Today is Friday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2025. There are 222 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Also on this date:

In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, aligning with the Triple Entente of Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

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In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler killed himself while in British custody in Lüneburg, Germany.

In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced it would remove membership restrictions based on sexual orientation, while maintaining a ban on openly gay Scout leaders. (The ban on gay Scout leaders and organization employees was lifted two years later.)

In 2015, supporters of marriage equality in Ireland celebrated as referendum results showed a constitutional amendment in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage passing by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

In 2018, NFL owners approved a new policy allowing players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room but forbidding players from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field.

In 2021, a cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore plummeted to the ground when a cable snapped, killing 14 people.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Joan Collins is 92.
Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe is 81.
Chess grand master Anatoly Karpov is 74.
Comedian-TV host Drew Carey is 67.
Comedian-actor Lea DeLaria is 67.
Author Mitch Albom is 67.
Actor Melissa McBride is 60.
Singer-songwriter Maxwell is 52.
“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings is 51.
Singer-songwriter Jewel is 51.
Filmmaker Ryan Coogler is 39.
Singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz (juh-ROHZ’) is 34.

A female teacher at East Ridge High School in Woodbury was placed on administrative leave Thursday after she reportedly repeatedly used a racial slur while talking with students, officials said.

The teacher was “immediately walked out of the building” after students reported the staff member had used the slur, said Shawn Hogendorf, a spokesman for South Washington County Schools.

The teacher, who was not identified, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, he said.

In a letter sent to families, Principal Jim Smokrovich wrote that he received a report Thursday morning that the staff member used a racial slur “while discussing inappropriate comments a student was making toward other students.”

The staff member “repeated the racial slur multiple times during the conversation,” Smokrovich wrote.

“As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we met with the students who reported what they heard the staff member say, and connected with their families,” he wrote. “Understandably, the students were upset by the use of the racial slur. We are grateful to the students who were brave enough to bring this forward and to support our East Ridge values.”

Staff are available to meet with students if they are “in need of additional support to process this incident,” he wrote.

East Ridge “does not tolerate derogatory, discriminatory or racist language,” he wrote. “As educators, we must be held to the highest possible standard. I offer my sincere apology for the actions that took place in our school.”

Officials in the school district last fall banned a substitute teacher from its classrooms after he allegedly reenacted George Floyd’s murder during classes at Woodbury High School.

Meanwhile, the South Washington County school board on Thursday night voted 5-2 to update the district’s racial equity and inclusion policy to remove duplications and clarify definitions and language. Board members Ryan Clarke and Eric Tessner dissented.

The rewritten policy states that district administrators will “condemn hate speech and expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and ethnic or racial intolerance.”

Hate speech is defined in the policy as speech that either disparages, demeans, targets, “threatens or harasses a person or group based on protected class status.”

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Oklahoma City — At the start of this season, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch asked his team whether it was a Western Conference Finals team a year ago, or if it was simply a team that reached the Western Conference Finals.

A similarly pertinent question could be asked of Minnesota through two games of this year’s conference title round: Are the Timberwolves a title contender, or merely one of the last four teams still playing?

Right now, Minnesota looks a lot like the latter.

The Wolves were thoroughly out-played again Thursday in Game 2, getting their doors blown off in the third quarter en route to a 118-103 loss in Oklahoma City. Minnesota now trails the best of 7 series 2-0, with Game 3 at Target Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the MVP trophy on the floor ahead of the game, and proceeded to show everyone why he received the honor in the 48 minutes that followed. The superstar guard scored 38 points to go with eight assists. His wingman, Jalen Williams, tacked on 26 points.

Still, Minnesota was down just three late in the first half thanks to some hot 3-point shooting out of the gates. But that’s where the wheels began to fall off.

Oklahoma City closed the frame on a 5-0 run to take an eight-point advantage into the break. Then the floodgates opened in the third. The Thunder scored 35 points in the third quarter, including a 25-6 run that put the game out of question.

Minnesota was down 22 at the end of the frame.

The Timberwolves played two quarters of good offense, but at this point, it looks as though perfection may be required to contend in this series with the 68-win Thunder.

They’ll have another chance Saturday to produce just that, or at least something close to it, in what now looks like a must-win game back in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Frost booked a return trip to the PWHL Final with offense, dispatching Toronto in the league semifinals by scoring 18 goals in four first round games. But the championship round is proving to be a different game altogether.

After another defensive battle, Britta Curl-Salemme scored her second goal of the game in overtime, lifting the Frost to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Ottawa Charge in Game 2 of the Walter Cup Final, knotting the best-of-five series 1-1.

Game 3 will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. CDT at Xcel Energy Center.

“They took us off our game and took it to us, especially in the first half,” Frost coach Ken Klee said, crediting Ottawa’s defense. “I think in the third period we finally got to our game and started getting pucks in and playing the way we know we can play. But it was a tight game.”

With an Ottawa defender draped on her in the overtime, Curl-Salemme slapped a low shot that beat the Ottawa goalie to send the series back to Minnesota and give the Frost the home ice advantage.

Trailing by a goal with less than a minute to play, the Frost got their fifth power play of the game when Grace Zumwinkle was hauled down in front of the net. With goalie Maddie Rooney on the bench and Minnesota on a 6-on-4 advantage, Curl-Salemme slapped a rebound between the Ottawa goalie Gwyneth Philips’ knees with 15.4 seconds remaining to force the extra session.

Curl-Salemme, a rookie who played college hockey at Wisconsin, has made some enemies with controversial social media posts when she was a teenager, and with physical play that had her suspended for part of the semifinals. She was booed by Ottawa fans every time she carried the puck, and after the winning goal.

The PWHL has shielded her from the media this season, and a Frost official said Curl-Salemme was in the trainers room and unavailable for postgame interviews on Thursday.

“She’s an outstanding player, an outstanding person, an outstanding teammate,” Klee said. “No one’s happier for her than our entire team. She’s obviously had to deal with some adversity and stuff and she rises above it.”

Rooney finished with 37 saves for the Frost, improving to 3-0 in the playoffs.

The game was scoreless with less than three minutes left in regulation. Then Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie lifted a puck from Frost defender Maggie Flaherty behind the net, and Jocelyne Larocque slipped a low shot past Rooney to give the Charge the late lead.

But Minnesota’s special teams, which had been stymied for the game’s first 59 minutes, found a way to draw level late. Philips had 22 saves for Ottawa, which lost at home for the first time in the playoffs.

Philips sticked away a backhand attempt by Minnesota’s Brooke McQuigge just 35 seconds into overtime, with the Frost forward getting loose in front of the Ottawa net.

As they have done often in these playoffs, the Frost’s offense took a while to get going, but made a stronger push late in the game.

The game’s first power play went Minnesota’s way, and the Frost kept Ottawa hemmed in for much of the two minutes, but managed only one shot on Phillips, as the Charge did exemplary work clogging the net-front and blocking shots.

Early offense continued to be a struggle for Minnesota. After putting four shots on goal in the opening period of Game 1, the Frost had just three first period shots on Thursday.

Things started even worse for Minnesota in the middle frame, as their offense still sputtered and the Frost’s second power play of the game was a disaster, with the Charge controlling the play and testing Rooney repeatedly throughout the two minutes. The Frost made a push late in the period but was still out-shot 16-6 in the frame.

“I was seeing the puck well, but I thought the team did a great job of  tying up sticks in front of us and clearing bodies out of the way to make it easier for me to see,” Rooney said. “I think it just says a lot about our team, being down and being able to tie it with 15 seconds left and getting the win in overtime.”

After holding Ottawa without a shot on an early third period power play, the Frost again went to the player advantage when Sophie Jaques was hooked on a rush to the net. This time Minnesota got a pair of pucks to the net front, but still could not solve Phillips.

Rooney, the former Minnesota Duluth star who backstopped Team USA’s 2018 Olympic gold medal, had started Games 2 and 3 of the first round series versus Toronto, putting up unimpressive numbers in saves percentage and goals against, but winning both contests.

Ottawa played Game 2 without forward Katerina Mrazova, who was injured in a neutral zone collision with Curl-Salemme in the series opener.

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