Free Republic

The Seattle SuperSonics Dance Team visited troops deployed to Contingency Operating Base Speicher, located in Tikrit, Iraq, June 11. The dance team wanted to show their appreciation for the military and decided to partake in their own deployment experiences. “My passion is dancing and performing,” said Pilita, a first-year dance team member. “This is the least I could do for the Soldiers. It’s a privilege to be here. I’ve learned a lot.” Not only has this experience been good for the troops, but the dancers have benefited as well in the short amount of time they have spent at COB...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City officials want Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz to know they expect the Seattle SuperSonics to relocate, regardless of who owns the team. An assistant municipal counselor sent a letter on behalf of Mayor Mick Cornett and other city officials informing Schultz, the team's former owner, that Oklahoma City's lease with the SuperSonics will be enforced no matter how pending lawsuits in Seattle are resolved. "We expect that any subsequent owner or owners would join hands with the city, and its citizens, and honor the OKC NBA agreements, made in good faith, and perform as good corporate...

Could the Seattle Sonics be headed for Las Vegas? Owner Clay Bennett says if he can't get a new arena built in the Seattle area he has to look at moving the team, and Vegas would be an attractive market. The Oklahoma City businessman made the comments Wednesday at a meeting of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau. The N-B-A All-Star game was played in Vegas this year and the league is studying the possibility of locating a franchise in the gambling capital. Bennett has set an October 31st deadline for a new arena deal in the Seattle area. But...

Court battle resumes between tribes, scientists over ancient remainsWILLIAM MCCALL; The Associated Press PORTLAND - The definition of "Native American" is at stake in deciding whether the 9,300-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man belongs to scientists or Indian tribes, lawyers for both sides told a federal appeals court Wednesday. The Interior Department has fought with scientists since the bones were discovered in 1996 along the banks of the Columbia River near Kennewick. A group of eight anthropologists who want to do research on the skeleton went to court to seek permission. But then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt ruled three years ago...