LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal investigators say the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he actually was actually descending. The National Transportation Safety Board said today that the pilot’s last transmission said he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds. When he was actually in rapid descent into a hillside northwest of Los Angeles. The report confirms initial findings that the helicopter was functioning and does not offer a conclusion of what caused the Jan. 26 crash that killed all nine aboard.

UNDATED (AP) — Quarterback Kyler Murray says he’ll be kneeling during the national anthem this season. The Arizona Cardinals’ emerging star wasn’t particularly vocal about social issues during his first season but says that will change in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. The 22-year-old Murray says he didn’t have a lot of bad experiences with the police growing up but added that he was lucky because he’s usually recognized as a famous football player. The quarterback says the peaceful protests have been amazing.  

UNDATED (AP) — The recent national debate over racism has renewed calls for the NFL's Washington Redskins to change their name. Mayor Muriel Bowser believes a change is overdue and called the name an “obstacle” to the team building its next stadium and headquarters inside the District of Columbia. A recent study found that 49% of respondents considered the name Redskins offensive. The team had no comment about a possible name change. Owner Dan Snyder over the years has shown no indication that he'd change the name. Advocates call the name a dictionary-defined racial slur and hope this is the movement that finally invokes change.

UNDATED (AP) — World TeamTennis is changing two key policies related to players who test positive for COVID-19. That includes giving full salaries to those who get sick during the three-week season instead of the original plan to only offer a prorated portion. WTT CEO Carlos Silva tells the AP he also plans to tell players he is adjusting a rule that would have pulled someone out of the league with no pay for testing positive upon arrival at the resort in West Virginia that will host all of the matches starting July 12. Instead, players will need to be tested and declared virus-free before they travel.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A group of Congressional Democrats is condemning a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Education that threatens to withhold federal funds over a Connecticut policy that allows transgender girls to compete against non-transgender girls in high school sports. A letter sent today to the department’s Office for Civil Rights questions the motives and legal reasoning behind the May decision that found Connecticut’s policy is in violation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that guarantees equal education opportunities for women.