Latest news with #Cunningham
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sophie Cunningham clarifies WNBA expansion comments after Detroit, Cleveland clap back
Sophie Cunningham was the center of controversy over comments about the WNBA's expansion to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, and, on Thursday, she attempted to clarify her message ahead of the Fever's win over the Aces. The Indiana fan favorite previously questioned whether players would be excited about going to cities like Cleveland and Detroit compared to other bids, which included Miami, Nashville and Kansas City. The comments didn't sit well with those in Detroit and Cleveland and others around the WNBA, but Cunningham said on Thursday that she was only talking about the off-the-court lifestyle players would enjoy in the more tourist-friendly cities. 'First of all, I know the history behind the WNBA. I know both of those cities had teams before and they got us where we're at, so I'm thankful for that,' Cunningham said before getting into her bigger point during a conversation with Fever reporter Tony East. 'All I was really getting at is Broadway, the off-court lifestyle, so I think that is really intriguing. I think Miami is really intriguing. That's all I was getting at. I'm thankful for what they've done for our history of the sport. I think it'd be fun to get some teams outside the NBA market. I do think there's benefits when you do have an NBA team, but that's all I was getting at.' Social media accounts for both cities pounced on Cunningham's comments, with Cleveland posting a video of Cunningham's teammate Caitlin Clark positively talking about the city during the 2024 women's college basketball Final Four. Detroit also pushed back at the comments, posting on X, 'Detroit is a sports town. We're sure we'll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.' Cunningham felt that her comments were 'misread.' 'I think people totally misread that situation,' she said. 'I would never speak down upon middle class, blue-collar working people. That's where I come from, I'm from Missouri, I get I'm in Indiana and that's why I'm kind of hinting at. Broadway sounds fun, Sophie in Miami sounds fun. All I was saying.' The WNBA announced Monday that the league would be expanding to Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia, all cities with NBA franchises and histories of supporting their NBA clubs. Detroit had also previously been home to a WNBA franchise, which won championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
USC football countdown to kickoff—Sam Cunningham in focus
The countdown to USC's 2025 football season is officially on! The Trojans kick off their new campaign 39 days from today. You need something to help you while away the days and hours in the spring and summer. This is one way to do so. In this new series, countdown to kickoff, we will be counting down the days by highlighting a notable Trojan who wore each number. Today, we look at USC Hall of Fame running back Sam Cunningham. Position: Running back Years played at USC: 1969-1972 Career highlights: Cunningham starred at fullback for John McKay's USC teams of the early 1970s. As a senior in 1972, he earned first-team All-American honors. In the Rose Bowl against Ohio State, Cunningham scored four touchdowns, clinching an undefeated season and a national championship for the Trojans. Perhaps Cunningham's biggest, impact, though, came in the 1970 game between USC and Alabama. At the time, the Crimson Tide still did not have any African American players on their team. Getting dominated by 42-21 Cunningham and the integrated Trojans, however, prompted legendary Alabama head coach Bear Bryant to change that the following year, forever altering the course of college football. In 2010, Cunningham was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the USC Athletics Hall of Fame. After USC: The New England Patriots selected Cunningham with the 11th overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. He would go on to play for the team from 1973-1972, earning Pro Bowl honors in 1978. In 2010, he was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Cunningham passed away in 2021 at the age of 71.
Glasgow Times
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Candidates confirmed ahead of by-election in Barrhead
Voters will go to the polls on Thursday, August 21 to elect a new councillor following the death of Cllr Betty Cunningham. The long-serving Labour councillor, who represented the Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor ward, passed away in May at the age of 79 after a period of ill health. Labour has selected Julie Ann Costello McHale to contest the seat while the SNP will be represented by David McDonald. READ MORE: Date revealed for Barrhead by-election following death of councillor Farooq Choudhry is the Scottish Conservative candidate, Karen Sharkey will stand for the Scottish Greens and Andy MacGibbon has been picked by Reform. Abolish the Scottish Parliament party is also contesting the election and has selected Gus Ferguson. The council is currently led by a minority Labour-independent administration, which includes independent councillor Danny Devlin. There are now four Labour councillors, three independents, five SNP and five Conservatives. At the last election in 2022, Cllr Devlin picked up the most first preference votes in the ward (1,753), followed by the SNP's Angela Convery (1,639). Cllr Cunningham and Cllr Chris Lunday, SNP, were also elected. Polls will be open between 7am and 10pm on August 21 and residents have until midnight on Tuesday, August 5 to register to vote. The count will take place on the morning of Friday, August 22. READ MORE: Campaigners to challenge Eaglesham battery plant ruling Following Cllr Cunningham's death, tributes were paid from across the political spectrum. Council leader Owen O'Donnell said: 'Social justice and the sense of what is right and wrong was ingrained in Betty's DNA. 'She was a ferocious fighter for the people of Barrhead and beyond and would leave then Prime Minister Tony Blair and First Minister Jack McConnell trembling in her wake! 'She had the biggest heart but was also great fun and someone you wanted to spend time with.' Cllr Cunningham was first elected in 1999 and served as Provost from 2003 to 2007. She received an OBE from the Queen in the New Year's Honours List of 2011 for services to East Renfrewshire and Malawi, having first travelled to the African country in 2007. Her charity, the Betty Cunningham International Trust, built a health clinic and nursery schools.
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Injuries, inconsistencies and roster moves: Fever hope for smoother path after 'roller coaster' first half
INDIANAPOLIS – Halfway through the 2025 WNBA season, the Indiana Fever haven't been able to find any consistency. A new coaching staff has had to deal with a seemingly ever-changing roster. The Fever haven't had a full roster at their disposal for most of the season, save for two games in late May. Even then, they didn't have Aari McDonald, who has quickly become a vital part of their team. Other than those two games, they've had injuries, hardship necessities, other players and coaches out for personal reasons and players away for international commitments. They've consistently had only 10 available players, even dropping down to nine recently during a brutal stretch of games. 'It's been a roller coaster,' Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. 'Peaks and valleys, injuries, switching team personnel. It's just a lot of stuff that's happened. I think that's part of being a professional athlete. I don't think it gets any different, but I think that you need to go through things like this to be one of the teams that they talk about during the end of the season. Gotta go through tough (expletive) in order to figure out what you need.' Indiana opened the season with just 11 players (one shy of the limit) because of salary cap restrictions, and a preseason injury to Sophie Cunningham made the Fever even more short-handed. Then Fever star Caitlin Clark got injured, straining her quad at some point during the New York game May 24 (she couldn't pinpoint a specific moment she felt the strain happened), and was ruled out for at least two weeks. A few games later, Cunningham re-aggravated her ankle injury. That put Indiana below the hardship threshold of 10 available players, and they were able to sign McDonald to a hardship contract. After just over two weeks with Cunningham and Clark out, both returned June 13 against the New York Liberty. With their returns, the Fever had to release McDonald per WNBA rules. At that point, DeWanna Bonner, one of the Fever's marquee additions in the offseason, was away from the team for personal reasons. Bonner remained away from the team for five games and was eventually waived June 25 as she felt like she could not find a good fit with the Fever's offensive scheme. The Fever re-signed McDonald to a standard contract after cutting ties with Bonner, allowing her to be on the roster for the rest of the season. But they weren't quite a full squad yet. Backup center Damiris Dantas left the team June 25 for an overseas commitment, playing in the FIBA AmeriCup with the Brazilian National Team. She missed five games, including the Commissioner's Cup championship, while she led Brazil to a silver medal. At the same time, Clark suffered a groin injury. She missed those same five games as Dantas, putting Indiana down to nine available players for a stretch of five games in nine days. Indiana, even with just nine players, actually found a groove during that stretch, winning the Commissioner's Cup over league-leading Minnesota (and $30,000 each) as part of a three-game winning streak. They also took down the Aces for the first time since 2019. 'I think that everyone saw that we kind of got some flow when Cait was hurt and our offense was clicking, but now we have to have a new offense when she's in there, because she just brings that much to the game, and so we have to adjust,' Cunningham said. 'And I think all of us just want it now. We know what the potential of this team can be, but we can't think about that. You really have to take it day-to-day and stuff that worked here, we need to carry it over.' Indiana has hit another roadblock, though, with a deflating last-second loss to Los Angeles to break its winning streak. They couldn't find continuity in Clark and Dantas' first game back, either, suffering a 19-point loss to Golden State on July 9. The Fever, with all of their roster changes and injuries, have been a work in progress. For a bit, the Fever had their full roster for the first time. '(July 10) was the first time that we've had all of our roster,' Fever coach Stephanie White said. 'So we haven't had any consistency there. We haven't had everybody on the floor in a practice in a long time. And so I think we just have to take micro-steps into building that they can't just be talking about, that we've got to build it on the floor.' Indiana hit yet another snag when Clark exited the Fever's game against the Sun in the final seconds on July 15, holding her groin. Clark was ruled out of Indiana's game against New York after imaging on her groin, and White said she is considered "day-to-day." Clark also pulled out of the 3-point contest and All-Star Game in order to prioritize her rest. Indiana has been able to stay afloat, hovering around .500, but haven't been able to make the splash most were anticipating ahead of the 2025 season. The Fever are 12-11 and sit sixth in the playoff standings. And, with or without Clark on the court, they know they don't have very much time left to make that mark. 'We're running out of time, to be honest,' Cunningham said. 'And I think that it's going to light a fire under our butts. So hopefully you'll see kind of that energy shift.'
USA Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Of course Trump lied about Project 2025. Now he's enacting it.
The similarities between what Project 2025 proposed and what Trump's second administration has unleashed on Americans is striking, but now is not the time to be complacent and simply hope for change. A year ago, as delegates to the Republican National Convention gathered in Milwaukee to nominate Donald Trump for president, I sent an urgent warning to voters about an innocent enough sounding proposal – "Project 2025" –punctuated by this admission: "Honestly, it scares me." The 922-page report from a conservative think tank outlined the first 180 days of a second Trump presidency. At the time, then GOP-nominee Trump claimed to know nothing about it, despite his name being mentioned 312 times in the document. While Trump tried to distance himself from its politically unpopular ideas, I recognized that if he won, Trump would support many of its radical plans that could disrupt nearly every aspect of our lives, including healthcare, education, taxes and civil rights. The question looms: Was I right? I was right, and it's so much worse than I thought The short answer is yes, and in ways even more frightening than I first feared, but you don't need to take my word for it. Just ask Maurice Cunningham, a retired professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston, who studied politics for decades and is well-versed in Project 2025. When I asked Cunningham if the policies outlined in the document implemented by Trump are hurting the average American as much as I suspected, he responded: "It's not just bad; it's possibly worse than you could have imagined.' Although the situation may seem dire, Cunningham warned that now is not the time to be complacent and simply hope for change. Instead, it is crucial for people to organize, protest and hold their elected officials accountable. Opinion: I'm exhausted by attempts to pretend discrimination doesn't exist in America Trump appointed Project 2025 authors to administration posts The similarities between what Project 2025 proposed and what Trump's second administration has unleashed on Americans is striking, and it would be unwise to dismiss them as mere coincidence. And keep in mind, we still have another 3.5 years to go. In the first 100 days since he took office alone, nearly 45% of his executive orders closely resemble the policy recommendations advocated by Project 2025, according to an analysis conducted by the Hearst Television Data Team. And that was just the beginning. A number of Trump administration appointees were contributors to the project, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and border czar Tom Homan. Cunningham said Trump's policies, put into place by the people behind Project 2025, are beginning to take a toll on the most vulnerable sectors of society. This alignment appears to be a key component of his overall strategy. We saw this at work with the passage of Trump's "big beautiful" budget bill where cuts to Medicaid alone could cause as many as 20 million people to lose their health coverage over the next decade. This will happen despite Trump's repeated promises not to cut Medicaid benefits as recently as March. That fits a familiar pattern. Lie. Deny. Enact. Repeat. Opinion: How much of Project 2025 has been implemented? Enough to break us beyond repair. It's worth noting that Project 2025 proposed significant changes to Medicaid, including work requirements, limiting eligibility and possibly imposing lifetime caps or time limits on coverage, while also weakening reforms from the Affordable Care Act. As we look back on the past five months under the Trump administration, the key question is whether we're better off now or if we've fallen further into hardship. "I think that's easy to answer and it will only get worse,' Cunningham said. This will be a slow burn. Tax cuts under the bill happen immediately while Medicaid changes are phased in. In other places, the pain is already being felt from mass layoffs of federal employees and DOGE budget cuts. Education and social safety net endure DOGE chainsaw Education is place where changes outlined in Project 2025 will begin making a major impact this fall. It called for allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ students, redirecting taxpayer money to private schools, eliminating Title 1 funding and making cuts to Head Start, which would affect 800,000 preschoolers. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has promised to dismantle the department and has pushed to cut the Education Department's budget by $12 billion. This reduction would seriously impact minority and low-income children and their families in public schools and rural communities. The administration already cut and delayed funding for Head Start programs for preschoolers from low income families, which assists 16,000 children in Wisconsin alone. Project 2025 proposed to make it even more difficult for low-income individuals to afford food. The proposal aims to reverse the Biden administration's initiative to increase SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits over the next decade, a measure designed to keep pace with rising food costs. Under Trump's budget bill, SNAP will face its largest cut in history, resulting in an estimated 3.2 million adults losing food benefits each month, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Opinion: Senate just passed Trump's Big Beautiful Bill – and made it even uglier Picture this: young students stepping into their classrooms, their bellies empty and growling, struggling to concentrate and absorb knowledge as the shadow of budget cuts hovers ominously over their futures. And it doesn't stop there. Then came Alligator Alcatraz Trump's mass deportations align directly with Project 2025's plan to increase executive power and undermine the U.S. immigration system. It proposed implementing asylum procedures at the border, reducing access to legal immigration options, utilizing local resources for mass deportations and detention, and separating immigrant children from their families. Trump's budget bill allocates $170 billion to deport 1 million people each year. ICE officials have gotten more aggressive, arresting undocumented immigrants at their homes, workplaces, protests, churches, near schools, and even at the Milwaukee courthouse. On April 18, Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was taken into custody by FBI officials after she allegedly assisted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, in escaping federal agents following his appearance in her courtroom. Flores-Ruiz, 31, was arrested after a brief foot chase outside the courthouse. A week later, Dugan, 65, was also arrested at the courthouse. She was charged on April 25 with two federal counts: obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor Kathleen Dolan called the arrest of Dugan an 'intimidation tactic.' 'If a judge can be handcuffed on their job, what do you think will happen to you?' she said. The ongoing mass deportations continue to rip families apart, leaving a trail of profound emotional devastation in their wake. It's disheartening to witness the stark absence of compassion among Republicans regarding this crisis. Just this month, a migrant detention facility opened in the Florida Everglades. Some Republicans have dubbed the facility 'Alligator Alcatraz,' due to its isolated location and the fact that it's surrounded by lurking alligators and slithering pythons. The term "Alligator Alcatraz" not only evokes a sense of danger but also highlights the callousness that the Trump administration is willing to exhibit to drive home its message. Disturbingly, they are even merchandising T-shirts that mock what I would call a modern-day concentration camp. This tumultuous situation sends shockwaves through immigrant communities, escalating fear and uncertainty at every turn. But when you have a president who has continuously labeled immigrants as sex offenders, murderers, and gang members or suggested that many came to America from insane asylums, one can only imagine the atmosphere of dread that permeates these communities. This is not the time to become complacent or tune out news While Trump may seem to have the upper hand, it doesn't mean that everything is bleak. Both Cunningham and Dolan emphasized that now is not the time for people to become complacent. Dolan urged individuals to stay engaged in politics, even when it feels confusing and tedious. Cunningham stressed the importance of making one's voice heard through protests and by challenging both Republican and Democratic leaders to address the public's needs. Opinion: White House wants us to see Trump as Superman. We all know he's the villain. These are remarkable times with head spinning twists. One time ally and now enemy of Trump, Elon Musk, poised the idea of an third political party on Tuesday. Musk said the "America Party," would be the place for those not happy with the Republican or Democratic parties. While I agree something needs to change, Musk, who was Trump's largest donor for his campaign is not the right person to lead such a party, especially given Musk's brutal and haphazard spending cuts in his time at the poorly named Department of Government Efficiency and considering Trump said he would look at having Musk deported to his native South Africa. Besides, Americans don't have time for a new political party. I think a better idea would be for people to unite for a new nationwide "Poor People's Campaign," similar to the one led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1968. This campaign would tackle issues like wealth inequality, poverty and racism, which continue to divide our society. A group in North Carolina has taken up this mantle. It's astonishing that issues from 57 years ago persist today, including the lack of access to health care and education, as well as inadequate wages. I know there are people who don't believe that marching has an impact, but when you consider that Project 2025 was designed for a specific type of individual – one who doesn't look like me – and that Trump aligns with that inherently racist, sexist and classist document, it is clear that something drastic needs to change. This moment presents an opportunity to unite everyone – from diverse backgrounds, races, religions and socioeconomic statuses – around a shared mission. Too many people are still on the sidelines, watching as individuals are deported, others lose their healthcare and civil rights continue to be eroded. We can either sit back and hope we aren't the next ones affected by the issues on Trump's long list, or we can fight to not only protect what we have but also to help those who have already lost so much. James E. Causey is an Ideas Lab reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this column originally appeared. Reach him at jcausey@ follow him on X @jecausey.
