Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay both released statements Tuesday night after the NFL announced the Rams were returning to Los Angeles after spending 21 seasons in the Gateway City. MORE: Worst owners in sports | Goodell, Kroenke say move ‘bittersweet’ Slay said the NFL “ignored the facts” and the “loyalty of St. Louis fans” and took exception to the league’s stance that the city did not provide a viable option for the team to remain in St....

Kerrey returned from a jog the next morning and heard the news on TV: Carnahan’s plane had gone down, and no one had survived the crash. Although Kerrey hadn’t known Carnahan long, he started crying. Cleland was eating breakfast when an aide found him. “I felt like I was back in Vietnam,” Cleland said. “One minute your buddy is with you in a foxhole, and the next minute he’s dead....

Not only was the fish, caught by Chad Hester, massive, weighing at least 36 pounds, but it was also a rare piebald blue catfish. The species of fish can be identified by their distinctive white and black markings. “Honestly never would have imagined catching one,” Hester told Newsweek. “Not only catching one but the size it was able to grow to. Amazing fish!” Hester, who returned the catfish to the water, described his catch in a Facebook post on October 14, the day he and a friend landed it....

Representative Justin Hill, who represents the 108th district, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that after being “deeply involved” in developing state policy at the national level for some time, he realized late last year that “the best way to continue these efforts over the long term is to step down from public office and continue my efforts within the private sector.” Hill said he’ll move to Florida to build his consulting business and “continue to advance good public policy across the country....

A judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday, according to media reports. MORE: Wallace describes beating | Why remains a question Wallace and his daughter and son-in-law got into a scuffle outside a Charlotte, N.C., concert venue on June 17. Three men pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from the incident. Wallace was left with cuts and a broken tooth. His daughter had a broken wrist and black eye....

The bipartisan Families First CoronaVirus Response Act will provide a suite of relief measures, including free testing and paid emergency leave for those affected by coronavirus. But McConnell, who tweeted on Sunday that such a package was “urgent,” had been criticized for sending senators home for recess and reportedly returned to Kentucky himself before the House passed the bill. McConnell has been lambasted by leading Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “out of touch,” and Sen....

McConnell issued his comments on Friday after speaking with Adela Raz, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. As U.S. troops have begun withdrawing under Biden’s command, the Taliban has quickly retaken most of the country. “This debacle was not only foreseeable, it was foreseen,” McConnell said. “The President and his team actively decided against a far more responsible approach to preserving our national security interests and protecting our Afghan partners.”...

Trump called McConnell a “dumb son of a bitch” and a “stone-cold loser” during an April 10 speech to the Republican National Committee (RNC) at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He made the comments while accusing McConnell of not adequately defend him during Trump’s second impeachment trial in February. When asked about Trump’s name-calling on Tuesday, McConnell responded, “What I’m concentrating on is the future.” “What we are confronted with here is a totally left-wing administration with a slight majority in the House, a 50-50 Senate, trying to transform America into something no one voted for last year,” McConnell continued....

The Kentucky Republican said it was “simply not true” and a “big lie” to call the new voting law racist or a return to Jim Crow-era restrictions on minority communities. The new Georgia voting law tightens restrictions on absentee ballot voting; makes it illegal for election officials to mail out absentee ballots to everyone on the voter roll; threatens a misdemeanor charge against those who hand out water and food at polling stations; and hands the state legislature greater control over the Georgia Election Board....

On Thursday, McConnell predicted there will be a “greater likelihood” that the House would flip Republican than the Senate would—a departure from his once-optimistic outlook for his party. “Senate races are just different,” he said from Kentucky, according to NBC News. “They’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.” Less than a year ago, the Republican leader said that the GOP would have a “very good election” in the fall of 2022, implying that the party would take control of both the House and Senate....

In a letter to President Joe Biden, McConnell said that he would not be providing assistance again after 11 Republicans voted to end the filibuster and allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on Thursday. He continued that members of his party “filled the leadership vacuum that has troubled the Senate” since Biden took office. “The Senate Democratic Leader had three months’ notice to handle one of his most basic governing duties....

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and the top GOP lawmaker in the Senate, has readily criticized the Biden administration throughout the president’s tenure in the White House. However, he has also shown a willingness to work with the president in a bipartisan way when they can find common ground. The GOP senator previously wrote in his 2016 memoir that he had a positive relationship with Biden, who previously served in the Senate and as vice president....

McConnell said hours after Ginsburg’s death on Friday that a nominee from President Donald Trump would receive confirmation hearings as quickly as possible. Some Democratic lawmakers said that filling the seat should wait until after the upcoming November election. Conservative justices currently hold a 5-3 majority on the Supreme Court. “We have an obligation under the Constitution should we choose to take advantage of it with a president of the same party as the Senate to advance a nomination,” McConnell said....

My mentor, Jose Rojas, was a spiritual advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. What he said, reminded me that people of integrity, do not just fight for the people who agree with them. They fight for the equality of everyone. “Heather,” he said, “leaders lead. They protect the people in their sphere, even when those people don’t agree with them. Leaders lead.” His words washed over me, not just because of what it meant for my own experience, but for the questions it plagued me with for our country....

The former Borussia Dortmund ace created Marcus Rashford’s goal as Manchester United took a 1-0 lead over Leicester City on Saturday, meaning he has five decisive passes to his credit already this season. No-one has ever made a quicker start to the season in this regard, with the 28-year-old Armenia international playmaker drawing level with Ruel Fox of Newcastle, who also created five goals in the first three matches of the 1994-95 campaign....

There have been some MLB All-Star Games in the past that have tested the patience of fans watching at home, with several running late into the night and run-times ranging well past the three-hour mark. Now that the All-Star Game is an exhibition, one that doesn’t determine home-field in the World Series, it appears MLB is willing to add in a fun, new element to decide the winner of the contest between the two leagues....

There’s always some type of value that can be found on any day’s slate, whether you’re betting on the Reds, who have the worst record in baseball (14-30), or the Yankees, who own the league’s best record (32-13). Below are some of the trends you might not have known that could give you a leg-up when you place your next wager. MLB betting trends: Reds’ overs The Reds entered the season as one of the worst teams on paper after their front office decided to slash payroll in the offseason....

But the Nationals, who finished 55-107 last season, will be the first team not guaranteed to have that pick. Instead, they will have to go through a lottery system to see where they will pick in 2023 When Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement earlier in 2022, they added a draft lottery that would impact the top six picks each year as a measure to discourage teams from tanking....

The quickest way to do that, for better or worse, is to turn their attention toward Johnny Cueto, the top remaining free-agent pitcher after Zack Greinke and Jeff Samardzija spurned Los Angeles for division rivals. And that seems to be their intent. MORE: Top 15 remaining MLB free agents According to a CBS Sports report, the Dodgers have begun conversations with Cueto’s camp about bringing the former Reds and Royals ace into the fold to patch up a depleted rotation....

Rumor: The Nationals are pushing to find “resolutions” with free agents Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon sooner than later, so they can move on to secondary options, if needed. Source: MLB Network’s Jon Heyman Need to know: This is great news for baseball fans — and players — who have been frustrated by the glacial pace of the free-agent market of the past few offseasons. Well, it’s great news if it comes to pass....