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L.A. Affairs: I'm a trans woman. And, for once, I wasn’t fetishized

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2021-06-05/la-affairs-im-a-trans-woman-and-i-wasnt-being-fetishized

As a trans woman, I feel like a fling, a phase, a passing interest for someone to explore before they settle down — with someone else. Or at least I did — until I got a boyfriend. We met on Hinge after exchanging Leonard Cohen references. He was cis and straight, but I tried not to hold it against him. Our first date was at a comedy show in Hollywood. We were late (my fault) and, as a result, got terrible seats. But we still managed to have a great time. Lifestyle In honor of LGBTQ+ relationships in Los Angeles, here’s a roundup of our favorite L.A. Affairs columns. June 7, 2023 On our first night together, thanks to a broken AC, we expelled equal parts sweat and vulnerabilities. From then on our courtship was slow but easy. My boyfriend was sweet. My boyfriend was hysterical. My boyfriend always told me how much he loved me. When we would have sex, my whole body felt worshiped, cared for — nurtured, even. For once, I wasn’t being fetishized. For once, I wasn’t the subject of someone’s violent curiosity. For once, my identity wasn’t the forefront of every discussion. He never expected me to “teach him” anything — but was always willing to learn. Lifestyle I was only 5 years old when a caretaker’s nephew began to sexually abuse me. He made me pinkie-promise not to tell. ‘I do this because I love you,’ he’d say. For years, I would carry this lie — that abuse was a form of love — into my other relationships. May 29, 2021 When COVID-19 hit, my boyfriend lost his job working at an escape room in Los Angeles. He hated the gig, but getting laid off was the first moment that the virus felt serious to us. We tried our best to ignore it. He tried to use the time to have fun and forget: We gorged on takeout, tried role-play sex and watched comedies. He lived in an apartment in South L.A. with four other guys — an alcoholic with a thing for cowboys, a printer salesman with anger problems, a guy who routinely ordered Popeye’s — at 9 a.m. And one who once left a plastic bag in the oven (after turning it on). My boyfriend was a fresh college grad at the time, the rent for his room was cheap, and they all seemed “nice enough.” Two weeks after losing his job, my boyfriend’s roommates revealed “it wasn’t working out” and signed a new lease — without him. As I shrieked and hollered, my boyfriend brushed it off. “They all suck anyway,” he said. But I grew concerned. He had no job, no family close by, in one of the most expensive cities in the country. With every “Good morning, beautiful” text or joke from Twitter that he sent, I spiraled into “What if this is all taken away?” We were quarantining across the city from each other. When I asked about his plans, he simply replied, “Don’t worry about me babe, I’ll be OK.” My anxiety and his nonchalance worked against each other. I decided I would not pester. Instead, I tried to convince myself that if he left, that if I were alone again, I could handle it. Lifestyle Adding an extra adult to the mix feels like I am disturbing all the perfectly balanced, precariously spinning plates of my life. Maybe having a boyfriend and a kid is just not possible after all. May 15, 2021 For as long as I can remember, showers and bathtubs have always made me uncomfortable. I grew up covering my genitals when I bathed, just so I wouldn’t have to look at them. By the time I came out, my gender dysphoria was so severe I would cry when I reached for the faucet. My internalized transphobia made me view my body as a pair of socks you get for Christmas: a bad thing you have no use for, that you’ll hide later. During one particularly bad bout, right after I had come out, I was sitting in the shower, staring at the metal spigot running with hot water. Without thinking, I touched it and burned my finger. As it throbbed, I thought about all the pain I was feeling, and everything I would come to feel, as I watched a blister develop on my finger. When it finally went numb, I made a pact with myself: Anytime I felt pain I would let it metaphorically soak into my finger and be done with it. In the moments I wanted to break down over my fears about my boyfriend, I would think: “No tears, you already made the promise.” Lifestyle I was divorced twice by the time I was 26. That was before I learned how to pick a mate for life. So I’m sharing my secrets with you now. April 24, 2021 When I couldn’t take the uncertainty anymore, I called him and pressed him to talk. “I can’t afford to stay here any longer,” he said. I heard the hurt in his voice; he felt he had no other option but to go back to the East Coast to stay with family. I thought about asking him to move in with me, but it was just too soon. So it was all coming true. I was going to be alone again. I cried and squeezed my finger, but it was no use. My heart was breaking. And I couldn’t touch him or kiss him or even hear him say “I love you” in person. A few weeks later, we decided to break the quarantine. It was my birthday. He came over with a freshly baked pan of lemon bars and a wet kiss. We ate Italian food and avoided talk of the future. I was the big spoon that night, and what tears my eyelashes didn’t catch fell on his shoulder blades. His cries still stick with me. We decided to write letters to each other to read later in private as permanent mementoes of our relationship. On our last night together, he insisted I not lift a finger, so he made dinner and decided on “The Matrix.” “The movie is a trans allegory,” he said with a big grin. When it came time to say our final goodbyes, we both cried. When I pulled out of the driveway, I stuck my head out the window and screamed, “I love you!” The first line of my letter to him read, “While it may sound ridiculous, to love a Trans woman is revolutionary.” For the next two weeks, I could not bring myself to read his letter to me. It just felt too painful. When I called my mom and told her, she said we never truly lose people we love; the memories of them are something that can’t be taken away — that I should relish those memories. I read his letter after my mom and I got off the phone. Before I got a boyfriend I would lie awake and think, “What would possibly make someone want to stay with me?” I saw myself, and everything that came with who I am, as something to deal with. Trans people are always made to feel that we should be lucky someone wants us, that we should be grateful. Before my boyfriend and I were official, after every date, I would think, “Well that’s the last time I’ll ever see him.” And when he did call or text or show up, I remained skeptical Even now, I wonder if our relationship was a one-time thing, a lucky break I happened to catch. My ex-boyfriend and I still text and talk and for now are great friends. If he ever comes back to L.A. ... well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the midst of my worst depressive bouts, I blame myself for not trying to make it work long-distance. On days when my anxiety is raging, I picture myself as an old woman whom everyone pities, sitting all alone at my niece’s wedding. Yet on my best days, I stop relying on my fingertip, let a tear fall, and read the last line he wrote, “Take care of yourself, that’s an order!” It’s not a new promise to keep, but a reminder of what I deserve. The author is a storyboard coordinator at Netflix Animation and a contributing writer to Merry-Go-Round Magazine and Atwood Magazine. She is on Twitter and Instagram @sinister_taint. L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. We pay $300 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@latimes.com. You can find submission guidelines here.

Essential California Week in Review: Vaxxed and rich?

https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2021-06-05/newsom-emergency-vaccines-incentives-essential-california-week-in-review

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, June 5. Start your day right Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week: Vaxxed and rich? Gov. Gavin Newsom helped award the first cash prizes in California’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery on Friday, amid criticism from political rivals as he faces a recall election. But he also said California’s COVID-19 state of emergency order will remain in place beyond June 15, despite its economic reopening. Vaxxed and unmasked? As state officials reconsider mask guidelines for vaccinated workers, some hope the prospect could encourage reluctant people to seek out shots as disparities persist. Assault-weapons ban overturned. A federal judge Friday overturned California’s three-decade-old ban, ruling it unconstitutional. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta promised an appeal, calling the decision “fundamentally flawed.” The ban remains for now. Another shooting. In the latest workplace shooting, an off-duty firefighter killed a fellow firefighter and wounded a captain in Agua Dulce on Tuesday before turning the gun on himself. Authorities say the violence stemmed from an ongoing dispute. A “euphoric” rebound. California’s strict public health measures during the pandemic protected its economy, setting the stage for what’s expected to be an even faster recovery in the state than nationwide, UCLA economists said. Asylum app. U.S. border officials have quietly taken the unprecedented step of deploying a new mobile app that uses controversial facial recognition technology to quickly process asylum seekers, alarming experts. Lakers out, but Clippers? The Lakers’ season ended Thursday with a loss to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs after star Anthony Davis limped off the court early in Game 6. On Friday, the Clippers forced their playoff series into a Game 7, with Kawhi Leonard scoring 45 points. Rethinking death penalties. Individual jurors decide whether certain circumstances increase the severity of a crime. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court heard arguments on a change to that practice, which could potentially overturn hundreds of death penalty sentences. A historic first. A California task force met for the first time Tuesday with the ultimate goal of recommending reparations for descendants of enslaved people and those affected by slavery. Armed and drunk. The LAPD lacks rules for off-duty officers who drink while carrying a weapon despite a series of problems, a Times investigation found. The absence is unusual when compared to other law enforcement agencies in the region and country. What’s next for Huntington Beach? Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz abruptly resigned his position, saying he had faced public attacks on his character and feared for the safety of his family. His supporters saw him as the local government version of Donald Trump. A new reign. Long Beach has taken back control of the Queen Mary from the ship’s operating company amid concerns that the 87-year-old vessel has not been properly maintained, the city announced Friday, vowing the preserve the ship. F. Lee Bailey, 1933-2021. At one time the most famous trial attorney in the country, he was involved in the O.J. Simpson and Patty Hearst cases before facing his own legal troubles. He died Thursday at age 87. Enjoying this newsletter? Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a Times subscriber. 1. Teen fends off bear in Bradbury backyard by pushing it. ABC7 2. Biologists rescued the California condor from extinction. Then came a terrible new challenge. Smithsonian Magazine 3. Column: I was going to buy an all-electric car but chickened out. Los Angeles Times 4. This solar company wouldn’t let a dead woman out of her contract. Los Angeles Times 5. Why was the mob in L.A. so much quieter than in Chicago or New York? Los Angeles Times Free online games Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our game center at latimes.com/games. Is the loquat the lodestar of Southern California? It should be, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano: “The loquat is an immigrant originally from China but one that spread to many other communities that embraced the fruit as their own. There’s diversity within loquats,” he writes. “The trees that produce them are hardy — not needing much maintenance or water to fruit well but doing even better with care.” “If you have any questions about how the plants and animals of Southern California’s deserts are faring as the Earth gets hotter and drier, Jim Cornett is a good bet to have the answers,” writes Steve Lopez. He accompanied Cornett on his efforts to document desert transformations, with a particular focus on the future of the mighty Joshua tree. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

Could Antonio Villaraigosa come back to the Los Angeles mayor's office?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/could-antonio-villaraigosa-come-back-to-the-mayors-office

The Biden administration has yet to announce whether it will name Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as U.S. ambassador to India. But the jockeying to fill his seat is already underway. One of the prospects who has generated buzz at City Hall is former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who held the job from 2005 to 2013 before reaching term limits. But a question has hung over that idea: Would he be allowed to return under city rules? One political candidate argues that he would — even if the City Charter limits mayors to two terms — and she wants City Atty. Mike Feuer to weigh in on the idea. Marina A. Torres, a federal prosecutor running for city attorney, argued that Villaraigosa is nonetheless eligible based on her reading of the charter. In her letter to Feuer, Torres also provided a copy of a legal memo from Nossaman LLP stating that someone who had served two terms as mayor could still legally be appointed to serve the rest of Garcetti’s term. California L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti isn’t directly addressing the India ambassador reports, but when asked about what would qualify him for the post, he said being an elected official involves “daily diplomacy.” June 2, 2021 Although mayors are limited to two terms, the charter excludes from that limit “any unexpired term to which a person is elected or appointed if the remainder of the term is less than one-half of the full term of office,” attorney Amber Maltbie wrote. The Times has reported that Garcetti is likely to be nominated as U.S. ambassador to India by President Biden, according to a person familiar with the vetting process. But it’s unclear when the pick will be officially announced. Torres’ request, sent Friday, is a sign of the behind-the-scenes chatter over the interim post. Villaraigosa could be an appealing pick for council members who are leery of choosing an interim mayor who could use the role as a springboard for the permanent job. For example, if council President Nury Martinez were named as interim mayor, she could follow with her own mayoral campaign. Martinez has said she is seriously considering a mayoral bid. Feuer and Councilman Joe Buscaino have already entered the 2022 mayoral race, and at least three other council members are considering whether to run. Torres, who is running to succeed Feuer, is working with the same political consulting firm as Buscaino. She said the idea that Buscaino or any other candidate could benefit from Villaraigosa taking the job is “beside the point.” Torres said she wrote the letter because she had been asked about whether she believed Villaraigosa was eligible. The former mayor, she said, is “one of the very few political leaders with the experience necessary to lead Los Angeles during this critical period.” “I thought, ‘It is time for the current city attorney to weigh in and issue a legal opinion,’” she said. “This is at the front of people’s minds right now.” Villaraigosa, reached Friday, said the possibility of him being chosen is speculation, adding that he believes in public service. “I’m born and raised here. I love this town. And if called upon, I’d be honored,” he said. During his time as mayor, Villaraigosa expanded the size of the LAPD, tackled the budget crisis brought on by the 2008 recession and tangled with the teachers union over control of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Torres also praised him for expanding mass transit. California The former L.A. mayor has criticized the recall effort targeting his 2018 gubernatorial foe, Gavin Newsom. But he hasn’t publicly ruled out a run. April 16, 2021 He currently serves as co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs, a public strategy and lobbying firm with clients who have business before City Hall. Feuer spokesman Rob Wilcox said it would be “premature” to weigh in on whether Villaraigosa is eligible to become interim mayor. “We will give appropriate advice when the time comes,” he said. Another name in the mix is Councilman Paul Krekorian, who has been at City Hall since 2009. Asked this week if he is angling for the interim mayor post, he too declined to speculate. “Who knows what the future may hold for any of us?” he said. “But I’m prepared to serve the city in any way that I can best be of assistance.” If Garcetti leaves before the end of his term, the City Council has the power to formally appoint an interim mayor or call a special election to choose a replacement to serve out his term. Until an interim mayor is appointed or elected, Martinez would serve as acting mayor. Buscaino spokesman Branimir Kvartuc said neither his office nor the campaign sought legal advice on Villaraigosa. A representative for Martinez declined to weigh in on the prospects of a Villaraigosa appointment. “Whatever maneuvering someone might be doing, there’s no vacancy,” said Roy Behr, Martinez’s political strategist. “And so there’s nothing really for us to comment on.”

As wildfires decimate the giant sequoia, California faces unprecedented loss

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/california-wildfires-are-decimating-the-giant-sequoia

When wildfire tore through giant sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada last year, researchers estimated hundreds of the towering trees — maybe 1,000 — were killed. Now, almost nine months later, experts have revised that figure tenfold. A new draft report puts the toll at 7,500 to 10,600 trees — 10% to 14% of the world’s natural population. “The whole thing is surprising and devastating and depressing,” said Christy Brigham, chief of resources management and science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and lead author of the report. The finding startled scientists because sequoias are adapted to thrive in fire, with bark that’s up to 2 feet thick, branches that reach above flames and cones that release seeds when exposed to a burst of heat. Still, as the effects of human-caused climate change and aggressive fire suppression have combined to drive bigger, more intense wildfires, these ancient giants are increasingly no match for the conditions ecologists are seeing on the ground. “They’re one of the most fire-adapted species on Earth, and that is one way that this really is a warning sign much bigger than the trees themselves,” Brigham said. “If we’re looking at forest fires that can now kill these old trees that have survived dozens, if not 100 or more previous wildfires, that’s a very bad sign.” Climate & Environment This year’s Castle fire killed hundreds of giant sequoias, the latest in a string of Sierra Nevada wildfires that is taking an alarming toll on the world’s most massive trees. Nov. 16, 2020 The Castle fire was one of hundreds sparked last August by a siege of dry lightning strikes that was bookended by a pair of historic heat waves. The fire burned through portions of about 20 giant sequoia groves on the western slopes of the Sierra, the only place on the planet they naturally grow. Brigham, with help from researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service and conservation group Save the Redwoods League, came up with the revised estimate of dead trees based on satellite imagery. The report is expected to be published this summer after it undergoes peer review. Now that the snow has thawed, teams of researchers are starting to go into the field to verify its findings. The mortality estimates focus on trees that had trunks of at least 4 feet in diameter, meaning they were at least 100 to 200 years old. Some that burned were much older, Brigham said. “It’s untold losses,” she said. “When I have walked in two of the high-severity burned groves, the groves that really burned hot, we see really large dead trees, trees that probably are 1,500 to 3,000 years old.” A giant sequoia can survive a wildfire if just 5% of its crown remains unscorched. But the intensity of the Castle fire caused some of the trees’ crowns to combust on a scale researchers had never seen before. “The first time we ever saw that was in 2015 in the Rough fire, and it only happened to a very small number of trees,” Brigham said. “So this is a new, unprecedented fire effect.” And severe, sequoia-destroying fires have been on the rise over the last decade, said Nate Stephenson, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who also contributed to the report. He recalled when the Pierce fire burned through the Redwood Mountain grove in 1987, killing 14 sequoias. California Climate, weather, human behavior and even luck will dictate whether the 2021 wildfire season goes down in the record books like 2020. April 27, 2021 “To the best of our knowledge, that was the most that had been killed in historic times in a wildfire,” he said. “Then things started to shift.” Fast-forward to the Rough fire in 2015, which killed at least 100 sequoias; in 2017, the Pier and Railroad fires killed about 120, Stephenson said. “Then you get to the Castle fire where it’s multiple thousands and clearly out of bounds of anything we knew about in the historical record,” he said. Researchers believe this is because sequoias evolved to live with low- and mixed-intensity ground blazes, “fire that doesn’t get up into the canopy and certainly doesn’t burn up the canopy of 100-foot-tall, 2,000-year-old trees,” Brigham said. These types of fires used to be more common due to Indigenous burning practices, as well as lightning strikes that weren’t immediately extinguished. “In a given grove, you probably had a fire burning somewhere in it every 10 years or so,” Stephenson said. “For a given sequoia, you might have a fire at its base every 20 years or so. That kept the forests a lot more open and the fires, when they did burn, to lower-intensity fires because there wasn’t a lot of time for dead material to build up on the ground.” But a century of aggressive suppression tactics meant some of the groves that burned last year had no recent history of fire, leading to an accumulation of dead trees and litter. That was compounded by a drought that killed scores of pines and firs from 2012 to 2016, both directly and as a result of fatal bark beetle infestations. And last summer’s hot, dry weather ensured those so-called ladder fuels capable of carrying the fire up into the canopy were bone-dry and combustible. The combination made the Castle fire burn extraordinarily hot and high, rendering the sequoias’ defenses inadequate, said Paul Ringgold, chief program officer for Save the Redwoods League, which also provided data for the report. “Sequoias are just not able to withstand that kind of fire in that kind of environment,” he said. The trees are also facing another new enemy. For the first time, researchers have found that bark beetles are also killing sequoias. They’ve documented 33 sequoias within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks that have been killed by a genus of cedar bark beetle that they’re investigating to determine if it’s its own species, Stephenson said. “The reason it worried us is we thought, ‘This is new to us,’” he said. “And if it continues to get warmer, this is going to become a bigger and bigger problem.” Each of the sequoias killed by beetles was suffering from the effects of drought and had its base scarred by a recent fire, weakening the tree by reducing the amount of water that could make it to the top. Scientists are working to determine what role each factor played. “The forest is changing, and the drought and climate change are really stressing these forests in new ways with both fire and beetles,” Brigham said. The loss of the sequoias could accelerate the pace of that change. The trees remove a massive amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for thousands of years, and they serve as a habitat for wildlife like the Pacific fisher and spotted owl. They also defend against erosion and play a crucial role in the state’s natural water storage system, helping retain the snowpack longer by shielding it from the sunlight so it melts more slowly and supplies a steady stream of water to the reservoirs and the San Joaquin Valley when it’s needed. “We have this great water tower in the Sierra Nevada and it may not be as good at supplying water the way we want water supplied to us,” Stephenson said. “Or maybe the same amount will come but it will come out faster, maybe carrying a lot of sediment with it.” Researchers are also worried that the severity of the recent fire could mean some areas simply can’t regenerate on their own. In April, a group including Brigham and Stephenson hiked into a high-intensity burn area in Sequoia National Park. On the way, they traveled through less severely burned areas and saw “lots of little sequoia seedlings on the ground,” Stephenson said: As expected, the fire had caused seeds to fall in the autumn and germinate in the spring. “When we got into the core area where the really severe crown fire was, we could not find a single giant sequoia seedling,” Stephenson said. “And that was shocking to me.” They believe the fire burned through the little pedestals that hold the cones on the trees, causing them to drop on the ground, where they were destroyed. Groups including Save the Redwoods League are already replanting seedlings in those areas, Ringgold said. “That said, it will take thousands of years for those forests to return to the majesty that we’ve seen them in in our lifetime,” he said. Those areas might also turn into shrub fields, and it could be harder for trees to grow there in the future, Stephenson said. “It’s conceivable that if it continues to warm and warm and warm, you might not get anything looking like the forest used to be there coming back in,” he said. At the same time, forest managers are confident it’s possible to make the forest more resilient to future fires through treatments like prescribed burning and thinning. It’s also important for people to work together to reduce greenhouse gases, they said. “This is not a hopeless situation,” Brigham said. “This is a call to action.”

G-7 nations sign key pact to make tech giants pay more taxes

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-05/g-7-nations-sign-key-pact-to-make-tech-giants-pay-fair-taxes

The Group of 7 wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15% to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries. G-7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world’s biggest companies — including U.S.-based tech giants — pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters. British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the host, said the deal would “reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that it’s fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agreement “provides tremendous momentum” for reaching a global deal that “would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the U.S. and around the world.” Nations have been grappling for years with the question of how to deter companies from legally avoiding paying taxes by using accounting and legal schemes to assign their profits to subsidiaries in tax havens — typically small countries that entice companies with low or zero taxes, even though the firms do little actual business there. International discussions on tax issues gained momentum after U.S. President Biden backed the idea of a global minimum of at least 15% — and possibly higher — on corporate profits. The meeting of finance ministers came ahead of an annual summit of G-7 leaders scheduled to begin Friday in England. The endorsement from the G-7 could help build momentum for a deal in wider talks among more than 135 countries being held in Paris as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in July in Venice. Manal Corwin, a tax principal at professional services firm KPMG and a former Treasury Department official, said the meeting had clarified where important countries stood on several key issues, including the 15% minimum. “Signaling that there is consensus around some of the key features of what’s being discussed globally was really, really important so they have the momentum to go to the next phase of this with the G-20,” she said. The tax proposals endorsed Saturday have two main parts. The first part lets countries tax a share of the profits earned by companies that have no physical presence but have substantial sales, for instance through selling digital advertising. France had launched debate over the issue by imposing its own digital services tax on revenues it deemed to have been earned in France by companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook. Other countries have followed suit. The U.S. considers those national taxes to be unfair trade measures that improperly single out American firms. Part of the agreement Saturday is that other countries would repeal their unilateral digital taxes in favor of a global agreement. Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, Nick Clegg, said the deal is a big step toward increasing business certainty and raising public confidence in the global tax system but acknowledged it could cost the company. “We want the international tax reform process to succeed and recognize this could mean Facebook paying more tax, and in different places,” Clegg said on Twitter. The G-7 statement echoes a U.S. proposal to let countries tax part of the earnings of the “largest and most profitable multinational enterprises” — digital or not — if they are doing business within their borders. It supported awarding countries the right to tax 20% or more of local profits exceeding a 10% profit margin. Yellen, asked if she had given her European counterparts assurances that large U.S. tech firms would be included, said the agreement “will include large profitable firms, and I believe those firms will qualify by almost any definition.” The other main part of the proposal is for countries to tax their home companies’ overseas profits at a rate of at least 15%. That would deter the practice of using accounting schemes to shift profits to a few very low-tax countries because earnings untaxed overseas would face a top-up tax in the headquarters country. At home, Biden is proposing a 21% U.S. tax rate on companies’ overseas earnings, an increase from the 10.5%-13.125% enacted under former President Trump. Even if the U.S. rate winds up higher than the global minimum, the difference would be small enough to eliminate most room for tax avoidance. Biden’s proposal requires congressional approval. KPMG’s Corwin said the final statement was silent on several key points, including exactly which of the “largest and most profitable” multinationals would be covered by the proposal and how companies would be protected from double-billing if countries disagree on who has the right to tax them. Those complexities are fodder for the G-20 talks and the ongoing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development talks in Paris. “The devil is in the details,” Corwin said. The Group of 7 is an informal forum among Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the United States. European Union representatives also attend. Its decisions are not legally binding, but leaders can use the forum to exert political influence.

Need help ditching your car for a train or bus? Meet an L.A. public transit superfan

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/la-public-transit-fan-preaches-trains-buses-over-cars

Remember those pandemic days when our streets and our freeways were wide open? When in no time at all you could drive from anywhere to the beach? When the air seemed to clear and allow us to glimpse a different, more breathable and more free-flowing city? Wasn’t it beautiful? Wouldn’t it have been great if we could have made it last? Instead, it seems as if, in one second flat, we went from 60 to 0, returning to traffic jams and honking horns and everyone back behind the steering wheel, grumpy and distracted, inching along together, going nowhere fast. We have a far-from-perfect public transportation system in Los Angeles. It doesn’t serve every community equally. It doesn’t go everywhere we want to go. Still, it does go many places, and I wish more people who didn’t have to use it out of economic necessity would start choosing to do so and to leave their cars parked and so help reduce the load on our environment and our roadways. How do I pay? What is the fare? How often do the trains come? It can be intimidating at first, of course. You might mean to take a ride somewhere but, faced with these knowledge gaps, end up deciding to summon an Uber or drive. That’s why I wish all of you who hesitate could take a ride or two with the person I ventured out with on Wednesday. Kenny Uong doesn’t work for Metro, but he’s one of its greatest ambassadors. When we met outside the Metro station in North Hollywood, he was easy to spot. He wore a cap with an M for Metro and a mask sporting a map of Metro rail lines. He carried a similarly decorated Metro tote bag. Even his cellphone cover was Metro-themed. After spending the day riding with him, I now wish everyone could. I wish he could spread, door to door, both his love of public transit and his desire that we work together to improve it. At the ripe old age of 21, Uong is an authority on public transit in Los Angeles. Since his protective parents first allowed him to take trips on his own at 16, he has spent all his free time on buses and trains — often in the company of other transit enthusiasts he first became friends with online. He takes public transit to the beach to breathe in the ocean air, to Chinatown in search of the delicious. He once took it to Bakersfield and back in a day. He had to set out at 5 in the morning, but he was home by 8 p.m. Public transit opened up Uong’s world. The pandemic temporarily shut it down because his parents are immunocompromised. To protect them, he watched “ride along” public transit videos posted on YouTube as he stayed off buses and trains for 436 days. That’s the kind of detail noted by Uong, who notes everything. In fact, one of his most frequent expressions is “Noted.” Uong just finished his junior year at Cal State Northridge, where he studies urban and transit planning. As we hopped on and off trains and a bus from North Hollywood to downtown and back, he told me the history of each line we were on and when each station we stopped at first opened. He walked me through Union Station, describing how it grew over time. He told me which buses ran only on weekends. He talked about how he especially loves to look out bus windows, watching one neighborhood flow into the next. He said more effort had to be made to highlight such relaxing pleasures, to make L.A. public transit more “intriguing” to drivers. I suggested he could sideline as a personal public-transit coach. He could come to people’s homes and escort them on public transit to introduce them to the great many places they could easily reach without reaching for their car keys. I also suggested an online site called Ask Kenny. Because if you ask him how to get from anywhere to anywhere in L.A. County on public transit, he will answer without pause. He won’t have to look it up. It’s all in his head. California Before the pandemic, my mother-in-law was feisty and outgoing. When we recently reunited after a shut-in year, I was floored by the scope of her loss. May 22, 2021 Uong first fell in love with public transportation when he was about 3 years old. His parents didn’t have a car. They still don’t. They came to California from Vietnam in 1998, before he was born. From their one-bedroom apartment in Glendale, his father biked to work at a factory that made airplane parts. His mother stayed at home for the kids. And on Sundays the family would travel to Chinatown on the 94 bus to shop for groceries. As they hauled home a cart often weighed down by a 50-pound bag of rice, surrounded by fish sauce, hoisin sauce and noodles, Uong gazed, rapt, out the bus windows. When he was about 5, he started collecting Los Angeles bus and train schedules and Metro brochures. He soon started mapping out the routes and schedules of the buses his family would take whenever they had to go anywhere. “Kenny was pretty much our Google Maps. He was our transit app before any of us had access to a transit app,” said his proud older sister, An, a 27-year-old writer and editor who now lives in Providence, R.I. By the time he was 10, Uong had memorized the entire L.A. public transit system. His sister would test him by tossing out a bus route number. He couldn’t be tricked. “She would give like a random number and I would say, ‘Nonexistent,’” he told me. His sister also told me about the imaginary cities with imaginary transit systems he used to create in their apartment, her desk one neighborhood, each chair another. By sixth or seventh grade, she said, he was reimagining the existing transit system, coming up with new stops and lines to make it run more efficiently. Over time, he added Metro TAP cards, models of trains and buses, bus transfers and transit-themed pins to his collections. At Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Herbert Hoover High School, Uong, who is soft-spoken and shy, didn’t broadcast his transit passion. But true love has a way of outing itself. For his 10th-grade English class, he wrote a poem he called “Metro is the way to go,” which began: Traveling in Los Angeles is not a fuss,If everyone rides Metro Rail or Metro Bus.Going with a friend, you can’t say no, Since Metro is the way to go! In ceramics class in 11th grade, asked to make a word tile centered on something that deeply resonated with him, he shaped the word “Mobility” in clay, surrounded by images of a traffic signal, a bicycle and a bus and a roadway. His view of transit was growing steadily more sophisticated. For a long time, growing up, his dream was to be a Metro planner. Now as a young man, he speaks instead of wanting to join a nonprofit or advocacy group to promote transit justice — to make the city’s sidewalks and streets safer, to make sure all communities have good transit access, to make sure that no one has to walk too far to get to or wait too long for a train or a bus, and that everyone who has to wait can do so comfortably, at a shaded, well-sheltered stop. In a way, I’ve witnessed Uong’s transit evolution since his first solo trips, when he also joined Twitter and began taking the rest of us along on his travels. He still does so, almost every day. But now he also speaks out not just about how much he loves our public transit system but also about how it needs to serve everyone better. That will take more of us riding and advocating with him — which is why I thought about him last week as I sat in my car, stuck behind a traffic signal as it turned from green to red to green to red to green to red to green to red. Wasn’t it wonderful when so many cars were off the road that we could just zip from Point A to Point B? It could happen again if more of us chose to drive less.

Want free accommodations when traveling? Try housesitting

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-05/housesitting-job-travel-free-accommodations

If you yearn to travel but don’t have much of a budget for it, you may want to consider housesitting. Housesitting is generally unpaid work. You and the homeowner essentially barter what you have for what you want. And when housesitting in another country, because no money changes hands, you avoid having to secure government permission to have a paying job. But both sides get a substantial benefit. The homeowner can save the cost of having a pet sitter, which typically runs $25 to $100 a night, depending on the number of animals and the city. The arrangement can also benefit the pets, which are less likely to contract “kennel cough” or other ailments that bedevil animals boarded in a group setting. The homeowner also avoids the pitfalls of letting the place sit empty for weeks or months; someone will be there to deter break-ins and notice problems such as burst pipes. A housesitter might also be asked to water plants, collect mail and do basic maintenance such as yardwork. Meanwhile, the housesitter saves the cost of accommodations. Since many housesitting arrangements span several weeks, this savings can add up to thousands of dollars. At the same time, housesitters often discover new towns and friends — furry and otherwise — that they never would have known if they’d traveled in a more conventional way. Travel & Experiences Grounded by the pandemic, I returned to the air and fell in love, if briefly, with basic economy, a different parking lot and wailing children. June 4, 2021 Paid housesitting jobs do exist. However, these are typically close-to-home arrangements that are solely about taking care of pets and plants, not travel. The best site to list your paid housesitting service is Rover, which takes a 20% commission for helping you find work. If you’re looking to housesit outside of your metropolitan area, you should expect the deal to reduce your expenses, not provide income. There are dozens of travel-oriented websites where you can advertise your house or your availability to housesit. Some sites concentrate on a single geographic region; others span continents. Most charge housesitters a monthly or annual fee to search the registry and apply for positions. Some charge homeowners as much as or more than sitters, giving them premium services, such as insurance coverage for their possessions. Others don’t charge homeowners at all. Nomador offers a compelling combination of reasonable fees, great advice and an abundance of users offering their homes and services. The site has a free option that allows you to test the service, but it charges sitters up to $99 annually if they want to contact more than a few homeowners. The same deal applies to homeowners: You can list for free, but if you actively use the service, you’ll need to pay. Other features that help Nomador stand out: It has a “stopover” option that helps housesitters find free accommodations between gigs, a fill-in-the-blanks guide to help homeowners assemble information sitters need and an identity verification service. TrustedHousesitters is the most expensive of the international sites, but it draws the most traffic. While Nomador drew about 250,000 web visitors in April, TrustedHousesitters pulled in more than 780,000. The site’s annual fees range from $129 to $319, depending on whether you want a basic membership, additional services or a “combined” sitter/homeowner membership. Most of the extra bells and whistles seem costly. However, the site’s $129 basic registration fee provides 24/7 telephone access to a vet, making TrustedHousesitters a good choice for homeowners with older and medically fragile pets. HouseCarers is one of the oldest sites, with more than 20 years in the industry. It is also one of the least expensive for registrants: Homeowners list for free; housesitters pay $50 annually. HouseCarers caters to retirees looking for a cozy and inexpensive way to travel the world. However, the website isn’t particularly user-friendly and appears to have fewer opportunities than Nomador and TrustedHousesitters. House Sitters America focuses on the U.S. At a time when international travel is still dicey, this is a good option for U.S. residents who want to visit other parts of their own country. Like HouseCarers, House Sitters America does not charge owners to list their homes. Sitters pay $49 annually. Because there’s no international visa issue, Americans who use this site can charge for housesitting — but you should realize that you’re competing with people who are willing to sit in exchange for free accommodations. So unless the house or animals seem particularly unappealing, it may be tough to find a paid opportunity. Travel & Experiences You’ll find lots of trippy California destinations in this edition of Escapes. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. May 27, 2021 For housesitters, the catch is that your vacation includes responsibilities that could restrict your ability to tour places more than a few hours’ drive from where you’re staying. The best way to address this is to research the location carefully to make sure it’s near enough to sites you hope to see. Another option is to ask the homeowners if they have a regular, paid housesitter you could hire if you wanted to take a day or two away. Homeowners, meanwhile, bear the risk of hosting a stranger. Almost every housesitting site suggests that homeowners address that risk by communicating actively with prospective sitters. Ask for references and read the sitter’s reviews. Be clear about what the responsibilities are, asking sitters how they would handle potential problems. Homeowners may want to keep valuables in a locked area. Clearing out a room for the sitter, including cabinet and closet space, is advised for longer stays. And check with your insurance agent to see how your carrier handles loss or damage caused by a guest staying in your home. Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent site that reviews hundreds of money-making opportunities in the gig economy.

L.A. teachers union to vote on urging U.S. to cut aid to Israel, sparking controversy

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/la-teacher-union-vote-israelis-palestinians-conflict

The leadership body of the Los Angeles teachers union is expected to vote in September on a resolution that would urge the U.S. government to end all aid to Israel — a move that has sparked internal debate, drawn praise and scorn from the outside, and diverted some of the union’s focus from post-pandemic education issues. The declaration, which was brought forward during the recent deadly conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants, urges United Teachers Los Angeles to “express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for Israel to end bombardment of Gaza and stop displacement at Sheikh Jarrah” — a site where Palestinian residents face forced removal. In addition to the cutoff in aid, the resolution asks members to endorse “the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.” Some critics of Israel welcomed the looming vote as an opportunity for the union to take an important stand on an issue of life and death as well as the right of self-determination for Palestinians. Those in opposing camps criticized the resolution as one-sided, insensitive to Jewish students and school employees, and inappropriate for a teachers union — especially as educators confront the challenges of student learning loss and social isolation caused by the pandemic. The San Francisco teachers union has moved on a faster track, adopting a pro-Palestinian position in May, calling essentially for the same actions. World & Nation Taking a page from the Trump playbook, Netanyahu says only ‘fraud’ could lead to his removal as prime minister. June 6, 2021 The Los Angeles union leadership has taken no position on the resolution, which included a rationale for adopting the stance. “As public school educators in the United States,” the resolution states in part, “we have a special responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people because of the $3.8 billion annually that the U.S. government gives to Israel, thus directly using our tax dollars to fund apartheid and war crimes.” The text of the resolution was provided by unofficial sources within the union. The union leadership declined to provide a copy. The L.A. union resolution was put on the table by teachers at three of the union’s eight area meetings on May 19. Under union rules, a resolution approved at any area meeting would be considered by the highest decision-making body, the House of Representatives, at its next meeting, which is in September. After the regional Anti-Defamation League sent the union a letter expressing concern, UTLA posted a response. “Debate and disagreement are essential to democracy and to our union, even when there are deep, conflicting emotions on both sides,” the statement said in part. “As educators, it is our job to create nurturing, safe environments for all of our students. UTLA stands against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and oppression in all forms. We stand against both anti-Jewish hate and violence and anti-Arab hate and violence wherever they occur, and we denounce the recent attacks on Jewish people in Los Angeles.” The resolution passed in the North Area, which includes sections north and east of downtown L.A., and the Harbor Area, in the far south of Los Angeles. It was defeated in the West Area, which includes West L.A. Such area meetings are typically attended by school chapter chairs, but any member in attendance can vote, senior union members said. The immediate precursor to the teacher activism was the worst violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas since 2014, which broke out May 10 and halted with an uneasy cease-fire May 21. Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardment killed more than 250 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including dozens of children, according to the health ministry. The barrage reduced parts of the impoverished, densely populated enclave — including residential towers, commercial centers, schools, roads and other infrastructure — to rubble. In Israel, 12 people, including two children, were killed as a result of more than 4,000 rockets fired out of Gaza. World & Nation Samir Mansour’s bookstore was a cultural magnet for residents of the Gaza Strip until an Israeli airstrike leveled it. Now he has to start over. June 1, 2021 Teachers union members pushing forward with the vote believe it is part of their social justice mission. “Labor unions are inherently anti-imperialist,” said Soni Lloyd, a Venice High School history teacher and chapter chair. In the 1980s, he said, union members spoke out “in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by U.S.-funded war crimes in Central America ... as refugees from these crises poured into L.A. ... in the same way we are now speaking up for the Palestinians.” “This is not about singling out a specific demographic, it’s about opposing colonization, war crimes and injustice, which are all things that harm the cause of labor,” he said. The Los Angeles and San Francisco teachers unions are among the state’s most aggressive and influential labor organizations. They held much sway locally over how and when campuses reopened during the pandemic. Teachers unions have long been active politically, openly taking sides in elections both rhetorically and financially — in some cases providing the primary financial muscle in opposition to corporate interests and wealthy individual donors. UTLA is among the unions that have gone further — such as asserting that when they negotiate a union contract they are “bargaining for the public good.” The union has supported efforts of local families to occupy vacant, government-owned homes and has called for eliminating the L.A. School Police Department, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter activists. The union resolutions related to the Middle East drew quick and emphatic reactions. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles voiced concerns. “It is inappropriate and unacceptable for UTLA to promote a one-sided position on a complex geopolitical issue that is far removed from the day to day public education in our schools, among our teachers, our students and their families,” the federation said in a statement to The Times. The resolution “knowingly alienates an entire population of their members, and intentionally makes all LAUSD schools feel unwelcome and unsafe for most Jews and their allies.” The federation also praised teachers within the union who are working to defeat the resolution. In a statement, the regional Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate group with Jewish roots, said the resolution “marginalizes those who disagree with it, including many Jewish and Israeli-American staff, students and families. With the recent rise in antisemitic hate crimes and speech around the world, including here in Los Angeles, we would hope that the focus of UTLA remains with the well-being of their staff, students, friends, and neighbors.” The Jewish community also includes groups that are sharply critical of Israel’s policies and supportive of the union resolutions. A spokesperson for the L.A. chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called the union effort “historic.” “The second-largest teachers union in the country is on the path towards making a clear, decisive moral stance against Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people…. In doing so, UTLA members add their voices to the growing tide of public support for Palestinian liberation.” Palestinian supporters liken their activism to the ultimately successful struggle against apartheid South Africa, where the Black majority was long denied political power. “This is the least we can do, honestly, to educate on this very peaceful way to protest what’s happening in Palestine,” said Amani Barakat, a local leader in the group Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. “Boycott, divestment and sanction is the peaceful solution to try to deal with this oppression and occupation that’s been going on for 73 years.” The contention marks a detour from issues that have been preoccupying educators and families, namely, dealing with the pandemic and the resulting yearlong closure of campuses as well as the gradual return to a normal schedule and academic recovery. “I understand that this is a political hot topic,” said one Westside Jewish parent, who asked not to be named because of recent antisemitic incidents. “I don’t know why it’s relevant to the union. It has nothing to do with educating kids. I don’t think it benefits kids.” Those siding with Palestinians insist that their advocacy is inseparable from what they see as a more balanced education related to world affairs. The resolution seems unlikely to affect classroom lessons. The Holocaust — the systematic genocide of Jews and other minority groups in Europe by Adolf Hitler’s German government in World War II — remains part of the curriculum in California. Issues related to Palestinians — a rarer classroom topic historically — may find voice in ethnic studies classes, where Palestinians are included in the state’s new model curriculum. Nonetheless, some district parents are adding the proposed resolution, which they described as antisemitic, to a list of recent grievances that include the union’s successful efforts to delay the reopening of campuses until after all teachers had the opportunity to be immunized against COVID-19. State and local health authorities said the delay was not essential to keeping campuses safe. These parents, who have organized under the name California Students United, also were angered when UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz likened their desire to reopen campuses to the exercise of “white privilege.” Leaders of the group also criticized the union for “racially profiling” people in a spring report the union undertook, which accused The Times of giving disproportionate coverage to those who wanted campuses to reopen sooner. The district enrollment of 465,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade is about 74% Latino, 10% white, 8% Black and 4% Asian. When campuses reopened in April, the vast majority of students did not return for various reasons. Many cited their lingering fears of COVID-19, which disproportionally hit low-income Latino and Black neighborhoods, safety concerns at reopened campuses and dissatisfaction with the on-campus program being offered.

Barbara Ferrer mourns the 24,000 dead in L.A. County and wonders if she did enough

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-05/facing-tough-covid-calls-ferrer-charts-steady-la-course

The pandemic was spreading fast across Los Angeles County. Barbara Ferrer was trying to stop it, but her moves were turning many against her. Business owners lamented her lockdown orders, preachers ignored indoor worship bans, and politicians pressured her to loosen mandates. Social media lit up with hate and, in a few cases, death threats against the county’s director of public health. When L.A. County hit its worst moment in the pandemic during the winter surge, the barrage of anger was hurled from right outside her front door. Protesters, screaming through bullhorns and carrying signs echoing conspiracy theories, had begun gathering regularly outside her home in Echo Park. They went without face coverings and confronted her masked neighbors. “You are a traitor to all the people of Los Angeles!” one man shouted from Ferrer’s driveway. It was the kind of high-pressure churn of threats and challenges that claimed the jobs of at least 190 public health leaders across the country who have either been fired, retired or resigned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ferrer, 65, wasn’t ready to quit, and 15 months into the county’s largest and most complex public health challenge, she is on the verge of outlasting the pandemic. It’s still too early to write the definitive history of how L.A. County fought the coronavirus and fully assess Ferrer’s performance. She has been among the most aggressive of California public officials in pushing for lockdowns and business shutdowns that were praised by public health experts and many residents who sent her letters of support. Even her toughest critics, among them county supervisors, credit her for her stable leadership amid constantly shifting factors, many of which were beyond her control, such as vaccine supply levels and people’s personal behaviors that defied mask and other mandates. Her allies praise her for standing up to business pressures to keep the economy open, something they believe saved lives. But in a county that at times became the epicenter of the pandemic — with some of the highest death and vaccine disparity rates in the country — Ferrer’s legacy will long be scrutinized with a critical eye. The county’s efforts to slow the virus with social distancing and restrictions on gatherings, so criticized by business owners devastated economically by the lockdowns, showed signs of success, especially early in the pandemic. But L.A. County was then hit by a winter surge that pushed hospitals to the breaking point. And the toll on L.A. County’s poorest neighborhoods was devastating, while those living in more upscale areas saw much less illness and death. Such outcomes have prompted some calls for the city of Los Angeles to break away from the county health department and establish its own, as is the case for the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach. “Public health directors in general are very good data collectors. Tragically, they’ve proven to have major equity blind spots during this pandemic,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León, who represents some of L.A.’s hardest-hit areas. The pandemic proved the county’s health department is too large to meet the “unique needs of L.A.’s diverse residents,” he said. In some ways, Ferrer is one of her own harshest critics. A public policy scholar who dedicated her career to fighting for health equity, she led a public health effort that became a tragic example of how racial and socioeconomic inequities contributed to a massive death toll. The blame cuts across every branch of leadership, and few fault Ferrer. “It would be compounding the tragedy to assign responsibility for the ethical shortcomings of the system to one person, or even one institution,” said Frederick Zimmerman, a UCLA professor who has studied the economics of health equity. Ferrer wonders whether she could have better protected people living in the county’s poorest neighborhoods, which bore the brunt of the pandemic. In Watts and Boyle Heights, for example, where more than 90% of residents are Black or Latino, 16% to 20% of residents got sick with the virus, a rate much higher than more affluent areas. “When you have a responsibility and opportunity to help protect people’s health, and 24,000 people die, I think rightfully I should feel bad,” Ferrer said. “I think it’s OK for me to feel bad about it — because it’s devastating.” California Disparities are revealed in detailed data tracking the progress of the COVID-19 vaccination effort in more than 340 neighborhoods across L.A. County. Feb. 20, 2021 It wasn’t long after L.A. County opened its five large vaccine sites in mid-January that Ferrer noticed a troubling trend. Ferrer spent weekends at vaccination sites where she walked among the lines of cars, volunteering alongside her adult daughter. The Puerto Rican-born Ferrer chatted up people in Spanish and English, posing for socially distanced selfies and joking that before the pandemic only a handful of people in the county knew who she was. But the first day Ferrer worked at the Downey site, there weren’t many Latinos or Asian Americans. “The majority of people who were here were white people,” Ferrer said during a recent interview at the vaccination site. “Nothing wrong with everyone getting access to vaccines, but if we had set up a system that really was disadvantaging working people from getting appointments, we had to fix that.” Ferrer spent a lifetime preparing for the moment. Ferrer’s father was a factory worker and her mother a nurse-turned-educator. They instilled in her: “We’re all here to take care of each other.” In college at UC Santa Cruz, she helped organize farmworkers. Her first job out of college was advocating on Cape Cod for low-income families with limited access to the only hospital there. Ferrer later helped organize one of the first coalitions in Massachusetts that included homeless people in their discussions about solutions. They were “probably some of the most meaningful jobs I’ve had,” she said. After a stint leading the Boston Public Health Commission and working at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ferrer came to L.A. in 2017, where she focused on social justice issues and helped launch the county’s Center for Health Equity. One of the center’s goals, she said, is dismantling false narratives in healthcare. Black people have been blamed for decades for poor health outcomes when the disproportionality is actually “very tied to racism and disinvestment in communities and not making sure people have resources” to ensure good health, Ferrer said. How those same inequities have played out in the pandemic has been stark. During the early months of the pandemic, many Black and Latino residents did not have testing sites close to their homes, making it hard to discern where the virus was most active. Data soon showed Black and Latino residents were contracting the virus and dying of COVID-19 complications at far higher rates than white people. Ferrer promised that the vaccine distribution would play out differently than testing, but by February, vaccine disparities were apparent. Data showed that the wealthier and whiter a community, the more vaccinated its population. In Bel-Air, Beverly Crest and Beverly Hills, 1 in 4 residents had received at least one dose by mid-February. In South L.A., the rates were far worse: Only 1 in 21 people in both Compton and unincorporated Willowbrook had gotten a shot. Many of the factors driving the disparities were out of Ferrer’s hands. Federal and state leaders set the rules for who would be vaccinated first, and L.A. County, like the rest of the nation, received only a trickle of doses in those first few months. Still, some of the disorganization, health advocates say, was preventable. Community clinics in L.A. County that predominantly serve working families said they weren’t given enough time or instruction on how to prepare for a massive distribution effort. “We were given one week to figure out how to get the vaccines distributed,” said Louise McCarthy, president and chief executive of Community Clinic Assn. of Los Angeles County, which represents 64 community nonprofit clinics and health centers from the Antelope Valley to Long Beach. “The intentions were good all around, but this pandemic necessitated a response that our systems weren’t ready to give,” McCarthy said. California The system makes it difficult for counties to reserve vaccine appointments and allows wealthier people to take advantage, L.A. County officials say. March 4, 2021 Once data revealed large disparities in vaccine access, Ferrer did move quickly to improve distribution, taking aim at the system that was designed by the state. She considered it a prime example of what happens when leaders don’t take into account race, racism and discrimination when designing a public health strategy. Under the system, the primary way to get an appointment was through the state’s online MyTurn scheduling platform. That was simple enough for professionals and wealthy people with access to the internet, but it put busy shift workers and low-income people without broadband internet at a disadvantage. So Ferrer’s team took thousands of appointments offline and worked with community groups and clinics to develop a closed system to schedule appointments for specific populations in underserved areas. Hundreds of outreach workers walked the streets of East L.A., Boyle Heights and other hard-hit neighborhoods, answering residents’ questions about COVID-19. The county health department started vaccinating entire families, ages 16 and older, in communities with the highest case and death rates. To reach more older people of color, they traveled to senior living facilities, offering vaccines to anyone who wanted one. California As California opens COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to anyone older than 16 in weeks to come, outreach will remain a crucial part of the state’s strategy. March 31, 2021 Access to the vaccine has vastly improved for these neighborhoods. In a given week, the county sends more than half of its vaccine doses to clinics in lower-income neighborhoods with few doctors and high rates of serious illnesses. Disparities still persist, but community leaders give Ferrer credit for significantly closing the gap. “It’s almost impossible to overcome hundreds of years of mistreatment with one outreach moment,” said Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, senior advisor to the equity-focused We Must Count coalition, adding that Ferrer’s agency and the county’s other health agencies have made important strides in a short period of time. “We’re building relationships that we need to maintain for a long time. That trust-building is going to take a while.” But anger and questions remain in some quarters about whether the county could have handled matters better. Ferrer and the county bureaucracy have faced criticism for mixed public health messaging and for being, depending on whose talking, too restrictive and hurting businesses or too liberal and putting people at risk. L.A. City Councilman De León has now taken that criticism a step further, calling on the city to cut ties with Ferrer’s agency and start its own city-run health department. He points to the huge toll on Latino residents — many essential workers who got sick on the job and then unknowingly spread the virus in the overcrowded communities where they live — as central evidence of what went wrong. Ferrer is quick to acknowledge the shortcomings of her agency’s pandemic response, saying the speedy spread of the virus caught officials flatfooted early on. “I wish then we had recognized, and we ought to have, that this was very quickly not going to be an issue for the wealthiest people,” Ferrer said. :: The pandemic has turned Ferrer into one of the most high-profile public health figures in California. An unflappable presence at the lectern, Ferrer fielded tough questions at regular news conferences and spent weekends chatting with hundreds of people at mass vaccination sites. For the most part, she kept her composure. But at a news conference in early December, the months of death and illness caught up with her. Ferrer had just found out that a child had died from complications from a coronavirus-linked multisystem inflammatory syndrome. As she discussed a slide on her PowerPoint presentation showing a trend line of the skyrocketing number of deaths, she started to cry. The emotional display was not surprising to people who work with her. “With Dr. Ferrer, it’s not a show,” said Kathryn Barger, who chaired the county Board of Supervisors through 2020. “She really does have a sense of compassion and empathy toward the lives lost.” Many county residents seem to share that opinion, if her reception at a star-studded celebration in early May is any indication. Thousands of vaccinated healthcare and essential workers gathered for “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World” at SoFi Stadium, excited to see the Foo Fighters, H.E.R, and Jennifer Lopez, who was set to open the show with the Neil Diamond classic “Sweet Caroline.” But first came Ferrer. With her name projected on a massive video board, Ferrer took the stage alone, prompting applause louder than even the reception for Prince Harry. Ferrer, mask in hand, delivered the sober message that she had communicated since the start of the pandemic. “This has been a year filled with sadness,” Ferrer said, adding that it was important for everyone to work together to ensure the equitable distribution of the vaccine. “So that there are no have-nots,” she said.

Black, Latinx and female entrepreneurs are still ignored by most venture capitalists

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-05/black-latinx-and-female-entrepreneurs-are-still-ignored-by-most-venture-capitalists

As voices of protest rang out during the pandemic year, Jorge Rios had a front row. The former high school teacher from Mexico wasn’t just watching crowds massing in the U.S. and elsewhere over George Floyd’s murder, Black Lives Matter, anti-government sentiment and other issues. Rios was monitoring rows of computer equipment and hearing his chief technology officer shouting things like: “We’re blowing up in Myanmar. We need more servers.” Rios created a messaging app called Bridgefy, an encrypted communications platform that relies primarily on Bluetooth and mesh networks, not the internet. In one 48-hour period of protests over the Myanmar coup, Rios said, the app was downloaded 1 million times. But Bridgefy almost didn’t happen. Rios approached multiple venture capitalists seeking development money. His app had been built for low-income people who lacked an internet connection. The funding people weren’t interested. “We had a hard time finding a venture fund that understood us and our mission,” Rios said. “We would hear: ‘How is this a problem? Everyone has internet.’ They just didn’t get it, didn’t consider poor people. We were constantly going through emergencies in Mexico, during earthquakes, concerts and large events, losing communications. We had a solution, but no funding.” Ultimately, Rios’ eight-employee firm got the seed money it needed from Mac Venture Capital, a predominantly Black firm trying to help level the venture funding playing field. The Los Angeles operation is one of several relatively new venture capital players — people of color interested in improving diversity in the founders they fund and the markets those firms hope to target. For Rios, Mac Venture was the choir he didn’t have to preach to. “They understood immediately what we were trying to do,” Rios said. Rios’ company is an example of what has and hasn’t changed in the venture capital world. Bridgefy, which maintains offices in Mexico and San Francisco, received backing after years of trying. But for many entrepreneurs of color and women of all races, venture funding remains a mostly impenetrable barrier to success. Business Want PPP loan forgiveness? Here’s a look at the application process and tips on what small businesses can do to improve their chances. June 1, 2021 Venture funding is a major gateway to entrepreneurship, particularly in technology. It is an important catalyst for the development of new technology companies, the nurturing of big ideas and the start of new technologies and services. For many business founders and women of color, it’s still a closed door, experts said. “The disparity in who the venture capitalists are and where their money goes is just phenomenal,” said Katherine Klein, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Klein cited a diversity study by review platform RateMyInvestor.com that examined the records of 135 of the largest venture capital firms. The review website found that from 2013 through 2017, women led just 9.2% of the startups that got money. Less than 2% had a Latino founder, and 1% was led by a Black person. The funding level hasn’t improved since then, recent data from Crunchbase indicate. Black-owned U.S. companies received $1 billion in venture funding during 2020, - and Latino-owned U.S. companies received $2.7 billion — just 0.6% and 1.7%, respectively, of a total pool of $161.4 billion. Business Some of us are hoping that a year of remote work will lead to greater job flexibility. Others can’t wait to get out of the house. May 19, 2021 This year, from January through May 19, Black business founders surpassed the amount of venture funding they received during all of the previous year, with $1.6 billion, Crunchbase said. Still, it represented a tiny portion of overall venture funding over the same period, at 1.4% out of $110.4 billion. Latino business founders’ share of venture funding has slipped in 2021, at $1.7 billion, or 1.5% of overall venture funding during the period. “One of the things that we have begun to see, with the Black Lives Matter movement, was more investor interest, suddenly, in backing black founders in particular,” said Marlize van Romburgh, editor in chief of Crunchbase News. “It’s a little too early to tell if that’s a long-term phenomenon that really moves the needle in any meaningful way. Because we’ve seen some years where that seems to increase, but isn’t really rising to any significant proportion that would represent the U.S. population overall,” she said. To attribute the funding gap to overt discrimination would be too simplistic, experts and entrepreneurs said. There is a fundamental disconnect in communication and understanding, they said. The predominantly white male investors fail to grasp who founders like Rios are and the value of the markets those entrepreneurs want to target. “We always say internally that talent is ubiquitous, but access to opportunity and capital is not,” said Marlon Nichols, one of two co-managing general partners for Mac Venture Capital. “We’re set on being change agents that provide capital opportunities to very talented, qualified and driven entrepreneurs that are building solutions for challenges that we care about, and a lot of those challenges are going to be related to underserved communities.” Mac Venture, formed in 2019 through the merger of two smaller funds, raised $110 million for its inaugural fund. Very few Black-owned venture capital firms top $100 million in funding. Among the largest Black-led venture capital firms is Los Angeles-based Sinai Capital Partners, which took a huge leap last year by raising $600 million to invest in tech, media and entertainment efforts, bringing total assets under management to $800 million. San Francisco-based Base10 Partners nearly tripled its size last year by raising $250 million for a new fund. Founder Adeyemi Ajao told Bloomberg that the fund was a response to the racial reckoning heightened by Floyd’s murder. The firm gives a portion of fees and profits to historically Black colleges and universities and to groups improving tech diversity. Los Angeles-based Backstage Capital recently crowdfunded more than $1 million on private investing platform Republic to back firms led by people of color, women and LBGTQ individuals, according to TechCrunch. The last year of upheaval has prompted some mainstream venture firms to examine their practices and records. Among them is well-known funder Andreessen Horowitz, which highlights its long history of diverse hiring and investing on its website. The firm already had the Cultural Leadership Fund, formed with money from Black cultural leaders largely in entertainment, media and sports, including Shonda Rhimes, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Kevin Durant. The fund donates some of its fees and profits to nonprofits improving technology diversity but has taken some heat for backing only a few Black startups. Business Jobs will come back and the state’s economy will recover faster than the nation’s, a UCLA forecast says, led by consumer spending, tech jobs and home-building June 2, 2021 In June 2020, Andreessen Horowitz unveiled the Talent x Opportunity fund, led by partner Nait Jones, for entrepreneurs from underserved communities “who have the talent, drive and ideas to build great businesses but lack the typical background and resources to do so.” The fund started with $2.2 million from Andreessen Horowitz partners and a solicitation for funding from others, who get tax benefits. Company co-founder Ben Horowitz and his wife, Felicia, have pledged to match up to an additional $5 million raised. Felix Orwa and Meka Este-McDonald are the kind of entrepreneur Mac Venture looks for. The two run a company called Sote, based in Oakland, and they want it to streamline cargo movement in Africa, one seaport at a time. “We often felt that Africa, with all of its resources, should be the breadbasket of the world,” Este-McDonald said, “and yet it still imports food, which is just completely backward. “One of the root cause problems is logistics, and the tremendous amount of friction that exists in moving goods between African countries and to and from the continent in general. We felt that the best way to be involved, touching all of the pieces of trade, was to create be a digital clearance and forwarding company,” he said. Orwa, who is chief executive, and Este-McDonald, chief product officer, had plans that were continent sized, but often the pair didn’t get far enough along in meetings with investors to tell how they planned to succeed. Africa just wasn’t a continent funders were interested in. “Almost universally, people would say things like: ‘I don’t even know a single person who would invest in Africa. I don’t even know people who would take this meeting,’” Este-McDonald said. When Sote approached Mac Venture last summer, the response was quick. Mac Venture led Sote’s seed funding with $1 million. “To have an entire partnership group who was comfortable with Africa was a night-and-day feeling,” Este-McDonald said. “We were hearing actual startup-type questions, like ‘What are you going to do with the money?’ They were open to our ideas.” Lori Shao was another entrepreneur who couldn’t find venture funding for her Los Angeles startup, Finli, which she hoped would free up daycare operators, martial arts establishments, tutors, afterschool programs and the like from the drudgery of paperwork. “Like any service business with an education and enrichment angle, these small businesses always struggle to figure out who’s supposed to pay them, how much, when and on whose behalf,” Shao said. “They fail because they can’t grow. They can’t grow because they don’t have the time to go out and get new customers,” she said. “But they can outsource their entire back office to us. We handle everything the scheduling, the booking, the payments, so they can build up their customer base and focus on teaching.” But before Shao could explain how she would accomplish this in a business plan, she was always stopped short; why did she want to work with a customer base like this, investors asked. “Many times, investors have told me, ‘Why bother with first-generation and low-income businesses?’” Shao said. “‘Why don’t you guys go up market? It’s the same technology anyway. You can go to the affluent communities. You can do all of those things, and you can get better traction.’” When Shao said she wouldn’t make that change, the rejections came. “I literally had email after email from venture capitalists who say they support equality and uplifting and this and that. And they’re telling me, ‘Hey, we don’t feel comfortable about your space.’ Our space is exactly who they say they support, but I guess not,” Shao said. Mac Venture provided Finli with $1 million of its initial round of $3.5 million of investment, the most it received from any single source. “It was a huge milestone for us,” Shao said. Business Instant soup mix, dresses, sneakers, appliances and so on. Buy common consumer items cheap; resell for more, maybe much more. COVID lockdowns supercharged it. April 28, 2021 In addition to Nichols, Mac Venture’s other managing partner is Adrian Fenty, a former District of Columbia mayor and special advisor to Andreessen Horowitz. The Mac Venture team also includes general partner Charles D. King, who was the first Black partner at the William Morris Endeavor media and talent agency, and venture capitalist Michael Palank, who worked with King at William Morris. King and Fenty met when they were in law school. Mac Venture’s $110-million inaugural seed fund in the context of venture capital overall is relatively small, said Freada Kapor Klein, a partner at Kapor Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Oakland-based Kapor Center for Social Impact, itself a large investor in diverse founders. “But to have a seed-stage or early-stage fund of $110 million run mostly by Black men is huge, and what it points to is the enormous gap and disparity in venture funding,” she said. Bridgefy founder Rios said the company is looking to build its revenue stream now that it uses encrypted technology, which opens up opportunities for mobile payments, for instance. Rios, who now lives in Florida, said Mac Venture “was the only fund that we found that was willing to make a significant investment into a problem that the majority of the First World ignores.”

What time does the 2021 Belmont Stakes start? What TV channel is it on?

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-06-05/what-time-is-belmont-stakes-start-2021-horse-race

If a major horse race is held in a city that never sleeps, does it really matter what time the race is? Of course it does. And that is today’s question: What time is the Belmont Stakes? As always, it depends on where you live. If you are here on the border of Queens and Nassau counties in the shadow of New York City, it’s at 6:47 p.m. EDT. And as you move west, subtracting an hour at each stop, it’s at 5:47 p.m. in Chicago and 4:47 p.m. in Denver and, of course, 3:47 p.m. in Los Angeles. The thing about the Triple Crown races is the time is heavily controlled by NBC. The network needs to be done with its horse racing broadcast by 7:15 p.m. EDT in order to go 10 miles down the road to Uniondale, where the New York Islanders will play the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of their NHL playoff series. Sports Rock Your World and Essential Quality face off in the Belmont Stakes, a race featuring no undefeated horses. June 4, 2021 The highlight of the Belmont Stakes pre-race festivities is always the singing of a chopped-up version of “New York, New York,” the song first sung by, no, not him, but Liza Minnelli. As it turned out, as far as the song is concerned, she is Pete Best, you know, the Beatles’ drummer before Ringo Starr. Minelli did “New York, New York” before Frank Sinatra, but guess whom everyone associates with the song and who made it his own? Sinatra was asked to sing it so often that he grew to hate the song, much like he did “My Way” when that was his signature song. This year, the crowd at Belmont Park is supposed to be capped at 10,000, not counting owners, officials and, of course, the media.

Lakers' biggest offseason problem: What to do at center?

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-06-05/lakers-offseason-preview-free-agent-center-andre-drummond-montrezl-harrell-marc-gasol

In some ways it was the perfect way for the season to end, Lakers coach Frank Vogel making a drastic lineup change at the position that was unsettled this season. The Lakers signed Marc Gasol last offseason to a two-year contract to be their starter. They added Montrezl Harrell as a backup. Then, in a talent grab after the trade deadline, they put Andre Drummond into the mix, giving the team one more center than it need — maybe without finding the one center the team could trust most. With their season on the line, Vogel and the Lakers made the decision to remove Drummond from the starting five and rotation. With the Thursday’s loss sending the Lakers into the offseason, what they do with their trio of big men is one of the most pressing questions. Drummond is a free agent while Harrell has a $9.7-million player option. Neither acted like he had any firm grasp on his future plans. Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021 “When that time comes around to have those discussions, I’ll have those discussions,” Drummond said about free agency. Vogel said he hoped Drummond would be with the Lakers for a long time. “He really played well for us and was a good culture fit, [fit] well with the guys and was very well liked,” Vogel said. “We just said it all along. We were concerned about how much time we would have to build a cohesion in the playoffs.” Harrell fell out of Vogel’s rotation late in the season with Gasol getting most of the backup center minutes. Vogel moved Harrell to the bench after Game 1, and in limited rotation minutes in Game 6, the Lakers were a minus-16 in Harrell’s eight minutes. When asked if the Lakers told him he was a part of their future, Harrell deflected. “Brotherman, you’re digging a little bit too deep into what I don’t have the answer to. Nice try,” he said. “But like I told you, the game just ended last night. I’m about to go home and be a dad. You want to know about that, you can ask questions about that. But as far as my future with being a Lakers basketball player, we’ll worry about that later when free-agency time rolls around.” Lakers fans react to their season coming to an end with a loss to the Phoenix Suns on June 3, 2021, at Staples Center. Harrell must decide on his option by the end of July. Free agency opens Aug. 2 when teams can negotiate with players, who can sign starting Aug. 6. Gasol said the season presented the team with plenty of chaos, though things were better than they might’ve appeared. While the Drummond signing did have him evaluating his options, he ultimately felt staying with the Lakers was the right decision. But considering his light salary and age (36), Gasol said he’s not sure what his role will be if he’s back next season. “They have a lot of decisions to make. I’m not [at] the top of the list of those decisions,” he said. “We’ll see later on this summer how the team looks and what they want to do, what the plan is.” Vogel said assistant coach Jason Kidd should be at the top of the list for any team looking for a coach. Sources have said Kidd will receive strong consideration in Boston and Portland, after the Trail Blazers parted ways with Terry Stotts on Friday. … Vogel, about to enter the third year of his three-year contract with the Lakers, said his preference is to keep extension discussions private, but both he and general manager Rob Pelinka expressed happiness with their partnership. … Talen Horton-Tucker is one of the Lakers’ more interesting free agents because of his age — he turns 21 in November — and potential. Horton-Tucker said he hadn’t thought much about free agency. He, like LeBron James and Anthony Davis, is represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. … Veteran free agents Jared Dudley, Wesley Matthews and Markieff Morris expressed desire to re-sign with the Lakers. “There’s no question in my mind, in my heart, that I want to run it back,” Matthews said. … Pelinka said the hope is to keep the Lakers “core group” together, but he wouldn’t say if ownership cleared him to go into the luxury tax next season. “Hopefully, with all of our fans being able to come back and be a part of the building, we owe them the work to start the process of retooling and have a championship-caliber team that can do special things next year,” Pelinka said. “That’s the driving passion, and there’s alignment there between Jeanie [Buss], the front office, the coaches. That will always be the goal.”

Hernández: Kawhi Leonard's virtuoso game must be just the start for Clippers

https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2021-06-05/clippers-mavericks-game-6-kawhi-leonard-virtuoso-effort

He did what LeBron James couldn’t, which is why the Clippers are alive and the Lakers aren’t. Twenty-three months after he agreed to move to the less-glamorous and frequently ridiculed franchise in Los Angeles, Kawhi Leonard became a bonafide Hollywood leading man. Ignore for a moment that his masterpiece was staged in Dallas. Finally, he performed like the player the Clippers admired from a distance. At last, he dominated like the player from whom they restructured their entire team. And if the Clippers are to take down the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center on Sunday in Game 7 of their first-round series, Leonard will almost certainly have to reprise his scintillating 45-point solo act from a 104-97 victory in Game 6. Leonard on Friday night was Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker.” He was Itzhak Perlman at the Disney Concert Hall. He was Richard Pryor on the Sunset Strip. Clippers Kawhi Leonard scored 45 and the Clippers contained Luka Doncic to 29 points to force a Game 7 with a 104-97 victory on Friday night in Dallas. June 4, 2021 The stage was his, and his only, as he dominated Mavericks guard Luka Doncic on both ends of the court. “Great players perform in big moments and he was huge, man,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “That just shows you who Kawhi Leonard is.” Leonard matched his career playoff high in scoring, established two seasons earlier in Game 1 of a second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. His Toronto Raptors went on to win their first championship that season. When the Clippers were down by seven points with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter, Leonard went on a one-man 11-0 run. He sank a mid-range jumper. He drained a three-pointer. He was fouled attempting another three and converted each of his free throws. He made another three in transition. He scored the Clippers’ final 15 points of the quarter. Leonard finished off the Mavericks by scoring 12 more points in the fourth quarter on five-of-five shooting. Video highlights from the Clippers’ 104-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of their playoff series on June 4, 2021, in Dallas. And that was only half of the story. He was also the Clippers’ primary defender on Doncic. Leonard wanted the assignment, according to Lue. Doncic finished with 29 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, but the line was deceptive. Remove the seven points he scored in the final 52 seconds with the outcome of the game already decided and Doncic made only eight of 20 shots for 22 points. He didn’t hit a three-pointer until there were fewer than five minutes left. “All I could do is try to stay in front of him as much as possible, contest his shots and just try not put him on the [free-throw] line,” Leonard said. Up to this point, the series was defined by Doncic, who averaged 35 points in the previous five games. As he was starting to be talked about in historic terms, Leonard put him back in his place. “I mean, he destroyed us,” Doncic said. Sports The Clippers are famous for their second-round Game 7 failures, but their first-round Game 7 history has produced far different results. June 4, 2021 The 22-year-old Slovenian couldn’t help but crack a smile. Leonard delivered when the stakes were at their highest. More than a season was in jeopardy. With a loss, the Clippers’ ambitious project centered around Leonard and Paul George could have come to an end. Leonard has one more year remaining on his contract after this season, but has the right to void it and become a free agent. Even if Leonard returns, his partnership with George could dissolve if the Clippers are prematurely bounced from the postseason again. Failure in two consecutive seasons will have to make the team’s brain trust at least reconsider the wisdom of a nucleus consisting of two similar players. Trading George will become a possibility. This was the backdrop of a performance for the ages, Leonard at 29 doing things James just couldn’t at 36. James dominated the third quarter in Game 4 of the Lakers’ series against the Phoenix Suns. Leonard had a quarter like that, then another, and another. He scored 13 points in the second quarter, 17 in the third and 12 in the fourth. Just for his team to avoid an embarrassing first-round elimination, he will have to deliver a few more quarters like that on Sunday. And if he is to lead the Clippers to places they’ve never reached before, he will have to produce several more after that. But it’s in him. He showed that two years ago. He showed that again on Friday. Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021

Illegal Serbian Orthodox church on Bosniak woman's land is demolished

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-05/illegal-serbian-orthodox-church-on-bosniak-womans-land-is-demolished

Bosnian authorities have demolished a Serbian Orthodox church that was illegally built on land owned by a Bosniak woman, after a 20-year-long legal battle that saw the case reach the European Court of Human Rights. Workers and construction machinery arrived at Fata Orlovic’s yard in the village of Konjevic Polje early Saturday. Using a crane, they brought down the white-colored church and its tower bell. The move comes after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in October 2019 that the authorities must remove the church. The ruling also said Bosnia must pay damages to the Orlovic family totaling $36,500. The church was built shortly after Orlovic and her family were expelled from the village,12 miles east of Srebrenica during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. The family are Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslim, and the village was taken by Bosnian Serbs, who are mainly Orthodox Christians. Orlovic’s husband was among some 8,000 Bosniak men and boys murdered by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995, the worst carnage of the ethnic conflict. The Srebrenica massacre has been acknowledged internationally as Europe’s only genocide since World War II. Awards With some political factions still denying the massacre, director Jasmila Žbanić is just pleased people can see her film Upon returning to her village after the war, Orlovic’s demands that the church be removed were ignored. In 2000, she launched legal proceedings to force the authorities of Republika Srpska, the name of the postwar Serb-run entity in Bosnia, to comply. Orlovic’s lawyer Rusmir Karkin told Bosnian media that he expected a quick removal of the debris from Orlovic’s land. “A lot of people are working and the weather is nice, so I expect everything to be over by tomorrow,” he said. Local authorities have said they will rebuild the church at the entrance to the village. Bosnia remains deeply ethnically divided long after the war ended in 1995 in a U.S.-brokered peace agreement. More than 100,000 people were killed in the conflict and millions had to flee their homes.

Horse racing newsletter: It’s Belmont Stakes day

https://www.latimes.com/sports/newsletter/2021-06-05/belmont-stakes-horse-racing

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter, as we see if any of the three Santa Anita-based horses can win the last leg of the Triple Crown. The big news from Belmont Park is Irad Ortiz Jr., who was scheduled to ride Known Agenda, was injured when he was unseated during the fifth race on Thursday, leaving the colt and Todd Pletcher looking for a jockey. The horse Ortiz was riding was OK, but the jockey appeared to be hit by a trailing horse. He stayed down for almost two minutes before he was put on a backboard and taken away by ambulance. “A CT scan and X-rays were negative,” said Steve Rushing, his agent. “He will probably be out for two weeks.” Pletcher was asked Friday morning if he had a replacement and he said no. The guess here is Javier Castellano, but that’s nothing more than a guess. Let’s take one more spin through the field to review their Friday, courtesy of the NYRA communications staff. 1. Bourbonic went to the training track. ”Everything went smoothly,” said Byron Hughes, assistant to Pletcher. “They’re all in good order.” 2. Essential Quality galloped 1 3/8 miles on the training track. “The surface on the training track seemed to be a little better,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He handled it really well. We’re really happy with where we are.” 3. Rombauer galloped 1 3/8 miles on the training track. “All good, no complaints,” said trainer Michael McCarthy. 4. Hot Rod Charlie also went to the training track. “We took him to the training track at 8:45 and jogged once around with Lava Man,” said trainer Doug O’Neill. “Generally, with him, the day before and with all the important work behind him, we do this. We’re really optimistic.” 5. France Go de Ina’s report comes from liaison Kate Hunter. “He went out to the track by the paddock entrance and walked half a lap around and then turned around to gallop a lap before leaving out the quarter-pole chute,” Hunter said. “He came out of his breeze on Wednesday really well and in his gallop today, he really seemed like he was ready to run. He seems to be in a really good place for the race [Saturday]. The plan for the race is to hopefully sit in second or third position throughout, avoiding kickback where possible,” Hunter continued. “However, if the pace is slow or if he gets in a position where it looks like he might get a lot of dirt in his face, we prefer him to be forwardly placed — even taking the lead if necessary and setting his own pace.” 6. Known Agenda. See Bourbonic. 7. Rock Your World went to the main track for his exercise. “He went out at 6 a.m. and galloped a routine mile and a half; not super hard because the track was a little wet,” said trainer John Sadler. “It rained pretty good last night. Then he schooled in the paddock and was perfect. We’re excited. This is a great race with a lot of good horses. We like our horse.” 8. Overtook. See Bourbonic and Known Agenda. The race is at 3:47 p.m. PDT and it’s on NBC. Enjoying this newsletter? Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. Remember Friday’s newsletter where we said there was no feature, only a lot of short fields. Well, that’s what happened. End of our report. Saturday’s nine-race card rebounded in the field size department after Friday’s thin card. There are only three turf races, including the feature, a graded stakes. There are also two allowance/optional claimers and two maiden specials. The big race is the Grade 2 $200,000 Monrovia Stakes for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs on the turf. Venetian Harbor is the 9-5 favorite for trainer Richard Baltas and jockey Mario Gutierrez. She has three wins in eight starts and four seconds. She’s been off since the Breeders’ Cup, where she finished eighth in the filly and mare sprint. She has won at this level at Keeneland. The second favorite, at 5-2, is Superstition for Richard Mandella and Abel Cedillo. She has three wins in eight starts with three seconds but has never won a graded stakes. Here are the field sizes, in order: 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 8, 7, 8. SEVENTH RACE: No. 4 Gypsy Spirit (12-1) Gypsy Spirit won last out for trainer Leonard Powell off a seven-week break under jockey Edwin Maldonaldo. Edwin is known as a “go fast early” jockey but in that race the horse was checked early and closed nicely going five furlongs. This tandem has won three of four races at the meet. Although moving up in class Saturday, this horse is not overmatched in my eyes. With lots of early speed that same tactic as the last race could provide a nice 12-1 or more value winner today. Friday’s result: Call Nine One One ran a rail-saving trip, angled out at the top of the stretch but had nothing to give and finished fifth. Ciaran Thornton is the handicapper for Californiapick4.com, which offers daily full card picks, longshots of the day, best bets of the day. Matt Dinerman is back for another week of Golden Gate Fields racing. The genial race caller is the host for our weekly previews and other musings. So, take it away, Matt. “First post both weekend days is 1:20 p.m. and next week is the final four days of the winter/spring meet, with closing day June 13 having mandatory payouts in the Golden Pick Six, the Rolling Super High Five and both Pick 5 wagers. “A quick recap from Monday. Navy Armed Guard was the ultimate hunch play on Memorial Day, when the son of Midshipman won Monday’s $100,000 All American under jockey Frank Alvarado. Trainer Quinn Howey reported Wednesday morning that Navy Armed Guard exited the race in terrific shape and it is very possible he may run at Del Mar this summer. Howey is one of many trainers from Golden Gate expecting to have a string of horses at the seaside oval from July to early September. It will be fun to see how the Northern California shippers fare against the locals. Usually, they take home their share of wins … and sometimes at overlay prices. “Let’s get to this week’s business. A contentious feature race on Saturday comes as the nightcap, a filly and mare allowance going a mile on the turf. The 5-2 morning line-favorite, Nina En Fuego, comes off a victory at this condition over Doc Yco Cheeks, who also is entered in Saturday’s finale. Nine En Fuego has won three races in a row and is clearly on a roll for trainer Isidro Tamayo, who employs leading jockey Kyle Frey for the ride once again. Don’t Unzip Me, by Honor Code and out of multiple Grade 3 and nine-time stakes winner Unzip Me, makes her second start off a layoff after a respectable runner-up finish at this condition off a year layoff. Leading trainer Jonathan Wong trains. Another Wong entrant, She’s So Pretty, tries turf for the first time. Most recently, she pulled off a hard-fought win at this level, and, being by a California stallion, is eligible to win once more at the condition. Scherzo, a European bred who has shown an affinity for the GGF turf course, is a mild price to consider in the field of nine. “The eighth race on Sunday, another one-mile turf, is very competitive. This is the same condition as Saturday’s feature except for colts and geldings. Claim of Passion, Descartes and Ready Say Go have all finished behind the razor-sharp Union Dance and seem evenly matched in talent level. No Union Dance’s to deal with this time. Bronze Warrior has run well but hasn’t won at this condition and makes his 2021 debut for Blaine Wright. Cosmo comes off an easy maiden win on May 16 and wheels back quickly for Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale while another new shooter, Diamond Blitz, last ran on turf in the San Francisco Mile and meets a much easier group this time around. It’s a field of 10. “Lastly, all of us at Golden Gate Fields will be cheering on 2021 El Camino Real Derby and Preakness winner Rombauer. He earned a free, all-expenses paid berth into the Preakness with the El Camino Real Derby win. Rombauer is in my top three picks for this year’s Belmont. For a top selection? I’m looking for Rock Your World to steal it on the lead. Maybe an exacta with those two?” A look at graded stakes or races worth $100,000 on Friday. Belmont (3): $150,000 Tremont Stakes, 2-year-olds, 5 ½ furlongs. Winner: Overbore ($3.30) Belmont (7): Grade 2 $300,000 True North Stakes, 4 and up, 6 ½ furlongs. Winner: Firenze Fire ($4.10) Belmont (8): Grade 3 $300,000 Bed O’ Roses Stakes, fillies and mares 4 and up, 7 furlongs. Winner: Estilo Talentoso ($7.40) Belmont (9): Grade 2 $750,000 New York Stakes, fillies and mares 4 and up, 1 ¼ miles on turf. Winner: Mean Mary ($7.40) Belmont (10): Grade 2 $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup Stakes, 4 and up, 2 miles on turf. Winner: Baron Samedi ($4.60) A look at thoroughbred stakes worth $100,000 or more on Saturday. All times PDT. 9:47 Belmont (3): Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Jackie’s Warrior (7-5) 10:22 Belmont (4): Grade 2 $400,000 Brooklyn Stakes, 4 and up, 1 ½ miles. Favorite: Tizamagician (7-2) 11:05 Belmont (5): Grade 1 $500,000 Acorn Stakes, fillies 3-years-old, 1 mile. Favorite: Search Results (1-1) 11:41 Belmont (6): Grade 1 $400,000 Jaipur Stakes, 3 and up, 6 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Bound for Nowhere (2-1) 12:18 Belmont (7): Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes, fillies and mares 4 and up, 1 1/16 miles. Favorite: Letruska (9-5) 12:58 Belmont (8): Grade 1 $500,000 Just A Game Stakes, fillies and mares 4 and up, 1 mile on turf. Favorite: Blowout (4-1) 1:42 Belmont (9): Grade 1 $1 million Metropolitan Stakes, 3 and up, 1 mile. Favorite: Knicks Go (6-5) 2:30 Monmouth (12): Garde 3 $150,000 Monmouth Stakes, 3 and up. 1 1/8 miles on turf. Favorite: Serve the King (3-1) 2:38 Belmont (10): Grade 1 $750,000 Manhattan Stakes, 4 and up, 1 1/14 miles on turf. Favorite: Colonel Liam (5-2) 2:58 Churchill Downs (11): $110,000 Mighty Beau Overnight Stakes, 3 and up, 5 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Totally Boss (3-1) 3:49 Belmont (11): Grade 1 $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 ½ miles. Favorite: Essential Quality ( 2-1) 4:52 Santa Anita (7): Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/18 miles on turf. Favorite: Venetian Harbor (9-5) FIRST RACE: No. 5 Musically (8-1) She has faced tougher rivals and exits a much better-than-looked fifth against a strong allowance group of runners. She leaned back at the start of that outing to lose multiple lengths to go along with her early racing momentum. After the less-than-stellar getaway, this entrant moved along down the backstretch and through the turn before finishing well up the rail down the lane, which preceded a solid gallop out through the clubhouse turn. If she runs a typical figure for her along with an expected better start Saturday, we’ll push this turn timer steadily to be a big player for all the board placings. A final thought I love getting new readers of this newsletter, and you certainly can’t beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you don’t like it, you’re probably not reading this.Either way, send this along to a friend, and just have them click here to sign up. Remember, it’s free, and all we need is your email address, nothing more.Any thoughts, you can reach me at john.cherwa@latimes.com. You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa. And now the stars of the show, Friday’s results and Saturday’s entries. Santa Anita Charts Results for Friday, June 4. Copyright 2021 by Equibase Company. Reproduction prohibited. Santa Anita, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. 71st day of a 81-day meet. Clear & Firm FIRST RACE. 1 1/8 Mile Turf. Purse: $35,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $50,000-$45,000. Time 23.34 47.70 1:11.74 1:36.11 1:48.29 Winner–Seven Charms B.c.4 by Cairo Prince out of Fine Linen, by Henny Hughes. Bred by Judy Hicks & Kathryn Nikkel (KY). Trainer: Michael W. McCarthy. Owner: Warren, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. William K.. Mutuel Pool $103,475 Exacta Pool $44,107 Trifecta Pool $32,425. Scratched–none. SEVEN CHARMS pressed the pace from outside, raced on even terms at the seven-sixteenths, dueled into the far turn, took over near the five-sixteenths, cleared into the stretch, was urged once left-handed and drew off under hand urging in the late stages. MY INDY stalked the pace from inside, entered the stretch two wide and bested the rest. LEMONADE STAND set the pace under pressure from SEVEN CHARMS, dueled into the far turn, lost the lead near the five-sixteenths, remained inside to the stretch and weakened to third. HENCHMAN saved ground throughout and never threatened. SILENT MUSKETIER tracked two wide early then moved outside and put in a mild bid three deep near the half-mile pole, failed to keep up with the top pair leaving the backstretch, lost ground around the second bend and had little left for the drive. SECOND RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $24,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $16,000-$12,500. Time 24.13 49.32 1:14.17 1:27.07 1:40.34 Winner–Flatterwithjewels Dbb.f.4 by Flatter out of Jewel Kat, by Indian Charlie. Bred by Wharton Connell Racing, LLC (KY). Trainer: David E. Hofmans. Owner: Tarabilla Farms, Inc.. Mutuel Pool $113,938 Daily Double Pool $22,521 Exacta Pool $47,634 Superfecta Pool $18,437 Trifecta Pool $34,890. Claimed–Flatterwithjewels by Belico Racing LLC and Medina, Lizbeth. Trainer: Milton Pineda. Scratched–Exchange Vows. FLATTERWITHJEWELS went up to take the lead from SECRET SQUARE and cleared around the first turn, showed the way inside and got pressured on the backstretch, held a short lead through the second bend, roused with a quarter mile to go, cleared in upper stretch and stayed strong to the wire. SECRET SQUARE away quickly to begin, ceded the lead and switch outside the pacesetter, prompted the pace from outside, lost contact with the winner in upper stretch but was clearly second best. INFO'S TREASURE tracked between runners then came three wide into the lane and gained the show. NICOLE GRACE broke in at the start, raced off the pace inside then pulled closer on the backstretch, chased along the fence inside a pair of rivals into the far turn, came out into the stretch and weakened. WILD ARCH went three deep around the clubhouse turn, raced widest up the backstretch, traveled three then four wide on the second bend and lacked further response. THIRD RACE. 1 Mile Turf. Purse: $61,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Time 23.39 47.72 1:12.18 1:24.62 1:37.11 Winner–Sunshine Babe Grr.f.3 by Grazen out of Toppers Sunshine, by Old Topper. Bred by Joel Youkhanna & Joette Youkhanna (CA). Trainer: Marcelo Polanco. Owner: Youkhanna, Joel and Youkhanna, Joette. Mutuel Pool $266,048 Daily Double Pool $11,005 Exacta Pool $149,910 Superfecta Pool $63,876 Trifecta Pool $104,451. Scratched–none. 50-Cent Pick Three (5-4-3) paid $7.70. Pick Three Pool $32,425. SUNSHINE BABE stalked two wide then moved out to the three path, bid three deep on the far turn, cleared at the quarter pole, angled to the rail entering the stretch and widened under mild urging. MISS O'BRIEN settled along the inside, steered three wide into the drive, tipped outside UNUSUAL DANCER and edged that rival for the place honors. UNUSUAL DANCER stumbled a bit at the start, tracked two to three wide around both turns and got outkicked for second. MENSA ON TAP prompted the leader from outside, challenged from between on the far turn, chased the winner leaving the that bend while a bit off the rail and faded. GALARINA stalked the top pair from inside, shifted to the two path on the second bend and weakened. SO VERY SMART set the pace with MENSA ON TAP alongside, vied with a pair of runners on the far turn, was overtaken past the five-sixteenths and gave way. FOURTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $61,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies. 2 year olds. Time 22.48 46.66 59.59 Winner–Loveherheart B.f.2 by Klimt out of Lustful, by Yonaguska. Bred by Lee McMillin & Anita Cauley (KY). Trainer: Andrew Lerner. Owner: Alydom Racing, LLC, Barragan, Rudy, Lerner, Ross, E., Russell, Craig and Russell, Ellie. Mutuel Pool $212,135 Daily Double Pool $20,160 Exacta Pool $108,582 Superfecta Pool $38,550 Trifecta Pool $69,839. Scratched–none. 50-Cent Pick Three (4-3-3) paid $47.00. Pick Three Pool $13,810. LOVEHERHEART sped to the front, moved clear and showed the way along the inside to the stretch and drew off. SIGNORA MINISTER chased three deep then four wide into the lane and rallied outside RUBY RAY to earn the place. RUBY RAY chased outside the leader, three then two wide on the turn, could not summon the needed rally and lost the place. PRECIOUS INSIGHT got bumped by WE ALL AGREE at the start, chased on the inside, bumped with WE ALL AGREE again into the turn, saved ground into the stretch and failed to rally. HARDDIANE tracked five wide into the turn, four wide into the lane, came in upper stretch and lacked further response. WE ALL AGREE was fractious in the gate and had to be reloaded, broke in and bumped rival, chased between foes, bumped PRECIOUS INSIGHT entering the turn, went three wide into the drive and weakened. FIFTH RACE. 1 Mile Turf. Purse: $36,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $25,000-$22,500. Time 22.82 45.97 1:10.96 1:23.77 1:36.36 Winner–Zabava B.m.5 by Skipshot out of Clifton Bay, by Gone West. Bred by Mikhail Yanakov (KY). Trainer: J. Keith Desormeaux. Owner: Dart, Gwendolyn, Dart, Ronald and Desormeaux, J. Keith. Mutuel Pool $204,451 Daily Double Pool $17,051 Exacta Pool $112,963 Trifecta Pool $90,513. Claimed–Lucky Peridot by Giddyup JR, LLC. Trainer: Kristin Mulhall. Scratched–none. 50-Cent Pick Three (3-3-3) paid $52.40. Pick Three Pool $30,848. 50-Cent Pick Four (4-3-3-3) 432 tickets with 4 correct paid $137.40. Pick Four Pool $77,658. 50-Cent Pick Five (5-4-3-3-3) 330 tickets with 5 correct paid $614.85. Pick Five Pool $235,989. ZABAVA got bumped by SAVING SOPHIE at the start, bumped lightly again soon after, entered the stretch two to three wide, rallied four wide outside the top trio and drove clear. LUCKY PERIDOT tucked inside early, bid between with a furlong to go, angled in mid-stretch and finished willingly for the place. LADY ROBIN stalked well off the leader early, closed in through the far turn, drew alongside into the lane, took over in upper stretch but got outkicked by the top pair. SABINOS PRIDE showed keen early foot and opened up a large early advantage, held a rapidly diminishing leaving the second bend, lost command in upper stretch, was bothered by LUCKY PERIDOT and steadied inside the furlong grounds and weakened. SAVING SOPHIE broke out and bumped rival at the start, bumped again soon after the start and checked hard, trailed the field on the inside to the stretch, angled off the rail and was never a factor. THE JOCKEY ABOARD SABINOS PRIDE LODGED AN OBJECTION AGAINST LUCKY PERIDOT, ALLEGING INTERFERENCE INSIDE THE EIGHTH POLE. AFTER A REVIEW, THE STEWARDS RULED THAT ALTHOUGH LUCKY PERIDOT DID CROSS OVER, SABINOS PRIDE WAS NOT COST A CHANGE AT A BETTER PLACING. SIXTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $61,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Time 22.25 45.28 57.31 1:09.81 Winner–Illumination Dbb.f.3 by Medaglia d'Oro out of Light the City, by Street Sense. Bred by Breeze Easy, LLC (KY). Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Bolton, George, Leidel, Peter, Leidel, Karin, Lipman, Barry and Radcliffe, Kerri. Mutuel Pool $189,499 Daily Double Pool $27,500 Exacta Pool $85,202 Trifecta Pool $71,777. Scratched–none. 50-Cent Pick Three (3-3-1) paid $29.75. Pick Three Pool $20,580. ILLUMINATION sped clear from inside, showed the way a bit off the rail into the stretch, roused in upper stretch and drew off under hand urging then geared down nearing the wire. ZYDECO MAMA closest in pursuit up the backstretch, navigated the turn two then three wide and held the place. FLIPPING FAST chased the winner from inside to the stretch and got outkicked for the place. OPTIMAS bumped with GUTZ at the start, dropped back early, angled in on the turn and saved ground into the stretch and was never a factor. GUTZ bumped with OPTIMAS leaving the gate, tracked three wide around the turn and weakened in the lane. SEVENTH RACE. 1 Mile Turf. Purse: $39,000. Starter Optional Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Price $32,000. Time 23.79 48.09 1:12.04 1:23.93 1:36.01 Winner–Miss Flawless (FR) Grr.m.5 by Siyouni (FR) out of Diamond Flawless (FR), by Cape Cross (IRE). Bred by Mr. Jean-Philippe Dubois (FR). Trainer: Leonard Powell. Owner: Frank Reynoso, Jr.. Mutuel Pool $215,050 Daily Double Pool $18,914 Exacta Pool $92,454 Superfecta Pool $40,711 Trifecta Pool $64,320. Scratched–none. 50-Cent Pick Three (3-1-1) paid $17.95. Pick Three Pool $21,271. MISS FLAWLESS (FR) bumped lightly with ARCTIC ROLL at the start, reserved in the early stages from inside, moved into the two path leaving the far turn, came out in the stretch, surged late and got up at wire. NICE ICE cleared early and angled to the rail, remained unchallenged into the drive, led clear into the final sixteenth and got caught at the wire. KITTYHAWK LASS tracked two wide then went between rivals at the five-sixteenths, tipped out in the lane, got bumped by A NEW PEACE and outfinished that rival for the show honors. A NEW PEACE chased inside on the first turn then moved into the two path, remained two wide to the stretch, drifted out and bumped rival inside the sixteenth pole and lost the show. ARCTIC ROLL (GB) bumped lightly with MISS FLAWLESS at the start, stalked the pace on the inside to the stretch and flattened out. TAKE A LEAP traveled two wide while in range then moved out three wide into the backstretch, remained three wide into the stretch and weakened. EIGHTH RACE. 6½ Furlongs. Purse: $22,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 21.56 44.59 1:11.08 1:18.21 Winner–Twirling Derby Dbb.g.4 by Twirling Candy out of Delta Holiday, by Harlan's Holiday. Bred by Lynn Farm (KY). Trainer: Mark Glatt. Owner: Little Red Feather Racing and Veranda Stables. Mutuel Pool $303,997 Daily Double Pool $71,226 Exacta Pool $202,742 Superfecta Pool $106,947 Super High Five Pool $76,956 Trifecta Pool $160,094. Scratched–California Buzz. 50-Cent Pick Three (1-1-5) paid $16.30. Pick Three Pool $85,852. 50-Cent Pick Four (3-1-1-1/5) 3070 tickets with 4 correct paid $55.85. Pick Four Pool $224,715. 50-Cent Pick Five (3-3-1-1-1/5) 147 tickets with 5 correct paid $890.45. Pick Five Pool $171,263. 20-Cent Pick Six Jackpot (3-3-3-1-1-1/5) 100 tickets with 6 correct paid $604.12. Pick Six Jackpot Pool $112,895. Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $379,233. TWIRLING DERBY was fractious in the gate, trailed the field early on, went outside rivals four wide into the turn, three to four wide into the stretch, closed under left then right-handed urging and got up in time. STIR THE POT broke in and bumped rival at the start, took control early and set the pace on the inside into the turn, remained unchallenged into the stretch, had the rider lose the whip at the eighth pole, weakened a bit late and got nailed at the wire. GORDY'S BOY chased off the rail then outside a rival, entered the lane two wide, tipped out and rallied between late to prove a game third. MAD CATTER was closest to the pacesetter up the backstretch, tipped out in upper stretch and lacked the needed late response. CALL NINE ONE ONE got bumped from outside leaving the gate, allowed to settle in the early going, traveled along the inside then steered out on the turn, exited the bend three to four wide and failed to find the needed rally. PHILLY CHEESE chased from inside through the turn and weakened. MOON MISCHIEF raced outside a rival off the pace, steadied briefly near the seven-sixteenths, angled four wide into the lane and never made an impact. U. S. CEE GEE tracked outside rivals early on, dropped back around the turn, eased in the stretch and walked off. Santa Anita Entries for Saturday, June 5. Santa Anita, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. 72nd day of a 81-day meet. FIRST RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $33,000. Starter Allowance. 3 year olds and up. SECOND RACE. 6½ Furlongs. Purse: $61,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. State bred. THIRD RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $24,000. Claiming. 4 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $12,500-$10,500. FOURTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $47,000. Claiming. Fillies. 3 year olds. Claiming Prices $50,000-$45,000. FIFTH RACE. 6 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $36,000. Starter Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $50,000. SIXTH RACE. 1 1/16 Mile. Purse: $63,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $40,000. SEVENTH RACE. 6½ Furlongs Turf. Purse: $200,000. 'Monrovia Stakes'. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. EIGHTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $63,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. State bred. NINTH RACE. 6 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $61,000. Maiden Special Weight. 3 year olds and up.

Hey, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, it's happening here, and you can stop it

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/newsletter/2021-06-05/kyrsten-sinema-save-democracy-opinion

Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, June 5, 2021. Let’s take a look back at the week in Opinion. Here’s something sad: We’re starting to get an answer to the question of what it must have felt like when past democratic societies weakened to the point that authoritarians could gain power and elections no longer mattered. Across the country, legislatures controlled by openly anti-democratic Republicans are passing bills that will not only make voting more difficult but will enable them to overturn election results on the flimsiest of excuses. The U.S. Senate could put a stop to much of this by passing two bills that would restore full voting rights and prevent corruption in federal elections. But it isn’t, on the grounds that doing so by ridding itself of the filibuster would anger Senate Republicans. This is not to diminish his malevolence, but the biggest obstacle here isn’t Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It’s two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. As op-ed columnist Virginia Heffernan points out, Manchin’s position as a red-state Democrat is precarious, but Sinema has no such worry: Arizona voted for Joe Biden and elected another Democrat to the Senate in 2020, and she is actually a co-sponsor of one the bills facing obstruction by the filibuster. In other words, Sinema has put herself in a position to extend the life of American democracy, and she is simply declining to do so. This brings up another question we often hear when talking about the decline of past democracies: Where were the warnings? Of course, it’s hard to judge the historical impact of an event, a law or a movement while it’s happening; that requires foresight. But right now, we are being warned — by Black citizens in America who know what voter suppression looks like, by our own historians and other experts sounding the alarm and, indirectly, by Republican legislators who cynically feed an ex-president’s conspiratorial delusions. Perhaps, then, the question so often asked about democratic societies that succumbed to authoritarianism requires a correction as much as an answer: There were warnings, but the people who could have done something in response to them simply didn’t. Right now, in the United States, those people are Manchin and Sinema. Beach apartments for homeless people? Venice residents are leery. Op-ed columnist Robin Abcarian, who lives in Venice, notes that she and her neighbors have seen crime spike, tent encampments proliferate and fires consume buildings as their neighborhood has become another center of homelessness in Los Angeles. Understandably, Abcarian’s neighbors are frustrated with local leadership and reluctant to welcome a new development that would house currently homeless and low-income people. “But,” Abcarian says, “no one is more vulnerable to catastrophic outcomes than the folks who through addiction, mental illness, sheer bad luck or choice sleep outside.” L.A. Times Preserve the Taix building? That’s too much. File this one under “confusing nostalgia for historical significance”: The beloved Echo Park restaurant Taix will soon move out of its kitschy abode, and some in Los Angeles want to preserve the building rather than see it razed and replaced with a mixed-use development, including housing for low-income residents. “Los Angeles cannot prioritize the preservation of buildings over people, their livelihoods and their most basic of needs,” says The Times Editorial Board. “For decades, Los Angeles has failed to build enough housing, and now we have a crushing affordability and homelessness crisis. This is a city that has to evolve.” L.A. Times Don’t expect Benjamin Netanyahu to go quietly. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister has survived perilously close elections, deadlocked parliaments and a corruption probe, but he appears poised to be shoved aside by a new coalition government formed for the sole purpose of, at long last, ousting him. It is the ideological instability of this coalition and Netanyahu’s unmatched unsinkability that have op-ed columnist Nicholas Goldberg skeptical we’ll actually see Bibi go. L.A. Times Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber. The “lab-leak” theory doesn’t alter the fact that the U.S. failed in its COVID-19 response. Dangerous viruses have escaped from laboratories in the past, and a Biden administration probe of whether the coronavirus came from a government facility in Wuhan, China, could answer important questions. But U.S. officials have more important work to do, says the editorial board: “The U.S. needs to spend at least as much energy investigating how it handled — and mishandled in some cases — the pandemic once it arrived. We may not be able to stop nations or nature from letting loose deadly diseases, but we can and should do a better job responding to them.” L.A. Times Tennis star Naomi Osaka took a stand for disability rights. When she declined to participate in post-match news conferences during the French Open, she was fined and, in some quarters, ridiculed. Later, when she announced she was living with depression and chose to withdraw from the tournament instead of participate in these mentally daunting media events, she received words of sympathy and tepid support from tennis officials but not what she legally and morally deserved: accommodation for her disability, says Ben Mattlin. L.A. Times Stay in touch. If you’ve made it this far, you’re the kind of reader who’d benefit from subscribing to our other newsletters and to the Times.As always, you can share your feedback by emailing me at paul.thornton@latimes.com.

Op-Ed: Living and dying with COVID in India's caste system

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-05/pandemic-deaths-india-cremations

A hospital in Patna, India, was ready to eject a COVID-19 patient to admit my uncle, whose oxygen level had dipped. But through our family connections with local politicians and senior bureaucrats, we got a bed for my uncle at another hospital. Once he was admitted, half a dozen doctors started to stabilize him. As one uncle struggled to stay alive, another uncle passed away in Mumbai from COVID complications. My cousin, a high-ranking bureaucrat, took off for Mumbai, handled the cremation, overcoming the bureaucratic hurdles due to COVID restrictions, before he hopped on the last flight out of Mumbai. You get the point, right? My family members are on the privileged side of the Indian system, at the intersection of power and position, class and caste. Last year’s stringent lockdown across India largely protected — by the government’s design — people with connections, nouveau nationalists, Muslim-bashers, well-off high-caste Hindus. “Pray that Americans, Brits, Italians learn pandemic management from us,” an aunt sneered over Zoom. Her newfound patriotism comes with dollops of jingoistic bluster. In service of a muscular India, Muslims who congregated at a Delhi mosque early in the pandemic were called scumbags. And poor migrant laborers, returning on foot from Delhi and Mumbai to cities like Patna, were called scourges. “Uff. Can’t believe these people,” another aunt scoffed as starved laborers descended on our town. India’s poor propped up my extended family in the upper-middle classes. Their poverty is how we got them as drivers, cooks and dishwashers. During the pandemic, we could stay inside because we had them to run errands for us — and contract the virus on our behalf. They are seen as disposable. One sneeze and they could be banished to government-run hospitals, where two patients often share one bed or would lie in hospital corridors without care at all. And if they died, their bodies could be tossed into rivers. But hell would break loose if the flood of migrant laborers spread the virus among the upper-middle classes. Not only would the privileged out-bribe one another for the few doctors and nurses and even fewer hospital beds in our town, but also would hoard lifesaving drugs, all in anticipation of the disease. By an odd mix of circumstances — whether grandma remedies, strict lockdown or sheer luck — most of my relatives escaped COVID last year. But in April, my uncle in Patna got sick with the virus, right after he got his first vaccine shot. After three days in the hospital, he died. Suddenly my family was in the mix, part of the headcount in the second COVID wave, part of the countless families grieving for relatives who died gasping for oxygen in hospital corridors and parking lots. Immediately after his death, my family members jumped the line at Patna’s Bhasghat crematorium and got his body in front of the long queue awaiting their final journeys. The pandit, under orders to not rush, chanted the Vedic mantras. The cremator putting logs on his pyre didn’t ration the wood, which he most certainly would have to for the long line of cremations to follow. On the 13th day after my uncle’s death, we grieved over Zoom. His soul, we believe, would journey across to join those of his forefathers that day. But 17 of us stared blankly into our phones, without expression, without tears, with an overwhelming fear for those still alive. What if another relative took ill? Two aunts and their entire families have COVID. My 69-year-old mother is running a low temperature. My 80-year-old father is recovering from a non-COVID sickness, still dizzy and weak. Two domestic helpers who got COVID have been sent away from the household. I am trying to return to Patna from the United States, but pandemic restrictions have made it hard. COVID is rampaging through the top civil servants, bureaucrats, politicians in Patna. While the elites are scrambling for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders, everyone below them in the social order has been left to die. As the elite dead get cremated first, upper-middle-class families wait in mile-long lines, for over 24 hours, cremating relatives on rationed woods, with two or sometimes three others on the pyre. And even that’s a privilege. Tides of death are burying our town. It will only get worse. It always does. And we wonder: How many of us will make it to the other side of the pandemic? Where will our dead loved ones end up — at cremation grounds or in the Ganges, tossed into the river or buried in a sand pit? Mona Mohan is a writer and information technology professional based in Houston. @monamohan

Abcarian: Why Katie Hill has to pay legal fees for a newspaper that published nude photos of her

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-05/column-it-may-sound-outrageous-to-force-katie-hill-to-pay-attorneys-fees-for-peo

I feel for former U.S. Rep. Katie Hill, I really do. Hill, 33, was a rising Democratic star from a traditionally red California district. Her political career came crashing down in 2019 after she left her husband. Someone leaked salacious photos of her with a female campaign staffer, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into whether she had an inappropriate relationship with a male congressional staffer, which she has denied. Rather than hand Republicans a convenient distraction as Democrats were about to launch the first Trump impeachment inquiry, Hill stepped down after serving only 10 months in Congress. I wish she hadn’t resigned, but she took responsibility for her behavior, which was refreshing. In her new memoir, “She Will Rise,” Hill writes about her emotions in the aftermath of the scandal: the guilt, shame, anger, sense of violation and suicidal thoughts. “How could I ever face anyone again,” she writes, “knowing what they’d seen? What they knew?” Thoughts of her family and a sense of responsibility to the young women she’d inspired helped pull her back from the brink. She rallied, then did what any red-blooded American would do. She sued the hell out of the people she believed had done her wrong: her ex-husband, Kenny Heslep, who has denied leaking the photos, a radio host later dropped from the lawsuit, and a journalist named Jennifer Van Laar who provided the photos to the conservative website Red State and the British tabloid Daily Mail. Hill claimed they all had violated California’s 2013 revenge porn law, which makes it a crime to share “intimate images” of a person without consent. Lawyers for the defendants argued that Hill’s lawsuit was an attempt to squelch their constitutionally protected right to free speech. They invoked California’s anti-SLAPP law, which prohibits meritless lawsuits designed to chill free speech and allows defendants to collect attorney’s fees if they prevail. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yolanda Orozco agreed. In April, she tossed out Hill’s lawsuit on constitutional grounds, and on Wednesday, she ordered Hill to pay her opponents’ legal fees, which could top $220,000. “A judge just ordered me to PAY the Daily Mail more than $100k for the privilege of them publishing nude photos of me,” Hill tweeted Wednesday. “The justice system is broken for victims.” But of course, it’s not as simple as that, especially for people who have thrust themselves onto the public stage, as Hill has voluntarily done. She was an inexperienced politician, yes, but she had run a homeless services agency and surely knew the ethical and legal perils facing a boss who sleeps with a subordinate, especially a much younger one, as was the case with Hill and her staffer, who was in her mid-20s at the time. So, while the revenge porn law is a much-needed corrective to the privacy abuses of our digital age, there are situations where, painful as it may be, it simply cannot apply. California’s revenge porn law contains a very clear exception for images that are deemed to be “in the public interest,” and there is nothing more clearly in the public interest than newsworthy information about an elected member of Congress. “This ‘public interest exception’ is part of the 1st Amendment,” said Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson. “It’s constitutionally mandated. Once you enter the public forum, you give up a lot of your privacy rights.” But were those photos really newsworthy? Was the electorate truly enlightened by the image of a naked Hill brushing the hair of a woman on her campaign staff, with whom she and her husband were part of a “throuple”? Or of a naked, stoned-looking Hill holding a bong? Was it important for the world to know that Hill has a small tattoo of an iron cross on her pelvis? The judge thought so. In her ruling, she wrote that the photos spoke to Hill’s “character and qualifications for her position.” The fact that the question of newsworthiness can even be debated points to the answer, said Levinson. “We can have a conversation about, ‘Do I care she was smoking marijuana, or do you care she was in these situations?’ but the law doesn’t say, ‘If reasonable minds could differ then the public doesn’t get to know.’ Our strong 1st Amendment traditionally says if it could be of legitimate interest to the public, we think there is a bigger public harm from punishing people for releasing that information than for releasing it.” Hill’s attorney, Carrie Goldberg, who specializes in representing victims of revenge porn and online abuse, said she is considering an appeal. She said the basis of Hill’s revenge porn lawsuit was that private photos of her were distributed, not that they were published. “There is just a basic procedural unfairness here when you apply anti-SLAPP laws to revenge porn matters,” she told me Thursday. “It is a crime to distribute nude pictures without consent.” At this point, that seems like a slim reed on which to hang an appeal. Personally, I don’t think Hill should waste her time. She needs to take the L and move on.

Op-Ed: Why Congress must abolish the most destructive abortion restriction ever passed

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-05/biden-hyde-amendment-budget-abortion

Three years after the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe vs. Wade in 1973, Congress made it significantly harder for low-income women to access the procedure by passing the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal Medicaid funding for abortions. It was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1980 — and remains in effect. In our view it is the most destructive abortion restriction ever passed. Finally, there is a chance to abolish it. Joe Biden is the first president in more than two decades to exclude this discriminatory provision in a proposed federal budget. Since Democrats have narrow majorities in Congress, he’ll need help from brave Republicans who support abortion rights to eliminate it. Named for abortion rights opponent Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, this harsh amendment survived by hiding behind a veneer of reasonableness. Even if you support someone’s right to choose abortion, Hyde argued, taxpayers should not have to pay for it. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle agreed, and it has been a part of federal spending laws ever since. They closed their eyes to the amendment’s harmful and unfair effect on low-income women. A disproportionate number of those affected by the funding ban each year are women of color: Twenty-nine percent of Black women and 25% of Hispanic women of reproductive age were enrolled in Medicaid as of 2019, compared with just 15% of white women. The lack of funding uses the government’s power of the purse to put abortion out of reach for Medicaid recipients while still fully funding childbirth. Over the years, the Hyde Amendment has provided a variety of narrow exceptions to the ban on Medicaid funding — today it pays for abortion only if the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. The amendment’s impact is enormous. A first-trimester abortion is prohibitively expensive for women on Medicaid; the cost of the procedure is about $500, plus there are related expenses such as lost wages, child care and transportation. According to our research, Hyde’s amendment inspired a wide range of copycat bans that continue to deny abortion coverage in the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other federal programs that cover military personnel and veterans, Native Americans, Peace Corps volunteers and people imprisoned or detained by the federal government. Politics Biden’s $6-trillion budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, coming Friday, calls for big increases. But the total mostly maintains funding for existing programs. May 28, 2021 At the state level, we found that the amendment made it politically acceptable to carve out abortion coverage in state employee insurance plans and even insurance coverage provided by private employers. In contrast, six states — California, Illinois, Maine, New York, Oregon and Washington — mandate abortion coverage in their health insurance marketplaces and in private health plans. States can use their own funds to pay for abortion services if they so choose, or when ordered to do so by state court rulings that provide greater reproductive rights. We’ve seen how litigation combined with strong legislative advocacy — led by Black women and their allies — has persuaded several states to fund abortion under their Medicaid programs. Today, 16 states, either through court order or legislation, allow Medicaid-eligible residents to obtain funding for all or most abortions. But 33 states and Washington, D.C., still conform to the severe federal Hyde standards. (South Dakota only pays for abortion in life-endangering cases.) As more progressive women, including more women of color, have been elected to Congress, the repeal of funding restrictions on abortion has gained more support. President Biden, who supported the Hyde Amendment during his years in the Senate, has had a change of heart, proposing a 2022 federal budget that would close the door on it. Simply excluding Hyde from the federal budget is not enough. The proposed Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, which was recently reintroduced in Congress, must be passed. It would ensure abortion coverage for everyone who receives care or insurance through the federal government and prohibit political interference with abortion coverage in private insurance plans. At the local level, more funding is being made available for abortion services and related expenses through philanthropic organizations and city programs that will continue to be important long after Hyde disappears. For instance, New York City has allocated more city dollars to fund abortions for anyone traveling there for care and Austin, Texas, is providing support for women seeking abortions by funding lodging and travel expenses. As new proposals for healthcare coverage are debated and considered, those who value reproductive freedom must advocate to ensure that the full range of reproductive health services — including abortion — are firmly and securely part of everyone’s coverage. Preserving reproductive freedoms requires not just the right but the means to obtain all reproductive healthcare, regardless of financial status. Hyde’s harmful amendment has bullied those choosing abortion for far too long — and far too unfairly. Kathryn Kolbert is a lawyer and co-founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights. Julie F. Kay is a human rights lawyer who has argued for abortion rights internationally. They are the authors of the forthcoming “Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom.”

Opinion: Math is really hard, so of course everyone has an opinion on it

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-05/readers-have-strong-opinions-on-californias-new-math-rules

Almost everything seems polarizing nowadays, but math education stands out as one of those rare nonpolitical topics on which everyone seems to have a strong opinion. Those of us who went to school in California surely remember clawing our way into advanced trigonometry or calculus to get into our preferred UC or Cal State campus, or barely finishing algebra to earn that high school diploma. Other subjects could be rigorous, but sheer hard work and reading stamina could earn you high marks in history or literature. Math demanded to be understood before it rewarded you. So, with politics entering the mix, it isn’t surprising to see so many readers commenting on California’s consideration of a math instruction framework that would keep students of varying abilities in the same classes until late in high school. Already there have been multiple letters in The Times on this topic since the newspaper’s first article about the new framework was published more than two weeks ago. Most recently, an editorial welcoming some aspects of the new guidelines, but also lamenting the potential impacts on advance learners, prompted a few dozen more readers to write us, some of whom shared their experiences struggling with or mastering math in school. If people are going to have strong opinions on something, it may as well be something that isn’t about a certain ex-president. —————————————————— To the editor: I agree with the proposed math instruction plan for California. I remember attending El Cerrito High School in the Bay Area and being placed in a class called “generic algebra” as a junior. Other students got ahead in AP classes that prepared them for college, while those of us in generic algebra felt as if we were being babysat. Many of us in that class did not come from intellectually stimulating environments. We were from single-parent households, mainly consisting of Black mothers, many of whom worked multiple jobs and could not provide the time or support for their children to excel in science and math. For children to excel in all areas, especially in math and science, we need a new framework that gives opportunities to students who are at risk of falling behind their “gifted” peers. I am not against parents making sure their kids go above and beyond and excel in math; however, programs outside regular school hours exist. April Clark, Long Beach .. To the editor: Your editorial called teaching algebra in eighth grade a “crazy requirement” and complained that less than “20% of Black students met math standards.” The requirement was modeled on what is actually happening in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. During the time this goal was in place in California (1998-2013), the fraction of students taking algebra by eighth grade quadrupled from 16% to 67%, while at the same time their success rate went from less than 40% to 55%. Furthermore, the rate of minority or disadvantaged students successfully completing algebra in eighth grade rose much faster than that of white students. In other words, by 2013, before California replaced its own standards with Common Core, we were well on our way to essentially universal algebra by eighth grade, with disadvantaged students its biggest beneficiaries, on par with our international competitors. Common Core reversed this trend, and now the editorial board is praising parts of a math framework that would put a complete stop to that. Ze’ev Wurman, Palo Alto The writer was a U.S. Department of Education official in the George W. Bush administration and served on the California Academic Content Standards Commission in 2010. .. To the editor: I have followed the pros and cons regarding the teaching of math with children of all levels of ability combined. When I was in school in the 1940s, there was no tracking. My best friend and I were, most of the time, finished with assignments early, so our 6th-grade teacher would give us more to do, mostly crafts projects. I just hope that this will not happen under this new system. I’m not sure how I feel about tracking groups, but I realize it will be very difficult for teachers to deal with 30 or more children at different places in their learning. Julie May, Los Angeles .. To the editor: If our country is going to be competitive in critical STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math), we cannot adopt a system of math instruction that does not allow exceptional students to satisfy their curiosity and creativity, and to engage in math concepts early on. To “reject ideas of natural gifts and talent,” as your editorial puts it, ignores research and the experience of educators. Our children would be better served by an education system that provides rich learning for all students, regardless of race or gender, and provides pathways for success and access to the most rigorous learning. Giftedness is very real and is not racist. Rather, the systems that identify and nurture giftedness are. Improving diversity in the workplace starts at birth. Let’s focus on providing support and systems that give every child access to a high-quality education, leading to equitable access to the American dream. Janice Kolodinski, Los Angeles

Protests erupt again after man is killed by deputies in Minneapolis

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-05/protest-erupts-again-over-man-killed-by-deputies-in-minneapolis

Protesters faced off with officers in Minneapolis early Saturday over the shooting death of a man by members of a U.S. Marshals task force. Photos from the scene following a vigil for Winston Boogie Smith Jr., 32, showed dumpster fires in the street and a line of officers standing guard. It was the second night of protests in response to the fatal shooting Thursday in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood. Authorities said Friday that Smith was wanted on a weapons violation and fired a gun before two deputies shot him while he was inside a parked vehicle. Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were trying to arrest him on a warrant for allegedly being a felon in possession of a gun. Family and friends described Smith as a father of three who was often harassed by police. They are demanding transparency in the investigation and have asked that anyone who might have video of the shooting to come forward. Shelly Hopkins, who was in a longtime relationship with Smith, told the Associated Press that despite any mistakes he has made, he didn’t deserve to be killed. “I wasn’t there,” she said of Thursday’s shooting. “I don’t know exactly what happened. But I know him. And he didn’t deserve that. ... He had the best heart out of anybody I’ve ever met in my life.” The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Friday that two sheriff’s deputies — one from Hennepin County and one from Ramsey County — fired their weapons, striking Smith. Smith died at the scene. State investigators said Smith’s passenger, a 27-year-old woman, was treated for injuries from glass debris. Police said some people vandalized buildings and stole property from businesses after the shooting Thursday. Nine people were arrested on possible charges including suspicion of riot, assault, arson and damage to property. The fatal shooting comes as Minneapolis has been on edge since the death of George Floyd just over a year ago, and the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by an officer in nearby Brooklyn Center in April.

GOP sees opening to revive attacks on Fauci after release of email trove

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-06-05/gop-sees-opening-to-revive-attacks-on-fauci-after-release-of-email-trove

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been a political lightning rod since the early days of the pandemic, lionized by the left as a beacon of truth in an administration that badly mismanaged the pandemic and villainized by the right as a misguided, spotlight-seeking bureaucrat seeking to undermine former President Trump. But with the release of a trove of Fauci’s emails this week, Republicans’ attacks on the nation’s top government infectious-diseases expert have gone into overdrive. On conservative news channels, Fauci — who now serves as President Biden’s pandemic advisor — has been pilloried as a liar who misled the American people about the origins of the coronavirus to protect the Chinese government. In Congress, Republican calls for his resignation have grown louder, as have demands for new investigations into the origins of the virus. “Given what we know now, I don’t know how anyone can have confidence that he should remain in a position of public trust and authority,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a potential presidential hopeful who is calling for Fauci’s resignation and a full congressional inquiry. The moves by Republicans represent a new effort to find a reliable foil in the first few months of the Biden administration, as they have struggled to turn public sentiment against the new president. So far, Biden has enjoyed widespread job approval, buoyed by the public’s broad backing of his handling of the pandemic, which 71% of Americans support, according to a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Fauci, who has a security detail because of ongoing threats and who did not respond to a request for comment for this story, has repeatedly defended his work, saying he received thousands of emails and has never ruled out any theory. World & Nation The immunologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the U.S. says ‘the undeniable effects of racism’ have led to unacceptable health disparities. “I still believe the most likely origin is from an animal species to a human, but I keep an absolutely open mind that if there may be other origins of that, there may be another reason, it could have been a lab leak,” Fauci said Thursday on CNN. The doctor’s newly released emails, which span the early days of the pandemic and were obtained by BuzzFeed News and the Washington Post, show no evidence of any kind of coverup about the origin of the coronavirus. Indeed, many of the discussions reflect the science at the time. But Republicans, including Trump, have seized on the emails as proof of a conspiracy to obscure the source of the virus. In one email, from Feb. 1 of last year, Kristian Andersen, a researcher at the Scripps Research Institute, wrote to Fauci, the longtime director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about ongoing efforts to decipher the origin of the novel coronavirus. At the time, the lab leak hypothesis was largely dismissed by experts. It has recently gained traction, though the origins of the virus remain unknown. “The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered,” Andersen wrote. He said he and his colleagues “all find the genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory. But,” he added, “we have to look at this much more closely and there are still further analyses to be done, so those opinions could still change.” By the next month, it turned out, they had. He and his colleagues published an article in Nature Medicine in which they concluded that it was “improbable that SARS-CoV-2 emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus.” In another email, Fauci was thanked by the head of a nonprofit that helped fund research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, “for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin,” which he said ”will help dispel the myths being spun around the virus’ origins.” Andersen, the scientist who wrote the “engineered” email, has tried to offer further explanation. Business The lab-leak hypothesis for COVID-19 is getting lots of attention, but there remains no evidence for the claim that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in China or anywhere else. “As I have said many times, we seriously considered a lab leak a possibility. However, significant new data, extensive analyses, and many discussions led to the conclusions in our paper. What the email shows, is a clear example of the scientific process,” he tweeted amid the backlash. “It’s just science,” he later added. “Boring, I know, but it’s quite a helpful thing to have in times of uncertainty.” The former president disagrees. While in office, Trump, who disdained the scientist’s popularity, frequently flouted Fauci’s recommendations on battling COVID-19 by playing down the severity of the pandemic and often touting unproven scientific remedies, including a malaria drug and even injecting disinfectant. And he frequently tried to undermine Fauci’s credibility by refusing to acknowledge the evolution in scientists’ understanding of the virus and how it spread, which informed guidance about policies like masking. Trump is expected to yet again go after Fauci when he returns to the public stage in a speech in North Carolina on Saturday night. He sees the emails as further vindication that he was right about the doctor, according to an advisor who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. “There are a lot of questions that must be answered by Dr. Fauci,” Trump said in a statement this week. “What did Dr. Fauci know about ‘gain of function’ research, and when did he know it?” “Gain of function” refers to enhancing the severity or transmissibility of a virus. House Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on Fox Business Network on Thursday that Fauci “needs to be brought in under oath to answer questions” about the emails, while Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), now the No. 3 Republican in the House, blasted out a fundraising email with the subject line “FIRE FAUCI.” Politics The White House will send 75% of excess U.S. COVID-19 vaccine doses to the U.N.-backed COVAX global sharing program. “Anthony Fauci’s recently released emails and investigative reporting about #COVID19 origins are shocking. The time has come for Fauci to resign and for a full congressional investigation into the origins of #COVID19 — and into any and all efforts to prevent a full accounting,” Hawley tweeted after recently voting along with Scalise and Stefanik to block a full congressional investigation into the origins of the Jan. 6 insurrection. But the White House has made clear that it is standing with Fauci, despite the onslaught of criticism. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki this week praised Fauci as “an undeniable asset in our country’s pandemic response,” and Biden felt compelled to poke his head back into a room full of reporters he’d departed Friday to say that he was, indeed, “very confident in Dr. Fauci.” In a sign of support, Fauci will join First Lady Jill Biden for a visit Sunday to a vaccination clinic in New York. Biden administration officials and allies point to polling showing that Fauci is still one of the country’s most trusted public health communicators. Privately, they see the GOP’s focus on Fauci as a ploy to energize their base that likely will not resonate with moderate voters. And they are happy to compare Fauci’s record on public health with Trump’s. “A note to Fauci critics,” tweeted Andy Slavitt, Biden’s outgoing senior COVID-19 advisor. “For years, he has been working tirelessly on the development of the mRNA vaccine in anticipation of a potential major viral outbreak. And on Jan 11, 2020, his team downloaded the gene sequence & on the 13th began work on the vaccine.” “So keep it down,” he wrote.

UCLA softball can't counter perfect game by Alabama's Montana Fouts in loss

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2021-06-04/ucla-softball-perfect-game-alabama-montana-fouts-womens-college-world-series

Montana Fouts got the perfect birthday present. The Alabama pitcher turned 21 on Friday and celebrated by pitching the first perfect game in the Women’s College World Series since 2000 in a 6-0 win over No. 2 UCLA in the second round. Fouts, a junior, struck out 14 in front of a record crowd of 12,337 and propelled Alabama to its first win over UCLA in program history. While the third-seeded Crimson Tide won their 20th straight game to advance to Sunday’s national semifinal, the Bruins (47-6) must now fight through the losers’ bracket to defend their 2019 NCAA title. UCLA Sports Rachel Garcia pitched a shutout and Maya Brady delivered a home run during UCLA’s 4-0 win over FSU to open the Women’s College World Series on Thursday. June 3, 2021 UCLA’s loss sets up a potential blockbuster matchup Saturday at 4 p.m. PDT as the Bruins will face the winner of a Saturday morning elimination game between No.1 seed Oklahoma and Georgia. Fouts, the fifth pitcher with a perfect game in WCWS history, outdueled UCLA pitcher Rachel Garcia, who gave up seven hits, five earned runs and three walks with just three strikeouts. A three-run homer by Alabama’s Kaylee Tow broke the game open in the fifth inning as the Crimson Tide (52-7) went up by five. “We didn’t lose tonight because Rachel Garcia was not on her ‘A’ game,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “We lost because we didn’t play great defense and we didn’t make adjustments at the plate.” Fouts, meanwhile, pitched the game of her life, striking out UCLA’s most feared hitters — Bubba Nickles, Garcia and Aaliyah Jordan — at the top of the lineup two times each. She fanned nine of the first 12 batters she faced. Combined with her career-high 16 strikeouts in a first-round win over Arizona, the junior has 30 strikeouts and no walks in two WCWS games. Offensive struggles spread to the defense in the sixth inning when typically sure-handed shortstop Briana Perez allowed the leadoff runner to reach on a throwing error and third baseman Delanie Wisz fielded a bunt that was close to rolling foul, which set up a sixth run, tied for the most given up by Garcia in a game this season. While defensive lapses and a nonexistent offense marred Friday’s game for the Bruins, Garcia, an Olympian and one of just four players to win the USA Softball collegiate player of the year award multiple times, hasn’t looked like her dominant self in recent games. Friday was the second time in four appearances that she gave up six runs, the first being in Game 1 of the Super Regional against Virginia Tech. The Bruins turned to redshirt sophomore Megan Faraimo to save the season in Game 2, when she pitched a one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts. UCLA Sports As senior two-way softball star Rachel Garcia leads UCLA into another Women’s College World Series, she draws inspiration from mentor Lisa Fernandez. June 3, 2021 UCLA doesn’t have that option now. Faraimo didn’t travel to Oklahoma City because of an injured right hand. Garcia, who threw a combined 317 pitches in the first two games, will take the circle again Saturday. “I say bring it on,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’m going to give Rachel the ball, and we’re going to see just what this team is made of.”

High school baseball: Southern Section playoff results and updated pairings

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/high-school-baseball-southern-section-playoff-results-friday

SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL DIVISION 1 First round, Thursday unless noted Capistrano Valley 8, Chaminade 3 (Friday) Yucaipa 15, Vista Murrieta 4 (Wednesday) Damien 2, South Hills 0 Huntington Beach 1, Santa Margarita 0 (8) Corona 13, Redondo 4 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 4, Crescenta Valley 0 Ayala 3, Beckman 2 Orange Lutheran 11, Aliso Niguel 0 (Wednesday) Mira Costa 4, Foothill 3 La Mirada 3, West Ranch 0 Bishop Amat 7, St. Bonaventure 1 (Friday) King 7, Servite 2 Cypress 7, Temecula Valley 2 Arcadia 7, Dana Hills 5 (Wednesday) Harvard-Westlake 9, Temescal Canyon 0 Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted Capistrano Valley at #1 JSerra Damien at Yucaipa Huntington Beach at Corona Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at #4 Ayala Mira Costa vs. #3 Orange Lutheran at Hart Park (Orange), 6 p.m. La Mirada at Bishop Amat King at Cypress #2 Harvard-Westlake at Arcadia DIVISION 2 First round, Friday Thousand Oaks 6, Moorpark 0 Mission Viejo 8, Marina 3 Maranatha 8, Dos Pueblos 5 San Dimas 10, Santa Fe 1 Los Alamitos 5, Garden Grove Pacifica 3 El Dorado 9, Paloma Valley 1 Bonita 3, La Quinta 0 Ocean View 5, Simi Valley 4 (9) Yorba Linda 7, Villa Park 1 Alemany 3, Rio Mesa 0 Camarillo 2, La Canada 0 Corona del Mar 4, Northview 3 Quartz Hill 7, Oak Hills 6 Trabuco Hills 13, Canyon Springs 1 Gahr 6, Long Beach Poly 2 Sierra Canyon 1, Summit 0 Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted Mission Viejo at #1 Thousand Oaks San Dimas at Maranatha, Wednesday, 3:15 p.m. Los Alamitos at El Dorado #4 Ocean View at Bonita Alemany at Yorba Linda Camarillo at Corona del Mar Trabuco Hills at Quartz Hill #2 Sierra Canyon at Gahr DIVISION 3 First round, Thursday unless noted Lakewood 10, Los Osos 3 Calabasas 7, Pasadena Poly 0 Millikan 6, Mary Star 1 Redlands East Valley 9, Carter 3 Saugus 4, Santa Barbara 2 (Friday) Chino Hills 6, Irvine 2 Fountain Valley 6, Don Lugo 5 Palos Verdes 7, West Torrance 5 Ontario Christian 10, La Salle 7 Arlington 8, Tahquitz 6 (Wednesday) Capistrano Valley Christian 9, Grand Terrace 0 Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. Cerritos at #1 Hart Lakewood at Calabasas Millikan at Torrance Saugus at Redlands East Valley #3 Chino Hills at Fountain Valley Palos Verdes at Sonora Ontario Christian at Arlington Capistrano Valley Christian at #2 Warren DIVISION 4 First round, Friday unless noted Murrieta Mesa 5, California 0 Woodcrest Christian 4, Xavier Prep 3 Monrovia 7, Alhambra 0 Grace Brethren 16, Village Christian 1 La Sierra 6, Culver City 3 Rancho Cucamonga 7, El Modena 2 Kaiser 3, Valley View 0 Downey 1, Westlake 0 Royal 9, Nogales 1 Montebello 5, El Rancho 1 Charter Oak 8, Los Altos 5 Woodbridge 13, Fullerton 0 Corona Centennial 10, Loara 1 Heritage 3, Segerstrom 1 (Thursday) La Serna 5, Salesian 0 Paraclete 13, Oxnard 0 Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted #1 Murrieta Mesa at Woodcrest Christian Grace Brethren at Monrovia La Sierra at Rancho Cucamonga Kaiser at Downey, 11 a.m Montebello at #3 Royal Woodbridge at Charter Oak Heritage at Corona Centennial #2 Paraclete at La Serna DIVISION 5 First round, Thursday unless noted Citrus Valley 16, St. Margaret’s 6 Highland 9, Santa Paula 8 San Marcos 6, Claremont 4 Sultana 22, Orange Vista 6 Laguna Hills 3, Citrus Hill 2 Walnut 7, Garey 0 St. Anthony 4, Oxford Academy 2 Crean Lutheran 13, Century 4 Malibu 5, Burbank Burroughs 2 Savanna 6, Indio 4 Schurr 10, Pomona 9 Cajon 12, Adelanto 8 Hemet 4, Serrano 1 Burbank 11, Sierra Vista 3 (Wednesday) Flintridge Prep 8, Ventura 6 North Torrance 6, Mayfair 5 (Friday) Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. #1 Citrus Valley at Highland San Marcos at Sultana Walnut at Laguna Hills St. Anthony at #4 Crean Lutheran #3 Malibu at Savanna Cajon at Schurr Burbank at Hemet #2 North Torrance at Flintridge Prep DIVISION 6 First round, Friday unless noted Aquinas 2, Chaffey 1 Orange 3, Westminster La Quinta 1 de Toledo 1, Knight 0 (10) Buena 3, Foothill Tech 1 Elsinore 1, Bloomington 0 (10) (Thursday) Ontario 23, Excelsior 2 South Pasadena 10, Jurupa Valley 3 Viewpoint 5, Trinity Classical 1 Ramona 3, University Prep 0 Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 7, Anaheim 5 Pasadena Marshall 6, West Valley 3 Barstow 12, Cerritos Valley Christian 6 Linfield Christian 6, Colton 4 Carpinteria 3, Beverly Hills 2 Bishop Montgomery 9, Santa Ana 0 La Habra 17, Rim of the World 1 Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted #1 Aquinas at Orange de Toledo at Buena Elsinore at Ontario South Pasadena at #4 Viewpoint #3 Ramona at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel Pasadena Marshall at Barstow Linfield Christian at Carpinteria, 4:15 p.m. Bishop Montgomery at #2 La Habra DIVISION 7 First round, Thursday unless noted Santa Clarita Christian 4, Wildomar Cornerstone Christian 0 (Friday) Temecula Prep 8, Los Amigos 5 (Friday) La Verne Lutheran 3, Pioneer 0 (Friday) Indian Springs 9, Desert Hot Springs 4 (Wednesday) Arroyo Valley 22, Cobalt 0 Milken 6, Da Vinci 4 Lancaster Desert Christian 10, Villanova Prep 9 Tarbut V’Torah 9, Banning 4 Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 5, Coast Union 1 Lancaster 10, Ojai Valley2 (Friday) Gabrielino 14, Academy for Careers & Exploration 0 Western Christian 5, Lennox Academy 1 Verbum Dei 5, Hawthorne 2 Santa Rosa Academy 8, Desert Mirage 1 #2 Vasquez 16, Mountain View 5 (Wednesday) Second round, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. Santa Clarita Christian at #1 Hesperia Christian La Verne Lutheran at Temecula Prep Arroyo Valley at Indian Springs #4 Lancaster Desert Christian at Milken #3 Tarbut V’Torah vs. Santa Monica Pacifica Christian at North Venice Little League Gabrielino at Lancaster Verbum Dei at Western Christian Santa Rosa Academy at #2 Vasquez NOTES: Quarterfinals, June 11; semifinals, June 15. Championships, June 18 at Blair Field (Long Beach) and June 19 at Cal State Fullerton.

High school basketball: City boys’ and girls’ playoff results and updated pairings

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/high-school-basketball-city-boys-and-girls-playoff-results-friday

CITY BOYS’ BASKETBALL OPEN DIVISION Quarterfinals, Friday unless noted Westchester 64, El Camino Real 45 King/Drew 61, Narbonne 52 #6 Granada Hills at #3 Fairfax, Saturday, 1:30 p.m. #7 Grant at #2 Birmingham, Saturday, 3 p.m. Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. #5 King/Drew at #1 Westchester Fairfax/Granada Hills winner vs. Birmingham/Grant winner NOTES: Championship, June 12, 7:30 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION I Quarterfinals, Saturday #8 Sun Valley Poly at #1 Chatsworth #5 Palisades at #4 Gardena #6 Los Angeles University at #3 Crenshaw #7 Taft at #2 Venice NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. Championship, June 11, 7 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION II Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 Verdugo Hills at #1 Arleta #5 South East at #4 Los Angeles Hamilton #6 Granada Hills Kennedy at #3 Los Angeles Roosevelt #7 Los Angeles Marshall at #2 San Pedro NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. Championship, June 12, 3:30 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION III First round, Friday Rancho Dominguez 56, Central City Value 51 Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 San Fernando at #1 Bell #12 Rancho Dominguez at #4 Los Angeles CES #14 North Hollywood at #11 Monroe #7 Los Angeles Wilson at #2 Bravo NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. Championship, June 11, 4 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION IV Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 Maywood CES at #1 Legacy #5 Larchmont at #4 Huntington Park #6 Los Angeles Kennedy at #3 Franklin #7 Harbor Teacher at #2 Marquez NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. Championship, June 12, 12 p.m. at higher seed. CITY GIRLS’ BASKETBALL OPEN DIVISION Quarterfinals, Friday, 7 p.m. unless noted #1 Palisades 85, Garfield 41 (Thursday) #5 Crenshaw at #4 El Camino Real, Saturday, 4 p.m. Los Angeles Hamilton 52, Narbonne 35 #7 Westchester at #2 Birmingham, Saturday, noon Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. El Camino Real/Crenshaw winner at #1 Palisades #3 Los Angeles Hamilton vs. Birmingham/Westchester winner NOTES: Championship, June 12, 7 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION I Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 North Hollywood at #1 Los Angeles CES #5 Legacy at #4 Taft #6 Fairfax at #3 King/Drew #7 Venice at #2 Los Angeles Marshall NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.. Championship, June 11, 7 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION II Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 Bell at #1 San Pedro #5 Bravo at #4 Sun Valley Poly #6 Arleta at #3 South Gate #7 Los Angeles Roosevelt at #2 San Fernando NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m. Championship, June 12, 3:30 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION III Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #9 Reseda at #1 Los Angeles Wilson #5 Central City Value at #4 Marquez #6 Mendez at #3 Verdugo Hills #7 Los Angeles Kennedy at #2 Granada Hills Kennedy NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.. Championship, June 11, 4 p.m. at higher seed. DIVISION IV Quarterfinals, Saturday, 7 p.m. #8 Hawkins at #1 Franklin #5 Maywood CES at #4 Huntington Park #6 North Valley Military at #3 Larchmont #7 Roybal at #2 Animo Bunche NOTES: Semifinals, Wednesday, 7 p.m.. Championship, June 12, 12 p.m. at higher seed.

High school softball: City playoff results and updated pairings

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/high-school-softball-city-playoff-results-friday

CITY SOFTBALL OPEN DIVISION Quarterfinals, Monday, 3 p.m. #8 Los Angeles Marshall at #1 San Pedro #5 Granada Hills at #4 Granada Hills Kennedy #6 Birmingham at #3 Carson #7 Legacy at #2 El Camino Real NOTES: Semifinals, June 15, 3 p.m. Championship, June 19, 12 p.m. DIVISION I First round, Friday Harbor Teacher 16, Sylmar 14 Wilmington Banning 16, Los Angeles Hamilton 6 Garfield 5, Cleveland 3 Quarterfinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m. #9 Harbor Teacher at #1 Chavez #5 Venice at #4 Sun Valley Poly #6 Wilmington Banning at #3 San Fernando #7 Garfield at #2 Los Angeles Roosevelt NOTES: Semifinals, June 15, 3 p.m. Championship, June 18, 3 p.m. DIVISION II First round, Friday unless noted Fairfax 19, North Hollywood 1 Gardena 7, Verdugo Hills 6 South East 9, Lincoln 8 Bravo 17, Van Nuys 0 #14 Sherman Oaks CES at #3 Palisades, Monday, 3 p.m. Franklin 8, Northridge 7 Arleta def. King/Drew, forfeit South Gate 18, West Adams 0 Quarterfinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m. #9 Gardena at #1 Fairfax #12 South East at #4 Bravo #14 Sherman Oaks CES at #3 Palisades vs. #6 Franklin #10 Arleta at #2 South Gate NOTES: Semifinals, June 15, 3 p.m. Championship, June 17, 3 p.m. DIVISION III First round, Friday, 3 p.m. Bright Star 11, Orthopaedic 1 #12 Central City Value at #5 Belmont, score not reported Contreras 15, Huntington Park 4 Maywood CES 8, University Prep Value 4 Canoga Park 11, Sotomayor 9 Quarterfinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m. #9 Bright Star at #1 Smidt Tech Belmont/Central City Value winner at #4 Contreras #11 Maywood CES at #3 Mendez #7 Canoga Park at #2 Torres NOTES: Semifinals, June 15, 3 p.m. Championship, June 17, 3 p.m.

High school baseball: City playoff results and updated pairings

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/high-school-baseball-city-playoff-results-friday

CITY BASEBALL OPEN DIVISION First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m. #1 Granada Hills, bye #9 Narbonne at #8 Birmingham #12 Venice at #5 Wilmington Banning #4 San Pedro, bye #3 Los Angeles Roosevelt, bye #11 El Camino Real at #6 Sylmar #10 Chatsworth at #7 Palisades #2 Cleveland, bye NOTES: Quarterfinals, June 11, 3 p.m.; semifinals, June 16, 3 p.m. Championship, June 19, 3 p.m.. DIVISION I Wild-card games, Friday Los Angeles CES 3, Westchester 2 First round, Wednesday, 3 p.m. #16 Los Angeles CES at #1 Sun Valley Poly #9 South East at #8 Carson #12 North Hollywood at #5 Granada Hills Kennedy #13 San Fernando at #4 Taft #14 Valley Arts/Sciences at #3 Verdugo Hills #11 Roybal at #6 Los Angeles Hamilton #10 Bell at #7 Los Angeles Marshall #15 Torres at #2 Garfield NOTES: Quarterfinals, June 11, 3 p.m.; semifinals, June 16, 3 p.m. Championship, June 19, 12 p.m. DIVISION II First round, Tuesday, 3 p.m. #16 Reseda at #1 Los Angeles Wilson #9 Harbor Teacher at #8 Santee #12 Monroe at #5 Van Nuys #13 Fairfax at #4 Maywood CES #14 Canoga Park at #3 Legacy #11 Fremont at #6 Marquez #10 Franklin at #7 Vaughn #15 Contreras at #2 Port of Los Angeles NOTES: Quarterfinals, Thursday, 3 p.m.; semifinals, June 15, 3 p.m. Championship, June 18, 3 p.m. DIVISION IIIFirst round, as noted #1 King/Drew 9, North Valley Military 5 (Friday) #4 Los Angeles University 8, West Adams 2 (Friday) #3 Mendez 16, Animo Robinson 2 (Friday) #7 WISH at #2 Bravo, Tuesday, 3 p.m. NOTES: Semifinals, June 12, 3 p.m. Championship, June 18, 3 p.m.

Clippers' Game 7 history: Better than you think, at least in the first round

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-06-04/clippers-game-7-history-first-round

The Clippers will play the ninth Game 7 in franchise history Sunday. It’s been a mixed bag, with far greater luck in the first round than the second. The Clippers have won three of four opening-round Game 7’s. The franchise is more famous for its 0-4 mark in second-round Game 7s (which includes a 1975 series loss, as the Buffalo Braves, to the Washington Bullets), but that’s a story for the second round. None of this will have any bearing on Sunday’s showdown against the Dallas Mavericks, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Here’s the Game 7 breakdown in the first round: The year the Clippers last played in a first-round Game 7, they lost to the Utah Jazz. The 104-91 defeat would mark the beginning of the end of the “Lob City” Clippers. Point guard Chris Paul would sign with the Houston Rockets as a free agent that offseason. A season later, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan would be gone as well. The last year the Clippers won a first-round Game 7, against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Paul capped the 111-109 thriller on a running jumper with a second remaining. The game featured Griffin‘s triple-double (24 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists), 31 lead changes and 16 ties. The Clippers would take a 3-1 series lead against the Rockets in the second round before losing the next three. The Clippers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors 126-121 at Staples Center. The Clippers would fall to the Kevin Durant- and Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder in six games in the second round. Fascinating fact: That Clippers-Warriors showdown is the last Western Conference playoff series that the Warriors have lost. Fascinating fact: Th 2014 Clippers-Warriors showdown is the last Western Conference playoff series that the Warriors have lost. The first time the Clippers played in a first-round Game 7 was against the Memphis Grizzlies, an 82-72 road win. Do you remember the bench of Kenyon Martin, Nick Young, Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe? It was vital to the first Clippers playoff series victory in six years, as they outscored the Grizzlies’ bench 41-11. The Clippers would be swept by the Spurs in the second round. Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021

Dodgers go from frustrated to scoring flurry in win over Braves in NLCS rematch

https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2021-06-04/dodgers-braves-nlcs-julio-urias-gavin-lux-runs

The Dodgers couldn’t solve Ian Anderson in the first four innings Friday at Truist Park. The Atlanta Braves’ right-hander, the same starter the Dodgers faced in Game 7 of the NLCS last October, didn’t surrender a hit. The only baserunners reached on an error and two walks. Anderson recorded six strikeouts, five with his changeup. All the while, though, the Dodgers made him work, waiting for him to lose steam. Anderson entered the fifth inning with 73 pitches. He was chased 25 pitches later with one out, bloodied from the Dodgers’ constant jabs. In the end, two days after posting a 11-run first inning in their blowout win over the St. Louis Cardinals and eight months after an 11-run first inning in Game 3 of the NLCS, the Dodgers scored eight runs off three pitchers in the fifth inning on three hits, five walks, a fielder’s choice and a safety squeeze on the way to a 9-5 victory. Dodgers Major League Baseball is again using the runner-at-second rule to start extra innings. Several other ideas have been considered. June 4, 2021 The Dodgers became the first team to follow an 11-plus run inning in one game with an eight-plus run inning the next game since 1969. “We have an explosive offense,” Dodgers shortstop Gavin Lux said, “and I feel like we can put up five, six, seven, eight runs kind of whenever.” The Dodgers (34-23) the last two games have resembled the club from 2020 and early in 2021, before injuries ravaged the offense. The lineup still isn’t complete — Corey Seager remains on the injured list and Max Muncy exited in the fourth inning Friday because of a minor right ankle injury — but remains potent enough to knock out pitchers in a blink. Friday’s installment began when Chris Taylor worked a one-out walk. Lux roped a double for the visitors’ first hit. AJ Pollock then hit a soft ground ball to third baseman Austin Riley. Taylor, running on contact from third base, had Riley’s throw bounce off of his back. “Flipped the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Taylor’s shrewd baserunning. Then came the final blow to Anderson: Julio Urías’ two-strike safety squeeze to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. “It was the play they asked from me, and I just tried to do it the best I could,” Urías said in Spanish. “Then the offense exploded.” Anderson walked off the mound after that, his outing swinging from a no-hitter to a disappointment in minutes. Sean Newcomb failed to provide relief, issuing three two-out walks — two with the bases loaded — before he was pulled for Grant Dayton. Will Smith then lined an RBI single up the middle and Taylor mashed a three-run double to left to complete the eruption. The inning gave the Dodgers’ bullpen enough wiggle room after Urías’ five innings. Urías also pitched in Game 7 of the NLCS at Globe Life Field in Texas, tossing three perfect innings to close out the Braves and advance the Dodgers to the World Series. He was less sharp Friday. The left-hander gave up a solo home run to Freddie Freeman and threw 29 pitches in the first inning. He was better over the next four innings but was pulled after 83 pitches with an 8-1 lead. The Braves (26-29) scored four runs in the eighth inning for a glimmer of hope. The final two came via a two-out gift when Ehire Adrianza hit a routine fly ball to shallow left field. Left fielder Pollock called for it, but shortstop Lux didn’t stop retreating. He bumped into Pollock, who had the ball bounce off his glove. Initially, the play was generously scored a double. It was changed to an error on Lux. “He didn’t hear me, and I didn’t hear him,” Lux said. “We both were coming from far away, and with fans back in the stands I need to be louder. It was a miscommunication.” Dodgers Mike Marshall, who won the Cy Young Award for the Dodgers in 1974 when he pitched in a major league-record 106 games, died on Tuesday. June 1, 2021 The Dodgers took a run back in the ninth inning after Mookie Betts doubled for the team’s only hit outside the fifth inning, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch. Lux’s error, however, made it a save situation, prompting Kenley Jansen to warm up and Roberts to give him the ball even after the lead increased to four. Jansen walked the first two hitters he faced before rebounding to retire the next three, ensuring that the fifth-inning flurry was enough to beat the Braves again. Roberts said Tony Gonsolin will come off the injured list to start Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It will be Gonsolin’s first major league appearance this season. The right-hander was placed on injured list with a right shoulder injury April 4 before appearing in a game. Gonsolin completed a three-start rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday. … Roberts said Muncy is “day to day” after leaving Friday’s game with right ankle pain. Muncy felt discomfort after trying to beat out a double-play ball in the fourth inning. Highlights from the Dodgers’ 9-5 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional, federal judge rules

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/californias-three-decade-old-ban-on-assault-weapons-is-unconstitutional-federal-judge-rules

A federal judge Friday overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it violates the constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Under no level of heightened scrutiny can the law survive,” Benitez said. He issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law but stayed it for 30 days to give state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta time to appeal. Bonta promised an appeal in a statement Friday night, calling the ruling “fundamentally flawed” and noting that the judge’s decision to delay implementation means that the state’s existing laws “remain in full force and effect.” Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the decision, calling it “a direct threat to public safety and the lives of innocent Californians, period.” In his 94-page ruling, the judge spoke favorably of modern weapons and said they were overwhelmingly used for legal reasons. World & Nation Boulder, Colo., banned assault weapons in hopes of preventing a mass shooting, but a judge blocked it after a lawsuit backed by the NRA. “Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle,” the judge said in his ruling’s introduction. That comparison “completely undermines the credibility of this decision and is a slap in the face to the families who’ve lost loved ones to this weapon,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not backing down from this fight, and we’ll continue pushing for common-sense gun laws that will save lives.” California first restricted assault weapons in 1989, with multiple updates to the law since then. Assault weapons as defined by the law are more dangerous than other firearms and are disproportionately used in crimes, mass shootings and against law enforcement, with more resulting casualties, the state attorney general’s office argued, and barring them “furthers the state’s important public safety interests.” Further, a surge in sales of more than 1.16 million other types of pistols, rifles and shotguns in the last year — more than a third of them to likely first-time buyers — shows that the assault weapons ban “has not prevented law-abiding citizens in the state from acquiring a range of firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense,” the state contended in a court filing in March. Similar assault weapon restrictions have previously been upheld by six other federal district and appeals courts, the state argued. Overturning the ban would allow not only assault rifles, but things like assault shotguns and assault pistols, state officials said. But Benitez disagreed. Opinion Widespread support for background checks and smart gun technology could push enough GOP senators out of lockstep on gun control. “This case is not about extraordinary weapons lying at the outer limits of 2nd Amendment protection. The banned ‘assault weapons’ are not bazookas, howitzers, or machine guns. Those arms are dangerous and solely useful for military purposes,” his ruling said. Despite California’s ban, there are an estimated 185,569 assault weapons registered with the state, the judge said. “This is an average case about average guns used in average ways for average purposes,” the ruling said. “One is to be forgiven if one is persuaded by news media and others that the nation is awash with murderous AR-15 assault rifles. The facts, however, do not support this hyperbole, and facts matter.” “In California, murder by knife occurs seven times more often than murder by rifle,” he added. In a preliminary ruling in September, Benitez said California’s complicated legal definition of assault weapons can ensnare otherwise law-abiding gun owners with criminal penalties that among other things can strip them of their right to own firearms. “The burden on the core 2nd Amendment right, if any, is minimal,” the state argued, because the weapons can still be used — just not with the modifications that turn them into assault weapons. Modifications like a shorter barrel or collapsible stock make them more concealable, state officials said, while things like a pistol grip or thumbhole grip make them more lethal by improving their accuracy as they are fired rapidly. The lawsuit filed by the San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee, California Gun Rights Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition is among several by gun advocacy groups challenging California’s firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the nation. California If some Democrats had their way, the Senate would lose its No. 1 advocate for firearms regulation, writes columnist George Skelton. The lawsuit filed in August 2019 followed a series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles. It was filed on behalf of gun owners who want to use high-capacity magazines in their legal rifles or pistols, but said they can’t because doing so would turn them into illegal assault weapons under California law. Unlike military weapons, the semiautomatic rifles fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and the plaintiffs say they are legal in 41 states. The lawsuit said California is “one of only a small handful states to ban many of the most popular semiautomatic firearms in the nation because they possess one or more common characteristics, such as pistol grips and threaded barrels,” frequently but not exclusively along with detachable ammunition magazines. The state is appealing Benitez’s 2017 ruling against the state’s nearly two-decade-old ban on the sales and purchases of magazines holding more than 10 bullets. That decision triggered a weeklong buying spree before the judge halted sales during the appeal. It was upheld in August by a three-judge appellate panel, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in March that an 11-member panel will rehear the case. The state also is appealing Benitez’s decision in April 2020 blocking a 2019 California law requiring background checks for anyone buying ammunition. Both of those measures were championed by Newsom when he was lieutenant governor, and they were backed by voters in a 2016 ballot measure.

High school boys’ basketball: Southern Section playoff results and updated pairings

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/high-school-boys-basketball-southern-section-playoff-results-and-updated-pairings

SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ BASKETBALL OPEN DIVISION Friday POOL A #1 Sierra Canyon (3-0) 82, #4 Etiwanda (2-1) 76 #8 St. John Bosco (1-2) 76, #5 Ribet Academy (0-3) 66 POOL B #2 Corona Centennial (2-1) 84, #3 Mater Dei (1-2) 69 #6 Damien (2-1) 77, #7 Harvard-Westlake (1-2) 72 DIVISION 1 Semifinals, Friday Capistrano Valley 61, Heritage Christian 53 Chaminade 71, Bishop Montgomery 56 DIVISION 2AA Semifinals, Friday Los Altos 58, Long Beach Poly 56 Rolling Hills Prep 53, Santa Margarita 42 DIVISION 2A Semifinals, Friday Crean Lutheran 61, Dominguez 60 Agoura 86, Murrieta Valley 72 DIVISION 3AA Semifinals, Friday King 63, Burbank 51 Aquinas 83, Cerritos Valley Christian 65 DIVISION 3A Semifinals, Friday unless noted Marina 76, Shalhevet 74 (Thursday) Glendora 55, Citrus Valley 53 DIVISION 4AA Semifinals, Saturday Pasadena Poly 62, Elsinore 43 Arcadia 64, Paramount 60 DIVISION 4A Semifinals, Friday Linfield Christian 55, Milken 33 Pilibos 60, Rio Mesa 55 DIVISION 5AA Semifinals, Friday Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 43, AGBU 40 Costa Mesa 60, Valley Torah 58 DIVISION 5A Semifinals, Friday Desert Hot Springs 61, Edgewood 59 Faith Baptist 50, Malibu 38 Championships, Wednesday, 7 p.m. unless noted Division 1: #2 Chaminade at #4 Capistrano Valley Division 2AA: #3 Rolling Hills Prep at Los Altos Division 2A: Agoura at #1 Crean Lutheran Division 3AA: #2 Aquinas at King Division 3A: #3 Glendora at Marina, Thursday, 7 p.m. Division 4AA: #1 Pasadena Poly at Arcadia Division 4A: #1 Linfield Christian at #3 Pilibos Division 5AA: Costa Mesa at #1 Santa Ana Calvary Chapel Division 5A: Faith Baptist at Desert Hot Springs Open Division Championship, Friday #2 Corona Centennial at #1 Sierra Canyon

Devean Williams gives his best for Narbonne, but it's not enough against King/Drew

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/devean-williams-heart-condition-narbonne-city-section-playoffs

It was in December of 2019 that junior guard Devean Williams of Harbor City Narbonne started experiencing chest pains. “I knew it wasn’t regular,” he said. He spent a month in the hospital undergoing treatment and tests for a condition that was diagnosed as myocarditis, inflammation of the heart. He played in only two games last season. COVID-19 shut down high school sports in March 2020, and even though he was cleared to resume playing in February, Narbonne’ season was on hiatus. The Gauchos finally got to play eight regular-season games, and Williams responded with 40 points against Woodland Hills Taft, 30 against Carson and 28 against Gardena. Back to back threes by Devean Williams. Narbonne is down 42-41. pic.twitter.com/f4LlachLbp “He’s a three-level scorer,” coach Anthony Hilliard said. “He can get to the rim, he has a pull-up jumper and he can shoot the three.” On Friday night in a City Section Open Division playoff opener, Williams did his best for the No. 4-seeded Gauchos, scoring 24 points before fouling out in a 61-52 loss to King/Drew. “He’s an exceptional player,” King/Drew coach Lloyd Webster said of the 6-foot-3 senior guard. Here he goes again. Kosy Akametu with the slam. King/Drew 33, Narbonne 26. Late third. pic.twitter.com/TGUU1oQpUY No. 5-seeded King/Drew (5-0) advances to play top-seeded Westchester, a 64-45 winner over El Camino Real. It will be a rematch of last year’s hard-fought semifinal won by Westchester. “We get to face the great Ed Azzam,” Webster said of the opposing coach. “We have a lot of humility for that man. I have a lot of respect, but we’re up for the challenge.” King/Drew received 18 points from Kalib LaCount and 12 from Kosy Akametu. Stanley Madu contributed six points during a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter that broke a 42-42 tie. In the Southern Section Open Division, Corona Centennial came back from a first-game loss to Studio City Harvard-Westlake to win Pool B and qualify for the championship game. The Huskies received 33 points from Donovan Dent in an 84-69 win over Santa Ana Mater Dei. They finished 2-1 in their pool and advanced after La Verne Damien rallied for a 77-72 win over Harvard-Westlake. Centennial will face Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, an 82-76 winner over Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda. Amari Bailey scored 25 points. In Open Division girls, Mater Dei won Pool B with a 61-56 win over Harvard-Westlake and will face Centennial in next week’s championship game. Both teams are unbeaten. In Division 1 boys, Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley upset top-seeded North Hills Heritage Christian 61-53. Gavin O’Neill scored 28 points. The Cougars will face No. 2-seeded West Hills Chaminade, which defeated Torrance Bishop Montgomery 71-56. KJ Simpson scored 24 points for Chaminade. In 2AA, Rolling Hills Prep received 19 points and 13 rebounds from Kenny Manzi in a 53-42 win over Santa Margarita to advance to the championship game against Hacienda Heights Los Altos, which defeated Long Beach Poly 58-56. In 2A, Irvine Crean Lutheran defeated Compton Dominguez 61-60 and will face Agoura, which defeated Murrieta Valley 86-72 behind 44 points from Jed Miller.

LAPD investigating vandalism at home of City Council President Nury Martinez

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/lapd-investigating-vandalism-at-home-of-city-council-president

Police are investigating a vandalism crime at the home of Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez that was caught on video. Martinez said in a statement that she woke up Friday morning and found graffiti at her home and damage to her car. Security video that Martinez posted on Twitter shows a person pouring a liquid over her car and another graffitiing the words “end the sweeps” on her driveway, which seems to refer to the city’s sweeps of homeless encampments that require people to remove their tents. “A line was crossed last night,” Martinez said. “I do not live in fear, I do not legislate in fear, I will continue to do my job. This is my community. This does absolutely nothing to get people off the street and into housing.” Protests erupted over the city’s decision to clear a massive encampment at Echo Park Lake in March that had nearly 200 tents. City officials had kept the timing a secret until the last minute. On one night of protests, officials said 182 people were arrested after failing to disperse. In the weeks before the cleanup, outreach workers had been able to get more than 180 people living in the park into hotel rooms rented by the city, as well as other forms of temporary housing. The park reopened last month after a cleanup that produced more than 35 tons of trash. The city’s handling of its recreation areas during a massive homelessness crisis has been a subject of intense debate in other neighborhoods. Homeowners in Los Feliz have voiced concerns to Councilwoman Nithya Raman about the fire danger posed by encampments in Griffith Park. In Venice, some constituents of Councilman Mike Bonin have demanded that the city clear a beachfront encampment. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Tony Im said Friday evening that no arrests had been made in connection with the vandalism incident. Times reporter Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.

Elliott: Simone Biles shows her human side while proving again she's the greatest

https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2021-06-04/simone-biles-us-gymnastics-championships-olympics

The sequined outline of a goat, sketched on the right shoulder of Simone Biles’ leotard, sparkled under the lights at Dickies Arena as she waited to perform her floor exercise routine Friday night. Biles is acknowledged to be the goat of women’s gymnastics — Greatest of All Time — and she came to the U.S. championships this weekend all but a lock to win her seventh U.S. all-around title. But even the greatest sometimes have a misstep or two. She had flown high and far on her two vaults, moved nimbly between the uneven bars, and delivered a balance beam routine of staggering difficulty. But her tumbling and twisting is so powerful that the white lines on the springy floor couldn’t contain her, and she stepped out of bounds three times during her floor exercise routine. She lost half a point from her score on the first day of the two-day women’s competition but she’s still the GOAT by any measure. If anything, the missteps made Biles seem more human — and they gave her room to put on a real show at the U.S. Olympic trials later this month in St. Louis before she shines on the big stage at the Tokyo Games. Even though on Friday she replaced the history-making Yurchenko double pike vault she did last month with an “easier” Cheng (and did a second vault, called an Amanar, with a hop on the landing), she easily had the top score on Friday. Her total of 59.550 points put her well ahead of a gritty Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles, who trains with Biles in Spring, Texas. Simone Biles closes out night 1 on top of the leaderboard after a powerhouse of a performance on floor. 💥@Simone_Biles // #USGymChamps pic.twitter.com/tsmDapx1KP Biles had the top score on beam (14.350) and floor exercise (14.650). Lee, of St. Paul, Minn., had the top uneven bars score (15.300) and was second with 57.350 points. Chiles has 56.900 points. The women’s event will conclude on Sunday. The U.S. championships will determine which women qualify to compete at the trials, with the top eight all-arounders automatically earning berths and the rest being selected by a committee. For Lee, who has battled injuries, a strong performance on Friday was especially meaningful because it was the first time her father, John, had seen her compete in person in three years. He was paralyzed in an accident in 2019. Sports Naomi Osaka revealing her struggles with depression and anxiety shows why her decision to withdraw from the French Open deserves understanding. June 1, 2021 “It was amazing having him here,” she said “Before the competition, he told me to forget about everything and just do what I do best.” That, she did. “It felt really good to be back out there because I feel people kind of counted me out a little bit because I was only doing bars and beam for a little bit,” she said of having to limit her competition because of a foot injury. “But I think by trials I can be back to 100 percent.” Chiles steadied herself after an early wobble on the balance beam but kept calm and earned 13.95 points. It’s her third straight strong meet and she’s squarely among the favorites here and at the Olympic trials. “This meet is really, really important. It’s the competition right before trials and I just wanted to show I can stay consistent the whole time,” she said. “I’m really happy that I was able to do that today.” Highlights from Simone Biles’ performances at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this week. Rio team gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, who has been attempting a comeback, was withdrawn from the competition on the advice of medical personnel after performing her balance beam routine. It’s still possible that she will compete on Sunday. The men’s competition will end on Saturday and is likely to feature the crowning of a new all-around U.S. champion. Six-time all-around winner Sam Mikulak of Newport Beach and Corona del Mar High fell prey to nerves, fatigue, and a lack of competitive experience the past year and was in seventh place with 82.45 points after Thursday’s opening session, 3.8 points behind leader and two-time NCAA all-around champion Brody Malone of Stanford. Yul Moldauer, the 2017 U.S. men’s all-around champion, was tied for second with Brandon Briones of Stanford with 83.60 points each. .@Simone_Biles absolutely crushed it on uneven bars.#USGymChamps pic.twitter.com/76Fzp2MEyt “I really didn’t come in here having any high expectations. I just wanted to come in and focus on my gymnastics because that’s the one thing I can control, and just hitting routines,” said Malone, whose total of 86.25 points included tying for the best vault with a score of 14.70. Mikulak’s high bar score was the best of the session and assured him an invitation to the Olympic trials. But he fell off the parallel bars and struggled during his floor exercise routine. “By no means did I feel like my good, confident, gymnastics self. I’m going to think a lot going and seeing what I can adapt, what I can change, kind of some quick tweaks to give me that confidence back,” said Mikulak, who intends to retire from the sport after the Olympics. Olympics Simone Biles made history during the U.S. Classic gymnastics competition Saturday by becoming the first woman to attempt a Yurchenko double pike on the vault. May 24, 2021 Mikulak said he planned to consult with his sports psychologist before the finale to get “some new, positive vibes,” and that he was considering adjusting his diet to improve his energy. “One thing I guess I’ve got going right now,” he said, “the bar is set real low and I should be able to improve a lot from this day going into Saturday.” Suni Lee doing her thing on beam. @sunisalee_ // #USGymChamps pic.twitter.com/9gqz2RZ4vo

Clippers force Game 7 on Kawhi Leonard's clutch play in 45-point performance

https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2021-06-04/clippers-mavericks-game-6-kawhi-leonard-45-points

For 39 minutes, everything teetered. This first-round playoff series. The Clippers’ window of championship opportunity. When the 18,324 inside American Airlines Center were at their loudest Friday night, whacking together team-provided noisemakers and swinging white towels, it felt like even the red-brick building itself. The Clippers had led Game 6 by five, only to trail Dallas by nine. Los Angeles made inexplicable mistakes. Then it executed with pinpoint precision. Its stars had struggled to create shots against Dallas’ 2-3 zone. Then Kawhi Leonard scored 15 consecutive points to end the third quarter. In all of the ways it confounded, then rose to a crescendo, this close-out opportunity for the Mavericks became the series itself, with neither team capable of grabbing hold of its opportunities to wrest away control. And every single second of it led up to the final 9:16. As one superstar, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, re-entered a tie game, Leonard hopped up from the opposing bench to do the same, tearing off his black, warmup T-shirt. No one yet knows how far the Clippers will play into this postseason, but they are continuing to Sunday’s Game 7 at Staples Center only because of those nine minutes and what Leonard did during them as he stared down Doncic, an offseason full of questions and a full building by scoring 12 season-saving points that instantly became one of the iconic moments in this franchise’s playoff history. Leonard patiently dribbled side to side before drilling two three-pointers at the top of the arc, one over Doncic, then another over Dorian Finney-Smith, to draw this series even at three games apiece, with a 104-97 win. Leonard tied his postseason career high with 45 points, with 42 coming over his final 30 minutes, even while walking with a limp during breaks in play after a first-half fall and fighting through screens as Doncic’s primary defender. “The baddest man on the planet,” Clippers guard Reggie Jackson said. “He destroyed us,” Doncic said. Leonard joins Jamal Murray, LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to score at least 45 points while shooting at least 70% in an elimination game, according to Elias Sports. “You definitely don’t want to go home,” Leonard said. “It’s something that I had young. Always wanted to win the game, to try to exert my will on the floor, and my teammates had the same mentality. That’s what I tried to instill within them to make sure we keep fighting. Don’t give up. You never know what could happen.” Jackson added 25 points and nine rebounds and Paul George 20 points with 13 rebounds, and his work to pull the Clippers into a tie during Leonard’s three minutes of rest to start the fourth quarter was a forgotten but crucial stretch. But this was Leonard’s masterpiece, the kind of stoic, postseason resilience that defined his career in San Antonio and Toronto and which the Clippers so badly wanted to rub off on them. Asked how his big-game experience would play into his mindset for this series finale, Leonard dryly responded: “I don’t live in the past.” Video highlights from the Clippers’ 104-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of their playoff series on June 4, 2021, in Dallas. Had Friday veered differently, offseason talk and Leonard’s status as an unrestricted free agent would have been all that filled the air around the Clippers as soon as the horn ended. But even as Doncic scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, Leonard was a class better, sending teammates leaping off the sideline while denying Dallas its first series victory in a decade. “He was disappointed he didn’t shoot the ball well in Game5,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “He made some huge ones.” This is now the first playoff series in NBA history in which the road team has won the first six games. Perhaps not by coincidence, in three games in Dallas, Leonard has scored 100 points on 73% shooting and the Clippers have outscored the Mavericks by 41 points in his minutes. The Clippers committed 14 turnovers, missed 24 of 34 three-pointers and saw their game plan priority of making Doncic uncomfortable amount to little in the first quarter, as the guard made a three-pointer with Jackson’s hand in his face, then a turnaround jumper with Marcus Morris draped all over him. Jackson matched Doncic shot for shot and more on the way to 14 first-quarter points — and yet each attempt taken by Jackson, and not Leonard or George, felt like a victory for Dallas’ defense and unsustainable for the Clippers. Lue tried a bit of everything for a spark, inserting guard Luke Kennard for only his second appearance of the series and went back to center Ivica Zubac in key stretches, but outside of Leonard, the rest of the Clippers made just 18 of 52 shots. They fell behind by nine before halftime, only to lead by three at the half, but all that work was seemingly undone, for a second consecutive game, by a five-minute stretch in the third quarter that nearly haunted the Clippers. Dallas went on a 20-8 run, feeding 7-foot-4 Boban Marjanovic easy shots at the rim and Tim Hardaway Jr. three-pointers on the wing. Sports The Clippers are famous for their second-round Game 7 failures, but their first-round Game 7 history has produced far different results. June 4, 2021 The season slipping away, trailing by seven with half the third quarter to play, Leonard scored the Clippers’ next 13 points but they still trailed by four entering the final quarter. He returned to the bench for a three-minute breather. Then he re-entered and breathed life back into his team’s season. “Best words in sports,” Jackson said. “Game7.” Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021

Portland Trail Blazers part ways with coach Terry Stotts after playoff loss

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-06-04/portland-trail-blazers-part-ways-with-coach-terry-stotts

No team in the NBA has a longer active streak of postseason appearances than the Portland Trail Blazers, who have gotten there in each of the last eight seasons. That wasn’t enough to save Terry Stotts, and Portland will have a new coach next season. The Trail Blazers and Stotts parted ways Friday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, ending a nine-year run that saw the team good enough to get to the playoffs — but not good enough to get past the first round in four of the last five seasons. It was being termed as a mutual decision, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither Stotts nor the team had announced the change publicly. The move was made one day after Portland’s season ended with a six-game, first-round ouster at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, a defeat that had Blazers guard Damian Lillard taking to social media after the game to indicate his frustration. ESPN first reported that Stotts would not be returning. “Just like at the end of every year, we are all evaluated,” Stotts said after the season-finale against Denver and as speculation about his status immediately started to grow. “We will see what happens.” Lakers During a stunningly sordid playoff exit Thursday in Game 6, the Lakers future is in doubt with LeBron James aging and Anthony Davis appearing frail. June 4, 2021 It didn’t take long to get an answer. Stotts was the NBA’s fourth longest-tenured coach in his current job behind only San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Dallas’ Rick Carlisle. He went 402-318 in his nine regular seasons in Portland, with the eight playoff berths, and led the team to the Western Conference finals in 2019 — where the Blazers were swept by Golden State. Among the possible candidates that Portland may consider: Los Angeles Lakers assistant (and former Brooklyn and Milwaukee head coach) Jason Kidd, and ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy — whose last NBA coaching gig was with Houston in 2007. “He should (be at) the top of everybody’s list who has an opening in the NBA,“ Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of Kidd earlier Friday, hours before Stotts’ fate became known. The new coach, whoever it is, will certainly be lured by the chance to work with one of the game’s dynamic scorers in Damian Lillard. But Lillard fueled speculation about his own future in Portland following the elimination loss to the Nuggets. He posted a photo of himself in street clothes at the Moda Center. The caption that he added quoted the late rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle. “How long should I stay dedicated?” he wrote. “How long til opportunity meet preparation?” Portland finished the regular season 42-30 and earned the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Mother is arrested after death of 3-year-old girl who was left in hot car

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/visalia-hot-car-death-arrest

A woman has been arrested after her 3-year-old daughter died after being left in a hot car in the San Joaquin Valley city of Visalia for several hours while the adult tended to a marijuana grow, police said Friday. Eustajia Dominguez Mojica, 28, was booked Friday on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, according to Visalia Police Department spokesman Mike Verissimo. It was not immediately clear who was representing her. Officials responded to the 100 block of West Perez Avenue in Visalia at 5:47 p.m. Thursday. A patrol officer handling an unrelated call near the residential street arrived within seconds and took over CPR efforts from family members trying to revive the child, Jessica Campos, the department said. Jessica was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officials said she was left in a parked car outside a home amid an outdoor temperature of at least 100 degrees for up to three hours. Authorities also found 70 mature marijuana plants, 80 immature marijuana plants and about 475 pounds of processed marijuana outside the property, where Mojica’s sister lived, Verissimo said. A 15-year-old, an 11-year-old and two 9-month-old children were found in the home and were placed into the custody of child welfare services, police said. Four other adults who had been in the home — Araceli Mojica, Emmanuel Ortiz-Aguilar, Valentin Aguilar Ortiz and Victor Flores Corona — were booked on suspicion of child endangerment. It was not immediately clear who was representing them. Verissimo said the department would be recommending that the Tulare County district attorney’s office file drug charges against all the adults related to cultivation and possession of marijuana. No charges have been filed yet. The official cause of the child’s death is pending, Verissimo said.

Coronavirus Today: Were you a winner?

https://www.latimes.com/science/newsletter/2021-06-04/vax-for-the-win-lottery-vaccine-gavin-newsom-coronavirus-today

Good evening. I’m Russ Mitchell, and it’s Friday, June 4. First, we’d like to ask you to do us a favor. As the economy reopens and life returns to something close to normal for many Californians, we’re rethinking how this newsletter can best serve you. What do you like (or dislike) about this newsletter, and what do you want to see more of? We’d love your feedback. Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey here. Thanks! Now, here’s the latest on what’s happening with the coronavirus, plus ways to spend your weekend and a look at some of the week’s best stories. If Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled in a special election this year, he might consider launching a second career as a game show host. That’s certainly what he looked like Friday as he appeared before a gold sparkly curtain, a wheel of fortune and a lottery ball basket to pick 15 winners who’ll get $50,000 each once they’ve had their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. (The lucky recipients weren’t named to protect their privacy.) It was part of an effort to boost immunizations that also gives the governor a chance to give away $116.5 million to potential voters before they decide his fate at the polls. Newsom’s critics see it all as a political stunt. Republican Caitlyn Jenner, who plans to run against Newsom in the recall election, described the giveaways as “more bribes from Gavin Newsom trying to buy your votes.” The governor says that incentives work and that he would “absolutely” be spending money the same way if he weren’t facing a recall. In the middle are those like Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, who said the offerings might attract some people who have been procrastinating, “but it’s not going to move the needle with those who are really resistant.” In a tacit admission that the “Vax for the Win” program won’t solve all of California’s pandemic problems, Newsom said Friday that the state’s COVID-19 state of emergency order will remain in place even after the June 15 reopening. The emergency declaration — issued in early March 2020, when coronavirus cases started to mushroom statewide — gives Newsom and state health officials broad authority to temporarily impose new rules and restrictions, a power they’ve exercised numerous times throughout the pandemic. California is now enjoying the lowest COVID-19 case rate of any state and hospitalizations near record lows, but the danger has not passed, the governor said. “This disease has not been extinguished,” Newsom said. “It’s not vanished. It’s not taking the summer months off.” Officials in L.A. County hope to boost immunizations by closing four large-scale vaccination sites and replacing them with smaller ones. The site at Cal State Northridge will close Monday, and others at the Forum in Inglewood, the Pomona Fairplex and the L.A. County Office of Education in Downey will follow after June 13. Starting June 15, officials said, residents can instead go to vaccination sites at Ted Watkins Memorial Park in South L.A., the Commerce Senior Citizens Center or the Norwalk Arts & Sports Complex. The shift to smaller sites was prompted by a decline in demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. (It’s hard to believe that just a few short months ago, the biggest concern with the vaccines was how to deal with people trying to cut the line.) Among those who have yet to get vaccinated are young people in their teens and twenties. That’s especially true among the county’s Black and Latino residents. The county reports that only 24% of Black residents and 37% of Latinos in their twenties or younger have received at least one injection. By comparison, 54% of white residents in that age category, 53% of Native Americans and 70% of Asian Americans have received at least one shot. Black and brown residents, many of them essential workers, bore the brunt of this pandemic, Ferrer said. “If they’re not protected by the vaccine with the lifting of public health safety measures, they can again have the highest risk of getting infected, being hospitalized or dying from this virus.” The vaccination inequities reflect a number of complicated issues, Ferrer said, including a historical lack of medical resources in underserved communities. Officials have struggled to convince some people that the vaccine truly is free and that getting it won’t affect immigration status. And getting immunized is more challenging for lower-income residents who may be working two or more jobs and worry about the potential of having to take a day or two off to deal with side effects. One more note about vaccines: Doctors are reporting sporadic cases of heart inflammation in teens and young adults after they receive a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and health authorities are trying to determine whether the shots are responsible. A study published Friday in the journal Pediatrics described the cases of seven teens, ages 14 to 19, who received shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in April or May and developed chest pain within a few days. Heart imaging tests showed a type of heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis. None of the patients — all boys or men — became critically ill, and all were healthy enough to be sent home after two to six days in the hospital. One of the doctors who cared for them said it’s likely their heart conditions were temporary. California cases, deaths and vaccinations as of 5:58 p.m. Friday: Track California’s coronavirus spread and vaccination efforts — including the latest numbers and how they break down — with our graphics. See the current status of California’s reopening, county by county, with our tracker. A survivor’s story There are countless remembrances and life stories in the media about people who have died of COVID-19 — as there should be. Less common are stories about those who’ve suffered and survived. The suffering isn’t just physical. It’s mental, emotional, spiritual and, too often, financial. Richard Perry, a 58-year-old resident of Compton, spent his life working hard, saving money, buying and fixing up his own house, and always trying to do the right thing. Then he was hospitalized with COVID-19, wondering whether, even if the disease didn’t kill him, “I’m going to lose everything I worked for all my life.” My colleague Joe Mozingo followed Perry’s lonely war in Room 533 of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook, where he prayed day and night. “Look, God, I been doing everything I can all my life to do the right thing. … I didn’t do drugs. I didn’t drink. I always respected everybody. And you want to take me? Give me another chance. I want another chance in life.” He got it. A tale of two sisters One sister lives in Los Angeles and is fully vaccinated. The other lives in Cleveland and has no intention of letting anybody inject her with a vaccine she fears was developed in haste. The L.A. sister is Times columnist Sandy Banks, and in this revealing piece, she deftly describes how she can think her sister Anita is totally wrong but still understand why she sees things the way she does. Anita draws information from friends (who are sometimes ill-informed) and from social media (which is rife with theories that range from questionable to kooky). And it’s true that no one — not scientists, not public health experts, not doctors or nurses — knows whether there will be long-term side effects from taking the vaccines or what they might be. With COVID-19 cases waning, Banks can understand how someone like her sister might conclude it’s not worth the risk, even though she thinks she’s wrong. Instead of telling her so, however, they talked through Anita’s concerns and fears about the vaccine. Though no minds were changed, the relationship remains strong, Banks writes: “I’m heartened that despite how pushy I’ve been, she’s still willing to listen to me.” Back-to-school blues The stay-at-home school year saw a marked increase in anxiety, depression and other mental health issues among students. Hospitals across the U.S. reported an alarming increase of youth suicides and attempts. Even if students are able to leave their Zoom prisons behind this fall and return to their physical classrooms, the problems they’ve faced won’t magically disappear. My colleague Laura Newberry calls teachers “the first responders of the school environment” and shows us why mental health and behavioral issues could be especially taxing as teachers and students get used to gathering together in person again. Relatively few educators have been adequately trained to spot signs of trauma and respond appropriately, mental health advocates say. In Southern California, teachers say it can take weeks for a student to connect with a counselor or social worker. The state’s average student-to-counselor ratio in 2019-2020 was 601 to 1, more than twice the recommended ratio. New state funding could help. Gov. Gavin Newsom said $4 billion will be available for youth mental health support, plus $3 billion for teacher and school employee training. Time will tell where that money is spent and how effectively it addresses the issues. Trouble in paradise Kauai, the northernmost of the Hawaiian islands, has done a remarkable job of fighting COVID-19. So far, the lush travel destination with 72,000 residents has recorded only two coronavirus deaths and 320 infections. That success came courtesy of some tough restrictions on business and travel. The island’s visitor count dived 93% in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2020, when the pandemic was just getting started. Unemployment hovered around 20% until recently. Kauai’s stark wealth disparities worsened. The tight rules prevented a health disaster on an island with only 20 ICU beds, but they alienated many in the business community. Now the firms that managed to stay in business are facing new problems as tourists return. For instance, rental cars are hard to find because companies sold off their dormant vehicles to boost cash flow. Some tourists rent U-Haul trucks instead of cars just to have something to drive. My colleague Richard Read brings you this story about the challenges of rebuilding an island paradise. Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. Plant shrubbery. Celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday by helping plant trees and shrubs at the Abalone Cove Ecological Reserve in Rancho Palos Verdes. Or take a bike ride with the Los Angeles Wheelmen, who’ve been cruising the streets of L.A. since 1945. A Sunday ride starts at 8:30 a.m. in Torrance. Subscribe to The Wild for more on the outdoors. Attend a film fest. Our weekend culture watch list recommends screenings of classic movies such as “Casablanca,” “Grease” and “Selena,” some of them at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. And in his Indie Focus newsletter’s roundup of new movies, Mark Olsen recommends three new movies, including “Undine,” which Times critic Justin Chang calls “a poker-faced fairy tale, a fantasy wrought by a committed cinematic realist. It’s an example of how a filmmaker can take an outlandish central idea and play it beautifully straight.” Eat outside. Times subscribers get access to our exclusive interactive list of “Where to eat outside in L.A. right now,” with 44 suggestions ranging from the congee at Alice’s Kitchen in Monterey Park to the triple smashburgers at For the Win in Hollywood Hills. For stay-at-homes, try these three kale salad recipes that might just make you love kale. Browse. Here’s The Times’ guide to the internet for when you’re looking for information on self-care, feel like learning something new or interesting, or want to expand your entertainment horizons. After more than 14 months of life turned upside-down by the pandemic, Memorial Day weekend brought a measure of relief to Californians who cautiously resumed doing the things they normally do, including backyard barbecues and trips to the beach. For many families, Memorial Day includes visits to the gravesites of loved ones. That includes the Gaviola family (above), who gathered at Los Angeles National Cemetery on Monday to remember 24-year-old Pfc. Mikhail John Alvarez. The national holiday honors the men and woman who died while serving in the U.S. military, but this year it couldn’t help but remind everyone of the hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens who lost their lives to COVID-19. Resources Need a vaccine? Sign up for email updates, and make an appointment where you live: City of Los Angeles | Los Angeles County | Kern County | Orange County | Riverside County | San Bernardino County | San Diego County | San Luis Obispo County | Santa Barbara County | Ventura CountyNeed more vaccine help? Talk to your healthcare provider. Call the state’s COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255. And consult our county-by-county guides to getting vaccinated.Practice social distancing using these tips, and wear a mask or two.Watch for symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and loss of taste or smell. Here’s what to look for and when.Need to get tested? Here’s where you can in L.A. County and around California.Americans are hurting in many ways. We have advice for helping kids cope, resources for people experiencing domestic abuse and a newsletter to help you make ends meet.We’ve answered hundreds of readers’ questions. Explore them in our archive here.For our most up-to-date coverage, visit our homepage and our Health section, get our breaking news alerts, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Roundup: Downey's Omar Serrano throws perfect game in 1-0 playoff win over Westlake

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/omar-serrano-downey-throws-perfect-game-high-school-sports

The opening games of the high school baseball playoffs on Friday featured one outstanding pitching performance after another. It showed that coaches around the Southland have their ace pitchers in peak form. The best performance was turned in by Omar Serrano of Downey in a Division 4 opener on the road against Westlake. He retired all 21 hitters for a perfect game, striking out 12, in a 1-0 victory. There was Brian Uribe of Camarillo throwing his fifth consecutive shutout in a 2-0 Division 2 victory over La Canada. The Nevada Las Vegas-bound Uribe struck out eight, walked none and allowed one hit. Top-seeded Thousand Oaks defeated Moorpark 6-0. Miles Weiss allowed four hits. Easton Rulli had two hits and three RBIs. High School Sports Granada Hills junior relief pitcher Brandon Garfinkle discusses the CIF City Section playoffs on “Friday Night Live.” June 4, 2021 Jaden Noot of No. 2-seeded Sierra Canyon struck out 10 and allowed five hits in a 1-0 win over Summit. Mason Molina of Trabuco Hills, a Texas Tech signee, allowed no hits in five innings and struck out 11 in a 13-1 win over Canyon Springs. Capistrano Valley 8, Chaminade 3: Max McGwire and Kevin James each had two hits for Capistrano Valley. Bishop Amat 7, St. Bonaventure 1: Izeah Muniz struck out 12 in five innings for Bishop Amat. Tyler White had two hits and three RBIs and Daniel Briones had two hits and four RBIs. Mission Viejo 8, Marina 3: James Showalter struck out eight in a complete game for the Diablos. Ocean View 5, Simi Valley 4: Ocean View scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out the victory. Thomas Williams finished with three hits. Viewpoint 5, Trinity Classical 1: Treye Meadows struck out 12 for Viewpoint. Loyola 9, Corona del Mar 6: The Cubs advanced to the first Division 1 lacrosse championship match. Foothill 7, Mater Dei 6: Kenny Seiler scored a golden goal to win the semifinal game and send Foothill into the Division 1 final against Loyola.

El Salvador is riding the waves as global surfing's newest mecca

https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2021-06-04/el-salvador-is-riding-the-waves-as-global-surfings-newest-mecca

A 13-mile stretch of Salvadoran shoreline the government has named Surf City is one of the world’s newest surfing meccas. At the center of those 13 miles are La Bocana and El Sunzal, two top surfing spots known collectively as El Tunco after the distinctive volcanic rocks just a few feet off the beach. It’s a place where the waves are so ripe and the water so warm, tourism officials are hoping it can repair the country’s battered image while the International Surfing Assn. has chosen it as the location of the final qualifying rounds for the debut of surfing as an Olympic sport this summer. The eight-day competition, known as the World Surfing Games and featuring 256 athletes from 51 countries, concludes Sunday.

Big rig crash in Lancaster leaves four dead, including two children; another child is in critical condition

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/big-rig-collides-with-car-in-lancaster-multiple-fatalities

A car crash involving a big rig Friday morning in Lancaster killed two children and two adults, with another child in critical condition, according to the California Highway Patrol. An 18-wheeler and a Dodge Challenger collided just after 9 a.m. on Avenue G near 30th Street, CHP Officer Amber Wright said. The Dodge was carrying two women and three boys, Wright said. All of the boys were taken to a hospital, she said. Two of them died; one was between 10 and 11 years old, and one between 7 and 9. Another boy, believed to be about 5, remains in critical condition. One woman died at the scene. The second was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver of the big rig, its sole occupant, did not appear to have major injuries, Wright said. TRAFFIC COLLISION MAJOR | FS117 #Lancaster | E Avenue G x N 30th St E | BC17 reports 5 patients (2 pediatrics, critical; 2 adults, critical; 1 patient, DOA). 1 Air Squad (@SEBLASD Air Rescue 5), 2 additional Paramedic Squads (S130 S135) and 3 Ambulances requested. #GulfIC #LACoFD Authorities remained at the scene late into the day, investigating what caused the crash on the two-lane street. Aerial footage of the incident shows a mangled dark-colored car in the bushes off the side of the road. The front tractor portion of the big rig appears to have detached from the trailer amid the impact. The Antelope Valley has seen a spike in fatalities resulting from car accidents this year, though it’s not immediately clear why. These four deaths bring the year’s total to 28, representing an increase from last year, Wright said, citing data collected by the Antelope Valley CHP station.

Rookies Bobby Brown III, Robert Rochell are kindred spirits on Rams' defense

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2021-06-04/rookies-bobby-brown-iii-robert-rochell-rams

During the run-up to the NFL draft, defensive lineman Bobby Brown III and cornerback Robert Rochell got to know each other while working out at the same training facility. The Rams selected both Brown, who played at Texas A&M, and Rochell, from Central Arkansas, in the fourth round. The rookie teammates have spent the last few weeks working to make an impression on coach Sean McVay and his staff during organized team activity workouts. The Rams finish their offseason program next week with a three-day minicamp. Brown and Rochell said Friday that their friendship has grown through the process. “That’s a funny guy, man, a guy that can make you laugh all day,” Rochell said during a videoconference with reporters. “Big character, a guy that loves this game just as much me. ... Just having a guy around that’s similar to me in characteristics is everything, so we enjoy the game together.” Brown agreed. Rams Rams receiver Cooper Kupp said he suffered a “de-gloving injury” last season, called a Morel-Lavalle’e lesion, in which skin and tissue separate from underlying tissue. June 3, 2021 “That’s a great guy,” he said of Rochell. “He’s got his head on right. I can’t wait to see what he’ll be able to do later on in his career because he loves football.” Brown is trying to find a role on a remade defensive line that includes veterans such as three-time NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, A’Shawn Robinson and Sebastian Joseph-Day, younger players such as Greg Gaines and fellow rookies Earnest Brown IV among others. Rochell is part of a cornerback group that includes starters Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams and others such as David Long. McVay said Brown’s attention to detail during drills has caught his eye. Rochell’s movement and improvement in the last few weeks also has been noteworthy. “Been pleased with those two young guys and looking forward to seeing them wrap it up the right way next week,” McVay said. McVay also said that tight end Jacob Harris, a fourth-round pick from Central Florida, has stood out among rookies. “Just his overall speed and athleticism,” McVay said of the 6-foot-5, 211-pound Harris, “you kind of feel him on the field.” Next week’s minicamp, which concludes with a workout on Thursday before fans at SoFi Stadium, will be the final opportunity for McVay to observe and evaluate new quarterback Matthew Stafford on the field before the Rams reconvene for training camp in late July at UC Irvine. During Friday’s workout, which was open to reporters, Stafford continued to show command of the offense. “Things come to him quickly,” McVay said of the 12-year veteran. “He’s got so many experiences to draw on. ... He’s only going to continue to grow and we’re going to continue to get better.” Rams Punter Johnny Hekker always had been a huge asset to the Rams, but his salary is getting higher and he had a down season in 2020, so he is competing to keep his job. June 4, 2021 Donald, Ramsey, Williams, receiver DeSean Jackson and tight end Tyler Higbee did not attend Friday’s workout, which was voluntary, and McVay reiterated that he had been in communication with players. Next week’s minicamp is technically mandatory, but McVay hinted a few players might be absent with permission. “I’ve been extremely pleased with the leadership from our veterans that have really guided an opportunity for us to get a great month of work, in person, and next week will represent the finality of that.” Running back Darrell Henderson, who is recovering from ankle surgery, continues to work with the training staff during workouts but also has participated in some drills. McVay said he expected Henderson would be at full speed by training camp. Outside linebacker Terrell Lewis, who was sidelined part of last season because of a knee issue, attended practice but did not participate. McVay said he did not have an update on Lewis.

The baby was dying in an ambulance, stuck in Jakarta gridlock. Volunteer motorcyclists cleared the way

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/indonesia-ambulance-escort

The ambulance wailed, but the cars, trucks and scooters did not budge. The old man inside needed an emergency CT scan. But in this city, home to some of the world’s most miserable traffic, drivers are unforgiving and conditioned to hold their ground, even with someone’s life on the line. It seemed hopeless. But out of the gridlock and din came Sebastian Dwiantoro and his team of volunteers. The 23-year-old ambulance escort hopped off the back of a motorcycle and bolted through the congestion, tapping on car windows and waving at scooters and motorbikes to make way. It worked. The traffic parted. Dwiantoro leaped back onto the motorcycle and led the ambulance through an opening — like a running back finding a thread of daylight in a defensive line — only to repeat the tactic moments later. “People don’t want to get out of the way, because the roads are too narrow,” said Dwiantoro, who works as a railway security guard when he’s not volunteering. “A lot of people just ignore us when we ask them to move.” But sometimes this slight, soft-spoken man on a motorcycle saves a life, as he did in 2019, when he led an ambulance carrying a jaundiced baby 26 miles from a city south of Depok to a hospital in West Jakarta. Speed was crucial. A paramedic shouted from the window that they were running out of oxygen for the infant. Dwiantoro bypassed the snarled toll roads and carved a path on local streets, arriving at the emergency room just in time. “Whenever I see a traffic jam now,” said Dwiantoro, who rides a red Honda with a liquid-cooled engine, “I think of it like a new challenge, and it makes me want to work harder.” Several thousand people die each year in the capital due to slow emergency response times. That reality is persistent across Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that, from coast to coast, stretches 400 miles wider than the United States. Last year, a pregnant woman reportedly was unable to get to the hospital due to a traffic jam in East Nusa Tenggara province, and the baby died. Jakarta and its brimming suburbs are home to 30 million people. The city consistently ranks among the most congested places on the planet. Navigating the roads in and around the Indonesian capital — even for those like Dwiantoro — can feel like a never-ending, tortuous commute through the Sepulveda Pass, if the 405 Freeway were also inundated with swarms of motorbikes weaving through at impossibly daring speeds. Like other Southeast Asian megacities, Jakarta saw cars multiply as urban planners failed to build enough roads and public transportation. The region introduced its first mass transit line just this year. Former governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama once likened Jakarta’s lackluster planning to “someone who needed to defecate first before building a toilet.” It’s that bad. The chronic congestion — smoggy skies give Jakarta a taint of mid-20th century Los Angeles — contributes to the city having among the worst air pollution in the world, prompting private citizens to sue the government in a landmark case that’s drawing widespread attention. Rather than attempt to fix all of Jakarta’s problems, President Joko Widodo proposed relocating the capital 800 miles away to the island backwater of Borneo. The plan, which has been put on hold, would have uprooted the central government but potentially eased traffic. It can take hours to traverse just 20 miles in Jakarta, making any ride in an ambulance for a patient in critical condition as nerve-racking and dangerous as the surgery that awaits. It is then that Dwiantoro and his small crew sluice and slice through traffic — pleading, skimming bumpers, looking to save a few precious seconds or minutes. World & Nation Indonesia could be trading one environmental disaster for another when it relocates its capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, a hotbed of coal mining, gas extraction and palm oil production on the giant island of Borneo. Sept. 13, 2019 Though motorists are legally obligated to give way to ambulances, rarely does anyone bother. There is little room to maneuver. Local streets are often wide enough to fit only two cars, and many highways don’t have emergency lanes. Some thoroughfares are flanked by open sewers, making drivers especially nervous about swerving too close to the edge. “There’s nowhere to pull over,” said Andaris Dikarina, 27, who commutes to work in a Mitsubishi SUV. “I would if I could, but most of the time when there’s an ambulance stuck in congestion, we can’t do anything. It’s stuck with us.” Dwiantoro’s ambulance escort club, awkwardly named Indonesian Escorting Ambulance, or IEA, was formed in 2017 by Nova Widyatmoko, an officer at a disaster relief agency. Widyatmoko grew frustrated at seeing ambulances languishing during his 90-minute commute to Jakarta from his home in Bekasi, 12 miles away. “It was almost every day that I saw an ambulance trapped,” Widyatmoko said. “Even if they switched on their sirens, the drivers would ignore them. I was so sad.” Widyatmoko put out a WhatsApp plea to motorcyclists to intervene. The post was shared widely and reached ambulance drivers, who were encouraged to disclose their locations and request help. Within weeks, Widyatmoko had more than 100 volunteers. They posted videos on social media of riders parting Jakarta traffic with the wave of a hand, which helped to spread interest nationwide. One volunteer in Yogyakarta, a city in Central Java, said he joined the service because his grandmother died in an ambulance that couldn’t reach a hospital in time. Dwiantoro came across Widyatmoko’s appeal months after it was posted. He had long been horrified by the sight of ambulances inching toward their destinations, as he wondered about the condition of the patients inside. Dwiantoro had grown up helping others; his parents had signed up him and his siblings to deliver food to the poor. He joined IEA as a volunteer after learning it had a chapter in his hometown of Depok, about 18 miles south of central Jakarta. It wasn’t easy at first. Dwiantoro encountered impatient and obstinate motorists. Some would ignore him; others would dismiss him by saying he had no right to ask them to move because he was not a police officer. The most arrogant drivers were often those in positions of authority, particularly men in uniform. “Big egos,” said Dwiantoro, who prays for endless patience. “They refuse to get out of the way. And they should know the law, because they work for the government.” A fellow volunteer was once clipped by a vehicle, toppling his motorbike, which dragged him several dozen feet. He was not seriously hurt. World & Nation Indonesia’s government dithered for nearly two months before enacting social restrictions. Tens of thousands could die of COVID-19. April 24, 2020 Nothing, however, prepared Dwiantoro for the past year, when Jakarta was overrun by COVID-19. The capital was the leading hot spot of the country’s outbreak — the worst in Southeast Asia, with more than 1.8 million confirmed cases and 51,000 deaths in a country of 270 million. Dwiantoro and others escorted ambulances delivering corpses of COVID-19 victims in wood coffins to cemeteries, which were quickly running out of room. The volunteers, covered in personal protective equipment they bought for themselves, did what few others dared at the time: They helped lift the caskets. For weeks on end, it seemed like the only requests coming from ambulance drivers were for escorting COVID-19 patients to hospitals or isolation centers. The group still receives those requests, but only a fraction compared with what it saw at the end of last year. Still, fears are growing of another wave in Indonesia, with the arrival of the infectious Delta variant, first detected in India, and the return of millions of people who had traveled across the country to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival, marking the end of dawn-to-dusk fasting for Ramadan. “The difference from last year,” said Dwiantoro, “is now, when drivers see ambulance workers wearing PPE, they will pull over, because they know COVID is a dangerous disease.” The IEA is now a formal organization with 123 branches and more than 1,000 volunteers nationwide. It raises funds through donations, membership dues and the sale of T-shirts and other merchandise. Volunteers receive training in safety and basic lifesaving skills and coordinate with groups like the Indonesian Red Cross Society. Motorists today are less surprised to see the volunteers, who are recognizable by their red-and-black motorcycle jackets decorated with patches. Among them now are Dwiantoro’s girlfriend and his older brother, whom he recently persuaded to volunteer. The three are inseparable, playing soccer or exploring Java’s volcanic landscape on long-distance motorbike rides. Dwiantoro said rival escort groups have formed, organized by volunteers who couldn’t meet the IEA’s requirements for road safety and vehicle ownership. He said one such group recently clashed with police officers who were escorting government officials. A clip of the confrontation was shared widely on WhatsApp. Although that incident has brought unwanted attention to the volunteer work, Dwiantoro keeps at it everyday. It’s become his duty, a way a man can change things. He says the group’s skilled drivers have become even more essential during the country’s health crisis. With lockdowns lifted and traffic returning full-bore, Dwiantoro is preparing for countless more hours on the car-choked roads of Jakarta. Times staff writer Pierson reported from Singapore and special correspondent Hutabarat from Jakarta.

Lakers fan favorite Alex Caruso faces the unknown of free agency

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-06-04/lakers-alex-caruso-free-agency-contract

Alex Caruso’s decision on his future with the Lakers is looming, and whether he takes his services to another team or returns won’t be decided until August when the NBA’s free-agency period opens. He just finished his fourth season with the Lakers, his role increasing every year as Caruso became a key contributor to winning the franchise’s 17th championship last season. Now Caruso becomes an unrestricted free agent coming off a season in which the Lakers were pushed out of the playoffs by the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, losing the first-round series 4-2. “Hopefully, we can return and continue a great partnership,” Caruso said Friday during a videoconference after his exit meeting with the Lakers’ front office. “But that’s obviously for a later date.” Free agents can begin negotiating with teams on Aug. 2 and sign a contract on Aug. 6. Caruso said he hasn’t made a list yet or of teams he’d like to play for. Lakers fans react to their season coming to an end with a loss to the Phoenix Suns on June 3, 2021, at Staples Center. So, with the freshness of losing in the playoffs, Caruso hasn’t thought much about his experience with the Lakers or seeking a bigger role elsewhere. “There’s a lot of things I’ll sit down and think about and plan out, including what my offseason looks like as far as working out and getting stuff done, and real-world goals are things that I finally have a chance to do now that I have a real offseason,” he said. “I’m not scrapping for a job wondering where I’m gonna play. So, that’s not something I think I can answer right now. Obviously, there’s a bunch of different things that go into it.” In talking to people in NBA front offices who are not authorized to speak publicly on Caruso’s pending free agency, the general thought is he can get a contract for about $5 million to $7 million per season on a three-year deal. Caruso said that having played with LeBron James and Anthony Davis will have an influence on his decision. “Yeah, it’s big. Anytime you’re playing with those two you have a chance to win a championship,” Caruso said. “A realistic chance to win a championship. And I know a lot of people around the league think they do and going into the season everybody talks about what their goals are and stuff like that. But it’s a realistic, attainable goal with those two guys on your team. So, that’s always in the back of your mind.” Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021 Caruso grew as a player this season, averaging 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He shot 43.6% from the field, 40.1% from three-point range and proved his value on both ends of the court by playing well in lineups with James. He missed eight games with an assortment of injuries and was unable to finish Game 6 against the Suns because of a strained left ankle. He also missed five games while being in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Still, there’s also the fact that Caruso became a favorite with Lakers fans and was able to get several endorsements after the Lakers won the championship. “I’m forever grateful for that and hopefully we’ll see where everything lies,” he said. “But like I said, I got to rank stuff and that’s obviously not something I’ve thought about in depth 12 hours after the season ended. I’ll look more into that in July. But, yeah, those are definitely things that L.A. takes into consideration maybe more so than other places.”

Brandon Garfinkel of Granada Hills talks about Highlanders being No. 1 seed in baseball

https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2021-06-04/brandon-garfinkel-granada-hills-appears-baseball

It’s time for Episode 41 of Friday Night Live, where Los Angeles Times prep sports columnist Eric Sondheimer joins broadcaster Randy Rosenbloom for a discussion about high school sports in Southern California. This week’s guest is Granada Hills junior pitcher/third baseman Brandon Garfinkel. He talks about the Highlanders being seeded No. 1 for the City Section Open Division baseball playoffs and his important role as a closer.

Vanessa Bryant chalks up another legal victory in fight over Kobe crash photo leak

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/vanessa-bryant-gets-legal-victory-and-more-time-to-investigate-whether-more-deputies-got-kobe-crash-photos

Vanessa Bryant secured a legal victory Friday in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County over deputies and firefighters who allegedly shared grim photos of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, their daughter Gianna and seven others. A federal judge ruled her attorneys should have more time to pursue their investigation because they have been “diligent” in their efforts to pursue their allegations of misconduct. The move gives the widow more time to depose and investigate, and pushes a trial from November to February 2022. Vanessa Bryant’s lawyers argued that although initial information shared by the Sheriff’s Department showed eight deputies shared images, evidence turned over now shows those possessing photos at the scene number at least 18 county employees while 66 county employees know about the misconduct. Lawyers for the county accused Bryant of conducting a fishing expedition that diverted first responders from their jobs and subjecting them to harassment after she sued and publicly identified several of them. U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter, however, allowed the delay in his ruling Friday, rejecting the county’s argument. He explained that more time was needed because of delays in obtaining disclosures, identifying witnesses and examining devices, as well as the addition of new defendants. Bryant’s legal team asked for more time after obtaining internal affairs documents that revealed more about how the Sheriff’s Department handled the incident, including Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s directive to deputies to delete any crash-scene photos on their cellphones. A now-former Lost Hills station captain warned his bosses that the directive may constitute an order to destroy evidence and could lead to their arrest. In a court filing last month, attorneys for Bryant revealed that the station captain had tried to block the sheriff’s directive. Villanueva’s decision, the captain said, was “very out of the ordinary,” and he had already initiated a standard investigation after a deputy shared graphic photos of Kobe Bryant’s remains in a Norwalk bar and a citizen complained. After checking with the sheriff’s office, that captain’s supervisor replied, “this is the direction we are going.” Villanueva, after learning of the photo sharing, said that all the images had been deleted, later acknowledging making that decision to prevent them from becoming public. According to the lawsuit, Deputies Raul Versales, Rafael Mejia, Joey Cruz and Michael Russell shared images of the crash scene in Calabasas. The crash occurred in dense fog the morning of Jan. 26, 2020, as Kobe and Gianna Bryant, the pilot and six other passengers were on their way from Orange County to Thousand Oaks for a youth basketball game. The pilot had become disoriented by the poor visibility and crashed into the side of a hill, killing everyone onboard. The lawsuit alleges that Versales obtained multiple photographs of the crash scene while stationed at a makeshift command post near the site and shared them with members of the Sheriff’s Department, including Mejia and a detective. Mejia stored the images on his personal cellphone and shared them with at least two people, including a deputy controlling traffic at the scene, the lawsuit says. In a Jan. 30 memo to the Lost Hills station captain, Mejia wrote that he received and sent the photos “to answer some questions regarding the color, numbers and identifying features of the aircraft as well as crash scene details,” according to the lawsuit. But in an interview two months later, he admitted to investigators he had had no legitimate reason to send the photos to the traffic deputy.

Chargers ownership dispute might push NFL to get involved, lawyer contends

https://www.latimes.com/sports/chargers/story/2021-06-04/chargers-ownership-dispute-dea-spanos-roger-goodell-nfl

Two months after a sister of Chargers controlling owner Dean Spanos filed a court petition to try to force the sale of the team, a dispute has emerged over whether the matter should be resolved by the NFL or through the judicial system. In an ex parte petition filed Thursday, the attorney for Dea Spanos Berberian asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Rosenbloom to issue an order confirming the court’s jurisdiction. The attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote in the petition that “relief is urgently needed” because the NFL told Berberian and Spanos that Commissioner Roger Goodell has “exclusive arbitral jurisdiction” and the league would decide “whether this court or the NFL has jurisdiction.” “This is not an internal dispute about the football team; it is an internal decision about the Trust,” the court filing said. Chargers A legal filing by Dea Spanos Berberian seeking to force the sale of the Chargers cites $353 million in family trust debt. April 1, 2021 An NFL spokesman declined to comment on the league’s involvement in the dispute. The April petition by Berberian, who serves as co-trustee of the family trust along with her brother, alleged the trust’s debts and expenses exceed $353 million with little hope for the situation to be reversed. The trust owns 36% of the Chargers, while Berberian, Spanos and their two siblings each control 15% of the franchise. The petition wants the court to order Berberian and Spanos to sell the trust’s interest in the Chargers and exercise a provision of the trust that would compel the team’s other shareholders to do the same. Dean Spanos and his two other siblings have vigorously opposed their sister’s effort, calling it a “misguided personal agenda” in a previous statement. NFL executive Jeff Pash sent a letter to the parties May 4 saying “it appears that the dispute must be resolved through the internal dispute resolution mechanism established by the NFL Constitution and Bylaws” because the disagreement is between two owners and the relief Berberian seeks would impact ownership of the team. Pash’s letter, attached to Thursday’s court filing, instructed the parties not to comment on the litigation or the “underlying dispute” or “take any action that would involve further litigation.” Two weeks later, Joseph Shenker, an attorney for Spanos, sent a brief letter to the league agreeing that the dispute should be resolved by Goodell. In a 23-page letter sent to the NFL the same day, Streisand raised numerous objections. “Frankly, it is surprising that the League would seek to insinuate itself in this matter, or that it would believe it has the competence to make determinations about how these Co-Trustees must exercise their fiduciary duties under the California Probate Code,” Streisand wrote. Shenker responded to Streisand’s letter in follow-up note to the league last week on behalf of Spanos. “Dea’s submission misconstrues both the scope of the dispute she seeks to have resolved and the different ownership positions of the parties to it, and ignores her express agreement to adhere to the NFL Constitution, including its arbitration provisions,” Shenker wrote. Chargers The quarrel within the Spanos family doesn’t help the Chargers’ standing in Los Angeles and could lead to a sale down the road. April 1, 2021 In the letter, Shenker took issue with Berberian’s accusations in the initial petition about the trust’s financial position, writing that it has a “conservative net worth in excess of $117 million” and the situation is “anything but dire.” He alleged the Berberian “has taken steps to go against the will of her parents and her other three siblings.” In the midst of the back and forth, Spanos’ attorneys filed a motion to change the venue from Los Angeles to San Joaquin County because the trust is administered from Stockton. That motion accused Berberian’s legal team of filing the initial petition in L.A. as part of a “transparent, but improper, ploy to maximize publicity.” But Thursday’s ex parte filing — which said the trust is “drowning under debt” — sets up another showdown in a dispute with wide-ranging implications. “The NFL is expected to make its ‘decision’ about this Court’s jurisdiction imminently,” the filing said. “Dea believes, sadly, that the NFL’s ‘decision’ is a foregone conclusion …”

Bipartisan infrastructure talks falter after Biden rejects modest GOP offer

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-06-04/time-for-bipartisan-infrastructure-talks-running-short-after-biden-capito-talk-again

President Biden on Friday rejected the latest counteroffer on infrastructure spending from a group of Senate Republicans as far too little, leaving the bipartisan talks at what looks to be an unresolvable impasse. The lead Republican negotiator, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, raised her offer by $50 billion, taking it to $978 billion. Yet just $307 billion of that would be new spending — well short of Biden’s demand for $1 trillion in federal investments beyond what is projected under existing programs. Biden, in a call with Capito, “expressed his gratitude for her effort and goodwill,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. “But [he] also indicated that the current offer did not meet his objectives to grow the economy, tackle the climate crisis and create new jobs.” The two agreed to talk again Monday, which was the rough deadline the administration had set for negotiations, but a breakthrough appeared unlikely. Still, Biden was reluctant to give up on a bipartisan compromise and “indicated to Sen. Capito that he would continue to engage a number of senators in both parties in the hopes of achieving a more substantial package,” Psaki said. As Biden negotiated with the half-dozen Republicans led by Capito, the White House has expressed growing interest in the efforts of a separate, bipartisan group of lawmakers that includes Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, along with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. They have been quietly working on a fallback proposal should talks with Capito fail. Biden, who leaves Washington next week for a seven-day trip to Europe, also spoke Friday with Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which next week is set to begin work on a five-year, $547-billion plan for roads, mass transit and rail projects. DeFazio’s bill does not include all the new spending Biden wants nor the broader investments in programs for workers and families the president has proposed as “social infrastructure.” But it could serve as a foundation for Biden’s plans, whether those end up as a bipartisan compromise or a Democrats-only proposal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has said she wants the House to vote on an infrastructure bill by July 4. She had asked DeFazio and other Democrats on relevant committees to work on legislative proposals while Biden negotiated with the few Senate Republicans who’ve been willing to seek a compromise. Biden’s patience with Republicans, despite the group’s modest offers, has aggravated progressive Democrats, who are eager for him to scrap bipartisan talks and attempt to pass his more ambitious proposal with just Democratic votes through the process known as budget reconciliation, which prevents Senate filibusters. Some lawmakers in the House, where Democrats have just a four-seat edge, have threatened to vote against a bipartisan bill that’s too watered down. But Manchin, a critical swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, continues to demand a bipartisan plan and to publicly oppose the reconciliation strategy, effectively making it inoperable unless he relents. Biden has made far more substantive concessions in talks with Capito than Republicans have offered. After initially proposing a $2.25-trillion package, the president pared that to a $1.7-trillion proposal, then dropped his asking price again earlier this week, telling Capito during a one-on-one Oval Office meeting Wednesday that he would settle for $1 trillion in new spending for repairing roads, bridges and railways and expanding broadband networks. While the Republicans said they had upped their offer to $928 billion, that included just $257 billion in new spending. Another dispute was over how to pay for the investments. Biden had initially proposed to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, but Republicans said that was a nonstarter. They countered by proposing new user fees and redirecting money from the $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief package enacted in March. The White House rejected both ideas, especially the user fees, given Biden’s campaign promise that Americans earning less than $400,000 annually wouldn’t pay more taxes. In his meeting Wednesday with Capito, Biden suggested another funding alternative — a 15% minimum tax on corporations, raising revenue from businesses that currently pay little or no income taxes. Though that would avert Republicans’ “red line” — they refuse to consider reversing the corporate tax breaks they enacted in 2017 — they have yet to indicate any openness to Biden’s latest idea. Capito’s office confirmed that she and Biden discussed their competing proposals Friday but left unclear whether any progress was made. The conversation occurred as Biden and Republicans sparred over a report for May that showed the economy gaining 559,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate dropping to 5.8%. Biden touted the job growth, which was slightly less than economists had expected, as evidence that the relief law, which included direct checks and extended unemployment benefits, is paying dividends. “America is on the move again,” said Biden, who urged lawmakers to act quickly on his infrastructure proposals to spur further growth. “Now’s the time to accelerate the process we’ve been making. Now’s the time to build on the foundation we’ve laid.” Republicans, however, cited the gains as evidence that the relief law, and specifically the expanded unemployment benefits it provided, were overheating the economy and giving the unemployed an incentive to not seek work. “Another disappointment,” tweeted Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. “This is what happens when you pay people not to work. What did Democrats expect?” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a statement.

Hearing set for lawsuit aimed at stopping dismantlement of San Onofre nuclear plant

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/hearing-set-for-lawsuit-aimed-at-stopping-dismantlement-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant

A June 16 court date has been set to hear a lawsuit filed by an advocacy group against the California Coastal Commission, seeking to stop dismantlement work at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff will consider the petition by the Samuel Lawrence Foundation that argues the commission should not have granted a permit to Southern California Edison, the majority owner of the plant, to take down buildings and other infrastructure at the now-closed generating station, known as SONGS. “The public interest is at risk, based on [the commission’s] decision,” said Chelsi Sparti, associate director of the Samuel Lawrence Foundation, based in Del Mar. “The waste is located right next to the ocean, [and] the economy, transportation, the environmental and natural resources that we have are at risk from the long-term storage of stranded radioactive waste.” A spokeswoman for the Coastal Commission said it does not comment on pending litigation, but in a joint response it filed with Edison to the court last month, the Coastal Commission said the lawsuit’s arguments “run contrary to a wealth of evidence supporting the commission’s decision to approve the permit for the decommissioning project.” In October 2019, the commission on a 9-0 vote approved a permit for Edison to begin demolition work at the plant, which has not produced electricity since 2012. Dismantlement began in early 2020 and is expected to take about eight years to complete. Before granting the permit, the commission required Edison to agree to a number of provisions, including establishing an enhanced inspection and maintenance program for the 123 stainless steel canisters filled with nuclear waste that sit in a pair of dry storage facilities at the north end of the plant. The permit lasts 20 years and includes a condition that allows the commission by 2035 to revisit whether the dry storage site should be moved to another location in case of rising sea levels, earthquake risk, canister damage or other possible scenarios. One of the major contentions in the lawsuit deals with what to do with a pair of wet storage pools at SONGS. Before going into canisters, the highly radioactive fuel rods were placed into pools 40 feet deep in order to cool. Edison wants to demolish the pools, saying they are no longer needed since all the fuel assemblies of waste have been transferred to dry storage facilities. But the Samuel Lawrence Foundation and other groups critical of Edison say the pools need to stay in case anything goes wrong with the canisters. After the foundation sought a temporary restraining order, the group and Edison officials last week signed an agreement that will keep the utility from doing any work on the storage pools for 90 days or until the judge issues his ruling in the case, whichever comes first. “The lawsuit will protect the only remaining facility on-site that can serve as a safe place to repair and replace the radioactive waste storage canisters,” Sparti said. Should a problem ever occur, Edison said, the inspection and maintenance program includes a repair method using robots that can deliver a metallic coating that bonds to the canisters. “The facts clearly show that the commission was thorough in its analysis, thoughtful in its review and correct in its decision to approve the coastal development permit to safely dismantle SONGS,” Edison spokesman John Dobken said. Some 3.55 million pounds of used-up nuclear fuel, or waste, remain at SONGS because the federal government has not opened a facility to deposit all the waste that has accumulated at commercial nuclear power plants across the country. About 80,000 metric tons has piled up at 121 sites in 35 states. When approving Edison’s updated inspection and maintenance program last year, members of the Coastal Commission expressed their frustration with Washington. “This type of material has no business being in the coastal zone of California,” said commission Chairman Steve Padilla. “It is a no-win, I think, for all of us but I think under the circumstances, [voting yes is] the right step.” According to Edison’s plans, all that will remain at SONGS when dismantlement is completed will be two dry storage facilities; a security building with personnel to look over the waste; a seawall 28 feet high, as measured at average low tide at San Onofre Beach; a walkway connecting two beaches north and south of the plant; and a switchyard with power lines. Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Long Beach takes over Queen Mary, vowing to preserve the landmark ship

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-04/long-beach-takes-over-queen-mary

Long Beach has taken back control of the Queen Mary from the ship’s operating company amid concerns that the 87-year-old vessel has not been properly maintained, the city announced Friday. “For the first time in decades, Long Beach has full control of the Queen Mary. We will be fully engaged in the preservation of this historic landmark and are incredibly grateful for this opportunity,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement. The former ocean liner turned floating hotel has long been a challenge to operate, with a 2017 study recommending that as much as $289 million worth of renovations and upgrades were needed to keep parts of the ship from flooding. According to a trove of court documents and inspection reports released last month, the Queen Mary needs $23 million in immediate repairs to prevent it from potentially capsizing. California A trove of court documents and inspection reports released last month reveal the extent of the Queen Mary’s disrepair. June 1, 2021 The company that held the lease to operate the ship, Eagle Hospitality Trust, filed for bankruptcy protection in January and agreed to surrender its lease agreement. Long Beach, which owns the ship and the property around it, said Friday that Eagle Hospitality has been in default of several provisions of the lease, including failure to maintain the aging ship. Long Beach also announced Friday that the city is immediately entering into a $2-million contract with Evolution Hospitality to act as a caretaker of the ship for the next six months. Evolution for the last 11 years has been the third-party contractor managing the day-to-day operations of the ship. The Long Beach City Council is expected to meet Tuesday to approve the contract with Evolution and consider authorizing $500,000 to “begin testing and design work for the most critical repairs recommended in recent inspections, including bulkhead repairs, lifeboat removal, and the installation of an emergency generator, temporary bilge pumps and water intrusion warning systems,” the city’s statement said. Eagle Hospitality’s bankruptcy proceedings are just the latest setback for the iconic vessel that Long Beach hoped would one day be the center of a thriving leisure district. Over the last 50 years, Long Beach has brought in several firms — including Walt Disney Co. — to manage the ship and develop the adjacent oceanfront property, with mixed results. Disney tried in 1990 to incorporate the ship into a $3-billion sea-themed amusement park. But the Burbank entertainment giant declined to renew its lease two years later and instead turned its attention to building the California Adventure park next to Disneyland. One leaseholder filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and an operator abruptly ended its contract and walked away. For much of 2009, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, occupancy rates for the ship’s rooms dropped to 50% — barely enough to cover expenses. Eagle Hospitality was created in 2019 by Urban Commons, the real estate investment and development firm that owned a 66-year lease to operate the Queen Mary and develop the 65 acres around it. The lease was set to last until 2082. The trust was listed on the Singapore Exchange with the goal of raising money to finance hospitality-related ventures primarily in the U.S., including a $250-million commercial development around the ship called Queen Mary Island. Urban Commons released a plan in 2017 for the $250-million Queen Mary Island project, saying the entertainment complex on the waterfront adjacent to the ship was expected to help pay for the vessel’s desperately needed repairs. Over the years, the ship has hosted music, food and holiday festivals, including Halloween celebrations and Friday the 13th-themed “haunted room” offerings that took advantage of the floating hotel’s historical interiors and myths. Many of the ship’s rooms and event spaces have been renovated, but the most expensive structural improvements have been put off, according to inspection reports. Eagle Hospitality, which owned 26 hotels, filed for bankruptcy as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the travel and hospitality industries. January’s bankruptcy filing said the company had more than $500 million in liabilities, the largest of which was an $89-million loan from Lodging USA Lendo.

Lil Nas X will call you by your name, if you want, during Pride Month Cameo campaign

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-04/cameo-pride-month-lil-nas-x-pentatonix-charity

Which would you rather have Lil Nas X deliver via video, a pep talk or a roast? Or maybe a message from Satan himself? It’s something worth considering, as the “Old Town Road” rapper is one of the celebs who will join personalized-video platform Cameo during Pride Month, with all profits going to benefit LGBTQ charities. For the record: 8:41 p.m. June 6, 2021An earlier version of this article said Lil Nas X would be on Cameo on Wednesday. He will join the platform Tuesday. Fans will have to wait until Tuesday, though, for the “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” mastermind to come online. And who would deny Lil Nas X his grand entrance? Until then, starting Friday, “Chance” singer Hayley Kiyoko, “Malibu” singer Kim Petras and Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying of Pentatonix are on board for the charitable effort (and the a cappella group, incidentally, marked its 10th anniversary on Friday as well). Music “Montero” hitmaker Lil Nas X took to Twitter to celebrate the beginning of Pride Month, marking two years since he publicly came out as gay. June 1, 2021 Users can purchase a Cameo, in which a celebrity delivers a tailored video message to the buyer or someone the buyer chooses, and then that money — or part of it, depending on which celeb is chosen — goes to help LGBTQ charities. Each celebrity picks their own price point. Famous folks who’ve been on the app already, including NSYNC veteran Lance Bass, “The Office” actor Kate Flannery and that guy who does the great Tom Cruise impressions, will also contribute part of their earnings this month. The number of Cameos the group will make for the cause is limited, and it’s all first-come, first-served. The campaign runs through next Friday. All profits will be donated to the Can’t Cancel Pride fund, a joint effort of Procter & Gamble and iHeartRadio, to benefit CenterLink, GLAAD, National Black Justice Coalition, OutRight Action International, SAGE and the Trevor Project.

What's on TV Saturday: 'Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos' on Lifetime

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/whats-on-tv-saturday-gone-mom-the-disappearance-of-jennifer-dulos-on-lifetime

During the coronavirus crisis, the Los Angeles Times is making some temporary changes to our print sections. The prime-time TV grid is on hiatus in print but an expanded version is available in your daily Times eNewspaper. You can find a printable PDF online at: latimes.com/whats-on-tv. Open House (N) 8 p.m. NBC Crikey! It’s the Irwins Bindi Irwin and husband Chandler Powell prepare for the arrival of their first child (Grace Warrior Irwin Powell) in this new double episode. 8 p.m. Animal Planet Television The exuberant, khaki-clad animal expert and conservationist Steve Irwin was Animal Planet’s first superstar. Oct. 24, 2018 Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty Three families of meerkats, all descended from the matriarch known as Flower, compete for food, water and other resources in the rapidly shifting landscape of the Kalahari Desert. Bill Nighy narrates. 8 p.m. BBC America Entertainment & Arts Sept. 16, 2014 Vacation House Rules (season premiere) 8 p.m. HGTV Vikings The long-running historical action drama returns with the last few episodes of its sixth and final season. The first of tonight’s two episodes opens in Iceland, where Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) faces a difficult decision after learning the truth about Kjetill (Adam Copeland). Alexander Ludwig, Danila Kozlovskiy and Alex Hogh Andersen also star. 8 and 9 p.m. History Beyond the Headlines: The Jennifer Dulos Story This new special looks at the marriage of Jennifer Dulos and Fotis Dulos, whose story was told in the book and movie “Gone Girl” and in tonight’s TV movie “Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulo.” 10 p.m. Lifetime 2021 Women’s College Softball World Series Oklahoma versus Georgia, 9 a.m. ESPN; Arizona versus Florida State, 11:30 a.m. ESPN; teams TBA, 4 p.m and 6:30 p.m. ESPN. College Baseball NCAA Regional/Super Regional: Teams TBA, 9 a.m., noon, 3 and 6 p.m. ESPN2 PGA Tour Golf The Memorial Tournament, Third Round, 9:30 a.m. Golf; noon CBS WNBA Basketball The Las Vegas Aces visit the Washington Mystics, 10 a.m. ABC; the Chicago Sky visit the Sparks, noon ABC 2021 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship Third Round: 11 a.m. NBC; 2 p.m. Golf Baseball Regional coverage, 11 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m. MLB; the Dodgers visit the Atlanta Braves, 4 p.m. Fox; the Seattle Mariners visit the Angels, 7 p.m. BSW NHL Hockey Playoffs The Carolina Hurricanes visit the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1 p.m. USA; the Boston Bruins visit the New York Islanders, 4:15 p.m. NBC Horse Racing: 153rd Belmont Stakes From Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., 2 p.m. NBC Sports Rock Your World and Essential Quality face off in the Belmont Stakes, a race featuring no undefeated horses. June 4, 2021 NBA Basketball The Milwaukee Bucks visit the Brooklyn Nets, 4:30 p.m. TNT CBS This Morning Author Nicole Yoon. (N) 6 a.m. KCBS Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos Based on actual events — that also inspired the book and movie “Gone Girl” — this 2021 docudrama casts Annabeth Gish as the wealthy Connecticut mother of five who disappeared without a trace on May 24, 2019. At the time, she and her estranged husband (Warren Christie) were in the middle of a bitter child custody dispute and he became the prime suspect in her disappearance. 8 p.m. Lifetime You Had Me at Aloha The new co-hosts (Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith) of a popular travel show set in Hawaii clash on and off the screen in this new romantic comedy. 9 p.m. Hallmark Wrong Turn A group of New Jersey friends begin a hike along the Appalachian Trail, ignoring warnings from locals against venturing off the main route, in Mike P. Nelson’s 2021 horror film. Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Matthew Modine, Bill Sage, Emma Dumont, Dylan McTee and Daisy Head star. 9 p.m. Showtime Brokeback Mountain Director Ang Lee’s 2005 drama, adapted from an Annie Proulx short story, details the relationship between two gay cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal). Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway also star. 11 p.m. Showtime Dirty Dancing (1987) 8:57 a.m. Cinemax Gun Crazy (1950) 9 a.m. TCM Roxanne (1987) 9:02 a.m. Encore Lincoln (2012) 9:10 a.m. HBO Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 9:30 a.m. Bravo Green Book (2018) 10 a.m. FX Back to the Future Part III (1990) 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Paramount Phantom Thread (2017) 10:39 a.m. Cinemax The Life of Emile Zola (1937) 10:45 a.m. TCM An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) 10:52 a.m. Encore Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018) 11:30 a.m. FXX Set It Off (1996) 11:30 a.m. Showtime Matchstick Men (2003) 11:45 a.m. HBO Source Code (2011) Noon TMC Meet the Parents (2000) Noon TRU The Namesake (2006) 12:50 p.m. Cinemax Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) 12:54 p.m. Bravo Biloxi Blues (1988) 1 p.m. Encore Back to the Future (1985) 1 and 5:30 p.m. Paramount The Cabin in the Woods (2011) 2 p.m. Syfy Blockers (2018) 2:30 p.m. FXX Groundhog Day (1993) 2:50 p.m. Encore Forrest Gump (1994) 3 and 6:30 p.m. CMT Back to the Future Part II (1989) 3:30 and 8 p.m. Paramount Hustlers (2019) 3:30 p.m. Showtime Mean Girls (2004) 3:35 and 8 p.m. MTV Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) 3:59 p.m. Bravo Lethal Weapon (1987) 4 p.m. AMC Snatch (2000) 4 p.m. TMC Apollo 13 (1995) 4:35 p.m. Encore The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) 5 p.m. IFC Monkey Business (1952) 5 p.m. TCM Deadpool (2016) 5:30 p.m. FX Crazy Rich Asians (2018) 5:30 p.m. TBS Fargo (1996) 5:50 p.m. TMC Jurassic Park (1993) 6 p.m. Syfy Gladiator (2000) 6:25 p.m. Showtime Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 6:30 p.m. AMC Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) 6:53 p.m. Bravo I Was a Male War Bride (1949) 7 p.m. TCM Friday (1995) 7 p.m. USA The Italian Job (2003) 8 p.m. Cinemax The Avengers (2012) 8 p.m. Epix Thor (2011) 8 p.m. FX Clueless (1995) 8 p.m. HBO The Hunt for Red October (1990) 8 p.m. Sundance Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) 9 p.m. AMC Possessed (1947) 9 p.m. TCM Love & Basketball (2000) 9 p.m. VH1 Skyfall (2012) 10:25 p.m. Epix Spider-Man (2002) 10:37 p.m. Encore Hot Shots! (1991) 10:45 p.m. IFC Pretty Woman (1990) 11 p.m. E! Captain Phillips (2013) 11 p.m. Sundance Working Girl (1988) 11:20 p.m. Freeform Television Movies on TV this week: June 6: ‘The Diving Bell And The Butterfly” on Cinemax; ‘Taxi Driver’ on TMC; ‘The Crying Game’ on Showtime and more June 4, 2021 Movies on TV for the entire week, June. 6 - 12 in interactive PDF format for easy downloading and printing June 4, 2021 TV Grids for the entire week of June. 6 - 12 in downloadable and printable PDF files June 4, 2021 Television Looking for what to watch on TV? Here are the television listings from the Los Angeles Times in printable PDF files. June 18, 2021

Accused Poway synagogue shooter signs conditional plea agreement

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/poway-synagogue-shooter-plea-agreement

The man accused of opening fire in a Poway synagogue, killing one person and wounding three others, has signed a conditional plea agreement that is now in the hands of the U.S. attorney general, who is still deciding whether to pursue the federal death penalty in the case, attorneys said at a court hearing Friday. The terms of the plea offer were not disclosed. John T. Earnest, 21, is indicted on 113 counts in the case. Newly installed U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland will now have to decide how to procced. He could accept the terms of the plea or negotiate new ones. Or he could reject the possibility of a deal and continue to trial, a choice that would also have to include whether to seek the death penalty. The highest levels of the Department of Justice have been weighing the capital punishment option since September. But a decision was not reached under the Trump administration, and the presidential transition put the decision on Garland’s desk. Federal death penalty cases are rare. U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia had previously asked the government to announce its death penalty decision by Aug. 30. “The defense provided its offer to plead guilty to the government, and we have forwarded that on to the appropriate decision-makers,” Special Assistant U.S. Atty. Rose Gibson told Battaglia on Friday. Earnest, who lived in Rancho Peñasquitos, is already facing the death penalty in a parallel state prosecution in San Diego County Superior Court that is headed to trial. Defense attorney Ellis “Tripp” Johnston III told the judge that both parties in the state case have been notified of the plea offer in the federal case. A status hearing for the state case is set for Tuesday. There were 54 people inside the Chabad of Poway the morning of April 27, 2019, when Earnest is accused of entering the lobby and opening fire with an assault-style rifle. The indictment counts each person as a victim on charges of a hate crime and obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs using a dangerous weapon resulting in death, bodily injury and attempts to kill. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, was killed in the attack. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein was shot in both hands, causing him to lose an index finger, while Noya Dahan, then 8, and her uncle, Almog Peretz, were wounded. Earnest was also charged with four counts of discharging a firearm during crimes of violence. An additional charge — damage to a religious property using fire — relates to an arson at Dar-ul-Arquam mosque in Escondido a month earlier. According to testimony in the state case, Earnest fled the synagogue after appearing to have trouble with his weapon and being confronted by congregants, including an off-duty Border Patrol agent who obtained a gun and fired back. Earnest drove to a nearby parking lot, called 911 and told the dispatcher he’d been involved in a shooting. He then waited for law enforcement to arrive and arrest him. An online screed attributed to him — full of racist and antisemitic statements — was posted moments before the attack on the online messaging platform 8chan, which was known to host extremists. Someone reported the manifesto, which suggested an imminent attack, to the FBI in San Diego, but the posting lacked specific details of who wrote it and a location, and by then it was too late to intervene. Goldstein, who urged peace during speeches in the Rose Garden at the White House and at the United Nations, has since stepped down from the synagogue. At the time of the shooting, the rabbi had been quietly under investigation by the FBI for masterminding several financial schemes tied to Chabad of Poway. He pleaded guilty last summer and has not been sentenced. Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

MLS suspends Galaxy's Derrick Williams additional five games for 'serious foul play'

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2021-06-04/mls-suspends-galaxys-derrick-williams-five-games

Galaxy defender Derrick Williams has been suspended for five additional games by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for “serious foul play” in the first half of the team’s May 22 game in Portland. Williams was given a straight red card and was forced to sit one game for his late, reckless challenge on the Timbers’ Andy Polo in the closing minutes of the first half of Portland’s 3-0 win. Polo sustained a ruptured right quadriceps and a torn meniscus on the play and will be out the rest of the season. He also will miss Peru’s World Cup qualifiers this year. The six-game suspension is the longest in Galaxy history. Williams also was fined an undisclosed amount. “As he broke to go to the tackle, he realized he was a lot closer to the player then he thought or anticipated and when he went down. He knew he couldn’t get out of it,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of the play. “He knew it was going to be bad. It’s never a situation that anyone wants to be in. Soccer The USMNT and El Tri are loaded with young talent that could alter the future of the U.S. and Mexico soccer teams for years to come. June 1, 2021 “He’s not the first the guy and he will probably not be the last, but he feels bad for the player on the other side, as we all do. It’s an awful scenario.” Williams, who has reached out to Polo more than once since the play, has been the target of death threats and racial slurs on social media. Moments before the tackle Williams, an Irish international making just his fourth MLS start, had collided with his goalkeeper, Jonathan Bond, and struck his head when he fell hard to the artificial turf, raising questions as to whether he was still a bit groggy when he mistimed his tackle. But Vanney said Williams was checked out on the sideline and “there were no concerns of a concussion.” The Galaxy (5-2-0) return from a three-week international break June 19 against the Seattle Sounders. Williams also will miss games with Vancouver, San Jose, Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas before being cleared to return July 17. In the meantime, the Galaxy could use Séga Coulibaly and second-year defender Nick DePuy in place of Williams at center back.

Guests on Sunday talk shows: San Francisco Mayor London Breed

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/guests-on-sunday-talk-shows-mayor-london-breed-d-san-francisco

CBS News Sunday Morning Former police commissioner of New York City and Boston and LAPD ex-chief Bill Bratton. Police reform: Mayor London Breed (D-San Francisco). Police Chief Edgar Rodriguez, Moville, Iowa. Emilio F. Miyares, president of Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.). (N) 6 a.m. KCBS Good Morning America (N) 6 a.m. KABC State of the Union (N) Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.). Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). 6 and 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS Comparing global crisis responses to the financial crisis versus the COVID-19 pandemic; China and Russia; hacking attacks from Russia: Gordon Brown, United Nations special envoy for global education. Israel after Netanyahu: Lucy Aharish, Arab-Israeli TV; Anshel Pfeffer, the Economist. Does the world need a meatless revolution to save the planet from climate change: Author Ezra Klein (“Why We’re Polarized”). (N) 7 and 10 a.m. CNN Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas); Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.); Mollie Hemingway; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (N) 7 a.m. and noon Fox News Face the Nation Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Brian Moynihan, Bank of America. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. (N) 7:30 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. KCBS Meet the Press Panel: Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Boston Globe; Lanhee Chen, Stanford; Anne Gearan, the Washington Post; author Chris Matthews (“This Country: My Life in Politics and History”). (N) 8 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. KNBC; 1 a.m. MSNBC This Week With George Stephanopoulos Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Nick Clegg, Facebook. Panel: Rahm Emanuel; Donna Brazile; author Jason Riley (“Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell”); Justin Amash. (N) 8 a.m. KABC Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Corey Lewandowski, Make America Great Again Action Super PAC. Panel: Doug Heye; Susan Page, USA Today; Marie Harf. (N) 8 a.m. KTTV; 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. Fox News Reliable Sources With Brian Stelter White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Reporter phone records secretly seized by Obama and Trump Justice Departments: Adam Goldman, the New York Times. Fox News, Donald Trump and the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election: Dan Abrams, Mediaite. The infrastructure bill: Steven Waldman, Report for America. (N) 8 a.m. CNN MediaBuzz Will Cain; Harold Ford Jr.; Steve Krakauer, Fourth Watch; Glenn Greenwald; Kat Timpf; Mike Emanuel. (N) 8 a.m. Fox News Frank Buckley Interviews Former Secretary of Defense and author Robert Gates (“Exercise of Power”). (N) 4:30 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. KTLA 60 Minutes The inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 virus led by the World Health Organization; ransomware; wildlife filmmaker David Attenborough. (N) 7 p.m. KCBS Television Movies on TV this week: June 6: ‘The Diving Bell And The Butterfly” on Cinemax; ‘Taxi Driver’ on TMC; ‘The Crying Game’ on Showtime and more June 4, 2021 Movies on TV for the entire week, June. 6 - 12 in interactive PDF format for easy downloading and printing June 4, 2021 TV Grids for the entire week of June. 6 - 12 in downloadable and printable PDF files June 4, 2021 Television Looking for what to watch on TV? Here are the television listings from the Los Angeles Times in printable PDF files. June 18, 2021

Our TV critic has reviewed 9 Stephen King-related series. Here's how they stack up

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/stephen-king-series-ranked-best-worst-liseys-story-apple

If you do anything long enough, patterns will emerge, and as I sat down to review the Apple TV+ miniseries “Lisey’s Story,” the latest television work adapted from or inspired by Stephen King’s fiction, it struck me that I had been here before, or somewhere like it, not once but many times. “Lisey’s” makes the ninth King-related piece I’ve written since 2006 (the third just since the start of last year), which also means that I have read a lot of King — a lot more than I would have otherwise — because part of the deal as a critic, to my mind, is to know what the adaptation takes from the source, what it leaves out, and what it adds, both in content and tone. That number accounts for only half the King-based series and miniseries and movies that have aired since I started here, and a smaller fraction of the complete works for the tube. He’s a TV perennial — the first King television adaptation, the Tobe Hooper-directed “Salem’s Lot,” appeared in 1979, a year before Stanley Kubrick’s film of “The Shining.” His name sells tickets, or would if TV sold tickets. Here, for fans of reviews of King-related television shows, are those earlier pieces, along with the review of “Lisey’s Story,” in descending order of esteem. Some shows are better than the books, some not as good. Either way, I am ready to let some other critic have a crack at him when his next one comes around — that’d be “Chapelwaite,” based on the short story “Jerusalem’s Lot,” arriving in August via Epix, with Emily Hampshire from “Schitt’s Creek” starring. (Still, with Emily Hampshire … I might change my mind.)

'Drake & Josh' star Drake Bell pleads not guilty to charge of child endangerment

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/drake-bell-accused-child-endangerment-nickelodeon

One of the stars of the popular Nickelodeon children’s show “Drake & Josh” faces criminal charges regarding a girl he met online who attended a 2017 concert of his in Ohio when she was 15. Jared Drake Bell, 34 — known professionally as Drake Bell — pleaded not guilty on Thursday in a Cleveland courtroom to a felony charge of attempted endangering children and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. “All facts will be revealed in a courtroom,” Bell’s attorney Ian Friedman said Friday, declining to comment further. Bell was charged by information, which typically indicates a plea agreement has been reached. He is scheduled to appear before a judge June 23. Television Actor Drake Bell has denied allegations of verbal and physical abuse made by ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt in TikTok videos Wednesday. Aug. 13, 2020 Tyler Sinclair, spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley, said the girl filed a complaint with Canadian police in October 2018. Police there contacted Cleveland police, prompting an investigation. The charge of attempted endangering children relates to the concert, Sinclair said, where Bell “violated his duty of care” and created a risk of harm to the victim. He didn’t elaborate further. Bell and the girl had “developed a relationship” online several years before the concert, Sinclair said. The disseminating harmful material charge concerns Bell having sent the girl “inappropriate social media messages,” Sinclair said. Bell, also a singer, began acting as a child but was catapulted to stardom as a teen with Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show” and later “Drake & Josh,” which debuted on the channel in January 2004. The final episode aired in September 2007. Bell and costar Josh Beck also starred in two “Drake & Josh” movies.

COVID-19 state of emergency will last beyond June 15, Newsom says

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/covid-19-state-of-emergency-will-last-beyond-june-15-newsom-says

California’s COVID-19 state of emergency order will remain in place beyond June 15, despite plans to fully reopen the state’s economy on that date, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. The state of emergency declaration — issued in early March 2020, when coronavirus cases started to mushroom statewide — gives Newsom and health officials broad authority to temporarily impose new rules and restrictions, a power they’ve exercised numerous times throughout the pandemic. But even with California enjoying the lowest COVID-19 case rate of any state and hospitalizations near record lows, the danger has not passed, the governor said. “We’re still in a state of emergency. This disease has not been extinguished. It’s not vanished. It’s not taking the summer months off,” he said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, facing a recall election, draws the names of the first winners of California’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery in an upbeat event. June 4, 2021 The scope of the state’s public health authority has been a source of contention and the subject of legal challenges throughout the pandemic. Dozens of orders have been issued since the state of emergency was declared; among them were California’s mask mandate and the directive that ballots be mailed to voters for last November’s election. Though the California Constitution gives the power to create laws only to the Legislature, a state appeals court ruled just last month that the 1970 California Emergency Services Act grants the governor the power to change state law during a crisis. The three-judge panel of the Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal said the Emergency Services Act is constitutional because it provides only temporary powers and contains “an important safeguard.” The court said that safeguard was a requirement that the governor, or the Legislature, proclaim an end to the emergency at the earliest possible date. “If Newsom believes the state is safe enough to reopen, then it’s safe for people to be able to make decisions for themselves without his arbitrary and capricious rules,” state Senate Republican leader Scott Wilk of Saugus said in a statement Friday. “I believe it is time for him to hang up his crown and restore our democracy.” In response to a follow-up inquiry from The Times, Newsom’s office said: “The state of emergency ensures that the state can continue to respond quickly to evolving conditions as the pandemic persists. The governor will end the state of emergency once conditions no longer warrant an emergency response. While the state of emergency won’t end on June 15, we look forward to fully reopening the economy and retiring the blueprint as greater numbers of Californians are vaccinated.” California From mask rules to social distancing, here’s what to expect come June 15. May 21, 2021 It remains to be seen how the state of emergency will affect California’s June 15 reopening. The state Department of Public Health has said “everyday life will feel a lot like before COVID-19” on that date. Coronavirus-related capacity restrictions and physical distancing requirements at almost all businesses and other institutions will be lifted, and people who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to go without masks in most situations. However, questions persist over just how complete the reopening will be. Under new rules advanced Thursday by the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, some employees who are unvaccinated, or working alongside someone who has yet to get their shots, will need to wear masks while on the job. The rules that go into effect June 15 will allow workers to forgo masks only if every person in the room is fully vaccinated and the employer has their vaccination records on file. California Through Dec. 31, restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries will be able to continue to serve alcoholic drinks in areas like sidewalks and parking lots. June 3, 2021 Eric Berg, deputy chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, defended the proposal to require all workers — vaccinated and unvaccinated — to wear masks if unvaccinated people are present. “Without this requirement, unvaccinated employees would be at risk,” he said. “Face coverings, including N95s, become even more important in transmission prevention for unvaccinated workers as businesses open up to full capacity on June 15 and physical distancing is phased out and barriers are removed. Workers have prolonged and cumulative exposures, much longer than when not in the workplace.” Board members approved Cal/OSHA’s proposal, saying it’s better than the existing rule, which requires all workers to wear masks almost all the time. But a majority of the board members also criticized the new standards as unnecessarily restrictive and hard to follow. “What I heard all day was great confusion by employer groups as to the interpretation and implementation of the proposal,” said board member Chris Laszcz-Davis. “If there’s great confusion, people will either not do anything or they’re going to do the wrong thing.” The board established a subcommittee to work with Cal/OSHA on a revised plan to relax workplace safety standards further and bring them more in alignment with those suggested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some infectious-diseases experts have suggested that the proposed relaxation in California’s workplace mask rules could be loosened further. They pointed out that fully vaccinated people are highly protected from the coronavirus, even when in close contact with those who are unvaccinated. Even in the rare case that a vaccinated person becomes infected, chances are the person will show no symptoms or will have very mild symptoms and will be unlikely to transmit the virus to others. California A California workplace safety board recommends ending mask rules for workers if everyone in a room is vaccinated against COVID-19. June 4, 2021 When asked about the board’s decision Friday, Newsom characterized it as a step in the right direction. “It’s an independent board; one has to be mindful of that,” he said during an event held to draw the first winners of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery. “Same time, I’m mindful of the work that we’ve done, the progress we’ve made in the state as it relates to mitigating the spread and transmission rates of this disease.” But, he added, “we’ve never said that we were not going to consider some modifications post-June 15.” One notable area is what the state calls “mega events.” Organizers of indoor events with more than 5,000 people, such as a basketball game, will be required to verify that attendees are either fully vaccinated or have tested negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of the start time. The same will be recommended, but not required, at outdoor events with more than 10,000 people — though venues in those instances will have the option of allowing unvaccinated and untested attendees, provided they wear masks at all times. Though the guidelines could change as conditions warrant, Newsom said the state’s color-coded reopening blueprint will be retired June 15, and “for average citizens, for the public, people like myself who want to go about doing business, that means you’re not compelled by the rules” that have been in place since March of last year. Times staff writers Maura Dolan, Phil Willon and John Myers contributed to this report.

2 San Diego police officers among three people killed in wrong-way crash in San Ysidro

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/3-dead-in-wrong-way-crash-on-i-5-in-san-ysidro-traffic-diverted-at-sr-905

Three people are dead, including two San Diego Police Department officers, after a wrong-way driver heading north in the southbound Interstate 5 lanes in San Ysidro collided with an oncoming car Friday morning, authorities said. The fiery head-on crash happened just before 10:25 a.m. on the I-5 near State Route 905, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said. He said the car headed in the wrong direction was reportedly going at “a high rate of speed.” That car, a Honda Civic, burst into flames during the crash, CHP Officer Sal Castro said. Three bodies were found in the wreckage of the two cars — one woman was in the Honda, and a man and a woman were in a blue Ford Fusion sedan, Castro said. The Ford is owned by the city of San Diego. “As police officers, we lost a brother and a sister today,” Castro said. San Diego police confirmed that two of the dead are officers with the department. “Very regrettable to announce that two of our San Diego police officers have died as a result of this wrong-way accident,” San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Jose Ysea told OnScene.TV. San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit was among those who went to the crash scene on the freeway, roughly two miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement about the loss of the two officers. “It is with heavy hearts that we mourn our two San Diego Police Department officers whose lives were tragically taken this morning,” Gloria said. “In the coming days, we will learn more about these public servants who proudly donned the badge to keep all of us safe and we will honor them for their service. I ask San Diegans to keep the officers and their families in your prayers.” Castro said a call came in just after 10:20 a.m. to report a wrong-way driver headed up the freeway. Calls about the fiery crash soon followed. There were no survivors. A few hours after the crash, a procession of more than a dozen motorcycle officers led a coroner’s van away from the site.

Tory Carlon wanted to be a firefighter since he was a kid. He was killed after a 20-year career

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/tory-carlon-wanted-to-be-a-firefighter-since-he-was-a-kid-he-was-killed-after-a-20-year-career

Tory Carlon was fiddling with a BB gun when the bullet hit a metal fence, ricocheting back and injuring the young teenager’s eye. First responders swarmed to the pasture where the child was playing, saving him from a potentially blinding incident. Inspired by the emergency professionals who aided him, his nieces later said, young Tory knew he wanted to become a firefighter to help others, too. “Uncle Tory loved his job, that’s for sure,” said niece Mariah Jean. “He was a goner.” Carlon, 44, died Tuesday when a colleague walked into Los Angeles County Fire Station 81 in Agua Dulce and shot him following a workplace dispute, according to authorities. A fire captain, Arnoldo Sandoval, 54, tried to intervene and was injured in the shooting. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby described Carlon as “truly dedicated, one of our better firefighters, amazing, and a true loss to our department.” Tributes to the fallen firefighter poured in after Tuesday’s shooting. A GoFundMe account set up to help Carlon’s wife, Heidi, and his three daughters grew to more than $215,000 on Friday, as well-wishers from his “fire family” offered their condolences. As soon as 19-year-old Saugus resident Donavon Yochim returned home from his plumbing job Tuesday night, he set to work with his girlfriend, Rebekah Manes, constructing a wooden cross in honor of Carlon. After eight hours of work, they finished staining and painting the memorial and placed it at the foot of the Station 81 driveway. “Firefighters are out there protecting us, and don’t have anything to protect themselves from any danger from humans,” Yochim said. “It was just very alarming and shocking to hear at the time that somebody had randomly walked up and hurt one of them.” Hundreds of firefighters showed their support for the slain first responder Thursday by attending his daughter Joslyn’s graduation from Saugus High School in Santa Clarita. Donning a graduation cap decorated with her father’s photo, the graduate walked down an aisle formed by dozens of Carlon’s uniformed colleagues. The gruesome way Carlon died did not match the fun-loving, soft-spoken man that friends and family described. He grew up in Leona Valley as the youngest of five, “one of the brightest spots in the family,” according to Jean. “He was the pride and joy,” Jean said. “There was a very calming presence about him that was just very centering and very light.” Only five years younger than Carlon, Jean grew up admiring her handsome, affable uncle, and thinking of him as an older cousin or brother. He happily played the part, teaching Jean and her sister how to play pool and Mario Bros. video games. He also pulled a fair share of pranks on them with dirt-flavored gum and whoopie cushions. As Jean recalls: “There was a lot of silly string.” As a teenager, Carlon accompanied Jean, her friend and her mother on a trip to Disneyland to celebrate her 12th birthday. “I was like, huh, he could be anywhere else, but he’s here with his older sister and little nieces,” said the 39-year-old. “He really was honestly, extremely cool. Everyone loved him.” April Ferguson was one of those who fell for him: She and Carlon began dating when she was a high school freshman. He was a senior and a “top returner” second baseman for the school’s baseball team, according to The Times archive. Ferguson, now 42, recalled how sweet he was to attend all of her cheerleading competitions and high school dances, even after he had graduated Highland High School in 1994 and went on to Antelope Valley College. In high school, Carlon talked about becoming a firefighter often, even as friends questioned his aspiration. “I remember thinking it was an interesting choice of career for him, because it’s scary and you’ve got to have a certain oomph to take on a job like this, and he just seemed so quiet and laid-back,” Ferguson said. “But clearly this was his passion — I mean, gosh, 20 years later, he was still doing what he loved.” Jean described Carlon as having almost a one-track vision for his career as a firefighter. He chose not to follow his brother and father, who ran the family business, Carlon Auto Sales in Lancaster. Instead, he worked his way up through various first-responder jobs before becoming a firefighter. Jean remembered attending his fire academy graduation, at which he was beaming. “He found his thing,” she said. Carlon eventually landed at the Los Angeles County Fire Department, where he worked for 20 years. “When it comes to being a father, when it comes to being a fireman, when it comes to being a mentor, there is nobody that could parallel that,” a firefighter friend said at a vigil Tuesday night, according to a KABC-TV Channel 7 report. The local fire union posted on Facebook: “Tory was a dedicated father and husband who loved being a firefighter and serving others.”

Tiffany Haddish as Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner? Biopic casting divides fans

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-06-04/tiffany-haddish-florence-griffith-joyner-movie

A forthcoming biopic about Olympic track-and-field legend Florence Griffith Joyner starring comedian Tiffany Haddish is officially off and running. But not everyone is on board with Hollywood’s approach to the late athlete’s legacy. A representative for Haddish confirmed Friday to The Times that the “Girls Trip” breakout is set to produce and star in a film exploring the life and career of Joyner, referred to fondly by fans as “Flo-Jo.” At the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, Flo-Jo was a standout member of the United States track-and-field team, shattering records while raking in several gold and silver medals across the 100-meter, 200-meter, 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter events. In 1998, she died in her sleep after suffocating due to an epileptic seizure. “I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story the way it should be told,” Haddish said in a statement. “My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed.” Entertainment & Arts Tiffany Haddish got emotional when she learned, while hosting a TV segment with kids, that she’d won the Grammy for comedy album. March 15, 2021 The narrative feature will anchor a larger content package developed by Haddish and studio game1 that will include a tandem documentary series and podcast. Also on the production team for the project is Flo-Jo’s husband and former coach, Al Joyner, with whom Haddish has been training in preparation for the role. According to the casting announcement, Haddish has adopted a workout regimen similar to Flo-Jo’s while immersing herself in the character. “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure — she is incredibly dedicated, focused, and committed to portraying the spirit of Florence accurately, whose legacy of making a difference in the world will live on for generations to come,” Joyner said in a statement. “I hope that this film touches all who see it and inspires people to BE the change the world so desperately needs right now!” Entertainment & Arts July 20, 2017 On Thursday, Variety broke the news of Haddish’s casting, which instantly divided social media. While several fans praised the Grammy winner as “perfect” for the part, others worried the comedy star wouldn’t be able to do the Olympic icon’s trailblazing journey “justice.” Thus far, Haddish has made a name for herself on the big screen via comedies such as “Girls Trip,” “Night School” and “Like a Boss.” The upcoming Flo-Jo biopic will mark her most high-profile dramatic turn to date. “I hope she understands the assignment… because if she don’t…. Whew,” tweeted one person. “My heart is full FOR you @TiffanyHaddish,” another replied to a tweet from Haddish vowing to honor Flo-Jo’s legacy. “How exciting and what an honor. You’re definitely reaping what you sow. I’m so ready to see this haha.” In response to someone else who hailed Flo-Jo as their “idol” and pleaded with the actor not to “mess this up,” Haddish tweeted, “If I mess this up I will kick my own ass.” Awards June 1, 2021 A few pitched their own casting suggestions in lieu of Haddish. Among the frontrunners was “A Black Lady Sketch Show” creator and star Robin Thede, considered by many to possess the look and acting chops necessary to step into Flo-Jo’s signature one-legged tracksuits. Regardless of Haddish’s past credits, others opposed the casting choice because of controversial remarks Haddish made last month about recent violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. According to accounts from Tigrayan survivors, government forces massacred more than 160 people earlier this year as part of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s months-long, deadly attack on the Tigray region, which began after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, targeted a government military base. Since November, people in Tigray have been subjected to “extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, looting of property, mass executions and impeded humanitarian access,” the United Nations’ special advisor on the prevention of genocide said in a statement. And U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that government forces — comprising the Ethiopian army, soldiers from neighboring Eritrea and state-sponsored militiamen from the Amhara region — had committed acts of “ethnic cleansing.” World & Nation Residents of the town of Bora, in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, tell of a horrific massacre of local men and boys by Ethiopian soldiers. March 23, 2021 Haddish, who is of Eritrean descent, drew sharp criticism last week for asking where “the bodies” are during a Clubhouse conversation regarding the events in Tigray, adding “but there’s a whole bunch of Eritrean bodies though. We see those.” “A full blown genocide denier shouldnt have the license to play such an important figure,” one person tweeted Tuesday. “[Game1] should seriously reconsider in light of Tiffany’s recent comments on the #TigrayGenocide.” “This is storytelling at its best – a global superstar portraying and honoring another global superstar,” said game1 co-CEO Greg Economou in a statement.

Stocks end the week higher as U.S. jobs report calms Fed fears

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-04/stocks-end-the-week-higher-as-us-jobs-report-calms-fed-fears

Wall Street closed out a week of mostly choppy trading with broad gains Friday, pushing the S&P 500 to its second straight weekly gain. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.9% and finished with a 0.6% gain for the week. Technology stocks were the biggest gainers and did the most to drive the broader market higher. Microsoft rose 2.1% and Apple added 1.9%. Communication stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending also made solid gains. Only utilities closed lower. The rally followed a Labor Department report showing U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May. That’s an improvement from April’s sluggish gain, but short of economists’ forecasts. Still, the lower-than-expected increase in jobs may have opened the door for the Federal Reserve to keep the accelerator floored on its efforts to support the economy, which include monthly bond purchases to keep interest rates low. Business Jobs will come back and the state’s economy will recover faster than the nation’s, a UCLA forecast says, led by consumer spending, tech jobs and home-building June 2, 2021 The S&P 500 rose 37.04 points to 4,229.89. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 179.35 points, or 0.5%, to 34,756.39. The rally in technology stocks helped push the Nasdaq to a solid gain. The tech-heavy index climbed 199.98 points, or 1.5%, to 13,814.49. Smaller-company stocks also notched gains. The Russell 2000 added 7.16 points, or 0.3%, to 2,286.41. The pickup in jobs last month is another sign that the economy continues to recover, even as employment remains relatively shaky and struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels. The jobs report showed that companies are still struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the recession caused by the pandemic. People are either looking for better jobs than they had before the pandemic, retiring early, worried about child care or otherwise waiting on the sidelines of the job market. Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.55% from 1.62% late Thursday. The drop helped push tech stocks higher. Lower interest rates help stocks generally because they can steer some investors away from bonds that are paying little in interest toward riskier investments. Stocks that look the most expensive based on their earnings, such as technology companies, can be among the biggest beneficiaries. Investors have been worried about rising inflation becoming a long-term issue, rather than a temporary effect from the recovering economy. They are also worried that the Fed could consider pulling its support for the economy if inflation runs too hot. Inflation already has burst higher across the economy, with prices rising for such things as used automobiles and restaurant meals. Employers are also finding it harder to attract employees, which could force them to raise wages, also adding to inflation. The contrast between signs of higher inflation and a still-recovering labor market has made it difficult for investors to get a read on what the Fed will do next.

School district agrees to pay $3 million in bullied child's suicide

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/school-district-agrees-to-pay-3m-in-bullied-childs-suicide

The parents of an 8-year-old boy who killed himself after being bullied repeatedly at an Ohio school have reached a tentative $3-million settlement with his school district. The agreement announced Friday will go to the school board for Cincinnati Public Schools on Monday for approval in the Gabriel Taye case that dates to 2017. The schools also agreed to actions to prevent a repeat of such bullying with such steps as training and supervising all staff on anti-bullying reforms and to working to identify repeat offenders, victims and locations. There will be two years of oversight of the district’s anti-bullying plan. A memorial to Gabriel will also be placed at Carson School, the elementary school he attended. “In honor of Gabe, his family is using this settlement to protect current and future CPS students,” said the family’s lawyer, Al Gerhardstein. “We will make sure these reforms take root and end bullying throughout the CPS system.” The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that attorney Aaron Herzig, a partner at the Taft law firm who represented the school district in the case, said a resolution was in everyone’s best interest. “The defendants strongly believe that neither CPS, its employees, nor the school nurse were responsible for the tragic death of Gabriel Taye,” Herzig said. “CPS embraces the goal of eliminating bullying within schools, as well as continuing to refine and improve reporting, management and training processes related to incidents of bullying.” The wrongful death lawsuit cited repeated examples of Gabriel and others being bullied at his elementary school. His parents contended that school officials knew about the bullying but were “deliberately indifferent,” allowing a “treacherous school environment.”

Julianne Moore leaves nothing on the table in 'Lisey's Story.' It's not quite enough

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/liseys-story-stephen-king-apple-tv-review

For the Apple TV+ miniseries “Lisey’s Story,” Stephen King has taken it upon himself to adapt what he has described as one of his own favorite books, the tale of a writer (dead, not quite departed) and the woman who loves him. It’s an A-list cast. Clive Owen plays Scott, the writer, successful on par with King himself, but with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award besides. He has been dead a couple of years when the story begins — the novel was partially inspired by King’s brushes with death — but will appear plenty, in flashbacks, dreams, visions and a sort of purgatory where much crucial action will take place, and in and out of which certain characters will travel with relative ease. Julianne Moore plays Lisey, Scott’s widow. Joan Allen is her sister Amanda, who has some psychological problems, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is her sister Darla, who doesn’t. Dane DeHaan plays the demented fan who drives one of two violent storylines; Michael Pitt is Scott’s father, who drives the other. Ron Cephas Jones plays an academic with an outsized sense of entitlement — another brand of misguided admirer. (The story plays in parts like a variation on the themes of King’s “Misery.” One imagines he has had plenty of experience of readers who thought he was sending them messages or stealing their thoughts, or owes them something for making them feel that they owe him something.) Movies Pop culture is in the midst of a full-on Stephen King boom. Again. Sept. 28, 2017 Though King has stated his dislike of Stanley Kubrick‘s “The Shining,” “Lisey’s Story” seems to take cues from its pacing, composition and camerawork, with a similar emphasis on scenes that put a few bodies in a big space. In any case, it swings for something big and cinematic and artistic and deep, which you may take as a good plan or a bad one. It is the sort of work that some will find ineffably beautiful and others unbearably tiresome. Acknowledging its prettiness and production values, and some excellent performances, I found it better than unbearable but something less than beautiful. Directed throughout by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain (“Jackie” is one of his American films), it establishes an atmosphere of mournful dread from the first frame and rarely takes its foot off that pedal; it is spooky nearly all the time, even when characters are briefly enjoying themselves, which has the effect of undercutting the spookiness. And where the story on the page is full of King’s stream-of-consciousness quotidian asides — like the cost of a plastic bucket and where it was bought — that suggest the characters sometimes do normal things normally, the miniseries is nearly all peaks and valleys, agonies and ecstasies, with a mournful score and muted palette. It gets very dark — literally dark — at times; anyone who had difficulty with the final season of “Game of Thrones” is forewarned. (There is a lot of whispering too, and a bit of howling, so adjust your volume accordingly.) King begins the novel, which is dedicated to his wife, author Tabitha King, with “To the public eye, the spouses of well-known writers are all but invisible.” Yet he gives Lisey little life of her own; she is an appurtenance, a helpmate, sometimes a savior to her well-known writer spouse, and a little bit of an action heroine, but without intellectual interests, or hobbies or even any sort of job of her own. (“From the first she felt interest coming from him… that she could hardly believe,” King writes, “because he’s so much smarter and so talented.”) She is not even arranging his papers, the MacGuffin that triggers the present-day plot and sets DeHaan’s obsessed psycho spinning. Notwithstanding Scott’s declaration, “You are every story,” among oft-repeated mutual pledges of love, she’s barely a muse. This is true of the television version, but Moore, being the actress she is, gives Lisey presence and force — she goes all in, without going over the top. Indeed, the performers are committed from their head down to their toes, and if Owen fares less well as King’s quasi-stand-in, it is a less profitable role, in which he is regularly called upon to stare off into space, speak in the voice of his much younger self — a little boy growing up in a strange, haunted household — and speak for the author on matters creative: “Every poet, artist, storyteller, they go to the pool; it’s dangerous, but it also heals and renews, like the human imagination.” (The water motif — there are actual pools, ordinary and magic — is expanded upon here, with good effect, as a portal to Boo’ya Moon, the story’s other world.) Television Ghosties and ghoulies and Stephen King beasties: TV has become a hellscape of our literal and metaphorical fears. Oct. 25, 2019 As the miniseries’ screenwriter, King — who can go on for pages relating what might easily be said in a paragraph — has done a good job of trimming scenes to their essence, and what he’s added tends to enlarge and clarify the narrative. That Leigh’s Darla has been given more to do here, closer to the action, is a happy change, as she is not afflicted with otherworldly heebie-jeebies or saddled with great pain or, for that matter, in thrall to some great love — but she is real and funny, in an eight-hour series in which almost nothing else is, and grounds the story whenever she shows up. DeHaan’s character has also been given new scenes to shore up his obsessiveness. Like the book, the telefilm is nonlinear and multi-planar, and it is not that too much happens, but that what happens happens slowly — which means the (very) violent parts play out at length — and that the story circles back upon itself. It can feel like a bit of a slog. Still, unless they are particularly attached to some excised minor characters and plot digressions, fans of the novel should appreciate the screen translation. Boo’ya Moon is nicely rendered — it has the feel of 19th-century fantasy paintings — and its monster more elaborately imagined than in the novel, which will only have you looking up the definition of “piebald.”

Serena Williams coaches herself to comeback victory at French Open

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-06-04/serena-williams-rallies-french-open-win

Even a 23-time Grand Slam champion needs to remind herself now and then how to play winning tennis. Serena Williams employed verbal motivation to help her recover from a 4-1 deficit in the second set of a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow American Danielle Collins in the third round of the French Open on Friday. Yelling, “C’mon,” and, “Move your feet,” Williams started dominating again with big serves and crushed returns for which the 50th-ranked Collins had no answer. “That felt really good for me,” Williams said. “Things were not going my way. It’s not like she gave me those games. I had to earn it and turn it around. That was really positive for me going into the next match. “I needed to find me, know who I am,” Williams added. ”Nobody is Serena out here. It’s me. It’s pretty cool.” Lakers During a stunningly sordid playoff exit Thursday in Game 6, the Lakers future is in doubt with LeBron James aging and Anthony Davis appearing frail. June 4, 2021 The turnaround was also evidenced in Collins’ body language and conversations with herself. The Floridian, who grew up emulating the Williams sisters and playing on public courts just as they did, let her racket drop from her hands and then kicked it away in frustration after missing one particularly important shot. Collins also sarcastically said, “That’s excellent,” after shanking another shot following a long rally that appeared to conclude with an awkward bounce in the final game. Williams needed three sets to get by Mihaela Buzarnescu in the previous round, and she clearly did not want to go the distance again this time. Even when a series of untimely double-faults early in the second set enabled Collins to win four consecutive games. Williams’ determination was also witnessed during the first set, when she ran down a drop shot from behind the court and won the point to break for a 4-3 lead. When it was done, Williams and Collins both smiled as they shared a friendly embrace at the net. Collins said she told Williams she would “love to see her win the whole thing.” “She’s the greatest player of all time,” Collins added. “I think we all admire and love Serena, especially the American players. It was pretty surreal today to go out there and be playing against somebody I remember watching at age 9 and 10.” Opinion We need to recognize mental health disabilities. Tournament officials should have made reasonable accommodations for Osaka’s depression and anxiety. June 3, 2021 Still chasing a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title, the 39-year-old Williams next faces 21st-seeded Elena Rybakina, who defeated Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the first time at a major. Meanwhile, Russian player Yana Sizikova was released from police custody after being arrested on suspicion of match-fixing during last year’s tournament in Paris. The 26-year-old Sizikova denies the allegations. Aside from Williams, top women’s players continue to exit Roland Garros. The latest to go home was third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who was upset by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-0. Sabalenka had been the highest remaining seed after top-ranked Ash Barty retired from her second-round match because of an injury Thursday. Second-seeded Naomi Osaka withdrew after the first round, saying she is taking a break from competition for mental health reasons. Sabalenka’s 39 unforced errors helped Pavlyuchenkova reach the fourth round for the first time since she made it to the quarterfinals in Paris a decade ago. “That was a while ago,” the 31st-seeded Pavlyuchenkova said. “I’m enjoying much more now every point (in) the tough matches than I used to before. I guess that also (is) the reason why I’m still here in the second week.” Pavlyuchenkova’s next opponent will be Victoria Azarenka, who beat 23rd-seeded Madison Keys 6-2, 6-2 in 70 minutes. Early in the afternoon, play was interrupted briefly by rain on all courts besides the main stadium — where the roof was closed. Federico Delbonis said the interruption helped him calm down after stress started to get hold of him toward the end of the second set of his match with Fabio Fognini. Podcasts Her move highlighted an issue long bubbling in sports: When stress is part of the game, what’s the best way to handle an athlete’s mental health? June 2, 2021 Delbonis took a quick shower and eventually prevailed 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. Fognini required treatment from a trainer after bloodying his hand by punching his racket strings in frustration multiple times early in the second set. Following a marathon five-set battle, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina upset 15th-seeded Casper Ruud 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (6), 0-6, 7-5 in 4 hours 35 minutes. In the final game, which lasted 16 minutes, Davidovich Fokina hit an underhand serve to save a break point. Ruud appeared surprised by the serve and had to scramble to get in position for a backhand return that he netted. Kei Nishikori followed up two consecutive five-setters with a one-set victory, reaching the second week of the clay-court Grand Slam for the seventh time after qualifier Henri Laaksonen retired with a thigh injury while trailing 7-5. Nishikori will next play sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev, who beat Laslo Djere 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev also advanced with a straight-set win over big serving Reilly Opelka of the United States.

FDA approves obesity drug that helped people cut weight 15%

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-04/fda-approves-obesity-drug-that-helped-people-cut-weight-15

Regulators on Friday said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug semaglutide, for long-term weight management. In company-funded studies, participants taking Wegovy had average weight loss of 15%, about 34 pounds. Participants lost weight steadily for 16 months before plateauing. In a comparison group getting dummy shots, the average weight loss was about 2.5%, or just under 6 pounds. “With existing drugs, you’re going to get maybe 5% to 10% weight reduction, sometimes not even that,” said Dr. Harold Bays, medical director of the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center in Kentucky. Bays, who is also the Obesity Medicine Assn.’s chief science officer, helped run studies of the drug. In the U.S., more than 100 million adults — about one in three — are obese. Dropping even 5% of one’s weight can bring health benefits, such as improved energy, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, but that amount often doesn’t satisfy patients who are focused on weight loss, Bays said. Science & Medicine The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who are merely overweight, not just the obese, may be at high risk of a serious case of COVID-19. Oct. 9, 2020 Bays said Wegovy appears far safer than earlier obesity drugs that “have gone down in flames” over safety problems. Wegovy’s most common side effects were gastrointestinal problems, including nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Those usually subsided, but led about 5% of study participants to stop taking it. The drug carries a potential risk for a type of thyroid tumor, so it shouldn’t be taken by people with a personal or family history of certain thyroid and endocrine tumors. Wegovy also has a risk of depression and pancreas inflammation. Wegovy is a synthesized version of a gut hormone that curbs appetite. Patients inject it weekly under their skin. Like other weight-loss drugs, it’s to be used along with exercise, a healthy diet and other steps like keeping a food diary. Science & Medicine At long last, a group of respected physicians and obesity researchers has stepped forward to challenge the facile bromide that America’s weight issues can be easily fixed by diet and exercise. Feb. 13, 2015 The Danish company hasn’t disclosed Wegovy’s price but said it would be similar to the price of Saxenda, an 11-year-old weight loss drug injected daily that now typically costs more than $1,300 per month without insurance. Dr. Archana Sadhu, head of the diabetes program at Houston Methodist Hospital, said Wegovy’s usefulness “all depends on what the price will be.” She noted patients’ health insurance plans sometime don’t cover weight-loss treatments, putting expensive drugs out of reach. Sadhu, who has no connection to Novo Nordisk, plans to switch patients who are obese and have Type 2 diabetes to Wegovy. It makes patients feel full sooner and increases the release of insulin from the pancreas to control blood sugar, she said. Patients would then be more likely to get motivated to exercise and eat more healthfully, she added. Wegovy builds on a trend in which makers of relatively new diabetes drugs test them to treat other conditions common in diabetics. For example, the popular diabetes drugs Victoza, also from Novo Nordisk, and Jardiance have been approved as treatments to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and death in heart patients. California The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark focus the long battle between the medical establishment and the fat acceptance movement. May 9, 2021 Phylander Pannell, 49, of Largo, Md., joined a patient study after cycles of losing and then regaining weight. She said she received Wegovy, worked out several times a week and lost 65 pounds over 16 months. “It helped curb my appetite and it helped me feel full faster,” Pannell said. “It got me on the right path.” Shortly after she finished the study and stopped receiving Wegovy, she regained about half the weight. She’s since lost much of that, started exercise classes and bought home exercise equipment, she said, and is considering going back on Wegovy after it’s approved. Novo Nordisk also is developing a pill version.

How Philip Glass turns the circus into opera that's magical and profound

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-04/philip-glass-opera-circus-days-nights

A drum beats. An accordion joins in, like the music of a clown. A trombone further adds a circusy effect. A bearded lady, aerial acrobat, juggler, lion tamer and trapeze artist all materialize under the big top. For the record: 4:56 p.m. June 7, 2021An earlier version of this article misspelled Cirkus Cirkör’s name as Cirkus Crikör. “Circus Days and Nights,” Philip Glass’ latest opera, is having its premiere by Malmö Opera through June 13 in a livestreamed co-production with the Swedish city’s Cirkus Cirkör. The libretto is by David Henry Hwang, who based it on the autobiographical circus poetry of Robert Lax. This is thought to be the first opera written for a circus. Circuses do, however, show up in operas from time to time, mainly as a portent of nasty business. “I Pagliacci” and “Lulu” come to mind. I can’t help but further associate Swedish circuses with the lice-infested, disease-ridden one in Ingmar Bergman’s “Sawdust and Tinsel,” so memorable is his 1953 film. Ever ready to upend conventional mores, one manifestation after another of the irreverent Pierrot pops up with unavoidable regularity on the modern lyric stage. Then again, ever since his first opera, “Einstein on the Beach,” 45 years ago, Glass has been upending opera on a reliable basis (averaging a new opera every 18 months or so). “Circus Days and Nights,” which miraculously elevates the circus to godliness, brings him full circle. This “Circus” is free in its associations with our time. Glass long ago licensed Lax’s circus poetry. The composer’s collaboration with Cirkus Cirkör, which commissioned the opera, well predates the pandemic. The magical score, discerning libretto and enchanting production do not specifically bespeak timeliness or autobiography. Yet embedded in all this is a guide to how we can best put one post-pandemic foot in front of the next to ensure our and our planet’s survival. The revelation of “Circus Days and Nights” is existentially simple and direct. Cut through a thin layer of tawdriness and cheap tinsel that may be on its surface, and you discover that a circus can exist only thanks to absolute trust. The life of every acrobat lies in unerring balance. Balance is the religion of circus life. Trust and balance, of course, are the two essential things our polarized societies need to regain. “Circus Days and Nights” is the Glass method for how that can be done. All and all, the past year has been a time of Glass lost and Glass found, the first time a peripatetic composer stopped in his tracks. But his infinitely adaptable music that so easily captures the moods of the times — melancholic or merry, and all points in between — has nonetheless provided a pandemic soundtrack from just about everywhere. New recordings have come along: Of particular value are the recent Piano Sonata, written for and performed by Maki Namekawa (which also got a lovely, streamed performance by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA), and a superb recording of parts of the soundtrack to the film “Mishima,” performed by violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Glass operas have been everywhere. The Metropolitan Opera’s nightly streams have included “Satyagraha” and “Akhnaten.” Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur has posted Lucinda Childs’ luminous new virtual production of “Akhnaten” on YouTube. A week before the “Circus” premiere, Long Beach Opera mounted Glass’ Cocteau opera, “Les Enfants Terribles,” atop a shopping center garage; it was excellently performed and despite a futile attempt at layering angst, it had more substance than the silly new Eisenhower-era production that Hungarian State Opera in Budapest streamed months earlier. The best Glass has been archival high-quality films from the composer’s own festival in Big Sur, Days and Nights (now we know where its name comes from). Among the offerings are “Whistleblower,” a startling off-kilter look at the art of surveillance (CAP UCLA had to cancel it during lockdown), and an elegantly unsettling “Godot”-esque pocket opera, “Drowning,” which opens with a heartwarming ode to the print newspaper. But nothing has matched the profound amalgamation of eloquence and entertainment found in “Circus Days and Nights.” In the opera, an old Lax, sung by a baritone, ponders his younger circus-fixated self, sung by a soprano, with wise bemusement. The circus comes to town as an engine of wonder. Lax likens it to the Genesis, an act of celestial creation. In his libretto, Hwang begins where Lax does, with the line: “Sometimes we go on a search/and do not know what we are looking for,/until we come again to our beginning.” Whether conscious or not (and I suspect not), Glass goes back to his beginnings. The circus tinge to Glass’ score, which is written for a small ensemble and a dramatic accordionist, Minna Weulander, brings to mind the composer’s early studies with French composer Darius Milhaud, and especially Milhaud’s popular surrealist Cocteau ballet score, “Le Boeuf sur le Toit” (The Ox on the Roof). The Paris premiere featured circus clowns. Glass also notably references his operatic start. Like “Einstein on the Beach,” an opera in the form of cycles, there is no real drama, just, in this case, a deepening insight into the meaning of the circus and its representation of life as repeating cycles. The opera ends where it begins, with the opening lines. Just as the circus pulls up tent, moves on and begins again. “The traveling circus is always in motion, even when it seems to be standing still,” is another of Lax’s memorable lines that finds its way into Hwang’s libretto. The opposite is also true with Glass’ late-style music. There are parts of the new score that sound remarkably fresh, and there are patches of note-spinning, the noodling he has done a million times. This is no place to dismiss the noodling, as it too often has been dismissed. It accompanies circus acts and operates on the level of necessary trust and love. It trusts that music need distract neither performer in a great acrobatic or juggling act nor the audience. Everyone and everything in a circus is useful and necessary. On the other hand, several aspects of the Glass score sound new and original. The opening is a knockout. A trombone solo in the second act dazzles. Instrumental combinations are boldly colored. A ballerina walks on the heads of acrobats while mysterious vocalise from an ethereal soprano seems to lift her in the air. Again like “Einstein,” this is an opera of choreographed movement. It can’t be a coincidence that when the young Lax removes her suit coat, she is wearing a white shirt and suspenders looking very much like the Einsteins in the original Robert Wilson production. Also Wilsonian is the light, seemingly effortless touch of “Circus.” A wedding of spirit and flesh, in which neither leads, is, we learn, what a circus performer must realize. When attempting to balance body, soul and mind, if you try to hold on, you fall. The circus achieves everything through grace. Entertainment & Arts Coronavirus may have silenced our symphony halls, taking away the essential communal experience of the concert as we know it, but The Times invites you to join us on a different kind of shared journey: a new series on listening. July 15, 2020 The first art of the circus is the art of preparation, and the magic of Cirkus Cirkör is preparation. The company’s acts have been refined and refined. Having turned 84 and having written at least 30 operas (how you count depends on what you chose to call an opera), Glass has refined and refined his technique. Lax’s poetry, not as well-known as it should be, is the soul refinement, the poet a paragon of simplifying life to its essence. Malmö Opera captures all that. The performers, from circus and opera, are superb, the two art forms functioning as a piece. Swedish COVID-19 regulations allow an audience of only 50, but it’s still an audience. Unlike other opera companies, which typically stream one performance and then archive it, each performance from Malmö is a livestream (a reasonable $12), so every night (in L.A. it will be morning when you watch) will be different. The first performance Saturday had technical glitches, the second, on Tuesday, went smoothly. Every night has room for the unexpected. From wherever we watch, we as an audience must know “Circus Days and Nights” is not just about whom to trust, but how.

Indie Focus: A myth made modern in 'Undine'

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/newsletter/2021-06-04/undine-all-light-everywhere-the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-indie-focus

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. Only good movies Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival is already underway, combining in-person and virtual events through Sunday, so there is still time to check things out. For The Times, Carlos Aguilar spotlighted seven films from the festival program, including “Between Fire and Water,” “Bridges” and “My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To.” The biggest event of this year’s festival is the showing of “In the Heights,” an adaptation of the stage musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, ahead of its screening at the Tribeca Film Festival and its release next week. Ashley Lee profiled the film’s director, John M. Chu, who is also directing the upcoming adaptation of the musical “Wicked.” “It’s so strange. I never thought this odyssey would end up right back at the musical,” Chu said of where his career has taken him. “But I’m so down. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” For “The Envelope” podcast, this week I spoke to director and showrunner Barry Jenkins about “The Underground Railroad.” An Oscar winner for “Moonlight,” Jenkins explained how there was one line in Colson Whitehead’s novel that pushed him to adapt it into a 10-part limited series. “So this line, ‘Look out as you ride the rails and you’ll see the true face of America,’” says Jenkins. “Both literally and metaphorically, if you’re on a train underground, you look out the window, what do you see? Black. You just see black. You just see blackness. And there are so many stories revolving around the Black experience and as it relates to the foundation of this country that have not been told. And so have we seen the true face of America? I read that line and I was like, ‘Oh, s—, I have got to do this.’” Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber. Directed by Christian Petzold, the German film “Undine” reimagines an ancient myth for modern times. Reuniting the stars of Petzold’s “Traffic,” the new film features Paula Beer as a woman who is actually a water sprite in human form swept off her feet by a diver played by Franz Rogowski. The film is playing locally at Laemmle theaters and is also on digital and VOD. For The Times, Justin Chang wrote, “A devotee of classic Hollywood, Petzold delights in the conventions of old thrillers and melodramas, their pulpy pleasures and overripe contrivances. For all that, his diamond-hard surfaces are exceedingly poised, even cool to the touch. ‘Undine’ is a poker-faced fairy tale, a fantasy wrought by a committed cinematic realist. It’s an example of how a filmmaker can take an outlandish central idea and play it beautifully straight.” For Time, Stephanie Zacharek wrote, “Petzold loves his romantic bargains, his meditations on longing, obsession and deceit, and he unfurls all of that seductive cloth of gold in ‘Undine.’ … ‘Undine’ is also a story of things — and people — breaking apart and being mended, and making their way toward reconciliation, if not necessarily what we think of as happiness. Then again, most versions of happiness, like the legend of Undine itself, are a myth. That’s not because happiness is unachievable, but only because, like water, the more we try to hang onto it, the more readily it slips through our fingers.” For The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, “In truth, ‘Undine’ is a bit of a shaggy dog story, or maybe a slimy giant catfish story; though it is just so skilfully made, beautifully acted and directed. Rogowski brings something unstable and dangerous to the part and so, in a more contained way, does Beer. What might this cast and this director do if they were working on a more compelling and substantial story? As it stands, Undine is a diverting and handsomely crafted piece of fantasy.” Directed by Theo Anthony, “All Light, Everywhere” is a wildly ambitious documentary about perception and how we see, through the lens of the surveillance industry and more specifically policing and body cameras. The film is playing at the Landmark in Los Angeles. Anthony spoke with Angie Orellana Hernandez about how the making of the film itself becomes a part of its story. “I’ve always been interested in the power dynamics between people behind and in front of the camera. As my career developed, I sort of started to see that this was a way that was also potentially very productive [for] this conversation of who gets to be seen and who gets to do the seeing.” Reviewing the film for The Times, Justin Chang wrote, “One of the movie’s unspoken insights seems to be that the more a person or corporation harps on about objectivity and accountability, the less they can be trusted to evince any. That observation speaks directly to the debate around body cameras, which often have been held up as neutral observers, their footage entered into court evidence as an unassailable record of the truth. But Anthony handily demolishes that assumption, pointing out how a camera, equipped with a distorting wide-angle lens and mounted on an officer’s chest, creates its own skewed perspective and often promotes or rationalizes a police narrative. … If perception has its limitations, this deeply sobering, stimulating film suggests, that may be another way of saying that it is fundamentally limitless. There is so much — too much — to see here, and no end of vantages from which to see it.” For the New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote, “In a manner that is patient — and sometimes even playful — rather than polemical, ‘All Light, Everywhere’ contributes to debates about crime, policing, racism and accountability. In its final moments it gestures beyond those arguments, toward a very different set of ideas about what cameras can do. A brief epilogue documents Anthony’s involvement in a filmmaking program for Baltimore high school students, an experience the director admits he couldn’t figure out how to fit into this movie. Its inclusion nonetheless adds the glimmer of a counterargument to a troubling account of some of the ways Big Brother is watching us — a reminder that the rest of us have eyes, too. And cameras.” For Variety, Jessica Kiang wrote, “A highly persuasive film about how we should be wary of film’s power to persuade, Theo Anthony’s discursive and disturbing ‘All Light, Everywhere’ is a superb if sinister example of how the outwardly modest essay format can deploy arguments that challenge us to unpick our most basic assumptions. Here, it’s the idea that a thing and its recorded image can never have a 1:1 relationship: It’s not just that our eyes deceive us, it’s that we’re conditioned to accept the representations of those deceptions as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.” Directed by Michael Chaves from a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” is the latest in an ongoing franchise that with its assorted spinoffs has earned almost $2 billion worldwide. Again featuring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the frumpily stylish couple Lorraine and Ed Warren, this installment finds them investigating the possible demonic possession of a little boy. The film is in general release and is streaming on HBO Max. For The Times, Justin Chang wrote that the film “hits the occasional sweet spot, if less consistently or surprisingly than its predecessors did. Narratively speaking, the most pleasurable aspect of these films is the way they function as paranormal detective stories, knottily intricate puzzles in which the battle for the human soul also becomes a battle of wits. That’s another reason why the Warrens — at least as played by Farmiga and Wilson, making the most as always of their retro-nerdy-sexy chemistry — are such an endearing detective duo: They’re Nick and Nora with less banter and more holy water.” For the Playlist, Robert Daniels wrote, “The terrors in this ‘Conjuring’ are run of the mill due to the film lacking the technical and storytelling proficiency to create real shocks of fear. The body horror isn’t particularly gruesome: The crunch of bones cracking barely makes an audible dent. While the pretzel-shaped bodily positions narrowly rise above internet fodder. A necessary atmosphere of foreboding is lacking from Arne’s possession scenes: It’s one thing for a character to say they feel cold, it’s another for the audience to feel it, too.” For rogerebert.com, Tomris Laffly wrote, “Who the hell actually wants the new ‘The Conjuring’ to be downgraded to a mere whodunit anyway, when its original predecessor is still one of the most brilliant and frightening horror movies of the 21st century? If you’re not that person, this film’s array of hollow jump-scares and uninteresting secrets that culminate in short-lived thrills is unlikely to impress you, despite some successful effects and elegant camerawork by cinematographer Michael Burgess.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daughter shares her queer identity: 'You are not alone'

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/cuomo-daughter-queer-identity

Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, the daughter of New York’s governor, used a social media post Thursday to share her “queer identity” and call for allies to speak up against homophobia. “To those who are contending with the compulsive heterosexuality our society force feeds us and innate attraction beyond cis het folks, please know that you are not alone,” the 23-year-old wrote on Instagram. “Today, I stand in my queer identity with pride, and in memory of those who came before me. I stand indebted to the activists who fought for my right to love and happiness.” Kennedy-Cuomo has often used her social media accounts to advocate for the LGBTQ community, including those affected by sexual assault. She has also shared pictures from Pride marches of herself with family members including her father, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who successfully pushed for passage of same-sex marriage legislation in the state 2011. California The forced homecoming of students because of COVID-19 has been painful for those whose families do not know of or reject their LGBTQ identities. March 24, 2021 “I love, support and couldn’t have more pride in Michaela,” Cuomo said in a statement. June is Pride Month, with events scheduled in New York, site of the 1969 Stonewall rebellion, and throughout the nation. Kennedy-Cuomo is the governor’s youngest of three daughters that he has with ex-wife Kerry Kennedy. In her Instagram post Thursday, Kennedy-Cuomo complained that filtering programs on social media platforms have at times made it harder to find content with key words such as “lesbian and bi.” Without such “censorship,” she wrote: “maybe I could have accessed the information and tools that as a bisexual person I would need to protect myself from increased rates of sexual victimization, homelessness, hunger, unemployment, hate crimes, and mental health challenges.” Kennedy-Cuomo urged people who need help with issues around their sexuality to reach out to the Trevor Project, a national group based in West Hollywood providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.

No taste for a pandemic-set fantasy? Netflix's binge-worthy new show may change that

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/sweet-tooth-netflix-dc-comics

A plague with no antidote. Conspiracy theories gone mad. Apocalyptic consequences. Netflix’s revelatory “Sweet Tooth” takes all the nightmarish what-ifs that have rendered us sleepless for more than a year and turns them into a vivid escapist fantasy series that pits darkness and despair against innocence and hope, then dresses it up in antlers. Narrated by Josh Brolin and executive produced by Susan and Robert Downey Jr., the streamer’s latest, premiering Friday, is adapted from the DC comic book series of the same name by Jeff Lemire. The comic has been described as a cross between “Mad Max” and “Bambi,” which is also a fine way to frame this delightfully feral eight-part series, created by Jim Mickle. Television Fans of Netflix’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ will love Peacock’s British import ‘We Are Lady Parts,’ which marks a seismic shift for Muslims on TV. May 27, 2021 It imagines a world 10 years after “The Great Crumble,” when a large swath of the human race has been wiped out by a mysterious plague. I know, anything involving face masks and quarantining seems like the last thing you’d want to watch now (aside, perhaps, from another Meghan and Harry tell-all/reveal-nothing special), but “Sweet Tooth” takes us places far more beauteous, exciting and bizarre than real-life lockdown — and, more importantly, offers an escape from our own abnormal norm in the form of a quirky, well-told story about a deer boy. He’s part of a new phenomenon that arrived with “The Sick”: an inexplicable baby boom of half-human, half-animal newborns, some with wings, others with hooves. A politically motivated theory arises that the hybrids are responsible for the plague (they aren’t) so a bounty is put on the heads of the poor animal children, who are hunted by power-drunk General Abbot (Neil Sandilands) and his army, the Last Men. The hybrid we follow is Gus, a scrappy yet innocent wild child played by talented newcomer Christian Convery. He’s been sheltered from the ravages of the End Times while living deep in the forest with his protective father (Will Forte), but when circumstances force him to venture into the outside world, he befriends the fierce, jaded loner Jepperd (Nonso Anozie). Their search for lost family takes them on a journey across the post-apocalyptic West, where nature has reclaimed most of the land from Yellowstone Park to urban centers. The landscape is full of decaying and natural beauty, as well as kindness and treachery. Other characters include Dr. Singh (Adeel Akhtar), who lives in a suburb with a terrifyingly ardent neighborhood watch, and social shut-in turned freedom fighter Aimee (Dania Ramirez), who adopts a hybrid pig baby and takes up residence at the old zoo. As their stories converge, mysteries about Gus’ origin, the Sick, hybrids and more are answered and compounded, giving followers plenty to look forward to should “Sweet Tooth” land a second season. Television Many have criticized Hulu’s drama for pulling its heroine back into hell again and again. But that’s the reality of fighting a brutal dictatorship. April 28, 2021 There are moments in “Sweet Tooth” that are chillingly close to the bone: doctors covered head to toe in protective gear and face shields, working on patients in hermetically sealed rooms. Aged signage urging citizens to socially distance. Toilet paper supplies transported by an armed guard. Reflecting what we’ve just been through is not a central theme of this series, which was shot in New Zealand before and during the pandemic, but when it does hit those chords, it does so with a sensitivity and weightiness that’s not easy to achieve in the realm of fantasy. Plague aftershock as entertainment seems preposterous right about now, but when transformed by the weirdo extremes of “Sweet Tooth’s” universe, the subject becomes a post-apocalyptic joyride. ‘Sweet Tooth’ Where: NetflixWhen: AnytimeRated: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

'Next big wave': Radiation drugs track and kill cancer cells

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-04/next-big-wave-radiation-drugs-track-and-kill-cancer-cells

Doctors are reporting improved survival in men with advanced prostate cancer who received an experimental drug that delivers radiation directly to tumor cells. Few such drugs are approved now, but the approach may become a new way to treat patients with other hard-to-reach or inoperable cancers. The study tested an emerging class of medicine called radiopharmaceuticals, drugs that deliver radiation directly to cancer cells. The drug in this case is a molecule that contains two parts: a tracker and a cancer-killing payload. Trillions of these molecules hunt down cancer cells, latching onto protein receptors on the cell membrane. The payload emits radiation, which hits the tumor cells within its range. “You can treat tumors that you cannot see. Anywhere the drug can go, the drug can reach tumor cells,” said Dr. Frank Lin, who had no role in the study but heads a division at the National Cancer Institute that helps develop such medicine. Results were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology ahead of its annual meeting this weekend. The study was funded by Novartis, the drug’s maker, which plans to seek approvals in the United States and Europe later this year. Science & Medicine In a shift that puts early detection of prostate cancer back on the agenda of middle-aged men and their doctors, a federal panel of experts is recommending that men ages 55 to 69 weigh the potential harms and benefits of prostate cancer screening and judge whether getting tested feels right to them. May 8, 2018 When cancer is confined to the prostate, radiation can be beamed onto the body or implanted in pellets. But those methods don’t work well in more advanced prostate cancer. About 43,000 men in the United States each year are diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread and is no longer responding to hormone-blocking treatment. The study tested a new way to get radiation treatment to such patients. It involved 831 men with advanced prostate cancer. Two-thirds were given the radiation drug and the rest served as a comparison group. Patients got the drug through an IV every six weeks, up to six times. After about two years, those who received the drug did better, on average. The cancer was kept at bay for nearly nine months compared to about three months for the others. Survival was better too — about 15 months versus 11 months. The gain may not seem like much, but “these patients don’t have many options,” said ASCO’s president, Dr. Lori Pierce, a cancer radiation specialist at the University of Michigan. Science & Medicine A long-term study of men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer has confirmed that patients who forgo immediate surgery have the same odds of living another decade or two as patients who have their tumors surgically removed. July 12, 2017 Radioactivity can reduce blood cell production, which can lead to anemia and clotting problems for patients. In the study, 53% of the patients had serious side effects compared to 38% of patients in the comparison group. Both groups were allowed to get other treatments. The results pave the way for government approval and will boost interest in radiation drugs, Lin said. Others already in use include Novartis’ Lutathera for a rare type of cancer of the stomach and gut. And Bayer’s Xofigo is approved for men whose prostate cancer has spread to the bone but not elsewhere. Xofigo targets areas where the body is trying to repair bone loss from tumor damage, but it isn’t directly aimed at prostate cancer cells wherever they may be in the body. Since the experimental drug targets tumor cells, “that would be a first for prostate cancer,” Lin said. Science & Medicine ‘A year ago, I was you.’ When cancer survivors wrote anonymous letters to first-time chemotherapy patients, both letter-writers and readers found inspiration. Feb. 16, 2021 In the coming decade, such drugs “will be a major thrust of cancer research,” said Dr. Charles Kunos, who worked on standards for radiopharmaceutical research at the National Cancer Institute before leaving to join University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center. “It will be the next big wave of therapeutic development.” “There’s great potential” with drugs being tested for melanoma and breast, pancreatic and other cancers, said Dr. Mary-Ellen Taplin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Taplin enrolled patients in the study and reviewed the data. As for prostate cancer, “it opens up a range of future strategies,” including at earlier stages of disease and alongside other treatments, said study leader Dr. Michael Morris of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Attention Class of 2021: Get ready for commencement with these celebrity speeches

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-04/what-makes-a-great-celebrity-commencement-speech

Most would probably agree the best graduation addresses are inspirational: encouraging, with some hint of the challenges ahead as well as reassurances that they can be overcome. Of course, those can be mere platitudes if not backed by personal experiences. It helps — a lot — to be funny. Throwing in local references can get the crowd on your side. And, as these speakers can attest, it helps to be super-famous. Here are nuggets from some recent celebrity commencement speeches. See how many of the ingredients from above they use. And congratulations, Class of 2021! When the comedian spoke at his alma mater, USC, in 2017, he catalogued the impressive accomplishments of those receiving honorary doctorates along with him. Then he bragged about his own, including: “Running around in elf tights, eating gum off the ground and playing cowbell. I think my fellow doctorates would agree, based on our achievements, we are all on equal footing. “I want the university to know that I do not take this prestigious honor lightly. I’ve already instructed my wife and my children: From this point on, they have to address me as Dr. Ferrell. There will be no exceptions. ... ‘Yay, we got the new Xbox, thank you Dad! I mean, Dr. Ferrell.’ ” In her last commencement speech as first lady, at City College of New York in 2016, Obama said, “Our greatness has never, ever come from sitting back and feeling entitled to what we have. It’s never come from folks who climbed the ladder of success or happened to be born near the top and pulled the ladder up after themselves. No, uh-uh . Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted. Folks who worked hard for what they had, then reached back and helped others after them. That is your story, graduates. And that is the story of your families. “And it’s the story of my family, too. ... I grew up in a working-class family in Chicago. And while neither of my parents went past high school ... they saved up every penny that my dad earned at his city job because they were determined to send me to college. And even after my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and he struggled to walk, relying on crutches just to get himself out of bed in the morning, my father hardly ever missed a day of work. ... See, he never wanted me to miss a registration deadline because his check was late. That’s my story.” Television On ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ former First Lady Michelle Obama talked about how she has dealt with anxiety and depression. May 12, 2021 Speaking at Colorado College in 2019, the multihyphenate, self-made billionaire talked about redefining success and failure. “Here’s the truth: For years, I had a job. And through that job, doing a lot of things that I actually didn’t want to do, I got demoted and discovered my life’s calling. I ... got my first job [as a reporter] in radio when I was 16, was hired in television at 19, and it was a job because every day, I felt like, ‘I don’t know if this is really what I’m supposed to be doing.’ But my father was like, ‘You better keep that job.’ “When I was 28, it wasn’t working out for me in news because I was too emotional. I’d cry because people lost their houses or lost their children. I was told I was going to be taken off the evening news and put on a … talk show. That was a demotion for me at the time, that actually worked out for me.” Speaking at his alma mater, Howard University, in 2018, Boseman praised student protesters who had recently won a number of concessions from the administration and spoke with specificity about his experience on the campus. Then he told the story of an early, severe career reversal, when he had booked his first big acting job — on “All My Children” — only to be fired after speaking up about stereotypical aspects of his character. He acknowledged the very difficult times he faced after that, including being labeled “difficult,” but said he did not regret speaking up. “When you are deciding on next steps, next jobs, next careers, further education, you should rather find purpose than a job or a career,” he said. “Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you need to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.” Entertainment & Arts Actor Chadwick Boseman died Aug. 28 at the age of 43. Aug. 28, 2020 Speaking at her alma mater, Harvard University, in 2015, the Oscar winner talked about her early academic struggles there and her continued learning process: “There were several occasions where I started crying in meetings with professors, overwhelmed with what I was supposed to pull off when I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning, moments when I took on the motto for school work, ‘Done. Not good.’ ... “I’m still learning now that it’s about ‘Good and maybe never done.’ That the joy and work ethic and virtuosity we bring to the particular can impart a singular type of enjoyment to those we give to and, of course, to ourselves.” At Yale University’s 2011 Class Day, the two-time Oscar winner asked whether the forces of fear or faith would define graduates’ lives. He shared a parable of three men whose lives were paralyzed by fear, so they sought the counsel of a wise man who lived so far above the tree line that no vegetation, animals or even insects lived near his cave. The wise man was able to dispel the first pilgrim’s fear of death by saying it would not come until he was ready; he assuaged the second pilgrim’s fear of his neighbors by instructing him to get to know them. Then the third came forward: “‘O, wise man, I fear spiders. When I try to sleep at night, I imagine spiders dropping from the ceiling and crawling upon my flesh, and I cannot rest,’” Hanks said. “‘Ah, spiders,’ said the wise man. ‘No s—, why do you think I live way up here?’” The comedian and painter gave a fascinating speech at the 2014 graduation ceremony at the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. “I used to think Jim Carrey is all that I was. Just a flickering light, a dancing shadow,” he said. “The great nothing masquerading as something you can name, seeking shelter in caves and foxholes dug out hastily. An archer searching for his target in the mirror, wounded only by my own arrows. Begging to be enslaved, leading for my chains. Blinded by longing and tripping over paradise. ... “I used to believe that who I was ended at the edge of my skin, that I had been given this little vehicle called a body from which to experience creation. And though I couldn’t have asked for a sportier model, it was, after all, a loaner and would have to be returned. Then I learned that everything outside the vehicle was part of me, too, and now I drive a convertible. Top down, wind in my hair.” Then there’s the other Obama, Michelle’s husband, who virtually addressed high school graduates across the country last year. He acknowledged some of the disturbing lessons of the pandemic. “It’s also pulled the curtain back on another hard truth, something that we all have to eventually accept once our childhood comes to an end. All those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? It turns out they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you.” He added later: “America’s gone through tough times before — slavery, civil war, famine, disease, the Great Depression and 9/11. And each time we came out stronger, usually because a new generation — young people like you — learned from past mistakes and figured out how to make things better.”

Devin Booker channeled Kobe Bryant when scoring 47 points to beat Lakers

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-06-04/devin-booker-channeled-kobe-bryant-when-scoring-47-points-to-beat-lakers

It wasn’t a Lakers player who exemplified Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba mentality” in Game 6 of a first-round playoff series Thursday night. It was Suns guard Devin Booker who scored 47 points, shooting eight of 10 from behind the three-point arc while making all nine of his free throws as Phoenix ended the Lakers’ season. In his postgame interview, Booker said playing in Staples Center helped him reflect on the Hall of Famer’s legacy, including several of his glorious Game 6 performances. One of them was in the 2010 Western Conference finals. when Bryant scored 37 points and delivered a game-sealing dagger that propelled the Lakers into the NBA Finals. “Honestly, I was thinking about Kob and the conversations that we had kinda about what we just went through,” Booker said, “the postseason and being legendary and taking the steps to get there. So seeing that 8 and that 24 up there with the way that the lighting that Staples has right here feels like it’s shining down on you. I know he was here tonight, I know he was here tonight. I know he’s in the building. I know he was proud.” Devin Booker had Kobe Bryant in mind during his 47-point Game 6 performance. 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/C7VYPqIRCf Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame last month after a 20-year career with the Lakers, with whom he won five championships and made 18 All-Star game appearances. Booker is in his sixth NBA season and this is his first playoff appearance. He was selected to his second All-Star game this year when he replaced injured Laker Anthony Davis. He didn’t play in the game because of his own injury. Clippers Former Clippers and Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who is now with the 76ers, reflects on Lakers legend Kobe Bryant a year after his death. Jan. 25, 2021 Booker faced off against Bryant in 2016, the Lakers legend’s final season when Booker was a rookie. Bryant scored 17 points compared with Booker’s 28 in the Suns’ win. “That is the first and last time I got to play against him,” Booker said after the game. “That is the memory that I get to tell everybody and there is going to be proof of it. Thank God it wasn’t an off night and I would have had to remember it as one of my worst games. Luckily I played pretty well and we came out with a win. I am 1-0 versus Kobe.” Booker also has a tattoo that says “Be Legendary” as a reminder of words that Bryant shared with him.

Pill shows benefit in certain hard-to-treat breast cancers

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-04/pill-shows-benefit-in-certain-hard-to-treat-breast-cancers

A pill has been shown to help keep certain early-stage, hard-to-treat breast cancers at bay after initial treatment in findings being reported early because they are so promising. Study results were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology ahead of its annual meeting. They were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The pill, called Lynparza, was found to help breast cancer patients with harmful mutations live longer without disease after their cancers had been treated with standard surgery and chemotherapy. It was studied in patients with mutations in genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that can predispose people to breast cancer if they don’t work properly, but who did not have a gene flaw that can be targeted by the drug Herceptin. Science & Medicine Radiologists have discovered a new side effect of COVID-19 vaccines: They make it more difficult to interpret mammogram results. May 12, 2021 Most patients in the study also had tumors that were not fueled by the hormones estrogen or progesterone. Cancers not fueled by these two hormones or by the gene Herceptin targets are called “triple negative.” They are especially hard to treat. The new study tested Lynparza in 1,836 women and men with early-stage disease who were given the drug or placebo pills for one year after surgery and chemotherapy. About 82% of patients in the study had triple-negative breast cancer. Independent monitors advised releasing the results after seeing clear benefit from Lynparza. After three years, 86% of patients on it were alive without their cancer recurring, compared to 77% in the placebo group. The results suggest more patients should get their tumors tested for BRCA mutations to help guide treatment decisions, said the oncology society’s president Dr. Lori Pierce, a cancer radiation specialist at the University of Michigan. Science & Medicine ‘A year ago, I was you.’ When cancer survivors wrote anonymous letters to first-time chemotherapy patients, both letter-writers and readers found inspiration. Feb. 16, 2021 Serious side effects were not more common with the drug. Side effects that were noted included anemia, fatigue and blood cell count abnormalities. Lynparza, which is marketed by AstraZeneca and Merck, is already sold in the United States and elsewhere for treating breast cancers that have widely spread and for treating certain cancers of the ovaries, prostate and pancreas. It costs roughly $14,000 per month, though what patients pay out of pocket varies depending on income, insurance and other factors. The study was supported by AstraZeneca and the National Cancer Institute.

Opinion: Facebook to be Trump-free at least until 2023

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-04/opinion-facebook-trump

Former President Trump’s abject failure to build a big audience for his personal website this year shone a spotlight on just how much he depended on the White House and, especially, major social media networks to amplify his voice. And on Friday, one of those networks — Facebook — announced that it will continue to keep Trump off its platform until Jan. 7, 2023, the two-year anniversary of his suspension. It’s probably worse news than Trump had expected, but, given that he seems to think he’ll be back in the Oval Office by August, Facebook may not be top of mind for him. For Facebook, though, the announcement was a mixture of positive steps and not-so-positive ones. On the plus side, the network embraced more than three-quarters of the improvements that its Oversight Board called for last month when it reviewed Trump’s suspension. It also eliminated a rule that let politicians post rule-breaking content simply because they’re politicians. But it appeared to leave in place another inexplicable practice: its refusal to apply its rule against false and deceptive advertising to politicians who are trying to win elections. Trump’s egregious behavior leading up to, during and in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol earned him a permanent ban from Twitter but only an indefinite suspension from Facebook. The social network’s Oversight Board — a panel of scholars, human rights advocates and other notables from around the world — faulted Facebook on a number of fronts, saying its actions weren’t transparent or grounded in published rules. Among other things, it told Facebook to decide within six months how long Trump’s suspension should last. In answering that question, Facebook decided that the penalty for public figures whose posts “incite or celebrate ongoing violent disorder or civil unrest” would be a suspension of one month to two years. This is, in effect, a heat-of-the-moment penalty, although the suspension could be renewed “if we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety.” Still, you have to wonder why Facebook would feel compelled to keep a seat warm for any length of time for political figures who violate its rules when the stakes are at their highest. Trump egged on a group of people who were trying to overturn the presidential election. I’m having trouble imagining a more irresponsible, injurious and un-American thing for an incumbent to do, given that our government is built around the public’s faith in the elections we hold. The Oversight Board had cautioned that the company had a responsibility to protect free expression as well as public safety. “Although political figures do not have a greater right to freedom of expression than other people, restricting their speech can harm the rights of other people to be informed and participate in political affairs,” the board maintained. But that just buys into the idea that Facebook is a public square, when it’s really a very powerful amplifier within the public square online. The company is under no obligation to offer that amplifier back to people who’ve used it for egregious purposes. At least under the company’s new rules, public figures like Trump who regain their voices on Facebook and its Instagram subsidiary will be subject to “rapidly escalating” penalties, potentially including expulsion, if they continue to cross the line. To its credit, Facebook dropped the forehead-smacking “newsworthiness” policy that allowed politicians occasionally to post content that clearly violated Facebook’s standards simply because they were politicians. “Instead, we will simply apply our newsworthiness balancing test in the same way to all content, measuring whether the public interest value of the content outweighs the potential risk of harm by leaving it up.” wrote Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs. If only the social network would take the same approach to candidates’ political advertisements. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has publicly chafed at the idea of fact-checking politicians’ statements, even as the company deploys a battalion of third-party fact checkers to battle false and misleading information on its network. Zuckerberg has famously said that his company shouldn’t be “the arbiter of truth,” but it can’t afford to be a firehose of lies, either. That’s why it has tried to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation, fake accounts and anti-vaccine propaganda, among other things. The company’s new newsworthiness policy recognizes that politicians should be treated the same as everyone else on the platform. The same should be true for all of Facebook’s policies.

'Jupiter's Legacy' is over, and its cast members are not taking the cancellation well

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/jupiters-legacy-cast-members-not-taking-cancellation-well

After arriving as one of Netflix’s top original series in early May, the American superhero fantasy series “Jupiter’s Legacy” has already been canceled — and the cast is not taking it well. The streamer announced Wednesday that it would not renew the series, developed by Steven S. DeKnight and based on the comic book series by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Possibly the most emotionally jarring social media reaction came from Josh Duhamel, who portrayed Utopian, the superpowered family’s leader. He shared a heartfelt Instagram post of himself and his fellow cast members, writing, “It’s never easy to hear that a project you cared about/ believed in/ put so much into is ending prematurely. It was a challenge and a privilege to dive into the character of Sheldon/ Utopian.” Duhamel also shared a hilarious post of himself in full-on Utopian attire with the caption, “When you get dumped by @netflix and have to put yourself back out there.... #sexysantasummer What’s up, @hulu?” Horton, who portrays Utopian’s son, Brandon, tweeted how thankful he was for everyone involved in the show’s development. Similar posts have come from Leslie Bibb and Matt Lanter, who echoed those sentiments of friendship, sadness and superhero pride. While “Jupiter’s Legacy” was canceled, Netflix has plans for a show spinoff called “Supercrooks,” which is also based on a Millar-written comic and features an all-new cast. So the “Jupiter’s Legacy” saga will go on, it seems. “Supercrooks” will explore the supervillains within the”Jupiter’s Legacy” universe, which may give some of the original show’s actors a chance to at least guest on the new series. (Fingers crossed!) The “Jupiter’s Legacy” cast definitely has stronger relationships than the Union of Justice. Only time will tell if these actors will get the kind of justice they seem to be longing for. Season 1 of “Jupiter’s Legacy” is still streaming on Netflix.

How are you making friends now that the pandemic is easing?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/how-are-you-making-friends-post-pandemic

Now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing up across Southern California, we can finally start emerging from our homes and interacting with other human beings. But ... how do you do that? We’d like to know how you are reconnecting with old friends or even making new ones post-pandemic. What’s working, what’s not? Then we’ll share with the rest of our readers how they, too, can make friends in our “new normal” world.

Letters to the Editor: Why accept a Lakers loss? Just reinstate them as NBA champs

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-06-04/lakers-loss-just-reinstate-them-as-nba-champs

To the editor: The Los Angeles Times, an enemy of the people, reported incorrectly that the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs. We all know that this outcome can’t be correct. A conspiracy is afoot. An audit of the results and an investigation into the scorekeeper must be immediately conducted. The clock and the electronic scoreboard must be taken apart and inspected for Chinese components. The Suns’ players must be recalled. Be prepared to storm Staples Center. I’m not encouraging violence, but please dress in tactical gear and bring bear spray. The Lakers will stand ready to take their rightful place. If Americans took the right to vote as seriously as the integrity behind athletics, the current attempts to suppress the vote by Republican legislators across the country would be ill-fated, and those who support it would be justifiably censured. Instead, we have a recall in California and successful rollbacks of voting rights across Republican-held states. Fred Burgess, Camarillo .. To the editor: President Biden has emphasized that our democracy thrives when citizens can vote. Why is democracy at risk when we just had arguably our most secure presidential election? Since last November, some states have passed laws that will make it harder mainly for people of color to vote. Most egregiously, some legislatures want the right to overturn elections if they do not like the results. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, eliminating the pre-clearance that some states needed to review voting changes. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would bring back that requirement, and the For the People Act would fight voter restrictions by requiring automatic voter registration in federal elections, protecting against the purging of voters from the rolls, and eliminating barriers to mail-in ballots. Our democracy is indeed in peril without reform. Susan Perlson, Brea

How HBO Max's hot new comedy took down the toxic man in 'every single stand-up club'

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/hacks-hbo-max-episode-8-jean-smart-hannah-einbinder

The following contains spoilers from Episode 8 of “Hacks” on HBO Max. #MeToo has rid Hollywood of many sexual predators and empowered women in the entertainment industry to speak out against assault and harassment of all kinds. But what about the women of earlier eras who managed to persist — and perhaps even thrive — in a toxic environment? Were they resilient survivors, complicit enablers or a little bit of both? That’s the question at the core of “1.69 Million,” the eighth episode of the HBO Max series “Hacks.” The comedy, created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, explores the generational divide between two female comedians who have much to learn from each other: Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a Las Vegas legend whose shtick has grown stale, and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a down-on-her-luck 25-year-old comedy writer hired to help freshen the act. They don’t just have contrasting opinions about what’s funny. As becomes clear in “1.69 Million,” they also seem to disagree about the abuse and disrespect women in their industry have been forced to tolerate. In the episode, the pair head to Sacramento so Deborah can try out new material at a comedy club, where they run into Francine (Anna Maria Horsford), a friend from Deborah’s early stand-up days. They share war stories about Ira, the club’s recently deceased owner and an infamous sexual predator. (“I am convinced he and Cosby had the same pharmacist,” says Deborah.) Awards The veteran actress stretches in opposite extremes for two HBO projects, the comedy ‘Hacks’ and the dramatic murder mystery ‘Mare of Easttown.’ June 1, 2021 Ava later pushes Deborah on the subject, suggesting that Deborah could have fought back against Ira once she’d become rich and famous. Angry at the accusation she was “a ladder-puller,” Deborah lets loose: “Just by getting up on that stage, I gave other women more than I ever had. Forget the ladder, I built a marble f—cking staircase. It’s not my job to carry other people up it.” But the exchange clearly gets under Deborah’s skin, as does a degrading interaction she witnesses between a young female comedian and Drew Higgins (Adam Ray), the Joe Rogan wannabe who is hosting the night and clearly resents Deborah for being more famous than he is. So when Deborah finally takes the stage — after Drew cracks a lame joke about her breasts and says he won’t call her a crazy woman because “the term is redundant” — she confronts Drew, offering him $1.69 million never to perform comedy again. (No podcasts, either.) They shake hands on the deal as audience members record the destined-to-go-viral moment on their phones. The episode, written by Pat Regan and directed by Downs, represents the culmination of many themes that have been percolating all season long. The Times talked to the show’s creators about “1.69 Million,” the ideas they hoped to explore in the episode and the real-life incidents that inspired it. This conversation has been edited and condensed. Downs: I think we always knew that we wanted to incorporate what ends up being that staircase monologue in the green room. We always wanted to make this show about trailblazers, especially women in comedy and the work they did just by being brave enough to exist in a boys’ club. Aniello: So much of what the show is really about is the people who are making those jokes and why are they telling these jokes. Ava’s pushing Deborah to be more raw and honest with her material. And even though Deborah ends up getting diverted when she gets up there on stage, it is still an extension of what Ava has been pushing her to do. It’s a moment where you start seeing the result of their heads bashing together and cracking each other open a little bit. What Deborah ends up doing on stage is the heart of what Ava’s been wanting her to do, which is to get a little bit angry and honest about what it has been like to be Deborah Vance all these years. There’s no way that Deborah would have done what she did without having Ava in her life. Aniello: Somebody who was a consultant on our show was Janis Hirsch, who famously had an experience in a writers’ room on “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.” She was essentially sexually assaulted. And then she was fired the next day, even though she wasn’t the assaulter. Janis is somebody who is incredibly funny and so quick to the punch. This is somebody who had to be brutally funny because she existed in this boys’ club of comedy for so long. Getting the opportunity to spend time with somebody like Janis, I think, really did give us a bit of a peek into what it’s been like for women who had to endure horrible s— and came out the other end. Statsky: One of the things we went back and forth on was, “How much does Ava push her in that green room? How much does she challenge her?” Because you want to be truthful to the fact that Ava is a 25-year-old who is an emotionally intelligent person and understands the world and what women have dealt with. She’s not naive enough to just be like, “Why didn’t you do something?” But she is both right and wrong in that moment, which is something we talked about with the show a lot — that when Deborah and Eva are clashing, it’s because they’re both a little bit right and a little bit wrong. Television The “Ellen” scandal has gripped us in part because it’s so familiar: From “Larry Sanders” to “The Morning Show,” TV sees itself as an awful place to work. Aug. 19, 2020 Downs: We never wanted to, in this generational divide, make one side right, because there’s this tendency to poke fun at aging people or the tendency to call young people entitled, and we didn’t want to do that. Because we think the human experience is much more layered and nuanced. And because we wanted the show to feel grounded and real. We really wanted to make their experiences, their points of view and their arguments valid to them emotionally. Aniello: Paul, Jen and I naturally don’t really write cynically. We love all the characters that we create. So we write both Deborah and Ava as well as all the supporting characters with love. We’re really always trying to see the best in them, even if they don’t behave perfectly. Aniello: I think things are evolving a little bit, but I think there’s certainly there’s a Drew Higgins in every single stand-up club. Downs: I think that what exists even more are the women who chose not to continue pursuing comedy or the women who were cast aside or the women who were discouraged. Aniello: Women who had one bad experience at a comedy club, maybe said something about it, and the comedy club backed up the guy. Downs: People often ask us about the person or persons that inspired Deborah Vance. There’s so many countless people that we can name that she’s an amalgamation of. But also, she’s really a tribute to all of the women we can’t name. Aniello: I think we have always felt connected to people who have been cast aside. We’ve always [been in] the place we hope Ava is getting to. If I walk into the Brooklyn Museum and I see a Judy Chicago exhibit, am I crying with tears of happiness? Yeah. But I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily a new point of view. I know Jen grew up loving Mary Tyler Moore. We’ve always been connected to an older audience. That’s part of why we created the show, to maybe help other people see through that lens of appreciation for older people. Downs: The first live comedy show I ever saw was Paula Poundstone. And she’s somebody who is very much in this world of people who have been harshly misjudged. She wasn’t someone that I came to appreciate. I always did. Statsky: We talked a lot about Deborah as a woman who everybody got wrong. I loved comedy growing up, and I did seek out more female-driven comedy, like old “Mary Tyler Moore” episodes, but I also watched “SNL” and late-night TV and those are shows that were very dominated by men telling these jokes — and, oftentimes, men telling these jokes about women. Marcia Clark, Anna Nicole Smith, Monica Lewinsky — all these women were punchlines. As a young woman, I did take in those punchlines and internalize those narratives. Something really great that’s happened in the last five years is that we’re starting to listen to those women’s stories and rewrite those narratives. In general, we’re just kind of reevaluating the stories we’ve told about women. Television If you were anywhere near a television in 1998, chances are you heard a joke — or a hundred — about Monica Lewinsky. Dec. 8, 2018 Statsky: You’re exactly right. When she’s telling Ava the truth about the story about her burning the house down and how she didn’t do it, she says, “You know, I leaned into that joke. I might as well make money off of it.” The avenues were so narrow for any woman or minority. It’s very tragic that the only way certain people were allowed to participate in this world was not on their own terms. It was someone else’s rules that they had to be playing by. And, thankfully, that is changing. But it’s a very tragic aspect of Deborah — and, I think, a lot of people in real life. Downs: In building the character, we always said that money and the accumulation of wealth and objects was for Deborah the, like, f— you to all of the people that knocked her down a million times. It became a kind of armor. She uses that quite literal currency to take down one of these male comedians who is a gatekeeper. It was very much a conscientious choice that we wanted her to use this thing which in some ways makes her a sellout, makes her less of the authentic comedic voice that she always has been. But in this moment, she gets to use it in a very specific and targeted and productive way. Aniello: To weaponize her money in this way is almost her using the thing that she’s been forced to have as armor and use it as a blunt object. Downs: We wrote the character as this amalgamation of a lot of iconic showbiz veterans, so we didn’t have somebody in mind. But one thing that made Jean the only choice for us was that as much as she’s worked consistently and had such a rich career, we felt that she was someone who was underappreciated, like Deborah Vance. She was someone who never got to be number one on the call sheet and wasn’t celebrated in quite the way she deserved to be.

Experts see strides on AIDS, but COVID-19 halted progress

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-04/experts-see-strides-on-aids-but-covid-19-halted-progress

Has COVID-19 derailed the fight against HIV? Some researchers say the pandemic has siphoned away health workers and other resources, setting back a U.S. campaign to decimate the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the first report that brought AIDS to the attention of the public. For a time, the battle against HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — was going well. But experts believe the U.S. could soon see its first increase in infections in years. Internationally, recent strides could also be undone because of COVID-19’s interruption of HIV testing and care. “COVID was a huge setback,” said Jeffrey Crowley, a former director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy who is now at Georgetown University. COVID-19 has killed nearly 600,000 Americans in 16 months, approaching the 700,000 Americans that AIDS killed over 40 years. Before COVID-19, health officials were celebrating how new medicines and other developments had gradually tamed HIV, prompting then-President Trump to announce in 2019 a campaign to “eliminate” the U.S. epidemic by 2030. But now, U.S. health officials are gathering data on exactly how much COVID-19 affected HIV infections and deaths, including how well testing, prevention and treatment kept up in the pandemic. There are signs of a backslide. Samuel Jenness, an Emory University researcher, used Atlanta-area data and statistical modeling to project major increases in some sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. At the least, COVID-19 halted recent declines in new HIV infections, Jenness said. “At the worst, it potentially brought us an increase of cases for at least the next couple of years,” he added. California March 28, 2019 Limited data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests there were large drop-offs in HIV testing and other services. The CDC looked at data from a lab that handles about a quarter of the nation’s HIV tests, comparing the numbers from March 13 through Sept. 30 last year with the same period the year before. The agency found there were 670,000 fewer HIV screening tests, and about 4,900 fewer HIV diagnoses than normal. There also was a 21% national decline in prescriptions for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. a kind of medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent them from getting the virus through sex or injection drug use. Why the declines? Most U.S. health departments and community organizations had to scale back HIV testing, the first step in putting people with the virus on medicine that can keep them from spreading it. Also, health department workers who did the contact tracing to stop HIV outbreaks were shifted to COVID-19. Science & Medicine Researchers in South Africa have documented an ominous development: the collision of the COVID-19 pandemic with HIV/AIDS. June 3, 2021 Even where HIV clinics were open, some people did not want to come in because of fear of catching the coronavirus. There may be another reason: less sex. Surveys suggest that at least during the initial months of the pandemic, many adults at higher risk for HIV infection had sex on fewer occasions and with fewer sexual partners. But there also are signs that many people resumed their normal levels of sexual activity by summer, said Jenness, whose research focused on gay and bisexual men — a group that for years has had the highest HIV infection rates. “People’s sexual behavior changed for only three months,” but prevention, testing and care disruptions are still going on, he said. What does that mean for the national goals? Data released this week showed the number of new infections declining for years, dropping to about 35,000 in 2019. California Most forms of in-person social interaction have waned dramatically because of the coronavirus pandemic, and casual sex is no exception. But a minority of people have been willing to assume the risk of one-night trysts in an attempt to ease stress, loneliness and boredom. June 10, 2020 After Trump made his announcement in 2019, federal health officials clarified that the actual goal was a huge reduction in new infections over the next 10 years — down to fewer than 3,000 a year. But Jenness and his fellow researchers predicted that the Atlanta area alone will see about 900 more HIV cases than normal over the next five years among gay and bisexual men. Another bad omen: Drug overdoses are still rising, and shared needles are one way people spread HIV, noted Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director. Recent surges in HIV infections in West Virginia have been tied to intravenous drug use, part of an ongoing shift in how the virus is spreading there. In 2014, 1 in 8 West Virginia HIV cases was attributed to injected drugs. By 2019, nearly 2 out of 3 were, according to state health department data. All of this suggests that the 90% reduction goal will not be met, several experts said, though health officials have not yet abandoned that objective. “We’re still working towards that goal,” said Kevin Delaney, a CDC HIV/AIDS researcher. “If we are missing millions of HIV screening tests from 2020, there will need to be an investment made to make those up. But the targets have not been changed.” Walensky, a noted HIV researcher before she became CDC director, said it will be difficult. “Do I think it’s doable? Absolutely,” she said. “Do I think we have the resources now to do it? I don’t think so yet.” Science & Medicine Scientists are skeptical of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s new way of counting COVID-19 cases and their claim that the pandemic’s toll is twice as bad as we thought. May 28, 2021 Worldwide, officials say there were about 38 million people with HIV/AIDS in 2019. An estimated 1.7 million people contracted HIV in 2019, a 23% decline in new HIV infections since 2010. But COVID-19 interfered with testing and other health services globally, too. In Africa, one of the continents hardest hit by AIDS, experts noted interruptions in programs that check pregnant women for HIV and that provide male circumcision to reduce their risk of infection. UNAIDS, the United Nations effort to stem HIV and AIDS, previously set goals to get certain proportions of infected people diagnosed and treated by 2020. This week, the organization said dozens of countries have hit the goals — “evidence that the targets were not just aspirational but achievable.” The agency has set even more ambitious goals for 2025. But it will be difficult for the whole world to hit such targets, said Dr. Kevin De Cock, a Kenya-based global health expert. “I’m not persuaded it’s judicious to talk about the end of AIDS,” De Cock said. “Internationally, I think we’ve made tremendous progress. [But] we are not on track to meet the goals that organizations like UNAIDS have declared.”

Exclusive: Biden has quietly deployed an app for asylum seekers. Privacy experts are worried

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-06-04/asylum-bidens-got-an-app-for-that-with-privacy-risks-and-surveillance-beyond-border

Facing a backup of tens of thousands of migrants stranded at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration is betting on a technological fix: a mobile app. In recent weeks, U.S. border officials have taken an unprecedented step, quietly deploying a new app, CBP One, which relies on controversial facial recognition, geolocation and cloud technology to collect, process and store sensitive information on asylum seekers before they enter the United States, according to three privacy-impact assessments conducted by the Homeland Security Department and experts who reviewed them for The Times. The DHS assessments describe the app as necessary because border officials cannot “process all individuals at once” who are seeking protection in the United States but have been forced back into Mexico under Trump-era policies that Biden has largely kept. Officials maintain it offers a safe and efficient technical solution. DHS officials argue that such “smart border” innovation is more effective than the previous administration’s walls and bans. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers last week that the Biden administration was requesting $1.2 billion for modernizing ports of entry and border security technology, including ensuring “safe, orderly, and humane treatment of migrants.” “We are working tirelessly to rebuild our immigration system,” Mayorkas said. But several experts who reviewed the privacy assessments said the Customs and Border Protection app raised alarms about unchecked data collection and surveillance by the government on vulnerable migrants who had little choice but to consent. “CBP’s use of face recognition poses enormous risks to privacy and is another step down a dangerous path,” Ashley Gorski, senior attorney at the ACLU National Security Project, told The Times. “Whenever the government acquires a person’s faceprint, it creates a risk of persistent surveillance, where the government could identify and track people’s movements without their knowledge.” Others, such as Andrew Farrelly, a former Customs and Border Protection official who runs a border-management consulting company, said the app was a positive step toward a more efficient and fair process at the border. “There is just an incredible amount of pressure right now on the border itself and the agencies that are responsible for the border to try to deal with the situation as best as possible,” Farrelly told The Times. “Applying technology is a way to do that.” Politics The Biden administration says migrants can still get protection under a Trump-era pandemic policy. But in a year, fewer than 1% have been able to do so. March 19, 2021 The DHS has signaled that its authority to use the app in this way may be tenuous, and some privacy risks remain unresolved, according to the privacy assessments, which are required by law. In early May, CBP sought and received “emergency” approval from the Office of Management and Budget to use the app to collect advance information on undocumented individuals, bypassing the public comment and notification process that’s required before launching new programs. Nonetheless, U.S. border officials have already enlisted international and nongovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations refugee agency, known as UNHCR, to use the app. The organizations identify asylum seekers in Mexico who were subjected to the Trump-era policies and then submit their biographic and biometric information, including photographs, through the app to Customs and Border Protection. CBP primarily uses facial recognition to verify the information and determine whether the asylum seekers will be allowed to enter the United States to pursue their claims. When asked about the app, CBP spokesperson Stephanie Malin said late Saturday that using it was voluntary. “We ensure that all personal information is stored in official, secure CBP systems,” Malin said by email. “CBP is committed to protecting all sensitive information in its possession, including mitigating to the extent possible the risk of data breaches from information systems containing personally identifiable information.” Under the Trump administration, some 70,000 asylum seekers were forced into its so-called Remain in Mexico program, requiring them to wait south of the border for immigration hearings in the United States. As the coronavirus emerged, the Trump administration went further, using Title 42, an obscure 1944 public health law, to close the border to nonessential travel and to summarily expel migrants, including those seeking asylum. Border officials have since carried out roughly 800,000 expulsions. Biden froze the Remain in Mexico policy on his first day in office and kept the Title 42 policy in place, saying it remains necessary despite a steadily easing pandemic. But, in recent weeks, the administration has allowed more than 11,000 asylum seekers into the United States who still have open immigration cases — and hundreds more identified as the most vulnerable — by increasingly relying on CBP One, according the organizations using the app. Politics Even as Biden administration officials call Title 42 a ‘source of pain,’ they’re defending the Trump-era pandemic policy. May 19, 2021 Homeland Security’s assessments make clear that as the Biden administration winds down its most restrictive border policies, officials expect the CBP One app to serve as a primary means of managing migration. Said Lee Gelernt of the ACLU, who has sued over the policies: “My sense is that CBP One app is something that the government is exploring very seriously as a way to process people in the future.” CBP developed the app, then launched it in late October to little fanfare, making it available for download from app stores but limiting its early functions to cargo carriers, non-immigrant travelers and pleasure boaters. In February, after the U.N. refugee agency started processing migrants at the border with active asylum cases, CBP put out a perfunctory news release that didn’t mention using the app for asylum seekers. In May, despite requirements that privacy notices be issued publicly beforehand, the agency retroactively published and updated the assessments for how it was already using CBP One for asylum seekers. The Homeland Security department’s privacy assessment of the CBP One app, updated for asylum seekers May 7. May 28, 2021 Under Remain in Mexico, border officials amassed a photo gallery of roughly 70,000 asylum seekers that was automatically sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, according to CBP. That database, also accessible to outside law enforcement, can hold such personal information as long as 75 years. With CBP One, organizations such as the United Nations refugee agency send to CBP photographs of asylum seekers they’ve identified, and the app uses facial recognition to compare those pictures with those in the existing gallery. The app then sends a response back indicating whether the person’s case is active and how long they’ve been waiting. If the app shows the case is open, an organization can arrange for the asylum seeker to get a coronavirus screening, travel to a port of entry and obtain permission from CBP to enter. World & Nation Some immigrants kept waiting across the border by Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy will be allowed to enter the U.S. while awaiting court dates. San Diego began processing them Friday; two Texas sites will follow next week. Feb. 19, 2021 Chris Boian, a spokesman for UNHCR, declined to comment on the record about how the refugee agency is using the app. But he insisted that “the protection of personal data of persons of concern is absolutely sacrosanct,” including in work with the U.S. government. Now, administration officials have expanded the use of CBP One again, to those identified as potentially eligible for exemption from the current COVID-19-era Title 42 policy, under which authorities have expelled migrants without a court date and with negligible processing. That means using the app, for the first time, to collect entirely new biometric data, including photographs, from asylum seekers in Mexico before they even arrive at the border. Because undocumented individuals coming to the border often don’t have a travel document that can be used to run security checks, officers generally have to enter their information manually in a time-consuming process, according to CBP. The agency says the app will auto-populate much of the required data, calling it “a safer practice during the ongoing pandemic.” Raymundo Tamayo, Mexico director for the International Rescue Committee, one of the main NGOs working with the asylum seekers, said the DHS had described CBP One as one “tool” to “streamline the intake of information” — not to supplant migrants’ right under U.S. law to come to the border directly and claim asylum. “Seeking asylum is legal — even during a pandemic,” Tamayo said. Since the ’90s, Congress has mandated a system to track entries and exits from the United States. After 9/11, surveillance efforts by CBP to identify those who overstay visas intensified, including fingerprints and photographs as well as facial recognition technology, which analyzes a person’s features to verify his or her identity by matching the features to those in another photo. But questions persist about both the ethics and the effectiveness of the technology, particularly when employed by the U.S. government against noncitizens of color. A federal study in 2019 of over 100 commercially available facial recognition algorithms found that accuracy varied dramatically based on the subject’s race, country of birth, sex and age. The technology was especially unreliable for border-crossing photos, and for images of those from Africa or the Caribbean. As of last May, CBP had completed facial recognition pilots on pedestrians at five border crossings in Arizona and Texas. Officers told the Government Accountability Office that they’d used facial recognition to verify the identity of 4.4 million border crossers in three months and found 215 “imposters” — a statistical grain of sand. There are also long-standing doubts about the agency’s ability to safeguard such data. A 2018 CBP pilot program testing facial recognition on vehicle passengers crossing the border was hacked, and more than 180,000 images were compromised, with at least 19 photos of travelers winding up on the dark web. Sue Kenney-Pfalzer of HIAS, a nonprofit refugee advocacy group and another main NGO working with expelled asylum seekers, expressed optimism about the new mechanism, saying it could yield less reliance on smugglers and less time at ports of entry where criminals prey on vulnerable migrants if the U.S. government tells “pre-vetted” asylum seekers where and when to come. But she cautioned, “The government needs to get the balance right, ensuring security but also ensuring that people have a meaningful opportunity to seek safety.” Politics Biden said he wanted to expel more migrant families under Title 42. The policy is fueling border kidnappings and extortion of U.S. relatives. April 28, 2021 CBP’s own assessments of the app’s privacy impact are mixed. At times, the agency says asylum seekers can give biographic information instead of submitting to facial recognition. But in one footnote, the agency advises that, initially, the biographic option won’t be available. In some cases, the agency says, app users must consent to officials viewing their GPS location. But elsewhere, the assessment also says officials won’t use the geolocation feature to conduct surveillance on travelers. CBP stresses that its app collects but does not store the information, sending it to other databases instead. The agency also says that it’s up to the other Homeland Security components or outside authorities to protect the information, or access it appropriately. CBP asserts migrants can still come to ports of entry directly to seek asylum and don’t have to use the app. But with the border still closed to nonessential travel, the process by which NGOs identify asylum seekers and request permission for them to enter — now, through CBP One — is, in reality, the only option available. Sophia Cope, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the risk of relying on notoriously unreliable facial recognition technology was particularly acute for asylum seekers. “If people’s lives depend on an algorithm determining whether or not they are who they say they are, and it’s an imperfect algorithm,” said Cope, “people may have to go back to the country they’re trying to flee because they can’t be verified. “It may not seem like a big deal to match a preexisting photograph to someone standing in front of you,” she said. “But ultimately, the government is building a system of pervasive surveillance, and that creates a society that looks very different from a free republic.”

Rock Your World, Essential Quality hope for Belmont Stakes success

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-06-04/belmont-stakes-advance-rock-your-world-essential-quality

The Kentucky Derby was perfectly set up with two undefeated horses next to each other in the starting gate. Essential Quality, the favorite, was in the 14th position, and Rock Your World, the second favorite, was in the 15th. What could go wrong? Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the finish line. Way before the finish line. The gates opened and Rock Your World broke a step slow, but jockey Joel Rosario hustled him forward. That’s when Essential Quality veered to the outside and Highly Motivated, in the 16th position, veered to the inside. Rock Your World was hit from both sides and dreams of winning the Kentucky Derby are over within seconds. “I turned around after that and looked at my owners and said, ‘That’s it, it’s over,’” said John Sadler, trainer of Santa Anita-based Rock Your World. “I’ve never done that before.” Sadler was right. Essential Quality was able to rally and finish fourth while Highly Motivated came in 10th. As for Rock Your World, a deflating 17th. Sports What does trainer Bob Baffert’s two-year suspension from Churchill Downs for Medina Spirit’s positive drug test mean for Del Mar and Santa Anita? June 3, 2021 The buzz surrounding the two horses has certainly subsided in five weeks, but the anticipation is still there as they are against each other Saturday in the Belmont Stakes. Essential Quality is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Rock Your World has slipped to the fourth choice at 9-2, and in between are Rombauer, winner of the Preakness Stakes, at 3-1 and Hot Rod Charlie at 7-2. Of the four, Essential Quality is the only one not based in Southern California. “I just want a redo,” Sadler said as he walked to his temporary barn at Belmont Park. “It’s like when you go out there and fall down, you want to get back up and do it again. I don’t want to make any grand predictions. I just want to see him run a good strong race and do what he’s capable of.” In the Kentucky Derby, Rock Your World was running his fourth race and second on dirt. Calling him lightly raced would be an understatement. “I just think he lacked a little bit of seasoning,” Sadler said. “But there was nothing we could really do because his first two races were with no fans. The third race [the Santa Anita Derby] was before 8,000 fans, then to be in a race where they have 50,000 people and a field size that was super big (19). There was a lot of factors. He’s usually been pretty good from the gate. It didn’t go our way at the start.” Essential Quality, despite the early trouble, was able to put his race back together and finished fourth, a length behind winner Medina Spirit. An analysis of the race showed that starting from the outside post, Essential Quality ran 68 feet farther than Medina Spirit in the race. Medina Spirit’s victory is under review after the colt tested positive for a medication not allowed on race day. “[Essential Quality] had a lot more seasoning,” Sadler said. “He’s a 2-year-old [Eclipse Award] champion and had run more times. It was our second time on dirt. I’m just hoping having more time with him will help. He came back to California and worked well. A smaller field obviously will also help.” Sports Bob Baffert was the favorite to win the race with Medina Spirit, but the 146th Preakness Stakes was won by another Santa Anita trainer, Mike McCarthy. May 15, 2021 Brad Cox, trainer of Essential Quality, had no explanation on why his horse recovered and Rock Your World did not. “He’s a race horse when he showed that [kind of recovery],” Cox said of his colt. “He was five for five leading up to the Derby. He’s seemed to have won all of his races different ways whether sitting off a hot pace or laying close to the pace. He’s able to adapt. He’s a race horse, bottom line. He brings it every time.” The final leg of the Triple Crown is very different in that it’s 1 ½ miles, a distance a horse might only run once in his life on dirt. Yet despite the daunting distance, the first half mile isn’t run that hard and horses are used to galloping two miles a day. Still, there is what’s called a “Belmont Stakes horse.” Cox proclaimed Essential Quality that kind of horse last summer at Keeneland. “I’ve probably said that about a lot of horses,” Cox said with a laugh. “But this is the only time I’ve had a Belmont horse. He just displayed a lot of stamina early on.” It’s almost impossible that there will be a repeat of the collision between the two horses on Saturday. Essential Quality will break from the second gate and Rock Your World from the seventh in a field of eight. Sports Rock Your World, after two wins on turf, made his debut on dirt and won the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby by 4¼ lengths to clinch a Kentucky Derby spot. April 3, 2021 Most are expecting a very contested race. “It’s an evenly matched race,” said Michael McCarthy, trainer of Rombauer. “I think there are a few players in there that will be very live.” Doug O’Neill, who has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown but not the Belmont, is bringing Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby, to Belmont. “I think it’s a very evenly matched crop,” O’Neill said. “You could throw a blanket over [all] of them and on any given day [one] could jump up and leave the group.” Unlike the Kentucky Derby, there are no undefeated horses in the Belmont Stakes. In fact, there are only two with just one loss — Essential Quality and Rock Your World. It’s round two.

Heart reaction probed as possible rare vaccine link in teens

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-04/heart-reaction-probed-as-possible-rare-vaccine-link-in-teens

Health authorities are trying to determine whether heart inflammation that can occur along with many types of infections could also be a rare side effect in teens and young adults after receiving the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. A report on seven U.S. teen boys in several states, published online Friday in Pediatrics, is among the latest accounts of heart inflammation discovered after COVID-19 vaccination, though a link to the vaccine has not been proven. The boys, aged 14 to 19, received shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in April or May and developed chest pain within a few days. Heart imaging tests showed a type of heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis. None were critically ill. All were healthy enough to be sent home after two to six days in the hospital and are “doing pretty well,” said Dr. Preeti Jaggi, an Emory University infectious disease specialist who co-authored the report. She said more follow-up is needed to determine how the seven fare, but that it’s likely the heart changes were temporary. Only one of the seven boys in the Pediatrics report had evidence of a possible previous coronavirus infection, and doctors determined none of them had a rare inflammatory condition linked with the coronavirus. The cases echo reports from Israel in young men diagnosed after receiving Pfizer shots. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors last month that it was monitoring a small number of reports of heart inflammation in teens and young adults after getting the mRNA vaccines, the kind made by Pfizer and Moderna. Science & Medicine The side effects of a second shot of COVID-19 vaccine are a sign that it’s providing more vigorous, long-lasting protection against the coronavirus. March 19, 2021 The CDC hasn’t determined if there’s really a link to the shots, and continues to urge that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, since the disease is far riskier than the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for use in those as young as 12; the Moderna shot remains cleared only for adult use. This kind of heart inflammation can be caused by a variety of infections, including a bout of COVID-19, as well as certain medications — and there have been rare reports following other types of vaccinations. Authorities will have to tease out whether cases following COVID-19 vaccination are occurring more often than the expected “background rate.” For now, the CDC says most patients were male, reported symptoms after the second dose, and their symptoms rapidly improved. “I think we’re in the waiting period where we need to see whether this is cause-and-effect or not,” said John Grabenstein of the Immunization Action Coalition, a former director of the Defense Department’s immunization program. Science & Medicine Questions about COVID-19 vaccines’ safety have led to hesitancy for some Americans. Experts say there is almost zero cause for concern. April 6, 2021 A commentary published with the Pediatrics report noted that among U.S. children under 18, there have been over 4 million cases of COVID-19, more than 15,000 hospitalizations and at least 300 deaths. The CDC on Friday reported that COVID-19-related hospitalizations of kids aged 12 to 17 fell early this year but rose again in March and April. Possible reasons include the spread of new virus variants, more kids going back to in-person school, or the relaxing of mask and social distancing rules, agency researchers said. While infected kids are less likely to become critically ill than adults, the CDC data on about 200 hospitalizations from 14 states show that one-third were treated in intensive care units. The report had no mention of any heart involvement. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said the hospitalizations raise concerns and urged parents to get their kids vaccinated. “Vaccination is our way out of this pandemic,” she said in a statement. The Pediatrics commentary said the heart inflammation cases warrant more investigation but added that “the benefits of vaccination against this deadly and highly transmissible disease clearly far outweigh any potential risks.” Coauthor Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, head of an American Academy of Pediatrics infectious diseases committee, is involved in Pfizer vaccine studies, including a COVID-19 vaccine study in children. AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.

Klete Keller negotiating a plea bargain in U.S. Capitol riot case

https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2021-06-04/olympic-swimmer-klete-keller-could-get-plea-bargain-storming-the-capitol

A plea bargain could be in the works for swimmer Klete Keller, the five-time Olympic medalist from USC charged in the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington. “The parties have also begun discussing a potential resolution of this case and need more time to continue the discussions,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Amanda Jawad wrote in the unopposed motion to continue. Edward B. MacMahon Jr., Keller’s attorney, didn’t respond to a request for comment. During a status conference held via videoconference Friday, Jawad told Judge Richard J. Leon that the government hasn’t made a formal plea offer, but one could come “relatively quickly.” A federal grand jury in February indicted Keller on seven counts in connection with the riot, including civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding and disorderly conduct in a restricted building. Sports Former USC swimmer Klete Keller, who won five Olympic medals for the U.S., has been charged in connection with participation in the Capitol riot. Jan. 13, 2021 “Mr. Keller is alleged to have unlawfully entered the Capitol, marched around various parts of the building, participated in chants while standing off with law enforcement officers, and impeded law enforcement efforts to address the civil disorder,” the motion said. Keller, who is free on a personal recognizance bond, has pleaded not guilty. Keller was first publicly linked to the riot through a video recorded by a journalist of the chaos in the Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 6. The former swimmer stood out because of his U.S. Olympic team jacket and 6-foot-6 height. The FBI arrested Keller on Jan. 14 and, according to court records, searched his Colorado Springs, Colo., home the same day. The motion states preliminary discovery provided to Keller includes “FBI materials such as tip reports, law enforcement interviews, videos, and open-source database searches, photographs and materials related to the search of Mr. Keller’s residence, open-source videos portraying Mr. Keller in the Capitol building, and Capitol surveillance footage.” Leon pressed Jawad during Friday’s hearing about the timeline to producing any additional discovery material. “Why is this being so prolonged?” Leon asked. “I’m having a hard time understanding that.” Jawad noted the sprawling investigation into the riot has led to charges against more than 450 people and could result in charges against at least 100 others while producing a mountain of evidence. MacMahon told the court he joined the motion to continue the case because he wants the opportunity to obtain more discovery in light of the “unique situation” presented by such a large investigation. “I want to reiterate my concern that this case has been hanging over this defendant’s head for months,” Leon said. “I’m sure it’s had consequences for him in terms of his life, his employability issues. ... I can’t emphasize enough for the government the need to move things along rapidly.” Olympics Former Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Klete Keller pleaded not guilty to charges related to his alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot. March 9, 2021 Keller competed in the Olympics three times, winning gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle relay in 2004 in Athens and in 2008 in Beijing. His next hearing is schedule for Aug. 4.

U.S. report makes no definitive finding about UFOs, sources say

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/ufos-aliens-government-pentagon-report

The U.S. government cannot give a definitive explanation of aerial phenomena spotted by military pilots but has found no evidence that they are linked to aliens, according to two officials briefed on an intelligence report examining the issue. The report due to Congress later this month examines multiple unexplained sightings from recent years that in some cases have been captured on video of pilots exclaiming about objects flying in front of them. The two people briefed on the report said it found no proof of an extraterrestrial link and does not rule out that what pilots have seen may be new technologies developed by other countries. One of the officials said there is no indication that the unexplained phenomena are from secret U.S. programs. The two officials were not authorized to discuss the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Findings of the report were first published Thursday by the New York Times. Congress in December required the director of national intelligence to summarize and report on the U.S. government’s knowledge of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs — better known to the public as unidentified flying objects or UFOs. The effort has included officials on a Defense Department UAP task force established last year. The expected public release of an unclassified version of the report this month will amount to a status report, not the final word, according to one official. A Pentagon spokeswoman, Sue Gough, declined Friday to comment on news reports about the intelligence report. She said the Pentagon’s UAP task force is “actively working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the report, and DNI will provide the findings to Congress.” Politics UFOs are back in vogue, as Congress awaits a Pentagon report on the subject. The truth is out there — and generating segments on “60 Minutes,” interviews with former presidents and trending across the internet. June 2, 2021 The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency have for decades looked into reports of aircraft or other objects in the sky flying at inexplicable speeds or trajectories. The U.S. government takes unidentified aerial phenomena seriously given the potential national security risk of an adversary flying novel technology over a military base or another sensitive site, or the prospect of Russian or Chinese development exceeding current U.S. capabilities. It also is seen by the U.S. military as a security and safety issue, given that in many cases the pilots who reported seeing unexplained aerial phenomena were conducting combat training flights. The lack of firm conclusions will likely disappoint people anticipating the report given many Americans’ long-standing fascination with UFOs and the prospect of aliens having reached humankind. A recent story on CBS’ “60 Minutes” further bolstered interest in the government report. Skeptics caution that the videos and reported sightings have plausible Earth-bound explanations. Mick West, an author, investigator and longtime skeptic of UFO sightings, said he supported the military looking into any possible incursion of U.S. airspace, especially by an adversary. “People are conflating this issue with the idea that these UFOs demonstrate amazing physics and possibly even aliens,” West said. He added, “The idea that this is some kind of secret warp drive or it’s defying physics as we know it, there really isn’t any good evidence for that.” The Pentagon last year announced a task force to investigate the issue and the Navy in recent years created a protocol for its pilots to report any possible sightings. And lawmakers in recent years have pushed for more public disclosure. “There’s a stigma on Capitol Hill,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told “60 Minutes” in May. “I mean, some of my colleagues are very interested in this topic and some kind of, you know, giggle when you bring it up. But I don’t think we can allow the stigma to keep us from having an answer to a very fundamental question.”

In tears, Kim Kardashian says she can't be a wife who follows Kanye West's every move

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-marriage-problems-kuwtk

Kim Kardashian felt like a failure as her marriage to Kanye West was crumbling earlier this year. “I feel like a f— failure, that it’s, like, a third f— marriage,” the 40-year-old mom and entrepreneur said in a flashback clip during Thursday’s episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” “Yeah I feel like a f— loser. But I can’t even think about that like, I want to be happy.” Kardashian had been “redirecting” her frustration and sadness and anger, sister Khloé Kardashian said in a confessional, while struggling with the decline of her relationship with the rapper. So that plate of cookies left in their Lake Tahoe vacation home during the episode didn’t fare well. “Did I not say no to these cookies? ... I’m going to throw them in the toilet,” Kim says back in the present, which appears to have been sometime in December, exploding over the snacks she says will add 15 pounds to her frame. “I just want to go to my room and never come out.” The flashback takes place after a blowout between the Kardashian-Wests before the women took off on their trip to Northern California. Television Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and TV insiders look back on the start of a celebreality empire in our oral history of ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians.’ June 3, 2021 Sobbing into a handful of tissues, Kim declares that Kanye “deserves someone that can go support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can’t do that.” She goes full crying-Kim meme as she talks about feeling like a failure. The couple had reportedly been in marriage counseling for much of 2020. “I honestly can’t do this anymore,” she says while recapping their fight to her sisters. “Why am I still in this like, place where I’m stuck for years? Like, he goes and moves to a different state, every year, I have to be together so I can raise the kids, you know?” Still, she does call the “Yeezus” rapper an “amazing dad” to kids North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm. Television ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ is the tip of the iceberg: As the flagship TV show ends, here’s our guide to the family’s entrepreneurial machine. June 3, 2021 Khloe, back in a confessional, calls her sister “one of the most incredible people ever” and hopes that she will take care of herself like she attempted to take care of her marriage. We know how it ends, of course: Kim filed for divorce from Kanye in mid-February after word leaked in January that they were heading for a split. The case is still in court. But how does “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” wind down? That’ll be revealed in the June 10 episode, titled “The End: Part 2,” capping a long run for the reality show that changed the world.

14 classic movies and festivals in L.A. this week: 'Magnolia,' 'Selena,' 'Casablanca'

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-04/things-to-do-in-la-oc-classic-movies-jennifer-lopez-selena-tom-cruise

Find a flick with our weekly curated list of classic movies, cult favorites, film festivals, etc., streaming online or coming soon to a theater, drive-in, pop-up or rooftop near you. “Bridesmaids” 10th-anniversary screenings of this R-rated 2011 comedy starring Maya Rudolph as a bride-to-be and Kristen Wiig as her BFF and maid of honor. With Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. Fathom Events, various local theaters (see website). 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, June 6; 7 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, June 9-10. $15; advance purchase required. fathomevents.com “Casablanca”Humphrey Bogart plays the cynical nightclub owner Rick and Ingrid Bergman is the woman who broke his heart in this Oscar-winning 1942 tale of romance and intrigue directed by Michael Curtiz. With Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Presented in 35mm. The Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43, 2035 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6. $14-$20; advance purchase required. hollywoodlegiontheater.com Movies His superb studio films couldn’t be more celebrated, but the filmmaker himself has been close to completely ignored. Jan. 4, 2018 “Dirty Dancing”A shy teen (Jennifer Grey) hooks up with a hunky dance instructor (Patrick Swayze) at a resort in the Catskills in 1963 in this tune-filled 1987 romance. Hollywood Legion Theater Drive-in, 2035 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 10. $65 per vehicle advance purchase required. hollywoodlegiontheater.com “Drive”Ryan Gosling plays a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a wheelman in director Nicolas Winding Refn‘s atmospheric 2011 homage to 1980s crime thrillers. With Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac and Albert Brooks. Rooftop Cinema Club El Segundo, 1310 E Franklin Ave., parking structure, El Segundo. 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 6. $19.50-$26; ages 18 and older; advance purchase required. rooftopcinemaclub.com “The Fifth Element”Bruce Willis is the hero, Gary Oldman is the villain, Chris Tucker is the comic relief and Milla Jovovich is humanity’s last hope in Luc Besson’s eye-popping 1997 sci-fi/action tale. Brain Dead Studios at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday, June 4; 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5. $12; advance purchase required. studios.wearebraindead.com “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” A bevy of stars-to-be — including Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold, Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, Forest Whitaker and Anthony Edwards — share the screen in this 1982 coming-of-age comedy written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling. Drive-In at the Roadium, the Roadium Open Air Market, 2500 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Torrance. 8 p.m. Saturday, June 5. $30 per car; tickets also available on site. eventbrite.com “Grease”John Travolta gets chills from Olivia Newton-John, and they’re multiplying, in this hit 1978 musical romance based on the Broadway show about two lovestruck teens in the 1950s. With Jeff Conaway and Stockard Channing. Movies in Your Car at Seaside Cinema, Ventura County Fairgrounds, 10 Harbor Blvd., Ventura. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 5. $29 per car; advance purchase required. concertsinyourcar.com Los Angeles Latino International Film FestivalThe 20th-anniversary edition of this showcase for feature films, shorts, etc., from the U.S. and around the world is a hybrid affair mixing in-person and online screenings and other programming. In-person: TCL Chinese Theaters, 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Through Sunday, June 6. Various prices and showtimes through Sunday; advance purchase required. Schedules and info about online events at laliff.org “Magnolia”The lives of disparate characters intersect over the course of several days in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s enigmatic 1999 fable set in the San Fernando Valley. Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards and Melora Walters star. With songs by Aimee Mann. Secret Movie Club/Million Dollar Theater, 307 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. 11 a.m. Saturday, June 5. $20; advance purchase required. secretmovieclub.com “Ouanga”Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned in a 2015 restoration of this B&W 1933 horror drama filmed in Haiti and Jamaica and starring former stage actress Fredi Washington as a Black female plantation owner/voodoo priestess. UCLA Film & Television Archive’s Virtual Screening Room. 4 p.m. Thursday, June 10; available on-demand through June 24. Free with RSVP. cinema.ucla.edu “The OutFronts”Outfest presents this five-day digital event featuring star-studded panel discussions exploring LGBTQ representation on TV shows including “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “The L Word: Generation Q” and “Star Trek: Discovery.” Various times, Friday, June 4, through Tuesday, June 8. Free; donations accepted. Info and schedules at theoutfronts.com “The Real Thing”Acropolis Cinema screens Japanese auteur Kôji Fukada’s 10-part 2020 made-for-TV romantic drama about a toy salesman and the mystery woman who upends his mundane existence. Running time: 3 hours, 52 minutes, plus intermission. In Japanese with English subtitles. Lumiere Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 4-5; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6. $15-$18. acropoliscinema.com “Selena”Jennifer Lopez gives a star-making performance as the beloved but ill-fated Tejano singer in this 1997 bio-drama written and directed by Gregory Nava. Edward James Olmos, Constance Marie and Lupe Ontiveros also star. Rooftop Cinema Club Presents the Drive-In at Santa Monica Airport, 3233 Donald Douglas Loop S., Santa Monica; $32 for two, $45 for three or more; ages 8 and younger, free; advance purchase required. rooftopcinemaclub.com Entertainment & Arts Jennifer Lopez is still inspired by Selena Quntanilla Perez two decades after her death. March 31, 2015 “Up”A curmudgeonly senior citizen voiced by Ed Asner attaches thousands of balloons to his house and floats off seeking adventure in this animated 2009 tear-jerker from Pixar. Rooftop Cinema Club El Segundo, 1310 E Franklin Ave., parking structure, El Segundo. 4:30 p.m. June 5. $16-$25; ages 18 and older; advance purchase required. rooftopcinemaclub.com Get our daily Entertainment newsletter Get the day's top stories on Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

News Analysis: Drama over Netanyahu's possible ouster could complicate U.S.-Israel ties

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/drama-over-israeli-leaders-possible-ouster-could-complicate-us-ties

When America’s top diplomat came to Israel late last month, one meeting was more discreet than all the rest. No journalists and only a handful of aides were invited to observe Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s encounter with a centrist Israeli politician named Yair Lapid in the nighttime hours of May 25 at a Jerusalem hotel. It was a delicate moment in Israeli political history, as Lapid worked to form a prospective new government that would exclude Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Just eight days later, Lapid would galvanize Israel with formal word that he had put together a coalition of Netayahu rivals from across the political spectrum in a bid to topple the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who is on trial on corruption charges. The Biden administration says it will work with any Israeli government, maintaining the “ironclad” bond Washington has long had with Israel. But many U.S. officials would scarcely be sorry to see Netanyahu go, after his extraordinarily friendly alliance with former President Trump pushed Israel closer to the GOP camp, complicating what had always been a bipartisan policy relationship. Netanyahu, however, is not going quietly, making not-so-subtle swipes at President Biden that could further roil the relationship, especially as Washington seeks to revive a landmark nuclear accord with Israel’s sworn enemy Iran. With his prospects for keeping his job diminishing by the hour, the Israeli leader this week told senior members of Israel’s security establishment that he would willingly defy the U.S. administration to defend Israel. Speaking Tuesday at a ceremony for the new head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Netanyahu asserted that if a move against Iran were deemed necessary to protect Israelis, that would decisively outweigh any concerns about “friction” with the United States. Israel, the prime minister added, would do “everything — I mean everything” — to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons. As the coalition opposing Netanyahu took shape in earnest, with right-wing religious nationalist Naftali Bennett announcing Sunday he would join forces with Lapid, the Israeli leader further raised eyebrows by appearing to paint Washington as a less-than-reliable ally. After Bennett’s declaration, Netanyahu unleashed an angry speech that almost seemed to draw a comparison between the United States and two of Israel’s bitter foes, Iran and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “If, God forbid, it is formed, how will we look to our enemies?” the embattled Netanyahu said of the emerging new government. “What will they say in Iran? What will they say in Gaza? What will they say in the halls of Washington?” The recent fighting between Israelis and Palestinian militants had already put Biden in a difficult spot with the progressive wing of his own Democratic Party, with some lawmakers urging the president to lean much harder on Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire. If Bennett takes office as prime minister, his past incendiary remarks, including bragging about killing Arabs during his military service, are likely to get even more negative social media attention than they already have from supporters of the Palestinian cause. That will make it more politically costly for Biden to express unqualified support for Israel’s right to self-defense. And to Biden’s domestic political right, there are figures who also seem determined to stir the pot. In recent days, Netanyahu warmly welcomed two staunch Trump allies, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas. Cruz used his visit as a forum to attack what he called Biden’s weakness on Hamas. There is little reason to think that the close U.S.-Israeli relationship will change significantly whether or not Netanyahu loses his perch in coming days — just as its broad parameters remained in place when Trump left office after four years of tightly embracing the right-wing Israeli leader, often at the expense of Palestinian interests. “We will work with any Israeli government going forward as we have in the past,” Blinken said in an interview with CNN en Español during a swing through Central America last week. Even so, an interlude during which a wounded Netanyahu struggles to retain power could prove perilous, analysts say. A national crisis, whatever its form, could derail the coalition’s effort to oust Netanyahu, a colossus of the country’s political scene for a generation. “The extraordinary political developments will generate acutely tense days throughout the coming week,” Amos Harel, an expert on defense issues, wrote in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday. “It’s impossible to ignore the security dangers, both externally and domestically, that loom as long as a [new] government hasn’t been sworn in.” The prospective installation of a new, hard-line Israeli leader — Bennett is a booster of Jewish settlements and a proponent of annexing chunks of the West Bank — could also pose complications for Washington. But Bennett, who would take first turn in a rotation of the prime minister’s job with Lapid, would be accountable to the diverse coalition backing him, rather than leading a right-wing parliamentary bloc. For that reason, analysts say, he is unlikely to try to advance a hard-right agenda regarding the Palestinians, concentrating instead on bread-and-butter issues like healthcare and the economy. After Netanyahu’s Iran outburst on Tuesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who has joined forces with the new coalition, quickly jumped in to emphasize that the United States is Israel’s closest ally. By Thursday, Gantz was in Washington on a previously scheduled visit, offering up effusive praise for Biden and the American friendship with Israel. The parliamentary vote that could result in Netanyahu’s ouster is probably a week or more away. But as many commentators have noted, a week is an eternity in Israeli politics. “An hour in this country can change a lot of things,” said Yonatan Freeman, a politics professor at Hebrew University. In Israel, there is plenty of precedent for a shooting war relegating internal political disputes to the sidelines. Brief but ferocious hostilities last month between Israel and Hamas, an 11-day bout of fighting that killed more than 250 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 12 people on the Israeli side, temporarily halted rivals’ efforts to cobble together an anti-Netanyahu coalition. Bennett returned to the bargaining table with Lapid only after the cease-fire with Hamas was sealed on May 21, leaving a window of less than two weeks to clinch a complicated eight-party effort to jointly challenge Netanyahu. By the time Blinken came to Jerusalem, the coalition-building effort had the potential to pose a genuine threat to the prime minister. Lapid made a point of sharing a photograph of his brief meeting with the U.S. secretary of State on social media. Israeli commentators interpreted talks by the two as a sign that the Biden administration recognized the possibility of a change of leadership. But even after Lapid formally informed President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday that he had secured the backing of a parliamentary majority, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the administration would not comment on any prospective Israeli government before it was inaugurated. When Biden took office, he lost no time in announcing he aimed to revive the Obama-era Iran nuclear pact that Trump had torpedoed. In the intervening months, Netanyahu has made moves that could make it harder to restart those negotiations. Israel broadly hinted it had carried out a massive cyberattack on Iran’s main uranium-enrichment facility in April — when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was visiting Tel Aviv. Gantz, in Washington on Thursday, seemed to rebuke Netanyahu’s public displays of pique over U.S.-Israeli disagreements on Iran. “We will continue this important strategic dialogue in private discussion,” he said. “And by that manner only, not in the media, in a provoking way.” King reported from Tel Aviv and Wilkinson from Washington and Jerusalem.

Newsom kicks off plan to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations as critics lash out

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/newsom-vaccine-lottery-giveaway-campaign-california-recall-covid

Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on a set designed to look like a game show on Friday and drew winners of the first cash prizes in California’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery, part of an effort to boost immunizations that also gives the governor a chance to give away $116.5 million to potential voters before the recall election. “Over the course of the last few weeks, as we saw that decline in those first doses, we realized we need to do a little bit more than just our traditional outreach efforts,” Newsom said, acknowledging that some may question the use of cash giveaways to incentivize what he described as doing the right thing. “But we are where we are, and incentives have long worked, and incentives are indeed what we are advancing here today.” Positioned before crimson and gold curtains on a carefully crafted stage, Newsom plucked numbers from a lottery ball machine in the latest in a series of feel-good announcements from a governor in the middle of a battle to save his political career as he faces a recall election. His political opponents called Friday’s production another example of the governor using taxpayer dollars in an attempt to win over voters. Others viewed the display as smart political strategy from an incumbent looking to distance himself from the recall and deliver an upbeat message to Californians. “He’s leaving that in the dust and pushing forward with as much good news and progress as he can announce,” said Gil Duran, a former press secretary for Gov. Jerry Brown and former opinion editor of the Sacramento Bee. “It can be frustrating for his critics, but when you’re in charge of the rocket ship known as the state of California, you can hit the thrust at any time.” The governor’s California Comeback Plan, the linchpin of his campaign against the recall, has been buoyed by record tax revenues and the ability to hand out $8 billion in stimulus checks to struggling Californians. The state’s flush coffers have also allowed Newsom to craft a proposed budget that caters to many of the requests from labor unions and interest groups. Newsom built on his upbeat messaging Thursday when he announced that restaurants and bars could continue to sell to-go alcoholic drinks after the state’s June 15 reopening and followed Friday by giving out 15 cash prizes of $50,000 each to vaccinated Californians. The governor has touted the mix of cash and gift cards as “the largest prizes of any state in America.” Orrin Heatlie, the main organizer of the campaign to recall Newsom, said the governor is wheeling and dealing in an attempt to survive the campaign to oust him. Giving out lottery prizes is just Newsom’s latest gimmick, he said. “He’s gambling for people’s votes with our taxpayer dollars,” Heatlie said. “Look at his dramatic change in behavior ever since the realization that we qualified the recall.” Republican Caitlyn Jenner, who plans to run against Newsom in the recall election, described the incentives as “more bribes from Gavin Newsom trying to buy your votes” when the governor announced the pot of money last week. “Gavin Newsom’s only priority is self-preservation,” said John Burke, communications director for former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, another Republican who will run against Newsom. Newsom defended his decisions Friday and said he would “absolutely” be spending money on proposals in the same way if he weren’t facing a recall. “This year puts a smile on my face because so many of the things that I hoped to accomplish, maybe at the end of a term or in two terms, we’re able to fast forward, and that’s because of the incredible work of 40 million Californians and the incredible economic recovery the state is enjoying,” he said. Newsom has said the state designed the incentive program to increase vaccines before the expected June 15 reopening date. Over 70% of the adult population in California has received at least one dose. Though the state’s vaccinated population is growing, vaccinations have slowed and total immunizations are still below levels that experts say are necessary to achieve herd immunity. Rob Stutzman, former communications director to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said everything Newsom does leading up to the recall will be seen through a political lens, but called the vaccine lottery a creative way to entice Californians to get vaccinated. Schwarzenegger was known for his theatrics while in office, and Stutzman applauded Newsom’s use of a game show backdrop to improve vaccination rates. “If you can get people to pay attention to this [who] don’t normally pay attention to news, I think it’s worth it,” Stutzman said. Stutzman noted that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio was the first to announce his “Vax-a-Million” incentive prizes. But Jessica Patterson, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, said Newsom’s “Oprah-style” cash giveaway was part of the governor’s strategy to deflect attention from his record as governor. She criticized Newsom for his handling of the state Employment Development Department, which is still plagued with a massive backlog of unpaid unemployment insurance claims filed during the pandemic, and for enacting COVID-19 restrictions that shut down public schools and caused small businesses to go under. “I don’t think Californians are going to forget that. I think he knows that,” Patterson said. “That’s why he is out there pulling all of these stunts.” Newsom, who did not name the winners Friday in order to protect their privacy, plans to draw another 15 names next Friday for $50,000 prizes. The state will increase the prize amount on June 15 with 10 cash awards of $1.5 million each. California is also still giving out $50 gift cards to the first 2 million people to get vaccinated since Newsom announced the vaccine incentives on May 27. It’s unclear if Newsom’s vaccine lottery has made a difference as the governor has asserted. The governor’s office said providers have administered 1 million vaccine doses since he announced the incentive program. State data show higher levels of vaccinations in prior weeks, but the most recent data are probably incomplete because of reporting delays. Duran said there’s no question the lottery is a gimmick, but that doesn’t really matter if it proves effective in getting more Californians vaccinated. He said he doesn’t expect Newsom to let up anytime soon given that the governor is likely to face a recall election a few months from now. Newsom not only wants to defeat the recall effort but needs to crush it, Duran said. “I think Newsom is going to fly right through the recall into reelection,” Duran said. “The question is whether he can keep the momentum and the discipline, and leave this office showing that he did carry through on some of his big promises.”

John Boyega exits Netflix's 'Rebel Ridge' a week into film's production

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-06-04/john-boyega-departs-rebel-ridge-for-family-reasons

With Netflix citing “family reasons,” John Boyega has abruptly exited the lead role in the upcoming film “Rebel Ridge” a week into shooting. “‘Rebel Ridge’ is pausing temporarily as we look to re-cast John Boyega, who needed to leave the project for family reasons,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “We remain committed to Jeremy Saulnier’s extraordinary film and look forward to resuming production. We look forward to continuing our partnership with John Boyega’s UpperRoom Productions, in addition to our upcoming film ‘They Cloned Tyrone,’ in which he also stars.” “Rebel Ridge” had finally begun principal photography in Louisiana after being delayed more than a year by the pandemic. Its cast includes AnnaSophia Robb, Emory Cohen, Don Johnson, James Cromwell, James Badge Dale, Zsane Jhe and Al Vicente. Movies “I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race,” John Boyega told British GQ of his “Star Wars” role. Sept. 2, 2020 Saulnier is best known for directing the acclaimed indie thriller “Green Room.” Netflix does not have an official logline for “Rebel Ridge,” but described it to The Times thusly: “From the acclaimed writer/director of ‘Green Room’ and ‘Blue Ruin,’ ‘Rebel Ridge’ is a deeply human yet high-velocity thriller that explores systemic American injustice in the context of bone-breaking action, ever-coiling suspense, and pitch-black humor.” “They Cloned Tyrone,” Boyega’s other current Netflix project, recently wrapped and costars Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris and Brian Tyree Henry. His next release is slated to be the legal thriller “Naked Singularity,” whose logline is “When a successful New York public defender loses his first case, his life begins to unravel.” Olivia Cooke and Ed Skrein also star. In recent years, the British-Nigerian actor — who debuted on the big screen in “Attack the Block” (2011), gained international fame as Finn in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy and is now a leading Emmy contender for “Small Axe” — had moved into the role of producer-star with his company, UpperRoom Productions (“Pacific Rim: Uprising”). The company is now in pre-production on “Attack the Block 2.” Movies Not too long ago in a galaxy far, far away, John Boyega shot to stardom as a reformed Stormtrooper adventuring his way into the Resistance alongside Rey, Poe, Luke and Leia in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” March 26, 2018 In 2020, UpperrRoom inked a deal with Netflix to produce non-English-language films: “Boyega’s production company will develop film projects based on stories, cast, characters, crew, literary properties, mythology, screenplays and/or other elements in or around African countries, with a focus on West and East Africa,” said the streamer in an statement. At press time, there were no further details on the actor’s departure from “Rebel Ridge” or his potential replacement.

Guatemalan lives are thrown into upheaval by failed immigration bids

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/guatemalan-lives-are-thrown-into-upheaval-by-failed-immigration-bids

Alvina Jerónimo Pérez tries to avoid going out. She doesn’t want to see neighbors. She’s even changed the chip in her cellphone since her failed journey to the United States. The 42-year-old woman is fearful her unsuccessful migration could cost her more than she can bear — even the single-story concrete block house her husband built on land passed down from her great grandparents in this mountaintop hamlet in south-central Guatemala. Her husband, Anibal García, had recently added another room onto the back. The family had borrowed money to pay for the addition and was having trouble paying. Jerónimo thought she might be able to find the money if she migrated. From afar, it seemed a safe bet. Many others in town, even in her own family, had made similar journeys. “Since people were passing [the border], we thought they were going to let us pass,” Jerónimo said. The smuggler told her to bring her daughter to make it a sure thing, banking on the idea U.S. authorities wouldn’t deport a minor or her parent. He promised her a job in the U.S. that would allow her to pay her debt. So she put the house up as collateral to pay the smuggler $7,700. “The deal was that when we had arrived there, we were going to pay that money and they would return [the deed], but it wasn’t possible,” she said. In March 2020, she and her daughter Yessenia, then 14, left Tizamarte. Three weeks later they were caught entering Texas. They were deported a week after that. When Jerónimo realized they would be sent back, she cried. “I thought of everything the trip had cost me. I asked myself, ‘What am I going to do?’ I’ve lost everything.” World & Nation Nineteen burned bodies are found in an area in northern Mexico near the U.S. border that has a long history of horrific violence against migrants. Jan. 30, 2021 Jerónimo’s story is similar to that of thousands of Guatemalans who scramble to gather the money needed to migrate to the United States. Often it comes from relatives already living in the U.S. or networks of informal lenders. Sometimes migrants must sell their possessions, including their homes, or like Jerónimo, use the deeds as collateral. They are driven by the chance of breaking the cycle of poverty that affects 60% of the country’s population. The COVID-19 pandemic initially blunted migration to the U.S. last year, but numbers were soon on the rise again. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 30,000 encounters with Guatemalan migrants at the Southwest border this April. President Biden put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of finding ways to address the root causes of migration and Harris was scheduled to arrive in Guatemala on Sunday. She has been talking with officials and nongovernmental groups about the forces at play, including poverty, corruption, violence and climate change. She has also expressed interest in groups historically facing discrimination including Indigenous peoples, African descendants and LGBTQ communities. The Biden administration fears that an unmanageable number of migrants, especially children and families at the southwest border, will distract from its domestic policy goals even as it tries to present a more compassionate face than its predecessor. Jerónimo is among more than 228,000 Guatemalans deported by the United States since 2015. For many of those, the dream failed. They were sent home with the stigma of failure and staggering debts that can’t be paid in a country where the minimum wage is about $11 per day. She, like many others, sees no way out but to try again. There’s an old and rusting white refrigerator in Jerónimo’s house, though most of the time it’s not plugged in: She often has no food that needs cooling and has to save money on electricity. Most of the time it just serves as a stand for the television perched on top. In the dry winter months, the house is dark and cold under its corrugated tin roof. In the rainy season, it is hot and stifling. It sits close to the dirt road at the entrance to Tizamarte, a village of some 110 families, about 700 people. A five-hour drive from Guatemala’s capital, Tizamarte is in the so-called “dry corridor,” a swath of land extending from southern Mexico to Panama where climate change has evolved into a series of punishing droughts and devastating tropical storms. For people in Tizamarte and other settlements, that means eking out a living with subsistence agriculture to feed their families while harvesting coffee for cash to pay school fees or medicine. Chiquimula, the department or state, where Tizamarte is located, accounts for 10% of Guatemala’s exported coffee, according to the National Coffee Assn., Anacafé. During the coffee harvest from November to February, the village comes alive with an influx of cash, albeit modest. A picker makes about $8 per sack harvested and can usually fill one or two per day. Jerónimo’s husband makes a little extra money by cooking up orders of fried chicken and french fries on a stove at home and selling them for a little under $2 to the pickers. Jerónimo sells basic groceries to passersby from a tiny store in the house’s front room. The couple doesn’t pick coffee and does not have land to grow it. García raises corn and beans for their own consumption on a small rented plot. They typically get by on two meals a day of corn tortillas, beans and coffee. Their home is unusual in town for having running water. Women and children line up at Tizamarte’s five public spigots to fill containers. As in many other parts of Central America, migration to the north has become a tradition. Someone in nearly every family in town has gone to the U.S. or tried to. Politics A hospital said an immigrant’s hands may be amputated after he was found in the winter storm. Border Patrol told him he’d be sent back home, but he is now expected to stay in the U.S. Feb. 28, 2021 “Anyone who has the opportunity should go,” said Adán Rivera, a 40-year-old farmworker. “Migrating isn’t easy; you put yourself in danger. But there is need.” Rivera himself takes his three young sons to harvest coffee because together they can fill three big sacks in a day, earning $24 versus just one he could fill alone. “With that, you can buy more food,” Rivera said. But when the harvest is over, there’s little work, so people leave. So many have left that much of the country survives on remittances they send home. Last year, that accounted for more than 14% of Guatemala’s gross domestic product — a flow of money that that trickles broadly through villages across the nation. In Tizamarte, it’s during the hot months from March to October after the harvest is over, when wages and water dry up and food grows scarce, that people migrate. Last year, Jerónimo decided to join them. She and her daughter left early one morning; she won’t say exactly how. Jerónimo carried a change of clothes in a small knapsack and 500 quetzales — about $65. It was the first time Jerónimo had traveled outside the department of Chiquimula near the Honduras border. For three weeks mother and daughter walked, rode on buses and in cars. Jerónimo says she doesn’t recall the details of their route, but also clearly did not want to share them. What stuck in her memory was concern for her daughter, recalling a time when another migrant, frustrated that the girl’s weariness might slow the group, had threatened her. She remembered nights spent awake making sure no one tried to harm the teenager. At the Mexico-U.S. border — Jerónimo says she doesn’t remember what part — they spent days locked inside a safe house before crossing into Texas, only to be apprehended hours after entering the U.S. The U.S. Border Patrol held them together for seven days and put them on a plane back to Guatemala City. It was the first time Jerónimo had set foot in her country’s capital. Jerónimo said neither she nor her daughter were tested for COVID after being detained or flown back — something that led to widespread complaints against the Trump administration’s deportation flights during the pandemic. Guatemala’s health minister said in April 2020 — the same month Jerónimo and her daughter were deported — that deportees from the United States were driving up the country’s COVID-19 caseload, adding that on one flight some 75% of the deportees tested positive for the virus. Last year, while much of the world was donning protective masks and learning about social distancing, life went on as usual in Tizamarte. There were few confirmed cases in the area — none in Tizamarte — and Jerónimo didn’t wear a mask until she was in Border Patrol custody. Guatemala has limited health services, especially in rural communities like Tizamarte, and has struggled to obtain COVID-19 vaccine. By the end of May, only 133 of the 61,000 residents in the municipality that includes Tizamarte had been vaccinated. Jerónimo finally arrived back home without a cent. She had to ask a relative in the U.S. to wire her $50 to buy bus tickets back to Tizamarte. Others in her family had migrated successfully in past years, though at least one attempt ended in tragedy. Jerónimo’s son-in-law Santiago de León left in December 2018 with his 5-year-old son Wilman. They made it to the U.S. But when he found work, De León had no way to care for his son and sent him home to his wife on a commercial flight with a friend who had a visa. Wilman was one of at least four children sent back to Tizamarte after helping their parents enter the U.S. in 2019 and 2020, residents recalled. De León sends his wife $125 each month to support their three children. Encouraged by his brother’s successful journey, 16-year-old Juan de León left on his own for the U.S. in April 2019. Tránsito Gutiérrez, Juan’s mother, said he had left because he wanted to help the family, which sometimes had nothing to eat. “Juanito” made it into Texas, but was detained by Border Patrol. While in custody he fell ill, was hospitalized and died in Corpus Christi. Guatemalan authorities said he died from a brain infection. He was sent back to Guatemala and buried in Tizamarte. Politics California’s Norma Torres fled Guatemala at 5. Now the only Congress member from Central America says the immigration debate is ‘very, very personal.’ May 27, 2021 Still, nearly a year later, Jerónimo decided she had to go. She has been with García since they were teenagers. They have three children together, two of whom, Yessenia and her 20-year-old brother, live with them. “The house is hers, the land is hers,” he said. “I built it, but there’s nothing in my name. She decided to go.” With debts now hanging over the family, Jerónimo’s mind this past March turned again toward leaving. The coffee harvest — and her husband’s side business — have ended. Soon food would become scarce again. “If I could, I would go,” Jerónimo said. Fried chicken and frugality helped the family pay $650 toward the loan on the home addition, which was destroyed by tropical storms last year. But they still owe more on that. And there’s the $7,700 due for the failed migration attempt. Smugglers in recent years have promised would-be migrants three tries at successfully crossing the U.S. border — an acknowledgment that it’s a large investment that doesn’t always pan out. But Jerónimo had hired the smuggler through an intermediary — a neighbor who lives about 100 yards away — who apparently pocketed a significant portion of the fee, according to Jerónimo. So the smuggler refused to take her again. That neighbor also had arranged a loan for Jerónimo — turning to a migrant living in the U.S. and his father, who lives in a town not far away. Those lenders call and send text messages from time to time asking when she will pay. The first deadline was last October and Jerónimo asked for more time. The threats of seizing her house then became so frequent that Jerónimo changed the chip in her phone. The anxiety of potentially losing the house affects Yessenia as well. The teenager says she’s willing to take the risk of trying on her own to return to the U.S. “Losing the house and being left without anything scares me more,” she said. Yessenia has been out of school for two years, because even before the pandemic her parents couldn’t afford the school fees. She used to dream of being a police officer and fantasizes about being able to study again and buy new clothes, but the risk to the house looms over everything. “I want to save the house and the deed to not be in the hands of someone else, but in our hands,” she said. “So to help my mom I’m going.” Yessenia’s parents disagree. If there’s a way, even if it means risking more debt, Jerónimo said she herself will go. “That is what makes you desperate enough to migrate,” she said. “It’s pure necessity.” This story was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation.

Asylum-seekers help produce Italy's famous Brunello wine

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-04/asylum-seekers-help-produce-italys-famous-brunello-wine

Summer is arriving in Italy’s wine country in Tuscany, and the leaves on the vines shimmer in gold and green. Yahya Adams moves his gloves through the foliage, removing excess buds and shoots to make the vines stronger. He’s among 24 asylum-seekers from Africa and Asia who are working in the vineyards of Tenute Silvio Nardi on this year’s crop of Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy’s most famous wines. They come from Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Pakistan and other countries, with no prior experience in wine-making. But they have found temporary work here through a local nonprofit group that helps asylum-seekers find legal employment in vineyards or olive groves while their claims are being processed. Adams, a 21-year-old from Ghana, is enjoying learning the craft. “I like to study how the plant grows and I want to improve in this job,” he said. “And one day, I could teach others who arrive how to do the work, how to manage the plants, everything.” Adams left Ghana when he was just 14 to search for work abroad. He spent two years in Libya, a conflict-ridden North African country where many migrants hoping to reach Europe face abuse and extortion from ruthless human smugglers. Adams said he was temporarily held in captivity in Libya and considered going home to Ghana before making it to Italy on a ship with 118 other migrants. After living in centers for unaccompanied minors, he tried to find work in Belgium, but returned to Italy, where he is now enrolled in the agricultural work program of the Cooperativa Agricola San Francesco. The NGO aims to bring asylum-seekers into the labor market with the same pay and working conditions as Italians, keeping them away from the off-the-books system known as “caporalato,” in which migrant workers often get exploited. The phenomenon is widespread among seasonal workers in the agricultural sector, where almost 40% are hired irregularly, according to the Placido Rizzotto Observatory, a union watchdog group monitoring the infiltration of organized crime in agriculture. “Some of them, they can tell you, for three or four years they worked in the black market, with no contract, nothing, so they did not exist. They didn’t have social security, nothing. Here they have a contract, there is hope,” said Salis Godje, who coordinates the program for Cooperativa Agricola San Francesco. Godje, who came to Italy from Togo as a student and received a degree in economics, said the asylum-seekers selected for the program are given a training course to learn the basics of vineyard work. After that, they do three seasonal stints in the vineyard, pruning in the winter and summer and harvesting in the fall. Nicola Peirce, the president of the NGO, said the workers are paid around 7 euros ($8.52) an hour and work eight hours a day, in line with Italian union requirements for agricultural work. Others who end up working irregularly often earn half as much while working longer hours. The program is now in its second year at Tenute Silvio Nardi, a family-owned winemaker established in the 1950s in the hills of Casale del Bosco. It annually produces 210,000 bottles of wine made with Sangiovese grapes, including 160,000 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino, which is aged for five years before release. The asylum-seekers work in teams of eight over 40 acres, pruning vines under the supervision of agronomist Vittorio Stringari. “You need to have some patience in the beginning,” Stringari said. “Like with everyone who starts a new job, there is a phase of apprenticeship. But given that they are very motivated ... they very quickly fill the technical gap.” Adams considers himself lucky to have a job that he likes and from which he earns enough to send some money to his family in Ghana. “If I had this work in my country, I would not go anywhere,” he said.

Trump's Facebook ban may end in time for the 2024 presidential campaign

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2021-06-04/facebook-says-trump-ban-may-expire-in-2023-if-conditions-permit

Donald Trump is too dangerous to allow on Facebook right now, the social media company has decided. Instead, the former U.S. president will have to wait until at least Jan. 7, 2023, to make his triumphant return to the site — giving him just enough time to log back on for the next presidential race. Responding to a mandate from a semi-independent oversight committee that reviews its content moderation decisions, Facebook said Trump will be eligible to resume posting on Facebook and Instagram two years after the riots at the U.S. Capitol that he was initially suspended for encouraging. That timing means he could regain his social media megaphone in time for the 2024 presidential campaign — provided the company determines he no longer poses a threat by then. “At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, wrote in a post announcing the decision. “We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest. If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded.” In the event the ban is lifted, Clegg added, “there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations … up to and including permanent removal.” The social media company also announced that it has implemented new moderation policies “to be applied in exceptional cases such as this,” suggesting that the verdict in this case could serve as a template for future decisions. As with the previous steps in the company’s long, arduous process of deciding what to do about Trump’s account, the decision has drawn plenty of harsh reviews from critics, including the former president himself. In an email statement issued Friday afternoon, Trump called the move an insult to his supporters, saying that Facebook “shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring” and that America “can’t take this abuse anymore,” while repeating the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. Facebook’s announcement comes just under a month after the company’s Oversight Board — a cohort of 20 scholars, lawyers, journalists and advocates tasked with reviewing and issuing what Facebook says are binding decisions on some of its toughest content moderation decisions — said that the open-ended suspension Trump had initially been given was inconsistent with “the rules that are applied to other users.” “It was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension,” the board said at the time. “Facebook’s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.” It’s that middle option — a “time-bound period of suspension” — that Facebook has opted for, doing so well within the six-month deadline the board gave the company. After years of debate around how and when social media platforms should fact-check posts, take down content and ban users, including heads of state, Trump’s two-year ban is a signal from Facebook that the company stands by its initial January decision to silence Trump for his role in the Capitol riots. But it’s also another example of the company’s hesitancy to make a permanent decision on the matter. After referring its initial ban to the Oversight Board for confirmation or veto, Facebook has now hedged its bets once again, kicking the can down the road to a point in time when it may no longer be as charged. It’s a non-resolution that has left the company’s biggest critics unsatisfied. “While many people will breathe a sigh of relief today that Facebook has banned Donald Trump for a further two years, this decision only goes to underline the enormous, unchecked power of Facebook and its repeated failure to police its platform,” wrote the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a watchdog group that tends to be critical of Facebook’s moderation policies. “Trump and his allies used Facebook to incite an insurrection and attempted coup of the United States Government. The punishment: Back on Facebook just in time for Trump 2024.” Technology and the Internet Frozen in time since the Jan. 6 insurrection, perhaps forever, Donald Trump’s Facebook page lives on as an internet destination for #MAGA fans and #Resistance types alike. April 23, 2021 The choice amounts to “a two year time-out,” the group added on Twitter. Shireen Mitchell — a member of the group and the founder of Stop Online Violence Against Women — told The Times that she thinks Facebook’s hesitancy to permanently ban Trump is rooted in the platform’s ad-based business model. “They’re still worried about their profit margins,” she said. “Some of this bottom line is about money, and they probably were able to make a lot of money from Trump and the ads.” That also helps explain the timeline Facebook created, Mitchell continued. “Why not after 2024? Why wait till the year just before?” she asked. “Because to me, they’re not being honest about the profit model that they have been benefiting from. With any of the political advertisements … I’m 100% sure one of the biggest times that that happens is during presidential elections.” Other organizations were similarly critical. Madihha Ahussain, senior policy counsel for the civil rights nonprofit Muslim Advocates, wrote that by allowing Trump to eventually return to the platform, Facebook leaders “have chosen a path that guarantees more hate and disinformation from him on Facebook in the run-up to the next presidential election.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also expressed skepticism that Trump would use Facebook more responsibly in two years, saying it “feels pretty unlikely that the zebra’s going to change its stripes,” reported CNN’s Brian Stelter. But as has often been the case in debates about social media moderation, criticism that Facebook isn’t doing enough has been accompanied by equally vociferous criticism that the company is doing too much. “Banning a major political voice from one of the largest communications platforms in the world for multiple years is concerning,” said Nora Pelizzari, director of communications at the National Coalition Against Censorship. “That’s always going to be concerning, no matter who the political leader [is], no matter the content of their speech.” But one upside, she said, is that the ban is set to expire in time for Trump to come back online for a hypothetical 2024 presidential run: “I think [it] is a good thing that he as a candidate would be able to share his views with everyone who both agrees and disagrees” with him. And the fact that Facebook now has a concrete policy in place for how it will handle these sorts of cases going forward is “great news,” she added, since transparent guidelines help users anticipate what they can and cannot get away with on a platform. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) also criticized Facebook’s decision on free speech grounds, writing in a statement that “unless Congress acts, Big Tech is going to continue to censor Americans,” while pushing for a bill that would reclassify social media platforms as “common carriers” that must give all users more or less equal access. Facebook’s ruling comes a day after news broke that the company would be revising a controversial policy that gave politicians special exemptions from certain site moderation policies, under the logic that what leaders like Trump have to say is inherently newsworthy. “We grant our newsworthiness allowance to a small number of posts on our platform,” Clegg said in his Friday statement announcing Trump’s two-year ban. “Moving forward, we will begin publishing the rare instances when we apply it. ... When we assess content for newsworthiness, we will not treat content posted by politicians any differently from content posted by anyone else. Instead, we will simply apply our newsworthiness balancing test in the same way to all content.” Trump has been relatively quiet in his post-presidency, with occasional Mar-a-Lago appearances standing in for what was once a high-profile presence on Facebook and Twitter — platforms that, alongside many other websites, have given him the boot. On Wednesday, he shut down the “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” blog he’d set up as a sort of one-man alternative to Twitter; his senior aide Jason Miller later said this move was a precursor to Trump joining another social network. It is now clear that Facebook, at least, won’t be that network — at least not any time soon.

Three kale salads to keep in your fridge all summer long

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2021-06-04/three-kale-salads-to-keep-in-your-fridge-all-summer-long

I’m a kale hater. Well, a raw kale hater, specifically. I can eat the cooked stuff if I have to (I’d always prefer a turnip/collard/mustard green or Swiss chard), but raw is downright torturous. It’s exceedingly chlorophyll-y, not to mention, there’s all that chewing. However, the one preparation where its textural stubbornness is a boon is in cold, marinated salads — the kind where you massage the kale with an acidic vinaigrette first to soften it a bit. These salads are just what I want throughout the summer when temps start to rise again during the day and all I have patience for is reaching into the fridge for a cold, crunchy lunch. In the kale salad from APL restaurant, Tuscan kale is massaged with salt first, then tossed with radishes and apples and a tart lemon vinaigrette spiked with Dijon mustard and sweetened with honey. In a more summery iteration, the leaves are massaged with lemon juice until tender and then slicked with walnut oil and topped with chunks of ripe peaches, dates and toasted pepitas. And finally, a simple pasta salad is bulked up with kale that’s been massaged in lemon juice and copious amounts of garlic until the citrus juice tames both into a refreshing fridge salad dotted with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and smoked almonds. In all three salads, the hardy kale stands firm against the dressing to hold its shape over days, while acquiescing only so much to retain a much more palatable chew. And in turn, the assertive vinaigrettes flavor the leaves, transforming them into something bearable (for me) to eat any day of summer. Get the recipes:

In this season of obstacles, Lakers couldn't regain health

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2021-06-04/lakers-season-derailed-by-injuries-health

Instead of having his jersey soaked in champagne and being clouded by cigar smoke, LeBron James handed his uniform to Devin Booker, a trophy for the Phoenix Suns’ young star to take with him after he helped end what seemed like the longest season an NBA team has ever undertaken. It’s been nearly 330 days since the Lakers arrived in Orlando for the league’s bubble experiment, a challenge they conquered. But with only 72 days separating the title celebration from its defense, the Lakers never felt like they started something new. They spent this season merely trying to hang on to the glory they had. “From the moment we entered the bubble to now, today, it’s been draining,” James said Thursday night after elimination from the playoffs. “Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally draining.” The Lakers head into the offseason empty and unfulfilled, left to wonder whether the team they assembled would’ve been good enough if only their muscles hadn’t strained and their tendons hadn’t torn. “The one thing that bothers me more than anything,” James said, “is we never really got an opportunity to see our full team at full strength.” Time ran out on the Lakers’ plans to get healthy and whole. And it happened fast. In some ways the end snuck up on the Lakers, much like the start of the 2020-21 season, which stars like James expected to start a month later than it actually did. “I was like, ‘Wow,’” James said after learning the news last fall. “And [then] I said, ‘Oh, s—.’” In other ways, how could things end any other way, the year designed to test NBA players in so many mental and physical ways, and the Lakers entering the season still recovering from the championship run. It began in empty arenas under strict health and safety protocols, the schedule compressed to try to provide the league’s TV partners with as much content as possible without stretching the season too deeply into summer. Players were tested daily for COVID-19, required to wear masks on the bench and were mostly confined to their team hotels when not at home, where there were also rules about who they could interact with. Instead of buzzing with conversations about long-term extensions for James and Anthony Davis or their offseason additions — Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Matthews — the concourses at Staples Center were abandoned, the deafening hum of silence broken only by artificial crowd noise. Lakers During a stunningly sordid playoff exit Thursday in Game 6, the Lakers future is in doubt with LeBron James aging and Anthony Davis appearing frail. June 4, 2021 Even with Davis slowly playing himself into form, the team looked like one of the best in the league, its stars leading a defense that traded size and strength for smarts and versatility. They were 21-6, Lakers coach Frank Vogel openly calling James the league’s probable MVP, before everything changed with one bad step in Denver. Davis, playing in his second game after missing two because of Achilles soreness, reached to the back of his leg before limping his way off the court. A rupture was ruled out, but Davis wouldn’t return to the court for more than two months. James would soon join Davis on the sidelines, Solomon Hill diving for a loose ball and taking out James’ legs instead, his screams echoing through the empty Staples Center. He’d miss more than a month because of a high ankle sprain, and he wouldn’t get back to 100% all season. “We were rolling. We had the pieces. We just couldn’t stay healthy,” Davis said. In and around those injuries, the Lakers had to deal with the realities of the ongoing pandemic. Alex Caruso and Schroder missed extended time after exposures to COVID. Gasol would test positive and miss three weeks. Schroder would end up back in the health and safety protocols in the final month of the season. Lakers fans react to their season coming to an end with a loss to the Phoenix Suns on June 3, 2021, at Staples Center. The team eventually reached the 85% vaccination threshold that lightened some restrictions, though not without controversy. Schroder told German media that he wasn’t vaccinated. On multiple occasions James declined to publicly say whether or not he received the vaccine. Along with a tweet in the aftermath of Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction, in which James posted a photo of another officer involved in a shooting in Ohio, the Lakers star found himself subject to plenty of off-court criticism. With the two stars sidelined, the Lakers toyed with making big changes to the roster, discussing a trade with Toronto that would’ve had the team acquire veteran All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry in a deal that would’ve been centered on Talen-Horton Tucker and Schroder — who turned down an in-season extension. The Lakers ended up not meeting the Raptors’ price, but the team did sign center Andre Drummond after his contract was bought out by Cleveland. Drummond moved into the starting lineup, another piece for the Lakers to try to fit. Davis beat James back onto the court, with the duo finally set to play together for the final 10 games of the season, but James’ ankle sprain needed more recovery time. A loss in Portland pushed the Lakers into the postseason play-in tournament, forcing them to beat Stephen Curry and Golden State for a spot in the postseason. The Lakers won and drew the Suns, entering the playoffs as favorites over No. 2-seeded Phoenix. By the middle of Game 3, it seemed like the Lakers were in control with a win in Phoenix and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. But injuries to Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope derailed the Lakers’ postseason, the Suns winning the final two games to advance. “The Phoenix Suns, the second-best record in the NBA for a reason,” Vogel said after the Lakers were eliminated. “This is a matchup that, if we’re whole, it should probably take place in the conference finals. But obviously the regular season was what it was with injuries, and we slipped.” Sports The Lakers and Clippers open the NBA playoffs on May 22-23. Here’s a guide to the Los Angeles Times’ complete coverage. May 21, 2021 Unable to successfully defend their title, they were left to wonder whether they were good enough to have gotten it done had circumstances been different, had they gotten a little luckier. “I feel like if we were healthy, 100% healthy, I feel like we could have won this year,” Caldwell-Pope said. Instead, they walk into an offseason left to decide whether or not to run it back. Schroder, Caruso, Drummond and Horton-Tucker are among the team’s key free agents. Harrell has a player option to return that he could exercise. And if the Lakers don’t believe they’re good enough, they’ll have to find creative ways to address it with the team already committed to playing Davis, James, Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma a combined $103 million next season. With all that at stake, you’d think the Lakers would have left Staples Center angry Thursday night, frustrated with a season that ended before they could reach their goals. While there was some of that, there was also some relief, the Lakers getting the time they need to reset before trying for another title. “Build up. Rest and get right back,” Davis said. Next season will be here before they know it.

Why L.A. monument status for 'Pop Art nun' Corita Kent's studio matters for women in art

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-04/corita-kent-studio-receives-los-angeles-monument-status-rare-achievement-for-woman-artist

If you drew a Venn diagram that brought together Charles Eames, Pop Art, commercial printing, social justice movements, the Second Vatican Council and 1960s Los Angeles, only one person could inhabit the space where those areas intersect: Corita Kent. A nun in the order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for more than three decades, Sister Mary Corita was a well-known educator and artist dubbed the “Pop Art nun” by the press. A key mentor was Eames; she went on to mentor Sister Karen Boccalero, who founded the Chicano art center Self Help Graphics & Art in East L.A. In her classroom at Immaculate Heart College, Kent taught the art of silkscreen printing — a commercial form that she adapted to the era of Pop. In the wake of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which called for a liberalization and modernization of the Catholic liturgy to the realities of 20th century life, she delved into creating work that echoed calls for social justice — be it antiwar efforts, labor campaigns or Black and Chicano civil rights. Her work at its most innovative took vernacular culture — commercial logos and graphics, bits of corporate slogans, images from mass media — and reconfigured them into fine art. Art that not only advanced the ways in which these elements were used formally, but that grounded Pop, a form that could be too enamored of its own cleverness, in currents that were as spiritual as they were political. As independent curator Michael Duncan wrote of her work in a 2013 catalog: “She addressed consumers not of products but of life.” Entertainment & Arts Pope Francis, meet Sister Corita. June 24, 2015 (That catalog, incidentally, was published in connection with the engaging Kent retrospective “Someday Is Now: The Art of Corita Kent,” at the Pasadena Museum of California Art in 2015.) Almost 35 years after her death, Kent is still breaking new ground. On Wednesday, the L.A. City Council approved historic-cultural monument status for the artist’s former studio — a humble storefront on Franklin Avenue, near Western Avenue that in recent years had been inhabited by a dry cleaner. The designation is important not just because Kent was an artist whose work was a critical part of the artistic dialogues Los Angeles was having in the 1960s, but also because she represents the rare woman to be honored in the city’s landscape. As the Los Angeles Conservancy noted in its advocacy for preserving Kent’s studio building, only 3% of the city’s more than 1,200 historic-cultural monuments are associated with women’s heritage. (And as my colleague Makeda Easter reported in April, only 6% are associated with communities of color.) In fact, L.A. generally has relatively few historic-cultural monument sites associated with visual arts history. Among them are the Tom of Finland House in Echo Park, the Santa Monica residence and studio that once belonged to artist Don Bachardy and writer Christopher Isherwood, and the rambling hillside estate that is the former site of the Hollywood Art Center School, the independent art school established by Henry Lovins in the early 20th century. Entertainment & Arts The Getty Conservation Institute and the city are embarking on a three-year project to preserve landmarks that represent Black heritage across L.A. April 6, 2021 There are fewer sites associated exclusively with women artists. A cursory scan of the lengthy historical-cultural monuments list produced by the Department of City Planning turns up the Woman’s Building in Chinatown, which had served as a hub of feminist art production in the 1970s and ‘80s. Even at a national level it’s hard to find studios that belonged exclusively to women. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s former home and studio in New Mexico is one of the rarities. Historic studio spaces that do incorporate women tend do so as part of a pair, such as the home that once belonged to Abstract Expressionist painters Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock on New York’s Long Island or the Charles and Ray Eames House in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades. The designation is reflective of a shift in preservationists’ thinking about how we acknowledge history — thinking that is less preoccupied with the pristine historical details of a site than in making sure a wide range of histories are acknowledged in a city’s landscape. Late last year, the 1970 protest route of the Chicano Moratorium was listed in the National Register of Historic Places; early this year, the Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights — a key site of Chicano activism — was added to the list. In April, the Getty Conservation Institute announced it was teaming up with the Office of Historic Resources at the Department of Planning to help identify and preserve sites connected with Black heritage. The Getty’s Susan Macdonald told The Times that this was a moment to reevaluate how sites are deemed historic and examine the “processes and practices” that might serve as “barriers to social justice.” The storefront that Kent inhabited, where she taught and collaborated with students and created some of her most memorable work, no longer bears traces of her presence. Kent left the space — and Los Angeles — after she withdrew from the Immaculate Heart of Mary order in favor of a secular life in the late 1960s. Part of her departure may have been due to pressures related to her increasingly high profile: At one point, she was featured on the cover of Newsweek. It may have also stemmed from simmering tensions between the liberal Immaculate Heart order and the staunchly conservative Archbishop James Francis McIntyre, who once complained that that the work produced by Kent and the college’s art department was “an affront to me and a scandal to the archdiocese.” In 1970, Immaculate Heart split from the church and is today an independent ecumenical community. The studio storefront, which is currently unoccupied, sits on a small corner of a 1.7-acre parcel that also contains a shuttered Rite-Aid. Recently, the plot was acquired by a pair of real estate development companies who intend to turn the site into a Lazy Acres natural foods market. Part of their original plan had been to tear down the studio to make way for additional parking. (Yes, parking.) That plan has since been amended to leave the old studio building intact. This comes thanks to the work of many L.A. preservationists, among them the staff at the Corita Art Center, which is located just across the street in a complex of buildings still inhabited by the Immaculate Heart Community. “The big question is what’s next,” says the center’s director Nellie Scott. It’s too soon to say what the developers will do with the property — whether they would sell it or lease it for the purpose of an arts center. “We know that there are a thousand more conversations to happen.” Scott hopes that the end result is something that is in keeping with Kent’s spirit — which wasn’t simply about showing off polished works, but instead more focused on spurring collaboration and thinking around social action. “It’ll be a shared vision with our neighbors, and the larger community as well, as how do we center artistic process and community,” she says. “The finished product on the wall is great. The art is what we center around. But the process is what we are interested in. So how do we center that?” California A developer’s plan has set off a debate over whether L.A. should try to protect the building that has long been home to Taix, a popular Echo Park restaurant. June 1, 2021 The location couldn’t be better for something of that nature: It’s one block from a Metro stop and there is a high school right across the street. (And for those who a like a bit of the unholy, it’s also right around the corner from Charles Bukowski’s favorite Hollywood liquor store, the Pink Elephant.) Plus, there is something poetic about being able to catch a bit of art on a trip to the grocery. “It’s how do you incorporate art into the everyday,” says Scott. “That was at the core of Corita.” Art preoccupied with the spiritual and the political? In an easily accessible place that isn’t dominated by the art market? We could all use a bit more of that.

Movies on TV this week: 'The Diving Bell And The Butterfly' on Cinemax; 'Taxi Driver' on TMC

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/movies-on-tv-this-week-the-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly-on-cinemax-taxi-driver-on-tmc

Movies on TV for the entire week, June. 6 - 12 in interactive PDF format for easy downloading and printing June 4, 2021 Four Star Films, Box Office Hits, Indies and Imports, Movies A - Z FOUR STAR FILMS Top rated movies and made-for-TV films airing the week of the week of June 6 - 12, 2021 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) Cinemax Fri. 4:44 a.m. The Blue Angel (1930) TCM Fri. 3 p.m. The Crying Game (1992) Showtime Fri. 3 a.m. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) Cinemax Tues. 6:45 a.m. Forrest Gump (1994) VH1 Fri. 4:30 p.m. VH1 Fri. 8 p.m. His Girl Friday (1940) KVCR Sat. 9:58 p.m. Interrupted Melody (1955) TCM Tues. 5:45 a.m. It Happened One Night (1934) TCM Wed. 9:15 p.m. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) TCM Sun. 9 a.m. Once (2006) Cinemax Tues. 10:05 p.m. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Paramount Sat. 10:45 a.m. Paramount Sat. 7 p.m. Saving Private Ryan (1998) AMC Sat. 11 p.m. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) AMC Sat. 8 p.m. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) AMC Sun. 2:58 a.m. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) TCM Wed. 7:15 p.m. A Star Is Born (1954) TCM Thur. 2 p.m. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) TBS Sat. 11:30 a.m. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) TBS Sat. 2:15 p.m. Taxi Driver (1976) TMC Thur. 8 p.m. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Sundance Mon. 9 p.m. Sundance Tues. Noon Twentieth Century (1934) TCM Sun. 5:15 a.m. Four Star Films, Box Office Hits, Indies and Imports, Movies A - Z BRAVO, IFC & SUNDANCE IN PRIMETIME Bravo, IFC & Sundance in primetime, airing the week of the week of June 6 - 12, 2021 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) ★★★ IFC Tues. 8 p.m. IFC Wed. 12:25 p.m. Another Stakeout (1993) ★★★ IFC Fri. Noon IFC Sat. 9:30 a.m. The Breakfast Club (1985) ★★★ IFC Fri. 10 p.m. IFC Sat. 2:50 a.m. Bride Wars (2009) ★ E! Sun. 1:30 p.m. Bravo Fri. 2:30 p.m. Bravo Sat. 1 a.m. Bridesmaids (2011) ★★★ Bravo Fri. 7 p.m. Bravo Fri. 10 p.m. E! Sat. 9 p.m. Bruce Almighty (2003) ★★ Bravo Mon. 10:30 p.m. Bravo Tues. 12:32 p.m. Bravo Sat. 3:30 p.m. Bravo Sat. 5:34 p.m. Captain Phillips (2013) ★★★ Sundance Sun. 12:30 p.m. AMC Wed. 9 a.m. Sundance Sat. 5 p.m. Crocodile Dundee II (1988) ★★ Sundance Sun. 6:30 p.m. IFC Fri. 5 p.m. IFC Sat. 2:30 p.m. Dazed and Confused (1993) ★★★ IFC Sun. 8 p.m. IFC Mon. 12:45 p.m. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) ★★★ IFC Sun. 10:15 p.m. IFC Mon. 3 a.m. IFC Fri. 7:30 p.m. IFC Sat. 12:20 p.m. A Few Good Men (1992) ★★★ AMC Mon. 2 p.m. AMC Tues. 9 a.m. Sundance Sat. 8 p.m. The Great Outdoors (1988) ★★ IFC Sat. 7 p.m. IFC Sat. 11 p.m. The Heartbreak Kid (2007) ★★ IFC Tues. 1:10 p.m. Home Again (2017) ★★ Bravo Sun. 12:46 p.m. The Hot Chick (2002) ★ IFC Tues. 3:40 p.m. IFC Wed. 2:40 a.m. Hot Shots! (1991) ★★★ IFC Sun. 6 p.m. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) ★★★ IFC Sun. 4 p.m. IFC Fri. 10 a.m. The Hunt for Red October (1990) ★★★ Sundance Sun. 3:30 p.m. BBC America Tues. 8 p.m. BBC America Tues. 11 p.m. The Karate Kid Part II (1986) ★★ Sundance Mon. Noon Sundance Mon. 3:30 p.m. The Karate Kid Part III (1989) ★★ Sundance Mon. 2:30 a.m. The Karate Kid (1984) ★★★ Sundance Sun. 9 p.m. Sundance Mon. 6 p.m. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) ★★★ IFC Sun. 2 p.m. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) ★★★ IFC Sat. 5 p.m. IFC Sun. 3 a.m. Point Break (2015) ★★ IFC Thur. 3:30 a.m. Pretty Woman (1990) ★★★ E! Sun. 8:30 p.m. Bravo Thur. 11:15 p.m. Bravo Fri. 4:30 p.m. Run All Night (2015) ★★ IFC Thur. 1 a.m. Seabiscuit (2003) ★★★ Sundance Tues. 9:45 a.m. AMC Thur. 1 a.m. AMC Thur. 11:45 a.m. Silver Bullet (1985) ★★ Sundance Wed. 1 p.m. Spaceballs (1987) ★★ Showtime Tues. 6:15 a.m. IFC Sat. 9 p.m. IFC Sun. 1 a.m. Stakeout (1987) ★★★ IFC Fri. 2:30 p.m. IFC Sat. Noon Super Troopers 2 (2018) ★★ IFC Tues. 5:50 p.m. IFC Tues. 10:15 p.m. Sweet Home Alabama (2002) ★★ E! Sun. 6 p.m. Bravo Sat. 7:35 p.m. Bravo Sat. 10:10 p.m. Taken 2 (2012) ★★ BBC America Sun. 5 p.m. BBC America Mon. 3 a.m. IFC Wed. 4 p.m. IFC Wed. 8:30 p.m. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ★★★★ Sundance Mon. 9 p.m. Sundance Tues. Noon Thinner (1996) ★★ Sundance Wed. 11 a.m. 2 Guns (2013) ★★ IFC Wed. 6 p.m. IFC Wed. 10:30 p.m. Four Star Films, Box Office Hits, Indies and Imports, Movies A - Z BOX OFFICE HITS Movies that scored big at the box office, airing the week of the week of June 6 - 12, 2021 The Addams Family (1991) ★★ BBC America Wed. 8 p.m. BBC America Wed. 10 p.m. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) ★★★ Encore Sun. 6:41 p.m. Armageddon (1998) ★★ USA Tues. 5 p.m. USA Tues. 10:09 p.m. As Good as It Gets (1997) ★★★ Encore Tues. 5:03 p.m. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ★★★ USA Thur. 7 p.m. USA Thur. 10 p.m. Back to the Future (1985) ★★★ MTV Mon. 10 a.m. MTV Mon. 5:30 p.m. Back to the Future Part II (1989) ★★★ MTV Mon. 12:30 p.m. VH1 Fri. 11:30 a.m. Back to the Future Part III (1990) ★★★ MTV Mon. 3 p.m. VH1 Fri. 2 p.m. Bad Boys II (2003) ★★ VH1 Sat. 8 p.m. Basic Instinct (1992) ★★★ Cinemax Sun. 10:20 a.m. Cinemax Sat. 2:30 a.m. Beetlejuice (1988) ★★★ Freeform Mon. 3 p.m. Freeform Tues. 1 p.m. The Birdcage (1996) ★★★ EPIX Tues. 10:55 a.m. Boomerang (1992) ★★ BET Thur. 9 p.m. BET Fri. 5 p.m. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) ★★★ Showtime Mon. 3:30 p.m. Braveheart (1995) ★★★ Encore Sun. 11 p.m. Encore Mon. 8:03 a.m. The Breakfast Club (1985) ★★★ IFC Fri. 10 p.m. IFC Sat. 2:50 a.m. Bridesmaids (2011) ★★★ Bravo Fri. 7 p.m. Bravo Fri. 10 p.m. E! Sat. 9 p.m. Bruce Almighty (2003) ★★ Bravo Mon. 10:30 p.m. Bravo Tues. 12:32 p.m. Bravo Sat. 3:30 p.m. Bravo Sat. 5:34 p.m. Cast Away (2000) ★★★ Freeform Sun. 1:40 p.m. Freeform Sun. 10:45 p.m. Chicago (2002) ★★★ Starz Tues. 6:19 a.m. Clear and Present Danger (1994) ★★★ Ovation Sat. 7:30 p.m. The Client (1994) ★★★ Ovation Tues. 9 p.m. Cocktail (1988) ★★ BBC America Tues. Noon BBC America Sat. 2:30 a.m. Con Air (1997) ★★ AMC Tues. 8 p.m. AMC Wed. 5:30 p.m. Conan the Barbarian (1982) ★★★ Showtime Thur. 3:15 a.m. Crocodile Dundee II (1988) ★★ Sundance Sun. 6:30 p.m. IFC Fri. 5 p.m. IFC Sat. 2:30 p.m. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) ★★★ Starz Mon. 2:51 p.m. The Crying Game (1992) ★★★★ Showtime Fri. 3 a.m. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) ★★★ HBO Tues. 1:55 p.m. Deep Impact (1998) ★★ AMC Sat. 5:30 a.m. AMC Sat. 11:30 a.m. Demolition Man (1993) ★★ BBC America Sun. 7 p.m. BBC America Mon. 12:30 p.m. Dirty Dancing (1987) ★★★ Cinemax Wed. 1:50 a.m. Cinemax Fri. 10:57 p.m. Django Unchained (2012) ★★★ Showtime Tues. 7 p.m. Doctor Zhivago (1965) ★★★ TCM Sat. 5 p.m. Erin Brockovich (2000) ★★★ AMC Sun. 5:28 a.m. Far and Away (1992) ★★★ Encore Tues. 3:20 a.m. Fast & Furious 6 (2013) ★★ TBS Fri. 8 p.m. TBS Sat. 1 a.m. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) ★★★ IFC Sun. 10:15 p.m. IFC Mon. 3 a.m. IFC Fri. 7:30 p.m. IFC Sat. 12:20 p.m. A Few Good Men (1992) ★★★ AMC Mon. 2 p.m. AMC Tues. 9 a.m. Sundance Sat. 8 p.m. First Blood (1982) ★★★ Showtime Mon. 10:30 a.m. The First Wives Club (1996) ★★★ Encore Wed. 5:05 p.m. Flatliners (1990) ★★★ Encore Mon. 6:06 a.m. Forrest Gump (1994) ★★★★ VH1 Fri. 4:30 p.m. VH1 Fri. 8 p.m. Frozen (2013) ★★★ Freeform Sat. 9:35 p.m. Ghost (1990) ★★★ BBC America Fri. 1 a.m. BBC America Fri. 8:30 p.m. Ghostbusters (1984) ★★★ Syfy Fri. 7:35 p.m. Syfy Sat. 5:05 p.m. Ghostbusters II (1989) ★★ Syfy Sat. 7:30 p.m. Gladiator (2000) ★★★ Showtime Fri. 2:25 p.m. Good Will Hunting (1997) ★★★ Starz Thur. 8:12 a.m. Starz Thur. 8:55 p.m. Grease (1978) ★★★ BBC America Thur. 8 p.m. BBC America Fri. 6 p.m. The Hangover Part II (2011) ★★ FX Sat. 8 p.m. The Hangover (2009) ★★★ FX Sat. 6 p.m. Hot Shots! (1991) ★★★ IFC Sun. 6 p.m. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) ★★★ Nickelodeon Sun. 8 p.m. Hulk (2003) ★★ Showtime Sat. 8:05 a.m. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) ★★★ Paramount Mon. 10 p.m. POP Fri. 11:30 p.m. POP Sat. 3:30 p.m. The Hunger Games (2012) ★★★ Paramount Mon. 7 p.m. Paramount Tues. 1 a.m. POP Fri. 8 p.m. POP Sat. Noon The Hunt for Red October (1990) ★★★ Sundance Sun. 3:30 p.m. BBC America Tues. 8 p.m. BBC America Tues. 11 p.m. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) ★★ Freeform Sat. 2:50 p.m. In the Line of Fire (1993) ★★★ Showtime Tues. 3:55 a.m. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) ★★ Paramount Sat. 8 a.m. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) ★★★ Paramount Sat. 4 p.m. Paramount Sat. 9:30 p.m. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) ★★★ Paramount Sat. 1:22 p.m. Paramount Sun. 12:30 p.m. Jumanji (1995) ★★ POP Mon. 10:25 p.m. POP Tues. 2:50 a.m. CMT Sat. 7:30 p.m. CMT Sun. 12:30 p.m. Jurassic Park (1993) ★★★ Syfy Sun. 2:05 p.m. USA Sat. 9:10 a.m. USA Sat. 5:05 p.m. Jurassic Park III (2001) ★★ Syfy Sun. 8 p.m. Syfy Mon. 6 p.m. USA Sat. 3:03 p.m. USA Sat. 10:56 p.m. The Karate Kid Part II (1986) ★★ Sundance Mon. Noon Sundance Mon. 3:30 p.m. The Karate Kid (2010) ★★ VH1 Fri. 11:30 p.m. VH1 Sat. Noon The Karate Kid (1984) ★★★ Sundance Sun. 9 p.m. Sundance Mon. 6 p.m. Legally Blonde (2001) ★★ CMT Sun. 4:45 p.m. CMT Mon. Noon POP Mon. 8 p.m. POP Tues. 12:50 p.m. The LEGO Movie (2014) ★★★ Nickelodeon Sat. 9 a.m. Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) ★★★ AMC Sun. 10:30 a.m. AMC Thur. 8 p.m. AMC Fri. 2:30 p.m. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) ★★★ AMC Sun. 8 a.m. AMC Wed. 10:30 p.m. AMC Thur. 5:30 p.m. Liar Liar (1997) ★★ TBS Sun. 2:15 p.m. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) ★★ Syfy Sun. 5 p.m. USA Sat. 12:02 p.m. USA Sat. 7:55 p.m. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) ★★ Nickelodeon Thur. 9 p.m. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) ★★★ TCM Fri. 8:45 p.m. Meet the Fockers (2004) ★★ TRU Sat. Noon TNT Sat. 3 p.m. Meet the Parents (2000) ★★★ TNT Sat. Noon TNT Sat. 1 p.m. Men in Black (1997) ★★★ Encore Sat. 10:45 p.m. Men in Black II (2002) ★★ Encore Sun. 12:27 p.m. Minions (2015) ★★ NBC Fri. 8 p.m. Misery (1990) ★★★ Cinemax Wed. 8:34 a.m. Monsters University (2013) ★★★ Freeform Sat. 7:05 p.m. Mr. Deeds (2002) ★ Comedy Central Sun. 5 p.m. Mr. Mom (1983) ★★ Encore Tues. 7:25 p.m. Encore Wed. 12:57 p.m. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) ★★★ Freeform Mon. 8 p.m. Freeform Tues. 5 p.m. Notting Hill (1999) ★★ Showtime Thur. 11 a.m. The Nutty Professor (1996) ★★★ Showtime Sat. 3:15 a.m. Showtime Sat. 1:30 p.m. VH1 Sat. 3:30 p.m. VH1 Sat. 11:30 p.m. An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) ★★★ Encore Wed. 9 p.m. Encore Thur. 2:47 p.m. Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) ★★ Freeform Sat. 7:30 a.m. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) ★★ Encore Thur. 5:59 a.m. Encore Thur. 6:40 p.m. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) ★★★ IFC Sat. 5 p.m. IFC Sun. 3 a.m. Pocahontas (1995) ★★ Freeform Sun. 12:05 p.m. Pretty Woman (1990) ★★★ E! Sun. 8:30 p.m. Bravo Thur. 11:15 p.m. Bravo Fri. 4:30 p.m. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ★★★★ Paramount Sat. 10:45 a.m. Paramount Sat. 7 p.m. Rambo III (1988) ★★ Showtime Mon. 1:45 p.m. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) ★★ Showtime Mon. 12:05 p.m. Showtime Sun. 5:05 a.m. Risky Business (1983) ★★★ HBO Sun. 4:25 a.m. RoboCop (1987) ★★★ TMC Tues. 5:30 p.m. TMC Sat. 1:45 p.m. Saving Private Ryan (1998) ★★★★ AMC Sat. 11 p.m. Scary Movie (2000) ★★★ VH1 Wed. 7 p.m. VH1 Thur. 4:30 p.m. Scream (1996) ★★★ BBC America Thur. 10:30 p.m. Scrooged (1988) ★★★ EPIX Sun. 6:30 a.m. EPIX Wed. 4:15 p.m. Seabiscuit (2003) ★★★ Sundance Tues. 9:45 a.m. AMC Thur. 1 a.m. AMC Thur. 11:45 a.m. Shakespeare in Love (1998) ★★★ Starz Thur. 6:04 a.m. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ★★★★ AMC Sun. 2:58 a.m. Skyfall (2012) ★★★ EPIX Sun. 6:35 p.m. Spider-Man (2002) ★★★ Encore Sun. 12:05 p.m. Spider-Man 3 (2007) ★★ Encore Sun. 4:19 p.m. Spider-Man 2 (2004) ★★★ Encore Sun. 2:09 p.m. Stakeout (1987) ★★★ IFC Fri. 2:30 p.m. IFC Sat. Noon Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) ★★★ EPIX Sun. Noon Stepmom (1998) ★★ Encore Wed. 6:51 p.m. Encore Thur. 10:37 a.m. The Sum of All Fears (2002) ★★★ EPIX Fri. 11 p.m. EPIX Sat. 9:05 a.m. Sweet Home Alabama (2002) ★★ E! Sun. 6 p.m. Bravo Sat. 7:35 p.m. Bravo Sat. 10:10 p.m. Tangled (2010) ★★★ Freeform Sat. 4:55 p.m. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ★★★★ Sundance Mon. 9 p.m. Sundance Tues. Noon Thor (2011) ★★★ FX Sun. 5 p.m. Tombstone (1993) ★★★ AMC Mon. 7:30 p.m. AMC Tues. 5 p.m. Trading Places (1983) ★★★ Encore Sun. 9 p.m. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) ★★ KVEA Sun. 3 p.m. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) ★★ Syfy Thur. 6 p.m. Syfy Fri. 1:28 p.m. True Grit (2010) ★★★ Cinemax Mon. 9:55 p.m. Cinemax Sat. 12:39 p.m. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) ★★ Showtime Sun. 6 a.m. Showtime Thur. 7 a.m. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) ★★ Showtime Sun. 8 a.m. Showtime Thur. 9 a.m. Urban Cowboy (1980) ★★★ KCOP Sun. 5 p.m. KDOC Sun. 8 p.m. The Waterboy (1998) ★ MTV Sat. 5:55 p.m. MTV Sun. 12:55 p.m. Movies on TV for the entire week, June. 6 - 12 in interactive PDF format for easy downloading and printing June 4, 2021

L.A.’s youngest Black and Latino residents are least likely to be vaccinated for COVID-19

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/youngest-black-and-latino-residents-far-less-likely-to-be-vaccinated-in-l-a-county

In a troubling sign, rates of COVID-19 vaccinations among Los Angeles County’s youngest eligible Black and Latino residents are significantly lower than for other racial and ethnic groups, and officials are expanding efforts to make shots available across the region. Among people 16 and older, only 41% of Black residents and 48% of Latino residents in L.A. County have received at least one shot; by contrast, 63% of white, 59% of Native American and 71% of Asian American residents are at least partially vaccinated. Countywide, 64% of residents in this age group have received at least one dose of vaccine. The disparities are contributing to the increased chance of infection, hospitalization and death among Black and Latino residents from COVID-19. Black residents are now about twice as likely, and Latinos about 60% more likely, to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than white residents in L.A. County. Black and Latino residents also have roughly twice the risk of dying of COVID-19 than white residents in the county. “This is really concerning. As we’ve witnessed, Black and brown residents, as essential workers, bore the brunt of this pandemic, especially noticeable during the surge,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “If they’re not protected by the vaccine with the lifting of public health safety measures, they can again have the highest risk of getting infected, being hospitalized or dying from this virus.” World & Nation Free beer is the latest incentive endorsed by the White House to persuade Americans to get vaccinated for COVID-19. June 2, 2021 The overall pace of vaccinations has also slowed considerably in L.A. County. There are now about 100,000 first-dose vaccinations being administered each week, a fraction of the roughly 500,000 a week earlier this year, prompting Ferrer to revise her estimate of when the county will reach its goal of having 80% of residents 16 and older at least partially vaccinated. To do so, the county must administer 1.1 million more doses, Ferrer said. Instead of achieving that goal in mid- to late July, as she projected a month ago, she now expects it to be achieved in late August. “I am hopeful that we’ve stabilized at about 100,000 [first] doses a week,” Ferrer said. “I think if we continue to make all of the efforts that we’re doing with all of our partners, we will get there in August.” Ferrer said she hopes that as more people see their friends and family get the vaccines without major problems, they’ll be convinced to get the shot. The disparities in vaccinations are particularly stark in the youngest age groups. Among adults in their 20s or younger, just 24% of Black and 37% of Latino residents have received at least one dose of vaccine; by comparison, 54% of white, 53% of Native American and 70% of Asian American residents in this age group have gotten at least one shot. Science & Medicine The world’s leading COVID-19 vaccines may offer lasting protection that diminishes the need for frequent booster shots, scientists say. June 2, 2021 Even among adults in their 30s and 40s, significant disparities exist: Thirty-five percent of Black and 45% of Latino residents have received at least one dose; by contrast, 60% of white, 61% of Native American and 69% of Asian American residents in this group have received at least one dose. The inequities reflect a number of complicated issues, Ferrer said, including a historical lack of medical resources in underserved communities. Officials have struggled to convince some residents that the vaccine truly is free — and there aren’t hidden fees that will come later — and that getting the vaccine won’t affect immigration status. Getting the vaccine is also more challenging for lower-income residents who may be working two or more jobs and worry about the potential for having to take a day or two off to deal with the mild side effects, like a fever or fatigue, that can sometimes happen after receiving the shot, she said. Officials are trying to make it easier for those people to get vaccinated by setting up clinics at workplaces and other convenient sites. Officials are already trying to promote interest in vaccinations with prizes. The state has launched a $116.5-million incentive program that will award 10 Californians a prize of $1.5 million each and 30 more residents $50,000 apiece, while offering 2 million residents eligibility to get $50 prepaid gift or grocery cards. California California’s ‘Vax for the Win’ program seeks to boost interest in vaccines by offering cash rewards. If you’ve gotten a shot, you’re already eligible. May 28, 2021 In L.A. County, adults who get vaccinated between Friday and Thursday at sites run by the county, the city of Los Angeles or St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will be eligible to win season tickets to the Dodgers or the Los Angeles Football Club soccer team. Past incentives, such as a sweepstakes for Lakers tickets, seem to have been on the minds of a number of people coming into vaccine clinics lately, Ferrer said. Sometimes, as many as half are aware of the prizes and sweepstakes, Ferrer said. World & Nation Germany, Greece and five other European Union nations have introduced a COVID-19 vaccination certificate system on the eve of summer tourist season. June 2, 2021 Ferrer also urged people to encourage their friends, family and neighbors to get vaccinated. People can look for vaccination sites at VaccinateLACounty.com; sites run by the city and county of Los Angeles and most community and mobile sites now offer shots without appointments, and many are open on weekends and evenings. “We can share our own stories, share what it was that helped us make our decision…. And we can offer our company and our encouragement to get those in our community to any of the hundreds of vaccination sites across the county when people are ready to get their vaccines,” Ferrer said. Officials are positioning scores of mobile vaccine sites in places hardest hit by the pandemic — at workplaces, schools, churches and senior centers — and are moving to set up clinics at gathering places such as Universal CityWalk, beaches and museums. California Assembly Bill 650 by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) would award $10,000 bonuses to California healthcare workers. The pay would be spread out in hopes that the cash would entice healthcare workers to remain in their job. June 2, 2021

California moving toward workplaces without masks: What you need to know

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-04/california-workers-vaccines-covid-mask-rules-what-to-know

California took a major step this week to define what COVID-19 workplace safety rules will look like as the pandemic continues to fade. A state safety board on Thursday recommended relaxing workplace safety rules for people vaccinated against COVID-19 — meaning that, on June 15, employees will probably be able to take off their masks in a room if everyone there is vaccinated. Here are the details: The rules proposed by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, would allow workers in a room to take off their masks if every person there does not have COVID-19 symptoms and is fully vaccinated, meaning they’re at least two weeks removed from their last dose. Masks would still be required if anyone in the room is not fully vaccinated. California A California workplace safety board recommends ending mask rules for workers if everyone in a room is vaccinated against COVID-19. June 4, 2021 Workplaces would need to have workers’ vaccine records on file to comply with Cal/OSHA regulations. But workers in retail stores and restaurants, as well as others who interact with members of the public, will still need to mask up. Workers in some other settings, such as hospitals, will not be affected by the rule change. The proposal also calls for ending the requirement that workers be physically distant from other people starting July 31. Until then, employees in indoor settings or outdoor events of 10,000 or more people will need to continue physical-distancing practices or be offered respirators — like N-95 masks — that filter out fine particles in the air. California As the coronavirus fades, there is a growing belief among even the most conservative health experts that it’s fine for vaccinated people to largely shed their face coverings — though it’s still essential for the uninoculated to adhere to mask-wearing and physical distancing rules. June 3, 2021 State officials issued the following guidance following Thursday’s vote: Employers will also still need to keep a written COVID-19 prevention program, though with some changes: California Amid a drop-off in demand for vaccines, Los Angeles County will soon be closing four large-scale vaccination sites and replacing them with smaller ones, officials said. June 3, 2021 The proposed new standards are still subject to review by the state Office of Administrative Law. Should that office sign off, the rules are expected to go into effect by June 15 — the same day California is set to fully reopen its economy.

From L.A. library to late night: Linda Lindas take viral 'Racist, Sexist Boy' to TV

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-04/linda-lindas-racist-sexist-boy-jimmy-kimmel-live

Los Angeles punk sensations the Linda Lindas have no idea if the “poser” and “jerkface” who inspired their viral hit “Racist, Sexist Boy” is aware of their overnight fame. But more importantly: “Doesn’t matter,” they told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel with a collective shrug met by cheers and applause. After electrifying the Cypress Park branch of the L.A. public library last month with their head-banging, anti-bigotry anthem, the musicians of the Linda Lindas — Mila, 10; Eloise, 13; Lucia, 14; and Bela, 16 — made their national TV debut Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Before lighting up the late-night circuit with passionate performances of “Racist, Sexist Boy” and their “Babysitter’s Club”-themed track “Claudia Kishi,” the Linda Lindas sat down with Kimmel to discuss the library concert that has dominated social media in recent weeks. Music Life changed this week for L.A. girl-punk band the Linda Lindas, whose library performance of “Racist, Sexist Boy” blew up the internet. May 23, 2021 “I was in history class, and my phone kept buzzing, and my teacher kept looking at me like, ‘What are you doing?’” singer and guitarist Bela recalled. “And then I open my Instagram, and it’s like my whole feed is us.” The rock band, made of up Asian and Latinx members, was motivated to pen its smash hit after a classmate of Mila’s told the young singer and drummer that his dad warned him to “stay away from Chinese people.” When Mila replied that she was Chinese, the boy backed away from her. The rest is music history. “There’s also a lot of, like, sexism around boys our age, and unfortunately, a lot of people every age,” singer and guitarist Eloise said. “So we were really angry, and we decided to write a song about it.” Television Fans of Netflix’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ will love Peacock’s British import ‘We Are Lady Parts,’ which marks a seismic shift for Muslims on TV. May 27, 2021 They also explained the origin of their band name, which is based on the 2005 Japanese film “Linda Linda Linda,” about a band of teen girls who cover multiple Blue Hearts songs, including “Linda Linda.” “However, none of us are named Linda,” singer and guitarist Lucia added. Coinciding with their breakout library performance and high-profile endorsements from Rage Against the Machine, Sonic Youth and Paramore’s Hayley Williams, the Linda Lindas signed a record deal with Epitaph, a staple of the city’s punk scene. Their music is also featured in Amy Poehler’s 2021 Netflix comedy “Moxie,” as well as the streaming giant’s “Babysitter’s Club” documentary, titled “The Claudia Kishi Club.” Check out their energetic late-night renditions of “Racist, Sexist Boy” and “Claudia Kishi” here.