On Oct. 12, 2018, Daehaun White walked free, or so he thought. A guard handed him shoelaces and the $19 that had been in his pocket at the time of his booking, along with a letter from his public defender. The lanky 19-year-old had been sitting for almost a month in St. Louis' Medium Security Institution, a city jail known as the Workhouse, after being pulled over for driving some friends around in a stolen Chevy Cavalier. When the police charged him with tampering with a motor vehicle   driving a car without its owner's consent   and held him overnight, he assumed he would be released by morning. He told the police that he hadn't known that the Chevy, which a friend had lent him a few hours earlier, was stolen. He had no previous convictions. But the $1,500 he needed for the bond was far beyond what he or his family could afford. It wasn't until his public defender, Erika Wurst, persuaded the judge to lower the amount to $500 cash, and a nonprofit fund, the Bail Project, paid it for him, that he was able to leave the notoriously grim jail. "Once they said I was getting released, I was so excited I stopped listening," he told me recently. He would no longer have to drink water blackened with mold or share a cell with rats, mice and cockroaches. He did a round of victory pushups and gave away all of the snack cakes he had been saving from the cafeteria. When he finally read Wurst's letter, however, he realized there was a catch. Even though Wurst had argued against it, the judge, Nicole Colbert-Botchway, had ordered him to wear an ankle monitor that would track his location at every moment using GPS. For as long as he would wear it, he would be required to pay $10 a day to a private company, Eastern Missouri Alternative Sentencing Services, or EMASS. Just to get the monitor attached, he would have to report to EMASS and pay $300 up front   enough to cover the first 25 days, plus a $50 installation fee. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom based in New York. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter to receive articles and investigations like this one as soon as they're published. This article is a collaboration between ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine. White didn't know how to find that kind of money. Before his arrest, he was earning minimum wage as a temp, wrapping up boxes of shampoo. His father was largely absent, and his mother, Lakisha Thompson, had recently lost her job as the housekeeping manager at a Holiday Inn. Raising Daehaun and his four siblings, she had struggled to keep up with the bills. The family bounced between houses and apartments in northern St. Louis County, where, as a result of Jim Crow redlining, most of the area's black population lives. In 2014, they were living on Canfield Drive in Ferguson when Michael Brown was shot and killed there by a police officer. During the ensuing turmoil, Thompson moved the family to Green Bay, Wisconsin. White felt out of place. He was looked down on for his sagging pants, called the N-word when riding his bike. After six months, he moved back to St. Louis County on his own to live with three of his siblings and stepsiblings in a gray house with vinyl siding. When White got home on the night of his release, he was so overwhelmed to see his family again that he forgot about the letter. He spent the next few days hanging out with his siblings, his mother, who had returned to Missouri earlier that year, and his girlfriend, Demetria, who was seven months pregnant. He didn't report to EMASS. What he didn't realize was that he had failed to meet a deadline. Typically, defendants assigned to monitors must pay EMASS in person and have the device installed within 24 hours of their release from jail. Otherwise, they have to return to court to explain why they've violated the judge's orders. White, however, wasn't called back for a hearing. Instead, a week after he left the Workhouse, Colbert-Botchway issued a warrant for his arrest. Three days later, a large group of police officers knocked on Thompson's door, looking for information about an unrelated case, a robbery. White and his brother had been making dinner with their mother, and the officers asked them for identification. White's name matched the warrant issued by Colbert-Botchway. "They didn't tell me what the warrant was for," he said. "Just that it was for a violation of my release." He was taken downtown and held for transfer back to the Workhouse. "I kept saying to myself, 'Why am I locked up?'" he recalled. The next morning, Thompson called the courthouse to find the answer. She learned that her son had been jailed over his failure to acquire and pay for his GPS monitor. To get him out, she needed to pay EMASS on his behalf. This seemed absurd to her. When Daehaun was 13, she had worn an ankle monitor after violating probation for a minor theft, but the state hadn't required her to cover the cost of her own supervision. "This is a 19-year-old coming out of the Workhouse," she told me recently. "There's no way he has $300 saved." Thompson felt that the court was forcing her to choose between getting White out of jail and supporting the rest of her family. Over the past half-century, the number of people behind bars in the United States jumped by more than 500%, to 2.2 million. This extraordinary rise, often attributed to decades of "tough on crime" policies and harsh sentencing laws, has ensured that even as crime rates have dropped since the 1990s, the number of people locked up and the average length of their stay have increased. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the cost of keeping people in jails and prisons soared to $87 billion in 2015 from $19 billion in 1980, in current dollars. In recent years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have joined criminal-justice reformers in recognizing mass incarceration as both a moral outrage and a fiscal sinkhole. As ankle bracelets have become compact and cost-effective, legislators have embraced them as an enlightened alternative. More than 125,000 people in the criminal-justice system were supervised with monitors in 2015, compared with just 53,000 people in 2005, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Although no current national tally is available, data from several cities   Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Chicago; and San Francisco   show that this number continues to rise. Last December, the First Step Act, which includes provisions for home detention, was signed into law by President Donald Trump with support from the private prison giants GEO Group and CoreCivic. These corporations dominate the so-called community-corrections market   services such as day-reporting and electronic monitoring   that represents one of the fastest-growing revenue sectors of their industry. By far the most decisive factor promoting the expansion of monitors is the financial one. The United States government pays for monitors for some of those in the federal criminal-justice system and for tens of thousands of immigrants supervised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But states and cities, which incur around 90% of the expenditures for jails and prisons, are increasingly passing the financial burden of the devices onto those who wear them. It costs St. Louis roughly $90 a day to detain a person awaiting trial in the Workhouse, where in 2017 the average stay was 291 days. When individuals pay EMASS $10 a day for their own supervision, it costs the city nothing. A 2014 study by NPR and the Brennan Center found that, with the exception of Hawaii, every state required people to pay at least part of the costs associated with GPS monitoring. Some probation offices and sheriffs run their own monitoring programs   renting the equipment from manufacturers, hiring staff and collecting fees directly from participants. Others have outsourced the supervision of defendants, parolees and probationers to private companies. "There are a lot of judges who reflexively put people on monitors, without making much of a pretense of seriously weighing it at all," said Chris Albin-Lackey, a senior legal adviser with Human Rights Watch who has researched private-supervision companies. "The limiting factor is the cost it might impose on the public, but when that expense is sourced out, even that minimal brake on judicial discretion goes out the window." Nowhere is the pressure to adopt monitors more pronounced than in places like St. Louis: cash-strapped municipalities with large populations of people awaiting trial. Nationwide on any given day, half a million people sit in crowded and expensive jails because, like Daehaun White, they cannot purchase their freedom. As the movement to overhaul cash bail has challenged the constitutionality of jailing these defendants, judges and sheriffs have turned to monitors as an appealing substitute. In San Francisco, the number of people released from jail onto electronic monitors tripled after a 2018 ruling forced courts to release more defendants without bail. In Marion County, Indiana, where jail overcrowding is routine, roughly 5,000 defendants were put on monitors last year. "You would be hard-pressed to find bail-reform legislation in any state that does not include the possibility of electronic monitoring," said Robin Steinberg, the chief executive of the Bail Project. Yet like the system of wealth-based detention they are meant to help reform, ankle monitors often place poor people in special jeopardy. Across the country, defendants who have not been convicted of a crime are put on "offender funded" payment plans for monitors that sometimes cost more than their bail. And unlike bail, they don't get the payment back, even if they're found innocent. Although a federal survey shows that nearly 40% of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to cover an emergency, companies and courts routinely threaten to lock up defendants if they fall behind on payment. In Greenville, South Carolina, pretrial defendants can be sent back to jail when they fall three weeks behind on fees. (An officer for the Greenville County Detention Center defended this practice on the grounds that participants agree to the costs in advance.) In Mohave County, Arizona, pretrial defendants charged with sex offenses have faced rearrest if they fail to pay for their monitors, even if they prove that they can't afford them. "We risk replacing an unjust cash-bail system," Steinberg said, "with one just as unfair, inhumane and unnecessary." Many local judges, including in St. Louis, do not conduct hearings on a defendant's ability to pay for private supervision before assigning them to it; those who do often overestimate poor people's financial means. Without judicial oversight, defendants are vulnerable to private-supervision companies that set their own rates and charge interest when someone can't pay up front. Some companies even give their employees bonuses for hitting collection targets. It's not only debt that can send defendants back to jail. People who may not otherwise be candidates for incarceration can be punished for breaking the lifestyle rules that come with the devices. A survey in California found that juveniles awaiting trial or on probation face especially difficult rules; in one county, juveniles on monitors were asked to follow more than 50 restrictions, including not participating "in any social activity." For this reason, many advocates describe electronic monitoring as a "net-widener": Far from serving as an alternative to incarceration, it ends up sweeping more people into the system. Dressed in a baggy yellow City of St. Louis Corrections shirt, White was walking to the van that would take him back to the Workhouse after his rearrest, when a guard called his name and handed him a bus ticket home. A few hours earlier, his mom had persuaded her sister to lend her the $300 that White owed EMASS. Wurst, his public defender, brought the receipt to court. The next afternoon, White hitched a ride downtown to the EMASS office, where one of the company's bond-compliance officers, Nick Buss, clipped a black box around his left ankle. Based in the majority white city of St. Charles, west of St. Louis, EMASS has several field offices throughout eastern Missouri. A former probation and parole officer, Michael Smith, founded the company in 1991 after Missouri became one of the first states to allow private companies to supervise some probationers. (Smith and other EMASS officials declined to comment for this story.) The St. Louis area has made national headlines for its "offender funded" model of policing and punishment. Stricken by postindustrial decline and the 2008 financial crisis, its municipalities turned to their police departments and courts to make up for shortfalls in revenue. In 2015, the Ferguson Report by the United States Department of Justice put hard numbers to what black residents had long suspected: The police were targeting them with disproportionate arrests, traffic tickets and excessive fines. EMASS may have saved the city some money, but it also created an extraordinary and arbitrary-seeming new expense for poor defendants. When cities cover the cost of monitoring, they often pay private contractors $2 to $3 a day for the same equipment and services for which EMASS charges defendants $10 a day. To come up with the money, EMASS clients told me, they had to find second jobs, take their children out of day care and cut into disability checks. Others hurried to plead guilty for no better reason than that being on probation was cheaper than paying for a monitor. At the downtown office, White signed a contract stating that he would charge his monitor for an hour and a half each day and "report" to EMASS with $70 each week. He could shower, but was not to bathe or swim (the monitor is water-resistant, not waterproof). Interfering with the monitor's functioning was a felony. The St. Louis office of EMASS, which charges defendants $300 up front to get the monitor attached. (Zora J Murff for The New York Times) White assumed that GPS supervision would prove a minor annoyance. Instead, it was a constant burden. The box was bulky and the size of a fist, so he couldn't hide it under his jeans. Whenever he left the house, people stared. There were snide comments ("nice bracelet") and cutting jokes. His brothers teased him about having a babysitter. "I'm nobody to watch," he insisted. The biggest problem was finding work. Confident and outgoing, White had never struggled to land jobs; after dropping out of high school in his junior year, he flipped burgers at McDonald's and Steak 'n Shake. To pay for the monitor, he applied to be a custodian at Julia Davis Library, a cashier at Home Depot, a clerk at Menards. The conversation at Home Depot had gone especially well, White thought, until the interviewer casually asked what was on his leg. To help improve his chances, he enrolled in Mission: St. Louis, a job-training center for people reentering society. One afternoon in January, he and a classmate role-played how to talk to potential employers about criminal charges. White didn't know how much detail to go into. Should he tell interviewers that he was bringing his pregnant girlfriend some snacks when he was pulled over? He still isn't sure, because a police officer came looking for him midway through the class. The battery on his monitor had died. The officer sent him home, and White missed the rest of the lesson. With all of the restrictions and rules, keeping a job on a monitor can be as difficult as finding one. The hours for weekly check-ins at the downtown EMASS office   1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Mondays   are inconvenient for those who work. In 2011, the National Institute of Justice surveyed 5,000 people on electronic monitors and found that 22% said they had been fired or asked to leave a job because of the device. Juawanna Caves, a young St. Louis native and mother of two, was placed on a monitor in December after being charged with unlawful use of a weapon. She said she stopped showing up to work as a housekeeper when her co-workers made her uncomfortable by asking questions and later lost a job at a nursing home because too many exceptions had to be made for her court dates and EMASS check-ins. Perpetual surveillance also takes a mental toll. Nearly everyone I spoke to who wore a monitor described feeling trapped, as though they were serving a sentence before they had even gone to trial. White was never really sure about what he could or couldn't do under supervision. In January, when his girlfriend had their daughter, Rylan, White left the hospital shortly after the birth, under the impression that he had a midnight curfew. Later that night, he let his monitor die so that he could sneak back before sunrise to see the baby again. EMASS makes its money from defendants. But it gets its power over them from judges. It was in 2012 that the judges of the St. Louis court started to use the company's services   which previously involved people on probation for misdemeanors   for defendants awaiting trial. Last year, the company supervised 239 defendants in the city of St. Louis on GPS monitors, according to numbers provided by EMASS to the court. The alliance with the courts gives the company not just a steady stream of business but a reliable means of recouping debts: Unlike, say, a credit-card company, which must file a civil suit to collect from overdue customers, EMASS can initiate criminal-court proceedings, threatening defendants with another stay in the Workhouse. In early April, I visited Judge Rex Burlison in his chambers on the 10th floor of the St. Louis civil courts building. A few months earlier, Burlison, who has short gray hair and light blue eyes, had been elected by his peers as presiding judge, overseeing the city's docket, budget and operations, including the contract with EMASS. It was one of the first warm days of the year, and from the office window I could see sunlight glimmering on the silver Gateway Arch. I asked Burlison about the court's philosophy for using pretrial GPS. He stressed that while each case was unique and subject to the judge's discretion, monitoring was most commonly used for defendants who posed a flight risk, endangered public safety or had an alleged victim. Judges vary in how often they order defendants to wear monitors, and critics have attacked the inconsistency. Colbert-Botchway, the judge who put White on a monitor, regularly made pretrial GPS a condition of release, according to public defenders. (Colbert-Botchway declined to comment.) But another St. Louis city judge, David Roither, told me, "I really don't use it very often because people here are too poor to pay for it." Whenever a defendant on a monitor violates a condition of release, whether related to payment or a curfew or something else, EMASS sends a letter to the court. Last year, Burlison said, the court received two to three letters a week from EMASS about violations. In response, the judge usually calls the defendant in for a hearing. As far as he knew, Burlison said, judges did not incarcerate people simply for failing to pay EMASS debts. "Why would you?" he asked me. When people were put back in jail, he said, there were always other factors at play, like the defendant's missing a hearing, for instance. (Issuing a warrant for White's arrest without a hearing, he acknowledged after looking at the docket, was not the court's standard practice.) The contract with EMASS allows the court to assign indigent defendants to the company to oversee "at no cost." Yet neither Burlison nor any of the other current or former judges I spoke with recalled waiving fees when ordering someone to wear an ankle monitor. When I asked Burlison why he didn't, he said that he was concerned that if he started to make exceptions on the basis of income, the company might stop providing ankle-monitoring services in St. Louis. "People get arrested because of life choices," Burlison said. "Whether they're good for the charge or not, they're still arrested and have to deal with it, and part of dealing with it is the finances." To release defendants without monitors simply because they can't afford the fee, he said, would be to disregard the safety of their victims or the community. "We can't just release everybody because they're poor," he continued. But many people in the Workhouse awaiting trial are poor. In January, civil rights groups filed suit against the city and the court, claiming that the St. Louis bail system violated the Constitution, in part by discriminating against those who can't afford to post bail. That same month, the Missouri Supreme Court announced new rules that urged local courts to consider releasing defendants without monetary conditions and to waive fees for poor people placed on monitors. Shortly before the rules went into effect, on July 1, Burlison said that the city intends to shift the way ankle monitors are distributed and plans to establish a fund to help indigent defendants pay for their ankle bracelets. But he said he didn't know how much money would be in the fund or whether it was temporary or permanent. The need for funding could grow quickly. The pending bail lawsuit has temporarily spurred the release of more defendants from custody, and as a result, public defenders say, the demand for monitors has increased. Judges are anxious about what people released without posting bail might do once they get out. Several told me that monitors may ensure that the defendants return to court. Not unlike doctors who order a battery of tests for a mildly ill patient to avoid a potential malpractice suit, judges seem to view monitors as a precaution against their faces appearing on the front page of the newspaper. "Every judge's fear is to let somebody out on recognizance and he commits murder, and then everyone asks, 'How in the hell was this person let out?'" said Robert Dierker, who served as a judge in St. Louis from 1986 to 2017 and now represents the city in the bail lawsuit. "But with GPS, you can say, 'Well, I have him on GPS, what else can I do?'" Critics of monitors contend that their public-safety appeal is illusory: If defendants are intent on harming someone or skipping town, the bracelet, which can be easily removed with a pair of scissors, would not stop them. Studies showing that people tracked by GPS appear in court more reliably are scarce, and research about its effectiveness as a deterrent is inconclusive. "The fundamental question is, What purpose is electronic monitoring serving?" said Blake Strode, the executive director of ArchCity Defenders, a nonprofit civil rights law firm in St. Louis that is one of several firms representing the plaintiffs in the bail lawsuit. "If the only purpose it's serving is to make judges feel better because they don't want to be on the hook if something goes wrong, then that's not a sensible approach. We should not simply be monitoring for monitoring's sake." Electronic monitoring was first conceived in the early 1960s by Ralph and Robert Gable, identical twins studying at Harvard under the psychologists Timothy Leary and B.F. Skinner, respectively. Influenced in part by Skinner's theories of positive reinforcement, the Gables rigged up some surplus missile-tracking equipment to monitor teenagers on probation; those who showed up at the right places at the right times were rewarded with movie tickets, limo rides and other prizes. Although this round-the-clock monitoring was intended as a tool for rehabilitation, observers and participants alike soon recognized its potential to enhance surveillance. All but two of the 16 volunteers in their initial study dropped out , finding the two bulky radio transmitters oppressive. "They felt like it was a prosthetic conscience, and who would want Mother all the time along with you?" Robert Gable told me. Psychology Today labeled the invention a "belt from Big Brother." The reality of electronic monitoring today is that Big Brother is watching some groups more than others. No national statistics are available on the racial breakdown of Americans wearing ankle monitors, but all indications suggest that mass supervision, like mass incarceration, disproportionately affects black people. In Cook County, Illinois, for instance, black people make up 24% of the population, and 67% of those on monitors. The sociologist Simone Browne has connected contemporary surveillance technologies like GPS monitors to America's long history of controlling where black people live, move and work. In her 2015 book, "Dark Matters," she traces the ways in which "surveillance is nothing new to black folks," from the branding of enslaved people and the shackling of convict laborers to Jim Crow segregation and the home visits of welfare agencies. These historical inequities, Browne notes, influence where and on whom new tools like ankle monitors are imposed. For some black families, including White's, monitoring stretches across generations. Annette Taylor, the director of Ripple Effect, an advocacy group for prisoners and their families based in Champaign, Illinois, has seen her ex-husband, brother, son, nephew and sister's husband wear ankle monitors over the years. She had to wear one herself, about a decade ago, she said, for driving with a suspended license. "You're making people a prisoner of their home," she told me. When her son was paroled and placed on house arrest, he couldn't live with her, because he was forbidden to associate with people convicted of felonies, including his stepfather, who was also on house arrest. Some people on monitors are further constrained by geographic restrictions   areas in the city or neighborhood that they can't go without triggering an alarm. James Kilgore, a research scholar at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, has cautioned that these exclusionary zones could lead to "e-gentrification," effectively keeping people out of more-prosperous neighborhoods. In 2016, after serving four years in prison for drug conspiracy, Bryan Otero wore a monitor as a condition of parole. He commuted from the Bronx to jobs at a restaurant and a department store in Manhattan, but he couldn't visit his family or doctor because he was forbidden to enter a swath of Manhattan between 117th Street and 131st Street. "All my family and childhood friends live in that area," he said. "I grew up there." Michelle Alexander, a legal scholar and columnist for The Times, has argued that monitoring engenders a new form of oppression under the guise of progress. In her 2010 book, "The New Jim Crow," she wrote that the term "mass incarceration" should refer to the "system that locks people not only behind actual bars in actual prisons, but also behind virtual bars and virtual walls   walls that are invisible to the naked eye but function nearly as effectively as Jim Crow laws once did at locking people of color into a permanent second-class citizenship." As the cost of monitoring continues to fall, those who are required to submit to it may worry less about the expense and more about the intrusive surveillance. The devices, some of which are equipped with two-way microphones, can give corrections officials unprecedented access to the private lives not just of those monitored but also of their families and friends. GPS location data appeals to the police, who can use it to investigate crimes. Already the goal is both to track what individuals are doing and to anticipate what they might do next. BI Incorporated, an electronic-monitoring subsidiary of GEO Group, has the ability to assign risk scores to the behavioral patterns of those monitored, so that law enforcement can "address potential problems before they happen." Judges leery of recidivism have begun to embrace risk-assessment tools . As a result, defendants who have yet to be convicted of an offense in court may be categorized by their future chances of reoffending. The combination of GPS location data with other tracking technologies such as automatic license-plate readers represents an uncharted frontier for finer-grained surveillance. In some cities, police have concentrated these tools in neighborhoods of color. A CityLab investigation found that Baltimore police were more likely to deploy the Stingray   the controversial and secretive cellphone tracking technology   where African Americans lived. In the aftermath of Freddie Gray's death in 2015, the police spied on Black Lives Matter protesters with face recognition technology. Given this pattern, the term "electronic monitoring" may soon refer not just to a specific piece of equipment but to an all-encompassing strategy. If the evolution of the criminal-justice system is any guide, it is very likely that the ankle bracelet will go out of fashion. Some GPS monitoring vendors have already started to offer smartphone applications that verify someone's location through voice and face recognition. These apps, with names like Smart-LINK and Shadowtrack, promise to be cheaper and more convenient than a boxy bracelet. They're also less visible, mitigating the stigma and normalizing surveillance. While reducing the number of people in physical prison, these seductive applications could, paradoxically, increase its reach. For the nearly 4.5 million Americans on probation or parole, it is not difficult to imagine a virtual prison system as ubiquitous   and invasive   as Instagram or Facebook. On Jan. 24, exactly three months after White had his monitor installed, his public defender successfully argued in court for its removal. His phone service had been shut off because he had fallen behind on the bill, so his mother told him the good news over video chat. When White showed up to EMASS a few days later to have the ankle bracelet removed, he said, one of the company's employees told him that he couldn't take off his monitor until he paid his debt. White offered him the $35 in his wallet   all the money he had. It wasn't enough. The employee explained that he needed to pay at least half of the $700 he owed. Somewhere in the contract he had signed months earlier, White had agreed to pay his full balance "at the time of removal." But as White saw it, the court that had ordered the monitor's installation was now ordering its removal. Didn't that count? "That's the only thing that's killing me," White told me a few weeks later, in early March. "Why are you all not taking it off?" We were in his brother's room, which, unlike White's down the hall, had space for a wobbly chair. White sat on the bed, his head resting against the frame, while his brother sat on the other end by the TV, mumbling commands into a headset for the fantasy video game Fortnite. By then, the prosecutor had offered White two to three years of probation in exchange for a plea. (White is waiting to hear if he has been accepted into the city's diversion program for "youthful offenders," which would allow him to avoid pleading and wipe the charges from his record in a year.) White was wearing a loosefitting Nike track jacket and red sweats that bunched up over the top of his monitor. He had recently stopped charging it, and so far, the police hadn't come knocking. "I don't even have to have it on," he said, looking down at his ankle. "But without a job, I can't get it taken off." In the last few weeks, he had sold his laptop, his phone and his TV. That cash went to rent, food and his daughter, and what was left barely made a dent in what he owed EMASS. It was a Monday   a check-in day   but he hadn't been reporting for the past couple of weeks. He didn't see the point; he didn't have the money to get the monitor removed and the office was an hour away by bus. I offered him a ride. EMASS check-ins take place in a three-story brick building with a low-slung facade draped in ivy. The office doesn't take cash payments, and a Western Union is conveniently located next door. The other men in the waiting room were also wearing monitors. When it was White's turn to check-in, Buss, the bond-compliance officer, unclipped the band from his ankle and threw the device into a bin, White said. He wasn't sure why EMASS had now softened its approach, but his debts nonetheless remained. Buss calculated the money White owed going back to November: $755, plus 10% annual interest. Over the next nine months, EMASS expected him to make monthly payments that would add up to $850   more than the court had required for his bond. White looked at the receipt and shook his head. "I get in trouble for living," he said as he walked out of the office. "For being me."


Eli Manning tried something new this offseason. He worked with private pitching coach Mickey Brueckner after getting a recommendation from former Major League pitcher Al Leiter. Brueckner trains Leiter's son, Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter, at a New Jersey sports performance center. "I feel like it's paid off ," Manning said, via Art Stapleton of northjersey.com. "I'm throwing the ball well, and arm is staying strong, and I'm not losing anything. In training camp, sometimes you'd have four practices in a row, and you're not used to that; you can see your arm getting tired. But still feeling strong." Former Major League pitching coach Tom House has become a popular private coach for quarterbacks working with several, including Tom Brady . As Brueckner said, quarterbacks throw overhand like pitchers, so the training is much the same. Manning, entering his 16th season, worked with Brueckner four days a week until organized team activities started in May. The training program was designed to manage stress on Manning's arm while building arm strength, Brueckner told Stapleton. The Giants like what they have seen out from Manning's fastball thus far. "I think he's really throwing the ball well," Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. "When he came back for OTAs, we saw it. Some of it was physical, some of it was how he trained. You ask the quarterbacks to get better every day and train and do all of the right things, and along the way, they sort of find their way. Eli's done that every year." Related slideshow: Best of 2019 training camps (Provided by imagn)


The Indianapolis Colts didn't address the interior defensive line through either free agency or the 2019 NFL Draft, which has left some wondering if the position might be a little light. Despite only having one player on the roster that fits the true mold of a nose tackle, general manager Chris Ballard isn't worried about the lack of size at the position. He t old reporters Tuesday that he feels they showed enough against the run in 2018 that major additions weren't necessary. Per Kevin Bowen of 1070 The Fan: Chris Ballard isn't worried about the lack of beef currently at defensive tackle. Ballard said the Colts are looking forward to watching Denico Autry and Tyquan Lewis 'battle it out' at the three-technique defensive tackle spot, with Jihad Ward knocking on the door as well. "It'll be a fun group to watch," Ballard said pointing out that the Colts held their own against some elite running backs last year despite not being that much bigger at defensive tackle, compared to where they are at now. After adding Spencer Ware to the running back group after the draft, the attention has shifted to defensive tackle for the Colts to possibly add a free agent body. But Ballard seems pretty content with his current makeup there. The Colts may be lacking a bit of size on the interior, but they were a unit that didn't allow an opposing back to rush for 100 yards throughout the entire regular season. It is likely that Margus Hunt and Denico Autry will be the starters, though second-year Tyquan Lewis will be battling with the latter for the starting role at the three-technique. Many would have liked to see the Colts add to the interior defensive line, but Ballard seems comfortable with the pieces they have there. Whether it will pay off remains to be seen, but there is confidence from the front office with the room. MORE: NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players Why Packers' redefined defense could give Aaron Rodgers a Super Bowl opportunity Cowboys News: Prescott's circle of trust questioned, Kris Richard RKGs Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought his wife, Amy, might break up with him over this drunken go-kart incident Jarrell Owens: What the Browns are getting in their new DE


Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales topped the warm-up for the Dutch TT by over three tenths of a second. Vinales led from six minutes into the warm-up until the finish, improving on a couple of occasions in the process. While the rest of the field couldn't go below the 1m34s barrier, Vinales first did it at halfway point. Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins and Marc Marquez all spent time in second before Vinales improved again just as the chequered flag fell. He ended the warm-up with a 1m33.677s, with Andrea Dovizioso moving up to second with a 1m34.022s. Dovizioso narrowly beat pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo, while Marquez in fourth was over half a second slower than Vinales. Suzuki's Rins was fifth ahead of Pol Espargaro, the KTM rider again impressing despite riding with an injured right wrist. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) was Vinales' closest challenger in the opening minutes and was seventh in the end, followed by the factory Ducati of Danilo Petrucci. The second Suzuki of Joan Mir and SIC Yamaha rider Morbidelli completed the top 10. Valentino Rossi made big changes to his Yamaha overnight but still was only 13th, 1.1s slower than his teammate. ClaRiderBikeLapsTimeGap 1 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 13 1'33.677 2 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 13 1'34.022 0.345 3 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 8 1'34.042 0.365 4 Marc Marquez Honda 12 1'34.227 0.550 5 Alex Rins Suzuki 12 1'34.254 0.577 6 Pol Espargaro KTM 13 1'34.332 0.655 7 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 11 1'34.415 0.738 8 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 10 1'34.417 0.740 9 Joan Mir Suzuki 12 1'34.424 0.747 10 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 13 1'34.450 0.773 11 Jack Miller Ducati 12 1'34.475 0.798 12 Cal Crutchlow Honda 11 1'34.714 1.037 13 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 13 1'34.793 1.116 14 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 11 1'34.978 1.301 15 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 11 1'35.013 1.336 16 Johann Zarco KTM 9 1'35.094 1.417 17 Miguel Oliveira KTM 12 1'35.120 1.443 18 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 8 1'35.210 1.533 19 Tito Rabat Ducati 12 1'35.272 1.595 20 Karel Abraham Ducati 11 1'35.405 1.728 21 Hafizh Syahrin KTM 10 1'35.926 2.249 View full results


Wondering where to find the best grocery stores near you? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top grocery stores in Anaheim, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're in the market for grocery stores. 1. Day And Nite Groceries & Taqueria Topping the list is Southeast Anaheim's Day and Nite Groceries & Taqueria , situated at 859 S. Harbor Blvd. With four stars out of 251 reviews on Yelp, the grocery store and Mexican spot has proven to be a local favorite. 2. El Gaucho Meat Market Southeast Anaheim's El Gaucho Meat Market , located at 847 S. State College Blvd., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the grocery store and meat shop, which offers sandwiches and more, four stars out of 218 reviews. 3. Northgate Market Northgate Market , a grocery store, bakery and Mexican spot in Southeast Anaheim, is another go-to, with four stars out of 160 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2030 E. Lincoln Ave. to see for yourself. 4. Thai and Laos Market Over in Northwest Anaheim, check out Thai and Laos Market , which has earned four stars out of 165 reviews on Yelp. You can find the grocery store and Thai spot at 1721 W. La Palma Ave. 5. Mother's Market & Kitchen Finally, there's Mother's Market & Kitchen , an Anaheim Hills favorite with four stars out of 149 reviews. Stop by 5759 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road to hit up the grocery store and vegetarian spot, which offers juices and smoothies and more, next time the urge strikes. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


OLYMPIA, Wash.   A small group of inmates, disproportionately black, are set to stay in Washington state prisons for life   left out of the latest in a multi-year wave of reforms easing tough-on-crime "three strikes" laws around the U.S. At least 24 states including Washington passed such laws during the 1990s, embracing tough-on-crime rhetoric. But nearly half have since scaled them back amid concern that habitual but less-violent offenders were being stuck behind bars for life with hardcore felons. Washington's 1993 three-strikes law was among the first and stands out as among the nation's strictest. But lawmakers targeted it for reform this year with legislation removing second-degree robbery   generally defined as a robbery without a deadly weapon or significant injury   from the list of crimes qualifying for cumulative life sentences. But while the original reform included a retroactive clause, making inmates sentenced under the old law eligible for resentencing, an amendment pushed by a prosecutors' group cut out retroactivity. Washington governor and Democratic presidential contender Jay Inslee signed the changes into law April 29. That means about 62 inmates convicted of second-degree robbery will be left serving life sentences, according to state records, even after judges stop "striking out" new offenders convicted of the same crimes. About half are black, despite African Americans making up only 4% of Washington's population. Under the original bill, the inmates with a robbery "strike" would have had the opportunity to have their life sentences re-examined by judges   but now they won't. Supporters of the amendment have said even less-serious robberies can leave emotional scars, and that prosecutors might have set aside more serious charges because they knew second-degree robbery convictions would mean life in prison for those offenders. But inmates among the 62 described frustration that offenders with similar records may face drastically shorter sentences going forward. "It's just wrong on its face, to make people rot in prison for the rest of their life on a sentence that doesn't even exist anymore," said John Letellier, 67, whose 1999 fast food restaurant robbery earned him his third strike. The push to take out the reform's retroactivity clause emerged from the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, a group that represents prosecutors. Russell Brown, the group's director, said he reviewed most of the cases listing second-degree robbery as the third strike, and believed that prosecutors in many probably refrained from seeking more serious charges because of the guarantee the charge   known in legal circles as "Rob 2"   would count as a third strike. But he acknowledged that he never confirmed his suspicions with any of the prosecutors who handled the cases. "You worked the deal with the understanding that the Rob 2 would count as a strike and they would go away for life," Brown said. Three-strike laws   typically focused on handing out life or near-life sentences   surged in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s in response to peaking violent crime, driven in part by gang crime and the crack cocaine epidemic. But a movement to reform the laws grew as backers cited the high cost of life imprisonment and the potential injustice of lumping lower-level offenders with violent predators, said Alison Lawrence, head of the criminal justice program at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Washington, second-degree robbery has one of the lowest seriousness levels of any crime on the three-strikes list, hypothetically encompassing anything from demanding money from a clerk to snatching a purse. At least 11 states including Washington have eased their three strikes laws since 2009, often removing property crimes from "strike" lists or restoring discretion to judges over previously mandatory life sentences. But lawmakers have also often been reluctant to make the three-strikes reforms retroactive: Out of the 11 only California has included such a clause, Lawrence said. In phone and email interviews, inmates among the 62 in Washington described how the reform raised their hopes   and the amendment dashed them. Among them is Devon Laird, age 54 and serving life on a robbery third strike. Convicted of snatching a wallet from an elderly man outside a drugstore in 2007, Laird's court records include convictions for violent crimes in his early 20s, but also testimony portraying him as attempting to escape a past that included being stabbed at 14 and shot twice before age 21. "When they said it wasn't retroactive, it really set in on me that, man, I got life," said Laird. Cheryl Lidel, 60, is also serving life for a 2010 robbery after being convicted of other robberies and theft. She described her crimes as driven by substance abuse that began shortly after she was sexually assaulted as a young girl. In charging documents for her third-strike robbery, prosecutors said Lidel was going through heroin withdrawal when she robbed a Subway blocks from a police station, sticking her hand in her pocket to imitate a gun. She then asked a taxi to take her to an area known for drug dealing. "The first time I came here I was 23 years old, and in March of this year I turned 60," Lidel said. While it's hard to say exactly how much time any of the 62 would have faced without their robbery charges counting as strikes, few would have faced life. With the exception of third-strike crimes, Washington hands out sentences using a formula that takes into account the number and severity of a person's previous crimes. According to state guidelines, the maximum for second-degree robbery, given to the highest-level offenders, is less than seven years. By comparison, a life sentence under the state's three strikes law is exactly that: Life, without the chance of release. "I've been down 21 years," Latelliere said. Some of the 62 might not have received shorter sentences because of other serious crimes on their record, including at least eight with early robbery convictions but a final strike for murder. But nearly half the inmates on the list received a third strike only for some form of robbery. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jeannie Darneille, said before the state's legislative session ended that she did not want to change her bill with the amendment killing retroactivity but that it would have been at risk of failing without support from law enforcement or prosecutors because lawmakers would have feared being labeled soft on crime. Despite its low seriousness classification, second-degree robbery can still be traumatic, said Rep. Brad Klippert, a Republican who is also a police officer and opposed the reform altogether. But advocates and the inmates themselves said making the law non-retroactive creates an inescapable disparity: Two prisoners with identical records could end up with vastly different sentences. It's not fair "if new people don't get strikes," said Lawrence Fillion, an inmate serving life after a third-strike robbery. "Yet I have the same thing and I am going to die in prison."


Pat Bowlen's family has chosen former Denver Broncos trainer Steve "Greek" Antonopulos to serve as the owner's presenter at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in August, the team announced today. Antonopulos and several of Bowlen's family members will unveil the owner's bronze bust Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio. "I was overwhelmed with emotion when I was asked to be Mr. Bowlen's presenter," Antonopulos said in a statement released by the team. "I feel very honored and very humbled. It's one of the greatest things I've ever been asked to do in my life. "If you really look at it, it's all about Mr. Bowlen. We developed a really neat relationship over all the years that he's been here. It's certainly unique - he's not only my boss but he's my friend. That's what makes it even more of an honor to do this, especially with the request coming from his family." Greek is the only full-time employee that has been with the team for the entire tenure of Bowlen's ownership (1984-present). He started as an assistant athletic trainer in 1976 and was later promoted to top trainer. Antonopulos now serves as the team's director of sports medicine. MORE: Draymond Green to LeBron James' 14-Year-Old Son: "I'm at Your F--king Neck This Summer" Omari Spellman calls out Josh Hart over shocking Lakers draft story Packers should have one of NFL's most improved secondaries in 2019 Ahead of Finals, Stephen Curry defends Kevin Durant against critics Jimmy Butler would reportedly like playing with LeBron James


You don't have to know much about soccer to know this was a self-inflicted mistake of the highest degree. San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega received a light pass from his teammate and he allowed the ball to go between his legs and... into the goal. ¡Terrible error del @indiovega y termina en autogol! #SJvDAL | 0-1 pic.twitter.com/GCGFGdklEC   Fútbol MLS (@futbolMLS) June 8, 2019 He took his eye off the ball for one second and utter embarrassment ensued. Vega isn't some scrub in goal, either. The same guy who let a slowly hit ball deflect off his legs and into his own goal, made this incredible save just a week ago. DANIEL VEGA ARE YOU KIDDING WITH THIS SAVE?? #DCvSJ pic.twitter.com/secyq9YMK1   Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 2, 2019 Gotta eat you Wheaties next time, Daniel. This will surely go down as one of the worst own goals of all time, and the finger is pointed squarely at you. Mistakes like these are made in soccer, albeit rather infrequently, but Vega's might just take the cake as one of the most memorably embarrassing moments in MLS history. Related slideshow: Best of MLS season (provided by imagn)


An amateur MMA fight in Tennessee saw featherweight Preston Schick earn a knockout of Joshua Spears. Spears' tooth went for a ride. Check out the video.


It seems there's a lot more washing ashore on the beaches of the Bolivar Peninsula than sea shells and colorful glass. The Chambers County Sheriff's Office reports that approximately 2.6 pounds of methamphetamine was recently found on the Chambers County portion of the beach in Bolivar. The agency estimates the drugs have a street value of $20,500. Other drugs also have been found recently on the beaches there. On July 9, Leitha Garrett Ingram of Tarkington Prairie came across an unusual package when she was driving along the beach. "I slammed on my breaks and my friend said 'What do you see?' and I said, 'I think I see a brick of cocaine!'" Ingram said. She turned it over to the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, which confirmed the package was cocaine with a street value of $33,000. ON CHRON.COM: Woman finds brick of cocaine worth $33K washed up on Bolivar beach Chambers Co. Sheriff Brian Hawthorne warns that if you find what you suspect to be drugs: • Do not touch the suspected drugs as you could run the risk of exposure to harmful or even fatal substances • Call the Sheriff's office, give the location and a description of what you found Never attempt to move or transport the suspected drugs, leave it to law enforcement to remove safely. This story contains reporting from Rebecca Hennes Danny Hermosillo is the Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site , Chron.com , and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1 | Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message


A Dutch birdwatcher held by Islamic State-linked militants was killed Friday during a firefight between his kidnappers and soldiers in the southern Philippines, according to the military, which said he was shot by his captors as he tried to escape. Ewold Horn had been held since 2012 by the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group and was fatally wounded as soldiers fought a 90-minute gun battle with the jihadists on their stronghold, Jolo island. The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed Horn died in an "exchange of fire", adding that it was investigating the exact circumstances of his death. Philippine Brigadier General Divino Rey Pabayo said in a statement that "Horn was shot by one of his guards when he tried to escape from the Abu Sayyaf during this morning's gunfight". The military's account could not be independently confirmed. The southern Philippines is home to numerous armed groups, several of which are linked to the decades-old insurgency aiming to create a Muslim homeland in the Christian-majority nation's deep south. Horn was on an expedition to photograph rare birds on the remote Tawi-Tawi island group in the southern Philippines when he was abducted by unknown gunmen and turned over to the Abu Sayyaf. - Unpaid ransoms, hostages beheaded - Horn was seized along with Lorenzo Vinciguerra, a Swiss national who managed to escape in 2014 during a gunbattle between soldiers and his captors. "We express our deep condolences to Mr Horn's family and loved ones," Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. "We vow to pursue his killers to the ends of the earth until they are brought to justice." Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for some of the worst terror attacks in Philippine history, including repeated kidnappings of foreigners, who are often held for huge ransoms. Philippine officials assert the group was behind the deadly January bombing of a Catholic cathedral on Jolo island during Sunday mass that was the worst attack to hit the nation in years. The bombing was claimed by the Islamic State, which has worked to maintain a presence in the Philippines as its caliphate crumbled in the Middle East. Abu Sayyaf was active in the Philippines years before linking up with Islamic State, and has supported its violent activities with kidnapping. The group has held hostages over the course of years as it negotiated ransoms, but has also shown a willingness to kill its captives. Abu Sayyaf beheaded German hostage Jurgen Kantner, 70, in 2017 after its demands for a roughly $600,000 ransom were not met. Two Canadian hostages kidnapped from yachts moored at a marina on a tourist island in the southern Philippines were also beheaded in 2016 after demands for ransoms of similar amounts went unfulfilled. The military said Friday that the group was believed to hold at least two Filipinos and a Vietnamese national, but it could not be sure they were still alive. It added that a woman named Mingayan Sahiron, which the army identified as the second wife of a top Abu Sayyaf leader, was also killed in Friday's gunbattle. burs-cgm/fox


While the Braves were heavily linked to the starting pitching market, GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ) the team was "never even remotely close" to landing an arm for the rotation. "At the end of the day, where we thought there were deals that made sense for us, we felt like the bullpen made the most sense," Anthopoulos said. "We definitely tried for other areas, but we obviously couldn't line up on a deal that made sense for our organization." Of course, the Braves already made a noteworthy starting pitching addition in June when Dallas Keuchel was signed, and Anthopoulos' front office heavily bolstered the pen over the past two days with trades for Shane Greene , Mark Melancon and Chris Martin . There is more news from Atlanta: One of the starters the Braves had interest in was the biggest name moved at the deadline as ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports ( Twitter link ) the "Braves were in on" negotiations about Zack Greinke with the Diamondbacks. However, Atlanta ultimately decided "it was just too pricey, and too much risk on an older pitcher." The Astros landed Greinke for a big trade package that included four prospects and covering $53M of Greinke's salary. Speaking of the Greene deal, the Braves were able to make that trade without including catcher Alex Jackson . Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports Atlanta turned down the Tigers' request for the 23-year-old prospect. Jackson is ranked as the the 26th-best prospect in Atlanta's system by MLB Pipeline, and is in the midst of a huge season at Triple A (.887 OPS in 283 PA). Picked sixth overall by the Mariners in the 2014 draft, Jackson's stock dropped after a slow start to his pro career, though a position switch to catcher three years ago and this season's hitting breakout has gotten him back on the radar.


According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, quite a few NBA execs appear to be of the mindset that Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving will sign with the Brooklyn Nets at the start of free agency. Kyler's report comes in response to questions of the validity of ESPN's Stephen A. Smith's claims that Irving has " given the Brooklyn Nets every indication " that he'll sign with the Nets this offseason. I have heard that too - but is it true? I haven't spoken to Kyrie, but a lot of NBA execs thinks that where he'll land. https://t.co/82zU5MiIwC - Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) June 5, 2019 Rumors of Irving leaning towards signing with Brooklyn began to gain steam after FS1's Ric Bucher reported that Irving recently purchased a second home in New Jersey , moves that usual correspond with a future free agent's impending decision. Prior to Bucher's report, the Nets had emerged as a serious suitor for Irving's services, with a report from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News stating as early as March that he preferred signing with Brooklyn over the New York Knicks . Later, The New York Times' Marc Stein reported that Irving and Kevin Durant would give the Nets as hard of a look as the New York Knicks this summer . With free agency just 25 days away, if Irving was to sign with a franchise outside of New York it would be a surprise. The Celtics are even skeptical that Irving will return . MORE: Heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz hits back at Stephen A. Smith after 'Butter Bean' comment These five upcoming NBA free agents helped themselves in the playoffs Five candidates for the ALL-USA Boys Soccer Coach of the Year Cole Beasley plans to annoy Josh Allen Observations from day 1 of Lions minicamp: pick city


A spike in violence in and around a jihadist bastion in northwest Syria has killed 948 people in a month, almost a third of them civilians, a war monitor said Friday. A September deal was supposed to avert a full-out regime offensive on Idlib province and adjacent areas held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. But the regime and its Russian ally have since late April ramped up deadly air strikes and rocket fire on the jihadist stronghold, and fighters have clashed on its edges. Since April 30, regime and Russian fire has killed 288 civilians including 67 children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Jihadist rocket fire has killed a further 22 civilians including 10 children in regime-held territory, the Britain-based monitoring group said. Bombardment and clashes on the region's periphery have taken the lives of 369 jihadists and allied fighters, as well as 269 fighters on the regime's side. The United Nations says roughly 270,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since late April, and aid agencies have been forced to halt work in some areas. Russia and rebel supporter Turkey brokered the September ceasefire deal to avert an assault it was feared could spark the worst humanitarian disaster of Syria's eight-year war. A Russian spokesperson on Friday told reporters that jihadists and allied rebels must halt attacks on regime-held areas for any ceasefire to hold. "A ceasefire in Idlib is necessary and it's also necessary to have terrorists stop shooting at civilian targets as well as some facilities where our troops are located -- including in Hmeimim," a key Russian airbase to the west of Idlib, Dmitry Peskov said. On Thursday, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by telephone told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin it was important to "apply the ceasefire without delay in order to focus once again on finding a political solution" to the Syrian conflict. The conflict has killed more than 370,000 people since it started in 2011.


NEW YORK   New York Mayor Bill de Blasio thinks he's so good at his job, he doesn't need to be in the five boroughs to do it. Hizzoner suggested the city's handling of Saturday's massive blackout proves he's a good "chief executive" with the chops to be president   even though he wasn't even in town for the massive power outage. "With some other folks, including folks who are running for president, you can look at their ideas, their words, their proposals   when you're chief executive, you have to look at the whole picture, what did you get done?" de Blasio said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday. "In six years, this is a very strong city today and with strong agencies that knew what to do in a crisis and did it in exemplary fashion." De Blasio was in Iowa campaigning for president when parts of Manhattan were plunged into darkness for five hours. After dithering about whether to suspend his campaign weekend, the mayor decided to skip a Sunday corn feed in Cedar Rapids and head home. He drove from Waterloo to Illinois to take the first flight home from Chicago Sunday morning. The mayor said that he was "in charge" of the response to the crisis despite returning to New York more than 12 hours after electricity was restored. "When you're chief executive, it doesn't matter where you are, you're in charge of your team and making sure people are executing the plan," de Blasio said on MSNBC. "I got information and had to make decisions, had to make sure people were doing the right thing, he said. "And that's something that I have to do wherever I am and any chief executive has to do." The blackout started just before 7 p.m. and lasted until midnight, trapping thousands in subway tunnels and elevators. Broadway shows also went dark, concerts abruptly ended and street lights went down. Several New Yorkers stepped up to direct traffic, ensuring safe travel for pedestrians and vehicle drivers. De Blasio said first responders reached anyone who needed them. "Our agencies performed exactly the way they needed to, there was not a single injury," de Blasio said. "People did what they needed to do, I was in touch with folks every step along the way, making sure things were happening…when you're chief executive you're responsible for everything "     ©2019 New York Daily News Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


Buffalo Bills rookie linebacker Tyrel Dodson was arrested over the weekend and charged with disorderly conduct, assault/domestic violence and damage to property of less than $2,000. TMZ Sports shared the news of Dodson's arrest on Thursday, and Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News confirmed it with a copy of his police report: Here is a copy of the police report detailing #Bills LB Tyrel Dodson's arrest. pic.twitter.com/07rJz8eauN   Jay Skurski (@JaySkurski) May 30, 2019 The arrest occurred at a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dodson is said to have gotten physical with his girlfriend. The Bills released a standard statement acknowledging knowledge of the incident: "We are aware of the incident involving Tyrel Dodson last weekend. We have been looking further into the matter and will continue to gather information as the legal process continues." Dodson was an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M this spring. He started 12 games and had 61 total tackles last fall as a junior for the Aggies. Related slideshow: 2019 NFL draft: The top picks (Provided by imagn)


After Edwin Encarnacion hit his 30th home run of the season on Wednesday, a familiar figure met him at the top of the Yankees' dugout steps a parrot. Encarnacion's teammates surprised him with a stuffed parrot to celebrate his eighth straight season with at least 30 homers. The infielder eagerly accepted the gift, which his teammates ordered for him from Amazon. Gleyber presents Edwin with a parrot pic.twitter.com/flcmVsuQEp   David Mendelsohn (@BigBabyDavid_) July 25, 2019 For Encarnacion, home runs and parrot jokes go hand in hand dating back to his playing days with, ironically, the Blue Jays. On April, 28 2012, he hit a grand slam off Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma and bent his right arm and held it parallel to the ground while rounding the bases. The unusual home run trot turned into a tradition after his teammates praised his new form. "When I hit the grand slam, I got excited and rounded the bases from the side, turning like an airplane," Encarnacion told The Canadian Press in 2015. "My teammates liked it and said I should keep doing it, so I've kept doing it." Fans also loved Encarnacion's move, sparking plenty of memes and nicknames for it like "Edwing" and "walking the parrot." Just reminded of how great Edwin Encarnacion's walking the parrot is: pic.twitter.com/WSe9QH1w4m   Laura Mitchell (@medieval_laura) August 27, 2015 He's even embraced his new stuffed parrot and brought it along on the Yankees' flight to Boston on Wednesday night. Edwin Encarnacion had a special guest with him on the charter flight to Boston (via Gio Urshela's Instagram): #journalism pic.twitter.com/HySushhl7l   James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) July 25, 2019 What a perfect wingman. Related slideshow: 2019 MLB season (provided by imagn)


Interested in adopting a pet   or just gazing at some charming cats? There are dozens of deserving cats up for adoption at animal shelters in and around Philadelphia. Animal shelters and pet rescue groups work hard to care for unhoused pets and connect them to loving homes. Hoodline used data from Petfinder to power this roundup of cats currently available for adoption. (Details like pet availability, training, vaccinations and other features are based on data provided by Petfinder and may be subject to change; contact the shelter for the latest information.) Babka, domestic shorthair mix Babka is a male domestic shorthair mix being kept at PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) . He's mastered his house-training etiquette. He's been vaccinated and neutered. Here's more about Babka: Babka is snuggly, cuddly and playful. He is exceptional in many ways, from his amputated toe to his missing eye, but he is incredibly affectionate. Due to his injuries, he will need some space to continue healing. Babka could live well with children who have experience with animals. Apply to adopt Babka today at Petfinder . Sofie, domestic shorthair mix Sofie is a darling female domestic shorthair mix being kept at PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) . She is already house-trained, spayed and vaccinated. Here's more about Sofie: Sofie is learning to be a social butterfly. With a yummy treat, she welcomes a gentle rub on her cheek or soft pets on her head. Sophie is a sweet girl, but given her sensitive nature, she would prefer a home without children. Read more about how to adopt Sofie on Petfinder . Kitty Kat Perry, domestic shorthair mix Kitty Kat Perry is a sweet female domestic shorthair mix currently housed at PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) . She has mastered her house-training etiquette, is spayed and has all her shots. Here's more about Kitty Kat Perry: This feline is calm and cautious and loves being petted on the head. Apply to adopt Kitty Kat Perry today at Petfinder . Mesa, domestic shorthair mix Mesa is a female domestic shorthair mix in the care of PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) . Mesa gets along well with other cats. Fear not: She is already house-trained, has been vaccinated and is spayed. Here's more about Mesa: Mesa is a sweet and affectionate cuddle bug who gets along with children and other felines. Read more about Mesa on Petfinder . Drake, domestic shorthair Drake is a male domestic shorthair cat currently residing at Northeast Animal Rescue . Drake is happy to keep company with other cats. Have no fear: He's been vaccinated, neutered and house-trained. Read more about Drake on Petfinder . This story was created automatically using local animal shelter data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


A lesbian couple says they received a homophobic message after a relative created an online fundraiser to alleviate the skyrocketing costs of their daughter's cancer treatments. Tiffany and Albree Shaffer of Cincinnati, were informed on New Year's Day that their 18-month-old daughter, Callie, was diagnosed with advanced neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that develops from immature nerve cells. A week later, the couple was informed that Callie was in stage four and in need of 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation. "It's been very rough on Callie," Albree Shaffer, 26, told NBC News on Tuesday. "We're taking it day by day." Shortly after the heartbreaking news was shared with their families, Tiffany Shaffer's sister, Lorrie Teate, created the online fundraiser to help raise money for Callie's medical bills. "She will need 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she will need a bone marrow transplant, and also will need future surgery to remove the tumor once it shrinks," Teate wrote on a GoFundMe page . "What I am asking is for you to help me take the financial burden off of these wonderful people." After the child's diagnosis, Albree Shaffer said she had to stop working three jobs, so she could stay by Callie's side at Cincinnati Children's Hospital while Tiffany Shaffer works and takes care of their other child, Tyler, who is 7 and on the autism spectrum. "We would've probably had to move without the money from the GoFundMe because of the rent, and we also have two car payments," Albree Shaffer said. "It would have been so stressful to move right now." While the women received support from family, friends and strangers alike, they said not everyone responded generously to their situation. The couple said a woman who goes by the name Bren Marie sent them a homophobic Facebook message after seeing their fundraising page. "My prayers for Callie. I was going to donate $7600.00 to her but I found out her parents are lesbian. I've chosen to donate to St. Jude due to that fact," a screenshot of the message, which Tiffany Shaffer shared in a public Facebook post, stated. Bren Marie, who appears to have changed her name on the site or deleted her Facebook account since the incident, added, "Sorry, I'll still pray for her though but maybe it's God's way of getting your attention that she needs a mommy and a daddy, not 2 mommy's." Albree Shaffer said she and Tiffany Shaffer were "shocked and disgusted" by the comment but did not respond to the offensive message. "We tried not to be upset, but it was hard," Albree Shaffer said. "I couldn't believe she reached out to us to tell us that directly. She could have just not donated and ignored the page." While the comment was a reminder for the couple that homophobia still persists, they said it was also a reminder of the kindness of strangers and allies   many of whom were driven to donate after hearing about Bren Marie's comment. "My wife and I are donating a bit to chip away at replacing that undelivered donation," Linda and Carol Davis-Wolther wrote on the GoFundMe page. "We two lesbians have had several children, and know the discrimination that still exists. We will also pray for Callie and her moms." Another donor, Duane Smith, said that Bren Marie's comment does not reflect the beliefs of all religious individuals. "I donated because I am a Christian and I believe God loves all of us," he wrote. Albree Shaffer said she and Tiffany Shaffer are grateful for the love, support and prayers as Callie continues her fight. "It's been overwhelming in a good way. If there's a lesson in this, it's that we've got to continue to advocate for our children," Albree Shaffer said. "It's all about Callie." The fundraising page created on the Shaffers' behalf had raised almost $80,000 as of Wednesday morning. FOLLOW NBC OUT ON TWITTER , FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM


Manchester United are reportedly close to agreeing a deal to bring 16-year-old Lyon midfielder Frolent Da Silva to Old Trafford. The teenager is yet to sign his first professional contract, though he is viewed as one of the brightest prospects in Les Gones' academy setup. He has a year remaining on his youth deal with the French side, with the Red Devils set to buy him out of the final 12 months so he may freely move to Manchester. News outlet  L'Equipe write that United are now in 'advanced talks' to sign Da Silva and that the transfer will be finalised if the two clubs can agree on a fee. However, the starlet is thought to be unsure whether he wants to stay with Lyon or complete a switch to United and is currently weighing up the pros and cons of each option. Da Silva's decision could rest on what the Ligue 1 outfit have in store for him with regards to his immediate future. He was involved with the reserves during the 2018/19 campaign, whilst also featuring for the under-19s, but is yet to be called up for training with the first-team squad. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team are not the only club to have had their eye on the Frenchman as a number of top European sides monitor his progress in the youth ranks having been impressed with his creativity and technical skill. The deal fits in with United's recent transfer policy, the Premier League giants focusing their recruitment on younger players this summer as their Norwegian coach looks to rebuild and revitalise an ailing squad. This move certainly makes sense, then, with Da Silva likely to come for a relatively low sum given his age and inexperience, making this a low-risk purchase.


The Green Bay Packers lost one of the most important people in franchise history over the weekend when Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr died, and Brett Favre was quick to make it clear what one Packers legend meant to another. Shortly after Starr's family and the Packers announced that the five-time NFL champion died at age 85, Favre took to Twitter to express how much Starr meant to him. Bart Starr was the most kind, thoughtful and classiest person you could ever know. I consider myself extremely lucky to have called him friend and to have been mentioned in the same breath. Deanna and I are praying for Cherry and the Starr family. #RIPBartStarr   Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) May 26, 2019 Starr, Favre and Aaron Rodgers are widely considered to be the three greatest quarterbacks in Packers franchise history, and you could debate the order of them in any number of ways. It's no surprise that Favre thought so highly of Starr, as the two could certainly relate to one another. As we saw from the way many in the NFL community reacted to his death , Starr was widely respected and will be missed. Related slideshow: Notable sports deaths in 2019 (provided by imagn)


The Arizona Cardinals kick off training camp officially on Wednesday, with players reporting to camp, getting their physical exams and running the conditioning test. Then the work begins for the final 53-man roster. The Cardinals have several roster battles to watch. Some are for starting jobs. Which ones have the most intrigue as camp begins? Starting center battle Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports Veteran center A.Q. Shipley has the clear lead right now. He returns from a torn ACL and the player who played every snap last year in his place, Mason Cole, is the competitor. Cole has a streak of starting football games that dates back to high school. Could this be the year that streak is broken? View embedded content Starting CB to replace Patrick Peterson If it weren't for the coming six-game suspension of Patrick Peterson, there wouldn't be much of a battle. Peterson and Robert Alford would be the starters. However, because Peterson will not be available for six weeks, Alford becomes the No. 1 and there is a battle for the No. 2 job. Right now, that battle is between veteran Tramaine Brock and second-round pick Byron Murphy. Brock has played nine years in the league and started 45 games, and has been coached by defensive coordinator Vance Joseph twice. Murphy is a rookie with a lot of potential. Who will come out on top? View embedded content WR3, 4 Almost the entire wide receiver room is up for grabs. Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk are the clear top two but after that, it could go a lot of ways. Second-round pick Andy Isabella is probably the favorite to be the team's third receiver, but Kevin White, Hakeem Butler, Trent Sherfield and Chad Williams all are battling for that spot and the fourth spot as well. The third receiver is likely to get a lot of playing time and the fourth guy as well will see snaps on offense in the regular season. View embedded content Starting defensive line The starting defensive line is projected to be Darius Philon, Corey Peters and Rodney Gunter. However, keep an eye on third-round pick Zach Allen. Expected to contribute as a rookie and also graded as a first-round pick, Allen could push Gunter for the starting job. Gunter had his best season in 2018 but in a 4-3 scheme. Before that, he was buried on the depth chart in a 3-4 except for his rookie year when he started at nose tackle after Peters tore his Achilles. Gunter was re-signed to a modest $2 million contract. He is not being paid starter money. Keep an eye on that battle. Allen could make some noise. View embedded content Third-string QB This isn't really a battle for the 53-man roster, as the Cardinals will certainly only keep two quarterbacks on the active roster. However, they will have a third quarterback on the practice squad and there will be a battle between undrafted rookie Drew Anderson and Charles Kanoff, who was on the practice squad last year as an undrafted rookie. Anderson ran an offense similar to what the Cardinals will run, so he might have the advantage over Kanoff. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio . View embedded content MORE: Mike Trout's perfect 98.6 MPH throw to home plate had everyone in awe NBA trade rumor rankings: What's up with CP3? The 21 dumbest ideas in NFL history VIDEO: Steve Austin Cut a Killer Promo at WWE Raw Reunion Lane Johnson has a 'Bro Barn' that he uses to sculpt himself into best RT in NFL


The player ratings for all NFL players have been released for the new Madden 20 video game and we can see how every Arizona Cardinals player is rated. While the Cardinals have talented players on their team, the top players in the league get a rating of at least 90. Only one Cardinals player got that. It is cornerback Patrick Peterson . He has an overall rating of 92. Three cornerbacks in the league are rated higher than him - San Francisco's Richard Sherman at 93, New England's Stephon Gilmore at 94 and Jacksonville's Jalen Ramsey at 96. Peterson is arguably the best cornerback in the league and has been to eight Pro Bowls in eight seasons. That streak will end this year because of a six-game suspension he will serve to start the season, making him ineligible for the Pro Bowl. Considering the season the Cardinals had last year and considering a readjustment in the Madden rating system, 92 is about what one could expect for Peterson. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio . View embedded content MORE: Poker player argues over dealer chip counting error during crucial all-in hand at WSOP Main Event Trysten Hill may be crowning point on Cowboys star-studded defense Roundup: Monica Lewinsky Fire Tweet, Richard Seymour in the Money at World Series of Poker, Robert Kraft New Girlfriend Report: Broncos ready to draft Devin Bush before trade with the Steelers Dark-horse breakout candidates for the Packers in 2019


One of two devices recently filed by Sonos with the FCC is a Bluetooth speaker, The Verge can confirm. In the filing for product model S17, Sonos directly states that it's "a high-performance wireless speaker and part of the Sonos sound system. The device's primary function will be for streaming with Wi-Fi, but also features Bluetooth audio streaming and Bluetooth Low Energy, used for simplified setup." (Emphasis added by The Verge .) No other previous Sonos speaker has supported Bluetooth music playback, though the Sonos One includes BLE for the same reason of easier setup. The product label for S17 features a curved blue line running across it, which could be a reference to the speaker's unique functionality in the Sonos lineup. A label for the Sonos Bluetooth speaker was included in a recent FCC filing. The filing also mentions that this unannounced Sonos product includes USB-C and an ethernet jack. The latter is found on all of the company's existing speakers. Other Sonos speakers require Wi-Fi to play music, podcasts, audiobooks, and other content from popular streaming services. But the first time ever, Sonos will support Bluetooth pairing, letting you play any audio from a Bluetooth-enabled device and ensuring that the speaker will work at times when Wi-Fi is unavailable. (The company has previously mocked the downsides of Bluetooth speakers in its advertising.) The Bluetooth speaker represents an entirely new product category for Sonos as the company continues to expand upon its product lineup through new first-party hardware and collaborations with other companies. Sonos recently partnered with Ikea on speakers that start as low as $99, and its technology has also made its way into high-end architectural speakers from Sonance. On Thursday, Sonos sent out media invites for meetings later this month that will likely revolve around new products coming sometime this fall.


The Raiders added a ton of talent on both sides of the ball this offseason and optimism is high heading into training camp. Oakland has a revamped receiving corps, a much-improved offensive line and could have as many as eight new starters on defense. But despite all of their offseason movement, this team will still only go as far as Derek Carr takes them. In 2018, Carr's play was up and down as he struggled out of the gate. But as the season went on, he played at a significantly better level in the second half of the season. But as solid as he was in those final eight weeks, he's going to need to elevate his play, even more, to get this Raiders' team to the playoffs next season. Fortunately, all of the pieces are in place for Carr to have a bounce-back season. In a recent article by Michael Colangelo of the Touchdown Wire , he named nine quarterbacks who will improve in 2019. Carr was one of the quarterbacks listed for some of the reasons listed above. Take a look at Colangelo's thoughts on Carr heading into the season: Carr has to improve from last year or he will be out of a job. Jon Gruden isn't exactly a patient man. Carr has a revamped receiving corps and what should be explosive players next to him. Given the number of improvements the Raiders made around him this offseason, it seems like a given Carr will improve in 2019. The question is, how much will he improve? Will he get back to being an MVP-candidate or at least a Pro Bowl lock? If that's the case, the Raiders will certainly challenge for a playoff spot. Look for Carr to play his best football next season. MORE: 'You don't know me like that': Kevin Durant, the Warriors and a toxic locker room USWNT fans had so much fun dunking on Piers Morgan after World Cup win over England Stephen A. Smith: 'Andre Iguodala is planning on joining the Lakers' Roundup: Pence Abruptly Cancels NH Trip; U.S. Advances to World Cup Final; Betsy Ross Flag Controversy Kenny Clark excited about offseason of Packers DL Montravius Adams


Amazon may have bid farewell to Queens, but it still "hearts" the Big Apple. After walking away from a deal to build a headquarters on the Queens waterfront in Long Island City , Amazon is back to shopping for office space on Manhattan's West Side, sources tell The Post. The tech giant has been in talks with owners of two shiny, new skyscrapers located just one block west of Penn Station: The newly built One Manhattan West and its soon-to-be sister project Two Manhattan West, sources tell The Post. The online retailer is seeking "at least 100,000 square feet or much more"   just to start, one well-placed source said. Amazon, which already has 5,000 workers in NYC, had been "seriously" looking at Two Manhattan West prior to choosing Long Island City in November, a second source said. "That interest has returned over the last few weeks," the source added. Brookfield, which owns the two Manhattan West towers (and another at 5 Manhattan West where Amazon is already a tenant), denied through a spokesman that it was leasing to the Seattle company. But multiple sources pointed to the company's strict confidentiality agreements as a potential reason. "We don't comment on rumors or speculation," an Amazon spokeswoman said. At Two Manhattan West, Amazon is eyeing space at the top the tower, sources said. The only issue is the building, to be located on 31st Street and 9th Ave., won't be ready for tenants until 2022. One Manhattan West, by contrast, will be ready for tenants to move in this fall, including a 250,000-square-foot space in the middle of the 67-story tower. The 250,000-square-foot space won't be available long-term, but could satisfy Amazon's space needs until Two Manhattan is ready, sources said. Amazon is also considering space in the US Post Office building across the street, known as the James A. Farley building   a Vornado development that will boast office space across five levels and will be ready for tenants next May, sources said. Amazon's renewed focus on Manhattan so soon after dropping its plans for Queens is an apparent rebuke to the politicians who helped scuttle Amazon's plans to build its 4-million-square-foot campus in LIC, including US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sources said. Queens residents overwhelmingly supported plans for 25,000 new jobs with an average wage of $150,000, despite protests from Ocasio-Cortez and other politicians over $3.2 billion in capital grants and tax incentives, polls have shown. One reason is that every job that Amazon brought to the area would have had a multiplier effect on five or more other local jobs, including at local coffee shops, dry cleaners and food franchises, said Alfredo Ortiz, President & CEO of the Job Creators Network. Manhattan, by contrast, will barely register the growth, experts said. "Frankly, that kind of activity gets lost in Manhattan," said Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the non-profit Partnership for New York City. The Long Island City deal would have also seen Amazon invest in a 600-seat public school; a workforce development and training space; an artists' workspace; and 149,650-square-feet of public open space among other projects   all of which is now lost. "The investment in Long Island City was going to create a whole cluster of activity around it," Wylde explained. "No one is going to have that same impact in Manhattan unless you go to Upper Manhattan." Additional reporting by Carleton English A version of this report first appeared on NYPost.com .


Didn't catch the local high school softball scores last week? Get caught up with our roundup of recent girls varsity softball results in and around Saint Paul, powered by data from high school sports leader MaxPreps . (Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Details like game dates, times, scores and team records are based on data provided by MaxPreps and may be subject to change; the latest up-to-date information is available at the links below.) St. Croix Lutheran cruises past Humboldt/Open World Learning Monday brought a new round of high school contests, with the Humboldt/Open World Learning girls team hosting St. Croix Lutheran Crusaders . The Crusaders walked away with the 15-4 win . St. Croix Prep flattens St. Paul Academy-Summit Also on Monday, the St. Paul Academy-Summit Spartans traveled to face off against the St. Croix Prep Lions . They drove home disappointed: The Spartans lost to the St. Croix Prep Lions by a score of 16-0. St. Agnes cruises past PACT Charter Monday, the St. Agnes Aggies hosted Ramsey's PACT Charter Panthers for a varsity matchup. The Aggies walked away with the win , beating the PACT Charter Panthers soundly, 15-0. The win brought St. Agnes' record to 11-4, while PACT Charter's record fell to 4-13. Totino-Grace smothers Como Park The Como Park team traveled to Fridley this week to face off against the Totino-Grace Eagles on Monday. Totino-Grace's home field advantage paid off: They walked away with the 18-8 win . The win brought Totino-Grace's record to 6-8, while Como Park's record fell to 10-6. Hill-Murray cruises past Harding Monday also saw the Maplewood Hill-Murray Pioneers unseat the St. Paul Harding Knights by a score of 21-1. The win brought Hill-Murray's record to 9-11, while Harding's record fell to 5-9. St. Croix Lutheran dominates Humboldt Monday also saw the St. Paul Humboldt Hawks battle West St. Paul's St. Croix Lutheran Crusaders at home. The Crusaders walked away with the victory , beating the Humboldt Hawks soundly, 15-4. The loss brought Humboldt's record to 5-6, while St. Croix Lutheran's record rose to 8-9. AvalonGreat RiverTwin Cities Academy outsmarts Roosevelt On Monday, May 20, Minneapolis's Roosevelt Teddies also hosted St. Paul's Avalon/Great River/Twin Cities Academy girls team . The Avalon/Great River/Twin Cities Academy team ultimately defeated the Teddies 9-1. Mounds Park Academy overthrows Johnson The St. Paul Mounds Park Academy Panthers out-hustled St. Paul's Johnson Governors 25-2 at home on Monday. Visitation unseats Highland Park On Tuesday, May 21, the Mendota Heights Visitation Blazers traveled to St. Paul to face off against the Highland Park Scots . It was worth the trip: The Visitation Blazers cinched an 8-4 victory . The loss brought Highland Park's record to 10-3, while Visitation's record rose to 8-10. Minnehaha Academy strikes out St. Agnes On Tuesday, Minneapolis's Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks also faced off against St. Paul's St. Agnes Aggies at home. The Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks walked away with a win , beating the St. Agnes Aggies soundly, 17-2. This story was created automatically using local sports data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Word broke Monday that Bru McCoy was considering re-transferring (un-transferring) from Texas back to USC, and now it appears McCoy will indeed leave Austin and return to Los Angeles. A 5-star athlete from Santa Ana, Calif., McCoy was down to USC and Texas late into the recruiting process and elected to enroll at USC in early January. He quickly had second thoughts, though, and transferred to Texas within days of stepping foot on campus. Now, after four months on campus, McCoy is reportedly second guessing his second thoughts. He is believed to be back home in Southern California for the Memorial Day holiday and, according to Trojan Sports , McCoy is staying put. Sources say McCoy has informed Coach Clay Helton he intends to leave Texas and return to USC after being assured there was a scholarship available to him. Other coaches on USC's staff believe McCoy is coming back as well, per sources. Frankly, the move makes sense. McCoy is, obviously, a SoCal native, but it's more than that. He grew up a USC fan, and he played with current Trojan stars JT Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown at Mater Dei High School. McCoy flipped to Texas because the Longhorns' program is healthier than USC's at the moment, but it appears four months away from home caused him to change his outlook on life in Clay Helton 's program. Helton did not burn bridges with USC and spoke glowingly of him at his Signing Day press conference, a move which appears to have paid off for the embattled coach . It is an open question as to how the NCAA will view McCoy's eligibility if indeed he returns to USC. He had yet to apply for the ever-popular waiver at Texas, which would leave one to believe he'll be able to compete for the Trojans this fall.


Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has a lot to prove as he enters the fifth and final year of his rookie deal. He's been mostly solid performing on the field, but is so injury prone he's yet to play a full 16-game season since being drafted in the 2015 NFL Draft. Last year, backup signal-caller Blaine Gabbert saw the field eight times because Mariota was so frequently sidelined. The Touchdown Wire ranked Mariota No. 22 among all 32 of the league's quarterbacks. Barry Werner used Mariota's injury history and the Titans' less-than-impressive overall records of the past as his reasoning. "Marcus Mariota heads into his fifth season in Tennessee and has yet to play in all 16 games," he wrote. "His career mark as a starter is 27-28. Durability is a question and the time is now to come up with a double-digit victory season, which he has yet to do." San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was ranked directly behind him, while the Detroit Lions' Matthew Stafford was selected just ahead of him. Not to anyone's surprise, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady found his name at the top of the list. Only time will tell if Mariota is the truly the team's franchise quarterback of the future, but there's no doubting the 2019 season will be one of the most important of the former Oregon Duck's career. MORE: Video of Kevin Durant walking to practice predictably gets analyzed by NBA fans Questions your athlete should ask college coaches Sleeping on Patriots WR Demaryius Thomas would be a huge mistake BOS engaged in potential trade for Clint Capela, deal for Terry Rozier 6 things we learned from Browns mandatory minicamp


When you're planning a vacation, a major part of the planning process is how you'll get there. Although flying has become more relatively affordable compared to past decades, many Americans still prefer the classic choice of taking a road trip as opposed to flying somewhere. Getting around by car was chosen as the preferred mode of transportation by consumers in the Morning Consult's The State of American Travel 2018 survey, which surveyed over 2,000 American adults about their travel preferences. Here's what they said about how they like to get around. Cars Beat Out Airplanes, Buses and Trains Americans were asked to choose if they associate travel by airplanes, buses, trains and cars with being fun, comfortable, appropriately priced, efficient and minimal hassle. Car travel got the most votes in every category, with 67% saying it's fun, 74% saying it's comfortable, 82% saying it's appropriately priced, 78% saying it's efficient and 74% saying it's a minimal hassle. Buses had the lowest amount of votes for fun (33%), comfortability (43%) and efficiency (52%), while airplanes had the lowest amount of votes for being appropriately priced (49%) and trains had the lowest amount of votes for minimal hassle (42%). Tatiana, the founder of the blog Family Road Trip Guru , said there are many reasons Americans might prefer traveling by car on their vacations compared to the other transportation options. "First, it's way cheaper than airline travel," she said. "Amtrak is ridiculously expensive too   even more so than air travel, especially for longer trips. Second, it gives you the ultimate flexibility of where to go, when to stop and how long to stop for. Third, you can pack for a road trip much easier   you don't have to think about luggage [weight] limits, TSA rules, etc. This is especially convenient for people traveling with kids. Fourth, if you fly to a destination, you miss all the fun along the way: charming small towns, historic landmarks and natural wonders which you can only see on the road. There are so many scenic byways in the U.S. waiting to be explored. Fifth, some people choose road trips for peace and quiet. There are many road trips that take you away from the hustle and bustle and into the wilderness. Sixth, road trips save you from stress big time   some people are afraid to fly (yours truly included), and others hate [the hassle of] airport security lines (also true for big train stations), delayed flights/trains and lost luggage. Finally, a flight is just a flight; a road trip is a journey, forever memorable and unique." Of All the Elements Americans Want in a Vacation, Road-Tripping Is the No. 2 Choice The survey asked Americans to rate the following elements that make a vacation enjoyable: a beach environment, a cruise, culture/history, fishing/hunting, golfing/sporting, hiking/nature, a resort, a rural environment, a road trip, RV camping, tent camping, a theme park and an urban environment. Beach vacations had the most universal appeal, with 47% of Americans saying that they would enjoy a beach environment a lot. Road trip was tied with resorts for the second-most popular vacation choice, with 38% of Americans saying that they would enjoy each type of vacation a lot. So for a really enjoyable vacation, consider road-tripping to a beach resort. Americans Believe Air Travel Has Gotten Worse Over the Past Few Years The majority of respondents   35%   said that, overall, the experience of traveling by airplane has gotten worse over the past few years. Americans are particularly dissatisfied with the cost of air travel, with 48% saying that cost has gotten worse. The one area where Americans believe air travel has improved is safety, with 36% believing that it's gotten safer to travel by air in recent years. (It's worth noting that the findings are from 2018, prior to the second deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max in March 2019.) Ticket Cost Is the No. 1 Factor Americans Consider When Traveling by Plane Most Americans   74%   said the cost of tickets is "very important" when traveling by airplane. Americans also value free checked luggage, comfort/legroom and efficient boarding and deplaning. In-flight beverages and snacks are not a deciding factor for most Americans, with only 35% rating complimentary beverages and snacks as "very important," and only 32% rating the cost of additional beverages and snack options as "very important." Furthermore, cost trumped airline preference for Americans when booking flights. Forty-four percent said they book flights based on what's cheapest and most convenient, regardless of the airline; only 26% said that they factor in airline preference when buying tickets. Southwest Is the Most Popular American Airline Americans chose Southwest as their favorite domestic airline, with 49% stating that they have a favorable opinion of the airline. American Airlines came in second, with 47% of Americans thinking of the airline favorably, and Delta was a close third, with 46% having a favorable opinion of the company. Spirit is the least popular, with only 17% having a favorable opinion of the airline. RELATED: Who are 5 most annoying flight passengers? (Provided by Sports Media Group)