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Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides [Video]
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Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides [Video]

The Indiana Fever fired coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the organization announced.Sides went 33-47 in her two seasons with the squad, including going 20-20 this season. The Fever made the playoffs as the sixth seed and were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.Video above: Thousands pack TD Garden for first WNBA game everIndiana is the sixth team to make a coaching change this offseason, joining Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. All of the coaches let go had three years or less experience.Whoever takes over the Fever will have a strong young core to work with, led by Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. The pair have won the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year awards.”We are incredibly thankful to Coach Sides for embracing the challenge of leading us through an integral transition period over the last two seasons while also positioning us well for future growth,” said Kelly Krauskopf, president of basketball operations for the Fever.”While decisions like these are never easy, it is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which includes maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana. Coach Sides was an incredible representative of the Fever and our community, and we wish her nothing but success in the future.”Krauskopf came back to the Fever earlier this month after spending time with the Indiana Pacers.Sides was a longtime assistant in the league, spending time with Chicago (2011-16), the Fever (2017-19) and Atlanta (2022) before getting the head coaching job. She replaced Marianne Stanley and her interim successor, Carlos Knox, who coached in the 2022 season.Sides had two years left on her contract.The Fever haven’t had a head coach last for more than three years since Lin Dunn, who coached from 2008-14. Since then, they’ve had Stephanie White (2015-16), Pokey Chatman (2017-19) and Stanley (2020-22).Indiana had a brutal schedule to start the season and lost eight of their first nine games. The Fever finally got going after the Olympic break, winning seven of eight to get into playoff contention.

High early voter turnout wraps up Week One in Northwest Arkansas [Video]
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Small Business Growth

High early voter turnout wraps up Week One in Northwest Arkansas [Video]

>> ELECTION OFFICIALS IN BOTH BENTON AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES SAY THEYVE SEEN MORE PEOPLE EARLY VOTE THIS YEAR. >> WE HAVE DEFINITELY HAD A HIGHER TURNOUT THIS YEAR, BUT THATS TO BE EXPECTED WITH THE GROWTH IN BENTON COUNTY. WEVE GOT A LOT MORE VOTERS THAN WEVE SEEN IN 2020. AND SO WERE REALLY PLEASED WITH THE TURNOUT. >> WEEK ONE OF EARLY VOTING HAS SO FAR BEEN A SUCCESS. THATS ACCORDING TO THE ELECTION OFFICIALS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THE WASHINGTON COUNTY ELECTIONS DIRECTOR SAYS THEYRE HOPING TO GET THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS AHEAD OF NOVEMBER FIFTH. >> 2016 WAS THE FIRST YEAR WE REALLY PUSHED OUT A LOT OF EARLY VOTE SITES, AND SO EVER SINCE THEN, WEVE SEEN A GRADUAL INCREASE OF THE NUMBER OF VOTES CAST EARLY AND SO WERE DEFINITELY HOPING TO HIT OVER 60% OF THOSE VOTE EARLY. >> VOTERS WE TALKED TO SAY THEYRE GLAD THEY BEAT THE CROWD AND VOTED EARLY. ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND FIGURED IT WOULD BE TOO CROWDED AND WE HAD EXTRA TIME ON OUR HANDS. >> SO WE THOUGHT, THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO DO IT. >> IF SOMETHING COMES UP. IF I GET SICK ON ELECTION DAY, I DONT WANT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. I WANT TO GET IT DONE WITH WITH WEEK ONE IN THE BOOKS, ELECTION OFFICIALS ARE NOW LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK. >> NEXT WEEK, YOU KNOW, WELL KIND OF BE A MIXED BAG FOR US BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT WELL BE BUSIER, BUT I THINK THERE WILL BE SOME LOCATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN FAYETTEVILLE IN PARTICULAR, THAT MIGHT NOT BE AS BUSY BECAUSE OF THE RAZORBACK GAME ON SATURDAY. AND THEN OF COURSE, HALLOWEEN DEFINITELY IMPACTS THAT TURNOUT. I HOPE THAT THE POLLS ARE JUST AS BUSY, IF NOT BUSIER. NEXT WEEK. WEVE GOT PLENTY OF POLL WORKERS STAFFING ALL OF OUR POLLING SITES, AND THEY ARE READY TO SERVE THE VOTERS OF BENTON COUNTY. >> AND WHILE THERES STILL ANOTHER ROUND OF EARLY VOTING HAPPENING NEXT WEEK, BOTH COUNTIES SAY THEYRE BUSY BEHIND THE SCENES PREPARING FOR ELECTI