Minnesota
Former Minnesota Lynx Fan Favorite Announces Retirement
A former Minnesota Lynx fan favorite has announced her retirement from the WNBA. Veteran point guard, Danielle Robinson, kicked off the new year by announcing her retirement from the WNBA on Wednesday via an Instagram post.
“After 14 incredible years in the WNBA, I’m officially announcing my retirement from basketball,” Robinson wrote on Instagram. “From dreaming about the Houston Comets as a young girl to living my dream in the W, this journey has been truly amazing.”
Robinson calls it a career after spending 14 seasons in the league. Over her time in the WNBA, Robinson played for the San Antonio Stars (2011-15), Phoenix Mercury (2017), Lynx (2018-19), Las Vegas Aces (2020), Indiana Fever (2021-22) and most recently the Atlanta Dream (2023).
Spending her collegiate career at Oklahoma, Robinson entered the WNBA in 2011 after being drafted by San Antonio with the sixth overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft.
The veteran guard arrived in Minnesota via trade prior to the 2018 campaign, quickly becoming a fan favorite among the Lynx faithful with her personality and involvement off the court — which included giving back to and volunteering within the local community on numerous occasions — and her fire, energy and skill as a floor general on the court.
In her first season in Minnesota in 2018, Robinson appeared in 28 games and started two of them with the Lynx. That season, she averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals over 18.6 minutes per contest. She also finished fourth in voting for the WNBA’s Sixth Women of the Year award.
In her final year in Minnesota in 2019, Robinson took over for the recently retired Lindsay Whalen as the starting point guard for the Lynx, appearing in 34 games and starting in 25. That season, she had one of her best seasons in the WNBA, averaging 10.1 points, 3.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals over 27.0 minutes per game.
After the 2019 campaign, Robinson entered free agency and signed with Las Vegas before making a few additional stops to round out her career.
“To my coaches: thank you for shaping both the player and person I am today. To my teammates: you’ve become sisters and family. And to all the support staff, medical teams, and arena personnel: your dedication made this journey possible,” Robinson said on Instagram.
“As I close this chapter, I’m filled with gratitude and excitement for what’s ahead.”
Minnesota
Minnesota investigators say child care centers captured in viral video were operating as expected
Minnesota
Game Recap: Kings 5, Wild 4 (S/O) | Minnesota Wild
Matt Boldy scored late in the third to tie it and ultimately send the game to overtime, helping the Wild (25-10-8) extend their point streak to six games (3-0-3). Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, Jake Middleton and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves.
It was the second game of a back-to-back for Minnesota, which is coming off a 5-2 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Wild and Kings will play again in Los Angeles on Monday.
“It was far from perfect of a game from us,” Faber said. “I thought we could have played better. With that quick turnaround, we’ll take the point. Now we need two in the next.”
Kempe put the Kings up 1-0 at 6:08 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot from close range off Anze Kopitar’s cross-slot pass from below the goal line.
Middleton tied it up 1-1 at 8:28, getting his first goal of the season in 36 games on a snap shot from the left circle set up by Mats Zuccarello.
“I think he thought I was Kirill (Kaprizov) in the slot there, so it was nice to get one,” Middleton joked. “I normally have a few goals before I take 35 games off from scoring, so this one was getting a little stressful but we got it out of the way.”
Perry gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 16:57 of the second period when Byfield’s shot struck him in the wrist and redirected in for the power-play goal.
Eriksson Ek tied it 2-2 at 18:23 on the power play, taking Quinn Hughes’ stretch pass at the offensive blue line for a short breakaway, fending off defenseman Joel Edmundson and scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Byfield put Los Angeles back in front 3-2 at 4:54 of the third period. He shot the puck caroming off the boards back into the crease, where Wallstedt lost it in his skates and it was eventually knocked in by a Wild stick during the ensuing scramble in front.
“Shouldn’t be, that was terrible,” Byfield joked when asked if he knew it was his goal. “No, it’s good. I think it’s two now that were liked that, so I’ll take them how they come.”
Minnesota
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the defensive as fraud allegations mount after viral video uncovered Somali aid scheme
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against the ever-growing fraud allegations levied against him in the disastrous aftermath of a viral video where an independent journalist cracked open a crucial part of the alleged Somali aid scheme.
A spokesperson for Walz, a Democrat who frequently provokes President Trump’s ire, addressed a bombshell video posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley.
“The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,” the spokesperson told Fox News.
The spokesperson added that Walz has “hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”
In the 43-minute video published on Friday, Shirley and a Minnesotan named David travel around Minneapolis and visit multiple childcare and learning centers allegedly owned by Somali immigrants.
Many were either shuttered entirely, despite signage indicating they were open, or helmed by staff who refused to participate in the video.
One of the buildings they visited displayed a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center.” The ‘learning’ center is supposed to account for at least 99 children and funneled roughly $4 million in state funds, according to the video.
Shirley appeared on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show” on Sunday evening and boasted about his findings. He joked that the alleged scheme was “so obvious” that a “kindergartener could figure out there is fraud going on.”
“Fraud is fraud, and we work too hard simply just to be paying taxes and enabling fraud to be happening,” Shirley said.
“There better be change. People are demanding it. The investigation have been launched just from that video alone. So there better be change, like I said we work way too hard to be paying taxes and not knowing where our money’s going,” he added.
Many officials have echoed Shirley’s calls for change, with FBI Director Kash Patel even announcing that the agency surged extra personnel to investigate the resources doled out to Minnesota. He said this is one of the first steps in a wide-reaching effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”
Federal investigators say half of the $18 billion granted to Minnesota since 2018 could have been stolen by fraudulent schemes — amounting to up to $9 billion in theft.
As of Saturday evening, 86 people have been charged in relation to these fraud scams, with 59 convicted so far.
Most of those accused of fraud come from Minnesota’s Somali community.
Shirley’s mega-viral video cracked 100 million views Sunday night.
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