Month: March 2019

Julia Ruth Stevens, the last surviving daughter of Hall of Fame baseball slugger Babe Ruth and a decades-long champion of his legacy, has died at age 102, her family has announced.

Tom Stevens said Sunday that his mother died Saturday morning at an assisted living facility in Henderson, Nevada, after a short illness.

In keeping with her wishes, her remains will be cremated with burial sometime this spring in Conway, New Hampshire, where she used to live, Tom Stevens said.

“She lived such a full, interesting life,” he said. “She was an ambassador for Babe Ruth.”

Tom Stevens said his mother moved from Florida to Arizona in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew and then to Nevada, where he lives.

Diane Murphy, a fellow resident at Prestige Senior Living at Mira Loma in Henderson, told The Associated Press that Julia Stevens had lost her sight but remained bright and vibrant.

Stevens was part of a circle of residents who read books aloud, according to Murphy.

“She was so sharp and laughed at the right moments,” Murphy said. “She was a lovely lady.”

Even well into her 90s, Stevens threw out first pitches at baseball games across the nation, attended Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, and appeared at the annual Babe Ruth Little League World Series.

She authored three books about her famous father.

“As long as there is baseball, Daddy’s name is always going to be mentioned. He was one of a kind,” Stevens once said. “My goal in life is to keep his name alive. He was a wonderful father and I remember him as that and just not as a baseball player.”

Stevens was adopted by baseball’s biggest star soon after Ruth married her mother, Claire Hodgson, in 1929 when Julia was 12 years old. Hodgson died in 1976.

Julia was the older of two daughters adopted by Ruth. Dorothy Ruth Pirone, who was Ruth’s daughter from a previous relationship, died in 1989 at age 67.

Tom Stevens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview earlier this year that it rankled his mother to be referred to as Ruth’s stepdaughter.

He said Ruth was a match to provide Julia a needed blood transfusion when she was hospitalized as a young adult.

“She said as far as she was concerned, between being adopted and the transfusion, ‘I’m his daughter, period,’” Tom Stevens said.

Babe Ruth retired in 1935, days after playing his last game. He was with the Boston Braves that year after starring for the New York Yankees from 1920-34 and the Boston Red Sox from 1914-19.

Ruth died from cancer at age 53 in 1948.

“I sometimes wonder if the designated hitter rule would have been in effect when Daddy played, his career would’ve lasted much longer and he would’ve hit a lot more home runs,” Stevens once said. “It was his legs that gave out. He had trouble with his knees.”

Stevens said Ruth taught her how to dance and how to bowl and “I couldn’t have had a better father than him.”

She made her final trip to Yankee Stadium at age 91 in 2008 to say goodbye to one of her dad’s favorite places where he hit many of his 714 career home runs.

Accompanied by her son and two grandchildren, Stevens got a warm reception from the crowd before New York’s 6-0 loss to Cincinnati.

A New York sports writer dubbed the Bronx stadium “The House That Ruth Built,” and the Yankees retired Ruth’s No. 3 during their 25th anniversary celebration of Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948, the great slugger’s final visit to the ballpark.

As Ruth’s daughter, Stevens’ family said, “she had many amazing experiences, which she was pleased to share with eager reporters and fans alike. Until the very end, she was very proud to call him ‘Daddy’ and she particularly loved recalling events from 1934 when she went on a ‘round the world’ tour with her parents” to Japan with a major-league all-star team.

She is survived by her son, two grandchildren and four great grandchildren, according to the family’s Facebook post.
…

Julia Ruth Stevens, the last surviving daughter of Hall of Fame baseball slugger Babe Ruth and a decades-long champion of his legacy, has died at age 102, her family has announced.

Tom Stevens said Sunday that his mother died Saturday morning at an assisted living facility in Henderson, Nevada, after a short illness.

In keeping with her wishes, her remains will be cremated with burial sometime this spring in Conway, New Hampshire, where she used to live, Tom Stevens said.

“She lived such a full, interesting life,” he said. “She was an ambassador for Babe Ruth.”

Tom Stevens said his mother moved from Florida to Arizona in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew and then to Nevada, where he lives.

Diane Murphy, a fellow resident at Prestige Senior Living at Mira Loma in Henderson, told The Associated Press that Julia Stevens had lost her sight but remained bright and vibrant.

Stevens was part of a circle of residents who read books aloud, according to Murphy.

“She was so sharp and laughed at the right moments,” Murphy said. “She was a lovely lady.”

Even well into her 90s, Stevens threw out first pitches at baseball games across the nation, attended Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, and appeared at the annual Babe Ruth Little League World Series.

She authored three books about her famous father.

“As long as there is baseball, Daddy’s name is always going to be mentioned. He was one of a kind,” Stevens once said. “My goal in life is to keep his name alive. He was a wonderful father and I remember him as that and just not as a baseball player.”

Stevens was adopted by baseball’s biggest star soon after Ruth married her mother, Claire Hodgson, in 1929 when Julia was 12 years old. Hodgson died in 1976.

Julia was the older of two daughters adopted by Ruth. Dorothy Ruth Pirone, who was Ruth’s daughter from a previous relationship, died in 1989 at age 67.

Tom Stevens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview earlier this year that it rankled his mother to be referred to as Ruth’s stepdaughter.

He said Ruth was a match to provide Julia a needed blood transfusion when she was hospitalized as a young adult.

“She said as far as she was concerned, between being adopted and the transfusion, ‘I’m his daughter, period,’” Tom Stevens said.

Babe Ruth retired in 1935, days after playing his last game. He was with the Boston Braves that year after starring for the New York Yankees from 1920-34 and the Boston Red Sox from 1914-19.

Ruth died from cancer at age 53 in 1948.

“I sometimes wonder if the designated hitter rule would have been in effect when Daddy played, his career would’ve lasted much longer and he would’ve hit a lot more home runs,” Stevens once said. “It was his legs that gave out. He had trouble with his knees.”

Stevens said Ruth taught her how to dance and how to bowl and “I couldn’t have had a better father than him.”

She made her final trip to Yankee Stadium at age 91 in 2008 to say goodbye to one of her dad’s favorite places where he hit many of his 714 career home runs.

Accompanied by her son and two grandchildren, Stevens got a warm reception from the crowd before New York’s 6-0 loss to Cincinnati.

A New York sports writer dubbed the Bronx stadium “The House That Ruth Built,” and the Yankees retired Ruth’s No. 3 during their 25th anniversary celebration of Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948, the great slugger’s final visit to the ballpark.

As Ruth’s daughter, Stevens’ family said, “she had many amazing experiences, which she was pleased to share with eager reporters and fans alike. Until the very end, she was very proud to call him ‘Daddy’ and she particularly loved recalling events from 1934 when she went on a ‘round the world’ tour with her parents” to Japan with a major-league all-star team.

She is survived by her son, two grandchildren and four great grandchildren, according to the family’s Facebook post.
…

Europe’s largest Mormon temple will be dedicated over three days starting Sunday. Russell Nelson, president of the world’s 16 million Mormons, will be in Rome for the dedication ceremonies. No expense has been spared on Italy’s first temple, a magnificence, Mormons say, that is justified by faith.

The entire leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church, has for the first time gathered outside of the United States for a very special occasion, the dedication of its temple in the eternal city. For the more than 25,000 Italian Mormons and the many others who will travel to Rome, this temple has special significance, as Italy’s representative of the Mormons, Alessandro Dini-Ciacci explains.

“Rome is the center of Christianity. Here’s where the apostles Peter and Paul, the early apostles of the Church of Christ came to preach and bear their testimony. We are followers of Jesus Christ. We love the Savior,” says Dini-Ciacci. “The temple we just built as a statement of our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world in our belief that life goes on after we die and that families can be together. That is the focus of our temples. The ordinances that bind families together.”

The Mormons have 162 temples in different parts of the world and 40 more have already been announced for a church growing in numbers. No expense was spared for Rome’s towering white “house of the Lord.”

“The temple was built with the finest materials, is very refined, as our offering of love. Our show of love for the Savior and his father. That’s why we choose the best materials possible,” said Dini-Ciacci. “There’s Carrara marbles, stained glass, fine fabrics. It is all a tribute to our heavenly father.”

Elder Dini-Ciacci said it took a decade to build the 3,800 square meter temple.

He would not give a figure for how much the temple cost but simply said “it’s a cost of faith.” One of the 10 commandments of the Mormons, he added, is to keep the law of tithing which allows the church to pay for temples and all operations. He said the money spent on temples is far less than what the Church spends on humanitarian aid.

Members of the Church abide by rules which include chastity outside of marriage.

“We keep the Ten Commandments. We ask people to treat their bodies as temples. So we ask them not to pollute them with drugs or alcoholic beverages. We ask them not to smoke. That is what we believe was revealed to one of our prophets for the benefit of all out members,” said Dini-Ciacci.

The church’s leader, Prophet Russel Nelson, met with Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican. It was the first time a head of the Church of Latter Day Saints met with a pope. While the two churches differ in doctrine, they share concerns like human suffering, the importance of religious liberty and of building bridges of friendship.

 
…

Europe’s largest Mormon temple will be dedicated over three days starting Sunday. Russell Nelson, president of the world’s 16 million Mormons, will be in Rome for the dedication ceremonies. No expense has been spared on Italy’s first temple, a magnificence, Mormons say, that is justified by faith.

The entire leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church, has for the first time gathered outside of the United States for a very special occasion, the dedication of its temple in the eternal city. For the more than 25,000 Italian Mormons and the many others who will travel to Rome, this temple has special significance, as Italy’s representative of the Mormons, Alessandro Dini-Ciacci explains.

“Rome is the center of Christianity. Here’s where the apostles Peter and Paul, the early apostles of the Church of Christ came to preach and bear their testimony. We are followers of Jesus Christ. We love the Savior,” says Dini-Ciacci. “The temple we just built as a statement of our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world in our belief that life goes on after we die and that families can be together. That is the focus of our temples. The ordinances that bind families together.”

The Mormons have 162 temples in different parts of the world and 40 more have already been announced for a church growing in numbers. No expense was spared for Rome’s towering white “house of the Lord.”

“The temple was built with the finest materials, is very refined, as our offering of love. Our show of love for the Savior and his father. That’s why we choose the best materials possible,” said Dini-Ciacci. “There’s Carrara marbles, stained glass, fine fabrics. It is all a tribute to our heavenly father.”

Elder Dini-Ciacci said it took a decade to build the 3,800 square meter temple.

He would not give a figure for how much the temple cost but simply said “it’s a cost of faith.” One of the 10 commandments of the Mormons, he added, is to keep the law of tithing which allows the church to pay for temples and all operations. He said the money spent on temples is far less than what the Church spends on humanitarian aid.

Members of the Church abide by rules which include chastity outside of marriage.

“We keep the Ten Commandments. We ask people to treat their bodies as temples. So we ask them not to pollute them with drugs or alcoholic beverages. We ask them not to smoke. That is what we believe was revealed to one of our prophets for the benefit of all out members,” said Dini-Ciacci.

The church’s leader, Prophet Russel Nelson, met with Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican. It was the first time a head of the Church of Latter Day Saints met with a pope. While the two churches differ in doctrine, they share concerns like human suffering, the importance of religious liberty and of building bridges of friendship.

 
…

Wedding invitations, posters, greeting or business cards — Alessandra Echeverri, owner of Typecase Industries, does all things paper, and she uses only antique press machines. Iuliia Iarmolenko went to Echeverri’s design and print studio in Washington to how it all works.
…

Wedding invitations, posters, greeting or business cards — Alessandra Echeverri, owner of Typecase Industries, does all things paper, and she uses only antique press machines. Iuliia Iarmolenko went to Echeverri’s design and print studio in Washington to how it all works.
…

A Frenchman continues to lead this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Nicolas Petit was the first musher Saturday to leave the checkpoint at Eagle Island, about 592 miles (953 kilometers) into the 1,000 mile (1609 kilometer) race across the Alaska wilderness to Nome.

Petit, who was last year’s runner-up, now lives in Girdwood, Alaska, a town known more for downhill skiing than mushing. Girdwood is about 40 miles south of Anchorage.

He left about five hours of ahead of the defending champion, Norwegian Joar Ulsom, and Alaskan Pete Kaiser. Seven other mushers also have left Eagle Island.

Every musher must take an eight-hour break at a checkpoint somewhere along the Yukon River. Among the top three, Petit and Ulsom have taken that mandatory rest, but Kaiser has not.
…

A Frenchman continues to lead this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Nicolas Petit was the first musher Saturday to leave the checkpoint at Eagle Island, about 592 miles (953 kilometers) into the 1,000 mile (1609 kilometer) race across the Alaska wilderness to Nome.

Petit, who was last year’s runner-up, now lives in Girdwood, Alaska, a town known more for downhill skiing than mushing. Girdwood is about 40 miles south of Anchorage.

He left about five hours of ahead of the defending champion, Norwegian Joar Ulsom, and Alaskan Pete Kaiser. Seven other mushers also have left Eagle Island.

Every musher must take an eight-hour break at a checkpoint somewhere along the Yukon River. Among the top three, Petit and Ulsom have taken that mandatory rest, but Kaiser has not.
…

R. Kelly walked out of a Chicago jail on Saturday after someone who officials said did not want to be publicly identified paid $161,633 that the R&B singer owed in back child support.  

Kelly, who was ordered taken into custody on Wednesday by a judge after Kelly said he didn’t have the entire amount he owed, briefly spoke with reporters, telling them: I promise you, we're going to straighten all this stuff out.'' He said that was all he could say — in stark contrast to a nationally televised broadcast that aired earlier in the week in which he cried and ranted about beingassassinated” by allegations of sexual abuse that led to criminal charges last month.  

Cara Smith., the chief policy officer for the Cook County sheriff’s office, which runs the jail, said a person who wished to remain anonymous handed a check on Saturday morning to the county clerk’s office for the full amount of Kelly’s back child support. A bond slip on which people putting up money to secure an inmate’s release write their names and relationship to the inmate was left blank, Smith said.  

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, said he could not discuss the child support payment because of a judge’s gag order in that case. 

As is done with other high-profile inmates, Kelly, 52, was held in a solo cell under round-the-clock observation. 

Second incarceration

It was his second trip to jail in a matter of weeks and the second time a person had stepped up with money to get Kelly out of jail.  

Last month, after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse pertaining to three girls and a woman, he was taken to the same jail. Kelly, whose attorney said at the time that the singer’s finances were in disarray, then spent a weekend in jail before a 47-year-old suburban Chicago business owner posted his $100,000 bail.  

His attorney and publicist told a similar story this week before and after the hearing in which the judge ordered Kelly into custody, with the publicist telling reporters that Kelly was prepared to pay $50,000 to $60,000 on Wednesday but was not able to pay the entire amount.  

Kelly has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges. He has also very publicly proclaimed his innocence, telling Gayle King in an interview that aired Wednesday on CBS This Morning that all his accusers were lying about him. He also talked about his finances, saying that people had stolen money from his bank accounts, though he offered no details. 

Greenberg told reporters on Saturday that Kelly’s attorneys “haven’t seen one piece of evidence.”  

“When we get those things, we’re going to fight this case like we fight any other case — in the courtroom, based on the evidence,” he said.
…

R. Kelly walked out of a Chicago jail on Saturday after someone who officials said did not want to be publicly identified paid $161,633 that the R&B singer owed in back child support.  

Kelly, who was ordered taken into custody on Wednesday by a judge after Kelly said he didn’t have the entire amount he owed, briefly spoke with reporters, telling them: I promise you, we're going to straighten all this stuff out.'' He said that was all he could say — in stark contrast to a nationally televised broadcast that aired earlier in the week in which he cried and ranted about beingassassinated” by allegations of sexual abuse that led to criminal charges last month.  

Cara Smith., the chief policy officer for the Cook County sheriff’s office, which runs the jail, said a person who wished to remain anonymous handed a check on Saturday morning to the county clerk’s office for the full amount of Kelly’s back child support. A bond slip on which people putting up money to secure an inmate’s release write their names and relationship to the inmate was left blank, Smith said.  

Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, said he could not discuss the child support payment because of a judge’s gag order in that case. 

As is done with other high-profile inmates, Kelly, 52, was held in a solo cell under round-the-clock observation. 

Second incarceration

It was his second trip to jail in a matter of weeks and the second time a person had stepped up with money to get Kelly out of jail.  

Last month, after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse pertaining to three girls and a woman, he was taken to the same jail. Kelly, whose attorney said at the time that the singer’s finances were in disarray, then spent a weekend in jail before a 47-year-old suburban Chicago business owner posted his $100,000 bail.  

His attorney and publicist told a similar story this week before and after the hearing in which the judge ordered Kelly into custody, with the publicist telling reporters that Kelly was prepared to pay $50,000 to $60,000 on Wednesday but was not able to pay the entire amount.  

Kelly has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges. He has also very publicly proclaimed his innocence, telling Gayle King in an interview that aired Wednesday on CBS This Morning that all his accusers were lying about him. He also talked about his finances, saying that people had stolen money from his bank accounts, though he offered no details. 

Greenberg told reporters on Saturday that Kelly’s attorneys “haven’t seen one piece of evidence.”  

“When we get those things, we’re going to fight this case like we fight any other case — in the courtroom, based on the evidence,” he said.
…

The NCAA was able to claim victory Friday night after a judge ruled against the governing body for college sports in a federal antitrust lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California, said college football and men’s basketball players competing at the NCAA’s highest level should be permitted to receive compensation from schools beyond the current athletic scholarship, but only if the benefits are tied to education.

The NCAA cannot “limit compensation or benefits related to education,” Wilken wrote. That opens the door to athletes receiving more scholarship money to pursue postgraduate degrees, finish undergraduate degrees or study abroad. The NCAA could not, under injunction, limit schools if they choose to provide athletes items that could be considered school supplies such as computers, science equipment or, musical instruments.

“Technically the plaintiffs won the case and the NCAA will not be happy that they were found to be in violation of antitrust law, but ultimately this allows the NCAA to keep the bulk of their amateurism rules in place,” said Gabe Feldman director of the Tulane University sports law program.

Alston cases seeking more

The plaintiffs in the so-called Alston cases were seeking much more.

Plaintiffs had asked the judge to lift all NCAA caps on compensation and strike down all rules prohibiting schools from giving athletes in high-profile, revenue-generating sports more financial incentives for playing sports. The goal was to create a free market, where conferences set rules for compensating athletes, but this ruling still allows the NCAA to prohibit cash compensation untethered to education-related expenses.

The claim against the NCAA and the 11 conferences that have participated in the Football Bowl Subdivision was originally brought by former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston. It was later merged with similar lawsuits, including a notable case brought by former Clemson football player Martin Jenkins.

Plaintiffs argued the NCAA illegally restricts schools from compensating football and men’s and women’s basketball players beyond what is traditionally covered by a scholarship. That includes tuition, room and board and books, plus a cost of attendance stipend to cover incidentals such as travel.

Plaintiffs touted the ruling as “monumental.”

“We have proven to the court that the NCAA’s weak justifications for this unfair system are based on a self-serving mythology that does not match the facts,” said Steve Berman, the Seattle-based lead attorney for the plaintiffs. “Today’s ruling will change college sports as we know it, forever.”

Feldman, though, said: “The remedy is relatively narrow and this is certainly not the sea change that the plaintiffs were looking for in college sports.”

Pay for play

The NCAA argued altering amateurism rules would lead to pay-for-play, fundamentally damaging college sports and harming academic integration of athletes.

“The court’s decision recognizes that college sports should be played by student-athletes, not by paid professionals,” NCAA chief legal counsel Donald Remy said in a statement. “The decision acknowledges that the popularity of college sports stems in part from the fact that these athletes are indeed students, who must not be paid unlimited cash sums unrelated to education. NCAA rules actively provide a pathway for tens of thousands of student-athletes each year to receive a college education debt-free.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has already said it expects to take the case after Wilken’s ruling. It is possible the ruling will be stayed until the 9th Circuit rules. The case might not stop there, and could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

Wilken is the same judge who ruled on the so-called O’Bannon case, which challenged the NCAA’s right to use athletes’ names, images and likenesses without compensation. The case also produced a mixed ruling that eventually went to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Wilken ruled schools should be permitted, but not required, to compensate athletes for use of their name, image and likeness, with payments capped at $5,000 per year. The appeals court overturned that and said payments “untethered” to education were not required by schools.”

Wilken also ruled the NCAA was required to allow schools to factor in their federally determined cost of attendance into the value of an athletic scholarship. That is now common practice in major college sports, though schools were already moving toward NCAA legislation allowing for cost of attendance when Wilken made her ruling.

The plaintiffs argued in the Alston case that implementation of cost-of-attendance stipends prove paying athletes even more would not hurt college sports.
…