Author: Gesi Lloyd

Azzi Fudd became the first rookie to win the WNBA All Star 3-point contest, scoring 30 points in the championship round to beat Portland Fire forward Bridget Carleton at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Dallas Wings guard, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, opened the finals by making her first six attempts and finished with a total that ties her for the second highest single round score in the event’s history, behind only Sabrina Ionescu’s 37 point performance in 2023. Fudd said afterward that she had not realized she would be the first rookie to claim the title,…

An outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a diarrheal illness caused by the microscopic cyclospora parasite, has now been confirmed in nine states after Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania joined Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia on the list. Federal health officials say the bulk of the illnesses trace back to shredded iceberg lettuce grown by Taylor Farms in central Mexico and served at Taco Bell locations, though investigators have not ruled out additional sources. Nearly 2,000 people who reported eating at Taco Bell across the nine states have tested positive for the parasite since late June, and the outbreak has continued…

Horn Island, a slip of sand off the Mississippi coast, drew what witnesses described as thousands of boaters for the Fourth of July. Nolan Wells, an 18 year old community college football player, was among them, arriving with a group of roughly two dozen friends who anchored alongside dozens of other boats. People who have visited the island for years told reporters the crowd that day was noticeably younger and larger than usual, and that the surrounding current is notoriously unpredictable, capable of overwhelming even strong swimmers within moments. Wells’ friends describe the final hours Warren Hudson, described as Wells’…

Spain and Argentina meet Today at MetLife Stadium in a World Cup final pairing the tournament’s most cohesive team with its most singular star. Spain arrive in only their second men’s final, chasing a repeat of their 2010 triumph behind a squad built around captain Rodri’s tempo setting passing and teenage winger Lamine Yamal’s unpredictable brilliance. Argentina, appearing in their seventh final, are trying to defend the title they won in Qatar, still led at 39 years old by Lionel Messi, who has produced more goal contributions than anyone else in the tournament. Statistical models give Spain a slight edge,…

Texas Hill Country is confronting another round of life threatening flash flooding, just over a year after a disaster that killed more than 100 people in the same region last July. The latest flooding has already claimed lives and forced residents in Kerr County and surrounding areas to relive a trauma many had not yet finished processing. Officials describe a community caught between active emergency response and the emotional weight of a tragedy that feels close to repeating itself. Grief layered on top of recovery Austin Dickson, head of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, described the moment…

A sluggish area of low pressure sitting in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is shaping up to be the region’s biggest weather story heading into the weekend. Forecasters say the system has only a modest chance of organizing into anything tropical, but that hasn’t stopped it from loading the atmosphere with moisture across Central Florida and the greater Tampa Bay area. Meteorologists expect scattered afternoon and evening storms to keep firing through Monday, with the heaviest activity favoring inland communities. Some of those storms could pack frequent lightning, wind gusts as high as 55 mph and heavy downpours capable of…

Jay-Z is basking in a proud parenting moment. At Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest luncheon on July 17, the rapper briefly addressed reporters about the opening night of his 30th anniversary concert series, a run that kicked off July 10 at Yankee Stadium in New York. Asked whether the show ranked among his favorite moments, he did not hesitate to agree that it was a clear highlight, brushing off any need for further explanation. To Jay-Z, the highlight of his Yankee Stadium shows was performing with Blue Ivy 💙 pic.twitter.com/0Dv31y7n6m — 7happy (@Sevenhappy007) July 17, 2026 The Yankee Stadium set brought…

More than 100 million people across the Midwest, Northeast and Mid Atlantic spent the past few days breathing air thick with smoke drifting down from wildfires burning across Canada. Officials in Chicago described the conditions as the worst air quality the city has recorded, and similar warnings went out in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington. Health departments handed out masks, closed outdoor pools and spray parks, and urged residents to limit time outside. The haze reshaped a packed summer calendar. A baby parade in Flint was called off, a concert in Herndon was scrapped, and Pittsburgh’s America’s Mile marathon never…

Federal investigators have zeroed in on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants as a possible source behind a rapidly growing outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness that has sickened thousands of people across the Midwest this year. A Familiar Taco Bell Supplier name Resurfaces The lettuce came from Taylor Farms, a major California based produce supplier, according to people familiar with the investigation. Neither Taylor Farms nor Yum Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, has responded publicly to requests for comment, and federal and state health officials have not yet formally announced a cause behind the outbreak’s spread. This…

SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship on its 13th flight test as early as Thursday, aiming to correct problems from the previous mission while carrying a new generation of Starlink satellites for the first time. A new launch window opens The 90 minute launch window at Starbase in Cameron County, Texas, opens at 5:45 p.m. local time Thursday, translating to the early hours of Friday for viewers in India and other time zones well ahead of the U.S. As with all developmental testing, SpaceX has cautioned the schedule remains dynamic and could shift. A live webcast is set to begin…