Yamaha Marine and Skeeter Boats Co-Sponsor Charity Bass Tournament Benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®

WABASHA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2026--

Yamaha Marine and Skeeter Boats were presenting sponsors for the second consecutive year of the annual Dick Hiley St. Jude ® Bass Classic on May 1-3. The fishing tournament, which took place in Wabasha, Minnesota, celebrates a community of bass anglers from across the Upper Midwest who come together once a year in support of the of the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. The 28th annual event brought together 100 competing boats and raised more than $1.3 million for the kids of St. Jude.

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“Being part of the Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic is meaningful to our entire team,” said Scott Higgins, General Manager, Yamaha Marine Engine Systems Sales and Outboard Marketing. “We’ve seen firsthand—here and at the Bassmaster Classic ® earlier this year—how the fishing community comes together around something bigger than the sport. This event reflects a shared commitment to making a real difference, and we’re proud to stand alongside these anglers in supporting the lifesaving work of St. Jude.”

The two-day tournament featured a weekend full of activities, including live weigh-ins on both Saturday and Sunday, a celebratory dinner banquet on Saturday evening and fundraising awards. The tournament concluded Sunday afternoon with an awards ceremony. Champions Adam Walters and Trevor Rasmussen took home the $25,000 grand prize after securing the top spot with a total weight of 45.33 pounds. 78 teams each raised more than $5,000 to qualify for a chance to win a ZX200 Skeeter Boat powered by a Yamaha 200-horsepower V MAX SHO ® outboard. After fishing the tournament for 27 years, Joe Hall and Aaron LaRocque won the new boat and outboard package. Together, Hall and LaRocque raised almost $20k this year to benefit the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving Children. ®

In 1999, a group of anglers from Minnesota and Wisconsin, who shared a common love for both fishing and the kids of St. Jude, hosted the first Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic. To date, the tournament has raised more than $10 million.

“For nearly three decades, the Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic has played a meaningful role in advancing the St. Jude mission,” said Lyles Eddins, Senior Vice President of Relational Advancement for ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. “The passion of these anglers, combined with the partnership of Yamaha Marine and Skeeter Boats, helps ensure families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food so they can focus on helping their child live.”

About Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit

Yamaha Marine products are marketed throughout the United States and around the world. Yamaha Marine Engine Systems, based in Kennesaw, Ga., supports its 2,000 U.S. dealers and boat builders with marketing, training and parts for Yamaha’s full line of products and strives to be the industry leader in reliability, technology and customer service. Yamaha Marine is the only outboard brand to have earned NMMA®’s C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index award every year since its inception. Visit www.yamahaoutboards.com.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ®

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children. ® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was largely considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80% in the United States, and it won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Support the St. Jude mission by donating at stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.

This document contains many of Yamaha's valuable trademarks. It may also contain trademarks belonging to other companies. Any references to other companies or their products are for identification purposes only and are not intended to be an endorsement.

REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal floatation device and protective gear.

© 2026 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Yamaha Marine and Skeeter Boats were presenting sponsors for the second consecutive year of the annual Dick Hiley St. Jude® Bass Classic on May 1-3. The 28th annual fishing tournament, which took place in Wabasha, Minnesota, brought together 100 competing boats and raised more than $1.3 million for the kids of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group called on the government Tuesday to withdraw from direct talks with Israel, calling them a concession and urging “indirect negotiations.”

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold two days of talks in Washington starting Thursday in an attempt to end the latest fighting that broke out two months ago, following the Iran war, and discuss the future of relations between the two sides that have been at war since Israel was created in 1948.

Naim Kassem said in a letter directed to the group’s officials that direct negotiations benefit Israel and that they are “concessions by Lebanese authorities.” He said Lebanon’s government should instead resort to indirect negotiations with Israel, as in previous years, such as when a ceasefire was reached in November 2024.

Indirect talks are usually done through a third party.

Kassem also said the dispute over Hezbollah’s possession of weapons was an internal affair and shouldn't be part of the talks with Israel. The Lebanese government has sought the disarmament of the militant group after the latest round of fighting broke out in early March, calling all military activities by the group illegal.

Lebanese authorities have also demanded cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, deployment of Lebanese troops south of the Litani river, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel and the return of displaced people to their homes.

Kassem said Tuesday his group is ready to cooperate to help achieve the five points demanded by the country's government.

Despite the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which went into effect on April 17, Israel and Hezbollah have continued carrying out daily attacks.

Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told reporters Tuesday that since the ceasefire went into effect, 380 people have been killed and 1,122 wounded.

He added that since the latest war started on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the death toll in Lebanon has reached 2,882 dead and 8,786 wounded.

Since the early hours of Tuesday, Israel’s air force carried out strikes in different parts of southern Lebanon as well as the village of Sohmor in the eastern Bekaa Valley, state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said airstrikes on the village of Jibchit killed three and wounded four on Tuesday.

The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation warning to the residents of Sohmor and four villages in southern Lebanon.

The National News Agency reported that an Israeli force entered parts of the southern village of Deir Mimas on the Litani River and blew up a water pumping station that uses solar energy and supplies the village with fresh water. The agency said that the blast at the station at around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) caused wide damage.

The Israeli military posted photos of troops along the Litani River, without providing exact location details.

Hezbollah issued a statement saying that its fighters struck Israeli troops Tuesday morning near the Litani River in the village of Deir Seryan with rockets. It gave no further details.

Also Tuesday, Hezbollah confirmed that one of its military commanders was killed in an airstrike near Beirut last week. The group released a photo of Ahmed Ghaleb Balout describing him as a commander who spent much of his life on the battlefield.

Balout was killed May 6 in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut.

It was the first airstrike near Beirut since the ceasefire went into effect.

The Israeli military said Thursday it had killed Balout, who it identified as a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with two other militants.

Women grieve as they carry the body of 6-month-old Mariam Fahos during a funeral procession for people killed a day earlier in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Saksakieh, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)