YORK — Gunner Hammett remembers little of his early childhood when he battled chronic respiratory illness and asthma. The 11-year-old from York County is more interested in looking forward to possible Olympics glory than back to his childhood trauma.

Although the greatest stage in the world for athletes remains a distant dream, the young runner’s recent performances have left him eying the Olympics in his future.

The student from Queens Lake Middle School returned from the AAU Junior Olympics at Drake University in Iowa this summer clutching three national records for his age group as well as gold medals in the 200, 400 and 800-meter events. Gunner broke his own world record in the 800 meters.

Gunner clocked 2:07.45 in the 800 meters, smashing the record of 2:09.38 he set on Father’s Day at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia.

“Many are calling this one of the greatest performances of all time by any age group,” said Gunner’s biggest supporter and trainer, his father, Clinton Hammett. Although he has few doubts about his son’s abilities, he said Gunner confounded him in the 200 meters.

“The biggest surprise was the 200 meters because in 2019 he was too slow to qualify in that event,” Hammett said. “In 2021, he qualified but never made it out of the first of three rounds.”

The Williamsburg-area middle schooler has been leaving the competition far behind for the last few years. In 2022, when he represented Virginia in the Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina, Gunner won gold medals and became a national champion in the 400, 800 and 4×400 relay events. It was a far cry from 2019 when he ended up in 56th place in the 800 meters.

Clinton Hammett never imagined track glory for his son in his early years when he struggled with illness, but recognized his will to win. “He is an overcomer having been diagnosed with chronic respiratory illness and asthma as a small child,” he said. “Up until he was 3 or so, we had him on a nebulizer and constant breathing treatment to make sure his lungs were cleared out. We are thankful that he was able to overcome that. He’s a fighter.”

Gunner spends little time thinking about the past and doesn’t remember having asthma. He is proud, he said, of his accomplishments and is already looking to his future.

“My family keeps me motivated,” he said. “I want to make it to the Olympics some day.”

The preteen faces a grueling regime to remain ahead of the competition. He trains three days a week after school and does push-ups and crunches on nontraining days. He’s not on an athletic team at present, but his family is his team, according to his father.

Gunner’s mother, Symone, takes him to tracks at colleges or high schools in Newport News after school to train with his dad. They get home at 8:30 p.m.

“He enjoys a challenge,” Clinton Hammett said. “The secret of his success is he is extremely determined and he enjoys what he is doing. You have to find an appreciation for it. For him to do that by himself without a track team and to learn to run against the clock. It’s literally me, him and the clock that he’s running against on a daily basis.”

Hammett praises his son’s attitude off the track, as well. “We are people of faith,” he said. “The good Lord would never steer us in the wrong direction and has provided a platform for him to showcase his ability and give folks hope that they can get there, too, if they work hard.”

He described a moment after Gunner broke the world record. “An athlete was crying and having trouble getting up. Gunner went over and helped the athlete up. That was very touching,” Hammett said.

Gunner has lost count of how many gold medals he holds. By his father’s count, Gunner is a world record holder, a five-time national record holder, was voted an MVP of the Junior Olympics, is 18 times All-American and a nine-time national champion.

Gunner is already attracting attention on social media as his performances appear on YouTube. His father firmly believe Gunner has a shot at the Olympics one day.

Why? “He’s driven.”

David Macaulay, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants have been accused of breaking a variety of criminal laws in the Georgia 2020 election subversion case, but one crime ties all their alleged misconduct together: the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The state law – which is commonly referred to as RICO – is similar to the federal version of the statue that targets so-called criminal enterprises. Georgia’s law allows prosecutors to pull an array of conduct – including activities that took place outside of the state of Georgia but may have been part of a broad conspiracy – into their indictments.

Those convicted of racketeering charges also face steeper penalties, a point of leverage for prosecutors if they are hoping to flip potential co-conspirators or encourage defendants to take plea deals.

“Federal RICO is a very big deal. It’s difficult to prove, and it’s used pretty sparingly. Georgia RICO is a different animal. It’s easier to prove,” said Kenneth White, a defense attorney familiar with the federal law. “The point is, it’s used very aggressively there.”

For Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the law has been her calling card. The Atlanta-area prosecutor has used it in a number of high-profile cases she’s previously brought in Georgia against school officials, gangs and musicians, including the rapper Young Thug.

“The reason that I am a fan of RICO is, I think, jurors are very, very intelligent,” Willis told reporters in 2022 at a new conference about a gang-related indictment. “They want to know what happened. They want to make an accurate decision about someone’s life. And so, RICO is a tool that allows a prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to tell the whole story.”

The historic 41-count indictment unsealed Monday accuses Trump and the other defendants of being part of a broad conspiracy to attempt to overturn the 2020 election result in the Peach State.

“The enterprise constituted an ongoing organization whose members and associates functioned as a continuing unit for a common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise,” the 98-page indictment states.

“The enterprise operated in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, in other states, including, but not limited to, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and in the District of Columbia,” the indictment adds.

Prosecutors say the criminal actions the charge is built around include: making false statements, filing false documents and forgeries, impersonating officials, computer breaches and attempts to influence witnesses.

Several of the acts alleged to have made up the racketeering conspiracy involved states other than Georgia.

Among the 161 alleged acts that the indictment states were done in furtherance of a conspiracy to reverse Trump’s electoral loss were the several episodes of outreach from Trump and his advisers to state legislators in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. The indictment also highlighted the effort to organize fake electors in Wisconsin, Arizona and other states, in addition to the coordination of an alternative slate of electors in Georgia.

White and other legal experts stressed that Willis’ use of RICO against Trump and his co-defendants will allow prosecutors to easily tie alleged conduct into their case.

“I think that there are strategic benefits at trial to having a big overarching statute because it makes it easier to bring in outside conduct without having (an evidentiary) hearing,” said Andrew Fleischman, a Georgia criminal defense attorney.

But, he added, RICO cases “do introduce complexities that slow down a case that make it procedurally more difficult to move forward.”

___

Giuliani’s RICO connection

Among the 19 defendants charged on Monday is former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who is accused of illegally soliciting Georgia state lawmakers, making false statements to the Georgia House and Senate and the effort to put forward fake electors in Georgia.

Like the others, Giuliani is also charged under the Georgia RICO law. But the offense being brought against him is especially notable given his successful use of the federal RICO statute during efforts to prosecute various mafia figures in the 1980s when he served as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Giuliani has long maintained that he’s responsible for changing the way the 1970 federal law is used to combat crime.

”Using it against the (mafia) commission,” Giuliani told The New York Times in 1989, ”that was an idea that no one had until I developed it and went down to Washington and started talking about it. And I came to the office with it.”

___

Willis’ history with RICO

Willis’ past use of the RICO law had thrust her into the national spotlight long before the conduct described in Monday’s indictment allegedly took place.

In 2015, when she was serving as an assistant district attorney in the county, Willis made headlines when she charged teachers, principals and other education officials in an Atlanta Public School cheating scandal.

After a 7-month trial, Willis secured convictions for 11 of the 12 defendants charged with racketeering and other crimes related to cheating that was believed to date to early 2001, when scores on statewide skills tests began to rise in the 50,000-student school district.

Last year, Willis brought RICO charges against Young Thug and the rapper Gunna, accusing them and others with conspiracy to violate the law and participation in criminal street gang activity.

Prosecutors in that case say Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is one of the founders of Young Slime Life (YSL), an alleged criminal street gang that began in Atlanta. The indictment, which spans nearly 100 pages, charges the musician with counts relating to gang activity and drug and firearms violations.

It includes a number of things as evidence for the defendants’ alleged crimes, including photos posted on social media as well as lyrics from some of the rapper’s popular songs – a tactic that ignited backlash from other artists.

According to that indictment, Williams and others “conspired to associate together and with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity and conducting and participating in the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.”

Williams’ attorney has vehemently denied the charges against him, telling CNN last year his client “has committed no crime whatsoever,” and that they looked forward to a trial. The trial, which began with jury selection in January, has already taken months, while the rapper remains in jail. Late last month, the judge again denied bond for the rapper, according to court documents.

Willis also charged 26 individuals who are alleged members of a hybrid gang known as the Drug Rich Gang under RICO, charging they took part in a criminal enterprise that included home invasions, kidnappings, armed robberies and shootings.

“I have a message today that you will hear repeated time and time again,” Willis said at the time. “If you thought Fulton was a good county to bring your crime to, to bring your violence to, you are wrong, and you are going to suffer consequences.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

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A steady rise in recent weeks of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, while no comparison to the darkest days of the last three years, aptly demonstrates the folly of letting so many valuable pandemic-era programs needlessly expire.

Vaccine uptake, antiviral treatments, health care experience and public awareness are all greater than ever before, so there’s almost no risk of a full-blown resurgence. But the virus isn’t through with us, and maintaining successful initiatives — such as the distribution of free test kits and the publishing of reliable data — would help Americans make more informed choices for themselves and their families.

If you’ve noticed more friends and family testing positive for COVID recently, it’s not an aberration. While raw case data is no longer a reliable indication of the virus’s severity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls reports a 14.3% increase in hospitalizations week over week and a 10% increase in deaths.

While nothing like January 2021 or January 2022, when more than 20,000 Americans died each week, the slight increase warrants our attention — because we head into these mini-waves without some of the best tools we deployed to fight it.

The national emergency and public health emergency declarations related to COVID expired in May, ushering in a new phase of the pandemic. Since then, about 3.8 million Americans have lost their health insurance as eligibility waivers expired, and countless others have seen the parameters of their insurance change as companies were no longer compelled to cover many COVID-related costs.

Federal, state and local governments collected and disseminated public health data throughout the pandemic, recognizing that communities equipped with more information could make informed choices that slow the spread of infection. The COVID case data being collected now is haphazard and unreliable; the most informative modeling, such as community-level infection data (i.e. “community spread”), is a thing of the past.

The federal government also ended a program that would mail free COVID testing kits to anyone who requested them. While the at-home kits weren’t 100% reliable, they did well to tell an individual if they could have the virus or if they should isolate while confirming a diagnosis. How many infections were avoided because someone using a kit stayed home from work or from school rather than risk it?

And then there’s the tricky issue of “long COVID,” which is generally described as symptoms from a COVID infection that last weeks, months and even years. Precious little research has been conducted into this affliction affecting up to 23 million Americans. Little is known about how best to care for those who suffer or how to design programs that capably support them.

While the United States should not have indefinitely extended all its pandemic-era programming, a functioning federal legislature could have ended those programs no longer deemed necessary while protecting those that still had value and purpose. Providing free testing kits, for example, makes plenty of sense as colleges and secondary schools are set to welcome back students to classrooms that still lack adequate ventilation.

Unfortunately, the same partisan bickering about the pandemic that undermined the national effort against COVID infects Congress — indeed, many of those who serve are misinformation super-spreaders — leaving the American people to fend for themselves.

That’s great if you’re healthy, gainfully employed with generous medical insurance and fully vaccinated. For those who work at-risk jobs in health care, food service or agricultural settings, who lack health coverage, who are immunocompromised, cannot take the vaccines due to allergies or otherwise vulnerable, however, you’re effectively on your own.

So please, be cautious out there. Stay home if you show symptoms. Stay up to date on the vaccines. Consider masking in high-risk and poorly ventilated areas.

We know that COVID is, in all likelihood, here to stay. That is most challenging to those at greatest risk, for whom we should be doing more in the interest of protecting public health.

By MARIA SHERMAN (AP Music Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Madonna ‘s rescheduled Celebration Tour will kick off in Brooklyn, New York, in a matter of months.

In June, Madonna suffered what her manager called a “serious bacterial infection” that led to her hospitalization in an intensive care unit for several days. The North American leg of her Celebration Tour was originally scheduled to start July 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and to run through October 8 in Las Vegas. It was postponed as she recovered.

Her tour will now start on October 14, at London’s O2 Arena.

On Tuesday, Live Nation announced that the majority of Madonna’s North American tour dates have been rescheduled. They immediately follow a stint in the U.K. and Europe, kicking off on December 13 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and running through April 24, 2024, when it will conclude at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes.

Dates in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Phoenix — as well as Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Nashville, Tennessee — have been canceled due to scheduling conflicts. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.

At the time of the initial tour postponement, Madonna shared a message on Instagram. “I’m on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life,” the pop superstar wrote. “My focus now is on my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I’ll be back with you as soon as I can.”

Her manager, Guy Oseary, originally broke the news. Madonna “developed a serious bacterial infection which led to a several-day stay in the ICU,” he wrote on Instagram. “Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.”

VIRGINIA BEACH — In a 10-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council formally adopted a redistricting plan and authorized a ward-based election system, the same method that was used in the November 2022 elections.

Councilwoman Barbara Henley voted against it.

The city will next need to seek 2024 General Assembly approval for a charter change or propose a new state law to address the inconsistency between the new district maps and the city’s current charter.

The Virginia Beach School Board is elected by the same system as the City Council.

Virginia Beach used to have four members including the mayor who were elected at large. Those four could live anywhere in the city and were elected by residents across the city. The remaining seven members represented districts but were elected by the population at large.

In 2017, the city was sued over its previous at-large voting system, and in 2021, a federal judge deemed it illegal because it diluted minority voting power. The court imposed a 10-1 system for Virginia Beach while appointing a special master to draw 10 new voting district maps.

The city appealed, and the case was declared moot after the General Assembly approved legislation that requires district representatives for the City Council and School Board only appear on ballots for the voters who reside within the bounds of the district.

The 10-1 system, with the mayor elected at-large, was used in 2022, but the City Council had not yet formally adopted it. Several speakers at Tuesday’s meeting questioned the validity of the 2022 elections citing that the current charter remains in effect.

Earlier this year, the city gathered public feedback on local elections through a survey. A majority of respondents wanted to keep the ward system.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected] 

Drew Rom foiled his former team with six innings of one-hit ball and Matt Koperniak hit a two-run double to cap a three-run fifth inning as the Memphis Redbirds blanked the Norfolk Tides 5-0 on Tuesday night to open a six-game series in Tennessee.

The Tides (69-45, 21-19 in second half) slipped back into an offensive funk after snapping a six-game skid with a 13-7 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday. They managed only three hits against Rom and three relievers.

Rom (9-6), whom the Baltimore Orioles traded to St. Louis along with second baseman César Prieto for pitcher Jack Flaherty, struck out eight and walked one in his second start for the Redbirds (57-58, 18-22). He’s allowed one earned run on two hits in 11 innings (0.81 ERA) since the trade.

Relievers Guillermo Zuñiga, Ryan Loutos and Jacob Barnes tossed an inning each to finish the shutout. The Tides struck out 13 times.

Chayce McDermott (3-1) suffered his first loss with Norfolk, but gave up only one run on four hits in five innings. He fanned seven and walked two.

Masyn Winn provided all the offense Memphis would need with an RBI triple off McDermott in the bottom of the third inning.

Koperniak’s two-run double came off Noah Denoyer in the sixth. Richie Palacios plated Koperniak with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

Nick Dunn worked a bases-loaded walk for the final run in the eighth.

Joey Ortiz, Kyle Stowers and Josh Lester had the Tides’ hits — all singles.

The two teams will play again at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.

COLLEGE SOCCER

Old Dominion men’s soccer coach Alan Dawson has decided to retire at the end of the upcoming season, ODU athletic director Wood Selig announced on Tuesday.

Current associate head coach Tennant McVea will take over as Monarchs head coach at the end of the season.

Dawson has posted a 257-168-52 record in 26 seasons with ODU, including three conference championships, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and nine national rankings in the final poll of the season.

Thank You Alan Dawson
Dawson To Retire At End of 2023 season, Tennant McVea Named Next ODU Men’s Soccer Head Coach#ODUSports | #Monarchs | #ReignOn https://t.co/Qh2YNMBk5w pic.twitter.com/Tj514o7vXs

— ODU Men’s Soccer (@ODUMensSoccer) August 15, 2023

• The Christopher Newport men’s soccer team has been ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason national rankings.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

Three locals among NSU’s 11 signees

Bayside High’s Ethan Blakeney and Parker Hampton and Booker T. Washington’s Alvaro Samboy are among 11 signees for Norfolk State’s baseball team, the program announced Tuesday.

Both Blakeney and Hampton are right-handed pitchers as well as utilitymen, while Samboy is an infielder.

The Spartans’ other signees were pitchers Seth Alexander (Mississippi Valley State) and Kydese Queen (Waldorf, Maryland), infielders Brendan Burke (Patrick Henry CC), Collin Curry (Salem University), Swaroop Pujari (Hermiker College), Terrence Rhodes (Benedictine College Prep) and outfielders Jalan Jones (Sanford, North Carolina) and Jamal Ritter (SUNY Old Westbury).

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Two SEC teams among Hokies’ non-league foes

Virginia Tech will face SEC foes Auburn and South Carolina among its 11 non-conference opponents this season.

The Hokies will also meet either Iowa State or VCU in the first day of a tournament in Orlando, Florida, Boise State, Coppin State, Campbell, Wofford, Valparaiso, Vermont and American.

Virginia Tech will open the season Nov. 6 against Coppin State at home.

Briefly

• Old Dominion volleyball player Myah Conway has been named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team. She led the Monarchs with 368 kills and 430 points last season. James Madison’s Miëtte Veldman was the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and the Dukes’ Sophie Davis was Defensive Player of the Year. JMU was picked to win the East Division of the preseason poll, while ODU was fifth out of seven teams.
• The Norfolk Admirals have signed defenseman Josh McDougall to a standard player contract for the 2023-24 season. He played in 42 games with Norfolk last season and totaled 10 points (three goals and seven assists).

Naval Air Force Atlantic will have a new commander on Thursday, as Rear Adm. John Meier is relieved by Rear Adm. Douglas Verissimo.

The change of command ceremony will be held aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower at Naval Station Norfolk.

Verissimo, who currently serves as the director of maritime operations at U.S. Fleet Forces Command, will take the helm of Naval Air Force Atlantic. The command is responsible for seven nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, 54 aircraft squadrons, 1,200 aircraft and 52,000 officers, enlisted and civilian personnel.

Verissimo is a native of Falmouth, Massachusetts. He earned his commission and designation as a naval aviator in July 1989. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from California State University, and

a master’s degree in campaign planning and strategy from the Joint Forces Staff College. Verissimo is also a graduate of the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program.

His operational assignments include Fist of the Fleet, Fighter Attack Squadron (VFA-25), catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS John C. Stennis; executive officer aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, and command of the USS Carl Vinson amphibious transport dock ship, USS New Orleans.

On shore duty, Verissimo served as an instructor at Fist of the Fleet, Fighter Attack Squadron; a demonstration pilot for U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, Blue Angels; and executive assistant to Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic and Joint Staff J3.

Verissimo’s flag tours include deputy director for operations, Operations Team TWO (J3), Commander Carrier Strike Group NINE, and Director Assessment Division. He assumed his duties as director of maritime operations at U.S. Fleet Forces Command in May 2022. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and various other personal, unit and service awards.

The change of command will culminate Meier’s 37-year career with the U.S. Navy and three years of leading the Norfolk-based command.

He assumed command of Naval Air Force Atlantic on May 1, 2020.

Meier has participated in operations around the world since Desert Storm, lead Southern Partnership Station and built the crew and culture of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) as her first commanding officer. He has accumulated over 4,000 flight hours and 675 carrier landings.

His decorations include the Legion of Merit and various other personal and unit level awards.

Caitlyn Burchett, [email protected]

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A legal showdown over the derailed plea deal for Hunter Biden continued Tuesday as prosecutors asserted that an agreement on a gun charge is dead along with the rest of the deal as the case makes a major shift into a special counsel investigation.

While the agreement that was supposed to have wrapped up the long-running investigation of President Joe Biden’s son largely unraveled during a contentious court hearing last month, prosecutors said the two sides had continued to negotiate until the defense rejected their final counterproposal the day before U.S. Attorney David Weiss asked to be named special counsel.

Lawyers for Hunter Biden have argued that prosecutors reneged on an agreement on tax charges but said a separate agreement sparing him prosecution on a gun charge remains valid. The agreement on the gun charge also contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for some other potential crimes.

Prosecutors denied reneging on any deal. While the agreement on the gun charge was signed by a prosecutor, probation agents didn’t sign it and so it never became valid, they argued.

The conflict is now in front of U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is weighing the prosecution’s motion to pull the tax misdemeanor charges they filed and potentially file them in another court like California or Washington.

Biden’s defense attorney on the case, Christopher Clark, also filed to withdraw from the case Tuesday, saying that he could be called as a witness over the negotiation and drafting of the deal and cannot also act as his lawyer. He’s been replaced by another Hunter Biden attorney, Abbe Lowell. He said in court documents that he wouldn’t fight the prosecution’s move to pull the tax charges.

The plea agreement had been decried as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans who are pursuing their own congressional investigations into nearly every facet of Biden’s business dealings and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.

The agreement had originally called for Biden to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, and get probation rather than jail on the misdemeanor counts. A separate agreement was to spare him prosecution on the felony crime of being a drug user in possession of a gun in 2018 if he kept out of trouble for two years.

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s surprise announcement last week of Weiss as special counsel raised fresh questions about the case ahead of the 2024 election. Hunter Biden’s history of drug use and financial dealings have trailed the political career of his father.

The case comes against the backdrop of the Justice Department’s indictments against former President Donald Trump — Joe Biden’s chief rival in next year’s election.

Trump has been indicted and is awaiting trial in two separate cases brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith. One is over Trump’s refusal to turn over classified documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The other involves charges of fraud and conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In the case of Hunter Biden, prosecutors have not made any accusations or charges against the president in probing the affairs of his son. House Republicans have been trying to connect Hunter Biden’s work to his father, but have not been able to produce evidence to show wrongdoing.