The most exciting Corvette spin-offs that sadly never came to be After several false starts, Chevrolet is preparing to take the Corvette in a bold new direction. The eighth-generation Corvette is very nearly upon us, and the model if now heading in a new direction, getting a mid-engined layout for the first time in its long history. Before now, the  Vette stuck with a tried-and-true front-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration for this long. Chevrolet and aftermarket tuners have made dozens of experimental Corvettes with all kinds of different powertrains ranging from a mid-mounted Wankel engine to a V12. Here are some of the wildest creations: Chevrolet Corvette Corvair concept (1954) Chevrolet didn t wait long to explore what it could turn the Corvette into. In 1954, a year after the model made its debut; the firm displayed the Corvette Corvair concept at the GM Motorama in New York City. It looked a lot like a regular Corvette when viewed from the front but it gained an aerodynamic, fastback-like roof line that flowed into a license plate insert shaped like a jet s exhaust. Chevrolet considered approving the Corvette Corvair for production, the public and the press both loved it, but the standard Corvette s alarmingly low sales stopped the project in its tracks. GM allegedly destroyed the Corvette Corvair. An Indiana-based collector commissioned a replica of it in the early 2010s. Chevrolet Corvette Nomad (1954) Chevrolet presented the Corvette Nomad alongside the Corvette Corvair at the 1954 GM Motorama. Together, the two design studies explored how to turn the Corvette into a family of models . While the Corvair went in a sporty, European-influenced direction, the Nomad put a more dynamic spin on the popular concept of a family-friendly station wagon with a long, low roof panel painted white and steeply-raked C-pillars. The model never reached production but it heavily influenced the design of the original, Bel Air-based Nomad released in 1955. Like the Corvette Corvair, the Corvette Nomad was destroyed in the years following its Motorama debut. Enthusiasts have made several replicas since. Chevrolet Corvette Impala (1956) Chevrolet continued investigating ways to expand the Corvette line-up with the Corvette Impala concept introduced at the 1956 GM Motorama. This gorgeous design study took the form of a large coupe with seating for five passengers. Chevrolet built it to gauge how buyers felt about the idea of a more spacious Corvette. Many liked its design, but fans unanimously suggested making the Corvette quicker was a more worthwhile upgrade than making it bigger. Chevrolet destroyed the Corvette Impala concept but used the name on a range-topping variant of the Bel Air introduced in 1958. Chevrolet Corvette SS XP-64 (1957) Underwhelming performance nearly killed the Chevrolet Corvette in its infancy. The firm responded to its critics by making a V8 available in 1955 but Zora Arkus-Duntov , an engineer known as the father of the Corvette, knew the model needed to win high-profile races to join the ranks of world-class sports cars. After convincing General Motors boss Harley Early that even a heavily-modified, production car-based racer wouldn't be up to the task, he quietly began developing a car he hoped would be capable of winning the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring . Code-named XP-64 , the Super Spyder (SS) shared few components with the regular-production Corvette. It notably received a De Dion-type rear axle to improve weight distribution and inboard brakes to reduce unsprung weight. Power came from a fuel-injected, 307hp V8. Its performance was promising but it retired from the 12 Hours of Sebring due to problems with the electrical system, the brakes and the rear end. Duntov's team began fine-tuning it with an eye on the 24 Hours of Le Mans but the Automobile Manufacturers Association banned factory-backed racing in 1957 in response to the fatal Mercedes-Benz 300 SL crash at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chevrolet Corvette XP-700 (1958) General Motors design boss Bill Mitchell commissioned the XP-700 in 1958. It was based on a V8-powered 1958 Corvette but it received a brand-new body that incorporated styling cues borrowed from grand prix-winning race cars. Mitchell drove it regularly for about a year. The XP-700 later returned to Chevrolet's headquarters where stylists updated its design   notably by adding a transparent, double-bubble plastic roof   and painted it silver. GM displayed it next to other concept cars at various events held in America and dismantled it as soon as the wow effect wore off. Its chassis was allegedly used to build the 1961 Mako Shark concept . There's little evidence suggesting Chevrolet seriously considered mass-producing the XP-700. Some aspects of it (including its rear end) influenced later versions of the Corvette, however. Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark (1961) Bill Mitchell's fascination with marine biology permeated General Motors' design studio around the turn of the 1960s. According to Larry Shinoda , an influential designer who worked for GM during that era, Mitchell caught a shark while fishing and immediately decided its shape and color would work well on a sports car. He later asked Shinoda to draw a concept that previewed the second-generation Corvette (whose design was already locked in) while incorporating shark-like styling cues . Luckily for his design team, he hadn't caught a lobster. Mitchell's shark looked nothing like the first-generation Corvette so Shinoda started from scratch and created an angular concept named Mako Shark that was loosely inspired by the 1959 Corvette Stingray concept. The blue paint applied to the top part of the car gradually faded into silver to achieve a more shark-like look. Corvette XP-819 (1964) Perhaps inspired by Porsche , Chevrolet considered making the Corvette rear-engined during the 1960s. Frank Winchell, an engineer who worked on the Corvair, argued a rear-engined Corvette would handle well if its V8 engine was made out of aluminum to keep weight in check and wider rear tires. The lone XP-819 prototype built crashed during high-speed tests. It spent decades in storage, partially dismantled, until a collector purchased it and rebuilt it. The accident convinced many at Chevrolet that developing a rear-engined, V8-powered sports car was easier said than done. Some of its engineers still believed in the layout, however. Astro 1 concept (1967) Chevrolet introduced a Corvette-like coupe with a strikingly low-slung silhouette named Astro I in 1967. Engineers wanted to make it as aerodynamic as possible so they installed a Corvair-sourced flat-six engine tuned to 240hp behind the rear axle. The entire rear section of the car lifted up to let passengers access the cabin. Once inside, the driver faced aircraft-style joysticks rather than a steering wheel. The Astro I was only a design study built to turn heads on the auto show circuit and it was never a candidate for mass-production. By the time it made its debut, Chevrolet had already finalized the design of the third-generation Corvette which began arriving in showrooms in 1968. Chevrolet XP-882 (1969) Zora Arkus-Duntov doggedly believed the Corvette needed to adopt a mid-engined layout . He began working on a prototype named XP-882 equipped with a V8 engine and a transaxle both sourced from the Oldsmobile Toronado and mounted transversally directly behind the passenger compartment. The project was canceled for cost reasons but the car was displayed at the 1970 New York auto show to trick Ford into thinking Chevrolet was preparing a rival for the DeTomaso Pantera , which the Dearborn-based firm imported to America, powered and sold through its Lincoln-Mercury dealers. Chevrolet XP-895 (1972) Work on the on-again, off-again mid-engined Corvette continued during the early 1970s. Though the third-generation model had only been on sale since 1968, members of the company's research and development department saw an opportunity to expand the Corvette family towards the top by stuffing an array of new technology into a halo model. XP-895 was loosely related to XP-882 but it wore an aluminum body made by Reynolds (which sometimes earned it the nickname Reynolds Corvette). Chevrolet XP-897GT (1973) Like NSU, Mazda and Citro ën , Chevrolet spent a fortune developing Wankel technology around the turn of the 1970s. It planned to design a full catalog of rotary engines ranging from small, frugal units for the Vega to high-performance variants for sports cars like the Corvette. The concept that ensued was one of the most unusual factory-built Corvette off-shoots ever . The team in charge of the project decided to make the Corvette smaller in a bid to increase its appeal on the European market, according to Hemmings . Instead of starting from scratch, engineers purchased a Porsche 914/6 , chopped off the body and shortened the wheelbase. They installed a twin-rotor Wankel engine in the space normally occupied by the flat-six and asked Pininfarina for a sleek body that looked nothing like the third-generation Corvette. It was presented at the 1973 Paris auto show. Chevrolet built a second Wankel-powered , mid-engined Corvette in 1973. It was an evolution of the XP-882 concept equipped with a highly experimental, quad-rotor Wankel tuned to provide 360hp . It reached nearly 150mph on a test track but development stopped abruptly when General Motors executives realized the Wankel engine's future was dim at best in the wake of the oil crisis. Greenwood Corvette Sportwagon (1974) The number of companies that either made kits to let DIYers turn a Chevrolet Corvette into a station wagon or performed the conversion in-house was surprisingly high. Kits were sold through parts catalogs as early as 1968 but the concept is arguably more closely associated with a tuner and coachbuilder named Greenwood Corvettes than anyone else. Greenwood fine-tuned the design using parts sourced from a Ford Pinto . The result was a cohesive look that almost looked like it came straight from the factory and a practical hatch which gave users access to a makeshift cargo compartment. The conversion finally made the Corvette road trip-friendly. Greenwood estimates less than two dozen examples of the Corvette were transformed into a wagon using its kit. Chevrolet Aerovette (1977) The Aerovette concept was the final evolution of the mid-engined XP-882 prototype . Chevrolet executives gradually eased into the idea of making the Corvette mid-engined but they knew they couldn't sell a sports car with a quad-rotor Wankel engine . Engineers consequently built the Aerovette around a V8 engine and stylists made tweaks to the design to bring it closer to production. Chevrolet announced a completely new kind of Corvette   one with double-hinged gullwing doors and newfound dynamism   for 1980. The mid-engined Corvette likely would have become a reality had the men who carried the project forward not retired. Zora Arkus-Duntov notably left in 1975 . Dave McLellan , who replaced Arkus-Duntov as the Corvette's chief engineer, clearly preferred the front-engined layout and played an instrumental role in keeping the Corvette the way it had always been. The fourth-generation Corvette unveiled in 1984 retained a front-mounted V8 engine. Dunham Caballista Corvette (1977) American coachbuilder Dunham identified a market for a stately-looking coupe with the performance of a Chevrolet Corvette. Its entry into the personal luxury car segment was unusual , to say the least. Starting with a third-generation Corvette, it changed many parts (including the grille, the lights and the trunk lid) to give the coupe a Cadillac-like design . It sounded and looked like the question to the answer no one asked yet about 50 customers commissioned the conversion between 1977 and 1982. Chevrolet Corvette America (1978) In the late 1970s, an independent coachbuilder named California Custom Coach (CCC) created a four-door Corvette that put an equal emphasis on performance and space. The complicated production process involved taking two Corvettes and fusing them together to extend the wheelbase by 30in. The final product offered four doors, four individual seats, four removable roof panels and an 185hp V8 engine bolted to an automatic transmission. Chevrolet caught wind of the project and allegedly considered selling the car through its dealer network but it quickly decided not to get involved. The conversion wasn't cheap. CCC charged about $35,000 (approximately $107,000 in 2019) for a four-door Corvette in 1980. To add context, the standard Corvette started at $13,140 (roughly $40,300 in 2019) that year. Most historians agree six examples (including one pre-production prototype) of the four-door Corvette were made and only two survive in 2019. Corvette Duntov Turbo (1978) In the 1960s and the 1970s, Zora Arkus-Duntov unsuccessfully tried convincing Chevrolet's top brass to take the Corvette to the next level. First, he tried making it mid-engined ; he failed. Decision-makers then turned down his request to turbocharge the model because they argued it would cost too much. After retiring from General Motors in 1975, he turned to American Custom Industries (ACI) to make at least one of his dreams a reality. Arkus-Duntov helped ACI create a unique Corvette named Duntov Turbo that came with a wide-body kit, non-retractable square headlights, digital instrumentation, steering and suspension modifications plus a turbocharged V8 engine . ACI planned to make 201 examples but production stopped after the Ohio-based firm converted 32 cars. In 1980, the Duntov Turbo cost $37,500 (about $115,000 in 2019). Viewed in that light, it's not surprising that ACI didn't manage to sell 201 cars; even selling 32 examples must have been easier said than done. Bertone Ramarro (1984) Bertone always wanted to design and build a car for an American automaker . In 1984, shortly after Chevrolet introduced the fourth-generation Corvette , the Italian design firm turned the model into a futuristic-looking prototype named Ramarro. It was 12in shorter than a Corvette and Bertone fitted it with sliding doors to make getting in and out of the cabin easier in tight spaces. Chevrolet had no interest in selling a re-bodied Corvette so the Ramarro remained a one-off concept. Chevrolet Corvette Indy (1986) On the surface, the Chevrolet Corvette Indy concept indicated the idea of taking the nameplate into mid-engined territory was still alive and well. In reality, it was little more than a rolling laboratory of technology built to showcase the firm's technological prowess. Power for the Corvette Indy came from a 2.6-liter V8 derived from IndyCar racing   hence its name. Lotus , which General Motors was in the process of acquiring at the time, worked on the suspension. The Indy also featured four-wheel steering, satellite navigation , an electronic throttle control system and a digital instrument cluster. All of these features later trickled down to production cars. Chevrolet CERV-III (1990) Chevrolet launched the Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle (CERV) series of prototypes when it released a grand prix racer-like design study in 1960. The mid-engined CERV-II from 1964 was also much closer to a race car than to a street-legal production model; it could have turned into Chevrolet's answer to the Ford GT40 . The CERV-III , however, was built to run alongside the fastest, most desirable exotic cars in the world   and it wore Corvette emblems. Presented in 1990, the coupe stood out with a body made using various composite materials, like carbon fiber and Kevlar , and a twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted V8 engine tuned to 650hp with input from Lotus. The eight spun all four wheels through a frighteningly complicated six-speed setup consisting of a three-speed automatic gearbox that shifted through a two-speed transmission. The CERV-III looked ready for production. The Corvette emblems on both ends suggested Chevrolet was preparing to turn the nameplate into a supercar slayer capable of 225mph (about 25mph more than the Ferrari F40) but the concept ultimately remained at the prototype stage. Italdesign Moray (2003) Italdesign traveled to the 2003 Geneva auto show to unveil a concept car it developed to celebrate the Chevrolet Corvette's 50 th anniversary . Named Moray, the design study kept the Corvette's long hood, short decklid proportions but wore a much softer design accented by a transparent roof panel . Italdesign cleaned up its silhouette by replacing the door mirrors with cameras, a technology starting to spread across the automotive industry in 2019. Power came from a 400hp , Corvette-sourced V8. The Moray was never a candidate for production. The eighth-generation Corvette (2019) With the exception of the first-generation model, every factory-built Chevrolet Corvette has come with a front-mounted V8 engine that spins the rear wheels. That's about to change. The eighth-generation model will shift to a mid-engined layout when it makes its debut in 2019. Chevrolet hopes the new layout will inject a dose of excitement into the nameplate and lure younger buyers into showrooms. Going mid-engined will pelt the Corvette into an unfamiliar territory dominated by well-established rivals like the Audi R8 and the Acura NSX . Chevrolet can't afford to make a mistake . That's why the model's introduction has been delayed several times as engineers work to fix problems uncovered during extensive testing all around the world. The eighth-generation Corvette will make its debut on Thursday July 18 2019 at an event in California and arrive in American showrooms for the 2020 model year. We don't know exactly what it will be powered by but we're sure it will be a V8 . Some rumors also claim Chevrolet will build both the seventh- and the eighth-generation cars side by side in Bowling Green, Kentucky , for years to come. PICTURE: Autocar artist impression


The hype surrounding Chicago Bears rookie running back David Montgomery has been building since the offseason, and it certainly didn't disappoint in Montgomery's first live game action in the NFL. Montgomery finished with 16 rushing yards on three carries and had three receptions for 30 yards in the Bears' 23-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Not exactly flashy stats, but the numbers don't do Montgomery justice. It's more of an eye test thing. Look no further than Montgomery's seven-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The play was designed to go up the middle, but Montgomery saw it wasn't there and quickly cut left, shedding a tackler in the process, and ran through a couple other defenders on his way into the end zone. After David Montgomery ran from the end zone to the Bears' sidelines, Matt Nagy pulled him aside and said: "There are going to be more of those." - Chris Emma (@CEmma670) August 9, 2019 It was a sign of things to come in the future for the third-round pick, who continues to flash his intangibles while keeping his head down and working hard every day. "He runs hard. He runs really, really hard," Nagy said. "He runs violent. He's angry when he runs, and he's tough to bring down with that first defender, so we like that. And you can see what he can do in the pass game as well - made some nice catches and runs after the catch. "He wanted more. That kid won't stop." Nagy was quick to stop himself in his praise of Montgomery, not wanting to get too carried away after one preseason game. As Matt Nagy gushed about David Montgomery tonight, he caught himself… "I don't want to over blow - he's got a ways to go. I don't want to make this… the next, you know, great back in this…" (he looked over at @paytonsun and smiled) "… yeah, in this great organization." - Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) August 9, 2019 But the Bears have been known for their great running backs. And while Montgomery isn't exactly Walter Payton, you've got to respect your history. MORE: Browns mob touchdown scorer who slept outside a gym during tryouts 6 takeaways from Packers' preseason victory over Texans Duke Johnson trade: what they're saying around the NFL Roundup: Bo Bichette is On Fire; Bachelor in Paradise Drama; Joe Biden Steps in It In preseason debut, Jarrett Stidham flashes poise and potential


WASHINGTON   It was really the last thing the Mets needed. In the fifth inning Thursday, Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick hit a high fly ball up the right field line, pursued by right fielder Michael Conforto and second baseman Robinson Cano. As they converged, Conforto smashed his jaw on Cano's shoulder while the ball fell in for a double. Conforto stayed on the ground for a moment, appeared to be stumbling once he got to his feet and was removed from the game immediately. "I hit him really hard," Cano said after the game. "That's the last thing you want to happen." Mets manager Mickey Callaway could tell it was bad when he accompanied the trainer to check on Conforto. "He was kind of dazed," Callaway said. "We knew right away we were going to have to get him out of there." #Mets Michael Conforto's collision with Robinson Cano. Conforto took a shot to the jaw on the collision, seemed to be out for a few moments. pic.twitter.com/Ek4UE3RMAC   Matt Johnson (@MattJ_Sports) May 16, 2019 Adding insult to literal injury, the next batter, Gerardo Parra, hit a two-run homer to give Washington the lead. Conforto was replaced by Keon Broxton, who wound up striking out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to end the game, a 7-6 Nationals win . Conforto, an All-Star in 2017, won't accompany the team to Miami this weekend. Callaway said the 26-year-old would take a train back to New York for evaluation. Earlier in the game, Mets left fielder Jeff McNeil   batting .354 this season   was removed with abdominal tightness. "It's something I've experienced in the past," McNeil said. "Usually a day or so... It's nothing I'm worried about." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'I hit him really hard': Mets' Michael Conforto suffers concussion in collision with Robinson Cano Related slideshow: 2019 MLB season (provided by imagn)


Danny Martinez is back for regular Fish Bites hosting duty, and he's got a meaty conversation this week, explaining the consequences of the Marlins ' trade deadline activity. On the eve of Isan Diaz 's and Lewis Brinson 's major league call-ups, what better time to update where we stand with the rebuilding process overall? Plus, handing out Pitcher and Hitter of the Week awards (44:40). Enjoy Episode 32 ! Eight Marlins games over the next seven days, and we couldn't be more excited! The Fish Stripes podcast is home to Miami Marlins shows Fish Bites, Earning Their Stripes and A-Ball with Erik Oas. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts . You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Stitcher , Podbean , Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from. NEW: Fish Bites episodes are also airing on SLAM Radio (SiriusXM channel 145) every Monday at 5 p.m. ET. Follow Fish Stripes ( @fishstripes ) and Danny ( @DannyM_MIA ) on Twitter. Full coverage here at FishStripes.com.


For some reason, the world likes to give the Once Hot-Selling Chrysler PT Cruiser a lot of ****, but I for one am a fan of its daring, 1920s hot rod-ish design. So it should be no surprise that I'm borderline obsessed with this lifted one for sale right now on Facebook Marketplace. It is truly bonkers. I've got a Facebook group-message still going with my college friends who were part of my car club at UVA back in the 2010-2013 era. Recently, one of the members in that group-message popped in a link to this incredible machine: a jacked-up PT Cruiser for sale just east of Richmond, Virginia for $4,800. The seller's description reads: PT BRUISER. Built 340 automatic transmission with divorced tc. 44" boggers on 18" deep bud aluminum wheels. Hydro steering. Mud truck only not street legal located in new Kent price is obo or trade. Mopar power house I'll translate that for those of you who don't speak "off-roader." The PT Bruiser has a strengthened 340 cubic-inch (roughly 5.6-liter) Mopar V8 engine under the hood mated to an automatic transmission and a divorced transfer case (i.e. it's not bolted to the transmission, it's connected via a driveshaft). The steering is a hydraulic setup (possibly a special setup common on modified off-road vehicles), and though this sucker isn't street legal, it's definitely an off-road beast with 44-inch mud tires on 18-inch aluminum wheels. I'm exactly sure which truck platform is under this unibody wagon, and really, there's not a whole lot I can learn from looking at these pictures other than the fact that the suspension is just two leaf-sprung solid axles. That's because it's a bit hard to see the underbelly, since the owner apparently went through some serious trouble trying to hide all the mechanical bits with what looks like, from the sides, diamond plating that's been spray-painted black. In the front, shown above, there appears to be some black plastic hiding the hardware. If you want to hear this thing run, check out the video in the comments of the for-sale listing . It sounds burbly and nice. The transfer case hangs a bit low for my tastes, and $4,800 isn't cheap, but my god would this thing turn heads in Moab.


Toyota swept the top two positions in Thursday night's second qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, establishing a buffer of 1.4 seconds over the best of the privateer LMP1s. Kamui Kobayashi was again the fastest driver at the wheel of the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, setting a time of 3m15.497s on his first flying lap to come within just over a tenth of last year's pole time at La Sarthe - and beat Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota by 0.411s. SMP Racing, whose lead BR Engineering BR1 was second-fastest in Thursday night's first qualifying, was again Toyota's closest challenger, with Mikhail Aleshin setting the Russian outfit's best time of 3m16.953s - 1.456s adrift of Kobayashi's benchmark. Rebellion Racing's #1 car, which had its Wednesday times scrubbed for a fuel flow meter infringement, recovered to fourth thanks to a 3m17.317s effort by Neel Jani following a 25-minute red flag period. That was caused by the other Rebellion R-13, the #3 of Thomas Laurent, dumping fluid on the track along the latter part of the Mulsanne straight before stopping just beyond Mulsanne corner. The #3 car, which didn't return to the track, provisionally qualified sixth in the hands of Laurent behind the second of the SMP BR1s, the #17 of Stephane Sarrazin. DragonSpeed's customer BR1 and the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 completed the LMP1 order, Tom Dillmann finding two seconds on his Wednesday time but remaining eighth. LMP2: Maldonado keeps DragonSpeed on top LMP2 continues to be led by DragonSpeed after another flyer from ex-Formula 1 racer Pastor Maldonado at the wheel of the #31 Oreca. Maldonado turned a 3m26.490s at the start of the session to take the top spot, just over three tenths ahead of the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Stephane Richelmi. #31 Dragonspeed Oreca 07: Roberto Gonzalez, Pastor Maldonado, Anthony Davidson Photo by: Paul Foster Signatech Alpine's #36 Oreca did not set a better time, with Nicolas Lapierre's Wednesday effort remaining good enough for third ahead of the TDS Racing Oreca and the Racing Team Nederland Dallara. The top Ligier, the #22 United Autosports car, did not improve either and was shuffled down to sixth. GTE: Porsche snatches back pole from Ford Porsche retook provisional pole in GTE Pro thanks to a late effort by Michael Christensen in the #92 911 RSR of 3m49.388s in the closing stages of the session. #92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR: Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt Antonio Garcia - fastest on Wednesday night until his best time in the #63 Corvette C7.R was scrubbed - came within 0.036s of Christensen's time late on, becoming the only other driver to better Harry Tincknell's first qualifying benchmark in the #67 Ford GT. Tincknell's time of 3m49.530s remained enough for third, ahead of the #93 Porsche which likewise did not improve, while the #91 Porsche slipped one place to fifth despite a late improvement by Gianmaria Bruni. The best of the Aston Martins slipped from third to sixth on the provisional grid, ahead of the #94 Porsche, the #69 and #68 Fords and the top Ferrari, the #71 car. BMW was therefore the only manufacturer to end up outside the top 10 in class, the two MTEK-run M8 GTEs ending up 14th and 16th. The top two times in GTE Am remain the same as on Wednesday, with Matteo Cairoli's best lap in the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche not being bettered. Giancarlo Fisichella was the highest-profile improver, moving up to third place in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari, behind the #56 Project 1 Porsche. Session results (Q1, Q2 combined): Cla#DriversCarClassTimeGap 1 7 Jose Maria Lopez Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 3'15.497 2 8 Fernando Alonso Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 3'15.908 0.411 3 11 Stoffel Vandoorne BR Engineering BR1 LMP1 3'16.953 1.456 4 1 Bruno Senna Rebellion R13 LMP1 3'17.313 1.816 5 17 Sergey Sirotkin BR Engineering BR1 LMP1 3'17.437 1.940 6 3 Gustavo Menezes Rebellion R13 LMP1 3'18.884 3.387 7 10 Renger van der Zande BR Engineering BR1 LMP1 3'20.200 4.703 8 4 Paolo Ruberti ENSO CLM P1/01 LMP1 3'23.726 8.229 9 31 Anthony Davidson Oreca 07 LMP2 3'26.490 10.993 10 38 Gabriel Aubry Oreca 07 LMP2 3'26.821 11.324 11 36 Pierre Thiriet Alpine A470 LMP2 3'26.935 11.438 12 28 Loic Duval Oreca 07 LMP2 3'27.096 11.599 13 29 Nyck de Vries Dallara P217 LMP2 3'27.107 11.610 14 22 Paul di Resta Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'27.338 11.841 15 23 Will Stevens Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'27.790 12.293 16 48 Memo Rojas Oreca 07 LMP2 3'27.804 12.307 17 39 Jonathan Hirschi Oreca 07 LMP2 3'28.426 12.929 18 25 John Falb Oreca 07 LMP2 3'28.457 12.960 19 37 Ricky Taylor Oreca 07 LMP2 3'28.569 13.072 20 30 Romain Dumas Oreca 07 LMP2 3'28.653 13.156 21 26 Jean-Eric Vergne Aurus 01 LMP2 3'28.713 13.216 22 32 Alex Brundle Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'28.779 13.282 23 47 Andrea Belicchi Dallara P217 LMP2 3'28.942 13.445 24 43 Norman Nato Oreca 07 LMP2 3'29.137 13.640 25 20 Mathias Beche Oreca 07 LMP2 3'29.633 14.136 26 34 Nigel Moore Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'30.744 15.247 27 49 Konstantin Tereshchenko Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'35.480 19.983 28 50 Nicholas Boulle Ligier JSP 217 LMP2 3'36.144 20.647 29 92 Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 3'49.388 33.891 30 63 Mike Rockenfeller Chevrolet Corvette C7R LMGTE PRO 3'49.424 33.927 31 67 Jonathan Bomarito Ford GT LMGTE PRO 3'49.530 34.033 32 93 Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 3'49.558 34.061 33 91 Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 3'49.921 34.424 34 97 Jonathan Adam Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 3'50.037 34.540 35 94 Dennis Olsen Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE PRO 3'50.278 34.781 36 69 Scott Dixon Ford GT LMGTE PRO 3'50.339 34.842 37 68 Sébastien Bourdais Ford GT LMGTE PRO 3'50.486 34.989 38 71 Miguel Molina Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 3'50.623 35.126 39 95 Darren Turner Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 3'50.812 35.315 40 64 Marcel Fassler Chevrolet Corvette C7R LMGTE PRO 3'51.011 35.514 41 51 Daniel Serra Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 3'51.019 35.522 42 81 Philipp Eng BMW M8 GTE LMGTE PRO 3'51.353 35.856 43 66 Billy Johnson Ford GT LMGTE PRO 3'51.601 36.104 44 82 Jesse Krohn BMW M8 GTE LMGTE PRO 3'51.818 36.321 45 88 Matteo Cairoli Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 3'52.454 36.957 46 56 Egidio Perfetti Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 3'52.750 37.253 47 54 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'52.826 37.329 48 89 Jules Gounon Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 3'52.997 37.500 49 77 Julien Andlauer Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 3'53.408 37.911 50 57 Côme Ledogar Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'53.474 37.977 51 85 Felipe Fraga Ford GT LMGTE AM 3'53.492 37.995 52 98 Mathias Lauda Aston Martin Vantage LMGTE AM 3'53.530 38.033 53 86 Thomas Preining Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 3'53.571 38.074 54 90 Charles Eastwood Aston Martin Vantage LMGTE AM 3'53.974 38.477 55 60 Sergio Pianezzola Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'53.990 38.493 56 78 Vincent Abril Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 3'54.324 38.827 57 62 Robert Smith Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'54.350 38.853 58 83 Michelle Gatting Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'54.363 38.866 59 84 Wei Lu Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'54.513 39.016 60 70 Eddie Cheever III Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'54.737 39.240 61 61 Matteo Cressoni Ferrari 488 GTE LMGTE AM 3'56.072 40.575 62 99 Patrick Long Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM View full results


The Trail Blazers and Hawks have swapped wings. Atlanta has agreed to send Kent Bazemore to Portland in exchange for Evan Turner. The teams announced the trade on Twitter Monday night. Through it all. Thank you, @24Bazemore . #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/n1xUBtSTdC   Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 24, 2019 Thank you, @thekidet ! We'll miss your endless jokes and fashionable fits. Wishing you the best of luck in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/CLDNn4xc01   Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 24, 2019 Bazemore averaged 11.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 67 games for the Hawks last season. He shot 40.2% from the field and 32% from 3-point range. The 29-year-old has also played for the Warriors and Lakers over his seven-year career. He is set to enter the final year of his contract as he signed a four-year, $70 million extension with Atlanta in July 2016. Bazemore thanked the Hawks and Atlanta on social media, then expressed his excitement about moving on to Portland. Atlanta, I dont even know where to start. Want to thank the @atlhawks for the a tremendous run over the past five years. Lots of roots planted in this city! To the front office and management, thank you putting me in a situation to thrive! #RIPCITY LETS GET IT!! @trailblazers pic.twitter.com/JoR49ol0sd   Baze (@24Bazemore) June 24, 2019 MORE : Hawks' Trae Young reveals pitch to free agents: 'I'm going to make sure I get you the ball' | Why the Hawks could run the East in a few years Turner, meanwhile, was inconsistent in 2018-19. His production dropped off and he scored a career-low 6.8 points in 22 minutes per game. He'll also be a free agent after next season. Related slideshow: The top picks in the NBA draft (Provided by imagn)


After multiple twists and turns, the Los Angeles Lakers coaching search has reportedly reached what the team hopes to be its final destination. Former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel has reached an agreement with the Lakers to be the team's next head coach, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The news was later confirmed by the Los Angeles Times' Tania Ganguli . Frank Vogel has agreed to a deal to become the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell ESPN.   Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 11, 2019 Vogel will bring eight years of head coaching experience and a 304-291 record with him to the Staples Center, where expectations remain undoubtedly high as fans grow increasingly desperate to see the contender promised by the arrival of LeBron James last year. The Lakers' coaching search finally ends, hopefully Vogel's hiring will hopefully end what has been one of the most embarrassing sagas in Lakers history. After a season featuring disaster after disaster on and off the court , the Lakers fired Luke Walton and commenced a search for the coach that could take James back to the playoffs (which sounds like a simple thing to do). It was not simple. The Lakers were quickly rebuffed by Philadelphia 76ers assistant Monty Williams, who opted to instead join the also-dysfunctional Phoenix Suns. Then the Lakers arrived at Tyronn Lue, who won a championship with James in Cleveland. When you start to lay it all out, the dysfunction really is breathtaking https://t.co/U3SFew1fCm   Ben Rohrbach (@brohrbach) May 10, 2019 Lue was confident enough he'd be the Lakers' next coach that the team was reportedly featured on his birthday cake , but then he arrived at the negotiating table. The Lakers insisted on only giving Lue a three-year deal , which would have caused Lue and James' contracts to end after the same season. Lue instead demanded five years, which was what Luke Walton got when he was hired at a much less critical juncture in the Lakers' history. The Lakers also pushed for the addition of Vogel and Jason Kidd to the team's coaching staff, while Lue understandably preferred to select his own staff. The two sides never broke their impasse on contract length, and Lue ended up walking away as the basketball world laughed at the once-mighty franchise . With Vogel, the Lakers appear to have gotten their way. His contract is three years in length, according to Wojnarowski , and a certain someone will be working directly under him. Jason Kidd to join Frank Vogel's Lakers staff Kidd will join Vogel on the Lakers in a "prominent assistant coaching role," according to Wojnarowski. Jason Kidd has agreed to join Vogel's Lakers staff in a prominent assistant coaching role, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/ZrQRWfq1US   Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 11, 2019 Kidd's name was repeatedly floated during the coaching search and appeared to be significant possibility for the top job. The former star point guard was fired last season after a 23-22 start with the Bucks, capping off a 139-152 tenure in Milwaukee. Under Mike Budenholzer the next year, the Bucks rocketed to an NBA-best 60-22 record and will soon be playing for a trip to the NBA Finals. Despite the Bucks immediately leaping to the top of the NBA after his departure and a one-year coaching stint with the the Brooklyn Nets that ended in a failed coup against the team's general manager , the Lakers were reportedly quite impressed with Kidd. Discussions have included talks on contract and assistant coaching staff, sources said. Among Lakers hopes on a Lue staff: Jason Kidd. He made a strong impression with management in his head coaching interview and had a productive history w/ Bucks developing young talent. https://t.co/uQxTjqWAm7   Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 8, 2019 Who is Frank Vogel, the Lakers next head coach? A New Jersey native and graduate of Kentucky, Vogel has spent his entire coaching career on Eastern Conference NBA teams. The 45-year-old got his start under Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics, then got his first head-coaching shot when he led the Pacers to the playoffs as an interim coach. That earned him the full-time job. During his professional peak with the Pacers, Vogel's teams were known for strong defense anchored by Paul George and Roy Hibbert. Vogel's Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals two years in a row in 2013 and 2014, but were eliminated both times by James' Miami Heat. After missing the playoffs the season after that and losing in the first round the following year, the Pacers opted to not renew Vogel's contract. The team hasn't advanced past the first round since. Vogel would later take over the Orlando Magic, where he was fired after two seasons in which he never posted more than 30 wins. Vogel was initially reported to be a possibility for Lue's top assistant until negotiations with the former Cavaliers coach broke down. Now, Vogel will take over the team and collaborate with the player that kept him out of the Finals for two years in a row. Vogel isn't a slam dunk hire like some Lakers fans had hoped, but he at least brings a winning NBA coaching record to the table unlike literally every other candidate left in the Lakers' search . Most importantly, he might have been the best the Lakers were ever going to do. More from Yahoo Sports: Keyser: Red Sox shouldn't have gone to White House David Beckham banned from driving for 6 months Troubling events clouding Cubs' red-hot start Lakers' offer to Lue was 'pitiful,' says Billups


Devonta Freeman was one of the most dominant running backs in the NFL from 2015-2016. Freeman posted 27 touchdowns and 3,175 yards from scrimmage. In fact, over those two years the only player who produced more total yards from scrimmage during that stretch was Julio Jones . Injuries have slowed Freeman down since, though. Over the last two seasons (16 games) he's totaled 1,225 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns. If Freeman stays healthy and has a bounce-back year, he might prove to be one of 2019's most valuable picks in fantasy football. Listen to Jeff Mans at Sirius XM Fantasy make the case for Freeman. Are you targeting the #Falcons running back this season in #FantasyFootball ? @Jeff_Mans @BaseballGuys pic.twitter.com/cZ4fwwYF3Y - Fantasy Sports Radio (@SiriusXMFantasy) July 11, 2019 Freeman has one previous year of experience under Dirk Koetter back in 2014. He was only a rookie and did not see much usage as a rusher. On 65 carries, he posted 248 yards and a touchdown. Koetter was not afraid to use Freeman as a receiver, though. Freeman was targeted 37 times by Matt Ryan. He caught 30 of them, totaling 225 yards and a score. This time around there's no other running back on the depth chart in front of him and Freeman has proven he can carry an offense. Ito Smith will demand some playing time, but Freeman should see the lion's share of carries and targets. He probably won't be able to match the numbers of the elite handful of dual-threat running backs . However, if he plays all 16 games Freeman should absolutely be a top-10 fantasy scorer at his position at the very least. At the moment, Freeman's ADP is No. 29 . MORE: Poker player loses brutal 31 million chip hand with pocket aces at 2019 WSOP Main Event Three Potential Landing Spots for Chris Paul News: Major trade target at safety, levels to Cowboys WRs, NFL's best RB NBA Depth Charts After Packers pass on Jalen Thompson, focus shifts to Natrell Jamerson


(Bloomberg) -- It's official. MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos are divorced after 25 years of marriage. A King County, Washington judge on Friday signed an order formalizing the separation. That sets the stage for the transfer of some 19.7 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. to MacKenzie's name. The Bezoses announced the split in January. That 4% holding is valued at $38.3 billion, enough to place her 22nd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world's 500 richest people. Her former husband, the founder and chief executive officer of the world's largest online retailer and web-services company, retains a 12% stake worth $114.8 billion and remains the world's wealthiest person. The court papers formalizing the divorce revealed little else about the terms of the separation. The couple filed a parenting plan for their children earlier this week. MacKenzie Bezos, a 49-year-old novelist, said in an April tweet that she gave Jeff Bezos, 55, all of her interests in the Washington Post and space-exploration company Blue Origin. She also signed the Giving Pledge in May, promising to donate more than half of her fortune to philanthropy. To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Day in Seattle at mday63@bloomberg.net;Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


If you're still deciding where to take your summer vacation, 2019 brings major anniversaries, new flight routes, buzzy museum openings and more. In no particular order, check out our picks for where to travel this summer: 1. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia The Salar de Uyuni, or Uyuni Salt Flat, is a vast expanse near the Bolivian Andes that resembles ice. The surreal landscape is actually leftover salt from ancient lakes. Flooding from today's nearby lakes during the rainy season (November-March) results in a reflective surface that is every photographer's dream. But hotel options are limited in this remote region, so it's big news that Kachi Lodge just debuted in May. The camp consists of six luxury domes perched on platforms that provide all the features of a hotel room (proper indoor bathroom with hot water, a double bed, heat) while also allowing unobstructed views of the surrounding salt flat. A larger lounge dome offers a communal space with tables, floor cushions and hanging lanterns. Food is provided by Gustu in La Paz, considered one of Latin America's top restaurants. Beyond simply enjoying the food and scenery, guests can hike to the crater of Tunupa Volcano, mountain bike across the Salar or visit the village of Jirira and accompany a local on llama herding rounds. Come nightfall, on-site telescopes take full advantage of the star-flooded sky. 2. Las Vegas It seems like there's always a new hotel opening in Las Vegas , but the recently added Park MGM stands out for a number of reasons. For one, the property is far more than just a trendy hotel. Guests can also experience a 40,000-square-foot Eataly , the city's first location for the food emporium that also has locations in New York and Chicago . Then there's the Park Theater, where up to 5,200 people can enjoy A-list artist residencies: Lady Gaga is currently in residence until November, with Janet Jackson and Cher starting this summer. For good measure, Bruno Mars will also be performing some dates in September. It's not a Vegas hotel without a casino, and Park MGM delivers with a classy gaming hall that retains the original chandeliers from its former life as the Monte Carlo. If that's not enough, the NoMad Las Vegas offers that hotel-within-a-hotel option, dominating Park MGM's upper floors with elegant, European-inspired rooms. Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, perhaps best known for NYC's Eleven Madison Park restaurant , are behind the NoMad Restaurant and NoMad Bar. And foodies will no doubt want to experience Roy Choi's Best Friend , the first brick-and-mortar restaurant following his hugely successful Korean BBQ truck. 3. Nova Scotia Beginning in June, new direct flights make the Canadian Maritime province of Nova Scotia more accessible than ever. American Airlines will start seasonal service from Philadelphia and New York's LaGuardia Airport, while United will add direct flights from Chicago. (United already flies direct to Halifax from Newark.) Nova Scotia often gets overlooked for popular provinces like British Columbia and Quebec, but its quiet charms are worth exploring. Cape Breton Island takes a bit of work to reach, but it's here that you'll find challenging hiking trails, a scenic driving route minus the traffic and real-deal Celtic culture. The Halifax Jazz Festival , held in the province's capital, is considered Nova Scotia's largest music festival, and goes down from July 9-14 on the waterfront. For something you don't experience every day, Dining on the Ocean Floor in the Bay of Fundy is a wildly popular event that involves just that. Guests feast on renowned local seafood while seated at a communal table on the ocean floor -- during low tide, of course. 2019 is already sold out, so make plans for 2020. 4. London Between Wimbledon, the Royal Baby and new hotels, there are a lot of reasons to visit London this summer. For starters, tennis fans will likely have July 1-14 blocked out on their calendars for Wimbledon, while royal baby fans can revel in the local zeitgeist while visiting royal hangouts like Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle . Speaking of royals, 2019 also happens to mark Queen Victoria's 200th birthday. Two new exhibits will open May 24 at Kensington Palace: "Victoria: Woman and Crown" explores the Queen's private life, while "Victoria: A Royal Childhood" is a new permanent exhibit with never-before-seen items, such as a scrapbook created by her governess. On the hotel front, The Langley is a palatial new hotel readying for a June opening. Located in Buckinghamshire, the one-time country estate of the third Duke of Marlborough, the hotel is less than an hour from London, yet feels more remote. Balance this with an East London stay at The Stratford , a new design-forward hotel occupying the first seven floors of the Manhattan Loft Gardens skyscraper. Access to outdoor spaces, 24-hour gym and trendy dining are part of the appeal. 5. Grand Canyon It's the Grand Canyon's 100th anniversary as a national park, and there are multiple ways to celebrate this notable occasion. From June 22-29, stargazers can join amateur astronomers for free at the park's North and South Rims for the Star Party . Telescopes will be on hand to find planets (Jupiter and Saturn among them), star clusters and nebulae. There will also be slide show programs with a different focus each night, from protecting dark skies to learning how planets form. Constellation talks and night sky photography workshops are among the free offerings, just allow yourself enough time since you won't be the only one with this idea. Also be sure to wear layers since temps drop quickly once the sun sets. While the event is free, the park charges $35 per car -- but at least that fee covers the entire week of star-filled events. 6. Apollo 11 anniversary celebrations, multiple US cities July 20th marks the 50th anniversary of when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon following a successful landing in Apollo 11, and cities across the United States will be celebrating. Seattle will be hosting a " Destination Moon" exhibit at the Museum of Flight , a traveling Smithsonian Institution collection featuring about 20 objects from the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin's original helmet and gloves and the command module are among the highlights. The Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida has been updating its complex, from adding virtual reality stations at the Apollo/Saturn V Center to a new interactive rocket launch feature. Events cover recreating Apollo 11's launch and the welcome home celebration. ApolloPalooza will be going down at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver from July 13-20. A key draw will be opening night featuring Harrison Schmitt, a former astronaut with Apollo 17. Not least, Space Center Houston will be celebrating with pop-up science workshops for kids and tram tours that will stop at the restored mission control center from NASA's Johnson Space Center. 7. Tasmania If you want to avoid hot, crowded destinations, take advantage of Australia 's winter and head to Tasmania, a scenic island just south of Melbourne . Road tripping is one of the best ways to experience it, and while the route, known as the Lap of Tasmania , isn't new, it now has a dedicated online presence. The new Lap of Tasmania resources now make it easier than ever to plan a leisurely road trip. The entire route is just over 900 miles and takes about a week to complete; even better, it's designed to incorporate 12 of the best points of interest. While the capital of Hobart is the most well-known destination, the trip introduces road trippers to Tamar Valley's wine region; Tasmanian devils on the Tasman Peninsula; and the East Coast's famed beaches. Among them is Bay of Fires, famed for its orange-tinged rocks, and Binalong Bay, a pristine curve of white sand that's worth visiting even if it's too chilly to take a dip. 8. New York City Yes, there are always new reasons for visiting New York City , but this summer is shaping up to be especially busy. First, there's the brand-new Hudson Yards neighborhood along the High Line, sandwiched between 30th and 34th Streets on one end and 10th and 11th Avenues on the other. It debuted in March, bringing with it a mall's worth of high-end restaurants ( Kāwi from Momofuku Group, TAK Room from French Laundry's Thomas Keller) and chain stores (Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton) interspersed with more affordable options in those categories (Shake Shack, Athleta). Oh, and let's not forget Mercado Little Spain , a 35,000-square-foot food hall dedicated to all things Spain . There are also cultural attractions, from art galleries to The Shed , a vast performance space. You can even base yourself right in the action at the new Equinox Hotel , a first for the brand that is just as upscale as its gyms. In other hotel news, the super buzzy TWA Hotel is at the center of the long-awaited revival of JFK's TWA Flight Center, designed in the 1960s by Eero Saarinen. It opened May 15 , making it the first hotel within the airport's terminal. Not least, June brings WorldPride , a reoccurring global event for the LGTBQI+ community. NYC holds the honor of hosting the first US-based WorldPride; the city's 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a pivotal event on June 28, 1969 that sparked the beginning of the gay rights movement, made the city an obvious choice. A full month of lectures, rallies and parties are expected to attract more than three million people. 9. French Polynesia Weather-wise, Tahiti may not seem like an obvious choice for summer travel, but as it's located in the Southern Hemisphere, winter there means comfortable temperatures averaging around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and less humidity. A newer airline competitor also means it's now more affordable than ever to visit this bucket-list spot. In May 2018, budget airline French bee quietly launched a new route from San Francisco to Papeete, Tahiti, starting at just $660 round trip, opening up French Polynesia to more than honeymooners. There's also more to French Polynesia than the popular islands of Tahiti and Bora Bora (the latter known for its dreamy overwater bungalows). Among the 118 islands are ones like Rangiroa, a haven for divers and snorkelers who come for its famed Blue Lagoon, pearl farm and the only coral winery in the world . Then there's Taha'a, a vanilla-scented paradise that's often overlooked for Bora Bora. Moorea is another neighboring island that offers everything from trendy restaurants to shopping, without feeling overdeveloped. Plus, many islands have local guesthouses and casual cafes, helping to keep costs down. 10. Anchorage, Alaska For the first time starting July 6, United Airlines will begin flying a direct seasonal route from Newark to Anchorage until September 8. While East Coasters can take advantage of popular Alaskan cruises, there are good reasons to stick around in Anchorage, too. Average temperatures tend to reach a balmy 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunlight lasts for about 22 hours on June 21, the summer solstice. And yes, there's a Downtown Summer Solstice Festival to celebrate. Summer days in general last longer, allowing more time to sample the city's dozen or so craft beer breweries and emerging food scene (we're looking at you, Muse ). The Anchorage Museum added a new wing in 2017 that's all about contemporary Native artwork, while Town Square Park plays host to free Thursday night concerts in summer. And though it's a 40-minute flight from Anchorage, the remote Tordrillo Mountain Lodge is fresh off a multimillion-dollar renovation, and among its new offerings is the state's first via ferrata, a climbing route that includes fixed anchors, like steel cables, to help climbers. This one, next to the Triumvirate glacier, also features two suspension bridges. 11. Singapore Singapore is still enjoying increased attention thanks to the "Crazy Rich Asians" book and movie franchise, but that isn't the only reason to visit the island nation . 2019 just also happens to be the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles creating a British trading post here. Staying at the iconic Raffles Singapore is one way to mark the occasion. The hotel plans on reopening August 1 following an extensive restoration begun in 2017. But that's not all. For the past seven years Singapore's Changi Airport has been named the best in the world by Skytrax , and for good reason -- it's a wonderland with arcade games, gardens and art installations. The airport is making headlines not just for topping the list again, but for its latest addition , the Jewel. The $1.25 billion mixed-used space is a super modern glass-and-steel structure connecting three of the four terminals, complete with next-level features not typically found in your average airport. Namely, a 130-foot-tall indoor waterfall; a Canopy Park containing a 164-foot bridge surrounded by gardens and walking paths; an IMAX movie theater; an indoor botanical garden and almost 300 shops and restaurants. Come June and beyond, the complex is expected to reveal more fun in the form of suspension nets, slides, hedge and mirror mazes and more. 12. Seattle For those that missed it, Seattle 's Space Needle is fresh off of a $100 million renovation. Completed late last summer, the attraction now features floor-to-ceiling angled glass windows encircling the top of the bi-level observation deck, fronted by glass benches. The top level is where visitors will also find the new Atmos Cafe. The lower level now sports a revolving glass floor, considered the only one of its kind in the world, and is also home to Atmos Wine Bar . A spiral staircase connects the two levels without sacrificing the views. Over at Pike Place Market , the 112-year-old institution has expanded for the first time in 40 years with the newly added MarketFront . The $74 million addition offers 30,000 square feet of space with a public plaza, a food hall for vendors like Old Stove Brewing Co. , Honest Biscuits and Indi chocolate , as well as a glass-enclosed pavilion for produce sellers and craftspeople. Not least, Seattle is experiencing a hotel boom, adding almost 2,000 new rooms in 2018. Among the notable additions are Hyatt Regency Seattle and Moxy Seattle Downtown. 13. France The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is going down in France , with soccer matches between June 7 and July 7. Games will be held in Paris , Nice and seven other destinations across the country, from the student-filled Montpellier to medieval Rennes. The 75th anniversary of D-Day is also in 2019, marking the occasion when Allied troops landed on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. Fireworks and a massive picnic on Omaha Beach are among the planned festivities. Meanwhile, the Loire Valley is marking 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci passed away at Clos Lucé in 1519. The calendar of events at the chateau includes a summer exhibition featuring a tapestry of "The Last Supper," a stage production about da Vinci's heirs and the European Renaissance Music Festival. In Paris, the famed Galeries Lafayette department store just opened a new flagship in March on the equally famous Champs Élysées. Besides spotlighting high-end designers and fashion-forward newcomers, the 70,000-square-foot store is considered more conceptual than the original, featuring pop-ups, a personal stylist app and smart hangers, a cutting-edge technology informing customers about a product's availability. 14. Churchill, Manitoba For those who don't wish to fly to remote Churchill in Northern Manitoba, best known for its polar bears and beluga whales, train service on VIA Rail Canada resumed in December for the first time in 18 months. (There are no roads to Churchill.) The train ride from Winnipeg takes about 48 hours, depositing visitors in a small town with less than 1,000 residents. But come summer, tourists arrive for beluga whale season, as Churchill annually attracts about 60,000 of the friendly whale species. While it's easy to spot belugas from the shore, a handful of tour groups offer different ways to get in the water with them. Lazy Bear Expeditions offers a kayak option, while you can paddleboard among them with Frontiers North Adventures . 15. Rwanda Mention safari and Rwanda , and gorilla trekking is probably the first thing that springs to mind. The brand-new Magashi Camp from Wilderness Safaris helps to challenge that notion, since it provides another opportunity to visit the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant and Cape buffalo) in Akagera National Park . It's not the first, but Magashi Camp, opened in May, is the most high-end option, outfitted with just six large tents that accommodate a king-sized bed, comfy seating and locally made decor. Separate tents house a communal lounge, dining area and bar, and there's also a pool on-site. As the camp overlooks Lake Rwanyakazinga, guests can spot a plethora of hippos and crocodiles without leaving the premises. Game drives afford the chance to spy not just the biggies, but giraffes, zebras and about 500 bird species. It's important to note that Akagera National Park has been restocked after years of poaching: lions were reintroduced in 2015, and black rhinos followed in 2017. 16. Washington, DC The International Spy Museum in Washington, DC has been closed since January in order to move into a brand-new building double the size. The new-and-improved museum debuted on May 12 in its boldly designed home, unveiling an updated and expanded espionage collection since much of the original collection from 2002 felt dated. The refresh includes more contributions from women and people of color; an exhibit on cyberwarfare with an interactive feature; and part of a '50s spy tunnel from Berlin . There are also exhibits that explore controversial issues like interrogation techniques and whistle blowers, both answering and raising questions. Plus, some favorite aspects are returning bigger and better, from unexpected spy gadgets to an interactive air duct. Now located near the National Mall, plan to spend at least an entire afternoon here playing spy. 17. Switzerland It's mainly oenophiles who are in on the secret of Swiss wine , simply because the country doesn't export it. Well, unless you count the 2% that it does export. One can visit the Ticino wine region in Switzerland's Italian-speaking region, or head to Fête des Vignerons , a major wine festival held once every 20 years in Vevey. From July 18 to August 11, the small town of about 20,000 villagers will expect about 400,000 visitors, kicking off the festivities with an elaborate show performed by more than 5,000 locals telling the story of the wine-growing process. The following weeks are filled with wine tastings, concerts, performances and nightly processions. The largest procession, the Coronation Parade, happens opening day on July 18, with more than 8,000 costumed participants making their way through town. In addition to local restaurants, 50 food and beverage stands will be readily accessible throughout, offering fresh baked bread, sausage and cheese. 18. Kenya The wildebeest migration is an annual undertaking where more than a million wildebeest, members of the antelope family, migrate stampede-style from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya . To help witness this thundering spectacle, the largest migration of its kind, Kenya Airways just added a new direct flight from JFK to Nairobi. The herd (along with a mix of zebras and gazelles) starts the long-haul trek in spring, reaching Kenya as early as July. Peak herd is reached in August before the gang starts the return trip home in October. The newly renovated Sanctuary Olonana is a Masai Mara property that deviates from the average safari lodge with modern, glass-enclosed suites. Plus, the lodge is just 40 minutes away from the well-trampled migration route. Also of note, the andBeyond Bateleur Camp , also in Masai Mara, has been completely rebuilt and reopened this past spring. Despite the modern updates, the high-end camp still channels an earlier era. 19. Norway Many people head to Norway in winter for the Northern Lights , but obviously the weather is much better in summer, complemented by long days of sunlight. An extra incentive to visit in 2019 is the unveiling of the extensively renovated Britannia Hotel in Trondheim. The $150 million undertaking of the historic 19th-century building took four years, reopening in April to reveal a five-star experience. The 257 rooms are outfitted with Carrara marble bathrooms and beds from Hästens, regarded as one of the world's most luxurious (and expensive) brands: prices easily run in the five figures. The six dining options are equally impressive. Fine-dining Speilsalen is overseen by Christopher Davidsen, who won a silver medal at the 2017 Bocuse d'Or, a prestigious international chef competition. Then there's the wine cellar/bar, holding 10,000 carefully chosen bottles, and the airy Palmehaven, a grand, light-filled room that makes the perfect backdrop for afternoon tea. As for Trondheim itself, Norway's third-largest city is known for its local food scene, Nidaros Cathedral, independent shops and the Nidelva River that cuts through the storybook setting.


San Antonio's weather outlook shows a dry week ahead, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . The greatest chance of rain is expected on Tuesday at 55 percent. Expect hot temperatures today and tomorrow. Temperatures will reach a high of 90 degrees on Tuesday, then ease off slightly from Thursday to Friday. Skies will be cloudy starting tomorrow. Winds are expected to reach a modest high of 18 miles per hour today, but will ease off a bit beginning on Wednesday. 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.


Bone broth has recently begun growing in popularity, even though it's technically a prehistoric food . The broth is widely used in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine (perhaps you've had pho before), and it is believed to be very nourishing for the body. Sharon Brown, clinical nutritionist and founder of frozen bone broth company Bonafide Provisions , unpacks some of the key health benefits the protein-rich broth offers. And for more, check out This Is Why You Should Get Nutrients From Food, Not Supplements . Bone broth can improve gut health. "Bone broth is one of the best sources of bioavailable collagen because it delivers collagen in a whole-food form," explains Brown. "The high levels of collagen in properly-made bone broth help repair the mucosal lining of the gut, which aids digestion, soothes the intestines, and reduces inflammation." Ensuring that the mucosal lining of the gut is healthy helps to prevent leaky gut syndrome or intestinal permeability, the condition in which the lining of your gut tears, which then causes small openings in the wall of the gut. "These tears allow particles, such as toxins, microbes, and simply undigested food into your bloodstream. The body reacts by going into a state of defense and tries to attack these substances, causing inflammation in the body," says Brown. Leaky gut syndrome not only causes chronic gastrointestinal discomfort such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and gas, but it can also affect your mental health. "These particles can cross the blood-brain barrier, causing toxins [to appear] in the brain," says Brown. Brown says leaky gut syndrome can occur as a result of consuming toxins found in our food supply, from the antibiotics given to animals, preservatives in various packaged foods, to even pesticides on fresh fruits and vegetables. Even stress can contribute to tears in the gut. The gut has a lot of control over your overall health more than you may have initially thought. Brown says that up to 85 percent of the cells in the immune system resides in the gut. "The immune system is simply the body's natural defense system that fights off infections. The immune system consists of antibodies, white blood cells, chemicals, organs, and proteins," she says. "Bone broth contains several amino acids that are key to a healthy immune system, including arginine, glycine, glutamine, and proline." Bone broth supports healthy hair, skin, and nails. Bone broth is loaded in collagen, an amino acid that is known to provide several health benefits to the body. "Collagen-rich bone broth promotes smooth, supple skin and strong, healthy hair and nails. In addition, the skin is the body's largest organ, and there is a strong link between gut and skin health known as the gut-skin axis," says Brown. Not only does collagen directly work to promote healthy skin, but it also helps to repair the gut, which in part, also helps to support skin health. Bone broth supports joint health. According to a study published in Nutrition Journal , which examined the effect that type 2 collagen had on people who were experiencing osteoarthritis (destruction of joint cartilage) symptoms in their knees, bone broth may be able to provide relief from joint pain and stiffness. After 180 days, it was found that taking supplements of type 2 collagen which was derived from the connective tissue in chickens helped to improve knee joint symptoms and physical function. "The collagen and other amino acids and minerals in bone broth can help strengthen the skeletal system, rebuild connective tissue, ease joint pain, and fight inflammation," Brown adds. RELATED: Your guide to the anti-inflammatory diet that heals your gut, slows the signs of aging, and helps you lose weight. Bone broth aids performance and recovery. "Glycine in bone broth helps the body produce antioxidants that rebuild muscle, fight disease, and detoxify the liver," says Brown. "Bone broth also helps to replenish electrolytes like sodium and potassium that are lost during exercise." In fact, glycine is one of three amino acids that the body uses to make a vital, free radical-fighting antioxidant called glutathione. According to research that was published in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging , glutathione protects cells from oxidative damage, which is believed to cause a myriad of chronic ailments, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Bone broth satiates and energizes. When you think of broth, you likely think of a salty liquid that acts a base to a soup. In other words, it's not filling on its own. Bone broth, on the other hand, has 10 grams of protein in just one cup, which helps to keep you fuller, longer. Imagine remaining full after having eaten lunch and not feeling the need to snack until dinnertime . How to make sure you're buying high-quality bone broth While all of these health benefits can be uncovered when drinking bone broth, Brown notes that there is no regulated term for bone broth, which means that a product on the shelves that is labeled as bone broth could very well be stock. "It is critical to check your ingredients and know the company you are buying from to make sure you are getting the real thing [and] so you can actually reap the benefits." The team at Bonafide Provisions provided us with a few tips on how you can distinguish real bone broth from the faux variety. Head to the frozen aisle . Freezing bone broth locks in flavor and preserves nutrients at their peak, and it is the way bone broth is traditionally stored. It's also the only way that you can store bone broth without preservatives, shelf-stabilizers, or processing. Look for bone broth that is certified organic. This ensures that the ingredients in your bone broth are actually organic, grown without pesticides, and that the bones come from animals raised without antibiotics. Look for bone broth that is made from only grass-fed or free-range bones and no filler broth. This ensures that your bone broth is made with high-quality bones from animals raised on pasture and therefore free of environmental toxins. Also, some companies add regular broth to their bone broth, which is cheaper to produce but it creates a watered-down broth. Read the ingredients. It's super important to read the ingredients before buying any bone broth and make sure they include only bones, water, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and minimal herbs and spices. Bone broth should turn to gel once refrigerated. When collagen is cooked, it turns into gelatin. The sign that a bone broth has been made properly and is full of collagen is that it solidifies and turns to gelatin when refrigerated. Video: The Health Benefits of Bone Broth So, are you ready to pick up some bone broth and start enjoying its many health benefits? And for more, check out these broth-based soup recipes !


The Golden State Warriors returned home to Oracle Arena on Wednesday night with a 1-1 split after winning Game 2 over the Toronto Raptors on the road. But Game 3 did not feature the Warriors we all have grown accustomed to seeing. Missing superstar Kevin Durant, star shooting guard Klay Thompson and backup big man Kevon Looney, the Warriors fell at home, 123-109, and now trail in the NBA Finals, 2-1. Stephen Curry had a terrific game for Golden State, going for a career-playoff-high 47 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. But his efforts to pick up the slack weren't enough. Draymond Green added 17 points and seven rebounds and Andre Iguodala added 11 points rounding out the only three Warriors to score in double figures. If you ask Green, he isn't worried about the Warriors moving forward: Draymond Green said, "All we have to do" is win Game 4, Game 5 and Game 6, then celebrate in the Bay. "Good times ahead," he said. Draymond Green said "all we have to do" is win Game 4, Game 5 and Game 6, then celebrate in the Bay. "Good times ahead," he said. - Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) June 6, 2019 For the Warriors to fulfill Green's prediction, they'll need Thompson and Durant to get back on the floor healthy. The Raptors are too deep, led by their own superstar in Kawhi Leonard, and there is only so much one team can handle before breaking down. Game 4 is Friday at Oracle Arena as the Warriors look to bounce back. MORE: Beyonce's perceived reaction to Warriors' owner's wife became a meme Roundup: Big Trump Fundraiser at Wrigley Field, CMT Awards Fashion, GPS Ruining Brains Desmond Harrison's missed flight to minicamp was final straw for Browns 49ers' biggest offseason whiff was intentional These five upcoming NBA free agents helped themselves in the playoffs


Newcastle United are now looking for a new manager ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season after confirming 'with disappointment' that current boss Rafa Benitez will be leaving St. James' Park at the end of the month after failing to agree an extension to his contract. Benitez, who has been with the Magpies since 2016 and has guided the club to the Championship title and impressive 10th and 13th place Premier League finishes in difficult circumstances during that time, is officially out of contract on 30 June. Negotiations over extending his deal had been ongoing, but appear now to have failed. "It is with disappointment that we announce manager Rafael Benitez will leave Newcastle United upon the expiry of his contract on 30th June 2019," a Newcastle statement read. "We have worked hard to extend Rafa's contract over a significant period of time, however it has not been - and will not be - possible to reach an agreement with Rafa and his representatives." In addition to offering gratitude to Benitez and his support staff 'for their efforts over the last three years and their significant contribution to what has been collectively achieved', Newcastle have confirmed that coaches Paco de Míguel Moreno, Antonio Gómez Pérez and Mikel Antia will be following their boss out of the club on 30 June. The statement continued, "We would also like to thank our supporters, players and staff for their patience during a period of uncertainty. The process to appoint a successor will now begin."


Need a budget-friendly new spot? Though apartment hunting can be challenging, don't despair just yet   there are deals to be had. So what does the low-end pricing on a rental in Aurora look like these days   and what might you get for your money? We took a look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments in Aurora via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find. Take a look at the cheapest listings available right now, 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. 15899 E. 13th Place This studio apartment, situated at 15899 E. 13th Place in Laredo Highline, is listed for $835/month for its 575 square feet. You'll find carpeted floors and air conditioning in the residence. Amenities offered with the building include on-site laundry, secured entry and a swimming pool. Both cats and dogs are welcome. Walk Score indicates that this location isn't very walkable, is convenient for biking and has a few nearby public transportation options. (See the complete listing here .) Kenton Street Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at Kenton Street in Delmar Parkway, which is also going for $845/month. Amenities offered with the building include assigned parking. The apartment also features a ceiling fan, hardwood floors and an eat-in kitchen. Cats and dogs are not welcome. Look out for a $700 security deposit. Per Walk Score ratings, the surrounding area is very walkable, is bikeable and has good transit options. (See the full listing here .) 1650 Boston St. Then there's this 550-square-foot apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at 1650 Boston St. in North Aurora, listed at $850/month. The unit offers ample closet space. Animals are not welcome. Building amenities include assigned parking and on-site laundry. Per Walk Score ratings, the area around this address is friendly for those on foot, is fairly bikeable and has good transit options. (See the listing here .) 15400 E. Evans Ave. Next up is this 400-square-foot studio apartment, located at 15400 E. Evans Ave. in Horseshoe Park and listed for $962/month. The building features on-site laundry, a fitness center and a swimming pool. In the unit, you're promised hardwood floors, a dishwasher, high ceilings and a walk-in closet. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are permitted. Walk Score indicates that the surrounding area is moderately walkable, is quite bikeable and has some transit options. (Here's the listing .) 14th Avenue This one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, situated at 14th Avenue in Jewell Heights - Hoffman Heights, is listed for $875/month for its 672 square feet. The apartment includes a balcony, carpeted floors and a dishwasher. Cats and dogs are not welcome. The building features assigned parking and on-site laundry. The listing specifies a $600 security deposit. According to Walk Score's assessment, the area around this address is moderately walkable, has some bike infrastructure and has good transit options. (See the listing here .) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


At the halfway point of the NBA season, Ryan Nanni breaks down the merits of the viable candidates to win NBA MVP.


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. Long-term interest rates just fell off a cliff. And if you think they can't keep falling, think again. Albert Edwards, a strategist at SG Securities, pointed out in a recent note that none of the experts surveyed by the Wall Street Journal at the start of the year predicted 10-year Treasury yields would fall below 2.5%. Current level: 2%. I guess we can toss those forecasting models out the window. He adds that mainstream economists have been saying for years that long-term rates would never end up at zero percent. Yet rates in Europe are now negative. People are paying half a percent a year for the privilege of lending money to the government of Switzerland. Even in the U.S., 10-year rates adjusted for inflation are only 0.29%. A generation ago, they were typically 2% or better. Western economists used to say that zero percent rates were a weird and unique thing you only saw in Japan   like people eating raw puffer fish and hoping not to die. It would never catch on over here, they said. But they already have. Today European rates are even lower than those in Japan. 'Three-off' event When U.S. rates first collapsed in 2011-2012, we were assured it was a freak one-off event and was never going to happen again. When it happened again in 2016, we were told it was, well, a "two-off" event that was certainly never going to happen a third time. Now it's happening a third time, and I guess we're waiting for the official line on why, once again, this is just a temporary derangement and nothing to worry about. But the Bank for International Settlements   the central banks' central banks   says there is something to worry about, and it's the reason that economic growth, inflation and interest rates can't get off the ground: zombies. No, I'm not making this up. The BIS says there are way too many zombies around , and they're killing the economy, and it's all the fault of low interest rates. We're talking "corporate zombies," of course. Related video: Global economic uncertainty and the Fed (provided by CNBC) Extend and pretend The BIS found that, ever since the 1980s, falling interest rates have made it easier and easier for bad companies with lousy management and terrible products and dismal prospects to stay in business long after they should have gone the way of all flesh. These "zombie" companies can stay alive   or whatever the correct term is for zombies   if they can just keep borrowing. Bankers call this "extend and pretend" (as in, "extend the term of the loan, and pretend it's ever going to be repaid.") And when money gets cheaper, that's great for zombies. Lower interest rates are correlated with rising numbers of zombie companies, the BIS found. And there are a lot of zombies around. The BIS reckons no fewer than 12% of the non-financial companies on major developed stock markets could be "zombie" companies, at least by a loose definition. This is an epidemic. In the early 1990s, the figure was about 2%. Zombie companies are bad for the rest of the economy. Forget about being an economist: Think about the worst company you ever worked for. Think about all the waste that took place   all the money, time, effort and potentially valuable real estate wasted by idiot managers and self-serving bureaucracies and terrible technology and all the rest. Replicate that to make up 12% of the economy. There. Now you understand why economic growth has been so sluggish for a generation. Now you know why the stock market is so hooked on the Federal Reserve. Hey, don't blame me. Blame the BIS. We'd all be better off if badly run companies were put out of their misery, economists agree. But as long as interest rates are low and debt is cheap, they keep staggering around. The price of junk Zombies have never had it so good. As the interest rate on 10-year Treasuries has fallen, so have rates on junk bonds. In other words, the rate paid by zombie companies. Since the start of the year, the typical high-yield bond yield has fallen by a quarter, from 8% to 6%, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Albert Edwards says we're in an economic Ice Age. The BIS says we've got too many zombies. The U.S. president is a clown. There's a horror movie in this somewhere. But look on the bright side. Wall Street's having another party. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen nearly 2,000 points since investors began expecting falling interest rates earlier this month. The S&P 500 Index has climbed 7.5%. What could possibly go wrong? Brett Arends is a MarketWatch columnist.


CLEVELAND -- Last month, Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis took to social media, sharing a story about his interactions with a witty Cleveland police officer after he got pulled over for speeding. Now, police have released body camera of the what's arguably the traffic stop that turned the Indians' season around. On May 6, Kipnis was driving eastbound on I-90 when an officer pulled him over for speeding. "Is there a reason for your excessive speed?" the officer is heard asking. "Late to the field   didn't pay attention," Kipnis responds. The officer returns to his cruiser, then walks back to Kipnis' car to make the remark of the season. "Maybe you should practice batting 100 instead of driving 100! Take it easy!" the officer said before walking away. Kipnis said, on Instagram , that he didn't receive a ticket. Instead, however, it appears that he took the officer's advice. His batting average is now .246, a significant improvement from the .190 he was averaging in May. View this post on Instagram Bruh... he went straight for the heart! Too funny not to post.. always helps to have a sense of humor about things so shit like this doesn't get to you but damn, I'm tryin!! #wouldratherhavetheticket #kickamanwhilehesdown #hegotme #getinthecagesyaya A post shared by Jason Kipnis (@jasonkipnis22) on May 6, 2019 at 11:28am PDT More on Jason Kipnis, here.     ©2019 WJW-TV, Cleveland Visit WJW-TV, Cleveland at www.fox8.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


MIAMI - A high-profile Chinese fugitive - who belongs to President Donald Trump's exclusive South Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, and has railed against China's communist government - is accused of being a spy for that very regime, according to new documents filed in a federal court case in New York. Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who also goes by Miles Kwok, fled to the United States four years ago after learning an associate had been arrested on corruption charges. He is now one of China's most-wanted, accused of myriad crimes by the Chinese government, including paying bribes and sexual assault. He maintains his innocence, saying the charges are politically motivated. Guo, who made his money in real estate, has long promoted himself as a dissident being hunted by the Chinese government for his opposition to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. He is currently seeking political asylum in the United States, where he reportedly avoided deportation by the Trump administration after the president learned Guo was a member of Mar-a-Lago. Now, filings in a civil case, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, suggest Guo may not be the dissident he claims. "Instead, Guo Wengui was, and is, a dissident-hunter, propagandist, and agent in the service of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party," according to federal court papers filed on Friday. The Chinese spy allegations against Guo surfaced last week in a contract dispute - rife with international and political intrigue - between a Hong Kong-based company, Eastern Profit Corporation Limited, and an Arlington, Va., research firm, Strategic Vision US, LLC. Guo denied the allegations through his attorney, saying the claim "utterly lacks credibility." "This lawsuit is about a contract between Eastern Profit and Strategic. Strategic is now abusing the litigation privilege to slander Mr. Guo," wrote Guo's attorney, Daniel Podhaskie, in a response to the Miami Herald. He claimed the slander was retaliation after Strategic's counterclaim was dismissed. Podhaskie pointed to Guo's frozen assets in China as proof that he is not working with the Communist Party. In the lawsuit, Eastern Profit says it hired Strategic Vision last year to investigate 15 unnamed individuals after holding several meetings at Guo's ritzy apartment at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in Manhattan. The research firm said it had considerable experience in the field, citing probes of the personal lives of Republican politicians, a Middle Eastern prince, and a Russian official in the opposition party. But Eastern claims that Strategic Vision failed to deliver the private information on the 15 Chinese nationals operating in the United States after being paid an initial $1 million for the promised "high-quality original research," according to the federal suit filed last year in the Southern District of New York. Strategic Vision, headed by CEO French Wallop, the widow of the late Wyoming GOP Sen. Malcolm Wallop, was fired by Eastern Profit in February 2018 after the research firm provided information that was mostly publicly available on the probe's targets, the suit says. Eastern Profit demanded the return of its $1 million deposit for the research work, accusing Strategic Vision of breaching their contract. Strategic filed a counterclaim not only against Eastern Profit but also against Guo, alleging he is actually a Chinese government spy whose "origin story is untrue." In the counterclaim, Strategic Vision, called Guo a "representative" of Eastern Profit, and accused the billionaire of giving the research firm a thumb drive loaded with malware. Strategic claimed Guo was seeking sensitive information on Chinese nationals who were actually assisting the U.S. government's counter-intelligence efforts. "Strategic Vision proved its counterclaim with mountains of publicly available information," said the research firm's attorney, Edward Greim, in a statement provided to the Miami Herald. "(The evidence) showed that Mr. Guo was detained in China on the date he claims to have arrived in the U.S. in early 2015, that he sent hundreds of millions of dollars back and forth between China and the U.S. for years after Chinese authorities supposedly starting seizing his assets, and that he's used scores of lawsuits to engage in seemingly sham disputes against Chinese regime-connected entities while simultaneously filing very real lawsuits against legitimate Chinese dissidents to destroy their reputations and drain their finances." The allegations against Guo - that he's some sort of double agent uncovering real dissidents for the Chinese government - come as the FBI continues to investigate possible Chinese espionage at Mar-a-Lago. The ongoing federal probe gained new momentum when, on March 30, Yujing Zhang, a 33-year-old Chinese national, was arrested and charged with trespassing and lying to a federal agent after she tried to enter Mar-a-Lago with various cover stories. According to authorities, she was carrying a trove of electronics, including a thumb drive authorities claimed was infested with malware. Recent secret filings in the Zhang case suggest federal authorities have information about Zhang that could endanger national security, should anyone but the judge view it. Zhang had initially bought a ticket to an event at Mar-a-Lago that was being promoted by South Florida massage parlor entrepreneur, Li "Cindy" Yang. The event was canceled after the Herald revealed Yang was selling access to the president and his family through Mar-a-Lago events that she promoted on Chinese social media. Zhang was aware of the cancellation before arriving in Florida. Now, both Zhang and Yang are at the center of the broader federal counter-intelligence effort in South Florida. Yang is also the focus of a separate campaign finance investigation by the Department of Justice. It is unclear whether Guo is in any way involved in the counterintelligence investigation. Top Senate Democrats are renewing calls for federal authorities to assess potential security risks posed by Mar-a-Lago's status as a club where $200,000 buys a membership with nearly unlimited access to the president's South Florida home. "I do not know the guy at all," longtime Mar-a-Lago member George Lombardi told the Miami Herald. "But I can say that the events that took place in Mar-a-Lago months ago reflect the fact that there are a few individuals that may live in the USA but they have pledged their alliance to other countries." Still, Lombardi said he was not worried by the news. The Trump Organization, which runs Mar-a-Lago, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Guo was photographed at Mar-a-Lago in December 2018, walking his beloved tiny white dog around the grounds. At the time, the president's wife, Melania, and other members of the family were popping in and out of the club to attend various holiday events. President Trump was in Washington at the time due to the government shutdown. The picture of Guo, his dog, and an unidentified female companion was snapped by Claude Taylor, an anti-Trump activist, who was driving a boat up the Intracoastal Waterway. On board Taylor's boat was a large inflatable rat, with hair and suit that made it look like Donald Trump. "We were just having fun, creating mischief," Taylor told the Herald. As he blasted a classic rock song - "I Fought the Law" by the Clash - Taylor saw Guo and the female companion walking the dog near the club's seawall. While Taylor snapped photos of Guo, the billionaire started taking pictures of the boat. Taylor logged onto Mar-a-Lago's unsecured guest Wi-Fi, and a while later received a contact from inside the club. The contact included one photo of Guo inside Mar-a-Lago reading a newspaper, and another with Taylor's rat boat behind him, which Taylor assumed was taken by Guo's female companion. "He wants as many people as possible to know he is a member in good standing," Taylor remembers thinking at the time. "He's a fugitive from justice who has asylum claims and he's using as leverage his association with Mar-a-Lago to bolster his asylum claim." "Mr. Guo is the most wanted dissident worldwide by the Chinese Communist Party and has been their most outspoken and vitriolic critic since his arrival in the United States," according to Podhaskie, Guo's attorney. The Chinese government has apparently gone to considerable lengths to try to bring Guo back to mainland China. On May 24, 2017, several Chinese officials went to Guo's home - a $67 million Manhattan penthouse - in an effort to persuade him to drop his activism and return to China, according to an audio recording of the meeting reported by the Wall Street Journal. The officials were traveling in the United States on visas that did not permit official business, prompting a behind-the-scenes skirmish between the FBI and State Department on whether to arrest them as they left the country, according to the Journal. In the end, the State Department's fears of sparking an international incident won out, and the Chinese officials left the country without incident. Around the same time, Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Steve Wynn, a casino magnate and longtime associate of Trump's with business interests in Macau, a special administrative region of China, reportedly hand-delivered a letter to the president on behalf of the Chinese government. It requested that the United States deport Guo back to China. (Wynn denied the story through his lawyer, when asked for comment by the Journal). Trump appeared ready to grant China's request until his aides dissuaded him by telling him that Guo was a member of Mar-a-Lago, according to the Journal. Guo is known to be one of China's most eccentric billionaires and has spent his life mired in controversy. Guo's official Facebook page is filled with videos of himself demonstrating his various workout routines and anti-Chinese Communist Party content - like one recent video in which he interviews former senior Trump advisor Steve Bannon on U.S.-Chinese relations over dinner. The unlikely duo met while Bannon worked in the White House as Trump's chief strategist, according to Bannon, who spoke at a news conference last year where he announced he was joining Guo's effort to expose Chinese corruption around the globe. During the news conference, Guo and Bannon alleged that the Chinese government was involved in the death of another Chinese billionaire, Wang Jian, former chairman of the HNA Group, who fell to his death on July 4, 2018, while vacationing in the south of France. French officials ruled the death an accident and claimed there was no evidence pointing to suicide. However, Guo said at the news conference that he had commissioned a private investigation into Wang's fall that turned up several anomalies, including how his bodyguards reacted by giving the dying man facial acupuncture. Together, Guo and Bannon launched the Rule of Law Foundation, which they said would collect evidence in cases of deaths like Wang's, according to the South China Morning Post. "Mr. Guo has consistently emphasized his one goal: to take down the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). As such, he has put all of his available resources to that end - to take down this murderous dictatorship and free his fellow countrymen in China," Guo's lawyer told the Herald. Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com


ARLINGTON, Va.   President Donald Trump paid his respects Thursday to those who died in service to the United States by placing American flags at several gravesites during an early Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, participated in a decades-old tradition known as "flags in." Every Thursday before the holiday, members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, or the Old Guard, honor the nation's fallen heroes by placing American flags at each service member's headstone. Trump and the first lady each placed three flags at three headstones after making a quiet trip to the hallowed burial ground. Presidents typically lay a wreath and deliver remarks at the cemetery on Monday, which is Memorial Day, but Trump will be in Japan on a state visit.


LOS ANGELES   Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian have decided to stay married as the former NBA star continues his recovery a week after he was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel. Kardashian's lawyer, Laura Wasser, filed a petition Wednesday to dismiss the reality star's divorce filing from December 2013. A clerk granted the request in such a way that the divorce papers can be refiled at a later date. The document doesn't state a reason for the change but shows Odom signed off on dismissing the divorce Tuesday. Kardashian has been by Odom's side since he was found in extremely critical condition Oct. 13 at the Love Ranch brothel in the rural community of Crystal, Nevada, and hospitalized in Las Vegas. He regained consciousness Friday and was transported to Los Angeles on Monday. Kardashian posted a statement to her website Monday saying Odom made "incredible strides" at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas and thanking the doctors and nurses "for their kindness and diligent work." The hospital and Odom's relatives have not revealed his prognosis, but the family has hinted at a long road ahead, saying they realize his "continued improvement" won't be easy. The brothel said workers saw him drink alcohol and take supplements sold as "herbal Viagra." The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in 2013 against one brand he took, Reload, after it was found to contain sildenafil, the active ingredient in prescription Viagra. He also told at least one of the women that he had done cocaine, but the brothel says it did not see him take any drugs. Love Ranch owner Dennis Hof has said that Odom arrived Oct. 10 for a four-day stay and spent $75,000 on two women who accompanied him in a VIP suite. Test results from blood samples obtained through a warrant still are pending, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility of taking action against the brothel or Odom.