Author: Gesi Lloyd

Three Big Ten programs punched their tickets to the Elite Eight this weekend, and the path each one took says something different about how deep this conference runs in March. Purdue survived. Illinois dominated. Iowa shocked everyone who was not paying close enough attention. The last time a Big Ten school won the NCAA men’s basketball national championship was in 2000. A generation of college basketball fans has grown up without seeing it happen. The way this bracket is setting up, that drought may be running out of time. Purdue holds on when it matters most No. 2 seed Purdue…

Netflix adjusted its subscription rates on March 26, pushing every tier higher by at least $1. The ad-supported plan moved from $7.99 to $8.99 per month. The standard ad-free plan climbed from $17.99 to $19.99, a $2 increase that stands out as the sharpest jump in the current round. The premium plan, which supports 4K Ultra HD, HDR viewing, Netflix spatial audio and up to four simultaneous streams, went from $24.99 to $26.99. Extra member pricing also went up. For ad-supported plans, adding a non-household user now costs $6.99 per month, up from $5.99. Ad-free add-ons increased from $8.99 to…

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has formally asked the National Football League to stop enforcing the Rooney Rule, a policy requiring teams to interview minority candidates for key leadership positions. In a letter directed at Commissioner Roger Goodell, Uthmeier argued that the rule conflicts with Florida’s civil rights statutes and requested written confirmation by May 1 that the league would drop it. His office added that failure to comply could trigger civil rights enforcement action from the state. The demand marks one of the more pointed government challenges to a private sports organization’s internal hiring practices in recent memory. The…

Diana Ross spent the 1960s as the lead voice of The Supremes, a group that helped define the Motown sound and delivered a run of hits that still appear in commercials, films and playlists more than half a century later. Baby Love and Stop! In the Name of Love were part of that foundation. When she stepped away from the group and launched her solo career in 1970, she carried that momentum forward with records that blended disco, soul and adult pop in ways few artists of her era could manage. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and I’m Coming Out…

The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch This afternoon covering dozens of Alabama counties, with the threat window running from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. The watch covers Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Walker, Blount, Etowah, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Marengo, Dallas, Autauga, Lowndes, Elmore, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, Lee, Russell, Pike and Barbour counties. Forecasters are expecting northeast winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts reaching up to 30 mph. Relative humidity is projected to drop as low as 19%. The…

Civil rights activist Najee Ali has sent an open letter to Steve Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Intuit Dome, asking him to use his influence to address what a growing coalition describes as a public safety failure in Inglewood, California. The letter, signed by Ali and several community and faith leaders, follows the death of Bryan Bostic, an African American man who died while in the custody of the Inglewood Police Department after a routine traffic stop. Bostic was a father, a son, and a brother. His death has sharpened an already tense conversation around policing…

Nine Moroccan companies earned spots on Forbes Middle East’s annual ranking of the 100 Most Valuable Companies in the Middle East and North Africa, placing Morocco fourth overall by number of firms represented. Only the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar had more companies on the list, making Morocco the highest-ranked African nation in the region’s most closely watched corporate index. The ranking, published annually by Forbes Middle East, draws from market capitalization data across 12 stock exchanges in 11 countries, with figures recorded as of January 31, 2026. The top 100 firms together carry a combined valuation of…

Frank Thomas, the two-time American League MVP and Hall of Famer who spent 16 of his 19 major league seasons with the Chicago White Sox, filed a lawsuit on March 19 in Cook County, Illinois, against the White Sox, Nike and Fanatics. The suit alleges that all three defendants profited from the sale of merchandise bearing his name and likeness without his knowledge or compensation. At the center of the complaint are the team’s City Connect 2.0 jerseys, which went on sale around April 28, 2025, and feature Thomas’ No. 35 on the front along with his name and number…

Jarvis Butts, the 43-year-old Michigan man sentenced earlier this month for the murder of 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris and the sexual assault of multiple children, was found dead Today at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson. The Michigan Department of Corrections confirmed the death and said Michigan State Police had been called to the facility to investigate. Corrections staff attempted to revive Butts after he was found but were unable to save him. Michigan State Police were brought in to conduct an investigation, and the death is currently being classified as a suicide. Butts had been incarcerated at…

NASA has put a permanent human presence on the moon at the center of its plans for the coming decade, unveiling a detailed road map Tuesday that includes a $20 billion moon base, regular crewed landings, nuclear power systems, and an accelerated push toward Mars. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who took office in December, laid out the vision at an event called Ignition at NASA headquarters in Washington before an auditorium packed with aerospace company representatives, international space agency officials, and members of Congress. The announcement marked the first time the agency has attached a specific timeline and funding figure…