VENUS and SERENA WILLIAMS over the weekend returned to their hometown of Compton, Calif., to "discuss details of the Yetunde Price Resource Center," which is scheduled to open in the city early next month. Funded with a "five-year endowment from the Williams Sisters Fund, the center will be a conduit to guide those affected by violence and trauma to get the resources they need in order to heal and move on." The center is named after YETUNDE PRICE, the older sister of Venus and Serena, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton in '03 (L.A. TIMES, 11/13).
YES HE CANN: Yankees C BRIAN MCCANN this weekend "hosted a fundraising gala and celebrity softball game" to raise awareness for childhood cancer in his hometown of Atlanta. Extending their role as the Rally Foundation's primary spokespeople, McCann and his wife ASHLEY "hosted a Benefit Bash at the Marriott Marquis on Friday night and a celebrity softball game at Georgia Tech's Russ Chandler Stadium on Saturday afternoon." The two events "combined to raise more than $900,000 to be used to help fund childhood cancer research" (MLB.com, 11/12).
NAMES: Vanderbilt Chancellor NICK ZEPPOS "has been appointed" to the Knight Commission of Intercollegiate Athletics (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/13)....T'Wolves coach TOM THIBODEAU last week took his team to see the Broadway play "HAMILTON" while in N.Y. (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/13)....49ers CEO JED YORK has been in a "minor conflict with some neighbors" in Los Altos Hills, Calif., "over an outdoor cabana he wants to build." York is attempting to build a 756-square-foot cabana adjacent to his 9,000-square foot home (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/12)....Bills coach REX RYAN on Saturday attended the Pittsburgh-Clemson football contest, where his son, SETH, a WR for Clemson, was honored on Senior Day (BUFFALO NEWS, 11/13)....PR News named ESPN Films & Original Programming Communications Manager JENNIFER CINGARI and ESPN Senior Publicist for NBA, MLB, FIBA and Little League GIANINA THOMPSON Rising PR Stars (PR News).
