Team USA world champion bobsledder Lolo Jones has been granted access to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, nearly five months after she was banned from the facility following a verbal confrontation with a member of the center’s sports medicine staff after she was denied approved medical treatment, the Southern California News Group has learned.

An attorney for the USOPC informed Jones, a two-time world champion in both track and field and bobsled, on July 3 that she would have access to housing, the weight room, sports medicine personnel and facilities and training table/nutrition for a USA Bobsled and Skeleton high performance camp at the OPTC starting July 24 should USABS request access for her, according to USOPC documents obtained by the SCNG.

The USOPC letter came a day before the deadline to apply for the high performance camp, eight weeks after Jones requested a mediation hearing with the USOPC,  and seven months before she hopes to compete in a fourth Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, according to interviews with five people familiar with the case and USOC and USABS documents obtained by the SCNG.

Jones’ suspension has continued even though USOPC officials acknowledged she was wrongly denied medical treatment late on the afternoon of Feb. 28, a decision that prompted the verbal confrontation. The USOPC did not interview eyewitnesses, according to Jones, a USABS official, and three other people familiar with the case.

RELATED: SPECIAL REPORT: Lolo Jones banned from Olympic Training Center

Other Olympians, Team USA members and a USA BS official describe the suspension of Jones, 42, as excessive, arbitrary, retaliatory and based on little if any investigation by USOPC officials. The case, Jones and her supporters maintain, also raises serious questions about the medical care America’s Olympic hopefuls are receiving at the OPTC in Lake Placid.

“This case is a glaring example of the need for a complete overhaul of the USOPC’s medical system,” said John Manly, Jones’ Orange County-based attorney.

The suspension and the decision not to lift it, Manly said “comes from the very top of the Olympic committee which is Sarah Hirschland,” the USOPC’s CEO.

The USOPC has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Manly was especially critical of USOPC board member Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general.

“The USOPC has made a big deal about how ‘we care for athletes’ after Nassar,” Manly said. “In reality nothing has changed. (Murthy) has taken no active role in understanding why the (USOPC) medical system is so bad. Anybody that truly cared about the (USOPC’s) mission, which was enacted by Congress and is to take care of athletes, no competent person would think this is OK.”

Murthy’s office referred questions to the USOPC.

Under the USOPC suspension, Jones has been denied access to training facilities such as the center’s weight room, sports medicine clinic and personnel, and housing and nutritional resources at a critical training period, according to USOPC documents obtained by the SCNG and interviews with Jones and four other people familiar with the case. The suspension has created competitive, financial and emotional obstacles, Jones said, that jeopardize her bid to compete in what would be her second Winter Olympics and fourth overall. The former LSU track and field star competed in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Jones has spent approximately $100,000 on medical and training expenses because of the suspension, Manly said. Jones has been training at LSU, where she was an NCAA hurdles champion, since the ban.

The two-time World champion in bobsled, suffering severe pain and incontinence from a training-related back injury, was initially banned from the OPTC sports medicine area March 1, a day after she called John Faltus, a top official at the USOPC Medical Clinic at the training center, “a horrible f—— human being,” during a verbal exchange after a previously scheduled treatment was canceled without explanation just days before the World Championships in Lake Placid, according to OPTC emails and interviews. Jones confirmed in an interview with SCNG that she swore at Faltus.

Faltus also alleges that Jones made an obscene gesture toward him, an allegation Jones denies.

“This behavior is a direct violation of the OPTC Code of Conduct,” Julie Marra, director of the USOPC Training Center in Lake Placid, wrote in a March 1 email to Jones. “This conduct is unacceptable, and I want to make it clear that such behavior cannot be tolerated.”

But Marra did not cite a specific violation of the code in the email or subsequently, according to documents and five people familiar with the case. The closest the code comes to directly addressing swearing or verbal altercations is one brief passage: “Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated, including but not limited to, the following: Any act of violation of offenses, as listed in the USOPC Background Check Policy or adjudicated of federal, state, or local laws.”

The OPTC code, a USABS official acknowledged, “is arbitrary.”

“To this day,” Jones wrote in an email to SCNG, “no one has told me: Who found me in violation, what exact rule or code I broke, or what part of the Code of Conduct was allegedly violated.”

Marra and Faltus have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

“If we banned every Olympic athlete that dropped an F-bomb we’d be in big trouble,” Manly said.

Ben Towne, the OPTC trainer, set up an appointment with the sports medicine clinic for Jones to receive a massage, the first step in treating and diagnosing the back injury, according OPTC protocol. But Jones was informed after arriving at the clinic Feb. 28 that her appointment had been canceled without explanation.

Towne will be Jones’ point of contact with the OPTC sports medicine clinic beginning July 24.

Although Jones was told Faltus canceled the treatment because she was only entitled to one massage per week and she had already had a massage that week, she said: “I have never received a written explanation for why I was denied medical treatment? This is especially alarming given that I was recovering from an injury I sustained while representing Team USA. The USOPC claims to support athlete health, but in this case, they failed to uphold that duty of care.”

“One massage a week for 50 minutes for one of our top Olympians,” Manly said. “If you get hurt in prison, you get an MRI. The medical system in the federal prison system is literally better than the USOPC’s. What are we doing?

“Prisoners get better treatment than Olympians?”

Jones paid to have an MRI done after the World Championships, which revealed a herniated disc with a disc bulge, and tears in her L3, L4 and L5 vertebrae with spinal fluid leaking out.

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Alanna Smith blocked Rachel Banham’s potential game-tying 3-point attempt with nine ticks to play in Minnesota’s game against Chicago on Sunday.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier celebrates her three-point basket against the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Minneapolis. (Bruce Kluckhohn / Associated Press)

Napheesa Collier grabbed the loose ball and was immediately fouled by Banham.

Ballgame.

Sure, Collier still had to hit at least one free throw with eight seconds to play to extend the Lynx’s lead to two possessions. But at this point, that was all but a formality.

Of course, she hit both to secure Minnesota’s 80-75 victory.

That’s what Collier does, on top of literally everything else.

Those made free throws were Collier’s 44th and 45th in a row, setting a new franchise record. The previous mark was 44, set by Candice Wiggins 15 years ago.

“Don’t jinx it,” Lynx wing Diamond Miller told the media when the subject was broached after the Chicago game.

As if something like that could stop Collier.

The player who’s sound in everything she does has now seemingly mastered one of the games most basic fundamentals that is so frequently the difference between winning and losing.

After hovering around the 80% mark – a strong number in its own right – Collier is hitting 95.4% of her attempts this season.

“That’s what Phee been doing all season long for us,” Lynx guard Courtney Williams said. “We’re confident when she be stepping up to the line.”

Collier and Kayla McBride alike. McBride was on her own personal streak, hitting 36 straight free-throws prior to missing two on Sunday.

Minnesota is armed with two of the lethalist free-throw shooters in the WNBA. Entering Tuesday’s action, 32 players had shot 50-plus times from the stripe this season. Collier is first among them in free-throw percentage, while McBride is second (94.1).

“Yeah, it’s like first to raise their hand to get the tech foul (shots) and all that,” Collier joked.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve noted she has no role in those discussions. Whichever of their two sharpshooters have the ball at the stripe late in tight games, Minnesota knows it’s in a good position to close out yet another victory.

“They’re our closers,” Williams said. “Either one of them step up to that line, we’re all confident they’re going to step their game up.”

 

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By MELISSA GOLDIN

As authorities search for victims of the flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, social media users are spreading false claims that the devastation was caused by weather modification.

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Many pointed to one process in particular, blaming cloud seeding performed on July 2 by a California-based company for the tragedy.

But officials say there is no evidence that the floods are the result of cloud seeding and experts agree that cloud seeding would not result in precipitation of this magnitude.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: A July 2 cloud seeding operation by Rainmaker Technology Corporation caused flash floods in the Texas Hill Country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

THE FACTS: This is false. It is not possible that cloud seeding generated the floods, according to experts, as the process can only produce limited precipitation using clouds that already exist. Forecasts predicted rain for that weekend prior to July 2 in an area that was already prone to flooding.

“The claim that cloud seeding played a role in this tragic event is complete nonsense,” said Andrew Dessler, director of Texas A&M University’s Texas Center for Extreme Weather.

Dev Niyogi, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies extreme weather, said it is “extremely unlikely” cloud seeding played a role in the floods. He cited weather factors as the reason: “the moisture flow coming into the area and the widespread rains the system had, as well as the forecast of very heavy rains over the wider area.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said at a press briefing on Monday that “to the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification” when asked about such speculation. He added: “The internet is a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.”

Nonetheless, social media users questioned whether Rainmaker’s operations could be connected to the disaster in Texas.

“Well … this is weird … A company called Rainmaker, conducted a cloud seeding mission on July 2 over Texas Hill Country,” reads one X post. “2 days later, the worst flood in their history occurred … in the exact same area that the Rainmaker flights were. The entire goal of Rainmaker is to increase the precipitation of existing clouds. Why do we let these corporations f — k with the weather?”

Many posts also noted Rainmaker’s connection to Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who cofounded the data-mining outfit Palantir Technologies, a secretive company that has long relied on spies, police, and the military as its customers. The Thiel Foundation awarded Rainmaker founder and CEO Augustus Doricko $100,000 in 2024 as part of its fellowship program.

Cloud seeding utilizes an artificial material — typically silver iodide — to induce precipitation or clear fog. The practice is an imprecise undertaking with mixed results.

Dessler explained that “cloud seeding can work in certain limited situations and produce very modest increases in precipitation,” but often delivers nothing.”

Regardless, the process cannot create storms out of thin air. Ken Leppert, an associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said it “had absolutely nothing” to do with the flash floods in Texas.

“Cloud seeding works by adding aerosols to existing clouds,” he said. “It doesn’t work by helping to create a cloud/storm that doesn’t already exist. The storms that produced the rainfall and flooding in Texas were not in existence two days before the event.”

The Texas Hill Country, in the central part of the state, is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry, dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up.

After a flood watch notice was issued midday on July 3, the National Weather Service issued an urgent warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. The July 4 flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches of rain in the dark early morning hours. There was so much rain that the Guadalupe River rose higher than it has in 93 years by almost a foot, according to local reports.

“The natural disaster in the Texan Hill Country is a tragedy. My prayers are with Texas,” Doricko, the Rainmaker CEO, wrote as part of a series of X posts. “Rainmaker did not operate in the affected area on the 3rd or 4th or contribute to the floods that occurred over the region.”

He said Rainmaker’s last cloud seeding operation prior to the floods occurred in the early afternoon on July 2 over eastern portions of south-central Texas. Two clouds were seeded and remained in the sky for about two hours before dissipating. Rainmaker suspended its cloud seeding operations indefinitely the same day in response to “unusually high moisture content.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

By MARYCLAIRE DALE and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As trash and tempers heat up across Philadelphia on Day 8 of a strike by blue-collar city workers Tuesday, some residents and small business owners are hiring pop-up hauling services to clear their blocks of garbage, even as they broadly support the union’s quest for higher pay.

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Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, is standing firm in her offer of raises of about 3% per year over a three-year contract, which comes on top of a 5% raise she gave as an olive branch to all four major city unions after taking office last year.

“I do believe that the mayor has made a gross mistake,” said Jody Sweitzer, who has watched her East Passyunk neighborhood in South Philadelphia gentrify in her 26 years there, leading to higher rents and less diversity. Sweitzer owns a popular downtown bar called Dirty Frank’s.

“Forty thousand dollars cannot cut it in Philadelphia, you know,” she said, referring to striking workers’ pay. “You can barely rent an apartment with that kind of money. So I feel as a resident of Philadelphia that she’s doing injustice to those (workers) who actually live here.”

The strike by District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees involves nearly 10,000 workers, although judges have sided with the city in ordering some critical employees back to work at the city’s 911 centers, water department and airport. Judges have also decreed a temporary halt on evictions.

The two sides have met only intermittently since the strike began, but there was hope they would return to the bargaining table on Tuesday. In the summer of 1986, a citywide trash strike went on for three weeks, leaving 45,000 tons of rotting garbage in the streets.

Trash is cleaned up at a drop-off site in Philadelphia as thousands of city workers remained on strike Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (WPVI-TV via AP)

Terrill Haigler, 35, a former sanitation worker who now does private hauling under the handle “Ya Fav Trashman,” said stress was on the rise Tuesday along with the 94-degree temperature.

“It’s like Gotham City with water ice,” he said, referencing a local treat that is famously mispronounced “wooder ice” by natives.

“We support District Council 33 100%,” Haigler said. “They deserve everything that they’re asking for, but we also have to think about the residents on the other side. There are some people — elderly, mothers who have children — who can’t let the trash sit for five, six, seven and eight days.”

A shop owner on Sweitzer’s street hired Haigler to clear the block Tuesday. In turn, he hired two teenagers to help him while he drove a rental truck down the narrow, one-way street that ends at Pat’s King of Steaks.

”Our goal is to hopefully relieve some of that tension by cleaning as many blocks as we can, picking up as much trash as we can for customers, just to give some ease and some peace,” Haigler said.

The city has designated about 60 sites as drop-off centers for residential trash, but some are overflowing, while striking workers on hand ask residents not to cross the picket line. Most libraries across the city are also closed, with support workers and security guards off the job.

While Sweitzer hoped the strike would encourage more people to cut down on their trash through composting, city officials said other residents were taking advantage of the situation and discarding mattresses and other bulk items. Offenders in the city’s northeast even put out rotten chicken and cooking oil. The chicken tossers were arrested and face $5,000 fines, according to Carlton Williams, director of the city’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives.

“This is not a free pass for illegal dumping around the city of Philadelphia,” Williams said Monday.