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Sophie Cunningham criticizes WNBA’s new expansion cities: ‘Not so sure what the thought process is’

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Sophie Cunningham criticizes WNBA’s new expansion cities: ‘Not so sure what the thought process is’

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The WNBA announced Monday it is expanding to 18 teams by the end of 2030, with franchises headed to Philadelphia, Detroit and Cincinnati.

It is continued growth for the league, which has the Golden State Valkyries, its 13th team, playing in its inaugural season. Toronto and Portland are due to get teams next season.

Despite more opportunities, one WNBA star isn’t exactly thrilled with the move.

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Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham runs up the court during a game against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center June 27, 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)

Sophie Cunningham, a teammate of Caitlin Clark’s on the Indiana Fever, praised the league for its efforts, saying, “You want to listen to your players, too,” while doubting players will be excited to be in the Midwest.

“Like, where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I think Miami would have been a great one. Everyone loves Florida. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City — amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown that no one’s using,” Cunningham added Tuesday afternoon. “I’m not so sure what the thought process is there.

“At the end of the day, you don’t want to expand our league too fast. We don’t want teams to totally dominate and some that aren’t. It’s a hard situation, but, man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].”

Each city Cunningham mentioned submitted a bid for expansion.

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Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in the second half against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis June 17, 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)

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This will mark the second time the WNBA will be in Detroit. The Shock won three WNBA titles before relocating to Tulsa in 2010. They then moved to Dallas to become the Wings.

Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. 

“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”

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Other cities to submit expansion bids were St. Louis, Austin, Denver, Charlotte and Houston, the latter of which had the Comets, which won the first four WNBA championships.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham poses for a photo April 30, 2025, during Indiana Fever media day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

“There are a variety of cities that obviously bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out — because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group — is Houston,” Engelbert said. “The Houston Comets were just an amazing one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA. So, I would say that’s the one, obviously, we have our eye on. (Owner) Tilman (Fertitta) has been a great supporter of the WNBA, and we’ll stay tuned on that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Midwest

Judge orders Ilhan Omar attack suspect to remain in custody pending trial

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Judge orders Ilhan Omar attack suspect to remain in custody pending trial

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The man accused of squirting Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., with a syringe of apple cider vinegar during a town hall in Minneapolis last month will remain in custody until he stands trial, according to court documents.

Magistrate Judge David Schultz ordered Anthony Kazmierczak, 56, to remain in custody pending trial, citing “exceedingly serious and dangerous circumstances” of the assault allegations.

“The Court further finds detention is warranted in this case because clear and convincing evidence shows that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community, should Mr. Kazmierczak be released pending trial,” Schultz wrote in the order of detention dated Monday.

Omar was speaking about immigration policy and called for a transparent investigation and legal action against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the abolition of the agency when the alleged attack happened. She also said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should resign or “face impeachment.”

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A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance later identified as apple cider vinegar at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 27, 2026. (Octavio Jones / AFP via Getty Images)

Kazmierczak allegedly admitted to Minneapolis police during his arrest that he had squirted vinegar on Omar.

He was subsequently charged with one felony count of terroristic threats and one count of fifth-degree assault.

BROTHER OF MAN ACCUSED OF SPRAYING ILHAN OMAR SAYS SUSPECT HATED SOMALI COMMUNITY FOR YEARS

Kazmierczak made an initial court appearance earlier this month. He was wearing a yellow jumpsuit, a color that his court-appointed defense attorney John Fossum told the courtroom signifies his client was being held in solitary confinement. Fossum also expressed concern for Kazmierczak’s mental state.

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Anthony James Kazmierczak was later charged with one felony count of terroristic threats and one count of fifth-degree assault. (Hennepin County Jail)

During the appearance, Kazmierczak waived his right to a hearing on probable cause.

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Kazmierczak has a criminal history and was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2009 and again in 2010. Records indicate he served one day in jail followed by five years supervised probation for the 2010 conviction and was put on home detention for 30 days in relation to his 2009 conviction.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf, Adam Sabes, Jessica Sonkin and David Spunt contributed to this report.

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Detroit, MI

RECAP: Detroit’s lack of execution results in 5-2 loss at Carolina | Detroit Red Wings

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RECAP: Detroit’s lack of execution results in 5-2 loss at Carolina  | Detroit Red Wings


RALEIGH, N.C. – Wrapping up the February portion of their 2025-26 regular-season schedule, the Detroit Red Wings unfortunately spent most of their Saturday night playing catch-up in an eventual 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

“They’re a heck of a team,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “This is a hard building to play in…They’re the class of the East, and you got to come in here at some point and get points. I just didn’t think we executed. We allowed them to be on top of us and come back in waves on Talbs.”

Goalie Cam Talbot made 30 saves in his first start since Jan. 22 for the Red Wings (34-20-6; 74 points), who moved to 11-5-2 on the road since Dec. 6. Meanwhile, turning aside 27 shots netminder Frederik Andersen helped the Hurricanes (38-15-6; 82 points) win their fifth straight game and extend their point streak to 12.

“We’re leaving without points, so that’s real disappointing,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought that the game was real fast to begin with. There was a lot of pace going both ways. It was a good game for us to play in. A lot of their offensive opportunities came off of basically our tape…[Carolina] really took advantage of our mistakes.”

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Detroit held steady against Carolina’s characteristically heavy, initial 10-minute push in the opening frame, but the leaders of the Metropolitan Division went up 1-0 when Taylor Hall blocked Simon Edvinsson’s shot attempt in their defensive zone and proceeded to score on a breakaway at 14:05.  Then with eight seconds left in the period, while the hosts were on the man advantage, Sebastian Aho’s shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Edvinsson’s stick down low and into the back of the net to extend their lead to 2-0.

“They come out flying and shoot a lot of pucks,” Larkin said. “You can’t really pay attention to the shot clock because they fire it from everywhere, but I liked our start. It’s just that we had some times where we didn’t execute, and they score with eight seconds left. That’s a tough one, but we responded well. We won the second period.”

The Hurricanes struck again just 2:52 into that second period, as Eric Robinson jammed a wrist shot from the top of the crease to push ahead 3-0. But in a span of just 47 seconds late in the stanza, the Red Wings beat Andersen twice to put the hosts on their heels and make it a one-goal game going into the second intermission.



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Milwaukee, WI

At the Bar

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At the Bar


The bar can be “the place” where memories are made, friendships blossom, and stories live forever. This episode of Real Stories MKE features stories from Dasha Kelly, Kristia Wildflower, Shep Crumrine, and Katelyn Nye. Real Stories MKE is hosted by Kim Shine and Joel Dresang with support from producer Jasmine Gonzalez and audio engineer Sam Woods.



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