Sacramento — New spending on school construction tends to be reliably popular when proposed in California ballot measures.
According to the League of California Cities, voters approve about 80% of bond measures for local school districts — even though state rules require 55% support on a measure for it to pass. The last four statewide school bond measures were approved by voters. And nearly 6 out of 10 likely voters back the idea of a new school bond on the ballot, according to an October poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Yet Proposition 51, the $9-billion school bond measure on next week’s ballot, is struggling, according to PPIC polls from the last two months. In both polls, Proposition 51 stood below majority support, and such numbers put the measure at risk of a rare failure, said Mark Baldassare, PPIC’s president and CEO.
“It’s not where we would expect it would be,” Baldassare said.
Beyond the general popularity of schools, Proposition 51 has many of the advantages that come alongside successful campaigns.
The state Democratic and Republican parties, business and labor groups and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other major politicians are part of a broad coalition in favor. Those supporters, primarily developers, contractors and others who regularly promote school facility construction, have raised $12 million for the campaign, compared with nothing for opponents.
And schools across the state need more money. Schools should be spending between $4 billion and $8 billion a year on building replacement and upgrades, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the state pot of money to pay for these fixes has run dry.
Still, there are plenty of explanations for Proposition 51’s troubles. Most notably, unlike the past, support isn’t universal among major interests. Lawmakers put the four previous statewide school bonds on the ballot themselves. This time, after negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators failed, backers gathered signatures for an initiative. Brown hasn’t spent much time campaigning against Proposition 51, but when asked, he’s criticized it as too large and inefficient.
“This has been a funding area that has had very strong bipartisan support for decades,” said Jeff Vincent, deputy director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Cities + Schools. “We are now at a place in California where that is not the case.”
Brown and others have questioned how state school bond money gets spent. They argue that the program unfairly benefits larger, more affluent districts. The cash is available to local districts that already have funding to match the state dollars and is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Last month, outgoing state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) urged her Facebook followers to vote against Proposition 51, saying that voters should hold out for a better measure sponsored by the Legislature in coming years. Hancock served on the board that hands out the bond money and, in an interview, described the spending process as overly complex and cumbersome. She said she had to fight those rules to get a school in her district funds for earthquake safety.
“I think we can do a better bond with more money going in a simple, direct way for our schools,” Hancock said.
PPIC’s polls show similar drops across voters of all income and education levels and ethnicities when asked about Proposition 51 compared with the generic school bond measure. Proposition 51’s official summary, which appears on voters’ ballots, states that the measure will raise $9 billion and cost $17.6 billion to pay off over 35 years. Those big numbers could be keeping Proposition 51’s polling low, Baldassare said.
“I would have to think it has something to do with the size of the bond and the impact on the budget,” he said.
Erin Shaw, spokeswoman for the Yes on 51 campaign, said aspects of the PPIC polls look good for her side. The October poll has the measure leading — 46% to 41% — and there are plenty of undecided voters.
Shaw said the campaign expects the results could track with previous state school bond measures, the lowest of which passed with just 50.9% of the vote in 2004.
“We have had a strong campaign in which we have been able to garner a significant amount of broad and bipartisan support for the measure,” Shaw said.
She noted that local districts have bond measures of their own on ballots — 184 of them that aim to raise $25 billion statewide — and believed voters ultimately will link their desire to repair their local schools with money from the state.
Follow me at @dillonliam on Twitter
ALSO
What you need to know about the $9-billion school bond on the ballot
Gov. Jerry Brown opposes $9-billion school bond measure
School bonds used to be as controversial as mom and apple pie. Not anymore under Gov. Jerry Brown
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images
Sable Offshore (SOC) plummeted 55.8% on Tuesday to an all-time low close of $3.08 after the company said it would raise $400M through stock and convertible note offerings to repay debt owed to Exxon Mobil (XOM).
The offerings follow repeated
When the first three people fell sick on Thursday, June 11, residents of Doron Baga were unsure what was happening. The symptoms – vomiting, diarrhoea, and weakness – were familiar enough in a rural community where access to healthcare is limited, and illnesses are often treated at home or by local patent medicine vendors. However, as more people began showing the same signs, and deaths followed within days, concern spread across the community.
Ahmadu Haruna watched the disease move rapidly through his household. He is the community leader of Randa, an area within Doron Baga, a fishing and farming community on the shores of Lake Chad, less than three kilometres from Baga town in Kukawa Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria.
He lives in a large compound that houses nearly 150 people, including his four brothers, their wives, children, and grandchildren. Within seven days, he said, at least 20 people living in his compound became ill. Seven died. “It started with three people,” Ahmadu recalled. “One of my brother’s children and another brother’s wife were the first to be infected.”
As cases multiplied, residents began drawing connections to reports they had been hearing from Maiduguri, the state capital, where a cholera outbreak had already overwhelmed health facilities and infected thousands. “We knew it was cholera because the symptoms matched what we heard on [the radio] about the outbreak in Maiduguri,” said Bashir Suleiman, a resident. “The people there were vomiting and having diarrhoea, and that was exactly what we were seeing here.”
The outbreak has unsettled Doron Baga, a community that has spent the last six years rebuilding after it was displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. Residents were officially resettled in September 2020 by the state government. Many residents say that returning home symbolised the beginning of recovery. Families rebuilt their houses, fishermen returned to the lake, and farmers reclaimed their fields. Gradually, life appeared to be returning to normal. The cholera outbreak, however, has revealed how incomplete that recovery remains.
Cholera, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), is “an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae”.WHO), is “an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae”.
The disease is not new to communities along the Lake Chad shoreline. In 2018, the Borno State Ministry of Health recorded 502 cases and one death across Baga, Doro, and Kukawa wards. Doro accounted for the highest burden, with 254 reported cases. Response efforts at the time involved the Ministry of Health, WHO, and the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA). Six years later, residents of Doron Baga say many of the conditions that enable cholera transmission remain unresolved.
Access to healthcare remains limited, many households depend on self-built water sources, and sanitation challenges persist in parts of the community.
Unlike many urban households, Ahmadu’s home is a large family compound that functions almost like a small settlement. At its centre is a manually operated hand pump, and near the entrance sits an open well. Built by the family years ago, the two sources continue to supply most of the household’s water needs. “Our main source of drinking water is the hand pump and the open well,” Ahmadu told HumAngle.
The compound also relies on pit latrines. Each household maintains its own facility, while another serves as a communal latrine for residents and visitors.
The source of the infection has not been established. But in a compound where dozens of people share water sources and common spaces, many residents may have been exposed to the same source of contamination. The outbreak also comes during the rainy season, a period when cholera cases often increase as flooding and runoff can contaminate drinking-water sources.
The outbreak that has now reached Doron Baga began hundreds of kilometres away in Maiduguri, where it was first detected in early May. Health authorities had reported more than 2,700 suspected cases and 39 deaths across eight LGAs by mid-May, with Maiduguri Metropolitan Council recording the highest burden.
The spread, according to the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), overwhelmed treatment facilities, prompting an emergency response from the state government and humanitarian organisations.
As the days went by, the numbers continued to climb. By June 7, Borno had recorded 7,850 suspected cases and 74 deaths across 14 local government areas, according to figures cited by MSF and state health authorities. MSF alone said it had treated 7,439 patients between May 1 and June 7.
To contain the outbreak, the Borno State Ministry of Health and Human Services said it is implementing emergency health measures, improving sanitation, and increasing public awareness. In addition, humanitarian organisations such as MSF and Save the Children have activated emergency responses that include cholera treatment centres, oral rehydration points, surveillance, hygiene promotion campaigns, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions. MSF expanded treatment capacity in Maiduguri and opened additional cholera treatment units as admissions surged.
At the height of the outbreak, between June 5 and 7, MSF reported treating as many as 500 patients in a single day. Another organisation, Save the Children, said it was responding to more than 7,000 suspected cases reported across the state. The Nigerian Red Cross also supported awareness campaigns, case management, community sensitisation, and emergency response activities.
For weeks, the outbreak appeared largely concentrated in and around Maiduguri and other major population centres. Then it reached Doron Baga.
As cases spread through Doron Baga, residents and health workers say longstanding challenges in healthcare, water access, sanitation, and public infrastructure have complicated efforts to contain it.
Many residents did not consider the local health facility a realistic option. When HumAngle asked why his family did not immediately seek treatment at the hospital, Ahmadu laughed. “Hospital?” he asked. “Do you expect us to take our sick relatives to a hospital without doctors and drugs?”
Residents say the Doron Baga Primary Healthcare Centre suffers from chronic shortages of personnel and medicines. “There are no staff, too,” Bashir said. “Those coming from Baga don’t spend more than an hour.” As a result, many families depend on patent medicine stores as their first source of treatment.
Get our in-depth, creative coverage of conflict and development delivered to you every weekend.
Subscribe now to our newsletter!
The nearest alternative is Baga town, but the cost of transportation, combined with the expense of purchasing prescribed medicines, often places formal healthcare beyond the reach of many households. “We usually take sick relatives to Baga,” Ahmadu said. “However, we did not take these ones there because it is expensive.”
Residents’ complaints come despite years of government investments aimed at improving healthcare services in the area. During a visit to Baga in July 2023, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum ordered the rehabilitation of the Baga General Hospital and Doro Primary Healthcare Centre. Residents confirmed that the rehabilitation was carried out.
More recently, in May, Kukawa Local Government Chairperson, Mustapha Kukawa, distributed drugs to healthcare facilities across the LGA and warned against the diversion or mismanagement of medical supplies. At the state level, the Executive Secretary of the Borno State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (BOSCHMA), Saleh Abba, said on June 4 that the agency had disbursed more than ₦400 million to 171 primary healthcare centres and nine secondary health facilities providing free treatment to vulnerable persons across Borno.
Yet residents of Doron Baga say shortages of staff and medicines persist, raising questions about the extent to which investments in infrastructure, medical supplies, and healthcare financing are translating into accessible services in some resettled communities.
Their concerns reflect a broader pattern documented across conflict-affected communities in Borno. In 2023, HumAngle reported that residents of Kirawa, a resettled border town in Gwoza LGA, frequently crossed into neighbouring Cameroon to access healthcare services. In 2024, residents of Baga and Dalori, another resettled community in the Konduga LGA, similarly complained about inadequate drug supplies and limited healthcare services. That same year, a Premium Times investigation found that despite significant investments in rehabilitating primary healthcare facilities across rural Borno, many communities continued to struggle with staffing shortages and inadequate medicines.
Together, these accounts suggest that while reconstruction has improved physical infrastructure in many communities, ensuring consistent access to healthcare workers, medicines, and essential services remains a challenge in parts of the state.
Faced with these realities, many residents turn to informal healthcare providers. One of them is Kasim Muhammad Auwal, a patent medicine vendor and community health worker who has operated in Doron Baga since the community was resettled.
“I have recorded 40 cases so far,” Kasim said. “Most have recovered. Four have died.”
Kasim holds a diploma in community health from the College of Health Technology in Maiduguri and believes that sanitation may also be contributing to the outbreak. “One major thing I have observed is increasing open defecation in the community,” he said. “This, I suspect, is the leading cause.”
According to him, the practice is particularly common among children, residents living on the outskirts of the settlement, and visiting fishermen from neighbouring communities.
Public health research supports concerns about the relationship between water, sanitation, and cholera transmission. The WHO identifies contaminated drinking water and inadequate sanitation as major drivers of cholera outbreaks, while studies have linked unprotected wells and poor sanitation practices to increased infection risks.
Like Ahmadu’s household, many residents rely on self-built infrastructure, including open wells and manually operated pumps, to meet their daily water needs. Although these sources may serve communities for years, they can become significant public health risks during disease outbreaks. Studies consistently show that communities dependent on untreated water and limited sanitation infrastructure face a higher risk of waterborne diseases.
As cases spread through the community, humanitarian organisations also began carrying out preventive measures. Residents said volunteers from the Nigerian Red Cross and other organisations had conducted sensitisation campaigns, educating households about cholera symptoms, hygiene practices, and ways to reduce transmission.
A Red Cross volunteer in Kukawa confirmed that awareness activities were ongoing in the community but declined to comment officially, saying he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the organisation.
As of June 23, residents said new suspected cases were still being recorded in the community and that additional deaths had occurred in recent days, indicating that the outbreak had not yet been fully contained. They also said at least 11 patients were receiving treatment at the Doro Primary Healthcare Centre. HumAngle could not independently verify a community-wide death toll.
For many residents, the persistence of new cases points to challenges that extend beyond emergency response efforts. Community leaders like Ahmadu say the conditions facing Doron Baga are rooted in a longer history of conflict, displacement, and uneven recovery.
The community was among several settlements around Lake Chad that were emptied by years of insurgency before residents gradually returned under the state’s resettlement programme. Yet rebuilding communities after conflict involves more than restoring security. Across Borno State, reconstruction projects have frequently been disrupted by insecurity, while healthcare, water, and sanitation infrastructure have not recovered at the same pace as population returns.
Studies of recurrent cholera outbreaks in northeastern Nigeria have identified weak water infrastructure, sanitation gaps, poverty, displacement, and fragile health systems as recurring risk factors. Researchers argue that outbreaks often reveal deficiencies that remain hidden until disease transmission occurs.
In Doron Baga, the current outbreak has done exactly that.
AS the biggest heart-throb on the planet, Harry Styles is the last person you’d expect to be ringing in New Year alone.
But the pop superstar has revealed how he “shut out” the world after struggling to live up to the “perfect” image his fans projected on to him.
In a candid new interview, the 32-year-old, who kicked off a record-breaking 12-night run at Wembley Stadium on Friday, said: “I was supposed to spend New Year’s with friends and I landed in Italy and felt really unwell, so I just went home.
“And I woke up and I had this kind of beautiful New Year’s by myself. I was feeling the most alone I’d felt in a really long time, but in the most beautiful way. I didn’t feel lonely at all.”
Harry added that he became a “hermit” after his last tour ended in 2023.
Flying into Italy for a “quiet time”, he rejected all invites as he recuperated from the gruelling Love On Tour series of live shows.
READ MORE ON HARRY STYLES
In an interview on the Q With Tom Power podcast, Harry said: “I was just feeling myself kind of shut out from a lot of the world.
“I think I got used to saying no to invites from friends and maybe a weekend trip or a birthday party or something.
“I just got used to, you know, if I have a week at home, I don’t want to go somewhere else for three days. I just want to stay home.
“And when I got to Italy and was in this quiet place, I felt like, ‘OK, if I’m going to spend all this time out here and I’m going to keep saying no to everything, I’m just going to shut myself off from the world’.”
Harry released his latest album — Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally — in March and it immediately shot to No1 in the charts.
And his Together, Together tour is currently making history at London’s Wembley.
But the As It Was singer admits that he struggled to live up to his fans’ adoring perception of him, saying: “I had this relationship with my own image where people had this projected version of me that was perfect.
“And when the standard you hold yourself to is this perfect person, it’s impossible not to feel like you’re falling short.”
He confessed that any criticism could take a devastating toll, saying: “If you don’t feel great about yourself and someone says you’re terrible, it’s like the claw is in and it’s ripping you.
“But if you have a more solid sense of yourself, you can hear those things and it doesn’t destroy you in the same way.”
It is a frank admission from a man who has conquered the world of pop, and America, after spending half his life in the glare of the global spotlight.
Harry was 16 when he stepped on to The X Factor stage in 2010, where music mastermind Simon Cowell grouped him with four other hopefuls to form One Direction.
What followed was global hysteria. And as the breakout star of the record-breaking boy band, Harry was propelled from a quiet Cheshire upbringing into a whirlwind of stadium tours and platinum records.
He then defied the odds to build a critically acclaimed solo career, with hits such as Watermelon Sugar, and a £235million fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
But during his period of isolation in Italy, Harry realised that avoiding the downsides of global fame also meant missing the best parts of life.
He added: “You can sit at home and think it’s hard for me to do these things — people are looking at me, taking pictures. But when you shut out those things that might be negative, you also shut out a ton of positive things.
“If you think it’s hard to go to a bar and hang out with friends because people might act a certain way, there are also incredible people you could meet in that bar that you’re shutting out.”
Taking his own advice and stepping back into the world clearly paid off.
It was during this period that Harry met his fiancée, US actress Zoe Kravitz.
The couple, who began dating in late 2025, are reportedly planning a small wedding in London this winter.
Harry also said that he has spent the past two years learning to love himself and accept that he can make mistakes.
He said: “I’m still figuring a bunch of stuff out and it’s OK to have a little self-compassion around making mistakes. For a long time, I struggled to admit when I’d made a mistake because the reward when you meet people’s expectations is so loud and shiny.”
Ultimately, Harry believes that taking a step back from the spotlight saved him.
He reflected: “Having time to sit at home and be bored and really look at the emotions I was feeling allowed me to lean into them instead of being afraid of them.
“And it means I’m now in a much healthier place than I was last time I was putting music out.”
Now back on the road, he wants his latest dance-pop record to be less about his personal life and more about his fans’ experiences.
He said: “With this record, I want the listener in the front seat and I’m in the seat behind you.
“It’s not really about me or what clubs I’m going to or who I’m hanging out with — it’s about you having your own experience.”
EVER the charismatic charmer, Harry pranced around the stage with mammoth energy and gusto on the opening night of his record-breaking, 12-night, homecoming residency at Wembley.
He even laid on a special treat for his mum Anne Twist, with her favourite singer, Shania Twain as his support act.
The country music legend’s vocals were flawless and she warmed the crowd up well with her hits Man! I Feel Like A Woman! and That Don’t Impress Me Much.
But the gig, which marks the release of Harry’s fourth album – the eccentrically-titled Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally – was all about the pop heart-throb.
He has a relaxed air about him now. It is far from his first rodeo, yet performing for 80,000 fans is no mean feat.
Harry was feeling the love and in a grateful mood, twice referencing X Factor – the show which catapulted him to global fame – and his family, who were watching from the crowd.
He said: “Just outside of this building 16 years ago, my sister brought me to London for the very first time for my X Factor audition.
“So driving here today, and anytime I come through Wembley, means so much to me. It was in that building that I was put into a band, my sister is here tonight. It means a lot to be here tonight.”
He added: “My mum entered me into the X Factor without me knowing and I wouldn’t be here today if she hadn’t done that, so thank you so much. You changed my life, all of you, so thank you so, so much.”
Harry’s devoted fans performed their own dance routines to his songs, above, which involved lying on the ground in formation to the joyful Fine Line and doing a mass conga to the electric Treat People With Kindness.
One thing’s for sure, Harry’s certainly at home on stage . . .
RUMOURS are sweeping theatreland that Ariana Grande is set to drop out of musical Sunday In The Park With George.
The singer was due to appear opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey at London’s Barbican Centre next summer, but ticket sales have been delayed until autumn.
I’m told that bosses have also met with actresses who could step in to replace Ariana, who last week kicked off her energetic Eternal Sunshine Tour.
A source said: “Ariana has a lot on her plate and there are concerns she is over-subscribed.
“It’s too risky to start flogging tickets until it’s all locked down. It will be a demanding production with eight shows a week.”
In the last few years, Ariana has transformed herself into a fully-fledged actress as Glinda in the Wicked films.
She will appear in the 13th series of American Horror Story and will voice a character in the 2028 animation Oh, The Places You’ll Go!.
Ariana, whose tour includes a ten-night residency at London’s O2 Arena in August, said: “I’m very excited to do this small tour. But I think it might not happen again for a long, long time.”
I hope we do get to see her treading the boards . . .
DAVID HAYE is on dating site Raya “looking for a third” for a throuple with him and girlfriend Sian Osborne.
The ex-boxer posts with a tux snap: “I’m a selfish p***k, nothing is ever good enough. I always want more, rarely satisfied. But I’m working on it.”
THE Isle of Wight Festival kicks off on Thursday with some surprises in store.
As well as headliners Calvin Harris, The Cure and Lewis Capaldi, chief John Giddings says: “We’ve introduced new areas, the Last Chance Saloon, our country music destination, and new onsite pub Wild Horses.”
John also revealed that Sir Paul McCartney had the craziest rider.
He said: “We had to track down a nail technician to apply acrylic nails to strengthen his fingernails for playing acoustic guitar.
“And Jay Z wanted somewhere private to have dinner with Beyonce, so we ended up hosting them in the Boat Museum and our caterers took care of it.”
NEW biometric checks for UK travellers at European borders may not “stabilise” for another two years, officials have warned.
The new EES system has caused chaos and long queues at airports with no plans to relax the checks during the busy summer period.
The Entry Exit System (EES) involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photographs taken to enter the Schengen Area.
This Area consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU, and around 1,700 border crossing points requiring the use of EES.
For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports with the digital record being kept for three years.
The airline body International Air Transport Association recently warned border queues could reach six hours this summer.
Airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have been reported to be among the worst affected.
This comes after more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester in April because of delays at passport desks caused by the ramping up of EES.
Uku Sarekanno, deputy executive director of EU border agency Frontex, said some member states are “struggling” to adopt the new system.
During a summit of travel industry leaders organised by Abta in Westminster, Sarekanno said: “We expect that the situation will stabilise in one or two years.
“The most challenging part is the first enrolment, that is the moment where fingerprints and facial images will be taken.
“If a person is visiting the EU again (within three years), they don’t have to go through the same process, so they can have a more fast track of entry.”
Experts say queues are going to get even worse for British holiday makers this summer with queue times potentially stretching to as much as six hours.
This will be the first summer since the full introduction of the new Entry/Exit System (EES) across Europe, where passengers have to register their fingerprints and have their photo taken.
According to The Times, Rafael Schvartzman warned that the EES systems are being operated differently between airports, which is causing the problem.
Schvartzman said: “What we are seeing is a very hard risk of really challenging times or waiting times, talking about expectations of three, four, five, six hours which is unacceptable.
“We know for a fact there are many cases where people have lost flights or their connectivity.”
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us on TikTok @TheSun.
WNBA games are being officiated differently this season and it’s been a struggle for the Sparks to adapt.
After complaints about the league being too physical last season, the WNBA created a task force of coaches and general managers to develop more consistent officiating.
Foul calls have been up so far this season, with officials focused on freedom of movement or letting offensive players move without being knocked away from the ball.
“It’s hard, especially when you’ve been playing for a certain way for a long time and then having to switch it up more often, in my opinion, as a defender, but it just is what it is,” Sparks guard Ariel Atkins said. “So, yeah, you just have to adjust.”
Across the league, teams are averaging 20.9 fouls per game. Last season, it was 17.5 per game. The Sparks are fouling 22.0 times per contest, the fifth most in the WNBA.
The Connecticut Sun led the WNBA last season with 19.6 fouls per contest. In 2026, 10 of the 15 teams are averaging more than 20 fouls against them per contest.
“I’m cool with it, as long as it’s called the same for 40 minutes, like both ways,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “I think the officials have been given a tough task that’s hard, but I think they’ve done a decent job of being pretty consistent with it. Players, coaches, you just have to adjust, and I think the one thing that I’d like to see us get better at is just [being] not so reactive, just have a little more toughness, in terms of not responding. That’s how they’re going to call it — we got to move on to the next play.”
The increase in calls seems to have given teams more room to score, as intended, despite more starts and stops to game flow.
Entering Sunday, four teams had offensive ratings more than 110 after Minnesota’s 109.5 was the best in the league in 2025. Indiana leads the league in pace at 99.50 after the Sparks led the league last season at 96.84. Five teams are working at a pace of 97 or higher, which would have placed last year’s Sparks at sixth.
One of the Sparks’ offseason priorities was improving their league-worst defense, but that’s been more difficult than ever with how the game is being called.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink blocks a shot from Toronto’s Laura Juskaite during a game on May 15.
(Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
“Getting used to it as a player, kind of understanding the flow of the game, that’s probably the toughest part for me,” Atkins said. “There’s no real flow or like rhythm to it, right? I’m hoping that the corner turns or we both adjust on both sides.”
The Sparks’ pace is on track to be similar to last season at 97.67 — fifth in the WNBA — through nine games. Their offensive rating of 107.9 is eighth in the WNBA, but they’ve played half of their games without league-leading scorer Kelsey Plum.
Defensively, though, they haven’t made much of an adjustment. They have a league-worst 114.1 defensive rating.
Cameron Brink’s 4.0 fouls per game are the fifth most in the WNBA, and Atkins’ 3.6 also ranks among the bottom 10 players in the league. Plum is at 3.1 just below Atkins, Dearica Hamby isn’t far behind at 3.1 and Erica Wheeler is at 2.9, giving the Sparks the most players in the league in the bottom 30 on a single team.
“It’s hard, I think, on a defensive end, especially when you’re somebody that enjoys the physicality and you like to lean into it,” Hamby said.
The Sparks already had an uphill climb to improve on the league’s worst defense, but as they continue to adjust to the way games are being officiated, it’s all the more difficult.
Add it to the list of things the 4-6 squad needs to work on to climb back near the top of the WNBA.
“I try to not center officiating as a part of my experience,” Nneka Ogwumike said. “I know it’s part of the game, and something we can’t control, but I do think we can do better in our response to it.”
Wade Meckler had quite the homecoming.
The Yorba Linda native dominated in his Angels debut, hitting a first-pitch, three-run homer off Jacob deGrom in his first at-bat and making a sensational catch in foul territory, all in the first inning, to help his hometown team beat the Rangers 9-6 on Friday night at Angel Stadium.
Meckler attended Esperanza High in Anaheim and grew up an Angels fan. After he was called up from Double-A Rocket City on Friday, Meckler finished with two hits in what was the Angels’ highest-scoring game since April 26, when they scored nine in extras against the Royals.
“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” Meckler said. “Just trying to make a play on defense. But getting your first homer up, it’s pretty hard to top that.”
In sending the 97-mph four-seam fastball from deGrom (3-4), a two-time Cy Young Award winner, 403 feet to right center, Meckler became the first Angels player to homer in his first at-bat with the team since Mike Napoli did against the Tigers in 2006.
Meckler was also the first player to hit a homer in their Angels debut since Randal Grichuk did in 2023 against the Braves.
“We know he plays the game hard,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “We’ve seen him play the game the way he does in spring training. So I think [Meckler’s] just a naturalist, good baseball player.”
Meckler hit .315 over 111 at-bats with the Angels in spring training, after being claimed off waivers by the franchise in January.
The 26-year-old shared pregame that he grew up rooting for classic Angels names such as Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter and Erick Aybar during the mid-to-late 2000s.
But there was another Angels player Meckler watched growing up: his new teammate, Mike Trout.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Meckler said. “You grew up watching a guy every day on TV for 10 years, and then all of a sudden, he’s a teammate. It’s pretty cool.”
Originally the Giants’ choice with the 256th pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Meckler has struggled to find his footing in the majors. However, his night couldn’t have gone much better.
Suzuki and the middling Angels, at least, would probably like Meckler to stay hot forever. After all, he earned a shot with the big-league club after hitting .343 with 34 hits and 13 RBI through 27 games with Rocket City.
“It feels good,” Meckler said. “It’s been a little bit. Spent a lot of the last couple years injured, grinding through injuries, and it feels good to be healthy and able to compete. I feel like I’m capable of competing. And obviously, it’s really cool to be in the big leagues for your childhood team as well.”
Despite entering on a three-game skid, the Angels came to play to open a three-game series against the Rangers.
Shortstop Zack Neto hit a pair of solo shots: one in the first and another in the eighth. The four-year MLB veteran is up to 12 career lead-off homers and has three in 2026.
“It was a lot of fun,” Neto said. “From one through nine, even the guys on the bench, coming in and doing their job … We had the big hit when we needed it.”
Right-handed starter Grayson Rodriguez also earned his first win of the year after tossing 5 2/3 innings of four-run ball.
In the seventh, Neto preserved the Angels’ 6-5 lead after throwing out Josh Jung at home. Neto caught a strong throw to the infield from Jo Adell after a Brandon Nimmo RBI double.
“I mean, defense wins games,” Neto said.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe was banged up during Jung’s play at the plate. However, he shut down any concerns after the win.
“I’ll be at the doc one more time, but I’m fine, O’Hoppe said. “It’s the same feeling that all the headshots feel like. You feel out of it and a little slow, but usually a good night’s sleep takes care of it.”
After Angel Stadium stretched, second baseman Oswald Peraza hit his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot against lefty Jalen Beeks.
Neto hit his second homer of the night in the eighth against righty Chris Martin, and first baseman Nolan Schanuel capped the Angels’ scoring with an RBI single nine pitches later.
“I felt throughout, guys were getting good at-bats,” Suzuki said. “We were getting guys on; there was a couple times we didn’t get them in, but we’re constantly getting guys in position to score.”
The Angels still hold an MLB-worst 18-34 record, but beat the AL West’s second-placed team before an announced crowd of 34,288. Fans in the right-field pavilions continued to chant “sell the team.”
The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced repeated Ebola outbreaks, but insecurity in the eastern part of the country is making this most recent outbreak difficult to control.
Neighbouring countries have already reported some cases, and the World Health Organization has said the outbreak’s real impact is yet to be seen.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced repeated Ebola outbreaks, but insecurity in the eastern part of the country is making this most recent outbreak difficult to control.
Neighbouring countries have already reported some cases, and the World Health Organization has said the outbreak’s real impact is yet to be seen.
Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed explains.
Published On 17 May 202617 May 2026
Share
LOVE Island stars Whitney Adebayo and Yamen Sanders have split after five months.
The pair found love in the ITV All Stars villa in South Africa in January – finishing in fifth place.
However, rumours have swirled of their break-up after the couple were navigating a long-distance relationship.
Whitney was based in the UK while American footballer Yamen was in the US.
A source told me: “Whitney and Yamen did try and put everything into their relationship.
“But it has inevitably been tough to keep up their romance long-distance.
“Whitney has been spending more time with her girls and has been leaning on them while navigating her break-up.”
Earlier this week, Whitney was spotted on TikTok with fellow Love Island star Millie Court having a girly night in.
The pair were seen in their pyjamas clinking glasses of red wine together with the audio ‘so we’re going to heal’ playing.
Sounds like Whitney has a hot girl summer pending.
