More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Brittney Griner's return to the WNBA this summer after being traded in a dramatic prisoner swap in December with Russia has collided with free agency, creating potential travel complications for the league out of safety concerns for her.
If Griner, who is a free agent but has said she'll return to Phoenix, needs special travel accommodations -- such as chartered flights -- the league will have to come up with a plan for the 6-foot-9 star. Griner's safety when traveling will be a top priority for the team and the league.
"We are very cognizant of BG's unique situation," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Associated Press. "We've been planning and we've been thinking it through with security experts. BG's side, our side. We'll find the right time to comment on it when she signs with a team."
That could come Wednesday, when free agents can officially sign.
While the Griner situation is unique, other marquee players raised the issue of charter flights, which teams have deemed too costly.
The current collective bargaining agreement requires that all teams fly commercial and doesn't allow teams to charter flights. Any change in that would have to be approved by both the union and the league.
"No one wants to make this work more than me," Engelbert said. "That's why we're working so hard to transform the economic business model. We've had positive changes over the last couple years, but we're not going to jeopardize the financial viability of the league. We are on the cusp of something big here."
Engelbert says it would cost the league about US$25 million each season for each of its 12 teams to charter flights to every game. That number has increased about US$5 million from previous estimates by the commissioner due the new 40-game WNBA schedule this season, fuel costs and other factors.
The estimated cost per franchise to charter flights would be approximately US$2 million. Air travel expenses currently for each team is about US$150,000, according to two people familiar with the costs. The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly address the issue.
"We did it last year for the Finals and we have experience on how much it costs for routes we need to fly," Engelbert said. "We are monitoring and updating our analysis. We are going to try and get an economic model to fund this as soon as we can."
If teams violate the current CBA they could be fined.
The New York Liberty were fined a WNBA record US$500,000 in 2021 for chartering flights to away games during the second half of that season.
Coveted free agent Breanna Stewart, who has narrowed her choices to a few teams including New York, started a social media campaign to try to help get chartered flights for the league. She tweeted, "I would love to be part of a deal that helps subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA. I would contribute my NIL, posts + production hrs to ensure we all travel in a way that prioritizes player health + safety, which ultimately results in a better product. Who's with me?"
Many current and former WNBA and NBA players offered their support. Though any change to travel restrictions would have to be voted on by the union and the league.
"We would need a commitment to it in perpetuity," Engelbert said. "That's 250-300 million (U.S.) dollars. Look at the gate and media deal and sponsorship dollars. We're not close to being able to afford US$250 million over the next decade."
Stewart said on Wednesday that she knows it "won't go from zero to 100. Obviously we would love to have a charter company come in and get sponsors for the entire year. If we can be able to pick and choose the flights whether it's the East to West Coast trip or you know the worst back-to-back. ... Right now it's just a no. Maybe it can be a maybe or a yes sometimes. No is really hard to work with."
WNBA players are used to flying charter flights. That's how they traveled in college.
Title IX legislation requires universities to have equal opportunities for their men's and women's athletic programs. The NCAA flies both the men's and women's teams on charter flights for the tournament if they are more than 400 miles from the site of their game.
That legislation doesn't apply to the pros so NBA teams chartering between cities has no effect on what WNBA teams do.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”