Sean Grayson, the former Illinois sheriff's deputy convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey in 2024 in her home, has died in prison after battling colon cancer.

#illinois #massey #convicted

The season kicked off in Nevada over the weekend, although the weather, specifically lightning storms, caused some delays and cancelations. Two of the state's top three teams suffered tough inter-sectional losses while top ranked Bishop Gorman looks ready for their ******* anic top five national matchup.
Another jam-packed slate is on deck as teams continue their quests for a state ******* le. Below are the top 25 Nevada high school football teams, according to the Massey Ratings, as of Aug. 18.
The Gaels beat Losee 41-0 in a game that was called at halftime due to weather. A lighting storm in the area delayed the game nearly two hours. Junior quarterback Ace Amina got the start and finished an efficient 4-4 for 70 yards and a touchdown and the defense was lights out led by fast rising sophomore edge Braylon Ivory. Next up for Gorman will be their highly anticipated matchup against national power Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco August 21 in a game pitting a pair of perennial top 10 powers.
Liberty lost a tough one to a very good Honolulu (Hawaii) Mililani team 31-24. The Patriots led at halftime 24-14 but couldn't get the offense rolling in the second half. BYU running back commit Ezra Sanelivi had an impressive 1st half including a 56 yard touchdown run and athlete Selby Griego had nearly 200 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. The Patriots have a couple of weeks off and then will have another tough test in Lehi (Utah) Skyridge, ranked No. 5 in the state, on September 4.
The Cougars kick off their season on Saturday (Aug. 22) against Carson.

#weather #ranked

Michael Massey and Jac Caglianone powered the lineup last night. They did it again tonight, with the only two hits KC had – both singles – in a 1-0 loss to the Angels.
When your team falls by a score of 1-0, it would be easy to place the blame on the offense. But this was really Reid Detmers flashing some of that brilliance I wrote about before the game. When he's on, there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do, and baby, he was on tonight. Detmers struck out 11 over 8 scoreless innings and required only 92 pitches to do it. He didn't walk anyone, and he allowed those two singles mentioned at the top. That's it. The Angels asked closer Ben Joyce to finish it off and, wielding a fastball that easily tops 104 MPH, he did just that with a pair of strikeouts.
Randy Dobnak, known more for his sweeper, threw the Angels a healthy dose of changeups in his 5.2 innings tonight. He figured out early that the sweeper wasn't working and the Angels could do nothing to the changeup, so he threw it more than any of his other pitches. Ultimately, he struck out six while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 scoreless innings. He had some good defense behind him, but Dobnak Time continues unabated as we inch ever closer to the end of the season.
Craig Kimbrel was tasked with escaping the sixth inning with two runners on and managed to do so when a deep flyball from Josh Lowe died just in front of the track, landing in Starling Marte's glove. Kimbrel relied again on the marine layer as well as a fantastic play from Tyler Tolbert in the seventh.
Nate Pearson got the eighth and, unfortunately, his control issues from most of his career popped up again when he allowed a leadoff walk to Wade Meckler. Jose Siri pinch-ran for him and promptly stole second. Pearson got Mike Trout to pop out, but a groundball at 102.6 off the bat of Nolan Schanuel managed to deflect off of Caglianone's glove into right, and that was all she wrote. Pearson recovered to get a strikeout and a groundout, but the winning run was already in.

#tonight #detmers

A wave of additions to the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers roster have been announced as the 2026 Detroit Tigers draft class receives their first ***** ignments in pro ball. 2026 first round selection RHP Cameron Flukey heads the list, as he is slated to debut in the organization with a start for the Flying Tigers later this week. The 21-year-old right-hander, selected 22nd overall back in July, missed the early part of his college season with Coastal Carolina due to a stress fracture in his ribs. The Tigers have decided to try to make up some of those innings lost in his final college season, and sources have reported that Flukey has looked very good in his bullpen sessions as he prepares to start his pro career. If things go well, there's a good chance he could begin his first full season in 2027 at the High-A level, putting him on a relative fast track towards the upper levels of the minor leagues.
Joining Flukey in Lakeland will also be 2026 sixth rounder SS Maddux Molony, and seventh rounder 1B Brady Ballinger. The Tigers have already made some additions to the Flying Tigers roster in recent weeks as former top prep picks LHP Paul Wilson and RHP Owen Hall have each made a few appearances. An exciting young shortstop prospect in Angel De Los Santos has been making waves after a strong showing in the Complex League and some good work in his first seven games for the Flying Tigers with a pair of home runs already. Fellow 19-year-old infielder Ronald Ramirez is also off to a strong start.
Shortstop Tyson LeBlanc, the Tigers second round pick this year, is currently on the 7-day IL with an undisclosed injury, but seems likely to return in time to start his pro career in Lakeland before the season ends.
The Bridge League, which is essentially an unofficial continuation of the Complex League on the backfields, has also had some interesting news as both RHP Michael Massey and RHP Zach Swanson, two high bonus picks who have spent most of their time in pro ball on the injured list, have made appearances. Massey was the Tigers' 4th rounder out of Wake Forest in 2024, while Swanson was a prep pick in the same draft. The duo were among our favorite arms selected over the past four drafts under the Scott Harris front office, so it's good to finally see them healthy and getting some work in.
Finally, 3B Carson Rucker, along with RHP Luke Hoskins, and RHP Maddux Long, have been promoted from Lakeland to High-A West Michigan.

#flying #start

Baron Capital, an investment management company, released its Q2 2026 investor letter for the "Baron Health Care Fund". A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Fund gained 11.99% during the quarter, compared with the 10.48% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index and the 15.44% gain for the Russell 3000 Index. Since inception, the Fund appreciated 10.61% on an annualized basis, compared with 10.02% for the Benchmark and 14.83% for the Index. Strong stock selection in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, health care equipment, and life sciences tools and services supported the Fund's outperformance, although limited exposure to managed care stocks reduced relative returns. The Fund remains positive on health care due to improving biotechnology funding, strong acquisition activity, recovering managed care margins, and growth from an aging population, chronic disease, medical innovation, and higher health care spending. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know the best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund highlighted argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX). argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) is a commercial-stage biopharma company that develops various therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in the United States and internationally. On August 03, 2026, argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) closed at $830.79 per share. The one-month return of argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) was -9.69% and its shares gained 23.10% over the past 52 weeks. argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) has a market capitalization of $51.66 billion with a 52-week trading range between $631.47 - $953.58.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Biotechnology company argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) is best known for developing Vyvgart, the leading FcRn inhibitor for the treatment of autoimmune conditions. Shares rose after a period of prior weakness, which may have been partly driven by the retirement of longtime CEO Tim Van Hauwermeiren in early 2026. We view the transition to Karen Massey, who previously led the company's operations, as largely non-disruptive and believe she is well positioned to continue executing the company's strategy. Shares also benefited from optimism ahead of several clinical readouts, including data from studies of Vyvgart in immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy and dermatomyositis, expected in the third quarter of 2026, as well as empasibrupart in multifocal motor neuropathy, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Vyvgart continues to launch well in generalized myasthenia gravis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, where we believe it has established itself as an important treatment option. We expect Vyvgart to demonstrate efficacy across an expanding range of autoantibody-driven autoimmune conditions over time and remain encouraged by argenx's pipeline progress."

#care #argx #baron #vyvgart

The Royals got on the board first tonight against Joe Ryan. A pair of singles followed by a sac-fly RBI by Salvador Perez got the job done. Then, Michael Massey ripped a double to left-center to make it 2-0, Royals.
The Twins, who struggled against Randy Dobnak the last time they faced him, continued those struggles tonight. They finally got a run in the 4th inning after loading the bases with 1-out, on an Alan Roden sac-fly. Luke Keaschall would ground out to end the threat, however.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Royals, with the help of bad Twins defense, put together a 3-run inning. With 1 out, they got a single and a walk, then Bobby Witt Jr. doubled, scoring two. Witt would move to 3rd as Ryan Kreidler's throw home sailed over Ryan Jeffers' head. Witt then scored on the next at bat, on a grounder to 1st, beating the throw home by Royce Lewis. That gave the Royals a 5-1 lead.
It was a third rough start in a row by Joe Ryan, who exited after getting 1 out in the 6th and walking Isaac Collins. His final line was: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. His stuff just doesn't seem to be getting him enough strikeouts lately. Kody Funderburk did a good job, cleaning up the 6th inning and tossing a clean 7th as well.

#inning

The World Athletics U20 Championships meet is back in Eugene for the second time in 12 years and though the gates at Hayward Field don't open until Aug. 5, the first record of the meet has already been set.
Approximately 1,800 athletes from 147 countries are expected to compete Wednesday through Sunday, breaking the previous high of 1,558 competitors for the 2024 meet in Lima, Peru.
Among them are current Oregon track athlete Juan Gonzalez (men's 5,000 meters), and future Ducks Jaslene Massey (women's discus and shot put), Ellery Lincoln (women's 1,500), Simon Rosselli (men's discus) and Estonian heptathlete Mia Uusorg.
Get tickets for the World Athletics U20 Championships
The 2014 U20 championships at Hayward Field featured many young athletes who have gone on to have tremendous success on the world stage, including American women's discus star Valarie (Allman) Sion and men's sprinter Trayvon Bromell; Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, who owns world records in the men's 5,000 and 10,000; Ethiopian men's distance star Yomif Kejelcha; sprinter Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain; and Croatia's Sara Kolak, who two years after the 2014 meet would win Olympic gold in the women's javelin.

#meet

Sean Grayson, the officer who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her own home, has been denied medical release from his 20-year prison sentence. Grayson, a former Sangamon County sheriff's deputy, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2023, his attorney, Mark Wykoff said at his sentencing in January.

#sean #sonya #sangamon #stage

After a one-hour rain delay, the Royals were quickly beaten by the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, 3-1.
Michael Wacha surrendered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, which put the Royals down 1-0.
The Royals were completely stumped against Tomoyuki Sugano, the ****** anese righty was efficient and effective, going 6.2 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 run, striking out 2. Sugano induced tons of weak contact, outside a very few select at bats. He finished his night at just 83 pitches.
The Rockies scored the two game deciding runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, when with two outs and a runner on second, a routine grounder to second caused the Royals trouble. The ball was hit right to Massey for the third out, but Jac Caglianone, who was playing first, made a move to field the ball, he was out of position to cover the base, so Wacha sprinted over to get there, unfortunately, Massey's throw didn't connect, it was an error, and 2-0 Rockies. The next batter, Brenton Doyle doubled in another run making it 3-0.
The Royals got their only run of the night on Carter Jensen's 15th home run of the season. It was a towering shot into the right field seats. With two outs in the 6th inning, Lane Thomas followed up with a single, but Cags lined out to center, ending the threat.

#Royals #first #inning

CHICAGO (AP) — A former Illinois sheriff's deputy won't get an early medical release from his two-decade prison sentence for killing Sonya Massey inside her home after the Black woman called 911 about a possible prowler, state officials decided Friday.
Sean Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer prior to the 2024 shooting, and his attorney noted in January that the cancer had advanced to his liver and lungs.
The three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted unanimously Friday to deny Grayson's application for early medical release, Liz Mitchell, a board spokesperson, said in an email.
Grayson, who is white, was convicted in October of second-degree murder for Massey's killing, a case that sparked protests over systemic racism and a U.S. Department of Justice review.
Body camera footage showed Grayson and another deputy enter Massey's home in Springfield, Illinois. Minutes later, Grayson shot the 36-year-old single mother in the face as she moved a pot of hot water from the stove and told him, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."

#board #deputy #release

The biopharma sector is in the middle of a transformation in which macroeconomic pressures and policy developments actively dictate corporate dealmaking. As leading pharmaceutical companies prepare for a $300 billion patent cliff in the second half of the decade, capital allocation has switched sharply toward restocking commercial pipelines with low-risk, high-conviction clinical ******* ets. At the same time, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act has changed the relative attractiveness of drug options. Since small-molecule drugs are subject to government price negotiations earlier in their lifecycle compared to large-molecule biologics, commercial buyers are shifting premium valuations to large-molecule immunology platforms.
Against this macro context, argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) entered a definitive all-cash agreement on July 27 to acquire clinical-stage biotech Forte Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBRX) for $77 per share, valuing the company at over $2.2 billion. At first glance, the $77 offer represents a 40% premium to Forte's closing price prior to the announcement. However, the underlying deal economics demonstrate argenx's readiness to pay a premium for clinical validation: when compared to Forte's volume-weighted average pricing following its successful Phase 1b vitiligo readout on July 9, the purchase price represents an 86% premium.
The target ******* et, Forte's FB102, is a first-in-class anti-CD122 antibody that has shown clinical efficacy in vitiligo and celiac disease. In a 24-week experiment, FB102 showed a significant 29.6% mean improvement on the Facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index, separating from placebo by day 64.
Argenx's ability to carry out a $2.2 billion cash deal stems from its strong financial condition. The company's Q1 2026 financial report showed global product net sales of $1.3 billion, a 63% increase year-over-year, as well as a quarterly net profit of $366 million and a strong balance sheet with $4.9 billion in cash and financial ******* ets. This commercial momentum is almost exclusively driven by Vyvgart, the company's blockbuster FcRn-blocking medication, which is now seeing its 17th straight quarter of growth.
That said, the explosive top-line trajectory poses a major concentration risk. According to CEO Karen Massey's "Vision 2030" framework, which targets 50,000 patients and ten designated indications worldwide, argenx SE (NASDAQ:ARGX) needs a supplementary second leg in immunology. FB102 offers that diversification by delivering a unique CD122 mechanism into unserved autoimmune indications without jeopardizing its core FcRn business.

#premium #price

MLS All-Stars teamed up with Charlotte FC to help local kids get in on the excitement ahead of Wednesday's game.
More than 400 young people packed the pitch at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex Tuesday to learn from some of the game's best. The clinics are part of MLS All-Star Community Day.
"Today it's about having fun, meeting friends and learning more about soccer," Frank Mungugia, a participant, told Channel 9's Miana Massey.
For 12-year-old Mungugia, it's a chance to play the sport he loves while picking up new skills.
"Soccer is for everyone," Tiara Brown, director of community engagement with Charlotte FC, said. "You just need a ball, ******* e to play and some people."

#Soccer #people #mecklenburg

Mid-Illini Conference football is coming to Dozer Park.
Morton and Metamora will play their Week 9 league game on Friday, Oct. 16 at the home of the Peoria Chiefs. This game was originally scheduled to be played at Carper Field in Morton.
However, Potters coach Adam O'Neill announced the venue change via social media on Thursday, July 23 with a graphic ******* led, 'Dozer Dust Up.'
"Excited news for the pottersfootball," he posted. "Week 9 we will be playing at Dozer Field in Peoria"
More: The top high school football teams in Illinois for 2026, according to the Massey Ratings

#illini

Jul. 15—➜ — when it was released Tuesday.
➜ . The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Williams landed on the watch list after throwing for 2,846 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing for 847 yards and 18 scores last season.
➜ . Illinois has never lost to an FCS program in its history and is 4-0 all-time against the Salukis, with the last game between the two schools producing a 42-34 win by Illinois in 2013.
on-base plus slugging percentage former Illini and Kansas City Royals second baseman has at the All-Star break. The 28-year-old Massey has a .260 average with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 77 games this season for the Royals, who are struggling with a 38-59 record before they begin play again on Friday night by hosting the San Diego Padres.
➜ . Former Illini gets his first round started in the first group on Thursday, teeing off with Matthew Baldwin and James Nicholas at 12:35 a.m. at Royal Birkdale in England for the final major this year.

The Royals fell 5-3 after another very Luinder Avila start and one too many trips to the bullpen. Matt Strahm gave up the final blow, a two-run home run to Samuel Basallo. Before that, it was a pretty close game.
As noted above, Luinder Avila got the start in this one for KC. He pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 runs with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. It was a real grind for Avila as it seemed like he was always pitching with a full count even with only the 3 walks. That meant it took him 96 pitches to get through those 5 innings.
Avila gave up two of the runs with two outs in the second inning. The Royals managed to tie it in the fourth thanks to a Michael Massey walk (he's been doing that a lot lately) and a Josh Rojas double. But before that, Jac Caglianone smoked his first home run since that two-home run game in Tampa Bay almost two weeks ago.
Avila got Blaze Alexander down 0-2 with one out in the bottom of the inning, which caused the booth to praise him for his good work following the offense tying the game. He promptly hung a slider that went a long way. The score remained 3-2 until the eighth inning, with Steven Cruz pitching a clean sixth with a strikeout. Daniel Lynch IV did the same in the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Isaac Collins led off the inning with a home run to dead center. Which I wasn't entirely sure he could do.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez drove in two runs, Luinder Avile went five innings, and the Kansas City Royals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Avila (4-3) held Philadelphia to one run in five innings. He had four strikeouts and one walk. Alex Lange pitched the ninth for this eighth save.
The Royals scored a pair of runs in the first inning when Lane Thomas knocked a two-out double to right-center field. Michael Massey followed with an RBI single.
Philadelphia’s Bryson Stott extended his on-base streak to 12 games with a triple in the fifth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Rincones Jr.
Avila left after the next out.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez drove in two runs, Luinder Avile went five innings, and the Kansas City Royals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Avila (4-3) held Philadelphia to one run in five innings. He had four strikeouts and one walk. Alex Lange pitched the ninth for this eighth save.
The Royals scored a pair of runs in the first inning when Lane Thomas knocked a two-out double to right-center field. Michael Massey followed with an RBI single.
Philadelphia’s Bryson Stott extended his on-base streak to 12 games with a triple in the fifth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Rincones Jr.
Avila left after the next out.

The Cardinals jumped the Royals for 5 runs in the top of the first inning and held on to defeat the Royals 12-10 in a Father's Day matinee, salvaging the series and avoiding the sweep.
Stephen Kolek has been dynamite for the Royals in his tenure, but he simply didn't have it today. Three pitches into the game, Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt blasted a solo shot into the right center seats. A hit batter, walk and double gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead. Masyn Winn put the exclamation point on the inning, hitting a 3-run homer into the Cardinals bullpen.
The Royals did respond with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, Carter Jensen led off with a single, Jac Caglianone walked, and Michael Massey hit a two-out single, to make it 5-2.
Kolek got smashed again in the top of the second, a leadoff double was followed by Wetherholt hitting an opposite field two run homer, making it 7-2. A single and RBI triple made it 8-2, Kolek did get two big outs not allowing the run to score, but Winn legged out an infield single to make it 9-2, ending Kolek's day. Connor Seabold came on to get the last out of the 2nd.
In the bottom of the inning, Kameron Misner led off with a single, and scored on Nick Loftin's two run homer, Loftin's 2nd on the year, a 416-foot blast to left center. Isaac Collins singled, and after two straight outs, he scored on Caglianone's mammoth two run shot into the second deck of fountains in right center, a 444-foot blast, making it 9-6. It was Cags 3rd straight game with a homer, and his 11th on the year.