Archives for February 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Billie Jean King will not attend Friday’s opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics in Russia because her mother is ill.

King, who was selected to help lead the U.S. delegation to the Games, has been outspoken in her opposition to Russia’s anti-gay law. She also planned to attend ice hockey and figure skating events and meet U.S. athletes during her three-day visit to the games.

The White House announced Wednesday that former U.S. hockey player Caitlin Cahow, originally scheduled for the closing ceremony, will take King’s place.

King told The Associated Press that because of her mother’s “failing health, I will not be able to join the U.S. Presidential delegation at this week’s opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics.”

Betty Moffitt, her 91-year-old mother, lives in Arizona and has been ill for some time. King will be joined by her brother Randy Moffitt, a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

“It is important for me to be with my mother and my brother at this difficult time. I want to thank President Obama for including me in this historic mission and I look forward to supporting our athletes as they compete in Sochi.”

The openly gay former tennis star has said she would like sexual orientation added to the list of protections in the charter of the International Olympic Committee. King was chosen in December for the U.S. delegation, along with openly gay former Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano and Cahow.

In June, Russia passed a law banning gay “propaganda” to minors. In an interview with the AP last month, King said: “It should be a non-issue. It’s just like people of color in our country and other places, it has to be a non-issue.”

President Barack Obama has been publicly critical of the Russian anti-gay law and President Vladimir Putin’s “cold-war” mentality on other issues. For the first time since 2000, the U.S. delegation to the Olympics will not include a president, former president, vice president or first lady.

The 70-year-old King, a social justice trailblazer who won 39 Grand Slam titles in her career, was tapped to enter the fray involving the delicate balance of Olympic sports and politics.

Other members of the U.S. delegation for the opening ceremony include former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and presidential adviser Rob Nabors.

The White House statement said “The President extends his thoughts and prayers to Ms. King and her family in this difficult time.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s attorney general has asked a federal court to strike down a California law regulating the living conditions of chickens, setting up a cross-country battle that pits new animal protections against the economic interests of Midwestern farmers.

The lawsuit by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster takes aim at a California law set to take effect in 2015 that prohibits eggs from being sold there if they come from hens raised in cages that don’t comply with California’s new size and space requirements.

Koster said Tuesday that the California law infringes on the interstate commerce protections of the U.S. Constitution by effectively imposing new requirements on out-of-state farmers.

“If California legislators are permitted to mandate the size of chicken coops on Missouri farms, they may just as easily demand that Missouri soybeans be harvested by hand or that Missouri corn be transported by solar-powered trucks,” Koster said.

Missouri’s lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Fresno, Calif.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris declined to comment on the suit Tuesday.

But the Humane Society of the United States, which campaigned for the ballot initiative, said in a statement that states have the right to pass laws that protect the health and safety of their residents. Jennifer Fearing, the group’s senior state director for California, said eggs produced from hens in “battery cages” have a higher risk of salmonella contamination.

“Attorney General Koster’s lawsuit targeting California’s laws, filed just to curry favor with big agribusiness, threatens state laws across the country dealing with agriculture and food safety,” she said.

California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2008 that required egg-laying hens, pigs and calves to be raised with enough space to allow the animals to lie down, stand up, turn around and fully extend their limbs. The measure gave farmers until 2015 to comply with the provisions.

After voters approved the initiative, concerns were raised that the measure would put California egg farmers at a competitive disadvantage with counterparts in other states.

In 2010, California legislators expanded the law to ban in that state the sale of eggs from any hens that were not raised in compliance with California’s animal care standards. The California law cites concerns about protecting people from salmonella and other illnesses.

But the Missouri lawsuit said the real intent was to protect California farmers from being put at a disadvantage with their counterparts in other states.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who wrote the legislation when he was in the state Legislature, also declined to comment Tuesday.

Missouri farmers produce about 1.7 billion eggs annually and sell about one-third of those — about 540 million eggs — in California, according to Koster’s lawsuit. He said that makes Missouri the second-largest egg exporter to California, behind only Iowa.

Many of Missouri’s hens are raised in tight cages that won’t meet California’s new standards. Koster said Missouri farmers would have to spend about $120 million to remodel their cages or forgo sales to one of their most important markets, which could force some Missouri egg producers out of business.

Farm Sanctuary, an animal rescue and protection group based in Watkins Glen, N.Y., was among the organizations that helped fund the campaign for the California ballot initiative.

“It’s a real embarrassment for the state of Missouri that Mr. Koster would defend a practice that is horribly abusive of animals with a legal theory that is tilting at windmills,” said Bruce Friedrich, a senior policy director at Farm Sanctuary.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst praised the lawsuit as an important legal challenge. He said the California law, if upheld, could set a precedent in which the biggest states can effectively set agricultural policies for all the states.

“A pretty good tradition in this country that’s worked pretty well is that we have free trade among the states, and we would not want to see that changed,” Hurst said.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Blank in Jefferson City, Mo., and Juliet Williams in Sacramento, Calif. contributed to this report.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York is calling on the Russian government to allow Chobani Greek yogurt to be delivered to Sochi (SOH’-chee) for U.S. Olympic athletes and NBC Studios employees.

Schumer said Tuesday that a shipment of Chobani yogurt is being held up at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey because of “unattainable” Russian Customs certifications. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has requested that Russia approve a USDA safety certificate for the yogurt, but Schumer said Russia still won’t allow the shipment.

Chobani, based in upstate New York, is an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team. Schumer said the yogurt will be eaten only by U.S. citizens in Sochi.

A call to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s press office wasn’t immediately returned.

Via AP

Magic Johnson is getting back into the Los Angeles basketball scene in a big way.

The former Lakers great is part of a group buying the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

“We’re totally thrilled,” WNBA President Laurel Richie told The Associated Press. “When Magic chooses to enter into a partnership with a WNBA team, that’s a great thing. He’s a legend within basketball. He’s very knowledgeable about the game. He’s a larger-than-life personality. He’s an extremely successful business man. He cares about the community the way that the WNBA does.”

Johnson and Mark Walter teamed with a group of investors to buy baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 for a record $2.15 billion. It will be the same group owning the Sparks, minus Peter Guber, who owns a stake in the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Richie said Walter, the Dodgers’ chairman, approached the WNBA about buying the Sparks a few weeks ago. She said Walter and Johnson discussed the idea on a cross-country flight and by the time they landed on the West Coast they had decided they wanted to own the Sparks.

“He is looking forward to coming to games,” Richie said. “He is a fan already and now I think he’s going to have a heightened interest in this team all together. There will be lots of opportunity to see him and interact with him.”

Previous Sparks owner Paula Madison informed the league in late December that she wouldn’t be able to run the team anymore. She told The Associated Press that her family had lost $12 million, including $1.4 million last season, operating the franchise since buying it from the Buss family in 2007.

Johnson was a part owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers for a decade before selling his share in 2011.

While the franchise hasn’t been successful financially, the Sparks have been one of the WNBA’s best teams on the court and have led the league in attendance the past two seasons. They won titles in 2001 and 2002 and made it to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons. They were knocked out in the opening round by Phoenix last season.

Los Angeles, one of only four original WNBA franchises left, also has one of the league’s marquee players in MVP Candace Parker.

“I do know they were very attracted to this team not just because they were in L.A. and their incredible history, but also their performance over the last few years,” Richie said. “The players, Candace being MVP, Carol (Ross) being Coach of the Year, their knowledge and experience — they recognize what an incredible franchise it is at this moment.”

The WNBA will announce the new ownership agreement at a news conference Wednesday outside Staples Center.

News via ap.org