By DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer

Two-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton died after being in a car crash in Atlanta on Saturday. She was 43.

The athletic department at Georgia, where Braxton played in college, texted The Associated Press confirmation of her death on Monday and posted on social media. Her son, Jelani Thurman, posted a photo of his younger self in his mother’s jersey on social media and wrote that he we will miss his “queen.”

Braxton last played in the WNBA in 2014 while finishing up a four-year stint with New York. She won two titles with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2008.

She celebrated her birthday last week.

“It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton,” the league said on social media on Sunday night. “A 10-season veteran, Kara played with the Detroit Shock, Tulsa Shock, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”

The 6-foot-6 Braxton was drafted by Detroit with the seventh pick in 2005. She earned All-Rookie honors that season after averaging 6.9 points and 3.0 rebounds.

She played half of a season with the franchise when it moved to Tulsa in 2010 before getting traded to Phoenix for the second half of the year.

Braxton then played the first 18 games in Phoenix in 2011 before being acquired by New York. She played with the Liberty until 2014 when she was waived after playing four games.

“We mourn the loss of Kara Braxton, a former Liberty player whose presence and passion left a lasting impact on our organization and the women’s game,” the Liberty posted on social media.

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Braxton was SEC Freshman of the Year for Georgia in 2002.

Thurman played football for Ohio State and won a national championship with the Buckeyes in 2024. He has since transferred to North Carolina.

Braxton is also survived by her husband Jarvis Jackson and their young son Jream.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

GLENWOOD, Minn. — The vision for Rolling Forks Vineyards was different from where this agribusiness has now landed among a long list of grape growers and wine makers around the world.

And that’s near the top in international competitions that they have entered using the cold-tolerant grapes that they press and process in-house at their vineyard overlooking Lake Minnewaska, in west central Minnesota.

Melanie Cihlar, general manager at Rolling Forks Vineyards, recalls breaking ground on their winery in 2019. They opened for business in July 2020 — during a global pandemic.

“A curse and a blessing that COVID was, it just really made the business look different,” Melanie Cihlar said.

The indoor-focused business owners quickly realized that in order to welcome guests, they needed an outdoor venue. A patio with room for 200, space for outdoor weddings, sledding in the winter, a corn maze and breathtaking views surrounding the winery have helped widen their space for customers at the vineyard. Outside of their winery space, it’s their work in finessing their wines that is helping them reach more stores and serve other vineyards throughout Minnesota and into North Dakota.

Cihlar said they are selling about half of what they anticipated they would be selling five years into business. That’s largely because of changed habits that have fewer people consuming alcohol. But their work to expand their offerings is being helped by their wines earning international recognition at various judged events around the world.

Grape vines at Rolling Forks Vineyards near Glenwood, Minn., in February 2026. (Michael Johnson / Agweek / Forum News Service)

“I feel like we’ve passed year five, so I feel like we’ve made it,” Melanie Cihlar said. “And now it’s just making sure we keep our reputation and we do the things that we say we’re going to do; continue to enter the competitions and keep our quality standard high.”

While they have shelves full of awards, the Wine Enthusiast awards they received last year hold a lot of weight in helping them get noticed. A score of 96 for one of their white wines at a San Francisco, California, competition, where their wine was judged against others from around the world, was particularly impressive. A 96 score is considered a “superb” rating out of 100. Only a “classic” rating of 98 to 100 is higher in this blind taste testing platform.

“If we’re pulling scores like that from our little winery here in Minnesota, that speaks a lot of volumes too for the quality that we’re producing,” Melanie Cihlar said.

They also took home two gold medals and two silver medals at the 30th Catad’Or World Wine Awards in Monticello, Chile, one of the most respected wine competitions in the Southern Hemisphere, according to Melanie Cihlar. At their latest competition, their wines scored near the top alongside the best from 18 countries.

“It’s a reminder that Minnesota’s unique climate and soils can create world-class wines, and we hope this honor encourages more people to share in our passion — whether at local restaurants, shops, or around their own tables,” Melanie Cihlar said.

Barrels of wine are resting in the production area of the Rolling Forks Vineyards on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Michael Johnson / Agweek / Forum News Service)

Her husband Joe is the farm manager and started making wine and growing grapes years before they took the plunge into their own winery. They couple planted their first vines in 2011. Joe farms about 700 acres of mostly corn and soybeans, some surrounding the vineyard and others within 4 miles of the vineyard. He also works as a machinist to continue to keep money flowing in, even during slower times in crops and specialty crops.

Joe Cihlar said what the rolling hills surrounding Lake Minnewaska provide is a unique climate with cold air draining to the lake below them. The vineyards benefit from the moderating influence of the lake, which reduces frost pressure and lengthens the growing season — an advantage in northern viticulture. The soils, shaped by glacial activity, consist of sandy loam and glacial till, offering excellent drainage and contributing natural minerality. These factors create wines with vibrant acidity, intense aromatics and exceptional varietal purity, according to the Cihlars. Those features are helping their wine achieve recognition on the global stage.

“We try to manage every vine out of the 18 acres independently,” Joe Cihlar said. “So that’s part of the challenge, which I enjoy the challenge of that.”

While growing grapes in Minnesota has some similarities to growing them in California, there are a great number of differences. The history of grape growing in Minnesota, being not nearly as long as on the West Coast, means those taking on the challenge are learning a lot as they go. Joe said those who are in the state’s industry are very good about helping each other out.

“But there is not a single one person that knows everything,” he said. ”And that’s what I love about our industry in Minnesota. We have a lot of wineries and vineyards that we work with, and we speak literally on a weekly basis about how things are going.”

Even with all that information sharing, it still takes grit and determination to turn a crop and make a great product out of it every year.

Even though Minnesota grapes and the wine they produce have a lot of potential, the wine industry remains young and has been slow to grow here. During a recent visit to the vineyard, the owners were busy putting together the finishing pieces on a grant application with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture that could be used to help promote and build the wine industry in the state. Joe Cihlar recognizes the importance of getting some lobbying work going in order to get specialty crop growers, like grape growers, more state and national attention and representation.

Even if the grant dollars don’t come through, their work continues to help get more Minnesota wines in the hands of Midwest shoppers. He mentioned that this can be hard without recognition and without work to avoid other regions from dumping cheaper wines into the market.

Outside help

The 2024 vintage was special for the group because Joe started the growing season off handling the grape growing and harvest and the couple brought on Patricio Aravena, a wine maker and agriculture engineer with roots in Chile, as well as JoLee Boysen, as their tasting room and wholesale manager. These two are making strides at getting these wines in more glasses.

Aravena has been hard at work to help give that wine some added finesse.

“I’ve been working in the wine industry for more than 20 years,” Aravena said. While there is little to be done in the dormant vineyard until March pruning starts, he spends his time testing and tasting the wine and helping set the business up for success this winter. He expanded their wine-making abilities right off the bat.

The Minnesota grapes and wines are quite different from those in warmer climates to which he was well acquainted.

“This wine needs more care and knowledge,” Aravena said. The higher acid levels take time to understand. He said that where they are at now is just the beginning concerning where this operation is headed.

The operation includes 18 acres of grapes that they have been building since they moved to the farm in 2010. There was plenty of energy around grape growing at that time because the University of Minnesota was coming out with new varieties of cold-tolerant grapes. Joe said they plan to stick close to the current acreage until markets expand for the wine-making. They are also pursuing options to get into the fresh juice and syrup markets.

“That will further diversify what he have going on,” Joe Cihlar said. “We are set up for doing it. We have the equipment in place. So we’re looking forward to that. If that takes off then we’ll be adding a few more acres of grapes.”

They grow seven varieties of grapes. Those include University of Minnesota breeds along with private breeds. The vineyard’s prime time is from about the Fourth of July and up to freeze up. During that time they are hosting hundreds in their large patio overlooking the rolling hills, vines and waters below. They also host events year-round in their boutique-style winery.

The couple said their employee force grows to around 40 during the peak of the season. All those staff have a passion about seeing the business do well.

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By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press

New Utah voting districts that give Democrats an improved shot at winning a U.S. House seat can be used in this year’s election, a federal court ruled Monday while turning aside a Republican request to block the new map.

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The ruling marked the second setback in recent days for Republicans, who also lost an appeal at Utah’s state Supreme Court.

A Utah judge imposed the new districts last November after striking down the congressional districts that the Republican-led Legislature had adopted after the 2020 census. The judge ruled that the Legislature had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters.

The ruling thrust Utah into a national redistricting battle being waged among states ahead of the midterm elections. President Donald Trump has pressed Republican-led states such as Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to redraw their districts to give the GOP an advantage in the November elections, prompting Democratic-led states such as California and Virginia to respond with their own redistricting plans.

Republicans currently hold all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats. The new map imposed last fall by Judge Dianna Gibson keeps Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district, instead of dividing the heavily Democratic population center among all four districts, as was previously the case. It was submitted by the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

Republicans have argued the judge did not have legal authority to enact a map that wasn’t approved by the Legislature.

But a panel of three district court judges denied the Republicans’ request for a preliminary injunction against using the new map in this year’s election. The federal court said Republicans weren’t likely to prevail in their argument, and said it was too late for judges to intervene in the election.

The filing period for Utah’s congressional candidates opens March 9, party caucus are scheduled for March 17, and state party conventions are to be held April 25. Some candidates already are campaigning, the court noted.

“An active primary is ongoing, and the election has drawn too close for the court to get involved,” the court wrote while adding: “The possibility of voter confusion is a considerable risk were the panel to enjoin the current election map.”

By ERIN NOLAN/Honolulu Civil Beat

Lahaina’s iconic Indian banyan tree has been off limits to visitors since the August 2023 wildfire tore through the historic community, but some Maui County officials are hopeful that they might soon be able to restore public access.

Arborists from all over Maui — as well as a few from Oʻahu — will be organizing an extensive assessment of the tree’s health, the results of which will help determine when Lahaina Banyan Court Park might reopen, said Duane Sparkman, the chair of the Maui County Arborist Committee and the co-founder of the nonprofit Treecovery Hawaiʻi.

While many people hailed the famous tree’s survival as a symbol of hope and resilience, that initial optimism did not reflect the burn damage festering beneath the tree’s scorched bark, Sparkman said. Arborists discovered fungus inside a branch that snapped earlier this month and want to be sure the tree is not sicker than it appears.

“We really don’t know what’s under the skin,” he said. “It’s still trying to survive the fire, and it’s still trying to heal.”

The assessment is expected to be extensive and fairly invasive, Sparkman said. Arborists will tug on and throw ropes with weighted attachments over individual branches to see how much tension they can withstand, he said, and they will drive stainless steel spikes into the tree’s flesh to make sure it still produces sap and that there is a functioning cambium, a layer of tissue inside trees that is essential for growth and regeneration.

If the tree is healthy enough, Sparkman said Lahaina Banyan Court Park could reopen before the end of the year, but he did not want to make any predictions about what the arborists will find.

“We have to watch how any damage has healed over and what areas are safe,” he said, explaining that unhealthy branches could be at risk of falling on people and causing injuries. “Then we have to actually remove what’s not safe.”

Before arborists and officials determine when to reopen the park, they will also discuss whether to implement precautions to protect the tree and educate the public on how to behave so they do not further threaten it, Maui County Arborist Timothy Griffith Jr. said.

A fence currently prevents passersby headed to the recently reopened Lahaina Small Boat Harbor from getting too close to the famous tree, with signs warning against trespassing.

FILE – The 150-year-old banyan tree, damaged by 2023 wildfires, is seen with new growth in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

‘It’s In The ICU’

Lahaina Banyan Court Park is surrounded by reminders of the fire — the charred shell of the Old Lahaina Courthouse, melted lamp posts, vacant lots where restaurants and shops once stood — but the tree itself and the wooden benches around its trunk appear remarkably normal.

The fast-moving blaze skipped right over the park, Griffith said. Still, a large section of the famous tree was “superheated” near the intersection of Front and Hotel Streets, he said.

“The heat just dried out everything inside, almost like putting it in a kiln,” he said.

The upcoming assessment, which was authorized last week by the Maui County Arborist Committee but has not been scheduled, will help experts better understand how deep the damage runs, he said.

In the months after the fire, arborists went through the tree’s many trunks and branches and removed everything that had been dessicated by the fire, Sparkman said. Griffith said about 40% of the tree was removed in the year after the fire.

Treecovery — which cares for trees that survived the 2023 Lahaina and Kula wildfires and grows new trees to replace those that were destroyed — has worked alongside county officials and other volunteer arborists to water the banyan tree, inject hundreds of gallons of compost tea into nearby soil and prune dead or unhelpful roots and branches. So far, 22 trunks have already been removed, Sparkman said.

In some areas, aerial roots had begun to grow between the bark and the core — or heartwood — and allowed tiny beetles called twig borers to infest the tree, he said.

The tree has been treated for the bugs and no longer has any sign of beetles, but it is still very vulnerable, Sparkman said. During the islandwide rainstorm earlier this month, an 18-inch-diameter branch fell and revealed that there was fungus growing inside the tree.

“It’s a natural reaction for fungus to show up when it’s time for trees to break down, and in some cases, fungus spores can be on the bore beetles and the bugs that are in the tree itself,” Sparkman said. “We have concerns that it could be in other places in the tree, so that’s where the assessment has to come in.”

If fungus spreads enough, “it’s kind of over for a tree,” he added, and there is a much higher risk of branches falling on people and causing injuries.

The fire put a lot of stress on the banyan tree, Sparkman and Griffith said, so arborists are working hard to give it everything it needs to bounce back.

“It’s in the ICU. It’s like it’s been in a car crash and it’s injured, but it’s on its way to recovery,” Griffith said. “It’s still in recovery, so we’ll keep an eye on it. When it needs some TLC, we’ll be there.”

An Important Gathering Place

William Owen Smith planted a banyan tree sapling in the heart of Lahainatown in 1873. A century and a half later, it stood roughly 60 feet tall, had dozens of trunks and boasted an impressive network of limbs that stretched over two-thirds of an acre.

The shade created by the tree’s sprawling canopy made Lahaina Banyan Court Park a natural gathering place for generations of locals and tourists alike, said Theo Morrison, the Executive Director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.

“Shade is really, really important in Lahaina, and the tree gave that to people in a central location,” she said.

CORRECTS YEAR TO 2026, NOT 2025 -Lahaina, Hawaii’s historic Banyan tree is seen on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (Erin Nolan/Honolulu Civil Beat via AP)

For years, the community kicked off the holiday season with the lighting of the banyan tree, and the park was the site of annual events like the International Festival of Canoes and Kamehameha Day celebrations.

Though the banyan tree is one of Lahaina’s most recognizable landmarks, many people also see it as a representation of the ways colonialism shaped the community and erased Native Hawaiian history. Smith, who planted the tree, came from a family of missionaries and played a role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation, which for decades cared for the surrounding park using grant funding from the county, cares about the tree’s survival, but it does not celebrate its controversial history, Morrison said.

“It’s a beautiful tree, and it produces all that shade. That’s the value to the community,” she said.

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The shadow cast by the banyan tree has become even more valuable since the fire, Morrison added. Lahaina once had about 25,000 trees — monkeypod, ʻulu, plumeria, kukui nut and more — lining the streets, but only about 1,000 to 4,000 survived the fire.

When Lahaina Banyan Court Park finally reopens, the tree will undoubtedly look different because so much had to be removed, Griffith said. Arborists hope that they can one day restore it to something close to its pre-fire shape by strategically pruning and planting propagated cuttings from the tree.

“It’s something that you have to plan in terms of decades, not just years,” he said. “You’ve got to let the tree do its own thing.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of environmental issues on Hawaiʻi island is supported in part by a grant from the Dorrance Family Foundation.

This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.