USA’s April Ross, Alix Klineman take on Australia for beach volleyball gold medal; U.S. women face Serbia in both basketball, volleyball semifinals.
On Sunday morning, many observers were surprised when Lollapalooza announced that the evening’s headlining set from embattled rapper DaBaby — who had unleashed a series of homophobic comments over the week, beginning during his performance at the Rolling Loud Miami festival — was canceled. The surprise was not the cancelation, but rather the fact that it […]
Shawnee Mission’s new rule is stricter than the one Johnson County approved earlier on Thursday.
This right here is exactly what the facepalm emoji was made for: It’s looking ever more likely that Republicans and Democrats are headed for a September showdown over raising the debt ceiling. A two-year suspension of the borrowing limit expired at the end of July and the Treasury Department has started employing “extraordinary measures” to enable the government to keep paying its bills and avoid breaching the ceiling. Those extraordinary measures may be exhausted shortly after Congress returns
It didn’t take much for the White House to set Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis off. As coronavirus cases rise across the Sun Belt, President Joe Biden asked GOP governors to “get out of the way” of efforts to contain the virus. “He has become, I would argue, the leading voice of opposition to the Biden administration,” said Rob Bradley, a Republican who recently left the Florida Senate because of term limits.
California will require all of its roughly 2.2 million health care and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Sept. 30. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month he would require health care workers to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday to match his lowest PGA TOUR score and take the first-round lead in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The 2013 winner at TPC Southwind, English had a two-stroke lead over Jim Herman, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter and Matthew Wolff, with Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Marc Leishman another shot back at 65. DeChambeau returned to competition after missing the Tokyo Olympics because of a positive test for COVID-19. RELATED: Leishman’s emotional reunion with parents The 32-year-old English birdied the first four holes — making a 27-foot putt on the par-4 second — and added birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to match the course front-nine mark of 7-under 28. The 28 also is English’s career-low for nine holes. “It was one of those rounds where I was hitting it really good off the tee and making a lot of good putts,” English said. Ahead by two strokes after nine holes, he encountered difficulty to the start the back nine. He bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12 to fall out of the lead. But he recovered on the final few holes. He closed with birdies at 15, 16 and 18. He hit his approach at 18 inside 5 feet and sank the putt. “I’m just happy with the way I fought back,” English said. The strong start was a continuation of what has been a solid season for English. Of his four PGA TOUR victories, two have come this season: the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third at the U.S. Open. English has won two of the four times he has led or shared the lead after an opening round. Ortiz, who played bogey-free, moved up the leaderboard with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16. Wolff also birdied 15 and 16 and said “everything is starting to fall in place” for him. Herman, seeking the fourth PGA TOUR victory of his career, is in contention after a difficult mid-season stretch in which he missed eight of 10 cuts. After birdies on 16 and 17, he briefly tied English for the lead at 6 under. Herman’s birdie putt on 17 was from 31 feet. DeChambeau was encouraged by his start. He expressed to the media Wednesday he didn’t expect to be much of a factor this week. That sentiment changed Thursday. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend,” he said. “I feel like I can be there to win on Sunday.” Open champion Collin Morikawa and defending WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational champion Justin Thomas shot 67s. Second-ranked Dustin Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele were at 69.
A native plant called running buffalo clover that had been considered extinct is being removed from the federal endangered species list after bouncing back in a half-dozen states east of the Mississippi River, officials said Thursday. The perennial gets its name from the stolons, or “runners,” that extend from the base of its stems, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. Habitat loss and competition from invasive plants such as bluegrass and white clover nearly doomed running buffalo clover, one of the few native clovers in the eastern U.S. Most types that people commonly see in their yards originated in Europe, Thomas-Van Gundy said.
President Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation to award four congressional gold medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol during the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
It was a nice round that got him right in the thick of it despite having traveled across 14 time zones. But Marc Leishman’s 5-under 65 in the first round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, two back of leader Harris English, wasn’t the story. Not in and of itself. More significant was that Paul Leishman, his father, identifiable by the sponsor logos on his shirt and cap that matched his son’s, watched it all. Pelita, his mother, took in about nine holes with Audrey Leishman, Marc’s wife. His parents hadn’t seen him in almost a year and a half amid the pandemic, but after several written appeals the Australian government allowed them to leave for America and what became a tearful reunion at the Memphis airport on Monday night. “Dad’s one of my best mates,” Leishman said. “So not seeing him and my mum for a year and a half was – really tough. Also, I was playing terribly last year, so that didn’t help, either.” Sometimes the score doesn’t really tell the story, and that was the case for Leishman at TPC Southwind. It would be hard to overstate exactly what it took for his parents to be here. The Australian borders are shut and may not reopen for several months, a decision that has prompted backlash among those who believe the government has gone too far to stop COVID-19. “It was really tough; it’s been really tough for a lot of people,” Marc said. “We had to write letters to the Australian government for them to be allowed out of the country. We all wrote letters. I wrote one, Mom and Dad wrote one, different people from different fields write them. We had the PGA TOUR write one. There were letters coming from everybody. We had a pretty good case.” Although Leishman says, “The government were very good and got back to us quickly, gave them the go-ahead,” it was also a frustrating exercise that took months. “I understand not being able to go back into the country,” he said, “but not being able to leave is an interesting one.” Finally given the green light, Paul and Pelita left Warrnambool, Victoria – three hours southwest of Melbourne – and headed to America and Leishman’s hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia. They were met at the airport by Audrey’s brother, Michael, on Saturday night. Harvey, Oliver, and Eva – Marc and Audrey’s three children – were in the dark and shocked to open the door and find their grandparents. Audrey filmed it. Marc, meanwhile, was still in Tokyo competing in the Olympics for Australia. Two days later, on Monday, Paul, Pelita, Audrey and the kids flew to Memphis, where the family has rented a house with a pool near TPC Southwind. Although the plan was to meet Marc back at the house, the charter flight from Japan – carrying the 19 players in the field in Memphis – was early to arrive, just a few minutes after Paul, Pelita, Audrey and the kids. Improvising, Paul and Pelita surprised their son at baggage claim. “That was another emotional moment,” Paul said. He may not be able to get back to Australia for a while, but he’s not particularly worried about it. The plan is for everyone to head to the Greenbrier in West Virginia after this week, as Marc and Audrey are having work done on their house. And after that, who knows? Marc and Paul are so close, it would almost be a blessing in disguise if his dad does get stuck in America. They’ve spent countless hours playing golf together, and it was a momentous day when Marc, then 13, finally beat his scratch-handicap father in the Warrnambool Golf Club championship. Although Marc now lives in America, he saw his father frequently before the pandemic. It’s been a hard year and a half. “It’s a weight of your back, I guess, just to be able to see him again,” said Marc, who came into this week at FedExCup No. 31. (The top 30 get into the season-ending TOUR Championship.) “He’s not too worried if he gets stuck here, I don’t think. He loves it in America, coming to the golf tournaments. It’s a pretty good spot to be, especially the way Australia is at the moment.” He’ll go back out for round two Friday. His dad expects to follow every shot.
