Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg announced Monday that he’s battling prostate cancer.

In a post on his Instagram page, the former Chicago Cubs great shared that he learned last week of his metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis, adding that he already has begun treatment.

“We will continue to be positive, strong and fight to beat this,” Sandberg wrote in his post. “Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time for me and my family.”

A bronze statue of Sandberg, 64, will be unveiled in Gallagher Way outside Wrigley Field on June 23, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of his legendary “Sandberg Game” against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Wrigleyville company Obvious Shirts is planning to create a T-shirt in honor of Sandberg’s cancer fight with 100% of sales donated to a charity of Sandberg’s choice, which is still being finalized.

A winner of nine Gold Glove and seven Silver Slugger awards as well as the 1984 National League MVP award, Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and had his No. 23 retired by the Cubs the same year.

He spent four seasons (2007-10) managing in the Cubs farm system before departing the organization and joining the Philadelphia Phillies, who drafted him in the 20th round in 1978, to manage their Triple-A affiliate in 2011. After a promotion to the big-league coaching staff in 2012, Sandberg took over as the Phillies interim manager in August 2013 and one month later had the interim title removed.

With 81 Minnesota counties in an ongoing federal drought declaration, the Small Business Administration is rolling out financial resources for businesses affected by a lack of snowfall this winter.

The SBA will host a virtual webinar at 10 a.m. Friday, March 15, for Minnesota businesses interested in applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans up to $2 million.

If a loan is granted, businesses would not have to pay interest for the first year, with a maximum rate of 4% from the remainder of the loan period.

Gov. Tim Walz recently urged Minnesota business owners to apply for assistance as soon as possible.

As of Feb. 29, most areas in the state had received less than 50% of their normal snowfall totals, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. That has impacted a variety of businesses that rely on wintry conditions, including northern Minnesota resorts.

Applications and additional disaster assistance information can be found at lending.sba.gov. Applicants can also contact Small Business Development Centers or message the customer service center at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

To register for the webinar, visit https://tinyurl.com/3tp6wuef.

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By VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has started requiring migrants without passports to submit to facial recognition technology to take domestic flights under a change that prompted confusion this week among immigrants and advocacy groups in Texas.

It is not clear exactly when the change took effect, but several migrants with flights out of South Texas on Tuesday told advocacy groups that they thought they were being turned away. The migrants included people who had used the government’s online appointment system to pursue their immigration cases. Advocates were also concerned about migrants who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally before being processed by Border Patrol agents and released to pursue their immigration cases.

The Transportation Security Administration told The Associated Press on Thursday that migrants without proper photo identification who want to board flights must submit to facial recognition technology to verify their identity using Department of Homeland Security records.

“If TSA cannot match their identity to DHS records, they will also be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied boarding,” the agency said.

Agency officials did not say when TSA made the change, only that it was recent and not in response to a specific security threat.

It’s not clear how many migrants might be affected. Some have foreign passports.

Migrants and strained communities on the U.S.-Mexico border have become increasingly dependent on airlines to get people to other cities where they have friends and family and where Border Patrol often orders them to go to proceed with their immigration claims.

Groups that work with migrants said the change caught them off guard. Migrants wondered if they might lose hundreds of dollars spent on nonrefundable tickets. After group of migrants returned to a shelter in McAllen on Tuesday, saying they were turned away at the airport, advocates exchanged messages trying to figure out what the new TSA procedures were.

“It caused a tremendous amount of distress for people,” said the Rev. Brian Strassburger, the executive director of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries, a group in Texas that provides humanitarian aid and advocacy for migrants.

Strassburger said that previously migrants were able to board flights with documents they had from Border Patrol.

One Ecuadorian woman traveling with her child told the AP she was able to board easily on Wednesday after allowing officers to take a photo of her at the TSA checkpoint.

___

Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

MADISON, Wis. — Prescott’s state title hopes evaporated in a four-minute flurry of dunks and high-flying layups.

Top-ranked Milwaukee St. Thomas More broke open a close game with a decisive 16-0 run midway through the second half and pulled away for a 68-45 victory over the Cardinals in the Division 3 semifinals of the Wisconsin boys state high school basketball tournament Thursday.

Mason Schommer’s 3-pointer brought the Cardinals within 46-41 with 8:43 remaining. After an exchange of misses, Amari McCottry, a 6-6 senior guard, scored on a breakaway dunk to make it 48-41.

The Cardinals turned it over on their next possession and 6-9 Sekou Konneh turned it into another breakaway jam at the other end. The Cavaliers scored their next 10 points on four layups and a putback. Konneh capped the run by turning another turnover into another breakaway dunk to make it 62-41 with 4:27 left.

“We battled. We went toe-to-toe with them for 26, 27 minutes,” said Cardinals coach Nick Johnson. “We had a couple in-and-outs where we got good looks. We had that one layup where we could have cut it to two, and then they just kind of came in a wave.”

Dallas Wallin and Kobe Russell each had 11 points for Prescott (21-7), appearing in the state tournament for the first time since winning the title in 2018. Wallin, a 6-6 senior, had a team-high nine rebounds.

“I’ve usually got the taller guy in there, but at 6-9, that’s an unteachable, that height there,” said Wallin. “You just try pump fake, get him in the air and get some shots off, but it’s tough to score when you’ve got that size and that ability and that skill there.”

Prescott struggled from deep, making just 6 of 33 shots from beyond the arc. The Cardinals also committed 16 turnovers, which St. Thomas More turned into 21 points.

Konneh finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while McCottry added 18 points and 10 boards for St. Thomas More.

The Cavaliers shot 30% in the first half but 68% after the break on 19-of-28 shooting. St. Thomas More also had an astonishing 25-0 edge in fastbreak points.

“They are so talented,” Johnson said. “They just come at you, and come at you, they push in transition. I thought our kids played great. We had good looks. I don’t have the stats, but I think we were 6 for 33 from three, and we’re a good-shooting team. We just didn’t knock down shots.”

St. Thomas More (28-1) advances to Saturday’s title game against No. 2 seed Lakeside Lutheran (26-2), which defeated No. 3 seed Kiel 57-55.

“I thought our guys did a great job of second-half adjustments,” said St. Thomas More coach Tony Mane Jr. “And then coming out in the second half and getting on a roll a little bit. Thankfully we got some stops, and I think that was the biggest thing.”

Prescott trailed 26-23 at the half but pulled within 28-27 on Russell’s drive. McCottry capped a 6-0 run with a breakaway dunk to make it 34-27.

Prescott was within one possession at the half after hitting just 4 of its first 20 shots, including 2 of 12 from deep.

Kyle Cogan hit a 3-pointer to bring the Cardinals within 12-11, but the Cavaliers responded with an 8-2 run, pushing the lead to 20-13 with 4:46 left in the half.

McCottry’s layin put St. Thomas More up 25-15, but Max Monteith and Barrett Temmers answered with back-to-back 3-pointers. The Cavaliers turned it over on a 5-second call playing for a final shot, and Wallin closed the half with a layin to pull Prescott within 26-23.

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