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As former Officer Derek Chauvin stands trial in George Floyd’s death, a central question is whether he followed the Minneapolis Police Department’s guidelines on the use of force — and used that force reasonably. The department’s longest-tenured officer sharply questioned Chauvin’s actions, at one point calling it “totally unnecessary” for Chauvin to have restrained Floyd as he did for so long. Lt. Richard Zimmerman on Friday noted a range of actions on the use-of-force continuum that ranges from simply showing up in uniform, to talking to a person, to using deadly force. He says once a person is handcuffed and less combative, officers may simply talk to calm them down. Outside experts have also questioned officers' handling of Floyd, who was accused of passing a counterfeit bill.

A rural New York zoo says the giraffe that became a sensation when her 2017 pregnancy and delivery were livestreamed has been euthanized because of advancing arthritis. A statement from  Animal Adventure Park's veterinarians says 20-year-old April the giraffe started showing signs of mobility problems last summer, and veterinary imaging showed she had arthritis in her left hind leg. The vets say they tried many things to slow the disease's progression, but it became so severe that they couldn't control her comfort. April attracted a huge online audience as she carried her fourth calf in 2017 at the privately owned zoo in Harpursville, a village about 130 miles northwest of New York City.

The agency that investigates Chicago police shootings says it will release the body camera video of an officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy earlier this week. Ephraim Eaddy, a spokesman for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said Friday that after researching the question of whether the release would be legal, the video will be released to the family of Adam Toledo and then the public. He said he did not know when that would be, only that it would be soon. The boy was shot after a brief foot chase ended with an “armed confrontation.” 

Teams in the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are using concierge-like services to deal with life inside the bubble. The NCAA and local organizing groups in Indianapolis and San Antonio have set up ambassador programs and item-delivery services. Those help players, officials and others working inside what the NCAA calls a “controlled environment" at hotels. On the men's side, the requests have included cellphone cords, dress pants and even an ukulele. Teams still alive in both tournaments are now pushing nearly three weeks those bubble-like conditions.

President Joe Biden has ordered that U.S. flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff until April 6 in honor of a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into a security checkpoint. Biden says he and first lady Jill Biden are heartbroken over the death of officer William Evans, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police force. A second Capitol police officer was injured in the attack, while the suspect was killed. Friday’s incident comes about three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection that killed a Capitol police officer and four other people.

UCLA has more national championships than any other program in men's basketball history. But the Bruins are the underdog in Saturday night's Final Four game against top-seeded Gonzaga. They are listed as 14-point underdogs. That is the biggest spread in the Final Four in 25 years. UCLA coach Mick Cronin says he is simply trying to tell his team it will be a challenge to beat the Bulldogs. So far, the Bruins have beaten a bunch of other teams that were favored against them. The winner advances to the title game against either Baylor or Houston.

We should’ve moved on from the issue of whether to pay or not to pay at least some college athletes. Given the billions that are generated by massive television deals and 90,000-seat stadiums _ not to mention those pesky antitrust laws _ it should be accepted by all sides that some sort of compensation is not only fair, but inevitable. At this point, the discussion needs to be moving on to more complex questions, such as: Who gets paid? How much should they receive? What can be done to ensure gender equality? Will non-revenue sports survive? 

It was fitting that Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova returned to the Cavs at the same time. The longtime teammates made comebacks Thursday night in Cleveland's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. And while the Cavs have lost five of six, having Love and Dellavedova back in the lineup has the team believing it can make a late playoff push. Love played in just his fifth game because of a severe calf strain and scored 13 points in 20 minutes. Dellavedova made his season debut after a concussion and appendectomy.  

Major League Baseball has moved the All-Star Game from Atlanta’s Truist Park, a response to Georgia enacting a new law last month restricting voting rights. MLB had awarded the game to Atlanta on May 29, 2019, and the game was scheduled for July 13 as part of baseball’s midsummer break that includes the Futures Game on July 11 and Home Run Derby the following night. But Commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft, which had been scheduled to be held in Atlanta for the first time.

The Associated Press has learned that the NCAA has not tested players for performance-enhancing drugs at March Madness and other recent college championships. Three people with direct knowledge of NCAA testing protocols tell AP that testing has not resumed since the coronavirus pandemic shut down college sports a year ago. Although athletes may have been tested on campus, the NCAA has not ramped up its usual testing program at national championships such as the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The women's Final Four semifinals games are Friday, with the men playing Saturday.   The people who spoke to AP about testing all confirmed the same thing: No samples from the organization’s signature events have been sent to the labs that analyze NCAA tests. 

Somebody will be doing a joyful Texas two-step after Baylor and Houston meet Saturday night in the Final Four. It could be Bears coach Scott Drew, who built his now-mighty program from the ashes of one of the worst scandals in sports history. Or it could be Cougars counterpart Kelvin Sampson, who’s spent more than a decade trying to outrun the “cheater” label hung from his neck during his days at Oklahoma and Indiana. Either way, the first Final Four involving two programs from the football-mad Lone Star State will produce a hoops finalist that stands on the brink of a its first national championship.

The participants in this year’s Final Four took different roads to get to this point, and they also have different statistical profiles. The advanced stats suggest Gonzaga is impressive inside the arc on offense, but may struggle to defend the rim. Baylor has problems with defensive rebounding, and its next opponent, Houston, is impressive on the offensive boards. UCLA got to this point by winning the turnover battle — and by having its last two opponents shoot poorly from the free throw line.

A group working to elect candidates with science, technology, engineering and math backgrounds plans to spend $50 million in the 2022 midterm elections. The 314 Action nonprofit advocacy group is focusing on several Senate races that it wants Democrats to win in order to maintain their majority in Congress. President Donald Trump was a catalyst for the organization's recruiting efforts in the 2018 midterms and 2020 election. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper and others urge candidates with science backgrounds to focus on issues that will resonate with voters and not just make Trump central to their campaigns.

ROME (AP) — An Italian Navy captain accused of passing classified documents to Russia says he didn’t have access to any information that would have compromised the security or strategic operations of Italy or NATO, his lawyer said Friday. Attorney…

Residents of a small western North Dakota tourist town forced to evacuate as a large wildfire approached have been able to return to their homes. The city of Medora, with its population of about 100, was evacuated Thursday as firefighters worked to stop the blaze from spreading. Authorities on Friday reduced the estimated size of the fire from about 15 square miles to about 4 1/2 square miles. There were no reports of injuries or damaged structures in the community, which is on the doorstep of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. North Dakota has seen a growing number of wildfires with extreme drought conditions across the state.