Attention was first brought to Kroger’s move by Judd Legum, founder of the now-defunct site ThinkProgress. Legum tweeted out the move being made by Kroger: “UPDATE: Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the US, is still not providing all its workers with paid sick leave. Instead, everyone is getting a 25 DOLLAR Kroger gift card.” The image included in his tweet is that of a document with the header “Sonya’s Blog” that features what looks like a signature bearing the name of Sonya Hostetler, the divisional president for the Nashville division....

Do you remember how bad it was? Can you even conceive it? It was Puerto Rico 92, United States 73, a scoreline that now seems more fantastic than the best work of J.K. Rowling. MORE: U.S. captures back-to-back golds at Worlds | Curry family shooting lineage We forget now that such a thing even was possible, that American basketball had disintegrated so badly a team with Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade could be humiliated in such a fashion, could lose three times in the space of two weeks and be relieved to leave the Athens Olympics with a mere bronze medal....

Kyle Busch covered the 1.54-mile distance in 28.925 seconds (191.668 mph) in the money round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, Fox), beating his older brother by .013 seconds. MORE: Spectacular crashes, memorable moments at Atlanta But the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection and his time was disallowed. That gave Kurt Busch his first pole at Atlanta in the first event contested this year with the lower-downforce competition package that will be in place at all open-motor tracks....

“Best race I’ve seen in five years,” Allison declared during casual conversation with reporters Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. “That’s what they’re supposed to do.” Larson parried with an aggressive charge through Turns 1 and 2, knocking Busch’s Toyota into the outside wall at the exit of Turn 2. After Larson edged ahead, Busch buried his No. 18 Camry into Turn 3 and knocked Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet sideways....

Busch outran Joey Logano on a two-lap shootout. It’s Busch’s fourth victory in five races after missing 11 because of injuries before the Daytona 500. MORE: Sights from Indy | Caution: balloons on track | Jeff Gordon’s final run | Cup season winners “I can’t believe what’s going on,” Busch said. “I know if we could just get out front we could just go. (Crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys, they dialed it in again....

Busch was doling out candy Saturday and he sent some Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s way. Earnhardt probably needed it. As late as Thursday, he had no idea how he was going to celebrate Valentine’s Day with girlfriend Amy Reimann. He was entered in the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race on Saturday night so a tradtional Valentine’s date was out. MORE: NASCAR wives and girlfriends | Most beautiful people | Other sweethearts...

The massive redevelopment of Kyle Field, the Aggies’ on-campus stadium, has increased in cost to $485 million, thanks to donors contributing another $35 million to the multi-year project. The additional dollars will be spent to upgrade seats, build more food destinations on the stadium’s west side and develop higher quality finishes overall, according to Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp. The news came earlier this week after the implosion of the west side grandstands, an event captured on video and posted on YouTube....

Larson is accustomed to winning, and to doing so quickly when moving through different series in racing. Things didn’t happen quite that way in the Sprint Cup ranks, though. Throughout his career, he’d move into a series with high expectations, and then meet those. In Sprint Cup, he matched the hot start in his rookie year — but it took him a while to actually finish things off with a win....

Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in November on all charges in the killing of two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, criticized the media for their coverage of both cases. “The media called me a white supremacist from the start and instantly called Jussie Smollett innocent,” Rittenhouse tweeted on Friday. Smollett was found guilty on five of six charges in December for staging an attack against himself in 2019 that was made to look like a racist and homophobic hate crime....

Speaking to Fox News, the 18-year-old claimed he has not been given “a penny” for the media appearances or speaking events he attended after being acquitted of murder charges for killing two people at Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. Rittenhouse said he has refused payment as he is more concerned about clearing his name following the highly divisive trial. “I haven’t been offered a penny, and I wouldn’t accept a penny because I’m out here taking back my character telling the world who I am and defending myself in the public opinion....

That’s because Cristian Javier and a trio of Astros relievers combined to no-hit the Phils in Game 4 of the World Series, just the second time in history that a team has been held hitless in a Fall Classic game. Schwarber was less than pleased with his team’s display on Wednesday night. And when asked about how it felt to add his name to such an infamous part of baseball lore, Schwarber gave the quintessential Philly response....

Last year was the worst of his career. The third baseman batted .221 and posted a career-low .273 on-base percentage. On Tuesday, though, Seager’s resurgent 2019 continued with a three-home run game against the Tigers. His third blast got some help from opposing outfielders Niko Goodrum and Brandon Dixon, whose collision sent the ball flying over the fence. MORE: Chirinos, DeShields risk substantial injury with defensive plays The six-RBI performance moved Seager up to 14 home runs and 34 RBIs in 64 games....

“Johnny’s a great guy and I think he does get a little bit of a bad rep with that, because Johnny worked very hard for me,” Shanahan said to ESPN.com . “I really enjoyed coaching him.” MORE: Ranking new NFL head coaches | Mock Draft | Couple finds Lombardi’s sweater Manziel, who is more known for his party antics than his skill in the NFL, recently entered rehab . “I don’t know what he’s going through right now, but I think I’m confident Johnny will work it all out,” Shanahan said....

Murray’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, released a statement Monday saying that he wants to remain in Arizona, but only if they team can provide “long term stability for both the organization and himself.” In the statement, Burkhardt wrote that he and Murray submitted a contract proposal that contained long-term financial protection that pays him based on how similar quarterbacks have been paid while reducing his 2022-23 cap to help the team add supporting pieces around him....

This is not just another news story for me. As a Black man, it’s personal. After all, Black people have been the group hit hardest by the pandemic: Black Americans have died of COVID-19 at 1.4 times the rate of white people. Though our vaccination rates are picking up, we lag behind other racial groups. This makes Nets star Kyrie Irving’s public refusal to get vaccinated all the more perplexing: He’s one of the few holdouts in the league, where 95 percent of players have been inoculated....

Sexton nailed four 3-pointers in quick succession to guide Cleveland to a 147-135 win. That’s not how Wednesday night was supposed to go down for Brooklyn after the team traded for Harden last week and Irving returned from a mysterious two-week absence. But while the Nets’ stretches of ineptitude backed up concerns about their defense following the Harden deal, their moments of brilliance should perhaps be the primary takeaway from the defeat....

With LeBron James out with a sore wrist, the Cavs needed offensive firepower from another source, and they got it from their All-Star floor leader. MORE: All-Star uniform | Midseason rookie rankings | Wade to miss ’extended time’ | Is physical defense the way to stop Curry? Irving tallied a career-high 55 points on 17-of-36 shooting in Cleveland’s 99-94 victory. He was 11-for-19 on 3-point attempts and 10-for-10 from the line....

Life in Los Angeles has been no day at the beach for the former Philadelphia police commissioner. Even under ordinary circumstances his task would be difficult. The deeply fraternal culture of police departments doesn’t easily embrace outsiders. In Los Angeles, Williams inherits a 7,900-member department that has been under virtual siege, rocked by last year’s videotaped savage beating of black motorist Rodney King and the riots last April that followed the acquittal of four white officers charged in the case....

Los Angeles and Long Beach port officials announced the fines on Monday as a way to encourage shipping companies to keep their containers moving on time, according to NBC Los Angeles. Containers set to be moved by truck will be allowed to stick around for nine days before the charges start accruing, while the ones set to be moved by rail will have three. Fines for the companies will begin at a rate of $100 per container per day spent past the limit....

In a novel new feature in the coverage of Spain’s top division, games will be shown live regularly on the social media platform, allowing followers of the league to tune in online and for free. WATCH: Ronaldinho unveils new single Granada versus Real Betis is the first live game to be broadcast on Facebook and can be watched on the official Facebook pages of La Liga and television channel Gol....