The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) board of directors has fired commissioner Lisa Baird and general counsel Lisa Levine in the wake of a report detailing allegations of misconduct against former North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley, The Athletic reported Friday.  NWSL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  The Athletic on Thursday outlined allegations of sexual coercion and misconduct by Riley, who led the Courage to back-to-back NWSL championships in 2018 and 2019, after speaking to more than a dozen players he coached since 2010.  Riley was terminated by the Courage and the league.  “I am so sorry for the pain so many are feeling. Recognizing that trauma, we have decided not to take the field this weekend to give everyone some space to reflect,” Baird said in a written statement hours earlier while announcing that the league was canceling its weekend slate of games.  “Business as usual isn’t our concern right now. Our entire league has a great deal of healing to do, and our players deserve so much better.”  The report sent shock waves through the sport, and the players’ association demanded sweeping changes across the league, as some of soccer’s most prominent figures — …

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold early last year, artists such as Patricia Boyer of Charlotte, North Carolina, were panic-stricken. Who would see — not to mention purchase — her creations when much of America was on lockdown?    “It was really bad, because here you are with all this art, and you’re like ‘what am I going to do with it?’,” the 65-year-old painter told VOA. “And the anxiety level was through the roof.”    Amid a severe economic downturn and restricted in-person interactions, artists were forced to get creative. Boyer, who specializes in acrylic on canvas, said she was able to display some of her art with the help of friends and colleagues.    “I now have my inventory in three different spaces — one of my friends got me in her gallery. So, it’s a way for me to get my name out,” Boyer said.     Artists have faced unprecedented challenges triggered by the pandemic. Data published by the National Endowment for the Arts show, from 2019 to 2020, unemployment rates more than tripled for fine artists like Boyer and surpassed 50% for many types of performing artists.    Among major U.S. economic sectors, creative industries were …