Hurricane Beryl crashes ashore, wreaking havoc and unleashing wrath across the US
Hurricane Beryl roared ashore in Texas early Monday morning, making landfall around Matagorda at 3:50 a.m. CT Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, pounding the region with torrential rains, flooding storm surges, and powerful gusts topping 70-90 mph that have knocked out power to nearly a million people in East Texas.
HOUSTON BERYL TRACKER: LIVE FORECAST MAPS, TROPICAL WEATHER ALERTS, RAIN, WIND, PROJECTIONS AND MORE
“Life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall is ongoing across portions of Texas,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in their 5 a.m. CT update. “Damaging winds ongoing along the coast, with strong winds moving inland.”
Beryl’s peak sustained winds were holding steady at 80 mph as the storm swirled about 55 miles southwest of Houston, as of the 6 a.m. CT update.
The cyclone’s powerful hurricane-force winds are leading to skyrocketing power outages. Nearly 1 million electrical customers in Texas have already lost power, according to Centerpoint Energy’s outage page.
Gusts have hit 91 mph in Freeport, 86 mph in Matagorda City, 81 mph in Palacios and at an elevated station in Houston, 78 mph in Galveston, and 60 mph at Houston Intercontinental Airport.
Hurricane Beryl Top Wind Reports
Numerous Hurricane Warnings, Storm Surge Warnings and Tropical Storm Warnings were posted ahead of the storm’s arrival and are still in effect for the Texas Gulf Coast. A threat of tornadoes also prompted a Tornado Watch for the region.
WATCH: BERYL’S HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS CAUSE WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES, FLASH FLOODING IN TEXAS
Storm surge is forecast to reach 3-7 feet in some spots near Beryl, and water was already pushing into the Texas coast and bays along Beryl’s approach. Measurements have reached 3.2 feet in Sargent and 2.6 feet in Matagorda Bay as of 2:30 a.m. CT. Some of those gauges have since ceased reporting, possibly due to power outages.
“That (storm) surge is just pouring into Treasure Island,” said FOX Weather Storm Tracker Mark Sudduth. “You could literally see it pouring in like a raging river right now.”
(FOX Weather)
The ferocious gusts are blasting torrential rainfall falling at rates of 2-4 inches an hour.
“It feels like the entire backs of my legs are on fire because it stings,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said as she reported live from Surfside Beach, Texas early Monday morning. “The raindrops almost turn into a needle head. Almost like, as if you were getting a tattoo. Like, it’s that kind of feel of that persistent needle pressure against your skin.”
The National Weather Service in Houston reports flash flooding is ongoing in parts of the Houston Metro area as 3-6 inches of rain have already fallen as of early Monday morning with at least another 2-4 additional inches possible. Flash Flood Warnings cover millions around the Houston and Galveston metro areas.
Forecast for Beryl
Hurricane-force winds over 74 mph are likely to continue near the storm’s center – which is forecast to pass near the Houston metro area later Monday morning – with tropical storm-force gusts of 40 mph or more stretching 115 miles out from Beryl’s center.
(FOX Weather)
Gusts could reach 60-70 mph in the Houston Metro area Monday morning as Beryl’s powerful storm center passes just to the west of the metro area Monday morning.
Peak wind gusts expected with Hurricane Beryl.
(FOX Weather)
Houston’s METRO has suspended all local buses and METRORail services until at least 8 a.m. Monday as Beryl moves through East Texas.
Much of East Texas could see 5–10 inches of rain, with localized amounts up to 15 inches by the time Beryl moves out. The Houston area is currently forecast to receive 5–8 inches of rain, with heavier amounts in the southern and western suburbs.
Gulf Coast Rain Forecast
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi, Texas, said any of the outer rain bands could also produce tropical storm-force gusts and even spin up an isolated tornado.
As Beryl continues northward, it’ll bring rain and strong winds as far north as Michigan by the end of the workweek.
Beryl’s current forecast cone shows the storm will weaken as it moves north but maintains tropical depression strength from Arkansas through Michigan throughout the week. A tropical depression is a cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less. Unlike tropical storms and hurricanes, tropical depressions are identified by numbers rather than names.
Hurricane Beryl Forecast Cone
(FOX Weather)
The Weather Prediction Center outlined an area from Arkansas through central Illinois that could see flash flooding Tuesday into Wednesday.
Beryl’s destructive past
Beryl formed on June 29 and became the season’s first hurricane. After it rapidly intensified across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean, the storm broke multiple records throughout its trek.
GOES-East view of Hurricane Beryl on Monday afternoon.
(NOAA)
Beryl made its first landfall as an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on Carriacou Island on Monday, July 1.
Just hours after pummeling the Windward Islands, Beryl continued strengthening, reaching Category 5 strength Monday evening. Beryl shattered the record for the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic basin.
Beryl continued through the Caribbean Sea, making a close pass to Jamaica on Wednesday, where Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness was forced to declare the island a disaster area. Beryl produced massive waves along the coast in Kingston as Beryl moved miles off the Jamaican coast. Storm surge sent water rushing into Kingston as Beryl passed the island.
Hurricane Beryl continued, heading straight for Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
By early Friday morning, Beryl made its second official landfall just northeast of Tulum at 6:05 a.m. ET as a strong Category 2 hurricane with peak winds estimated at 110 mph. The hurricane dropped torrential rains, and brought storm surge to some of Mexico’s popular tourist destinations.
Even though the Yucatán Peninsula weakened the blow, Beryl still managed to emerge over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico Saturday, where it continued to move northward through the weekend.
Texas was Beryl’s third and final landfall before the storm is forecast to deteriorate as it moves northward through the U.S.
Beryl has killed at least 10 people as it made its journey across the Caribbean.
Biden’s former press secretary makes admission about president’s interview fiasco
MSNBC host and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted Sunday that President Biden’s recent interview may not be enough to help her former boss.
Psaki opened her show remarking on Democratic figures beginning to call on the president to step down following his disastrous debate against former President Trump back in June. In the week following the debate, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to try and push back against the critics.
However, Psaki noted, it probably wasn’t enough to turn the tide.
“I would say it went just okay for the president,” Psaki said. “In many ways, people watching saw what they wanted to see, because for some, he looks better than he did at the debate. He did. He was more clear. He seemed much better prepared to make his case against Trump. There were also some moments — not just one — that did not go well.”
THE EYEBROW-RAISING MOMENTS FROM BIDEN’S ABC INTERVIEW: DOING THE ‘GOODEST’ JOB HE CAN
She remarked that Biden seemed “in denial” about the state of the race against Trump and did little to assure his supporters about his stamina.
“When the interview ended, it left us all in this sort of purgatory for the moment. It was better than the debate, not a home run at all. Even if it was a home run, one interview definitely doesn’t have the capacity to change the perception out there of 72% of voters, according to a CBS poll, who do not believe that Biden has the mental or cognitive health to serve. Even the White House and the campaign know that,” Psaki said.
During her monologue, Psaki also stated that the “panic” within the Democratic Party has not died down with most people unsure about the next step.
“The questions I know I’m getting from text messages from friends, from family are twofold: What’s going to happen and what is the best path forward?” Psaki said. “And I’m not going to sit here this afternoon and tell you I know the answer to either question.”
Regarding Democrats keen on replacing Biden, she warned that any alternate path would need to start soon since the Democratic National Convention and the election are fast approaching.
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“The clock is ticking. That’s just a fact,” Psaki said.
Psaki previously worked as the White House press secretary under Biden until May 2022. Shortly afterward, she was hired as an MSNBC contributor before finally hosting her own show “Inside with Jen Psaki” in 2023.
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Home Depot’s former CEO delivers a knockout blow to Biden’s economic narrative
Economic experts are sounding the alarm on the Biden administration’s “deceptively correct” June jobs report, warning Americans that the labor market is not as “bright or rosy” as Democrats want voters to think.
“I call that number, Cheryl, deceptively correct. As you pointed out, every month it gets adjusted. So the 206,000 jobs, again, Steve [Moore] is right. The second-largest employer last year was the government. And they’re back on the same track again this year. There is no GDP generated by government jobs,” former Home Depot CEO and former Chrysler Chairman Bob Nardelli said Friday, setting the record straight during an appearance on “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.”
JOBS REPORT: ONE-THIRD OF THE 206K ADDS IN JUNE WERE IN GOVERNMENT
“Inflation is like carbon monoxide. It’s the silent killer that’s creating job problems in the quality of life. It is pervasive. People are still using dynamic pricing, Steve, to your point, and we’re continuing to suffer under reckless spending. It’s causing these problems in our economy. It’s stressing the fault lines in our economy. And whoever gets in that white House next year is going to be hit with a wrecking ball to try and pull this back,” Nardelli continued.
FreedomWorks senior economist Steve Moore supported Nardelli’s eye-opening assessment, arguing that he does not “buy” the Biden administration’s characterization of the U.S.’s “hot” job market.
TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS ARE FALLING BEHIND, CAN’T MAKE ENDS MEET
“I think we’ve definitely shifted into a lower gear,” Moore warned on Friday. “I’m not saying we’re headed to a recession, but I am saying the economy is slowing down a lot, and we’re seeing that both in some of the GDP numbers and also in the employment numbers.”
“I’m not saying we’re headed for a recession, but I am saying the economy is slowing down a lot.”
Moore continued, exposing a “particular problem” within the Biden administration’s highly touted jobs report.
TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS ARE FALLING BEHIND, CAN’T MAKE ENDS MEET
“If you look over the last about 14 or 15 months, the biggest employer or the biggest source of new jobs has come from government and health care. And my goodness, we have a federal government that’s running a $2 trillion deficit. They shouldn’t be hiring workers. We should be dramatically reducing government employment,” he said.
“So we want to see more of the people… making things in the American economy getting jobs, but that just isn’t happening. So I don’t view this as [a] bright or rosy picture with the labor market right now.”
June’s job report indicated that the U.S. economy added about 206,000 jobs in June. Pictured above is a breakdown of where the new jobs are going according to sector. | Fox News
As the FOX Business show pointed to in the Friday segment, the White House recently announced they are extending overtime protection for 1 million salaried workers who make less than $43,888 a year. The target salary is up over $8,000 from the previous salary minimum, with another increase scheduled on January 1 to raise the threshold to $58,000.
Nardelli pushed back on the administration’s new policy, arguing that this is not an “appropriate way” to increase the standard of living for American families.
“This is not equitable in that if you have a lower skilled job, why are they going to get paid more than someone with higher skills? Because they’re both working a couple of hours of overtime? So again, I’m not sure this is equitable, and I’m not sure this is an appropriate way to increase the standard of living for our families today. I think there are other things we should be doing,” Nardelli said.
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“To Steve’s point, we got to pull back on this reckless spending. We got to get inflation under control.”
Radio host who dropped bombshell about Biden interview is now out of a job
WURD, a Philadelphia-based Black-owned radio station, has parted ways with its host after she revealed that the White House provided her with a list of pre-determined questions prior to her interview with President Biden last week.
Andrea Lawful-Sanders admitted during a CNN interview Saturday that that Biden’s team sent her eight questions to ask ahead of his interview on “The Source” last Wednesday. Lawful-Sanders said she “approved” four of the questions and used them during her sit-down with the president, which marked his first interview following his disastrous debate performance last month.
The questions centered around Biden’s accomplishments, debate performance, progress in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, what’s at stake in the election, and what he would say to voters who are considering not voting in the presidential election.
FLASHBACK: BIDEN HAS A HISTORY OF COORDINATING ‘SCRIPTED’ INTERVIEWS, PRESS CONFERENCES WITH MEDIA AHEAD OF TIME
On Sunday, WURD’s president and CEO, Sara M. Lomax, announced that Lawful-Sanders and WURD have “mutually agreed to part ways,” emphasizing that “WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other admin.”
“On July 3, the first post-debate interview with President Joe Biden was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management,” Lomax said in a statement on Sunday.
“The interview featured pre-determined questions provided by the White House, which violates our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners. As a result, Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately,” she added.
Lomax said WURD has remained an independent voice in radio and that agreeing to a pre-approved list of questions “jeopardizes” the trust its audience has placed in them for 20 years to “hold elected officials accountable.”
“This is something we take very seriously,” her statement reads.
“This practice of de-legitimizing Black voices continues today. WURD Radio is not a mouthpiece for the Biden or any other Administration. Internally, we will commit to reviewing our policies, procedures, and practices to reinforce WURD’s independence and trust with our listeners. But mainstream media should do its own introspection to explore how they have lost the trust of so many Americans, Black Americans chief among them.”
SECOND LOCAL RADIO HOST ADMITS TO GETTING QUESTIONS FROM BIDEN TEAM AHEAD OF INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT
Lawful-Sanders’ show page has been removed from WURD’s website as of Sunday afternoon.
Her departure comes shortly after a second local radio host who interviewed Biden in the days following the presidential debate admitted that he received the questions beforehand. In statements given to ABC News, Wisconsin radio station host Earl Ingram confirmed that he was given five questions to ask Biden during their recent chat and wasn’t able to get through all of them before the interview ended.
CNN’s Blackwell told Lawful-Sanders that he listened to both interviews and said the questions were “essentially the same” in both. Both radio show appearances were branded as an opportunity for Biden to prove to voters that he is capable of answering pointed questions and defending his record after his debate performance raised serious concerns about his mental competency and has resulted in mounting calls for him to drop out of the race.
Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt defended the practice of sending questions prior to interviews in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” she said. “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”
Lawful-Sanders did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The president of the National Education Association (NEA) was mocked over the weekend for giving a “totally unhinged” speech that reminded critics of a comedy skit from a famous American TV show.
NEA President Becky Pringle banged on the podium, flailed her hands in the air and screamed about winning “all the things” repeatedly at the NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA) in Philadelphia. X critics compared the moment to an iconic scene with Dwight Schrute from “The Office.”
During the screechy speech, Pringle called for transformative social justice change in the education system in the pursuit of equity.
NEA TEACHERS UNION SPENDING $140K FOR ‘ENEMIES LIST’ OPPOSITION RESEARCH OF GROUPS TURNING UP HEAT ON SCHOOLS
“To unite not just our members, but the nation to reclaim public education as a common good, as the foundation of our democracy, and then transform it into something it was never designed to be—a racially and socially just and equitable system,” Pringle said. “We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House, but the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate.”
“We are the ones who help shape the heart of this nation’s hope and dreams. We are the ones who hold steadfast to the belief in the plausibility of the possible. We are the heirs of all who did this work before us. We must keep going. NEA Delegates, we can do this work. We must do this work,” she added.
“Our students are depending on us to win all the things,” Pringle said, while continuing her screechy pitch. “All the things! All the things! All the things.”
Critics, such as school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis called her speech “off-the-rails” and compared it to a scene from “The Office.”
“These power-hungry control freaks think they own your kids. They’re in a cult that worships government and detests parents. It’s time to defund teachers unions and allow the money to follow the child,” Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital. “Becky Pringle pulled a Dwight Schrute. She is off-the-rails and desperate to maintain control over the minds of other people’s children.”
NEA SOCIAL JUSTICE TRAINER ADMITS CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN K-12 DESPITE CLAIMS BY UNION BOSS BECKY PRINGLE
The creators of Dwight’s speech based his over-the-top performance upon real speeches by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
“Blood alone moves the wheels of history!” Schrute said in the episode. “It has been a lifetime struggle. A never-ending fight. I say to you, and you will understand that it is a privilege to fight! We are warriors!… Rise and be worthy of this historical hour! No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself! …We must never acquiesce, for it is together, TOGETHER, THAT WE PREVAIL!
Critics said Pringle’s speech carried similar screechy riffs and mannerisms. Pringle proposed transforming the education system with social justice.
“Her overwrought, hyper-partisan tirade amounted to an advertisement for school choice,” said Heritage Foundation research fellow, Jason Bedrick, in a statement to Fox News Digital.
MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS’ UNION BEGS FOR CASH AFTER BEING FORCED TO HANDOVER $300K FOR ILLEGAL STRIKE
“During her speech, Pringle claimed the NEA would ‘continue to embrace the profound trust that has been placed in’ them. Apparently, she hasn’t seen the polls showing record-low public trust in public schools,” he added. “Even Pringle’s over-the-top, Dwight Schrute-like theatrics can’t distract from her union’s role in the dismal state of education in this country, from keeping schools closed for far too long during COVID, to shielding bad teachers from accountability–all at the expense of students’ learning.”
Political consultant, Matt Dole, reached a similar conclusion, believing the fictitious Schrute was Pringle’s “speech coach.”
It wasn’t the first time critics drew the comparison.
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During last year’s RA speech, the National Review’s Jack Crowe said, “Pringle believes she’s a revolutionary; that is the only conclusion to be drawn from the truly unhinged speech she delivered.”
“Channeling Dwight Schrute, Pringle urges her colleagues, not to raise the nation’s embarrassing reading and math scores, no, but to ‘fight for freedom,’ the National Review added.
Fox News Digital contacted the NEA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Outrage grows as families condemn Boeing’s ‘sweetheart deal’ following deadly crashes
Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge to avoid a criminal trial in connection with a Justice Department investigation into two deadly crashes involving 737 MAX jetliners, FOX Business can confirm.
The criminal case relates to two 737 MAX jetliner crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 in which 346 people were killed, leading to demands from the victims’ families for Boeing to face prosecution.
“We can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the Justice Department, subject to the memorialization and approval of specific terms,” a spokesperson for Boeing told FOX Business.
The plea deal still requires a federal judge’s approval, but would label the plane manufacturer a convicted felon if accepted. As part of the plea, Boeing will also pay a criminal fine of $243.6 million, a DOJ official told Reuters.
BOEING AGREES TO BUY SPIRIT AEROSYSTEMS FOR $4.7B AS MANUFACTURER ADDRESSES SAFETY CONCERNS
That fine is on top of the $243.6 million Boeing paid after the DOJ said it breached a 2021 settlement by not complying with certain conditions agreed upon during the settlement.
The deal only covers the company, not any current or former Boeing officials, the DOJ told Reuters, adding that charges against any person are unlikely because of the statute of limitations.
FOX Business has reached out to the Justice Department for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 184.83 | +0.52 | +0.28% |
Federal prosecutors had offered Boeing the option of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine or going to trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration over a software feature linked to the fatal crashes.
A lawyer for some of the families criticized the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal” and said they plan to oppose the deal in court, according to Reuters.
US PROSECUTORS RECOMMEND CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST BOEING FOR VIOLATING SETTLEMENT: REPORT
This comes after Boeing agreed last week to purchase Spirit AeroSystems to shore up safety concerns.
Boeing has also agreed to invest at least $455 million over the next three years to bolster its safety and compliance programs. The DOJ will appoint a third party to oversee Boeing’s compliance.
The Justice Department’s decision to charge Boeing came months after a separate incident on Jan. 5 in which a door plug blew out in mid-air on an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California.
That flight, which involved Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 jetliner, was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland shortly after takeoff and ultimately exposed ongoing safety and quality issues by the planemaker.
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The Alaska Airlines flight happened just two days before the expiration of the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that had protected Boeing from prosecution over the deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
The plea agreement only covers Boeing’s conduct before the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 and does not protect the company from any other potential charges.
Taxpayers could soon be funding paychecks for those who become pregnant
Some teachers in Baltimore, Maryland, are calling on the city’s voters to approve a ballot measure in November, dubbed the “baby bonus,” that would provide new parents with $1,000 in an effort to reduce childhood poverty beginning at birth.
Supporters of the initiative secured the 10,000 signatures needed for it to make it on the ballot following a recent campaign that featured extensive canvassing efforts and a logo of a flying cartoon stork with a bag of money in its beak, according to The Associated Press.
The measure is modeled after a first-in-the-nation program in Flint, Michigan, that began earlier this year in which women receive $1,500 during mid-pregnancy and $500 per month for the first year after giving birth.
Organizers behind the Baltimore campaign argue that more systemic change is needed at the national level to help families out of poverty and suggest that offering a “baby bonus” could be an important step in the right direction.
CALIFORNIA TO ADD PERSONAL FINANCE COURSE AS REQUIREMENT TO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL
High school math teacher Nate Golden, president of the Maryland Child Alliance, which is advocating for the ballot initiative, said the measure could have a “lifelong impact on a kid.”
“If we’re going to spend a limited amount of money, where do you get the most bang for your buck? Research says at birth,” Golden told The Associated Press.
Golden said he hopes the program will show lawmakers in Baltimore and elsewhere that voters want policies that can help children in poverty succeed.
In Baltimore, an estimated 31% of school-aged children are in poverty, census data shows. Across the U.S., childhood poverty dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic due to federal relief programs before climbing seven percentage points back to about 12% in 2022.
Studies show that most children in the U.S. born into poverty will remain at roughly the same socioeconomic status for the remainder of their lives, according to The AP, which Golden said he sees in his classes each year.
“When you see what they’re going through outside school, I’m still going to demand their best in the classroom, but it’s just not enough,” he said. “We have to take care of these underlying needs before we can get kids to focus on learning.”
An estimated 7,000 children are born in Baltimore each year, meaning the program would cost about $7 million each year, or roughly 0.16% of the city’s annual operating budget, the initiative’s supporters said via The AP.
If approved, the measure will not lead to higher taxes, but Baltimore’s City Council must determine how to allocate the funds.
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The largest federal program that attempts to combat childhood poverty is the child tax credit that was expanded temporarily during the pandemic. Supporters of the Baltimore measure claim it leaves out some families because of needed paperwork and qualification requirements.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, campaigned on a promise to help the state’s youngest and most vulnerable residents. He signed legislation earlier this year that will offer grant funding for community organizations in areas with high concentrations of child poverty.
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Baltimore also launched a two-year pilot program in 2022 that offers guaranteed $1,000 per month income assistance payments to a group of young parents using federal pandemic-relief funds.
LeBron’s son hit with terrible news following nightmare debut
After struggling in his Summer League debut, Los Angeles Lakers second-round pick Bronny James didn’t suit up for the team’s next game due to knee swelling.
Lakers reporter Mike Trudell posted on X that James is dealing with “trace swelling” in his left knee, and he was held out of the back-to-back against the Golden State Warriors for precautionary reasons.
Lakers fans shouldn’t wait long to see James back on the court, though, as he’s expected to play in Wednesday’s final California Classic Game against the Miami Heat.
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James, who the Lakers took with the No. 55 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, got the start in his first professional action on Saturday night. However, he didn’t have the greatest performance in the 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
James shot just 2 of 9 for four points with two rebounds and two assists over 22 minutes on the court. He missed all three of his three-point shots, and he couldn’t hit either of his two free throws.
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On the defensive end, James collected his first steal of the Summer League, though he posted a minus-15 when he was on the floor.
Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round pick out of Tennessee, also struggled for Los Angeles. He shot 3 of 12 but went 5 of 9 from the charity stripe for 12 total points over 26 minutes.
The Lakers’ top performer came off the bench as forward Blake Hinson had 17 points after draining 5 of 7 of his 3-pointers and hitting his two free throws.
This is just one game for the young James, son of superstar LeBron James, who is in Las Vegas preparing for the Paris Olympics with his Team USA squad.
James noted during his introductory press conference that he didn’t get “that much of an opportunity” to “showcase what I can really do” during his freshman season at USC. He averaged less than five points per game after getting a late start to his college career due to a cardiac arrest he suffered while working out with the team in July.
James had surgery to repair a congenital heart defect.
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Now, James looks to silence the naysayers and doubters who didn’t believe he should’ve been drafted this year. These games are all about development, and according to ESPN, James should be spending most of the year in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.
Surfer recalls ‘black silhouette’ before great white attack, then ‘crunching’
A California man shared his dramatic brush with death and a word of advice to surfers after he was attacked by a great white shark in 2022 – and lived to tell the tale.
Michael “Jared” Trainor told Fox News Digital he was driving out to a rugged beach in Ferndale, California, when it “occurred” to him that it was the middle of Sharktober, the span of September through December when sharks are more present along the coastline.
“It’s crazy to me that this was a couple of years ago already, but it was midday and I had been surfing this area for some time, and it’s pretty rugged and remote,” he recalled.
“And I had a little bit of unease just from thinking about the shark presence in the area,” Trainor added. “And I paddled out, and it was just an ominous day.”
HAWAII TOURIST BITTEN BY SHARK WHILE SWIMMING, FOUND ‘BLEEDING PROFUSELY’
Trainor said he noticed a group of seals, which was “pretty regular,” as he paddled out to catch the next set of waves.
“I did have this weird and uncomfortable feeling,” he said.
“As I went onto the board and started paddling, almost instantly, I was hit,” he said. “It appeared that it [the shark] came up and pushed my left leg up into the air and latch onto my right leg and board.”
“I was lucky that the board was pinned beneath the lower jaw,” he said.
Trainor, who is now 33, said that prior to being bitten he saw a “large black silhouette” when he was submerged under the water.
“The last thing I remember was looking back at the beach and seeing where my dogs were and, when I came to, I opened my eyes underwater, and I could see the surface of the water, and I could just see this large black silhouette.”
SHARK BITES TEENAGER’S LEG IN ATTACK AT NORTH CAROLINA BEACH
He said his first thought was that he had been attacked by an aggressive sea lion.
“I could just see this large black silhouette.”
Trainor said he “only felt a sensation on my knee.”
“It felt like a dog was trying to get into my wetsuit,” he said. “And I managed to give it a few firm kicks.”
“I felt the crunching and I did see stars emanating off the silhouette,” he said.
After kicking the shark, later identified as a great white, the predator released him from its grasp.
After the shark disappeared, Trainor said he used his board to slowly travel back to shore.
“At that time, I wasn’t sure that my wetsuit had even been damaged, it kind of had felt like a large creature just came and jumped on on my leg and pulled me down,” he said. “I had no idea that I was lacerated to the extent that I was.”
Trainor said no one was at the beach, but thankfully, there was a fellow surfer in the parking lot who observed the attack and ran toward the shore.
“I could see him running toward me, and I knew whatever had just happened to me was fairly serious,” he said. “And as I stood on my feet when I got to the sand, I noticed my whole leg was just basically flayed open, and I was shocked that I was still able to walk.”
“I was bleeding a lot, but it was not painful at the time,” he said.
SERIES OF FLORIDA SHARK ATTACKS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ORCAS, MARINE BIOLOGIST SAYS: REPORT
Trainor said the good Samaritan who met him on the beach grabbed his dog’s leash and tied it to his upper thigh to act like a tourniquet until first responders arrived to rush him to Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, California.
Trainor said he asked the EMTs if it was a seal attack, and they pointed to his surfboard, which had a large shark bite mark in it.
“I was almost in tears because I was just so beside myself that I had just experienced my worst fear and kind of thought that it was a sea lion,” he said.
Trainor’s injuries included six lacerations across his inner thigh, a tear in his MCL on his knee, and some bone penetration.
Following his surgery, Trainor began the journey of physical therapy and eventually picked up a surfboard once again.
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“Physical therapy was a hurdle that I had to go through, but I ended up doing well in physical therapy, and I ended up getting into the water to surf about two months after that,” he said.
“It was important to me to kind of overcome whatever sort of PTSD that I was experiencing from the attack,” he said.
The surf lover now hits the waves with a group of friends.
Istill surf that same beach pretty frequently, but now there’s a group of guys, and we all communicate with each other when we’re going so that we can have a buddy in the water with us,” Trainor said.
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Trainor said he is “grateful” to be alive and for the progress he has made since the attack.
“People have died from this thing, and I was pretty close to losing my own life,” he said. “I feel really grateful that I was able to bounce back from it.”