Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
Amazon suspends commercial drone deliveries in Texas, Arizona after two crashes in rainy weather
Amazon has temporarily suspended its commercial drone delivery operations in Texas and Arizona after two of its latest MK30 models crashed in rainy weather at a testing facility.
The company announced on Friday that it was pausing the program to implement software updates to ensure the safety of its fleet.
The crashes, which occurred in December at Amazon’s Pendleton, Ore. testing site, were attributed to a software malfunction caused by light rain.
One of the drones caught fire upon impact.
Although an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg News that the crashes were not the “primary reason” for the pause, the company declined to specify other issues being addressed in the software update.
Amazon’s MK30 drones had been delivering packages in College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Ariz. after the company won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration in October.
Last summer, the mayor of College Station sent a strongly worded letter to the FAA to protest Amazon’s drones and their noise levels, which some locals likened to a “giant hive of bees.”
The six-propeller model is designed to be lighter, quieter and capable of flying in light rain — a feature now under scrutiny.
“We’re currently in the process of making software changes to the drone and will be voluntarily pausing our commercial operations,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told Bloomberg News.
“Deliveries will resume once the updates are completed and approved by the FAA.”
Employees at the affected drone sites will continue to be paid during the suspension.
The decision marks another setback for Amazon’s Prime Air, which has struggled for over a decade to expand its drone delivery service.
Despite regulatory milestones, including FAA clearance to fly beyond an operator’s visual line of sight, the program remains in limited trials.
Amazon completed its first test flight in Italy last month and is seeking approvals for operations in the UK.
In addition to the December crashes, a previously unreported incident in September saw two Amazon drones collide due to operator error.
According to an FAA report, the company was testing the MK30’s response to motor failure when a second drone was mistakenly launched on a collision course.
The drones crashed midair and spiraled to the ground. Amazon has since revised its operating procedures and training protocols.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating both the September and December crashes.
Amazon maintains that such tests are essential for improving drone safety.
“The purpose of these tests is to push our aircraft past their limits — it would be irresponsible not to do that,” Stephenson said.
Amazon’s drone program has encountered multiple safety concerns in recent years.
A Bloomberg investigation previously documented five crashes in 2021, including one that caused a brushfire.
The FAA recorded at least four additional crashes in 2022, three due to sudden power loss.
In November 2023, Amazon temporarily halted operations after an MK27-2 drone crashed when its battery failed mid-flight.
As Amazon works to refine its technology, it remains uncertain whether the company will be able to overcome its setbacks and make drone delivery a permanent mainstay.
In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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