Daily Archives: January 19, 2025

Djokovic books Alcaraz clash, wants apology from Australian Open broadcaster

MELBOURNE :Novak Djokovic charged into the Australian Open quarter-finals and booked a mouth-watering encounter with Carlos Alcaraz before the Serb shifted the focus by snubbing the Grand Slam’s official broadcaster and slamming them for mocking him and his fans.Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka dismissed teenager Mirra Andreeva while Coco Gauff overcame Belinda Bencic to go through to the last eight and extend their winning streaks as Melbourne Park stifled in the summer heat earlier in the day.A red-hot Djokovic then thumped Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) to stay on course for a record 25th Grand Slam title and 11th in Melbourne but the Serb was in no mood to discuss his chances as he declined an on-court interview and curtly thanked the crowd.He then took aim at official broadcaster Channel Nine, whose reporter Tony Jones had mocked him and his fans when they were out in force cheering the Serb two days earlier.”Novak he’s over-rated, Novak’s a has-been. Novak kick him out. Oh, I’m glad they can’t hear me,” Jones had said.Jones had already been taken to task by American Danielle Collins, who he called a “brat” for her on-court behaviour.Djokovic said he had not received a public apology from the broadcaster and would continue boycotting them until he does.”Since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine,” Djokovic told reporters, adding he had made his feelings clear to tournament director Craig Tiley.”I told him, ‘If you guys want to fine me for not giving an on-court interview, that’s okay’. I’ll accept that, because this is something that needs to be done. That’s all there is to it.”In a comment to news.com.au, Jones said: “It was good natured banter with the Serbian fans. We’ve been doing it all tournament and it’s all in good fun. This is the happy Slam.”Reuters has contacted Channel Nine for comment.Second seed Alexander Zverev continued his sizzling form by beating Ugo Humbert 6-1 2-6 6-3 6-2 before Alcaraz eased into his second Australian Open quarter-final after injury-hampered opponent Jack Draper threw in the towel while trailing 7-5 6-1.Djokovic said of Alcaraz: “He’s a very dynamic, explosive player. Incredibly talented. Charismatic player. Great to watch, not great to play against. “I look forward to it. I think when the draw was out, a lot of people were looking forward to (it). So here we are.”CONSECUTIVE VICTORIESDouble defending champion Sabalenka’s 6-1 6-2 demolition of Andreeva took her run of consecutive victories at Melbourne Park to 18, while Gauff made it nine wins in a row in 2025 by seeing off Bencic, the Swiss scourge of major champions, 5-7 6-2 6-1.Tommy Paul was the first man to book his place in the last eight with a 6-1 6-1 6-1 win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who appeared beaten up after back-to-back five-setters in the last two rounds.Sabalenka was taken the distance and defeated by 17-year-old Andreeva in the French Open quarter-finals last year but it was not even close on Sunday as the world number one wrapped up the victory in 62 minutes.”I’m super happy to get this win,” Sabalenka said. “Mirra is so young, so mature, such a great player. She can play really great tennis.”Sabalenka faces Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who ran away with a 7-6(0) 6-0 win over Donna Vekic after the Croatian 18th seed injured her knee midway through the match.Third seed Gauff lost her first set of the year to open her clash with Bencic, who had won seven of her last eight meetings with major champions.The 27-year-old Swiss, ranked a lowly 294th on her return to the tour after having a daughter, was put on the back foot when the 2023 U.S. Open champion came out firing in the second set.Gauff, a semi-finalist last year, continued to apply pressure and Bencic crumbled after two net cords conspired against her at 2-1 down in the third.The American could face Sabalenka in the semi-finals like last year if she can beat Spain’s 11th seed Paula Badosa, who made the quarter-finals for the first time in Melbourne by beating Olga Danilovic 6-1 7-6(2) on Margaret Court Arena.Badosa had to rally from 5-2 down in the second to get past the Serbian and reach her second straight major quarter-final.”It wasn’t like a real 5-2 because I was playing well,” said the 27-year-old.Badosa added that she was looking forward to taking on Gauff after losing to the American in Beijing and Rome last year.”I love Coco,” she said. “We always have tough matches. The last one was really tough … I hope I can have my revenge.”

Nashville-area school district votes to remove children’s transgender book after fiery board meeting

Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.
Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here.A Nashville-area school district voted this week to remove a transgender book for children from its school libraries after questions were raised about the book’s content at last month’s board meeting.During the public comment section at the December 10 Murfreesboro City School Board meeting, pastor and activist John K. Amanchukwu called out the district for having the picture book, “It Feels Good to Be Yourself,” on the shelves at Bradley Academy, an elementary school serving pre-K through 6th grade students in the district.The book introduces the concept of gender identity to readers as young as four, according to its description. “Some people are boys. Some people are girls. Some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between,” it says.MINNESOTA SCHOOL DISTRICT REMOVES LGBTQ CHILDREN’S BOOK WITH NUDITY, DESPITE OBJECTIONS A Tennessee school district voted Tuesday to remove a transgender children’s book from its library shelves. (Getty Images)The book tells the story of “Ruthie,” a transgender girl, and introduces terms like “cisgender” and “nonbinary” to explain different gender identities to younger readers.After Amanchukwu started to read from the book, board chair Butch Campbell objected to the pastor bringing up the book at the meeting, saying he was going against the rules of only bringing up agenda items during the public comment section.The pastor continued to read from inside the book, calling the book’s message about there being more than two genders “a lie” and citing the Book of Genesis.After about two minutes of the board attempting to get Amanchukwu to stop speaking, they forced the meeting into a recess. North Carolina Pastor John Amanchukwu previously speaking at a Wake County School Board meeting.  (Wake County School Board/Screenshot)At the January 14 school board meeting this week, the board announced the transgender-themed book had been reviewed by a committee of staff and parents, who recommended removing the book. One board member said the book had been on the shelves since 2022 and had never been checked out.Before they conducted a vote, vice-chair Amanda Moore accused Amanchukwu of conducting a “show” to bring the book to the district’s attention.Amanchukwu is a contributor for Turning Point USA and travels around the country to different school board meetings to draw attention to explicit books in school libraries.”This person had advertised his visit to us for weeks before he came. Never contacted the school, never contacted central office and never contacted this board, even though he came and yelled at us about this dangerous book we had on the shelf,” vice chair Amanda Moore said before the board voted to remove the book from library shelves.PARENTS AND TEACHERS BATTLE IN MARYLAND COUNTY OVER ‘SEXUALLY EXPLICIT’ BOOKS IN SCHOOL A child reads a book at the City of Santa Clarita Public Library Valencia branch in Santa Clarita, California, U.S., on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Amanchukwu responded to the board’s decision and comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.”If my commitment to protecting children from content that mentally rapes them is a ‘show’….I  pray that this ‘show’ gets bigger for the sake of the least of these, in 2025,” Amanchukwu said.He quoted Proverbs 22:6, which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.””We are called to train children up, not mess them up,” his statement continued. “I salute the board members for using common sense in governing the pedagogy of students in Murfreesboro City Schools.” This month, a school district in Minnesota removed a transgender book from an elementary school library after facing pressure from a concerned parent.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRochester Public Schools said it pulled the 2022 book, “The Rainbow Parade” by Emily Neilson, from its elementary school media center last month after a Franklin Elementary School parent raised concerns about nude illustrations in the book.

Readers and writers: Books to reflect on and celebrate aging

As our population ages, writers are offering books that look at what aging means and ways to live full lives even with the physical limitations that even the healthiest seniors experience. Today we have a memoir from a woman who discovered her need to write when she was 75, a short story collection in which most of the characters are in their 70s, a blog that spans 15 years and, just for fun, poems about pickleball. All the authors are Minnesotans.(Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press)“Radical Endurance: Growing Old In an Age of Longevity”: by Andrea Gilats (University of Minnesota Press, $19.95)Having entered old age relatively recently, I continue to imagine myself at the beginning of a journey, not approaching the end of my one and only earthly voyage. If I extract the ageism from old age, as I might suck out the venom from a rattlesnake bite, this new stage of life becomes a compelling last chance. My leading act of resistance is to (try to) take thorough advantage of my stable physical, intellectual, and psychological health, and my following act is to (try to) refuse to spend my time brooding about how long each of them might last. — from “Radical Endurance”It’s a pleasure to spend time with Andrea Gilats as she tussles with growing older in her memoir, which she was inspired to write on a May morning shortly before her 75th birthday when she woke to the realization that she was about to leap from older to old.Gilats is a writer, educator artist who retired from teaching yoga when her body told her it was time. She created and directed two University of Minnesota lifelong learning programs for older adults and was co-founder and longtime director of the university’s Split Rock Arts Program. Her previous books include “After Effects: A Memoir of Complicated Grief.”Andrea Gilats (Courtesy of the author)In “Radical Endurance” Gilats writes as a realist who walks the fine line between accepting some of the physical limitations of aging and refusing to give in to the ageism that treats older people as invisible, sick, or demented and useless. She vows to fight these stereotypes, living the best life possible in the years ahead of her.Gilats recalls her midlife moments, including the death of her husband, and a medical diagnosis that made her realize old age comes quicker and lasts longer than we might imagine. Her publisher describes her book as “a personal guide to the transformations, hard truths, profound pleasures, and infinite possibilities of aging.”Whether you are Gilats’ age or older, or you are caring for aging parents, “Radical Endurance” is a balanced look at senior years. Her message, although she doesn’t put it this way, is that age is what you make itGilats will launch her book with a reading at 6 p.m. Thursday at Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.(Boyle & Dalton)“The Night Owl Sings and Other Stories of Old Age”: by Judy McConnell (Boyle & Dalton; hardcover $28.99, paperback $16.99)In the twelve months since she’d moved into Serene Harbor, she had learned to navigate a slower system, among the canes and walkers and ubiquitous side railings. Everything in the place seemed old, including her… But she had vigor. She could drive in daylight. She could tend to an apartment, her own apartment where she belonged. She still challenged fate; she still grew new cells each day. She was rechargeable. –– from “The Night Owl Sings and Other Stories of Old Age”What a treat to read stories focusing on characters in their 70s and older. In too much fiction seniors are relegated to bit parts or used for comedy. Not so in “The Night Owl Sings,” which is populated mostly by women living the fictional life Andrea Gilats writes about in her memoir.These nine stories are longer than usual, giving the author room to stretch in terms of character development and rich plotting.Judy McConnell (Minnesota Writers Directory)In the intriguing title story, a woman makes a decision about a lover who re-entered her life and “talks” to a wise fox about her future. The final story weaves together a woman’s wish that her big, comfortable male friend could be more emotionally present as she mourns the death of her best friend and plans a birthday party that includes an airplane and parachute. Two women who are old friends cruise down the Illinois River when an outspoken man tells one of them she is fat. And she is. Her friend, who is slim, doesn’t reveal that she battles daily with her need for sweets. And in another story a magical encounter with a young man deep in a cave turns a woman’s lackluster life in new directions.McConnell has a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. She’s written two previous memoirs and a novel after a career as a secondary-school teacher.“Life is Short and So Am I”: by Lucy Rose Fisher (Temuna Press, $15)I bought my granddaughter, who had just turned age three, quite a few dresses. I just couldn’t resist — little girl dresses are so sweet! A few weeks ago, she asked: “Who gave me this dress?” Her mother said: “Your Grandma Lucy gave it to you.” Then my granddaughter asked: “Was it too small for her?”Lucy Fisher is an award-winning author, artist and gerontologist who began writing a blog about aging when she was in her mid-60s that continued for 14 years during which she reflected on time, mortality, love, loss, creativity, home, travel, a favorite dog and twists and turns of a long life. Enlivening the text are her sketches. Among her award-winning previous books are: “The Journalist: Life and Loss in America’s Secret War,” “Grow Old With Me,” and “I’m New at Being Old.”“Pickles and Paradise”: by Kristin F Johnson (KFJ Books, $12.99)Pickleball isn’t just for older people, but it’s certainly a sport many folks over 65 enjoy. Kristin Johnson dedicates this slim book of poems to all pickleballers in verse that celebrates the game’s inclusiveness, sense of community and rules that emphasize fun and court courtesy. For the author, the best pickleball games are played outdoors and her hope for an early spring runs through the poetry. Here’s “In My Experience,” a poem that sums up all that’s good about the game:Everyone is welcome on the courtwhether you are good or bad at the sport.Whether your serve lands in the kitchenor you return the ball, and your shot isn’t in,as long as you don’t act like a spoilsportyou will have much pickled support.

Iredell librarian Lisa McBroom’s love of books, theater, bohemian attire remembered at memorial

The people who came to celebrate librarian Lisa McBroom at a drop-in memorial at the Iredell County Public in Statesville on Friday shared stories of how the “Library Lady” impacted their lives.”We always joked with Lisa that she was like a walking billboard for the library because everywhere she went, everyone knew who she was, and they would ask her questions. And she was always advocating for the library and programs,” Library Director Juli Moore said.McBroom, 67 worked in the library from 1976 until she died on Dec. 16, 2024, after a brief illness. McBroom was born in 1957. After graduating from North Iredell High School, she began her career at the Iredell County Public Library in 1976 and was the Manager of Children’s Education.She helped foster a love of reading in many Iredell County residents through the children’s programs she led at the library.

Kim McKinney looks at newspaper articles about Lisa McBroom during a drop-in memorial for McBroom at the Iredell County Public Library in Statesville on Friday.

Ben Gibson

Kim McKinney, a friend of McBroom, said that the role she played at the library was more than just having fun with kids as they read. “I always reminded Lisa that you were in a position where you’re changing the kids because you’re giving them the right book that gets them interested in reading,” McKinney said.McBroom was hardly limited by one department or age group. In 1999, Karen Chandgie brought her daughter Lauren Chandgie to one of the programs that McBroom used to cultivate the minds of young readers. It wasn’t long before Karen said she was a part of one of McBroom’s adult reading groups and eventually her friend.Now, Lauren works at the library where McBroom helped cultivate her love of reading.

Karen Chandgie and Lauren Chandgie write notes to share in remembrance of Lisa McBroom at Iredell County Public Library in Statesville on Friday. 

Ben Gibson

“Just like always being in the library, it felt comforting to always be around books. But Lisa, I didn’t realize how good her taste was until I got older.” Lauren Chandgie said, explaining how McBroom encouraged her to read classics by authors such as Sylvia Plath and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She said McBroom also recommended poets like Edna St. Vincent Millay. “She’s impacted me in that way, to search out, writers that speak to me particularly,” Chandgie said.McBroom was more than a librarian. A group of her friends and acquaintances — Michael Morrison, Chris Benfield, Sheila Allsbury, John Paul Middlesworth — at the memorial on Friday recalled how she always was up for any event in the area, particularly if music or theater were involved. Whether opera or a country-rock band, no one would be surprised to see McBroom there.”Every time you saw her, no matter what’s going on, Lisa is like, just in the moment. You’re my best friend right now and I’m so glad to see you,” Benfield said.McBroom’s passing brought the community together to mourn. Her memorial also highlighted the fact that she fit in with different people from different walks of life and seemed to know everyone in town.”She was part of our family, and now we’re learning she was part of a lot of families,” Allsbury said. “When she passed, I was like I’m missing a sister. But then you go on her (Facebook) feed, and you’re like, ‘How many families did she belong to?'”Her attire stood out.”I call them like a hippie, bohemian kind of clothes and I always said Lisa it looks good on you, but if I tried to hear that I would it wouldn’t work.” Melissa Smith said. Smith worked at the library with McBroom.Kelli Goodwin, the library’s Youth Services Manager, said it won’t be easy to replace someone who was beloved and worked at the library for nearly half a century.”She was seeing multiple generations of families coming in and she was just always here for them. It’s a little hard now that she’s not. But she just knew everybody and everything about Iredell County and this town and she loved this community,” Goodwin said.

Lisa Beeson McBroom working in the children’s department when the Iredell County Public Library was on Water Street in Statesville.

submitted

Karen Chandgie and Lauren Chandgie look over a display at the Iredell County Public Library in Statesville on Friday. 

Ben Gibson

#pu-email-form-obits-email-article {
clear: both;

background-color: #fff;

color: #222;

background-position: bottom;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
padding: 15px 0 20px;
margin-bottom: 40px;
border-top: 4px solid rgba(0,0,0,.8);
border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.2);

display: none;

}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article,
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article p {
font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, “Apple Color Emoji”, “Segoe UI Emoji”, “Segoe UI Symbol”;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article h2 {
font-size: 24px;
margin: 15px 0 5px 0;
font-family: “serif-ds”, Times, “Times New Roman”, serif;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article .lead {
margin-bottom: 5px;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article .email-desc {
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 20px;
margin-bottom: 5px;
opacity: 0.7;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article form {
padding: 10px 30px 5px 30px;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article .disclaimer {
opacity: 0.5;
margin-bottom: 0;
line-height: 100%;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article .disclaimer a {
color: #222;
text-decoration: underline;
}
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article .email-hammer {

border-bottom: 3px solid #222;

opacity: .5;
display: inline-block;
padding: 0 10px 5px 10px;
margin-bottom: -5px;
font-size: 16px;
}
@media (max-width: 991px) {
#pu-email-form-obits-email-article form {
padding: 10px 0 5px 0;
}
}
.grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; }

Obituaries Newsletter
Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox.