soon take control of Jewish Hospital, CEO email suggests Bendapudi said the university explored the option of acquiring Jewish and other KentuckyOne facilities because they saw it as their "moral obligation." She indicated the goal was to determine whether there was a way the university could help keep the lights on at Jewish, which has provided vital care to critically ill and uninsured patients for over 100 years. The university spent more than five months evaluating and negotiating a possible deal to buy Jewish and other KentuckyOne operations and devoted more than 100 people to that process, she said. U of L Hospital spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on that effort as well, which involved extensive due diligence research as well as complex negotiations. Ultimately, though, the institution couldn't find a suitable partner to finance the prospective deal. The university received offers from a few interested parties, she said, but the available terms (based on negotiations with all involved parties, including KentuckyOne) wouldn't have made acquiring Jewish and other facilities, such as Frazier Rehab Institute and Our Lady of Peace Hospital, financially viable. The challenge wasn't only to finance those facilities' acquisition but also to come up with a sustainable plan to manage them. "We know that our most important obligation is to the University of Louisville," Bendapudi said of their reasoning. "Looking at the numbers that we saw, we could not see how we would do it in a way that would not jeopardize the university." Read this: 5,200 lives and counting: Jewish Hospital transplants hits milestone amid uncertainty Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @morganwatkins26 . Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/morganw . This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jewish Hospital Louisville isn't closing soon, U of L president says


TAMPA, FL   It's the dog days of summer and, fortunately, Tampa Bay happens to love its dogs. That's according to the personal finance website Wallethub, which just released the 2019's Most Pet-Friendly Cities . The website rated the 100 largest cities based on 24 key metrics and Tampa came in as the third most pet-friendly city while St. Petersburg earned a rating of 36. With National Homeless Animals Day approaching and more than 85 million U.S. pet-owning households projected to spend $75 billion this year, WalletHub wanted to determine where Americans' animal companions can enjoy the best quality of life without breaking the bank. The data set used by WalletHub ranged from minimum pet-care provider rate per visit to pet businesses per capita to walkability. Topping Tampa for pet-friendliness were Scottsdale, Arizona, at #1 and Orlando at #2. Here are some other findings: Stockton, California, has the lowest average veterinary care costs (per visit), $37.08, which is 2.3 times lower than in Plano, Texas, the city with the highest at $84.24. Miami has the most veterinarians (per square root of population), 0.3380, which is 88.9 times more than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the fewest at 0.0038. St. Paul, Minnesota, has the lowest monthly dog-insurance premium, $34.84, which is 2.5 times lower than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $88.76. San Francisco has the most pet businesses (per square root of population), 0.8455, which is 21.4 times more than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the fewest at 0.0395. Although still in the top 50, surprisingly St. Petersburg, which just won the 2019 Better Cities for Pets award and a $30,000 grant at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, ranked significantly lower than Tampa and Orlando. WalletHub's analysts said that's not because St. Pete residents don't love their pets. St. Pete ranked lower due to its pet health and wellness score. This includes the per capita number of veterinarians, pet caretakers, animal trainers, pet businesses, dog-friendly restaurants, pet-friendly hotels, dog-friendly shops, dog daycare and boarding businesses and pet meetup groups. On a scale of 1 to 100 with 1 being the best, Tampa ranked 17 for pet health and wellness compared to St. Pete's rank of 56. Tampa also beat out St. Pete for the cost of owning a pet, including veterinary care costs and dog insurance premiums. Tampa ranked 10 compared to St. Pete's ranking of 46. As for the city's outdoor pet friendliness, Tampa ranked 13 to St. Pete's 27. This included factors like dog parks per capita, dog-friendly trails and dog shows.


The saga of Castle Hot Springs resort sounds like a Carl Hiaasen novel if he swapped South Florida for Arizona's Sonoran Desert . The history of the hard-to-access oasis an hour's drive north of Phoenix has involved a quail-hunting, self-made mogul, Native Americans, new age crystal worshipers, scheming hoteliers and a gun-toting, toothless caretaker who had an enormous pet pig and strategically placed dead rattlesnakes to scare off people   and those are just the recent chapters. Save for the hunter, all were after its namesake natural resource. Rich in minerals and free of sulfur's rotten-egg smell, the springs' water cascades and trickles down mossy rocks at the rate of approximately 200,000 gallons per day into two tiered pools ranging from 95 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. "You'll feel the energy. Breathe it in," said Gertrude Smith, director of Yavapai culture for the Yavapai Apache Nation in Camp Verde, Ariz., who said the springs had been a place of healing for her ancestors, until they were discovered by Anglo settlers after the Civil War. "Our people would go there when they were injured or pregnant." Sign up for The New York Times' Weekly Travel Newsletter After being closed for more than 40 years, the newly restored resort reopened in February for a brief season   because of the desert heat it will close on May 31 and reopen on October 1. Once recreational vehicles peel off the dirt road for Lake Pleasant Regional Park, ramshackle homesteads are the only signs of civilization until the resort's sultan-worthy allée of mature date palms appears like a cartoon mirage. A driveway winds past pale yellow cottages and a chapel to the renovated main lodge and a cluster of new, contemporary bungalows. The springs have a long, fuzzy history of enchanting speculators and generations of wealthy families. The abridged version begins with George Monroe, a prospector more interested in gold than natural beauty, who staked his claim in the 1870s and named the springs after himself. From Maxfield Parrish to the Rockefellers The site was transformed into an elite resort at the turn of the 20th century when the railroad and mining magnate Frank Murphy and his brother, the Arizona territorial governor Nathan Oakes Murphy, established the Castle Creek Hot Springs Improvement Company. Rand McNally touted the destination as a new mecca of the West, and construction cranked up. Briefly serving as a sanatorium, where Maxfield Parrish painted the dramatic scenery while curing his tuberculosis, the resort soon traded patients for deep-pocketed patrons. Walter Rounsevel, its debonair manager turned owner, catered to the Rockefellers, Roosevelts and Goldwaters of the country. Alberta Pew, wife of Joseph N. Pew Jr., the oil scion and cofounder of the Pew Family Trusts, spent 60 consecutive winters at the resort.Mr. Rounsevel ran Castle Hot Springs for decades, including the Second World War, when injured veterans like John F. Kennedy were sent there to convalesce after wartime duty. Kennedy called the food only fair. "Rounsevel was a larger-than-life character to all us kids," said Charles Trainer, an heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune, whose grandparents spent their winters at the resort for years. "Walter Gropius was another regular. I remember going on horseback rides with him when he was quite old." Mr. Trainer and his brother Steve bought Castle Hot Springs in the 1980s. The resort had closed because of a devastating fire in 1976. The brothers hired a succession of experts to try and reopen it, but none managed it. "This thing is truly a book," said Elizabeth Brazilian, a former developer who proposed a wellness retreat for the property that never opened. "When you add in the other factors like providing employee housing since staff can't commute, and that it can only operate half the year due to the heat and flash floods, we just couldn't figure out a way to make a profit," she said. The new owner, Mike Watts, became smitten with the 210-acre property while quail hunting at the resort in the early 1970s, bought it in 2014, and then acquired its surrounding 900 acres late last year. He and his wife, Cindy, local entrepreneurs and philanthropists who recently gave $30 million to Arizona State University to found the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions , were looking for something to do in their quasi-retirement after selling their construction equipment rental company. "I never dreamed I'd go into the hospitality business, but it's a unique place and story," he said, of renovating and expanding the resort. "It was a real eye opener when a fifth-generation resident of Wickenburg near here called to thank me for rebuilding it. That's when I had a greater understanding of how many people feel it's a treasure." Helicopters instead of Pullman cars Before the automobile age, visitors to the resort went through the ordeal of taking a train, often in private Pullman rail cars, to Morristown, Ariz., followed by a 23-mile, dusty stagecoach ride. They stayed for the season to justify the trek, unlike today's weekenders who have the option to arrive by helicopter. Entering by SUV or truck still requires crossing several washes on a rocky road for half the journey. The cost of transporting building materials and daily supplies over such difficult terrain was one of the reasons previous efforts to revive the resort failed. The Wattses envision the resort as Arizona's answer to the all-inclusive Blackberry Farm in Tennessee that's on every Garden & Gun subscriber's bucket list. There are just 32 rooms ($660 to $2,200 for two with breakfast, lunch and dinner and gratuities, excluding alcohol) and guests choose their own adventures from back-to-the-land activities like harvesting chrysanthemum greens and borage for salads right outside the main lodge's kitchen door, riding trail horses and hiking the Bradshaw Mountains. The great lawn   a lush, emerald carpet despite being in the middle of the desert   is set up for classic resort activities like croquet, and come fall there will be Frisbee golf. The couple hired an executive chef who had cooked at Gordon Ramsay's and David LeFevre's restaurants in Southern California, along with an agronomist who planted 150 types of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers to supply the resort's kitchens and bars. The Wattses intend to bottle their own mezcal and a blue agave plantation is planned. "Tequila and mezcal are having a moment, and it will be nice for sipping," said Mr. Watts, who has already developed lager exclusively for guests with Phoenix's Helio Basin Brewing Company . (One of the original outbuildings will eventually house a brewery.) The resort's spa heritage lives on through tented treatment rooms at creekside and cabins' outdoor soaking tubs that are hooked up to the springs for heated, mineral baths. WiFi is available only for emergencies. Dark-sky stargazing is also encouraged with campfires and telescopes. Children under 16 aren't allowed. Mr. Watts and other involved in the project declined to say how much it had all cost. "People like numbers. I'd like to be able to tell them it cost $80 million or some other amount, but I honestly don't know, and I don't think you can really put a price on it anyway," said Steven Sampson, director of national sales for Westroc Hospitality, Castle Hot Springs's management company, whose portfolio also includes the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain and Mountain Shadows. "It's an entirely different concept for the market, too, because it's about passion versus profit." Follow NY Times Travel on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook . Get weekly updates from our Travel Dispatch newsletter, with tips on traveling smarter, destination coverage and photos from all over the world.


Juneteenth celebrates end of slavery in U.S. Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States . Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, Juneteenth is a combination of "June" and "nineteenth," marking the day in 1865 that a U.S. major general announced to Texans that slavery had been abolished.News of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of two years earlier had not made it to the Lone Star State until then. Across the country, the day is marked with events and parades. On Wednesday, author Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover are expected to appear before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties to discuss legislation that would create a commission to study the history of slavery and its lasting effects of African Americans. Here's everything you need to know about Juneteenth . Former Trump aide Hope Hicks appears before House committee Hope Hicks, the former communications director for President Trump , will appear for an interview on Wednesday in front of the House Judiciary Committee. The committee will ask Hicks questions relating to Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Hicks had previously refused to comply with subpoenas from the congressional investigators under orders from the White House. The interview will begin at 9 a.m. ET behind closed doors, with a transcript released shortly after her appearance. Prefer to listen? Check out the 5 things podcast and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts Trump's energy plan could loosen regulations on coal industry The Trump administration is expected to unveil an energy plan Wednesday that could deliver a signature campaign promise to boost the coal industry . But environmentalists say the plan would lead to premature deaths and hasten climate change . Aging coal-fired power plants would get a new lease on life under the industry-friendly proposal known as the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule. Presented as a change to the decades-old Clean Air Act, the Trump proposal would replace the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama's signature plan to confront climate change. That plan never took effect after the Supreme Court prevented its implementation in 2015. Record number displaced worldwide by war, violence A record 71 million people have been displaced worldwide by war, persecution and other violence, a new report released Wednesday finds. The annual "Global Trends" report, released by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, counts the number of the world's refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people at the end of 2018, in some cases following decades of living away from home. The UNHCR report noted that by far, the most refugees are taken in the developing world, not wealthy countries. The figures marked the seventh consecutive year in which the numbers of forcibly displaced people rose. Amid US-China trade war, Fed may signal interest rate cut The Federal Reserve will likely signal the possibility of its first interest rate cut in a decade despite a generally healthy economy, experts say. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will make a statement following its two-day meeting that concludes Wednesday. Normally, the Fed cuts rates when the economy wobbles or has entered a recession. This time, the Fed is looking for an "insurance cut" to rates to snuff out the seeds of a recession, economists say. Driving the Fed's thinking is President Donald Trump's trade war with China , which could intensify if Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping don't smooth things over at the G-20 meetings later this month. Contributing: Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Juneteenth, Hope Hicks heads to Capitol Hill: 5 things to know Wednesday


White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday said President Donald Trump had "condemned white nationalism" right after the 2017 attacks in Charlottesville, Va., claiming his words have been distorted over the past two years by political opponents. Trump was widely lambasted for remarks there were "very fine people on both sides" during the white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, where participants had chanted phrases like "Jews will not replace us." "Well, the irony is that he condemned white nationalism and neo-Nazis and the KKK during the Charlottesville incident," Conway said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked whether the president believes white nationalism is a threat. When he said there were "very fine people on both sides," Trump "was talking about the debate over removing statues," Conway said. "He was not talking about the weekend at all." "If you continue the sentence, he says people were there who had not signed up with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who were there about a park being renamed and a statue being taken down," she said, referring to a debate over a monument dedicated to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Trump had previously claimed he doesn't believe white nationalism was a growing threat around the world. "I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems," the president said. But Conway told ABC host Jake Tapper on Sunday the president has believed white nationalism is a threat since he "condemned it in no uncertain terms" after the Charlottesville incident. Trump disavowed white supremacists during the first couple months of his term, but "it's been twisted around for almost two years," Conway said.


The countdown is on. Soon, Apple is getting into the credit card game with the Apple Card, a mostly digital card that's coming out this summer. With its tight ties to the iPhone (you can't actually use Apple Card without one ), Apple is once again using its services to help make the iPhone more valuable to its loyal users. As with iOS 13, the new mobile software coming to iPhones in fall , making the software on the device appealing is as important as making the device itself attention-grabbing. The role of these services is especially important as iPhone sales continue to slow . Apple Card is a big enough beast on its own, with a physical card and plenty of fine print , but it won't replace Apple Pay or Apple Cash , which is where things get confusing. See, Apple Card, Apple Pay and Apple Cash will all be accessible from your iPhone's digital wallet; they each have their own purpose. Here's what they are, and how you'll use them. Apple Pay is the lynchpin Apple Pay is the name of the system that makes digital payments with your iPhone possible. It lives in the Wallet app and was designed to replace the need to cart around physical payment cards. As with Google Pay and Samsung Pay , you load the details of your real-life credit and debit cards into the Apple Pay app. Then, you can call up your virtual credit card to make payments online or in stores with your iPhone instead of thumbing through your wallet for your card. Apple Pay requires your authentication in order to kick off a payment. You'll either scan your face using Face ID, scan your fingerprint or type in your passcode to verify your identity. In stores, you'll hold the iPhone near the NFC payment terminal until you see confirmation. For online purchases, you'll verify your identity, and the software will take over from there to complete the purchase. Apple Pay works on its own, but you can add an Apple Card as one of your credit cards (see below for more details) and can use Apple Cash to shuttle funds to and from your friends and family. Apple Card is tied to your bank account Apple's new credit card is backed by Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. It acts like a "real" credit card just like the plastic or metal card in your wallet or purse, with interest rates and up to 3% cash back, but it mostly lives as a digital card on your phone. There's also a physical card element, with Apple shipping you a slick titanium rectangle with your name engraved on it. This is to use on the occasion that a brick-and-mortar store doesn't take Apple Pay. What does Apple Pay have to do with it? Everything. Apple Card is one more card that you can use digitally with Apple Pay. Instead of loading in and using your usual bank card from Chase or Wells Fargo, you use your Apple Card from Goldman Sachs. Convenience and a strong emphasis on security are two reasons you'd use Apple Card, and we recommend reading up on all the Apple Card details if you're interested in signing up this summer. Remember, you can continue to use Apple's digital payment system with your own credit cards. Apple Cash is peer-to-peer Apple Cash is a service that's built into the Apple Pay platform that lets you send, receive and request money from others through iMessages. Apple refers to it as a "prepaid debit card in your Apple Wallet." It's similar to Venmo , but you'll have to add money to your Apple Cash account by using your debit card in the Wallet app. Apple confirmed that credit cards are no longer supported in Apple Cash. Apple Cash works across iOS devices like iPhone, Apple Watch , iPad and Mac. To use Apple Cash, you must be at least 18 years old and be a US resident . You'll need to have iOS 11.2 or later, or if you're using an Apple Watch, WatchOS 4.2 or later. You'll also want to make sure you're signed into iCloud on each device you want to send and receive money through. You launch the request in iMessages and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. When you receive cash from a contact, you'll find it in a digital Apple Cash card in the Wallet (you'll have to agree to the terms and conditions to set this up). You can use this cash to make payments in stores, in apps and online -- or you can transfer your balance to your bank account. You can also transfer the balance to your bank account linked to Apple Pay.