West
San Jose State volleyball coach with transgender player says politics plays into opponents forfeiting
The San Jose State women’s volleyball team lost to Colorado State on Thursday night in one of its rare non-cancelled games in recent weeks. Head coach Todd Kress said he even considered thanking Colorado State coach Emily Kohan just for agreeing to play his team, as the program is currently at the center of a national controversy.
Four of San Jose State’s scheduled opponents – Boise State, Southern Utah, Wyoming and Utah State – all forfeited their games to the Spartans amid an ongoing lawsuit by one of its players over the presence of a transgender player on the team.
“I walked up to Emily tonight, and I was like, ‘Should I say thank you for playing us?’ I seriously meant that because, of course, we’re disappointed that we’re losing opportunities to play, but it’s not just us that are losing opportunities to play. It’s the people choosing not to play us, and that’s very unfortunate when it comes to these young women that have earned the right to step on the court and play,” Kress said in a postgame press conference, as seen in documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Colorado State University police behind the San Jose State University Spartans’ bench monitor Moby Arena during an NCAA Mountain West women’s volleyball game between the Spartans and the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins, Colo., on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.
San Jose Redshirt junior Blaire Fleming, who had 14 kills but with 10 errors on Thursday night, is a transgender athlete who has played for San Jose State since 2022 after transferring from Coastal Carolina. Meanwhile, junior Brooke Slusser, who joined the team in 2023 after transferring from Alabama, joined in a lawsuit against the NCAA, headed by former college swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines, over the governing body’s current policies on gender identity. Slusser cited her experience with Fleming when she joined the lawsuit.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM WITH TRANSGENDER PLAYER GETTING POLICE PROTECTION AMID INTENSE BACKLASH
Slusser claimed that she had not been aware that Fleming was transgender, despite sharing rooms together on team trips, per the court documents. Slusser also expressed safety concerns for opponents playing against Fleming. Slusser’s complaint said that she and the other players on the team “could not fully protect themselves” from Fleming’s volleyball spikes.
Idaho governor Brad Little, Utah governor Spencer Cox and Wyoming governor Mark Gordon commended the four universities in their respective states over the decisions to forfeit their games against San Jose State amid the controversy.
Kress said he believes that the role of government has impeded his team’s ability to play the matches on its schedule.
“We’re in a position where it appears that government and politics has kind of intertwined itself with college sports. And the one thing that I love about college sports, it’s always been a safe haven for me, that’s one area that government I don’t think should be involved. And it seems that some of those decisions are being made at levels to where they’re denying their student athletes as well, which is then denying our student athletes,” Kress said.
Many states have taken legislative action over the past year aimed to keep transgenders out of women’s sports, including the Defending Women’s Sports Act, which Little issued an executive order for his states to carry out in August.
However, most of these actions are in response to attempted Title IX changes by the Biden-Harris administration. In April, the Biden administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.”
GOP GOVERNOR REVEALS WHY HE ORDERED SCHOOLS TO BAR TRANSGENDERS FROM GIRLS SPORTS
U.S. President Joe Biden holds hands with Vice President Kamala Harris (R) during a ceremony honoring the Golden State Warriors on January 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The Warriors won the 2022 NBA Championship. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The rule took effect Aug. 1, and, for the first time, the law stated that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity. The Biden administration insisted that the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that Biden’s claims that it would not result in biological men participating in women’s sports weren’t true and that the proposal would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject a Biden emergency request to enforce portions of that new rule that includes protection from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX, after more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states.
Now, with states like Idaho taking countermeasures against these amendments, Little may have to prepare for even further countermeasures at the federal level in the event of a Harris victory this November.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Little told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview when asked whether he expects a Harris victory to result in his schools losing federal funding due to the order he just passed. “From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to implement changes in the rules that we have already.”
Meanwhile, Kress will look to navigate his team’s season in a landscape of different state laws impacting his team’s schedule. Kress added that the situation involving the game cancelations, the lawsuit and national controversy have impacted the mental well-being not only of Fleming, but the team as a whole.
One of Fleming’s teammates joined several other female athletes in suing the NCAA for Title IX violations. (San Jose State University)
“I talked to all of our students. You know, I am a father first, right? I had two boys of my own, and I know that mental health is a real thing, and I know that my kids get through it, and so I think that’s the first thing I look out for, is protecting physical and mental health. Do I talk with Blaire? She is taking the majority of the heat, but all of our athletes are taking some of this. So, you know, I’m really trying to talk to all of our student athletes and see how they’re doing,” Kress said.
Things have gotten to the point where university police have been assigned to provide added security to the team in response to negative attention it has received recently, a San Jose State spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
Still, San Jose State was technically undefeated going into Thursday night, as the forfeits by the other programs counted as wins for the Spartans by default. They are now 9-1 with a 3-1 conference record. The forfeits don’t count toward the team’s NCAA resume, but Fleming’s skills and spiking ability may be just one advantage that could help the team reach the tournament, as Kress believes the tension in the locker room might not be “a bad thing” from a competitive standpoint.
“Sometimes tension is not necessarily a bad thing, and I’m not saying that there is. But you know, when you do have tension or you do have confrontations, I mean, I’m a person that believes that from confrontation, good things usually happen. We settle our differences, and we work through it,” Kress said.
“The last thing that I would want is there’s the white elephant in the room, and there is no tension, we don’t address it, and we never move past it, right? So I think there may be tension, but it dies. If we’re in a meeting room and there’s tension, it dies there. If there’s tension on the court, it dies there. We really don’t let the boundaries cross over, and that’s how I think we’ve been so successful thus far.”
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Montana
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Nevada
The Best Summer County Fairs In Nevada
Towns like Elko, Ely, and Panaca host some of Nevada’s most distinctive summer county fairs. Some of them are also among the state’s oldest such gatherings, with Winnemucca’s Tri-County Fair a staple since 1885, the Elko County Fair running since 1920, and Ely’s White Pine County races organized in 1934 to lift Depression-era spirits. For sheer natural beauty, Panaca takes top spot for its proximity to Cathedral Gorge State Park, while Eureka stages its fair just off US-50, the highway tagged the Loneliest Road in America. Discover what each has to offer.
Elko
The largest county seat in northeastern Nevada, Elko hosts the state’s marquee summer fair. The Elko County Fair was first held in September 1920 and now runs over two weekends around Labor Day at the Elko County Fairgrounds. The main event for the 20,000 or so visitors who attend is the live parimutuel horse racing, a betting format with no fixed odds in which payouts are split among the holders of winning tickets.
Over several race days, Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses compete in front of the fairground’s historic grandstand. Other equestrian draws include the Livestock Show and Sale, a rodeo, and night barrel racing, while non-horse events include a carnival, livestock barns, and art exhibits.
Ely
Over in the remote mining town of Ely on the eastern edge of the state, the White Pine County Fair and Horse Races dominate the summer social calendar. Held the third weekend of August, the first races were organized by local ranchers and business owners in 1934 to lift spirits during the Great Depression. They have run nearly every year since at the White Pine County Fairgrounds.
A field of about 150 Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses competes over the three days of the event, with parimutuel betting with no fixed odds, making it fun for everyone. Things kick off on Friday with a ranch rodeo featuring bronc riding, team roping, and mutton busting, a children’s event in which kids ride sheep. Live music, a barbecue, youth events and exhibits, and a livestock auction round out the fairground fun.
Panaca
Tucked away in the high desert of southeastern Nevada, Panaca holds the Lincoln County Fair and Rodeo at the fairgrounds, Lincoln County Recreational Park, in early August. Now in its 58th year, the weekend centers around a rodeo and junior rodeo events for younger riders, as well as a gymkhana featuring horseback games like barrel racing and pole bending.
A celebratory pageant is also part of the fun and crowns local riders. The fair’s exhibit building fills with educational projects, baked goods, and produce grown in the surrounding Meadow Valley region. In the same week, the fairgrounds host Nevada’s Best Cow Dog Trial, a stock dog competition in which trained herding dogs move cattle through a timed course. An amateur ranch rodeo is also part of the fun and includes roping and bronc riding open to local competitors.
Gardnerville
Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Carson Valley, Gardnerville hosts the Nevada Agricultural Fair over four days each July at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. One of the newest fairs in the state (it started in 2021 as the Silver and Sage Fair), this free event highlights the role of younger generations of farmers in agriculture.
Highlights include a livestock show and sale featuring cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits, and poultry raised by local youth farming groups. Stick around for the Nevada State Ewe Lamb Futurity, a unique competition spread out over three years that follows the progress of young breeding ewes. Indoor halls display canning, baked goods, garden produce, and art, and a youth livestock auction closes the fair on the final Sunday.
After dark, the fair hands its arena over to MAYHEMilition. This always-popular demolition derby sees drivers ram junk cars and pick-ups into one another until only one is left running. The lawnmower and figure-eight races are also fun.
Eureka
The small town of Eureka celebrates its county fair and rodeo in early August. The community’s most important summer gathering, the Eureka County Fair, keeps things traditional and old-fashioned, with an authentic working rodeo, livestock displays, and exhibits dedicated to young farmers.
It is a format that serves the locals well, with an unhurried pace that attracts ranching families from across the high desert region. The event has long served as a yearly reunion for the county’s scattered ranches and remains the busiest weekend on Eureka’s summer calendar. The fairgrounds lie just outside the downtown Eureka core, which looks much as it did in the 1880s.
Winnemucca
The seat of Humboldt County at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and US-95, Winnemucca celebrates its farming and ranching traditions with its Tri-County Fair and Stampede. Held over the Labor Day weekend, Humboldt County Agricultural District has staged the fair since 1885, making it one of the oldest continuous events of its kind in Nevada.
The star attraction is the Labor Day rodeo. Held at the Winnemucca Events Complex, it is accompanied by a downtown parade and live music. Other weekend fun includes a carnival complete with rides, farming exhibits, antique tractor displays, and a quirky pig wrestling contest in which teams chase a greased hog through a muddy pen.
Logandale
Set in Moapa Valley, northeast of Las Vegas, Logandale hosts the Clark County Fair & Rodeo each April at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Since 1988, this small southern Nevada community has built the event into one of the region’s biggest spring traditions, pairing a full county fair with five nights of professional PRCA and WPRA rodeo action.
More than 600 professional competitors come to town for classic rodeo events backed by top western stock contractors, while the fairgrounds fill with a carnival midway, livestock shows, 4-H and FFA exhibits, food stands, live entertainment, and family attractions. Held at 1301 W. Whipple Avenue, the event draws visitors from across southern Nevada and gives Clark County its own high-energy version of a rural fair weekend.
A Fun Summer Tradition
There is no doubt that the best Nevada county fairs succeed because of the communities they serve. Horses, livestock, and music have held these rural communities together for well over a century, giving each an opportunity not only to showcase their skills and traditions but also to let their hair down and have some old-fashioned fun.
New Mexico
What will it take to get the Rio Grande flowing again?
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If you’ve driven or walked by the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, you’ve noticed it’s bone dry. The reason might be obvious to most: We live in the Southwest and have had little rain or snowpack. But as our community, especially farmers, struggle, are our leaders doing anything to solve this issue that seems to be recurring?
“I had been here like maybe a month ago, and there was some water, and then I came a week ago, and I was like, we literally can walk across the Rio Grande,” Kat Walker said.
Even though we live in the Southwest, that’s the reaction most locals have after realizing they can walk through the Rio Grande without getting a drop on them.
Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District CEO Jason Casuga said this year could go down as one of the worst for how much water we’ve received.
“There are communities out there that are suffering to a degree that we haven’t seen in a long, long time,” he said.
Farmers are one of the largest groups being impacted. Some haven’t been able to irrigate their crops in months.
“There are irrigators north of Isleta Pueblo who are 60 days out from the last day they irrigated. Sixty days. Let’s put that into perspective. And so that’s a struggle,” Casuga said.
This is the second summer in a row the Rio Grande has dried up. Right now, an 87-mile-long stretch has no water in the Rio Grande. Casuga said that’s normally in the 40-to-50-mile range.
What can be done?
Casuga believes tools like storing water could help our water issue.
“We have had bad years between the ’50s and now, but MRGCD and others could store water in upstream reservoirs, so in a dry year like this, we would be releasing water,” he said.
But actually doing that isn’t that simple because of what’s known as the Rio Grande Compact. It’s an agreement between New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas that essentially divvies up water from the Rio Grande Basin. It’s law in each state.
“Within the articles of the compact, depending on which article is triggered, you have operational restrictions, and the further that we get in debt as a state to the compact, the more operational restrictions we have,” he continued. “We haven’t violated it yet. We just are behind on our responsibility to deliver water.”
Casuga believes once the state is out of its compact debt, it will have a better chance at managing water. Because that debt means New Mexico can’t store water for itself right now, a restriction water managers wish wasn’t so rigid in dry years.
“I do think there are improvements we can make to delivering water under the compact that would free up some tools to help us manage drought better,” he continued. “Our processes need to be more flexible and more responsive when we have extreme drought.”
He said the state is working with the feds, but unfortunately, it’s a long process. So for now, things will be dry a bit longer.
Hope is in the forecast
Before 2022, the river in Albuquerque hadn’t gone dry like this in 40 years. Casuga reiterated: This is likely one of the worst droughts we’ve ever been in.
“The overall water year is not done yet, but it could go down as one of the worst or the worst years depending on the way the monsoon season shapes up,” he said.
The good news is a strong El Niño is forecast for this year, which could bring some much-needed precipitation.
“In terms of now, what we can do now, we’re really in the hands of whether it rains or not from this point to the end of the year, but I do think things are shaping up that give us indications we can have a much better snow year as we enter November through next March, and maybe we won’t be sitting here in a dry riverbed in July next year,” Casuga said.
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