SPORTS digest

Muransky Bass Classic scheduled for June 4

The 17th annual Muransky Companies Bass Classic, hosted by Aqua Ohio will take place on June 4 at Evans Lake in Springfield Township and Pine Lake in Beaver Township.

The event benefits the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.

Fifty-seven teams of professional bass anglers and their amateur partners will compete for cash and prizes on the bass-filled reservoirs.

The tournament is introducing a new weighing system patterned after Major League Fishing. Each Pro/Am team will be joined by a volunteer judge who will weigh every eligible bass, and then release it back into the waters.

All the weight will be recorded on a website created special for the Muransky Companies Bass Classic. Prizes will be awarded for total weight and big bass following the end of the tournament.

While the anglers are on the water, children aged 12 and under are invited to the Fin Feather Fur Fish and Fun event, which will take place at Evans Lake from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. This part of the event is open to the public. The first 200 kids will receive food and goodie bags sponsored by Fin, Feather, and Fur.

Fishing is permitted along the shore, but participants must bring their own equipment.

Scrappers plan night for Hope Foundation

Niles

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have scheduled a Hope Foundation of The Mahoning Valley Awareness Night on Aug. 13 at Eastwood Field.

A portion of tickets sales online will be donated to the Hope Foundation which helps chronically and terminally ill children. Buyers myst type “HOPE” in the Special Offer Code box.

The HOPE code is valid for all online tickets, including game day purchases up to 4 p.m. the day of the game.

Hope Foundation will sponsor a season-long online jersey auction for the Scrappers game worn Superhero jerseys (Ironman), which will be worn in the June 18 game against the West Virginia BlackBears (Captain America), courtesy of All American Cards & Comics and Liberty Cards.

Fitzpatrick says no to Jets’ 3-year offer

NEW YORK

The New York Jets have made an offer that Ryan Fitzpatrick — so far — has refused.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday night that the Jets made a three-year offer to the quarterback in March that includes $12 million guaranteed in the first year.

That has remained on the table for Fitzpatrick, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither side is commenting publicly on the negotiations.

Fitzpatrick and the Jets have been locked in a contract stalemate all offseason. The 33-year-old quarterback is a free agent and coming off a season in which he threw a Jets-record 31 touchdown passes and led New York within a victory of the playoffs.

Health officials urge Olympics change

LONDON

Health experts on Friday urged the World Health Organization to consider whether the Rio de Janeiro Olympics should be postponed or moved because of the Zika outbreak.

The 150 experts — including former White House science adviser Dr. Philip Rubin — issued an open letter to the U.N. health agency, calling for the games to be delayed or relocated “in the name of public health.”

The letter cited recent scientific evidence that the Zika virus causes severe birth defects, most notably babies born with abnormally small heads. In adults, it can cause neurological problems, including a rare syndrome that can be fatal or result in temporary paralysis. Despite increased efforts to wipe out the mosquitoes that spread Zika, infections in Rio have gone up.

Several public health academics have previously warned that having hundreds of thousands of people head to the Aug. 5-21 games in Brazil will inevitably lead to the births of more brain-damaged babies and speed up the virus’ global spread.

Staff/wire report