In a fair and just sports universe, the 2019 Champions League Final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool would match the unpredictable and zany nature of the group and knockout stages, all of which led to the all-England June 1 showdown. Both clubs were sent to their figurative deathbeds in their semifinal first legs, but both completed magical and downright surreal comebacks to stun the footballing world and launch themselves into a match many probably believed to be an impossibility as of the morning of May 7. On paper and on the pitch, one side enters the final definitively better than its domestic rival. The numbers, stats and results don't lie. If there's one thing this competition has taught us since last fall, it's that improbable football results become reality thanks to last-second kicks and some quick thinking while standing near a corner flag. However you're preparing for the first post-Memorial Day weekend, we'd recommend watching this contest until the last whistle. Otherwise, one can only guess what you might miss. Tottenham form It's possible no club welcomed the end of the Premier League campaign more than Tottenham, a side ravaged by injuries and left depleted and visibly exhausted over the last two months. Remove the 1-0 victory over lowly Brighton that came only because of late heroics from Christian Eriksen , and the Spurs would have accumulated a record of 0-5-1 in their last six league matches. Tottenham weren't merely victims of misfortune following the halfway point of April. They played fatigued and, far too often, uninspired football throughout the spring. Logic suggests they can't get away with that vs. Liverpool. Liverpool form Liverpool's last Premier League defeat occurred on Jan. 3 when future champions Manchester City notched a 2-1 victory at the Etihad. That ended Liverpool's 20-game league unbeaten streak, but the Reds responded by not losing in the competition the rest of the year. They toppled the last nine English sides they faced. Tottenham held onto fourth place and the right to play Champions League football next season largely because Arsenal and Manchester United suffered their own calamities during Spurs' spring swoon. Liverpool, meanwhile, cruised to 97 points, which, per Opta , would have been good enough to win the Premier League in all but one of the previous 26 campaigns. Tottenham injuries The Tottenham squad has been a walking wounded unit for some time, but Spurs provided positive news for supporters on May 22 when the club tweeted Harry Kane (ankle), Davinson Sanchez (thigh) and Jan Vertonghen (ankle) were all training for the Final. Midfielder Harry Winks, recovering from groin surgery, is also likely to be available for the Liverpool showdown, as Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports wrote. Pairing Winks with Moussa Sissoko would, ideally, prevent midfield maestro Christian Eriksen from needing to drop back, as Winks' confidence in possession allows the Denmark international to concentrate more on going forward in attacking sequences. Liverpool injuries On May 23, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp offered updates on Roberto Firmino (thigh) and Naby Keita (adductor). Firmino is back in training and should rejoin Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in the Liverpool attack for the Final. This should relegate Divock Origi, the hero responsible for late goals vs. Newcastle United and Barcelona , to the bench. Keita, meanwhile, "cannot play" if he isn't fully fit, per Klopp's words, and it appears his status will remain in question up through Liverpool's final preparations. Tottenham: Team of destiny As Marca's Ander Cotorro explained, Spurs earned only one point from their first three Champions League group fixtures but managed to advance to the last 16 thanks to a draw at the Nou Camp coupled with PSV holding Inter to a 1-1 result on Dec.11 . Fernando Llorente's "Hip of God" goal and VAR put Tottenham past City and through to the semifinal and a meeting with Ajax. Lucas Moura's miraculous hat trick completed at the death in Amsterdam delivered the Lilywhites with a first Champions League Final appearance. If Tottenham's European lives equal those belonging to a cat, Spurs are probably on existence No. 8 as of the last week of May. Liverpool: Team of destiny Like Tottenham, Liverpool needed a positive result on the last day of group stage play to advance, and a Salah goal matched by a herculean stoppage-time save from goalkeeper Alisson propelled the 2018 finalists to the knockout rounds. If the Reds go on to lift the trophy, supporters will speak of the club's comeback from a 3-0 first-leg defeat to Barcelona in the semifinal as long as the sport exists. Liverpool dominated the Spanish giants for much of the contest before Trent Alexander-Arnold found Origi on a quick corner 11 minutes from time that was deposited into the back of the net for the fourth tally that booked the English side's journey to Madrid. Can Tottenham trust Kieran Trippier? Mauricio Pochettino's loyalty to preferred starters could be tested when the Tottenham manager is forced to select a right back. Kieran Trippier hasn't looked the same since suffering a groin injury in the semifinal of last summer's World Cup, and as T.A Bharadwaj of Spurs-Web pointed out, Spurs supporters blamed the 28-year-old for a pair of miscues that resulted in Ajax jumping out to a 3-0 advantage on aggregate at halftime of the semifinal second leg. Serge Aurier last featured in early March and is bound to be rusty, and neither Kyle Walker-Peters (22 years old) nor Juan Foyth (21) has experience playing the position on such a massive stage. Liverpool's talented defense Granted, the hosts survived some nervous moments at Anfield on May 7, but Liverpool holding a Barcelona side featuring the trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho scoreless showed the Reds' last line of defense can, at its best, be an impenetrable wall. Center back Virgil van Dijk won PFA Player of the Year honors for the campaign. Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail recently wrote about how playing alongside Van Dijk helped Joel Matip evolve into a force worthy of starting a Final. As Chris Shaw of Liverpool.com explained, Andy Robertson and Alexander-Arnold made history by becoming the first defenders from the same EPL side to tally 10-plus assists in a season. To Kane or not to Kane Barring an unforeseen setback, Kane, recovering from the ankle injury he suffered on April 9, will be in the Tottenham team for the Final if he has to force Pochettino's hand via threat of violence. Whether or not the two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner will start vs. Liverpool is a hot debate among analysts and also Tottenham supporters who are arguing their points on social media platforms. In 2014, Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa returned ahead of schedule from a hamstring injury for the Champions League Final, but he failed to last even 10 full minutes before exiting the match. Is the potential reward worth the risk for Spurs, particularly when Pochettino could start hat-trick hero Moura and save Kane to play the role of second-half substitute? Are Liverpool motivated or emotionally drained? As mentioned earlier, finishing on 97 points would've been good enough for Liverpool to hoist the Premier League Trophy just about any other year but in May 2019. As much as the Champions League Final presents an opportunity to right a wrong and win European club football's biggest prize, the wait between May 1 and June 1 gives players time to think about past results, such as the January loss to Manchester City or 1-1 draw vs. Leicester City at Anfield later that same month. Liverpool stood tall through the final round but nevertheless lost a heavyweight title fight with City. Recovering from that setback may prove to be more difficult than some imagine. Mauricio Pochettino's future On May 24, TalkSport's Joe Moore delivered a piece with comments given to the website straight from the Tottenham boss. "There's still a lot of work to do, but of course I am so motivated to stay with Tottenham and provide Tottenham with what they deserve," Pochettino told TalkSport. Those who've followed the story are aware the 47-year-old has been linked with multiple clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus this season alone, and uncertainty regarding Tottenham's future transfer policies after going two full windows with zero significant signings may have Pochettino questioning how much further he can guide Spurs. One can't imagine a better walk-off for a manager than winning the Champions League. Aren't Liverpool simply better? Liverpool twice conquered Tottenham this season, once at Wembley and then at Anfield on the last day of March, and they finished a remarkable 26 points ahead of Spurs in the league table. Newcastle and Bournemouth sat 26 points below Tottenham in the league table and at 13th and 14th in the table, respectively. Liverpool are favorites in multiple sportsbooks and for good reason. Tottenham keeping the match a one-score affair through the opening seconds of stoppage time would be an achievement in itself. Prediction Cup finals between strangers often breed boring and timid football, as nobody on the pitch wants to be responsible for a highlight-reel mistake. There are few, if any, secrets between these Tottenham and Liverpool squads, and sitting back in defensive stances suits neither. As Chris Shaw of Liverpool's official website wrote roughly two weeks before the Final, Klopp vowed his men "have to play the football we stand for. We have to play LFC football." If it's a brand of football that bulldozed over Barcelona to the tune of 4-0, Tottenham could be in for a long and rough night. Spurs are flying high after their greatest Champions League moment in Amsterdam, and they may feel the football fates will reside in their Madrid dressing room. Had this match occurred during the festive period, it's possible we'd be eying a coin-flip battle between two evenly matched foes. Now, however, Tottenham desperately need an offseason to recover and prepare for the next steps of the club's project at their shiny new stadium that's (finally) finished. Liverpool win 3-1 .


Missed the the most recent top news in San Antonio? Read on for everything you need to know. 3.1 magnitude earthquake rattles area near San Antonio A magnitude 3.1 earthquake shook an area Tuesday near San Antonio. Read the full story on KPRC2 / Click2Houston . Charges dropped for San Antonio contractor The Aransas Pass Police Department announced Tuesday that charges were dropped for the victim. Read the full story on KENS5 . San Antonio man arrested after dog's bloated, decomposed body found in apartment A man is in police custody after a decomposing dog carcass was found in his apartment. Read the full story on San Antonio Current . This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Anton Stralman insisted the surging Tampa Bay Lightning didn't derive any extra satisfaction out of beating the Chicago Blackhawks to end a franchise-record 12-game winning streak for the defending Stanley Cup champions. "No, not really," the veteran defenseman said after the Lightning extended a roll of their own to a season-best seven games with a 2-1 victory Thursday night. "It's all about our winning streak now." Stralman's sixth goal of the season erased an early deficit and Nikita Kucherov snapped a second-period tie with his 20th goal for the Lightning, who will try to match the longest winning streak in club history Saturday night at Florida. BOX SCORE: LIGHTNING 2, BLACKHAWKS 1 "This might have been our best game all season. We played for 60 minutes," Stralman said. "This is the way we want to play, obviously. This is how we can play." Ben Bishop had 17 saves as the Blackhawks were held to a season-low 18 shots. Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots to keep the Blackhawks in the game, but it wasn't enough to extend a career-best nine-game winning streak for the Chicago goaltender. "They were definitely the better team. We didn't generate much. We didn't get much traffic and pucks to the net and didn't get the offensive zone time we like," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had a few shifts, but they were few and far between." The victory gave Tampa Bay split of the season series with the Blackhawks, who won last year's Stanley Cup final against the Lightning in six games. "That was a fun game. Obviously it brought back memories of last year," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "They are a really good team. We played extremely well to beat them. ... One streak was ending tonight and I'm glad it's theirs." Stralman scored in the first period and Victor Hedman had two assists for Tampa Bay. Artem Anisimov scored Chicago's lone goal in the opening minute of the game. "It's just one of those games, I guess," Crawford said, adding that Chicago didn't play that poorly. "We worked hard. It's just some things didn't go for us. ... That happens sometimes." The Blackhawks went 0 for 3 on the power play and were held to the lowest shot total since taking 19 during a 2-1 overtime loss at Calgary on Nov. 20. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has its longest winning streak since the 2003-04 season that ended with the team winning its only Stanley Cup title. The Blackhawks won the first meeting between the teams this season, 1-0 on Jonathan Toews' goal 17 seconds into overtime. This one started like it might be Chicago's night again. Anisimov scored off a backhand pass from Patrick Kane just 43 seconds into the game, but the Blackhawks managed just three shots the remainder of the opening period -- two of them in the final 5 seconds. Kucherov's power play goal snapped a 1-1 tie with 3:11 left in the second period. It came after Chicago successfully killed Kane's penalty for high-sticking, only to give the Lightning another opportunity when their star was called for interference as he exited the penalty box and contacted the puck before getting both skates on the ice. The go-ahead goal was the 20th goal of the season for Kucherov, tied with Steven Stamkos for the team lead. He has four in his last three games. Both teams made news earlier in the day, with the Blackhawks trading Ryan Garbutt to Anaheim in exchange for Jiri Sekac and Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman addressing the suspension of disgruntled forward Jonathan Drouin, who failed to report for a minor league game the previous night. Drouin, the third overall pick in the 2013, has asked to be traded. He's been slowed by injuries this season and was assigned to Syracuse of the AHL on Jan. 2, a move Yzerman at the time said was intended to give the 20-year-old an opportunity to play more. Yzerman said there has been significant interest in Drouin, but that no deal was imminent. The GM added that he can't answer yet if the current situation will impact offers from other teams. "Anything is possible," Yzerman said. "I told Jonathan and his agent that we will trade him if and when we can make a deal that's good for the Tampa Bay Lightning." NOTES: Blackhawks LW Richard Panik did not play after oversleeping and reporting late to the team's morning skate. ... Bishop has allowed two or fewer goals in 22 of his last 27 starts. ... Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said Sekac could make his Blackhawks debut Friday, when the team continues its road trip at Florida. ... Kucherov has six goals and four assists during a seven-game point streak.


Houston Texans safety Justin Reid played 16 games, starting in 12, last season. However, the sensational rookie developed a wrist injury in Week 13 versus the Cleveland Browns. The Stanford product went under the knife to surgically repair his left wrist at the end of the season. And while it was his recent car wreck that led to his placement on the non-football injury list to start training camp, questions about his wrist still linger. "I'm confident with my wrist," Reid told reporters Monday. "But we're just going to be very precautious, take our time with it, not rush anything, make sure I get to the season as healthy as possible." Even though Reid sustained a wrist injury and wore a brace all offseason, the former 2018 third-round pick focused on the mental aspects of the game along with his lower body strength. "We've really just been diving in on the mental side of the game more, handling myself physically," said Reid. "My big focus for the offseason was really my legs because I want to be even more explosive out of my breaks in order to cover that half yard." Now established as the Texans' starting safety, Reid has put that injury behind him and is looking to build upon his rookie year. He's the only rotational safety to come back in 2019, a trend the Texans partially want to stick with it. MORE: Jayson Tatum and others defend LeBron James for celebrating at Bronny's AAU game Za'Darius Smith, Preston Smith have 'been as advertised' for Packers Day 3 Cowboys Camp: Prescott's deep ball, passing zones impressive Roundup: Kelly McGillis and Top Gun; Fortnite Season 10; Michelle Obama's Advice; DNA Repaired by Lung Cell Raiders RT Trent Brown is Oakland's new 'baby face' Assassin


It's Friday, so why not watch some good old-fashioned drone-powered graffiti? A design firm in Italy has put together a lovely little show that collected sketches from the art community and put them all together in a giant mural, painted over 12 hours by a team of drones. We've seen spray-painting drones before, of course, but this is far better than the crude vandalism of a fashion billboard or even Disney's more structured wall drawings . These drones actually put together something worth looking at! The Urban Flying Opera project was curated by Carlo Ratti Associati, which collected some 1,200 small illustrations via an app, selecting 100 to assemble into a single mural. The line drawings were then loaded into a central control computer and painting instructions relayed to a set of four drones equipped with paint cans, which worked over a 12-hour period to put the whole thing together. Each drone, provided by Tsuru Robotics (it's partly a promotion for the company) was operating as part of a whole, with multiple position monitoring systems making sure they didn't accidentally bump into one another. No second chances when you're spray painting a white wall. The mural is 46 feet wide and 39 feet tall, and each color layer, laid on separately, represents a different aspect of the community the project is trying to highlight. "The city is an open canvas, where people can inscribe their stories in many ways. Such processes have always been happening; however, with UFO we tried to accelerate them, using drone technology to allow for a new use of painting as a means of expression," CRA founder Carlo Ratti told New Atlas . It's still nowhere near the level of fidelity you see in serious graffiti and street art, but it's clear that drone-based spray painting is becoming a viable method rather than a lark. Perhaps even future drone-based vandalism will be of higher quality!


H otel accommodations are typically one of the biggest expenses on a trip, and whether you're looking for budget options or five-star luxury, no one wants to pay more than they have to. Timing, they say, is everything, and that's particularly true when it comes to booking a hotel room since room rates can vary appreciably, depending on factors like how far in advance you book and during what time of year you're traveling in. With that in mind, here are some tips for getting the very best deal on your hotel stay. What is the best day of the week to take action and book a hotel room? In 2018, travel aggregator Kayak released the results of its Global Hotel Survey , crunching the results from its enormous cache of hotel searches to get a data-driven answer to this question. And in February, the Airlines Reporting Corporation and Expedia Group released the 2019 Travel Pricing Outlook , confirming the results. The answer? The best day of the week to pull the trigger and book your hotel at the lowest rates, both for domestic and international destinations, is Friday, and sometimes Saturday. Conversely, the most expensive days to book are Monday through Wednesday, when most people are searching, with Tuesday being the single priciest day for domestic hotels, and Monday/Wednesday the most expensive for international hotels. But as the week slides into the weekend, hotel searches drop by as much as 30 percent, and the rates tend to drop off, as well. What is the cheapest day of the week to check in and out? Sunday is the cheapest day of the week to check into a hotel. Travelers on a weekend getaway are returning home that day, and business travelers don't usually start checking in until Monday, so there can be a lot of unused and discounted Sunday inventory. Kayak's study showed that for international travel, Tuesday check-ins at leisure-oriented hotels are noticeably cheaper, as well. On the flip side, if you plan on arriving on a Friday or Saturday and leaving on a Sunday, you'd better plan to pay top dollar. If you have the flexibility to avoid that weekend time frame, you'll save money. (Take note, however, that Fridays and Saturdays, along with Sundays, tend to be cheaper days for checking into business hotels.) How far in advance should I book a room? The calculations get a little trickier here. Kayak found that if you're not risk averse and can wait until the last minute, say one to three days before your planned check-in date, you can save a lot of money. One reason is that hotels typically have a 24- to 48-hour cancellation policy and do see cancellations come in just ahead of that window via those looking to avoid being penalized. Rather than have those canceled rooms go unused, the hotels will cut rates to fill them. A 2018 study by SAP Concur, a company that assists businesses with travel and expense management, found the same results for booking hotels in Europe: Most hotel bookings are made a month or more out, when rates are the highest. Travelers who wait three or fewer days before their check-in date to make a reservation will save the most money. If you're game for a bit of a gamble in exchange for a good deal, a travel site like HotelTonight or One:Night will be particularly useful to find last-minute deals. However, if you're traveling abroad, you might not be comfortable waiting until right before you leave, or landing in a foreign country without knowing where you're sleeping that night. In that case, hotel comparison site Trivago suggests booking at least a month in advance for the best rates and inventory, and even more if it's a popular destination, like Barcelona or London . One tactic is to choose a handful of hotels that fit your price range a couple of months before your departure. Then start tracking them over a few weeks to gauge the best price, and lock it in when you're satisfied. Trivago found that if you're traveling abroad, booking more than two to three months in advance will cost the most. What time of year should I avoid hotel stays? If your main goal is to save money, booking a hotel off-season is the way to go. That means avoiding Paris and Prague (or any other popular European destination) in August, when most Europeans take their vacations. Likewise, you won't find many deals in Palm Springs , Mexico , or the Caribbean in winter. Holidays and special events, too, will see hotel rates skyrocket think Christmas in Hawaii , New Year's Eve in New York City , spring break in Fort Lauderdale , or Mardi Gras in New Orleans . If you're traveling abroad, it helps to check ahead to see if there are any festivals or national holidays during your stay that would impact hotel prices. These could be anything from Carnival in Rio de Janeiro to the Palio di Siena in Italy or the Sydney Festival in Australia . In short, remember that getting the best deal on a hotel room comes down to a few basic rules: Make your bookings from home on a Friday or Saturday (ideally at the last minute if you can), travel off-season whenever possible, and avoid checking in on Friday and checking out on Sunday. >> Next: The Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets


Falcons running back Devonta Freeman missed most of last season due to injuries. The Falcons recently let running back Tevin Coleman walk in free agency, pointing to the confidence the team has that their former starter will re-emerge for 2019. Coach Dan Quinn expects Freeman to be at full strength by training camp, reports D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The fifth-year Falcons coach said Freeman will be be ready by the start of camp. "We can't wait to get Free back," Quinn said. "He's having such an awesome offseason. His energy, his juice, like him being around the team, you feel what he brings." Knee, foot and groin injuries derailed Freeman last season. He played in just two games and gained 91 yards from scrimmage. The 27-year-old Freeman has been working with the Falcons' training staff this offseason. He did not undergo knee surgery, Ledbetter adds. Freeman's return would obviously boost Atlanta's offense, which may well have two new starting linemen in the mix in first-rounders Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary . Atlanta still has Ito Smith , who averaged 3.5 yards per carry last season (compared to Coleman's 4.5), and rookies Qadree Ollison and Marcus Green will vie for backup spots. A former fourth-round pick in 2014, Freeman became the Falcons' starter in his second season and made back-to-back Pro Bowls. The Falcons signed him to a five-year, $41.25M extension in 2017. Freeman's signing bonuses are on Atlanta's books through 2021, making it financially unrealistic to part ways with him until that year.


Curious just how far your dollar goes in Sacramento? We've rounded up the latest places for rent via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to finding affordable apartments in Sacramento if you've got a budget of up to $2,200/month. Take a look at the listings, below. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1907 Q St. (Midtown - Winn Park Capital Avenue) Listed at $2,106/month, this 644-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom abode is located at 1907 Q St. The unit boasts high ceilings. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate assigned parking. Good news for animal lovers: The rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. According to Walk Score, the area around this address is quite suitable for walking, is a "biker's paradise" and offers many nearby public transportation options. (Take a look at the complete listing here .) 4800 Kokomo Drive (Creekside) Next, there's this two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit over at 4800 Kokomo Drive. It's listed for $2,123/month for its 1,092 square feet. The building boasts garage parking and secured entry. You can also expect to see a dishwasher and a walk-in closet in the unit. Pet lovers are in luck: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. According to Walk Score's assessment, the surrounding area is moderately suitable for walking, is very convenient for biking and offers minimal transit options. (See the complete listing here .) 7640 W. Stockton Blvd. (Valley High-North Laguna) Here's a 1,228-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at 7640 W. Stockton Blvd. that's going for $2,125/month. You can expect to see a walk-in closet, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting and a dishwasher in the unit. The building boasts garage parking and secured entry. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: This spot allows cats and dogs. According to Walk Score's assessment, the surrounding area isn't very suitable for walking, is convenient for biking and offers some transit options. (Take a look at the full listing here .) 1500 Seventh St. (Downtown) Listed at $2,170/month, this 780-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom residence is located at 1500 Seventh St. The building boasts on-site laundry. The residence also includes hardwood flooring and a dishwasher. For those with furry friends in tow, cats and dogs are permitted. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area is convenient for walking and biking and offers many nearby public transportation options. (Check out the complete listing here .) Working with a tight budget? Here are the cheapest rentals recently listed in Sacramento . This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


New documents obtained exclusively by CNN reveal that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received in-person deliveries, potentially of hacked materials related to the 2016 US election, during a series of suspicious meetings at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The documents build on the possibility, raised by special counsel Robert Mueller in his report on Russian meddling, that couriers brought hacked files to Assange at the embassy. The surveillance reports also describe how Assange turned the embassy into a command center and orchestrated a series of damaging disclosures that rocked the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States. Read the Spanish-language version of this story at CNN en Español Despite being confined to the embassy while seeking safe passage to Ecuador, Assange met with Russians and world-class hackers at critical moments, frequently for hours at a time. He also acquired powerful new computing and network hardware to facilitate data transfers just weeks before WikiLeaks received hacked materials from Russian operatives. These stunning details come from hundreds of surveillance reports compiled for the Ecuadorian government by UC Global, a private Spanish security company, and obtained by CNN. They chronicle Assange's movements and provide an unprecedented window into his life at the embassy. They also add a new dimension to the Mueller report, which cataloged how WikiLeaks helped the Russians undermine the US election. An Ecuadorian intelligence official told CNN that the surveillance reports are authentic. The security logs noted that Assange personally managed some of the releases "directly from the embassy" where he lived for nearly seven years. After the election, the private security company prepared an assessment of Assange's allegiances. That report, which included open-source information, concluded there was "no doubt that there is evidence" that Assange had ties to Russian intelligence agencies. Assange, a native of Australia, has always denied working for the Kremlin and has insisted that the source of the leaks "is not the Russian government and it is not a state party." He also said he would have published damaging information about then-candidate Donald Trump if he had received it. The US announced criminal charges against Assange earlier this year for his role in the 2010 leaks of secret diplomatic cables and Pentagon war logs, which WikiLeaks got from then-US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning . British police yanked Assange from the embassy in April. He is now serving a one-year prison term in London for skipping bail in the UK, while aggressively fighting extradition to the US. WikiLeaks did not respond to requests for comment. Assange's lawyers declined to comment. Assange maintains his innocence and WikiLeaks says the charges are "the worst attack on press freedom in our lifetime." A guest with privileges Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in June 2012 to apply for political asylum and avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault allegations , which he denies. The decision to offer Assange asylum was made by then-Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who claimed he was protecting Assange from "political persecution." The asylum also served two larger purposes: It heightened Ecuador's status on the world stage and brandished Correa's credentials as a leading US antagonist in Latin America. Initially the diplomats hoped to take Assange swiftly to Ecuador. But that plan stalled amid British refusals to allow Assange safe passage outside the embassy. So he settled in for a protracted stay. Though confined to a few rooms inside the embassy, Assange was able to wield enormous authority over his situation. From the outset he demanded (and was granted) high-speed internet connectivity, phone service and regular access to professional visitors and personal guests. This arrangement enabled him to keep WikiLeaks active, the documents said. Assange also issued a special list of people who were able to enter the embassy without showing identification or being searched by security. He was even granted the power to delete names from the visitor logs. To avoid surveillance cameras, Assange occasionally met guests inside the women's bathroom, according to the security reports. This all leaves open the possibility that additional sensitive meetings took place but are still secret. Quickly, the once-mundane diplomatic mission in the heart of London became a hotbed of tension and suspicion. Throughout Assange's stay at the embassy, Ecuador employed three security companies to conduct constant surveillance. Assange installed his own recording devices and used noise machines to stymie the snooping, according to the documents obtained by CNN. The task of controlling Assange proved difficult . Fistfights broke out between Assange and the guards. He smeared feces on the walls out of anger. Assange also maintained direct contact with senior officials in Ecuador, including former Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, and regularly used those connections to threaten embassy staff, according to the surveillance documents and two Ecuadorian government sources who spoke to CNN. He claimed he could get people fired, even the sitting ambassador. Assange's authority appeared at times to rival that of the ambassador. In December 2013, Ambassador Juan Falconí wrote a letter to Assange and said that "you cannot give instructions contrary to mine." CNN reached out to the four ambassadors who overlapped with Assange's time at the embassy. Only Falconí would comment, saying the Ecuadorian government had never pressured him to give Assange special treatment and that he had established rules for Assange to follow. Several current and former Ecuadorian government officials, including Correa and Patiño, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. While Correa was in office, he responded to criticism over harboring Assange by doubling down on the asylum offer and holding Assange up as a symbol of Ecuador's commitment to freedom of the press. Referring to Assange, Correa pointed out that "the icon of freedom of expression chooses to take refuge in the embassy of Ecuador," in a 2012 interview with RT en Español, a Spanish-language network controlled by the Kremlin. The Russian government operates television networks around the world to spread propaganda, and it reaches American audiences on its flagship English-language station, RT. Despite the years of strife, Assange was allowed to stay and prepared to wield his power when the moment was right. That moment came in summer 2016, a pivotal time in the US presidential campaign. Russia comes knocking By June, Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had emerged as the de facto nominees of their parties and were gearing up for what would be a bruising general election. The campaign took a historic turn on June 14, when the Democratic National Committee announced that it had been hacked and blamed Russia -- which Trump dismissed as a farce. Assange was busy back at the embassy. That month, members of the security team worked overtime to handle at least 75 visits to Assange, nearly double the monthly average of visits logged by the security company that year. He met Russian citizens and a hacker later flagged in the Mueller report as a potential courier for emails stolen from the Democrats. Also in June, WikiLeaks secretly communicated with Russian hackers and Assange publicly announced plans to release new material about Clinton. The Mueller report says the Russian hackers obscured their identities by using online personas for all their communications with WikiLeaks, which included emails and direct messages to WikiLeaks' account on Twitter. Assange took at least seven meetings that month with Russians and others with Kremlin ties, according to the visitor logs. Two encounters were with a Russian national named Yana Maximova, who could not be reached for comment. Almost nothing is known about Maximova, making it difficult to discern why she visited the embassy at key moments in June 2016. During her two visits that month, she met with Assange in the middle of the day in the embassy's conference room. Assange also had five meetings that month with senior staffers from RT, the Kremlin-controlled news organization. US intelligence agencies have concluded that RT had "actively collaborated with WikiLeaks" in the past and played a significant role in Russia's effort to influence the 2016 election and help Trump win. For several months in 2012, Assange hosted a television show on RT. In June 2016, RT's London bureau chief, Nikolay Bogachikhin, visited Assange twice, and gave him a USB drive on one occasion, according to the surveillance reports. That five-minute visit was hastily arranged and required last-minute approval from the Ecuadorian ambassador. In an email to CNN, Bogachikhin said, "RT has produced multiple programming featuring Mr. Assange. Within that process, everything that is intrinsically involved in the production of content took place." The RT bureau chief previously mocked reports about his visits with Assange, jokingly tweeting that he gave the WikiLeaks founder "a whole bag of Novichok," the chemical weapon used last year to poison a traitorous ex-Russian spy who lives in the UK. Since Bogachikhin's post last year, he has remained silent on Twitter. Shortly after WikiLeaks established contact with the Russian online personas , Assange asked his hosts to beef up his internet connection. The embassy granted his request on June 19, providing him with technical support "for data transmission" and helping install new equipment, the documents said. This was the same day Assange and his lawyers met with then-Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long, according to the surveillance reports. Long declined to comment for this story. It's unclear whether Assange told the Ecuadorians that WikiLeaks was working behind the scenes to acquire documents related to the US election. The US government has never publicly accused Ecuador of knowingly helping Assange or the Kremlin. Creating chaos from the embassy As the election approached, security officials at the embassy noted that Assange released some of the hacked emails "directly from the embassy," according to the surveillance documents. The Mueller report explicitly referenced that "Assange had access to the internet from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England." The rest of that paragraph is heavily redacted. It's unclear whether Mueller ever obtained these surveillance reports as part of his investigation. Mueller concluded that hackers from Russia's military intelligence agency, known as the GRU , attacked Democratic targets in spring 2016 and removed hundreds of gigabytes of information. They created online personas -- Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks -- to transfer some of the files to WikiLeaks and publicly claim responsibility for the hacks, falsely disavowing any Russian ties. Mueller's team noted that it "cannot rule out that stolen documents were transferred to WikiLeaks through intermediaries who visited during the summer of 2016." Assange has said a small group of associates helped him from the outside, but only to sift through the emails. The special counsel named one of those associates, German hacker Andrew Müller-Maguhn, and said he "may have assisted with the transfer of these stolen documents to WikiLeaks." The Mueller report appears to contain additional details about this possibility, but those portions were redacted because they contain classified information about sensitive investigative techniques. Assange has known Müller-Maguhn for years. The hacker even showed up as a featured guest on Assange's short-lived television show on RT in 2012, discussing the future of the internet and digital privacy. Müller-Maguhn is also involved in mainstream technology groups, and served on the board of ICANN, the international organization that governs internet domains. When contacted by CNN, Müller-Maguhn declined to comment about his meetings with Assange. He previously told The Washington Post that he was never in possession of the hacked materials before they were posted online. According to the surveillance reports, Müller-Maguhn visited Assange at the London embassy at least 12 times before the 2016 election. During a few of those meetings, Müller-Maguhn was accompanied by another well-known German hacker, Bernd Fix, the reports said. CNN was unable to reach Fix for comment. The Mueller report says that on July 6, WikiLeaks reached out to the Russian online personas with a request to send anything "hillary related" as soon as possible, "because the (Democratic National Convention) is approaching and she will solidify bernie supporters behind her after," referring to her opponent in the Democratic primaries, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The trio of hackers -- Assange, Müller-Maguhn and Fix -- then gathered on July 14 for more than four hours on, according to the security logs. The special counsel's report indicates that on this date, Russian hackers posing as Guccifer 2.0 sent encrypted files to WikiLeaks, with the title "big archive." Days later, on July 18, while the Republican National Convention kicked off in Cleveland, an embassy security guard broke protocol by abandoning his post to receive a package outside the embassy from a man in disguise. The man covered his face with a mask and sunglasses and was wearing a backpack, according to surveillance images obtained by CNN. The security company saw this unfold on surveillance footage and recommended that the guard be replaced. But the Ecuadorian government kept him on the job. On that same day, according to the Mueller report, WikiLeaks informed the Russian hackers that it had received the files and was preparing to release them soon. It's not clear if these incidents are related, and the contents of the package delivered to the embassy are unknown. WikiLeaks released more than 20,000 files from the Democratic National Committee on July 22, and the emails exposed how top officials preferred Clinton and tried to undermine Sanders. The party's convention days later in Philadelphia dissolved into a chaotic mess. A week that had been designed to engineer party unity transformed into a near-mutiny and the DNC chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, was forced to resign . As Democrats tried to manage the fallout, Trump quickly upped the ante. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," he said on July 27, referring to Clinton's private server. Mueller said the Russians were listening after all, and tried for the first time to hack Clinton's office within hours of Trump's comment. 'You won't be disappointed' While Trump and Clinton crisscrossed the country in the final weeks of the campaign, the Russians ramped up their efforts, and Assange was toiling away on another major project. Russian hackers, posing as DCLeaks, had reached out again to WikiLeaks and offered more materials, writing that "you won't be disappointed, I promise," according to the Mueller report. They later transmitted 50,000 emails stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's inbox. The special counsel report pinpoints a potential date for the data transfer: September 19. On that day, Assange met again with Müller-Maguhn and the security guards observed Assange installing new computer cables in his room, according to the documents obtained by CNN. WikiLeaks started releasing Podesta's emails on October 7 and released new batches nearly every day before the November election. The media covered all the embarrassing details, including transcripts of Clinton's closed-door Wall Street speeches, sniping from staffers about her "terrible" instincts and frustrations about overlap between business and charity, which they dubbed "Bill Clinton Inc." Trump touted the new leaks at nearly every stop on the campaign trail in the final weeks of the race, sometimes reading directly from emails and seizing on thinly sourced conspiracy theories. "This just came out -- WikiLeaks! I love WikiLeaks," Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that he carried by less than 1% of the 6.1 million votes cast statewide. Kremlin-backed outlets, including RT, breathlessly amplified the leaks on social media. On at least two occasions, RT even published articles detailing the new batches of emails before WikiLeaks officially released them, suggesting that they were coordinating behind the scenes, which they deny. Diplomatic ultimatum Not long after the Podesta emails began trickling out, with the election fast approaching, the US government raised concerns with Ecuadorian officials that Assange was using their diplomatic mission in London was being used by Assange to help the Russians interfere in the 2016 election, a former US official familiar with the matter told CNN. The US protest came with an implicit warning: Stop Assange or there will be consequences for Ecuador, just like there would eventually be consequences for the Russians for meddling in the election, and for Assange too, according to the US official and documents obtained by CNN. Facing this ultimatum, Ecuadorian officials in the capital city of Quito decided on October 15 to cut Assange off from the outside world, shutting down his internet access and telephone service. Even this didn't stop the deluge of email releases, which WikiLeaks continued pumping out every day until the election. Ecuador soon released a public statement condemning WikiLeaks' involvement in efforts to interfere with the US election but reaffirmed its commitment to protecting Assange. As this geopolitical saga unfolded, the Ecuadorian Embassy received calls from other countries asking about potential US retribution and Assange's physical safety, the security reports said. The situation intensified three days later. The security documents lay out a critical sequence of events on the night of October 18. Around 10 p.m., Assange got into a heated argument with then-Ecuadorian Ambassador Carlos Abad Ortiz . Just before midnight, Abad banned any non-diplomatic visitors to the embassy and left the building. Behind the scenes, Assange communicated with the foreign minister in Quito. Within an hour of Abad's departure, he called the embassy and reversed the ban. By 1 a.m., two WikiLeaks personnel arrived at the embassy and started removing computer equipment as well as a large box containing "about 100 hard drives," according to the documents. Security officials on site wanted to examine the hard drives, but their hands were tied. The Assange associates who removed the boxes were on the special list of people who couldn't be searched. The security team sent a memo back to Quito raising red flags about this late-night maneuver and said it heightened their suspicions about Assange's intentions. US intelligence agencies have said from the very beginning that WikiLeaks got the stolen emails from the Russian government, which Mueller also alleged in his indictment against a dozen Russian hackers. But the suspects are all living safely in Russia, so the US will likely never publicly produce a smoking gun or prove in court that Russia worked with WikiLeaks. Trump was inaugurated in January 2017 and continued to question whether Russia had meddled in the election. Assange's internet access was restored after the election, and he continued to meet with hackers as well as an American lobbyist representing a prominent Russian oligarch. In Ecuador, Correa's presidential term ended in May 2017 and he was succeeded by Lenín Moreno, a close ally who had been his vice president for more than six years. But after Moreno was elected, he quickly turned against Correa and started undoing many of his policies, including his friendly relationship with Assange. Justice Department lawyers secretly prepared a criminal case against Assange for the Chelsea Manning leaks. Federal prosecutors even turned to a controversial law to target Assange for actively soliciting and publishing classified materials, which is typically protected under the First Amendment. In April of this year, Moreno revoked Assange's asylum and said Assange had "violated the norm of not intervening in internal affairs of other states." This cleared the way for British police to forcibly remove Assange from the embassy when the first US charges were unsealed. Assange hasn't been accused of any crimes related to his actions in 2016. He remains in a UK prison, awaiting what will likely be a grueling battle over his extradition to the US, where he could face spending the rest of his life in prison. Meanwhile, he still has allies in Russia. Within hours of Assange's arrest, senior officials from President Vladimir Putin's government rushed to Assange's defense and slammed the US for infringing his rights, declaring that, "The hand of 'democracy' squeezes the throat of freedom."


We have yet to see a fully armed and operational Giannis Antetokounmpo . He won the MVP last season as the man the Bucks offense is built around, averaging 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and throw in 1.5 blocks per game. He's unstoppable one-on-one (and the Bucks banked on that and surrounded him with shooters to make teams pay for helping on him) and a freight train in transition. He took 72.5 percent of his shots within 10 feet of the rim (more than half in the restricted area) because he cannot be stopped. Yet Antetokounmpo thinks he has a long way to go. Look at what he told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN . "There's a lot of things I can improve on," Antetokounmpo told ESPN on Saturday after filming for the PUBG MOBILE Team Up Superstar Showdown event. "First of all, [I have to] look at myself before I look at anybody else. Try to self-improve as much as possible. There are a lot of things that I got to work on in my game. "A lot of people say, 'You are the MVP, you are one of the best players in the league, you are so dominant,'" he continued. "But I think I can get better. I think I am at 60 percent of my potential, as good as I can be. I just want to be better. If I am in the same situation again [in the conference finals], react better, play the game better, play better, execute better." Going deep in the playoffs, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, was a learning experience for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. While the Greek Freak averaged 22.7 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game in that series, the Raptors held him to 48.8 percent shooting, well below his efficient 57.8 percent during the regular season. The long defenders and rim protectors the Raptors could throw at him made life difficult. Of course, the obvious area Antetokounmpo needs to improve is his jump shot   and it is getting better. He shot just 25.6 percent from three last season, but after the All-Star break that went up to 31.5 percent, and in the playoffs he shot 32.7 percent from beyond the arc. Few guys in the league are as driven and work as hard on their game, the jump shot is coming along, making Antetokounmpo that much more dangerous. Next summer, the Bucks can offer Antetokounmpo a supermax contract extension. Talk to sources on other teams and they say of course everyone is watching this, but almost to a man they also expect him to sign the deal and stay in Wisconsin. More than him professing his love for Milwaukee and his loyal personality, the fact is the Bucks have built a contender around him in a way that, for example, New Orleans did not do around Anthony Davis . Antetokounmpo wants to win, and how many places can he go where he has a better chance at a title right now than Milwaukee? Of course, Antetokounmpo himself is not painting himself into a corner on his contract status, keeping his comments open to interpretation and the pressure on the Bucks. "My goal is going to stay the same: It's get better, take it day by day, step by step, and the ultimate goal is to win a championship," Antetokounmpo said. "As long as that we are all on the same page and we are all focused on that goal, why not play for the Bucks 20 years, why not play 25 years? Why not, after playing, be a member of the coaching staff or a member of the front office? But we got to have the same goal. We got to have the same principles. … We got to focus on winning a championship."


An ex-communications staffer for a British Member of Parliament blasted his former boss from the member's own Twitter account Tuesday as he announced his resignation. "Comms Team signing off... forever: Jared, you are the most disgustingly morally bankrupt person I have ever had the displeasure of working with," Gareth Arnold tweeted from the account of Jared O'Mara, who represents the Sheffield Hallam constituency. "You do not care about your constituents. You do not care about anyone but yourself." Comms Team signing off... forever: Jared, you are the most disgustingly morally bankrupt person I have ever had the displeasure of working with. You do not care about your constituents. You do not care about anyone but yourself. - Jared O'Mara (@jaredomaramp) July 23, 2019 My fear is that now (as I quit) the rest of the staff will leave and once again you will close your office and stop helping anyone but still take your wages until you have the decency to call a byelection. - Jared O'Mara (@jaredomaramp) July 23, 2019 "My fear is that now (as I quit) the rest of the staff will leave and once again you will close your office and stop helping anyone but still take your wages until you have the decency to call a byelection," Arnold added. "Sheffield Hallam deserves so much better than you. You have wasted opportunities which people dare not to even dream of," he tweeted. Sheffield Hallam deserves so much better than you. You have wasted opportunities which people dare not to even dream of. - Jared O'Mara (@jaredomaramp) July 23, 2019 Arnold concluded with a "mic drop" GIF and a link to his personal account, where his bio now reads "used to work for an MP (for my sins)." O'Mara, who was initially elected as a Labour candidate, was suspended from the party in 2017 after past offensive comments surfaced. He was reinstated the following year, but resigned from the party and now sits as an independent MP. The Hill has reached out to O'Mara's office for comment.


An elementary school in Fair Oaks is closed for the rest of the week after several confirmed cases of norovirus, officials said. The directive to close Harry Dewey Fundamental Elementary came from the Sacramento County Public Health Department, according to a statement from Principal Carol Stephens-Klipp. All school activities, including Friday's school dance, are canceled while the building is being cleaned. About a quarter of the school's student population, up to 100 students, have stayed home sick in the past couple weeks due to norovirus-like symptoms, according to the San Juan Unified School District. "Some stomach issues going around, vomiting, nausea among students and some staff members too," district spokesperson Raj Rai said. Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. People can get norovirus from having direct contact with an infected person, consuming food or water that's been contaminated or touching a contaminated surface and then putting unwashed hands in your mouth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The school said it will work with the health department to reopen by Monday, May 20. "Any and every surface that we can get a hold of and clean off that will be done to ensure that by Monday the facility is as clean as possible so that it's a safe environment for our students to come back to," Rai said. Students will need to be symptom-free for 48 hours before returning to school, officials said. The school district is filing paperwork with the state for a waiver to see if students can get the three missed days excused or if those days will need to be made up. READ MORE: Fair Oaks elementary school closed due to norovirus CHECK OUT KCRA: Stay informed. Get the latest Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento news and weather from the KCRA news team.


One victory at the French Open and a single-handed backhand was all it took for 16-year-old wildcard Diane Parry to draw comparisons with former world number one and fellow Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo on Monday. Parry, ranked 457th in the WTA rankings, beat Belarussian world number 102 Vera Lapko 6-2 6-4 to advance into the second round. It was her first win in the main draw of a Grand Slam or WTA event. The result was a welcome win for French women at Roland Garros on Monday after both Pauline Parmentier and Alize Cornet were sent packing. Parry, who grew up on the edge of Roland Garros in Boulogne-Billancourt, was immediately asked if she was like Mauresmo considering she also plays with a single-handed backhand. "It's Amelie Mauresmo that taught me. I love it. I'm very happy to have a one-handed backhand," she said. "I'm one of the very few players to have one, so I stand out thanks to this." Parry usually goes to train in the neighboring Centre National d'Entrainement with an electric scooter. On Monday, she made an exception, allowing her mother to drive her to the stadium. "I tried to approach this match as a run-of-the-mill match so as not to have too much pressure on my shoulders," she explained. "I tried to roll out my usual game. I tried not to think about the fact that it was a big match in the French Open. I tried to be as cool and relaxed as possible." Being the youngest female French player to win a match in the main draw here since a then 15-year-old Cornet in 2005, Parry now has to deal with the weight of expectations. "It's true that there are expectations. We're French. We play at the French Open. There are expectations," said Parry. "I'm trying not to think about this and to focus on my game and what I have to do. I try not to think about everything around me and what other people might think." She next faces Belgian 20th seed Elise Mertens or Slovenian Tamara Zidansek. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar) Related slideshow: Best of the French Open (Provided by imagn)


The football world is buzzing over the Cleveland Browns right now. Adding a bevy of high-profile young stars over the last couple of years and a promising finish to the 2018 campaign have many predicting the Browns are destined for playoff success. The initial ESPN power poll following the 2019 NFL Draft isn't quite so bullish on the Browns. It does still have the bar raised on expectation, though. Cleveland ranks "just" No. 15 of the 32 teams. That's lower than you'll find the Browns in many contemporary power polls; most have Freddie Kitchens' squad somewhere between No. 8 and 12. The context of the ranking is important. The ESPN formula, which leans heavily on sportsbook win total odds, has the Browns projected to win 8.8 games and the odds of making the postseason at just over 51 percent. Those might seem modest. However, it's the highest total for both among all the AFC North teams. Pittsburgh and Baltimore rank 16th and 17th, respectively. It seems ESPN expects a tightly packed division, with the Bengals a distant fourth in the early forecast. MORE: Most bizarre and incredible catches by fishermen in past decade Rumor: LeBron made a visit to Kawhi Leonard during Raptors-Sixers series NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players Richard Jefferson Has Inside Info On The Lakers, Says Rob Pelinka Needs To Go Geronimo Allison fits mold of slot WR in Matt LaFleur's offense


It's the grandaddy of modern music festivals and it's still going strong. Book your trip to Chicago from Aug. 1-4 for this year's Lollapalooza . Headline acts include The Strokes, Childish Gambino and Ariana Grande, but over 170 acts from all over the world will play the festival's eight stages. Offstage look for plenty of food and drinks, merch and kid-friendly offerings, along with space for visual arts. The festival plays out in Grant Park, nestled in the Windy City's Loop overlooking Lake Michigan and convenient to the city's vast cultural and culinary offerings. Fortunately, there are plenty of relatively inexpensive flights between New York City and Chicago on travel site Skyscanner . Here's a list of flights, hotels, restaurants and local attractions in Chicago to get you started. (Prices and availability are current as of publication and subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in the articles may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Cheapest Chicago flights The cheapest flights between New York City and Chicago are if you leave on Aug. 1 and return from Illinois on Aug. 6. Spirit Airlines currently has tickets for $134, roundtrip. If you fly out of New York City on Aug. 1 and return from Chicago on Aug. 7, Spirit Airlines can get you there and back for $138 roundtrip. Top Chicago hotels Regarding where to stay, here are some of Chicago's top-rated hotels, according to Skyscanner, that we selected based on price, proximity to things to do and customer satisfaction. The Palmer House a Hilton Hotel (17 E. Monroe St.) If you're looking for an inexpensive place to stay, consider The Palmer House a Hilton Hotel . The hotel has a 4.5-star rating on Skyscanner, and rooms are currently available for $92. The hotel is a lively destination within walking distance of the best attractions the city of Chicago has to offer, like Millennium Park, Grant Park, Lake Michigan, the Art Institute of Chicago, the theater district and the Magnificent Mile. The James Chicago (55 E. Ontario St.) There's also the 4.9-star rated The James Chicago , which has rooms for $116 a night. The 297-room luxury boutique hotel, which received recognition on Travel + Leisure magazine's World's Best Awards, is close to the Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park and museums. The Raffaello Hotel (201 E. Delaware Place) A third option is The Raffaello Hotel . With a five-star rating on Skyscanner, rooms are currently listed for $99/night. It's close to the John Hancock Center, Water Tower Place and the Tribune Tower. Featured Chicago food and drink If you're looking for a popular spot to grab a bite, Chicago has plenty of excellent eateries to choose from. Here are a few from Skyscanner's listings to help you get started. Giordano's (730 N. Rush St.) If you're looking for a local favorite, head to Giordano's , which has an average of 4.3 stars out of 113 reviews on Skyscanner. Visitor Ulan wrote, "Got cheese curds this time, which were yummy! Minestrone soup was chock-full of veggies and tasty. Pizza, as always, was crisp on the crust and ooey-gooey inside. Lunch special was $10." The Signature Room at the 95th (875 N. Michigan Ave.) Another popular dining destination is The Signature Room at the 95th , with 4.5 stars from 65 reviews. The Signature Room at the 95th, atop the John Hancock Center, offers diners a 360-degree skyline view, with floor-to-ceiling windows. There's a lunch buffet Monday through Saturday and dinner nightly with seafood, steaks and chops. "I love this place for the food and the awesome views of Chicago," wrote reviewer geminitraveller. "The classy and cozy ambience is perfect for a romantic date. Expensive place but worth the spend for the unforgettable experience." The Purple Pig (500 N. Michigan Ave.) Also worth considering is The Purple Pig . A collaboration among four top chefs, the Purple Pig specializes in "cheese, swine and wine." "Every dish was delicious," wrote Maggie. "The fried pig ear came with fried kale, the cheesy broccoli was unique with the tangy cheese sauce, the bone marrow didn't have much bone marrow but came with lots of buttery brioche bread, and meatballs." Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop (830 N. Michigan Ave.) Finally, there's Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop . "I love the Ghirardelli ice cream and chocolate selection," wrote Celeny. "The ice cream is the perfect treat for warm summer days." Featured Chicago attractions Chicago is also full of sites to visit and explore. Here are some popular attractions to round out your trip, again from Skyscanner's listings. Millennium Park (201 E. Randolph St.) First up is Millennium Park . It is the most famous section of Grant Park and is home to most of the park's highlights, including the Cloud Gate sculpture, nicknamed The Bean. The park is considered one of the largest green roofs in the world, as it was built on top of parking garages and a railroad yard. "Love, love, love Millennium Park in all seasons," wrote visitor Marcia. "My child enjoys going there for movies, dancing events   really every reason a child could have a blast. It's worth going to check out." The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S. Michigan Ave.) Then, there's The Art Institute of Chicago , an art museum in Grant Park. It is most famous for its impressionist and post-impressionist collections. Some of the more notable works include Monet's "Haystacks," Toulouse-Lautrec's "Moulin Rouge" and Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." "Free family play area and thinking lounge off the Modern wing," wrote visitor Ulani. "Simple, quiet indoor space for all ages to relax after shopping or visiting the park. Kids can take part in free workshops, draw, build, read, create a unique journey map for a self-guided museum tour." Willis Tower (233 S. Wacker Drive) Finally, spend some time at Willis Tower . The skyscraper, formerly known as the Sears Tower, is actually nine buildings bundled together   an engineering strategy to help the 110-story structure resist Chicago's infamous winds. When it finished construction in 1974, it was the world's tallest building at 1,451 feet. It remains among the tallest in the United States, with a public observation deck featuring glass floors for a straight-down view. "We waited in line to step out onto the glass floor, which was pretty cool," wrote visitor Yvonne. "Great views of the city, and on a clear day you can see out across Lake Michigan." This story was created automatically using flight, hotel, and local attractions data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


I was 12 when my cousins came to visit in August 1992: old enough to realize something was wrong with my three-year-old brother. The other six kids in our apartment that week me, my sister, and my four cousins didn't flap our hands in front of our faces for hours or say "Eeeee" instead of words. Until then I'd convinced myself that my brother was just "slow," like my parents said, and that, like my dad, he'd be a late talker. But my cousins looked at my brother as if he had six heads, and by the middle of their visit, I did too. He wouldn't be diagnosed with autism for another two years because there weren't many doctors in our area who knew what it was. And even after he was diagnosed, we spent weekends driving the hour and a half between Milwaukee and our hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, in search of doctors who knew how to treat it. My parents' search for treatment, and possibly a cure, for my brother sent us not just from city to city but through theory after theory. They eliminated sugar, dairy, and gluten from my brother's diet and added alternative "vitamins" like kava kava and valerian in an attempt to get him to sit still for more than a second or two. After I tried his vitamins out of curiosity I understood why he grimaced as he swallowed them: they tasted like a sour mix of grass and dirt. Music therapy, where my brother wore a special set of headphones so he could listen to what sounded like static for an hour a day, was supposed to cut down on his hand-flapping and help him talk more. While my brother's behavioral therapists taught him some language and the ability to follow basic commands like "sit down," "hands in lap," and "come here," I'm not sure what any of the rest of these treatment methods accomplished. But the community my parents built of autism doctors, therapists, and fellow parents of autistic kids seemed to "discover" a treatment or "cure" every five minutes, even if most of them were discredited in the sixth minute. In the late 90s, this community turned against vaccines. Andrew Wakefield famously "discovered" a link between the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine and autism in 1998 that has since been discredited, but from 1998 until 2004, when 10 of the paper's 12 authors retracted the study , his findings were, at least in some circles, considered credible science. My family and I were thrilled about Wakefield's "discovery." If vaccines were the problem, autism could be prevented, even if it couldn't be cured. I wanted to have kids someday and I knew that autism tended to run in families. So I was thrilled to think that if I didn't give my future kid an MMR shot, he or she would never develop autism. Wakefield only discussed MMR, but I grew suspicious of all vaccines. If one vaccine was dangerous, weren't they all? Wakefield lost his medical license in 2010 when Britain's medical-licensing council found that his study was dishonest and that he'd mistreated developmentally challenged children in the course of his research. Yet instead of feeling relieved that I could rule vaccines out as a potential cause of autism, I felt cheated. I couldn't accept the truth: In the 15 years since my brother's diagnosis, no one had figured out what causes autism, so there was nothing I could do to prevent having an autistic child. I held on to my opposition, figuring I should avoid vaccinating my future kid "just in case." I wanted to believe that I could control whether my future kid would be autistic or not. I had witnessed my parents, their friends with autistic kids, and my brother's doctors navigate a labyrinth of shifting medical-insurance coverages and autism-treatment fads, hoping to improve their kids' social and language skills enough to let them hold a job or live in a group home. I knew I didn't want to have a kid who couldn't talk if I could avoid it. I married a man who was firmly pro-vaccine. He understood my fear of giving birth to an autistic kid, but thought my anti-vaccine position was nuts. Every time we argued about vaccination I decided my gut feelings and need for control outweighed the studies and news articles he cited to convince me vaccines didn't cause autism. I figured I could put off a final decision on vaccination until we actually had a child. In 2013, I got pregnant. A steady diet of baby books and advice from doctors and worried Internet mothers helped me develop a level of concern for my baby that went far beyond whether he'd be autistic or not. Late in my pregnancy my doctor offered me a whooping-cough booster shot that would vaccinate my baby against the disease. When I balked, she told me that a recent whooping-cough outbreak had killed 10 infants in California . I was still skeptical, and told her I needed to think about it. I went home and found heartbreaking news online about the babies that died of whooping cough in 2010. Nine of the 10 were less than eight weeks old much too young to get vaccinated. Reading about these babies' deaths made my unborn baby seem realer by the minute. He was a kicking, rib-grabbing, vibrant little guy. I didn't want him to die at such a young age. I began to seriously question my anti-vaccine stance. I had an honest, soul-bearing chat with my doctor about my family's autism history, which by then included my second brother, who was diagnosed with autism in 2004. She'd answered all my other questions calmly, so I was surprised at how passionate she became when she told me that there was no link between vaccines and autism and that I should get the whooping cough booster shot and vaccinate my baby after he was born. I'd grown fond of my doctor after months of appointments and trusted her advice. And I couldn't stop picturing those dead babies. I decided to get the whooping cough booster shot. And to vaccinate my child. I now have a 16-month old boy who has received all his shots and is physically and cognitively normal. He's only had two colds in his short life and I don't have to worry about this year's California measles outbreak, since he had his MMR shot a few months ago. As a parent I will always have to sort through facts and face my fears to try to make the best decisions for my son. But I can't protect him by making parenting decisions that are based on false, dangerous information. I'm ashamed that it took me 15 years to realize that pretending there was a connection between vaccines and autism didn't let me control whether my son would be autistic or not. It just put him in another kind of danger a preventable kind.


In search of a new favorite seafood spot? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top seafood spots around Santa Ana, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to meet your needs. 1. Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking Topping the list is Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking . Located at 1421 W. MacArthur Blvd., Suite G, the Cajun/Creole, seafood and soul food spot is the most popular seafood restaurant in Santa Ana, boasting four stars out of 2,617 reviews on Yelp. 2. The Boiling Crab Next up is The Boiling Crab , a seafood, New American and Cajun/Creole spot, with four stars out of 1,051 Yelp reviews. Head over to 1500 W. MacArthur Blvd. to see for yourself. 3. Tan Cang Newport Seafood Over in Riverview West, check out Tan Cang Newport Seafood , which has earned four stars out of 992 reviews on Yelp. You can find the Chinese, seafood and Vietnamese spot at 4411 W. First St. 4. The Kickin' Crab Finally, there's The Kickin' Crab , a local favorite with four stars out of 869 reviews. Stop by 3611 S. Bristol St., Suite C to hit up the Cajun/Creole and seafood spot 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.


For anyone who has been in a long-term relationship, there is no single answer on how to keep the spark alive. 48 Ways to Turn Up the Heat in Your Long-Term Relationship For anyone who has been in a long-term relationship, there is no single answer on how to keep the spark alive. When you first start dating someone, there is a mixed bag of emotions including butterflies, excitement, and a sense of mystery. As time goes on, your relationship transitions to long-term status, and the initial happiness of the "honeymoon" phase can wear off. Just because you've been with someone for what feels like forever doesn't mean the relationship has to become stale. Challenge yourselves and the relationship! Check out these 48 tips to help keep the romance well and strong for many more years to come. - Additional reporting by Michele Bird Plan a date night. Take a trip together. Try a new hobby as a couple. Go out on a double date. Surprise your significant other. Take some "me" time. Communicate your feelings. Discuss the future. Support each other's dreams. Don't go to bed angry. Make a bucket list together. Make time for intimacy. Get a couple's massage. Team up in the kitchen and cook a new recipe. Do something to show your siginificant other you care. Remind them they are beautiful. Be honest about your feelings on a hot-button topic. Respect each other. Sign up for a class together. Don't hold on to past grudges. Make time for friends and family. Do something you've never done before together. Take a breather when you're fighting so you don't say something you'll regret. Joke around with each other. Laughing is good for the soul. Put an equal amount of effort into the relationship. Mix up your evening routine by playing a board game. Reminisce about your first date. Talk about an issue you've been sweeping under the rug. Take time to really listen. Be patient with each other. Make time for each other as a couple. Plan a spontaneous getaway. Write a romantic letter or note. Make breakfast in bed. Plan an amazing date night at home. Do something special for your anniversary. Say "I love you" more. Clean the house together. Flirt with each other. Focus on the positives instead of the negatives in your relationship. Unplug for a night. No TV, computers, or phones. Don't sweat the small stuff. Do something you're scared of together. Show some PDA. Encourage each other to take on new challenges. Dress up for a date night. Read a book together and talk about it. Never forget why you fell in love in the first place.


Cameo Garrett was found dead by her father, Albert, on July 9. The last time he had heard from her was five days earlier, when she texted him, "Happy 4th of July." On Tuesday, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed she had Legionnaires' disease when she died. Just about a week before her death, during the last weekend in June, she visited the Sheraton Atlanta for a conference. Garrett died of coronary artery disease aggravated by legionella, according to DeKalb County Medical Examiner Pat Bailey. He said it's possible that she could have died from the heart disease even without the infection, but had no chance under the additional strain of Legionnaires'. Garrett was 49. Georgia health officials have confirmed 12 cases of Legionnaires' stemming from the Sheraton, a widening health crisis that includes 61 probable cases. That's up from 57 probable cases about a week ago. The Georgia Department of Public Health also confirmed one death from the outbreak on Tuesday. According to a DeKalb County Police Department report, Garrett's 72-year-old father believed she only had issues with high blood pressure, and police said they did not find any medications in her home. A friend of Garrett's, Terri Lewis said she had been complaining about not feeling well. She said her stomach was bothering her and that she had a fever. "She was tired and she was moving a little bit slower than usual," Lewis said. "You could tell she was fatigued. Lewis said she was supposed to meet friends on Saturday and didn't show up. That's when her dad and friends asked police for a wellness check. Legionnaires' disease is a serious type of pneumonia caused by bacteria known as legionella. People can catch the disease by inhaling the bacteria in a public place. It can't be passed by skin from person to person. RELATED: Why Sheraton Atlanta took three days to close after Legionnaires' disease confirmed The Sheraton Atlanta voluntarily closed on July 15 and is still closed. This is the first reported death tied to the Legionnaires' outbreak. In a statement, Sheraton Atlanta General Manager Ken Peduzzi said: "Sheraton Atlanta continues to work closely with public health officials and environmental experts to determine if the hotel is the source of the Legionella outbreak. Testing of the property happened last week, and the hotel has voluntarily moved ahead with precautionary remedial activities while awaiting results. The health and safety of our employees and guests is our top priority. Sheraton Atlanta remains closed until at least August 11. " Health officials continue to collect samples trying to determine the source of the illness. DPH and the Fulton County Board of Health have been reviewing hundreds of survey responses from people who were at the hotel between June 12 and July 15. They are using the surveys to help identify people who might have fell ill and compare the activities of those who became sick and people who did not.Health officials are hoping this helps them narrow down the source of the illness. DPH said the first set of samplers were collected on July 19 and more samples have since been collected. Testing environmental samples takes up to 14 days, and results are pending. MORE ON THIS STORY Probable cases of Legionnaires' disease linked to Atlanta hotel now up to 57 Sheraton Atlanta gives update on Legionnaires' testing, open date and status of employees This is what we know about the Atlanta Sheraton's Legionnaires' concern


Craving Indian food? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top Indian spots around Plano, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to fulfill your urges. 1. Andhra Cafe Topping the list is Andhra Cafe . Located at 4020 Hedgcoxe Road, Suite 200, the Indian eatery is among the highest-rated Indian restaurants in Plano, boasting 4.5 stars out of 66 reviews on Yelp. 2. Malgudi Garden Next up is Malgudi Garden , situated at 5024 Tennyson Parkway. With four stars out of 245 reviews on Yelp, this Indian and vegetarian spot has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Aroma Indian Cuisine Aroma Indian Cuisine , located at 3948 Legacy Drive, Suite 112, is another prime choice, with Yelpers giving the Indian buffet locale, which offers desserts and a vast selection of Indian fare, four stars out of 210 reviews. 4. Wild Mirchi Indian Grill Wild Mirchi Indian Grill , an Indian restaurant, is another go-to, with four stars out of 198 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2929 Custer Road, Suite 315, to give it a try for yourself. 5. Kesari At last, check out Kesari , which has earned four stars out of 202 reviews on Yelp. You can find the Indian and vegetarian establishment at 3100 Independence Parkway, Suite 319. 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.


Tyreek Hill's off-the-field issues have continued to haunt him this offseason. Kansas City Chiefs star wide receiver Tyreek Hill was involved in a family court case regarding allegations of child abuse. KCTV5 Investigates: Tyreek Hill heads back to court after abuse allegations https://t.co/W7BWfl2Wzz pic.twitter.com/eHf7QUF5h5   KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) April 18, 2019 Hill and Crystal Espinal, his fiancee, were involved in a police investigation of a report of child abuse back in early March, and on Thursday Hill reported to family court. He and his fiancee have a 3-year-old son, who is the subject of the case. Although he isn't facing any criminal charges, Hill's connection to this ongoing string of reports and cases of child abuse is a bad look for both the Chiefs and the NFL as a whole, especially considering Hill is expected to report to offseason workouts. Chiefs' WR Tyreek Hill will be in attendance at the start of the Chiefs' offseason workout program today, per source. Police have been investigating two incidents of suspected child abuse at Hill's home last month.   Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 15, 2019 The league has yet to take action regarding Hill's issues . The fact that he still has a job and is placed in a star role despite his continued mistakes outside of football is proof enough that the NFL cares more about selling tickets and the on-the-field product than they do about holding players accountable. As more comes out regarding this case, the NFL might finally be forced into action.


LOS ANGELES   Walker Buehler never let up. His fastball touched 97 mph in the ninth when Nolan Arenado struck out swinging for his career-high 16th and last punch out of the game. Buehler pumped his fist into his glove   nothing too cocky for this soft-spoken Kentuckian   and walked off the mound with no expression on his face while the crowd erupted. "Just checking another box for me," the 24-year-old right-hander said. "Thanks to Doc (manager Dave Roberts) for letting me go back out there." BOX SCORE: DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2 Buehler pitched his first complete game and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied on rookie Matt Beaty's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2 Friday night. With two outs, Max Muncy drew a seven-pitch walk and Beaty followed with a shot to center field off Jairo Diaz (1-2). "Max having a really good at-bat gave me confidence," Beaty said. He got soaked with the contents of the drink container and was coated in white powder on his bald head to wild cheers from the sellout crowd of 54,044. "It just felt like I was floating around the bases," Beaty said. "Hitting a walk-off homer is no better feeling." Beaty was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier in the day, although he never left Los Angeles. Buehler's nine innings and 111 pitches were career highs. He gave up two homers, and the only other hit he allowed was a first-pitch single to Charlie Blackmon in the ninth. The right-hander's strikeouts were the most in the major leagues this season. "Anytime you do something for the first time it's got a little more meaning," said Buehler, who singled in the eighth. Buehler's scoreless innings streak ended at 20 on Nolan Arenado's homer with two outs in the fourth. The streak began in the sixth inning on June 3 in Arizona. "Got some calls and some bad swings in counts," Buehler said. "Arenado and Blackmon hit maybe the two worst pitches of the night." The NL West-leading Dodgers have won nine in a row against the second-place Rockies. At 52-25, the Dodgers are off to their second-best start in franchise history, trailing only the 1974 squad that began 53-24. The game matched Buehler and German Màrquez, who squared off in Game 163 last year to decide the NL West title, won by the Dodgers. Neither starter gave up a walk Friday. "That was a great matchup between two young starting pitchers that are two of the best in baseball," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "They went toe-to-toe. Well-pitched by both sides. It came down to a fastball in the middle of the plate." Màrquez gave up two runs   one earned   and five hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out eight. Blackmon's 18th homer with two outs in the sixth tied it 2-all. The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead on Cody Bellinger's 25th homer in the fourth. Arenado's 19th homer tied it 1-all and came a night after he left the game at Arizona for precautionary reasons with a left big toe contusion. "If I didn't bump into the wall I think I had a decent chance to catch it," said Beaty, who played left. Chris Taylor's sacrifice fly scored the Dodgers' first run in the second. TRAINER'S ROOM Dodgers: RHP Josh Sborz went on the IL with lower back tightness. HE SAID, HE SAID Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was ejected from the dugout by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild for arguing in the fourth. The rest of the bench had been getting vocal at the same time. "He looked in the dugout and said, 'That's enough,'" Turner said. "I waved and said hi and apparently he thought that was offensive." Turner had asked Fairchild about a called strike during his leadoff at-bat earlier in the inning. "He kind of snapped back at me and said, 'Obviously it's a strike or I wouldn't have called it,'" Turner said. "I don't know if he was having a bad day." Turner and Fairchild have history together. The umpire ejected him in September 2017. "I have great relationships with 99.9% of the umpires," Turner said. "He'll be a third base tomorrow so I'm sure there'll be a conversation about it." JOC AT FIRST Joc Pederson got his first start at first base for the Dodgers and Beaty moved to left field. "He looked comfortable," Roberts said of Pederson. Beaty found out about the switch after batting practice. Roberts was going to try Pederson out Saturday but moved it up a day. UP NEXT Rockies: RHP Peter Lambert (6-6, 2.0 ERA) makes his fourth start in the majors 30 miles from his hometown of San Dimas. He beat the Cubs in his first two starts and had a no-decision in his third against San Diego. Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-1, 1.26) has 12 quality starts in 14 tries with 85 strikeouts and five walks. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Related Slideshow: Best of the 2019 MLB season (provided by imagn)


The first win is always the sweetest, but it's even sweeter when it comes after not only a disappointing race the weekend before but a seemingly long winless streak. Matt McCall, crew chief of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, got that ever-so-sweet first victory in Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, and it couldn't have come at a better time. "This is what you work every day for," McCall said. "A lot of hours, but got a wheel man now." RELATED: Kurt Busch survives OT thriller | Race results The driver-crew chief pairing of Kyle Busch and McCall is new this season, but Busch knew from the start that the shift to Chip Ganassi Racing was "the right move for him." He entered the 2019 season with confidence that he'd win with his new team. Busch knew he was going to win with McCall, too; it was just a matter of time. "I knew he could be a winner," Busch said. "I knew from the second I met him. We're all winners now." McCall felt the same. This season marks McCall's fifth full-time season as a crew chief with 164 starts under his belt and 16 top fives and 58 top 10s. Five of those top fives and 11 of the top 10s all came from the start of this season with Busch. "(Busch) came in, that was the goal from the very beginning," McCall said. "He has a lot of credentials, so when he starts talking about how many we're going to win, it's definitely a confidence booster for sure. He's almost delivered, and he delivered tonight, so it's been pretty fun this first half of the season." After making a weather-related judgment call late in last weekend's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway and receiving plenty of backlash, this was a fitting remedy. Busch had a chance to take home the victory at Daytona, but lightning and a last-minute decision to pit just before the race's final stoppage ended those hopes with heartbreak. None of that matters now. This is Busch's 31st career win in 16 full-time seasons, but it's the first for McCall and many other members of the No. 1 team. "It's awesome. Just to get back to Victory Lane for the first time with a new team means the world to me," Busch said. "But with all these guys, there's so many that got their first win tonight, and they put me in position. A fast car, we had lap time, and we got a nice lucky break to get a shot at it with that yellow at the end. It takes teamwork all the way through, and thanks to Chevrolet, Monster Energy, Gear Wrench, Global Poker. These guys are winners, I couldn't be more proud of them." ]]>


Sunburn has a way of going from irritating to unbearable, real quick. One day you're spreading aloe on your heat-radiating skin, and the next you're molting like a snake and trying not to itch off every layer of your bubbling skin. Believe it or not, there's a name for this brutally itchy and painful type of sunburn , and it's called "hell's itch." Although it's not an official clinical diagnosis, "hell's itch" typically occurs in severe sunburns that peel, explains Meghan Feely , MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical instructor at Mount Sinai's Department of Dermatology. Essentially, hell's itch is just a colorful name for a bad sunburn that itches and throbs at the same time, and the symptoms can last for days, she says. The reason why sunburn itches like this isn't entirely known, but Dr. Feely says it's likely a side effect of nerve-ending injuries that happen on the skin when you get a bad sunburn. When your sunburn peels , on the other hand, that's a sign that your body is trying to get rid of dead or damaged skin cells. Although it's tempting to peel or scratch at a burn or itchy patch of skin, that can intensify the sensation, delay the healing process, or lead to scarring. The important thing to keep in mind is that, whenever a bad sunburn leads to extensive blistering that could be classified as hell's itch   or comes along with systemic symptoms such as fever, confusion, or chills   it's a good idea to seek medical attention, Dr. Feely says. Even though you might be used to dealing with sunburns of this degree, it can seriously damage your skin long-term or add to your risk of skin cancer. "So, be sure to speak with a board-certified dermatologist to decide what treatment strategy is best for you," she says. Less-severe sunburns can be soothed with home remedies , including aloe vera , cool compresses, colloidal oatmeal baths, topical hydrocortisone cream, and antihistamines , she adds. Ultimately, while your idea of heaven might be sitting out in the sun, you have to be diligent about preventing sunburn . That means wearing sunscreen , covering your body with protective clothing , and sticking to the shade during peak hours of daylight. Because the alternative is ending up with hell's itch, or spending all summer in a miserable sunburn purgatory. Related Video: Summer Symptoms to Watch For: Sunburn, Heat Rash, Swimmer's Ear (Provided by Today)