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When Rear Admiral William G. Kelly learned of a dark episode from his cherished institutions past, the superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy was deeply astonished and profoundly bothered.

That it happened in 1934 didnt dissuade Kelly from seeing if some healing could be done, and a positive result could finally be culled from such a miserable moment. But he wasnt sure the family of the man whod been wronged would be so amenable.

I didnt know about the 1934 episode until we saw a story on Feb. 14, 2021 in the Hartford Courant, said Kelly. It motivated him to reach out to Harrison Brooks Fitch Jr., an 80-year-old lifelong Springfield resident and the son of Harrison Honey Fitch, a victim of racial prejudice during the college basketball season nine decades ago.

When decent people with the best of intentions communicate, though, good things can happen – even from the ashes of bad memories. For Kelly, Fitch and the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, that is what is happening now.

Immediately after the newspaper story came out, Kelly wrote a letter to the editor, apologizing for the incident. In January 2022, the academy learned that the elder Fitch was being inducted into the Huskies Hall of Honor, the hall of fame for the University of Connecticut, where Fitch had been a star athlete in the 1930s.

In February, Kelly sent a letter of congratulations to Fitch, Jr., who likes to go by the first name of Brooks. The admiral wanted an opportunity to do more, but he wasnt sure how the Springfield man would react.

When I reached out, (Fitch) didnt call back immediately. He saw us, watched us, and did research on us to see if the academys actions matched its words.

He did his homework. When he did accept our outreach, I was thrilled, Kelly said.

In 1934, the elder Fitch was a star guard on the basketball team at Connecticut State College, as UConn was then known, and also an extremely popular student on campus. His comportment, decency and friendship did as much to deliver the often unspoken message of racial harmony as was his basketball skill, according to his son.

But when Connecticut State College went to play at Coast Guard, the team was informed Fitch would not be allowed to play.

In another incident that night, an African-American boxer from the University of New Hampshire boxer had not been allowed to compete.

That was not a great night for the Coast Guard, or for the nation, Kelly said.

For me, that was a low point for an institution I love, said Kelly, who played Coast Guard sports before his own graduation in 1987 and considers athletics a critical co-curricular element of the academy. What happened in 1934 was not an indication of what I experienced in the 1980s, or what the institution is today. Reaching out to his son was just the right thing to do.

The son wasnt convinced. At least at first.

I was very skeptical, said Fitch Jr. People can be nice in a letter for (public relations) or a photo opportunity. You can pose and shake hands. I didnt want that.

Neither did Kelly. Still, Fitch needed proof that the academy was practicing what Kelly was preaching.

He studied our retention and graduation rates, and specifically if African-Americans were having success at the academy, Kelly said.

We know the timing is really right. This is an opportunity for us to do more.

Thats what Fitch wants, too. On Oct. 19, eight months after Kelly had contacted him, Fitch visited the Coast Guard campus.

I wanted a face-to-face interaction. Ive development a bit of discernment (ability) face-to-face, Fitch said.

I spent time with the cadets, had a chance to share questions, and I got an idea of (Kellys) philosophy. The letter to me had been sincere.

He added, Id refuse to do a public relations moment, but this is a chance to do something positive. The lessons of the past can help us deal with the reality of the future if we deal with it together.

That the incident occurred in 1934 is coincidental to another seminal moment in Western Massachusetts sports and race relations. That was the year members of an American Legion baseball team from Springfield refused to compete at a tournament in Gastonia, North Carolina, because their Black teammate, Ernest Bunny Taliaferro, would not have been allowed to play.

It wasnt until the 21st century that those two communities found healing and friendship in the early 2000s with a series of friendship baseball games. Until Fitch and Kelly met, the Coast Guard story had not enjoyed such a positive epilogue.

The 1934 game at the Coast Guard Academy was delayed as coaches and officials debated whether Fitch, whose graceful playing style had earned him the nickname Honey could play. The basketball game then went on.

According to accounts of the day, it was a rough affair with high emotions that Connecticut State won. Even Coast Guards northern location did not protect the player from mistreatment, perhaps in part because a high percentage of the academys students were from the South, which serves as a point of context but not an excuse.

The elder Fitch, who lived in Springfield. finished his education at American International College and worked at Monsanto Corp. before his death at age 72 in 1984, carried his scars internally for the most part, according to his son.

My father didnt talk much about it. He was very humble, and in addition, African-American parents didnt want to traumatize or darken the hopes and vision of their children, Fitch said. You cant let people destroy your dreams. Im trying to carry on what he believed.

Fitch said hes working with Kelly and the academy to plan activities for the spring to address diversity and inclusion. Were looking at an academy-wide discussion, he said.

It will include how the lessons of 1934 can be used to address society in 2023. There will also be activities with the basketball programs, which Kelly says are the most diversified units on campus.

Abused by the Coast Guard Academy of 1934, Honey Fitch has not been forgotten at UConn. A basketball, baseball and football star at the college, his inclusion into the Huskies of Honor prompted Kelly to contact his son with a letter of congratulations, an apology for the 1934 incident and an invitation him to visit the academy to hopefully move forward together.

Some things have already changed. The gymnasium named after Johnny Merriman, the Coast Guard basketball coach from 1930 to 1945 and its leader at the time of the incident, is now called Alumni Gymnasium, Kelly said.

The academy and Fitch are looking at possible high school curriculum programs and an ongoing relationship with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Fitch wants the impact to spread beyond the New London campus.

Im a Springfield person and Ive been here since I was 2, he said. Relations with the Springfield Public Schools and local colleges are on the table.

Fitchs son, who is also an alumni of UConn, has started the Harrison Fitch Leadership Fund. It focuses on leadership and creates opportunities for underrepresented students to better pave their future.

The Coast Guard Academy partnership with the fund will connect with the institutions Loy Institute for Leadership, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and athletics program.

Kelly supports these initiatives, even though – or perhaps especially because – they speak to a dismal past.

It has been the honor of my time as superintendent to meet Mr. and Mrs. Fitch. The Fitch family didnt owe us anything, yet they had the fortitude to provide us an opportunity to demonstrate our growth as an institution and a service, Kelly said. Weve evolved as nation (since 1934), but we are struggling with how to deal with our past. But working with Mr. Fitch was an easy decision, Im grateful for his strength of character and his part of our efforts every day to make things right.

Fitch is convinced progress cannot be made without an understanding of even an unpleasant past. A student of history, he believes telling the story of what went wrong is essential tocreating a better society and a better day.

When I looked at my position, as disappointed as Id been about what had happened, I wanted to make something positive for future generations to come, he said. Thats what Im doing now.

This plaque honors Harrison "Honey" Fitch who was the victim of racism by the Coast Guard Academy while playing basketball for Connecticut State College in 1934. He was inducted into the Huskies Hall of Honor at the University of Connecticut as the college is now known.

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Corum | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.

The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Musk said over the weekend that the party would be called the “America Party” and could focus “on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” He suggested this would be “enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”

The billionaire’s involvement in politics has been a point of contention for investors. Musk earlier this year was part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and worked closely with President Donald Trump — a move seen as potentially hurting Tesla’s brand.

Musk left DOGE in May, which helped Tesla’s stock.

Now tech billionaire’s reinvolvement in the political arena is making investors nervous.

“Very simply Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Sunday.

“While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”

Musk’s previous political foray earned him Trump’s praise in the early days, but he has since drawn the ire of the U.S. president.

The two have clashed over various areas of policy, including Trump’s spending bill which Musk has said would increase America’s debt burden. Musk has taken issue to particular cuts to tax credits and support for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles.

Trump on Sunday called Musk’s move to form a political party “ridiculous,” adding that the Tesla boss had gone “completely off the rails.”

Musk is contending with more than just political turmoil. Tesla reported a 14% year-on-year decline in car deliveries in the second quarter, missing expectations. The company is facing rising competition, especially in its key market, China.

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Environment

Paris’ popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

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Paris' popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.

According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.

“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.

The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.

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The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.

Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.

And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.

The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.

Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.

That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.

The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.

Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.

The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.

Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.

In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.

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Environment

CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

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CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a “TRAIN WRECK.” Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.

What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.

Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”

Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.

It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.

To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.

Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.

 — CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China.

Thomas Peter | Reuters

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