Eagan featured a youth-filled roster when McKenna Melville took over as head coach for her mom, Hall of Fame coach Kathy Gillen, in 2023.

Eagan senior libero Madi Kraft poses for a photo at a Breakdown Sports Media shoot in Apple Valley on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Jason Wachter / Breakdown Sports Media)

Melville needed someone she could lean upon to uphold a sound defensive structure.

Luckily, she had Madi Kraft.

The now 17-year-old Kraft stands 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and has played for Eagan’s varsity team since eighth grade. Melville said Kraft – a two-year starter at that point – was a focal point when she arrived and helped craft the style of play her team would adopt.

“She helped form the foundation of, okay, well, we can have a solid defense because we have Madi Kraft on the court,” Melville said.

As a libero, Kraft’s main duties fall on the defensive side, but that doesn’t prevent her from affecting the Wildcats’ offense.

Attend an Eagan volleyball match and there is one sound guaranteed to ring through the gymnasium: Kraft calling out to her hitters, identifying the opposing team’s weak spot for them to target with swings.

Melville said the coaching staff is working with Kraft on being more than just a passer on the court.

“She can see the game at a level that most of our athletes can’t see the game,” Melville said. “So we wanted her to vocalize, hey, tell the girls what you see. Because it’s most likely right.”

The mental aspect of Kraft’s game is something she has had to work on throughout her time playing for the Wildcats.

Gillen remains on Eagan’s coaching staff as an assistant coach, and Kraft said the seven-time state champion coach provides pointers that help her with the cerebral side of the game.

“Gillen has helped me get mentally tough; she’s pushed me through a lot,” Kraft said.

Kraft said her playstyle is gritty, confident and resilient. As a senior leader for Eagan (13-4), confidence is key. Melville noticed the growth in Kraft’s leadership over the last two years.

At the Eagle Invitational recently played in Apple Valley, Kraft had 43 digs over two games, which pushed her north of 2,400 digs for her high school career.

With the wealth of experience Kraft has gained, having started on varsity for the last five seasons, Melville said Kraft is thriving with the increased responsibilities.

“She puts the team on her back,” Melville said. “The first thing she says is, ‘What more can I do?’ and as a little sophomore, she wasn’t asking that question.”

Melville also admires Kraft’s approach to each match.

“She’s the kind of person where you’re like, ‘I need you to run through a brick wall right now,’ and she would go and then ask the question after,” Melville said. “That’s exactly what we need, that bought-in factor.”

That’s a quality Melville understands is important at the next level. The coach played five seasons of college volleyball at Central Florida, and led the nation in kills her senior season with 617. Kraft, too, will experience the Division-I level. She committed to Minnesota a year ago, noting Gophers coach Keegan Cook played a big role in her decision.

“How much (he) cares for his athletes stuck out to me,” she said, “and … how smart he is about the game.”

President Donald Trump appears to be prodding his administration to seek criminal charges against more targets after a grand jury returned an indictment against foe and former FBI Director James Comey.

“It’s not a list, but I think there’ll be others,” Trump told reporters on Friday as he departed the White House.

He added: “It’s about justice. It’s not revenge.”

Comey is accused of making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding back in 2020. He declared his innocence Thursday and said, “Let’s have a trial.”

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump,” Comey said in a video posted to Substack.

Comey, who was FBI director from 2013 to 2017, was fired by Trump during the Republican president’s first term amid the government’s probe into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

John Bolton, who was national security adviser during Trump’s first term before being fired in 2019, is being investigated for his handling of certain documents after leaving government. His lawyer has denied wrongdoing. Like Comey, Bolton wrote a book that portrayed Trump in very unflattering ways.

What was the Russia probe?

Prosecutors led by special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish that Trump or his associates criminally colluded with Russia in 2016, but they found that Trump’s campaign had welcomed Moscow’s assistance.

Trump and his supporters have called the investigation a “hoax” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the campaign.

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The indictment against Comey, however, doesn’t center on the Russia investigation. It accuses Comey of lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he said he had not authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about a particular investigation.

It appears from the context to refer to an FBI inquiry related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat who ran for president against Trump in 2016.

Trump, who has repeatedly called Comey a “bad person,” celebrated the indictment.

“He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation,” the president said on his social media platform.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, leader of House Democrats, said the indictment is a “disgraceful attack on the rule of law.”

Comey scorched Trump in book

Comey’s disgust for Trump was laid out in his 2018 memoir, “A Higher Loyalty.”

“This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,” Comey wrote. “His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty.”

He recalled a private meeting with Trump early in his first presidency in which Trump demanded allegiance. Comey likened it to a mafia induction.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it was investigating a social media post by Comey that Trump and his allies interpreted as a call for violence against the president.

In an Instagram post, Comey wrote “cool shell formation on my beach walk” under a picture of seashells that appeared to form the shapes for “86 47.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “get rid of” or “refuse service to,” and Trump is the 47th president.

Comey deleted the post and said he didn’t know “some folks associate those numbers with violence.”

Family ties

Comey’s daughter was a federal prosecutor for 10 years until she was fired in July by the Justice Department. Maurene Comey is suing to get her job back, saying her dismissal was unconstitutional and connected to Trump’s hostility toward her father.

“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain,” Maurene Comey said in a note to her colleagues. “Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.”

The White House said the decision came from Justice Department officials.

Separately, James Comey’s son-in-law, Troy Edwards, resigned as a federal prosecutor minutes after the former FBI director was indicted.

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO

BROADVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas at protesters near an immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago on Friday.

The conflict over several hours is the latest pushback by federal authorities against protesters focused on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago, amid a surge of immigration enforcement that began early this month.

Agents repeatedly fired chemical agents toward a crowd of over 100 protesters after some of the group attempted to block a car from driving down a street toward the ICE building. The pepper bullets and tear gas canisters went into the entire crowd, most of them standing far back from the fence and not blocking any traffic.

Protesters fell to the ground and ran as agents repeatedly fired, dispersing most of the crowd. Some protesters pulled one another off the ground and poured water in each other’s eyes when out of the parking lot by the facility.

In previous weeks, protesters had also tried to block agents’ vehicles from moving in or out of a yard next to the building. A fence installed Tuesday pushed Friday’s demonstrators farther away.

Activists and family members of detainees have raised concerns in recent days that the facility meant to process arrestees is a de facto detention center plagued by inhumane conditions. Advocates say up to 200 people are being held there at a time, with some held up to five days in a space that doesn’t have showers or a cafeteria. Immigrants report they are being given little food, water and limited access to medication.

Earlier in the morning, a handful of protesters yelled and rang bells at a section of the fence closer to the building. Agents shot the first round of pepper bullets Friday morning toward protesters using ribbons to tie handwritten messages of support for detainees onto the fence, including “No human is illegal,” and “We stand with you! You are not illegal!”

Protesters and agents yelled expletives at one another when federal immigration agents pulled signs and flags off the fence surrounding the building.

Bushra Amiwala, a 27-year-old elected official on the Skokie Board of Education, said an agent on the roof of the facility shot her with pepper bullets while she tied notes on the wall, causing her to cough and have trouble breathing.

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“They caught us so incredibly off guard,” she said as remnants of the white powder clung to her pants and hijab. “We literally were just tying notes on the wall.”

Amiwala called the use of chemical agents “fully unprovoked.”

Village officials have demanded the “illegally built” fence be removed over security concerns from the fire department. It remained in place Friday.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was arrested. Federal officials said multiple people were arrested in last week’s protests at the same location and characterized those arrested as “rioters.”

By BERENICE BAUTISTA

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The long-held secrets of the Kahlo family, including those of legendary artist Frida, are about to be unlocked for the world with the opening of the Casa Kahlo Museum this weekend.

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Although located very close to the iconic Casa Azul in Coyoacán’s historic center, the Casa Kahlo Museum is a different place with an intertwined history. This house belonged to Frida Kahlo’s parents, who bought it after giving her the Casa Azul — where she grew up and lived with Diego Rivera — as a wedding gift.

While the Kahlo House features elements familiar to Frida Kahlo fans — like a traditional kitchen and garden — its true value is the new perspective it provides on her life. It reveals intimate details about her close-knit family, including her photographer father, Guillermo, and her sister and caregiver, Cristina.

“You can find a more humane approach to her story, to her origins,” said museum director Adán García, adding that visitors will see that behind the great artist was a child who “struggled with polio and who was fond of her father and her mother.”

Frida herself lived in the house for a time, and it was inhabited by her relatives until just two years ago.

A portrait of Frida Kahlo by Mexican photographer Wallace Marly is displayed in the new museum Casa Kahlo, a house bought by Kahlo’s father after he gave the iconic Casa Azul to his daughter as a wedding gift, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The Associated Press took an exclusive tour of this new museum that includes the only murals painted by Kahlo on record.

The basement

As a child, Frida Kahlo loved to collect insects and use a microscope to see their wings. That microscope is in the basement of the Kahlo House, a very special place for the painter. It was there where, already married to Diego Rivera, she used to find a space for herself.

“When she fought with Diego, she would come here to the basement for refuge,” said Frida Kahlo’s great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo. “It was like her place of peace; this was her home.”

Asian dolls Frida Kahlo purchased during a trip to San Francisco are displayed in the basement inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The basement also features a unique collection, including votive offerings painted by Frida and Asian dolls she purchased during a trip to San Francisco.

The kitchen

Romeo Kahlo remembers having breakfast in the kitchen surrounded by murals of flowers and fruit trees. The murals were created by Frida and inspired by the plants found in the house’s garden. The murals were painted over during a kitchen modernization, which paradoxically helped preserve them. After special treatment, they can now be seen in all their splendor.

The murals bear an inscription that reads “the inn of the sparrows,” a Spanish pun on the word gorrones — or uninvited guests — that sounds like gorriones (sparrows), who came to eat at the house.

“Anyone who came, whether invited or not, could always find a place at this table,” said García, the museum director.

The darkroom

Visitors can step into the photography studio of Frida’s father, where an interactive camera takes virtual black-and-white photos, demonstrating the process of developing on paper.

A view of the darkroom that belonged to Frida Kahlo’s father, Guillermo, who was the first official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

The museum also displays photographs of a young Guillermo Kahlo and tells the story of how he arrived in Mexico from his native Germany. It also details his first marriage, his two daughters, and how he met Frida’s mother, Matilde Calderón. A celebrated photographer, Kahlo was the first official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio Díaz.

The other half of Frida’s heart

In order for Frida to endure the many surgeries she went through in her adult life, she had someone by her side who took care of her: her younger sister Cristina.

“She used to talk about her like she was the other half of her heart,” García said.

Cristina Kahlo, a single mother herself, founded a charity to help hundreds of other women in the same situation as her.

Frida Kahlo’s great-niece Mara Romeo Kahlo speak during an interview inside the new museum Casa Kahlo where visitors will see dresses with intricate embroidery and pieces of pre-Hispanic jewelry that Frida famously wore in photographs, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Every Saturday, Romeo Kahlo remembers, “the gate was opened here and a basic food basket was given for more than 500 single women.”

The new museum also highlights Frida’s relationship with her mother, a figure who has been historically overshadowed by her father.

“The truth is that they had a close relationship,” Romeo Kahlo said, noting that her great-grandmother Matilde was actually the first to wear flowers in her hair — a look long associated with Frida.

The family decided to paint the house red and keep it that way over the years, because this color symbolizes “the heart of the Kahlo family,” she said.

Other notable objects

The museum provides a glimpse into the Kahlo family’s extensive correspondence, including letters from Frida marked with kisses of Mexican pink lipstick.

“These letters provided the guideline to write all these anecdotes that you’ll discover throughout the museum,” said curator Adriana Miranda.

Visitors will see dresses with intricate embroidery and pieces of pre-Hispanic jewelry that Frida famously wore in photographs.

The bathroom is intact and recalls Frida Kahlo’s 1938 painting “What the Water Gave Me,” featuring her feet in a bathtub.

A corridor displays a mirror that Frida had made for an exhibition in New York. In another room, “A Tray of Poppies” — one of Frida Kahlo’s first works — is on view.

A local architecture

David Rockwell, an architect and board member of the Kahlo Foundation, collaborated with the family to create the exhibition spaces. Some sections such as the curved steps in the courtyard were rebuilt to more closely resemble the house in its original state.

He said artists from all over Mexico were commissioned to create the different pots and pieces that make up the patio.

“The thing I love about this house is the warmth. The warmth of the material, the warmth of tile, the quality of the wood, the care that’s been taken into restoring it,” said Rockwell, noting the ceilings are a particular favorite material of the house. “All these ceilings are quite different, they all create different kinds of atmospheres and conditions.”

The museum is located at Aguayo 54, in the Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City.