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PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) – Two adults were injured and one person was arrested following a fight Sunday evening at Runyon Field Sports Complex, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said they responded to Runyon Field around 5:10 p.m. for reports of a fight. When deputies arrived, they said medical personnel were attending to an unconscious 46-year-old man.

Deputies said that the man was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, and another man was treated for minor injuries.

Deputies were told a group of people were leaving the field when two women began arguing. They said two men were attempting to break up the fight when one of the men was hit in the face by another man.

That victim reportedly went unconscious and fell to the ground. Deputies said a second man was then hit with a baseball bat.

Deputies said two suspects then left the area after the fight.

According to deputies, both suspects were identified. They said one suspect, 52-year-old Armando Carbajal, was identified as the suspect with a baseball bat. The identity of the second suspect has not been shared.

Deputies said Carbajal was arrested for second-degree assault and felony menacing, as well as an outstanding warrant.

According to deputies, the second suspect was at the same home but left before he could be contacted. They said deputies weren’t able to find the second suspect, but charges are expected.

According to Runyon Field’s website, a youth softball tournament occurred at the complex on Sunday.

“Our thoughts are with those affected. We are hopeful for their full recovery and are keeping them close in our hearts during this difficult time,“ The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners said. ”At this time, an active criminal investigation is underway. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and urge the public to allow the investigation to proceed without speculation. The safety of all athletes, coaches, staff, families, and spectators remains our highest priority. Runyon Field has long been a cornerstone of youth and community sports in Pueblo, and we remain firmly committed to maintaining it as a safe and welcoming space for all.”

Officials said the county, as well as the Runyon Board of Directors, is working with law enforcement and community partners as the investigation moves forward.

Officials said the Runyon Sports Complex will be closed until Wednesday.

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{KXLG – Fargo, ND} The Watertown Girls Varsity Lacrosse team concluded their season with an impressive 11-1 record, clinching their second consecutive Northern Plains Lacrosse League (NPLL) championship this past weekend in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Warriors emerged victorious over the Black Hills Shock with an 8-6 score in the championship match, following a dominant 15-1 win against the Red River Valley Polars in the semifinal. The team’s success was significantly enhanced by a solid group of six graduating seniors.

The weekend also saw strong performances from other Watertown Lacrosse teams. The Boys Varsity team secured a 9-2 victory over Black Hills, earning a 5th place finish. The 14U Boys team took 3rd place after defeating Black Hills 6-4. Both the 12U Girls and 12U Boys teams also recorded wins during the tournament, signaling a promising future for the local lacrosse program.

Beyond on-field achievements, several Watertown athletes received recognition at the league’s annual awards ceremony. Watertown led the NPLL in Academic All-State selections, with seven players honored for their academic and athletic excellence: Caleb Schmaltz, Jonas Farmen, Sawyer Knopf, Kayden Russell, Maddie Borkhuis, Kat Allard, and Rachel Skott.

Individual All-State honors were also awarded to multiple Watertown players. For the boys, Sawyer Trowbridge (Attack), Derek Waters (Defense), and Landen Lewis (Face-off Specialist) were recognized. On the girls’ side, Rachel Skott (Midfield) and Maddie Borkhuis (Defense) received All-State distinctions.

Another major highlight was senior midfielder Rachel Skott, who was named “Mrs. Lacrosse,” an award presented to the top girls’ lacrosse player in the Northern Plains Lacrosse League.

Looking forward, the Watertown Lacrosse Club plans to host “Try Lacrosse” events to introduce new players to the sport, with dates to be announced. For further information and updates on upcoming events, the community can follow the Watertown Lacrosse Club on its Facebook page. https://watertownwarriorslacrosse.sportngin.com/

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A dozen local students are getting a firsthand look at how city government works through a new program launched by West Oso Independent School District and the American Federation of Teachers.

The “Youth Government Academy” kicked off this week at the Nueces County Courthouse, providing students with the opportunity to explore various career paths in local government and interact directly with officials.

“They’ll have opportunities to speak at commissioner’s court to do a presentation… to learn about how they can use their voice to advocate for the needs of themselves, their family, and their community,” Kimberly Moore, superintendent of West Oso ISD, said.

For students, the program offers valuable insights into civic engagement that many young people typically don’t receive.

“When you’re a teenager you really don’t know how your city affects you and how you can have a voice in your government. It’s really interesting to learn how I can help even if I’m not an adult,” Kaylin Castaneda, a senior at West Oso, said.

The academy is structured as a four-day immersive program designed to introduce students to local politics and government operations.

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California sued the U.S. Justice Department on Monday over its demand last week that local school districts ban transgender youth from competing in sports, arguing the federal agency had overstepped its authority in violation of both state and federal law.

The “pre-enforcement” lawsuit was filed “in anticipation of imminent legal retaliation against California’s school systems” for not complying with the agency’s directive by its Monday deadline, said California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office, which is handling the litigation.

“The President and his Administration are demanding that California school districts break the law and violate the Constitution — or face legal retaliation. They’re demanding that our schools discriminate against the students in their care and deny their constitutionally protected rights,” Bonta said in a statement. “As we’ve proven time and again in court, just because the President disagrees with a law, that doesn’t make it any less of one.”

The lawsuit comes a week after Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump appointee and head of the federal Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to school districts across California warning them that they faced potential “legal liability” if they did not “certify in writing” by Monday that they will break with California Interscholastic Federation rules and state law to ban transgender athletes from competition in their districts.

Dhillon argued that allowing transgender athletes to compete “would deprive girls of athletic opportunities and benefits based solely on their biological sex,” in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond responded last week by saying in his own letter to schools that Dhillon’s warning carried no legal weight and that school districts were still obligated to follow state law, which requires transgender athletes be allowed to compete on teams based on their gender identity.

The California Department of Education sent a letter to federal authorities Monday, informing them that California’s school districts are under no obligation to provide certifications to the Justice Department.

“There are no changes in law or circumstances that necessitate a new certification,” wrote General Counsel Len Garfinkel. “Moreover, the DOJ letter references no law that would authorize the DOJ to require another ‘certification.’”

“All students — not just transgender students — benefit from inclusive school environments that are free from discrimination and harassment,” Garfinkel added. “When transgender students are treated equally, their mental health outcomes mirror those of their cisgender peers.”

Bonta’s lawsuit asks a federal court in Northern California to uphold the constitutionality of California’s antidiscrimination laws protecting transgender athletes, and to bar the Trump administration from withholding funds or taking other retaliatory actions against school districts that refuse to abide by the Trump directive.

The lawsuit falls along one of the fastest growing legal and political fault lines in America: Does the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment — the Constitution’s oft-cited guarantee against discrimination — protect transgender rights or undermine them?

Dhillon, other members of the Trump administration and anti-transgender activists nationwide have argued that the inclusion of transgender girls in youth sports amounts to illegal discrimination against cisgender girls.

Bonta’s office and other LGBTQ+ advocates argue that the exclusion of transgender girls is what constitutes illegal discrimination — and that courts, including the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs California and much of the American West, have agreed.

While Dhillon “purports that compliance with the Equal Protection Clause requires the categorical exclusion of transgender girls from girls’ sports, as courts have previously upheld, just the opposite is true: the Equal Protection Clause forbids such policies of total exclusion, as does California law,” Bonta’s office said.

State law that allows transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their identity “is squarely within the State’s authority to ensure all students are afforded the benefits of an inclusive school environment, including participation in school sports, and to prevent the serious harms that transgender students would suffer from a discriminatory, exclusionary policy.”

An attorney who supports keeping transgender athletes out of girls sports said the rights of female athletes are paramount in this situation.

Both the U.S. Constitution and federal statute provide protections for female athletes that California is violating by “allowing males into ‘girls only’ categories,” said Julie A. Hamill, principal attorney with California Justice Center, a law firm that has complaints pending with the federal Office for Civil Rights on behalf of young female athletes.

“By continuing to fan flames of division and play politics, leftist politicians and media outlets are causing further harm to American girls,” Hamill said.

Polls have shown that Americans generally support transgender rights, but also that a majority oppose transgender girls competing in youth sports. Many prominent advocates for excluding transgender girls from sports praised Dhillon’s actions last week as a bold move to protect cisgender girls from unfair competition.

Sonja Shaw, a Trump supporter who is president of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education, has called on California school systems to adopt resolutions in support of the Trump administration order.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher,” Shaw said last week. “Our daughters deserve safe, fair competition … But radical policies are undermining that right, pushing boys into girls’ sports and threatening their opportunities. We’re not backing down.”

Shaw, a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction, said other school systems could model these resolutions on one passed by her school district.

A handful of the state’s 1,000 school districts have passed such resolutions.

The lawsuit’s claim that retaliation from the Trump administration could be imminent for schools that do not comply with the administration’s demands is not entirely speculative. It is based at least in part on repeated threats and actions the administration has already taken against states over its trans-inclusive sports policies.

President Trump has said outright that he wants to cut federal funding to California over its laws allowing transgender athletes to compete in youth sports. The federal Justice Department has announced investigations into the state and the California Interscholastic Federation over its inclusive policies for transgender athletes.

U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli in Los Angeles, a longtime ally of Dhillon and whose appointment has yet to be confirmed, recently threw his office’s support behind a private lawsuit challenging the inclusion of a transgender athlete on the track and field team at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside.

Dhillon issued her letter to California school districts after another transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High School, 16-year-old AB Hernandez, won multiple medals at the state high school track and field championships despite President Trump demanding on social media that she not be allowed to compete.

The letter came despite attempts by the state to appease concerns.

After Trump’s online threats, for example, the CIF updated its rules for transgender competitors. As a result, Hernandez was allowed to compete at the state finals in the girls’ long jump, high jump and triple jump, but her qualifying did not result in the exclusion of any cisgender girl.

In addition, while Hernandez was awarded several medals, those medals were also awarded to cisgender girls who otherwise would have claimed them had Hernandez not been competing — with the girls sharing those spots on the medal podiums.

Supporters of the rule change said it eliminated concerns about cisgender girls losing opportunities to compete and win to transgender girls, but critics said the changes did not go far enough, and that transgender athletes needed to be fully banned from competition.

Dhillon’s letter demanding school districts certify that such bans were being implemented made no mention of the CIF’s rule change.