MINERVA REVEALS HOF

MINERVA — The Minerva High School Hall of Fame will induct six in its class of 2026 at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 in the Minerva High School cafeteria. Inductees include Mason Butler (player), Patrica Couch (contributor), Jonathan Lieser (player), Ryan Smith (contributor), Jacob Stewart (player) and Bob Wiley (coach). Ticket prices will be released closer to the date.

PGA SWITCH UP

HONOLULU (AP) — The golf season in Hawaii again starts at Waialae Country Club next year as a PGA Tour Champions event that will be called the Sony Championship.

The PGA Tour and Sony on Wednesday announced the change, which had been expected since April when the tour said it would not be returning to Maui for The Sentry, which since 1999 had preceded the Sony Open.

The Sony Championship will be Jan. 14-16 — ending on a Saturday — at Waialae, which had hosted a PGA Tour event since 1965. The prize fund will be $3 million. Past champions at Waialae now on the 50-and-older circuit include Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson and Jerry Kelly.

It will be the sixth PGA Tour Champions course once hosted a PGA Tour event.

DEATHS MAR CELEBRATIONS

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican health authorities said Wednesday that four people died during massive celebrations in downtown Mexico City after the national team’s victory over Ecuador secured a place in the World Cup Round of 16.

Two women and one man were found unconscious on streets near the iconic Angel of Independence monument, where thousands had gathered Tuesday night to celebrate, Mexico City’s Health Secretariat said on the social platform X. The victims, who authorities said died of asphyxiation, were 48, 44 and 19 years old. Authorities did not provide additional details about the circumstances of the deaths.

Later Wednesday, Mexico City Health Secretary Nadine Gasman, told a news conference that another man, about 30, was treated by emergency personnel after suffering an epileptic seizure, convulsions, and gastrointestinal bleeding. He died shortly afterward at a hospital of cardiorespiratory arrest.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said on social media that emergency crews responded immediately after receiving reports of the three unconscious people, but they had already died.

Brugada also urged the public to celebrate “responsibly, carefully and with empathy.”

Fireworks lit up the sky around the Independence Monument — popularly known as “El Ángel” — on Tuesday night as thousands of Mexicans celebrated along the 5-kilometer (3-mile) Paseo de la Reforma, which links the capital’s main square, the Zócalo, with Chapultepec Park.

NO OYLMPIC STATUS

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Greenland and the Faroe Islands will not be recognized as separate and independent Olympic teams despite a request from Denmark’s parliament, the IOC said Wednesday.

The Olympic Charter has for 30 years defined a country that can have an official team as “an independent state recognized by the international community.”

Greenland and the Faroe Islands — which are semi-autonomous territories in the kingdom of Denmark — do not meet that standard, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.

“This position has been explained and communicated very clearly to the concerned parties on numerous occasions over the past years,” the IOC said.

The formal request by the Danish parliament was made two weeks ago and published Tuesday.

It came weeks after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen formed a new coalition government. In the election campaign, she pledged support for Greenland against U.S. President Donald Trump’s wish to acquire the island.

At the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games, which President Trump should formally declare open, athletes from Greenland and Faroes can compete for Denmark. It is one of 206 national Olympic bodies recognized by the IOC.

ATHLETES WANT MORE TIME

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge will make a ruling next week on a preliminary injunction request from 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players suing the NCAA, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.

Judge Christopher Wagner, who previously denied a temporary restraining order hours after the lawsuit was filed, said Wednesday during a hearing that his written order will be made on July 9.

The lawsuit was filed shortly after the NCAA Division I Cabinet approved a monumental change in eligibility rules last month.

“When each plaintiff completed their fourth season of competition during the 2025-26 academic year, they had every reason to know it was the end of the line and time to make way for the next generation of college athletes,” the NCAA wrote in a filing.

The plaintiffs are seeking to be eligible to play a fifth year during the upcoming season, representing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and began their college sports careers that fall and never redshirted.

“Each plaintiff was harmed each time he or she competed in a basketball game against a fifth or sixth-year player without being offered the same opportunity to compete in a fifth season themselves,” attorney Ryan Downton wrote in a filing.