Latest news with #Miles'
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Upperby Primary School raises money for Great North Air Ambulance
Children at a Carlisle primary school have helped to raise more than £2,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance (GNAAS). Upperby Primary School proudly took part in the 'A Mile 4 Miles' school challenge to drum up funds for the vital service. The challenge was for the children to walk a mile in the school ground to raise money and to celebrate GNAAS' mascot Miles' birthday. Headteacher of Upperby Primary School Paula Burns praised the 'incredible generosity' of the family and friends of the children. 'Deborah Usher from GNAAS visited the school to lead an assembly, explaining to the children why the service is so vital—and how any one of us might need it one day,' said Paula. 'Pupils completed their mile in creative and energetic ways, from hopping and jumping to wearing funny hats and wigs. 'The event was a fun and inclusive way to get everyone moving while raising awareness for an important cause. 'Thanks to the incredible generosity of families and friends, the school raised an amazing £2,116. 'Last Friday, Deborah returned to the school, where the Head Boy and Head Girl proudly presented her with the cheque. 'Well done to everyone involved in supporting such a worthy cause. The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) rescues hundreds of severely injured or ill patients every year throughout the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. Their doctor-led critical care teams deliver life-saving treatments at the scene of the incident whether that is on a fell top, a roadside or in a city centre. The charity responded to 2,083 call outs in 2024 alone, via their helicopter and emergency response vehicles, where they performed treatments and procedures which can mean the difference between life or death.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Education Agency extends Houston school district takeover through 2027
The state takeover of the Houston Independent School District will continue for two more years, the Texas Education Agency announced Monday. Education Commissioner Mike Morath had until June 1 to decide next steps for the state's largest school district, whose former superintendent and elected school board members were ousted and replaced in 2023 due to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus and allegations of leadership misconduct. Since then, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles has led the district, a controversial figure in Houston who has ushered improvements on state exams while struggling to win over community support. Still, Morath decided to extend the intervention until June 1, 2027, applauding the district for its improvements but citing the need for more progress. That progress, he said, will have to include no school campuses with failing accountability scores across multiple years, compliance with special education requirements and improved school board governance. Morath on Monday also announced the appointment of four new school board members, replacing four he selected in 2023. 'With the changes made in the last two years, Houston ISD is well on its way to being a district where all of its schools provide students with the educational opportunities that will allow them to access the American Dream,' the commissioner said in a statement. 'Ultimately, two years has not been enough time to fix district systems that were broken for decades. The extension of this intervention will allow the district to build on its progress and achieve lasting success for students once the board transitions back to elected leadership.' The Houston Chronicle first reported the extension of the takeover. Under Miles' leadership, the district has experienced extraordinary staff turnover and plummeting student enrollment. Miles, who inherited a district that for years ran an overall well-performing school system, has faced accusations of shepherding a militaristic educational environment where teachers have limited freedom to teach in ways they see fit and children are exhausted and disengaged from learning. Miles, on the other hand, has touted student improvement on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR test, and progress in the district's A-F accountability ratings as proof that his model is effective, an achievement that Morath and state lawmakers have publicly commended. During the November election, Houston voters shot down a plan to approve $4.4 billion in academic and infrastructure improvements for the school district — the largest proposal of its kind in state history — which many saw as a litmus test for Miles' support. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olivia Miles' transfer portal entrance highlights power shift in women's basketball
Olivia Miles' transfer portal entrance highlights power shift in women's basketball The top of the 2025 WNBA Draft experienced a major shakeup when Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal. Miles was projected to be the No. 2 pick in April's draft and likely fall no lower than third overall, but instead she has elected to extend her college career, just not at Notre Dame. Advertisement Even though the era of the pandemic bonus year has essentially ended in college basketball as eligible players had to be on rosters during the 2020-21 season, which was when the current crop of fourth-year seniors was in high school, eligibility decisions are still at play for WNBA prospects. There are still medical redshirts, which is why Miles can play for another year because she missed the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL. Furthermore, juniors who turn 22 during the year of the draft have the option to go pro or remain in school. Miles' decision not only represents the emerging power of player agency in the women's basketball landscape, but it is particularly interesting strictly from a basketball consideration, as she is beloved by WNBA talent evaluators. The former Notre Dame guard was all but guaranteed to be a lottery pick, with general managers calling her the safest pick in the draft beyond UConn's Paige Bueckers. Her massive improvement as a 3-point shooter (24.6 percent before the injury compared to 40.8 percent after) was the tipping point when combined with her already excellent facilitation as a lead guard. In theory, Miles' stock has nowhere to go but down if her shooting doesn't remain consistent at this level. That indicates that when she gets picked isn't nearly as important as how much money she can make in the process, where she goes, and how her body feels after her ACL injury. The WNBA is currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' association that could potentially triple individual salaries. Rather than lock herself into a four-year rookie contract totaling about $350,000, Miles could wait to enter the league until 2026 and possibly recoup that figure within the first two seasons. Agents have been advising college players across the country with an additional year of eligibility to stay in school and reap the financial rewards of the next CBA. Advertisement If Miles makes her transfer decision within the next week, she could also secure name, image and likeness commitments before the final hearing in the House v. NCAA lawsuit on April 7. This is the last gasp for unregulated 'pay-for-play' deals with athletes before they are assessed by an NCAA clearinghouse. Given Miles' status as a two-time All-American — the only other multi-time All-American to ever enter the portal was LSU's Aneesah Morrow, who left DePaul — Miles will presumably be raking in cash from collectives. It's worth remembering that Miles' external sponsorships will likely stay with her when she turns professional, supplementing her WNBA salary. However, collectives affiliated with a university will only be interested in her as a collegian; thus, this is her last opportunity to pull in that particular revenue stream. Most WNBA executives didn't cite Miles' health as a concern in the lead-up to the draft, as she has suffered only one significant injury and appeared to be in excellent form during the 2024-25 season. However, she told in Birmingham that she is not close to where she wants to be post-injury. 'My physical shape could be better,' Miles said. 'This injury, it's a long, long process. Even after you're healed, getting the rest of your body to catch up. I would say I'm not even 75 percent of the way there yet.' Advertisement Taking the leap from college to the WNBA requires a certain level of confidence not only in a player's skills, but in their body. If Miles doesn't feel physically herself, it wouldn't be the right time to play against grown women in a physical league. That's a similar calculation that Azzi Fudd had to make. The redshirt junior opted out of the 2025 draft to return to the Huskies despite also being a projected first-round pick. Fudd has barely played one full healthy season at UConn and could stand to get stronger before joining the W. Miles also has more to accomplish at the collegiate level. She ended her season in the Sweet 16, just as she has every full season at Notre Dame, which was short of what the Irish — who were ranked No. 1 in the country on Feb. 17 — had hoped for. There were always questions about the fit between Miles and another ball-dominant guard in Hannah Hidalgo. Now, Miles can find another team where she is the full-time point guard and with more returning talent. Even if Miles returned, Notre Dame was losing half its rotation (Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Liza Karlen) and bringing in one top-100 recruit. Flau'jae Johnson, a draft-eligible junior, said she wanted to do more winning before leaving LSU, despite already being a national champion. 'Once you taste the national championship, you want more,' Johnson said after losing in the Elite Eight. 'And I feel like that national championship I had (as a freshman), yeah, I was a big factor in it, but there were bigger factors in that. I want my own one. Where I lead the team.' Advertisement Ta'Niya Latson, who was a 2025 All-American with Miles and Johnson, has experienced enough individual accolades at Florida State. She also entered the portal instead of the WNBA draft, having hit a repeated NCAA Tournament first-weekend ceiling with the Seminoles. There will always be a draw to playing in the NCAA Tournament, one that the WNBA can't match, and there are only so many years when players can take part in it. All of the aforementioned athletes have been deprived of postseason experience due to injury. Miles missed two tournaments, Fudd missed one and was ill during another, and Latson was injured during her freshman postseason. This is a situation JuJu Watkins will have to consider when she returns from her ACL injury. Rather than go pro in 2027, she could stay in college a fifth year as a medical redshirt to get back the March time she lost, depending on what USC has accomplished to that point. Miles' decision doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is representative of all the financial, medical and legacy-related questions that female athletes are confronting in a time when they have more agency than ever. The balance of power is shifting, and colleges and WNBA teams are now at the mercy of the players. Advertisement This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Florida State Seminoles, Connecticut Huskies, LSU Lady Tigers, WNBA, Women's College Basketball, Women's NCAA Tournament 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Olivia Miles' transfer portal entrance highlights power shift in women's basketball
The top of the 2025 WNBA Draft experienced a major shakeup when Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal. Miles was projected to be the No. 2 pick in April's draft and likely fall no lower than third overall, but instead she has elected to extend her college career, just not at Notre Dame. Even though the era of the pandemic bonus year has essentially ended in college basketball as eligible players had to be on rosters during the 2020-21 season, which was when the current crop of fourth-year seniors was in high school, eligibility decisions are still at play for WNBA prospects. There are still medical redshirts, which is why Miles can play for another year because she missed the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL. Furthermore, juniors who turn 22 during the year of the draft have the option to go pro or remain in school. Advertisement Miles' decision not only represents the emerging power of player agency in the women's basketball landscape, but it is particularly interesting strictly from a basketball consideration, as she is beloved by WNBA talent evaluators. The former Notre Dame guard was all but guaranteed to be a lottery pick, with general managers calling her the safest pick in the draft beyond UConn's Paige Bueckers. Her massive improvement as a 3-point shooter (24.6 percent before the injury compared to 40.8 percent after) was the tipping point when combined with her already excellent facilitation as a lead guard. In theory, Miles' stock has nowhere to go but down if her shooting doesn't remain consistent at this level. That indicates that when she gets picked isn't nearly as important as how much money she can make in the process, where she goes, and how her body feels after her ACL injury. The WNBA is currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' association that could potentially triple individual salaries. Rather than lock herself into a four-year rookie contract totaling about $350,000, Miles could wait to enter the league until 2026 and possibly recoup that figure within the first two seasons. Agents have been advising college players across the country with an additional year of eligibility to stay in school and reap the financial rewards of the next CBA. If Miles makes her transfer decision within the next week, she could also secure name, image and likeness commitments before the final hearing in the House v. NCAA lawsuit on April 7. This is the last gasp for unregulated 'pay-for-play' deals with athletes before they are assessed by an NCAA clearinghouse. Given Miles' status as a two-time All-American — the only other multi-time All-American to ever enter the portal was LSU's Aneesah Morrow, who left DePaul — Miles will presumably be raking in cash from collectives. Advertisement It's worth remembering that Miles' external sponsorships will likely stay with her when she turns professional, supplementing her WNBA salary. However, collectives affiliated with a university will only be interested in her as a collegian; thus, this is her last opportunity to pull in that particular revenue stream. Most WNBA executives didn't cite Miles' health as a concern in the lead-up to the draft, as she has suffered only one significant injury and appeared to be in excellent form during the 2024-25 season. However, she told The Athletic in Birmingham that she is not close to where she wants to be post-injury. 'My physical shape could be better,' Miles said. 'This injury, it's a long, long process. Even after you're healed, getting the rest of your body to catch up. I would say I'm not even 75 percent of the way there yet.' Taking the leap from college to the WNBA requires a certain level of confidence not only in a player's skills, but in their body. If Miles doesn't feel physically herself, it wouldn't be the right time to play against grown women in a physical league. That's a similar calculation that Azzi Fudd had to make. The redshirt junior opted out of the 2025 draft to return to the Huskies despite also being a projected first-round pick. Fudd has barely played one full healthy season at UConn and could stand to get stronger before joining the W. Miles also has more to accomplish at the collegiate level. She ended her season in the Sweet 16, just as she has every full season at Notre Dame, which was short of what the Irish — who were ranked No. 1 in the country on Feb. 17 — had hoped for. There were always questions about the fit between Miles and another ball-dominant guard in Hannah Hidalgo. Now, Miles can find another team where she is the full-time point guard and with more returning talent. Even if Miles returned, Notre Dame was losing half its rotation (Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Liza Karlen) and bringing in one top-100 recruit. Advertisement Flau'jae Johnson, a draft-eligible junior, said she wanted to do more winning before leaving LSU, despite already being a national champion. 'Once you taste the national championship, you want more,' Johnson said after losing in the Elite Eight. 'And I feel like that national championship I had (as a freshman), yeah, I was a big factor in it, but there were bigger factors in that. I want my own one. Where I lead the team.' Ta'Niya Latson, who was a 2025 All-American with Miles and Johnson, has experienced enough individual accolades at Florida State. She also entered the portal instead of the WNBA draft, having hit a repeated NCAA Tournament first-weekend ceiling with the Seminoles. There will always be a draw to playing in the NCAA Tournament, one that the WNBA can't match, and there are only so many years when players can take part in it. All of the aforementioned athletes have been deprived of postseason experience due to injury. Miles missed two tournaments, Fudd missed one and was ill during another, and Latson was injured during her freshman postseason. This is a situation JuJu Watkins will have to consider when she returns from her ACL injury. Rather than go pro in 2027, she could stay in college a fifth year as a medical redshirt to get back the March time she lost, depending on what USC has accomplished to that point. Miles' decision doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is representative of all the financial, medical and legacy-related questions that female athletes are confronting in a time when they have more agency than ever. The balance of power is shifting, and colleges and WNBA teams are now at the mercy of the players.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Chesapeake man sentenced for stabbing and robbing woman outside her apartment
CHESAPEAKE — A 22-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to 67 years in prison for attacking and killing a woman as she was trying to get into her truck. A jury found Raheem Cherry guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, abduction and concealing a dead body at the end of a weeklong trial last year. The maximum he could have received was two life terms plus 15 years. Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney D.J. Hansen asked Circuit Judge Rufus A. Banks to sentence Cherry to life in prison; defense attorney Diallo Morris requested a term at the lower end of state sentencing guidelines. The guidelines, which recommend a sentence based on the circumstances of the crime and the defendant's background, suggested that Cherry serve between 45 and 76 years. The slaying happened around 5 a.m. on May 17, 2021, at the Taylor Bend apartment complex in Western Branch. Cherry, who was 19 at the time, lived there. Laura Miles, 61, a resident of upstate New York who spent weeks at a time in Chesapeake working as a safety supervisor at Craney Island, was attacked as she was stepping into her Ford F150 in the parking lot. Miles was talking on the phone with her husband, Jack, at the time, and he contacted police after he heard a scream and then a struggle. A short time later, he got texts from his wife's phone that he described as being out of character for her. Miles' truck was found on the other side of the complex later that day, and her body was discovered in a ditch near the Taylor Bend YMCA. She'd been stabbed 11 times. Jack Miles testified at the sentencing hearing, and told the judge about the devastating effects of the murder on him and his family, and how he's still haunted by that phone call. A detective who saw Cherry walking back and forth in the area where the truck was found hours after the murder occurred stopped him for questioning. Cherry became a suspect after fingerprints found on the truck and Miles' phone were determined to have come from him. Cherry initially denied any involvement, then later told detectives he was 'somewhat' involved. He said he'd smoked marijuana in a car in the parking lot with a man he'd never seen before, and that it was the strange man who attacked Miles. He said the man then forced him at gunpoint to help dump Miles' body, dispose of her belongings and clean the truck. Cherry testified in his own defense, telling jurors he initially lied to police because he didn't trust them. He also said that he didn't attempt to run away from the strange man, or report what had happened, because he was afraid. On Tuesday, Cherry turned to Miles' family in the courtroom and continued to deny doing anything to hurt her. Jane Harper,
