Wednesday June 5th Local Sports
CALMAR — Top-ranked Newman scored six runs in the third on their way to an 8-1 win at South Winneshiek on Tuesday evening in non-conference baseball. Newman is now 7-0 on the season and travel to 9th-ranked St. Ansgar in an early-season showdown of ranked Class 1A teams. MARSHALLTOWN — Clear Lake’s Ashley DeLong and Tate Storbeck won the Class 1A state co-ed golf tournament on Tuesday at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown. DeLong and Storbeck won the tiebreaker over Maddy and Ethan Streicher of Edgewood-Colesburg after both pairings finished regulation with a 73. Clear Lake’s other entry of Mattie Krause and Easton DeVries finished 27th with a 90. In the 2A state co-ed tournament at Cedar Pointe in Boone, Mason City’s Thea Lunning and JJ Wickman finished fifth with a 77, two shots behind the champions Taylor Sedivec and Nathan Petrak of Johnston. The Mohawks’ other entry of Sophie Lunning and Jackson Wickman finished with a score of 102. MASON CITY – NIACC softball players Hannah Faktor and Kaci Sherwood both were selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association junior college Division II all-Midwest Region first team.Faktor, a freshman who was also a first-team all-NJCAA Region XI selection, was selected to the all-region team as a catcher. She hit .416 with 12 doubles, five home runs and 33 RBIs.Sherwood, a sophomore who was also a first-team all-NJCAA Region XI selection, was selected to the all-region team as an infielder. Sherwood hit .453 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs.DMACC placed five players on the all-Midwest first team. Kirkwood had three on the first team and one on the second team, Iowa Central landed two on the first team and three on the second team, and Iowa Lakes had two on the first team. — other baseball last nightCharles City 5, Decorah 3Humboldt 21, Forest City 4 (5 Innings)West Fork 13, Rockford 0 (5 innings) — other softballHampton-Dumont 6, Osage 3Nashua-Plainfield 16, West Hancock 5
ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS — Minnesota Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren will take over as the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference after Jim Delaney’s retirement at the beginning of 2020. Warren will begin duties in September and work alongside Delaney for a few months. Warren has been with the Vikings since 2005 and was with the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions prior to that. He has also served as a sports agent and an attorney. Warren says he’s thrilled to become the new Big Ten commissioner.Warren says he is grateful for the opportunity to take over the Big Ten.Warren is a former college basketball player at both Penn and Grand Canyon State, and has a Master’s degree from Arizona State and a law degree from Notre Dame. CLEVELAND (AP) — Francisco Lindor hit two of Cleveland’s four home runs and the Indians defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2. Lindor hit a solo home run in the third and broke a 1-all tie with a two-run homer in the fifth. Roberto Perez and Jake Bauers added back-to-back homers in the seventh. Shane Bieber (5-2) gave up solo homers to Marwin Gonzalez in the second and Eddie Rosario in the sixth. He allowed two runs and struck out seven in seven-plus innings. MANLY — Central Springs scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the first and held off Clear Lake for a 3-2, six-inning lightning-shortened win in high school softball last night, as you heard on AM-1490 & 96.7-FM KRIB. Abby Pate had two hits and two runs batted in for the Panthers. Central Springs is 7-4 overall and will host Garner-Hayfield-Ventura tonight. Clear Lake drops to 2-2 on the season and will travel to Algona tonight in North Central Conference play. The baseball matchup between the two schools was halted in the top of the 5th with Clear Lake leading 14-2, but it is not an official game under IHSAA rules since five innings must have been completed.
WASHINGTON — Iowa U-S Senator Joni Ernst says an infrastructure bill that cleared a senate committee last week includes money for replacing Iowa bridges and repairing some locks and dams. Ernst is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The panel passed the 287-billion dollar bill unanimously.In addition to infrastructure funding, Ernst says the bill removes “Washington red tape” to streamline project funding. “For Iowa, specifically, we really need to be able to deliver the transportation infrastructure projects that keep our people and our economy moving,” Ernst said.Several provisions from Ernst were included in the final version of the bill, including funding for lock and dam modernization, additional transportation planning funding and an amendment that will ensure Iowa’s portion of highway funding is maintained. Additionally, the bill includes more than three-billion dollars for bridge replacements, something Ernst says is needed in Iowa. “Right now, Iowa currently has the most structurally-deficient bridges in the nation,” Ernst says.The bill does include a grant program for charging stations for electric vehicles. Ernst says she is disappointed the provision doesn’t apply to new ethanol and biodiesel pumps. “Not having that included in that grant program was really disappointing to me, but I’ll continue working with my colleagues on that issue,” Ernst says.In the end, Ernst says it’s rare to have a bill pass a senate committee unanimously. “Making sure that our infrastructure is taken care of is very important to everyone,” she said, “regardless of what state we come from.”The bill will now head to the full Senate for consideration.
MASON CITY — A Hampton man faces several charges after a pursuit in Mason City on Saturday morning. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department says a deputy conducted a traffic stop shortly before 1 o’clock at 4th and South Pierce. They say 44-year-old Troy Wiebke sped away from the deputy at a high rate of speed with a pursuit going through northwestern Mason City, going through several parks and streets. The pursuit ended when Wiebke drove westbound on railroad tracks along South Pierce on the north side of Black Pit. Wiebke lost control of the vehicle, crashing into a group of trees. He then fled on foot, got into the water and attempted to swim away, and later had to be rescued from the pit with deputies and other officers swimming out to pull him to shore. Wiebke was charged with felony eluding, driving while barred, operating while under the influence, driving while revoked, driving under suspension and was also being held on a Floyd County warrant for failure to appear in court.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Mourners filed into a sanctuary in Minneapolis on Thursday for the first in a series of a memorials to George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police has sparked sporadic violence and turbulent protests around the world against racial injustice.The afternoon service was set for North Central University, where the civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton was among those scheduled to eulogize the 46-year-old Floyd.“He was a human being. He had family, he had dreams, he had hopes. The real duty of one with this type of assignment is to underscore the value of the human life that was taken, which gives the reason the movement was occurring,” Sharpton said ahead of the gathering.Inside the sanctuary, a golden casket was flanked by white and purple flowers, and an image was projected above the pulpit of a mural of Floyd painted at the street corner where he was pinned to the pavement by police. The message on the mural: “I can breathe now.”The sanctuary normally seats 1,000, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, the capacity was reduced to about 500, and mourners wore masks.The Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley prayed over the casket. Sen. Amy Klobuchar also arrived. A band and choir performed the gospel standard “Goin’ Up Yonder” as the sanctuary began to fill.Seats were also reserved for actors and comedians Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Regina Hall; actor and producer Tyler Perry; Martin Luther King III; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and others, though it wasn’t certain that all would attend.Memorials are set to take place in three cities over six days: After the Minneapolis event, Floyd’s body will go to Raeford, North Carolina, where he was born, for a public viewing and private family service on Saturday.Next, a public viewing will be held Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life. Then a 500-person service will take place Tuesday at the Fountain of Praise church.The farewells for Floyd — an out-of-work bouncer who was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store and died after a white officer pressed his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck for several minutes — come as demonstrations around the globe continue.In the U.S., where protests had been marked by bouts of lawlessness earlier in the week, relative quiet continued for a second straight night Wednesday following a decision by prosecutors to charge the three other Minneapolis officers at the scene of Floyd’s death with aiding and abetting a murder.Authorities also filed a new, more serious murder charge — second-degree, up from third-degree — against the officer at the center of the case, Derek Chauvin.If convicted, they could get 40 years in prison.The three officers newly charged in the Floyd’s death — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — were due to make a first court appearance Thursday. Chauvin is not due in court until Monday.Meantime, in Georgia, a white father and son charged in another killing of a black man that has raised racial tensions in the U.S. made a court appearance Thursday via video. A state investigator testified that Travis McMichael was heard uttering a racist slur as he stood over the body of Ahmaud Arbery after killing him with three blasts from a pump-action shotgun.The new charges in Minneapolis punctuated an unprecedented week in recent American history, in which largely peaceful protests took place in communities of all sizes but were rocked by bursts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, theft, vandalism and arson. In Minneapolis alone, more than 220 buildings were damaged or burned, with damage topping $55 million, city officials said.Nationwide, more than 10,000 people have been arrested, an Associated Press tally found. More than a dozen deaths have been reported, though the circumstances in many cases are still being sorted out.From Paris and London to Tel Aviv, Sydney, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, Floyd’s death has triggered demonstrations, with protesters decrying inequality, police brutality and other problems in their own countries.“It’s a solidarity question. We stand with our brothers, internationally, our sisters as well, but the same thing is happening here. It’s no different,” Isaak Kabenge said in Stockholm.The attorney for Floyd’s family, Ben Crump, called the additional charges against the officers “a bittersweet moment” and “a significant step forward on the road to justice.”Hundreds of protesters were in New York City’s Washington Square Park when the charges were announced.“It’s not enough,” protester Jonathan Roldan said, insisting all four officers should have been charged from the start. “Right now, we’re still marching because it’s not enough that they got arrested. There needs to be systematic change.”The mood in New York turned somber later in the day after a police officer on an anti-looting patrol was ambushed by a man who walked up behind him and stabbed him in the neck. Two other officers suffered gunshot wounds to their hands in the struggle, and the attacker was in critical condition after being shot by police.The new second-degree murder charge alleges Chauvin caused Floyd’s death without intent while committing another felony, namely assault. It carries a heavier sentence than the third-degree charge, which is punishable by up to 25 years behind bars.At a protest in the nation’s capital, 30-year-old Jade Jones said the demonstrations would continue despite the new charges.“That’s the least they could do,” Jones said. “It’s not going to wipe away 400 years of pain.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtmg1ZfdYNo
MASON CITY — Mason City’s mayor is encouraging people to continue to use good social distancing practices and wear a face mask when possible.Bill Schickel says the number of cases in Cerro Gordo County has jumped 70% since the start of the month from 29 to 62 as of Wednesday morning. “Obviously this means we need to continue to take physical distancing seriously. This means staying six feet apart and wearing a mask when out and about. I know this is a difficult message, but it’s really what we need to do in order to get through this thing together, and we will get through it together.”Schickel says the uptick in numbers is due to community spread. “Our health department people say this is community spread, it’s not one location or one organization where this is coming from, so it’s coming from day-to-day contact.”Schickel says the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health is doing a good job of tracking COVID-19 cases. “They have had two personnel on contact tracing. In other words, if you become in touch with someone that had COVID, then that person has to be notified and asked to self-isolate. They’ve actually doubled the number of people, they are up to four people now that are assigned to this contact tracing. The health department is concerned that if we don’t keep our physical distance, then these numbers will increase.”Schickel made his comments on the weekly Cerro Gordo County COVID-19 press conference as you heard live on AM-1300 KGLO. To watch the press conference in its entirety, you can view it below.
Share on: WhatsApp “It’s beyond calculation and beyond rationality.”NOT STAYING: Pique (right) and Neymar (left).– ‘Transfer of the century’ –However, in the French capital there is huge excitement at PSG’s Qatari-backed project landing a star name to finally make them feared among European football’s elite with even French president Emmanuel Macron enthused.“It adds attractiveness. Yes, it’s good news,” said Macron.“Neymar to PSG — the transfer of the century”, splashed Le Parisien’s front page on Thursday with the first five pages devoted to his impending arrival.The mood is understandably more sombre in Barcelona where attention has turned to who the Catalans can sign to replace Neymar in the month before the transfer window closes.Neymar’s Brazilian international teammate Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele have both been linked.There is also scepticism at the role played by PSG’s owners Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) at a time of political crisis for the energy-rich state which has been boycotted by its Gulf neighbours in recent months and will play host to the World Cup in 2022.Spanish newspaper El Mundo described the move as a “state signing.”But whilst La Liga protests at losing one of its biggest stars, Barca’s players have continued to wish their now former teammate well.“My friend I wish you the best in everything that comes!!!” Luis Suarez posted on Instagram alongside a picture of the two hugging.“Also thank you for your support, for everything that I learned with you and for the unique moments that we spent together!!!! Keep like this and never change love you little bro.” Neymar signs five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain Paris, France | AFP | Neymar completed his world record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday when he signed a five-year contract, the French club announced.The 25-year-old Brazilian earlier broke his contract with Barcelona by paying a 222 million-euro ($264 million, £201 million) buyout clause.Barca confirmed Neymar’s lawyers “made the payment of 222 million euros in the player’s name” to release him from the five-year contract he signed just last year.His new mark is more than double the previous record set by Manchester United’s capture of Paul Pogba from Juventus last year for 105 million euros, leaving many commentators aghast at the rampant inflation in football transfer fees.Earlier, Spain’s football league threatened to stall the saga by refusing to accept a cheque presented by Neymar’s representatives at its Madrid headquarters.La Liga president Javier Tebas accused the French club of breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules.Clubs can be sanctioned by European football’s governing body for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.However, UEFA insisted the move will not automatically trigger a failure to comply with FFP regulations.“The transfer of Neymar to PSG will have an effect on the club’s finances over several years but the impact of such an operation cannot be judged in advance, notably as PSG could well sell several players for a significant amount,” UEFA said in a statement to AFP.Barca added that they will aid UEFA in any future enquiry into whether the French side fall foul of regulations.“The club will pass on to UEFA the details of the above operation so that they can determine the disciplinary responsibilities that may arise from this case,” continued the Barca statement.Leading coaches such as Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho lamented that the move could cause even greater inflation in transfer fees and player wages.“It also looks like the inflation is accelerating,” said Wenger, whose 21 years at Arsenal have been characterised by prudent spending.
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Alexis Sanchez has endured a torrid start to his Manchester United career but hinted at better things to come with an impressive display in a central role ahead of the Champions League match against Juventus.The injured Romelu Lukaku missed the 2-1 win at Bournemouth on Saturday and Marcus Rashford started on the bench as Jose Mourinho opted for a three-man forward line, with Anthony Martial and Juan Mata deployed either side of Sanchez.The former Arsenal man was instrumental in United’s first-half equaliser, setting up Martial, and will be disappointed to have been substituted towards the end of the game.The match, won by substitute Rashford in injury time, was a rare high point for the Chile international, who has struggled to find his feet since arriving at Old Trafford in January — it was his first league start since September 22.Following the much-needed win against Bournemouth, Mourinho praised Sanchez and spelt out his preferred system, saying he did not need a traditional centre-forward to lead his attack.“The way I like to play is with three attacking players where there is not a clear definition of the winger as a winger,” he said, adding that he likes wide men with a striker’s appetite.“And I always had that in my team, with the wingers scoring a lot of goals, sometimes even more goals than the striker,” he said.“So it’s not impossible at all to have in the same team at the same time Rashford, Lukaku, Alexis for example. But today Romelu was not available and we thought that Alexis could do what he did.“What he did, he had a good assist, he had some mobility, he created some problems but then in the second half I knew that by having the two brothers on the bench, Rashford and (Jesse) Lingard, I knew that the brothers could come in and also make an impact.”– Ronaldo challenge – United now travel to Juventus for another date with former favourite son Cristiano Ronaldo, two weeks after they were outplayed during a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford that left them five points adrift of the Italian champions in Group H.Despite Mourinho’s stated preference for a multi-dimensional attack, keeping Lukaku out of the starting line-up will be tricky, with the manager proving loyal to his muscular front man.The Belgium international, who has not found the net for the club since mid-September, is not the only United forward who has gone off the boil, with Rashford also struggling despite his goal at the weekend.Martial’s goals have been papering over the cracks during United’s recent mini-recovery, with the Frenchman earning the manager’s trust at last.Former United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Rashford should be given a run in the starting line-up, even though he said it is not clear what his best position is yet.“You look at Lukaku. Lukaku’s goalscoring record is up there, it’s fantastic, he scores goals,” added the TV pundit. “But in the best teams you need more than that.“You need to be able to bring other people into play, you need to be able to complement other players in your team, things have to be set up off you.“At the moment, I see in a Man Utd shirt that some things break down in Lukaku. And that affects other players in the team, like (Paul) Pogba and Lingard, who want to play off people.”Share on: WhatsApp
Share on: WhatsApp FILE PHOTO: Man City looking to another titleFixturesSunday 5pmBrighton v Manchester City, Burnley v Arsenal, Crystal Palace v Bournemouth, Fulham v Newcastle, Leicester v Chelsea, Liverpool v Wolves, Manchester United v Cardiff, Southampton v Huddersfield, Tottenham v Everton, Watford v West HamLondon, United Kingdom | AFP | A thrilling Premier League title race comes down to the final day of the season on Sunday when Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will have to make history if they are to overtake leaders Manchester City and end their 29-year domestic title drought.City lead by a single point, so to get their hands on the trophy Liverpool will have to become the first team in the history of Europe’s richest domestic club competition to move above the leaders on the final day.Pep Guardiola’s City are firm favourites to retain the title as they travel to Brighton, a team that narrowly avoided relegation. Liverpool take on Wolves at Anfield, dreaming of a second dramatic turnaround in a week after the memorable 4-0 win against Barcelona on Tuesday that propelled them into the Champions League final.The last team to start the final day in first place and not win the title were in fact Liverpool in 1989, when Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Anfield clinched the old First Division.Whichever club does win will have earned the trophy the hard way.City, on 95 points, have won their past 13 Premier League matches to wipe out a seven-point lead for Liverpool and are on the brink of becoming the first team to win successive titles since Manchester United in 2009.Klopp’s men, with 94 points, have recovered from a mid-season stumble to record eight straight victories.To underline the two clubs’ dominance, third-placed Chelsea only have 71 points going into their final game against Leicester City.Liverpool, who have been English champions 18 times but have not won since the 1989-1990 season, face the scarcely credible scenario of ending the season with the third-highest points tally in Premier League history and a single defeat yet still missing out.Abu Dhabi-owned City look almost certain to finish off the job and Guardiola said he has so much faith in his players that a pre-match team-talk will not be necessary.“I don’t have to say anything to motivate them. I think my speech on Sunday will be zero,” he said.“They want to win the Premier League. From what I saw in the training sessions, they want to win it, knowing that we can lose it.“We saw in the Champions League in the last week why this game is amazing. But we want to win. So we are going to go out there at Brighton to try to win the game.” If City only draw and Liverpool beat Wolves, it would hand the title to the Reds.City cannot quite match the record 100 points they mustered last season but they have shown their ability to dig deep in recent weeks.Guardiola’s side have racked up 91 goals this season, but three of their past four wins have been 1-0 victories, including the nervy match against Leicester on Monday settled by a Vincent Kompany strike. It kept City on course for a historic domestic treble, which would underline their status as the dominant force in the English game.– ‘It’s not in our hands’ –Klopp will have to re-focus his players’ minds after their heroics against Barcelona as they cling to the hope that City will slip up against Brighton.“We think about Wolves now,” said Klopp, who despite his stellar reputation has not won a major trophy since 2012.“(Barcelona) was for sure one of the best moments in football history, not only Liverpool. But it has nothing to do with the weekend except that we should be confident.”The Liverpool narrative has changed dramatically since they humiliated Lionel Messi’s Spanish giants amid ecstatic scenes at Anfield.Even if they fall short on Sunday they have the chance to become champions of Europe for a sixth time if they beat fellow Premier League club Tottenham in Madrid on June 1.Regardless of whether Liverpool finish the weekend on top, Klopp insists he is happy with his team’s progress after four years in charge.“Sunday is our last Premier League game. If we can win it, it’s not in our hands what we get, but it doesn’t make our season a little bit less good. It’s just a different finish,” he said.Behind the front two, all the issues in the Premier League are virtually done and dusted.Barring a spectacular swing in goal difference, Tottenham will finish above Arsenal and mathematically secure the remaining Champions League spot alongside Chelsea, while the highest Manchester United can finish is fifth.Wolves, in seventh place, cannot be caught and will earn a Europa League spot provided Watford do not beat City in the FA Cup final.
Real Madrid win the Spanish Super Cup.Paris, France | AFP | Several countries may be in the midst of their winter breaks, but the football goes on elsewhere, with Spain’s biggest clubs having an eventful few days in Saudi Arabia while the race for the title continues in Serie A and Ligue 1.AFP Sport looks back at the main talking points from the weekend:– Madrid invigorated by Super Cup win –Real Madrid’s success in the Spanish Super Cup cements their status as the form team in La Liga and might make Manchester City nervous too ahead of their Champions League showdown next month.After brushing aside Valencia in the semi-finals, Zinedine Zidane’s team beat Atletico Madrid on penalties in Sunday’s final in Saudi Arabia to secure their 11th triumph in the competition and first trophy this season.With Barcelona in a mess following defeat by Atletico, Real now look in a strong position to step forward in the title race while City no longer appear such a daunting prospect either. Real return to Spain invigorated.– Can PSG stick with ‘Fantastic Four’? –Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has found a way of squeezing four of the world’s best attackers into his line-up in recent weeks and been rewarded handsomely for it.Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria and Mauro Icardi have been in outstanding form along with their team, the “Fantastic Four” contributing 58 goals between them since the campaign began.However, the question has always been whether Tuchel could afford to play all four together, and thereby risk leaving his team lacking balance, against stronger opposition.To that end, PSG’s display in drawing 3-3 with Monaco on Sunday will have left the coach with plenty to ponder as a Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund comes into view.Neymar scored twice and also forced an own-goal, but PSG were often left looking like a team cut in two when Monaco counter-attacked. They conceded three goals in a home league game for the first time since October 2010 and Dortmund — with an impressive attack of their own — will have found it interesting viewing.– Monaco impress under Moreno –In contrast, Monaco produced an encouraging performance in their first Ligue 1 match under new coach Robert Moreno. While their defence remains a problem, the principality side highlighted the strength of their own attacking arsenal — Wissam Ben Yedder, Keita Balde, Gelson Martins and Aleksandr Golovin cost a combined 130 million euros ($144.5m) while substitute Islam Slimani, who scored their equaliser, is on loan from Leicester City.Monaco will now be hoping to cause PSG more problems when the teams meet again on Wednesday at the Stade Louis II, where the home side have won their last six league games.– Lazio ‘click’ into Scudetto mode –Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi warned that his side have what it takes to lift a first Scudetto in two decades, as they sit third in Serie A six points behind leaders Juventus.The Roman club beat Napoli 1-0 for a club record 10th consecutive league win to overtake Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team’s run in 1998-99. Eriksson led Lazio to their last Serie A title in 2000.“What are we missing to win a Scudetto? At this moment I say very little,” said Inzaghi.Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile brought his tally this season to 20 in the league.“We have improved a lot, something has clicked in our heads,” said Immobile. “We’re reaping what we began sowing four years ago. We must keep our feet on the ground, not lose our heads.”– Portugal’s Fernandes impresses suitors –Amid growing reports in England that Manchester United want to sign him this month, Portugal star Bruno Fernandes produced another impressive performance for his club at the weekend.The 25-year-old scored twice as Sporting Lisbon, who are fourth in the Portuguese league, won 3-1 at a Vitoria Setubal side who had asked for the game to be called off after almost their entire squad was laid low by a flu epidemic.Fernandes, who has eight league goals for an under-performing Sporting, has been strongly linked with a 70 million-euro switch to Old Trafford in the January window.Share on: WhatsApp
Tropical Storm Barry is getting stronger as it approaches Louisiana.The latest update from the National Hurricane Center says Barry is about 50 miles from Louisiana and moving toward the coast at about five miles-per-hour.The storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles-per-hour, and is intensifying as it gets closer to land.Tropical Storm Barry is expected to make landfall Saturday morning, and could turn into a hurricane.If it does, it’ll be the first Atlantic hurricane of 2019.