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A TIMES INVESTIGATION

After a killing,
law enforcement
grills family for
damaging details
Agencies try to limit
liability by seeking
information on those
slain by police.
By Brian Howey
Luke Smith, 15, high on
acid and suffering from se-
vere mental health issues,
stabbed his father and uncle
before fleeing into the early-
morning darkness on Nov.
Nicole Hester The Tennessean 19, 2016.
A CHILD weeps on a bus leaving Nashville’s Covenant School after a mass shooting Monday. Three children, As the men were airlifted
all 9 years old, and three adult staff members at the private Christian school were killed by a former student. to a hospital, deputies from
the Santa Cruz Sheriff ’s Of-
fice closed in on Luke, who
MOTIVE ANALYSIS
was still armed with a knife.
They fired beanbags and
sent in a dog, but Luke re-
painkillers, Ian Smith an-
swered their questions,
telling them about the boy’s
drug use, poor impulse con-
trol and suicidal thinking in
hopes the information
might mitigate his son’s cul-
pability.
“What’ll they do to him?”
he said, according to a re-
cording of the interview.
“I don’t know how much
time someone would do for
that in juvenile hall,” a detec-
tive said. Police records
show that he knew Luke had
been killed.
It was only when the de-
tectives stepped out of the
room, department and med-
ical records show, that
Smith learned of his son’s
death — from a doctor who
had come to check on him.

SOUGHT fused to drop the weapon. The omission was not an

This threat to Israel

An officer opened fire, killing accident, and it was not un-
the teen. usual. For years, law enforce-

IN LATEST That night, when detect-

ives grilled Luke’s father at
the hospital, they didn’t
ment agencies across Cali-
fornia have been trained to
quickly question family

SCHOOL comes from within

mention that police had
killed his son. Sedated on
members after a police
[See Investigation, A6]

SHOOTING
Police say assailant
was Nashville resident
who identified as
transgender and left
behind a ‘manifesto.’
By Terry Castleman,
Alexandra E. Petri
and Kevin Rector
A private Christian
school in Nashville became
the nation’s latest mass
killing scene Monday after a
28-year-old former student
entered with high-powered
guns and opened fire, killing
three children and three
adult staff members, au-
thorities said.
The children were all 9
years old. The staff members
included the head of the
school, a substitute teacher
and a custodian.
The assailant, identified
by police as Nashville resi-
dent Audrey Hale, allegedly
left behind a “manifesto”
and maps of the school,
though police have not de-
scribed the manifesto in de-
tail or ascribed a motive to
the attack. The shooter was
killed by responding officers.
The incident immedi-
ately captured the attention
and anger of a divided na-
tion already exhausted by a
parade of mass shootings
and a growing cultural war
over LGBTQ rights. The
shooter identified as trans-
gender, according to police.
Perhaps nowhere is that
war as pronounced as in
Tennessee, where conserva-
tive legislators recently
banned gender-affirming
care for transgender youth
and barred drag queens or
other “male or female imper-
sonators” from performing
anywhere near children.
Metro Nashville Police
Chief John Drake said police
were examining whether the
shooter’s transgender iden-
tity was part of the motive
for the shooting.
“As we know more, we’ll
definitely make that known,
but right now we’re unsure if
that actually played a role,”
he said.
Drake said police be-
lieved the shooter might
have harbored some “re-
sentment” for “having to go
to that school,” but he did
not elaborate.
Police did not respond to
requests for clarity about
Hale’s gender identity, cho-
sen name or pronouns.
The Covenant School is
part of Covenant Presbyteri-
an Church, according to the
school’s website, and serves
about 200 students in pre-
school through sixth grade.
Police said the shooter en-
tered the first floor of the
school, which connects to
the church, after shooting
through a set of glass doors.
[See Nashville, A7]
Netanyahu takes timeout on judicial overhaul, but
delay may not be enough to save his government
By Tracy Wilkinson
Israel has long been synonymous with
conflict, but for the moment, the most seri-
and Laura King ous existential threat it faces comes not
from its Arab neighbors but from its own
WASHINGTON — Benjamin Netanya- internal divisions.
hu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu late Monday announced he
is a legendary master of political survival. would postpone — but not cancel — his
For once, he may have overplayed his hand. plans to overhaul Israel’s Supreme Court
As he frantically plots a strategy to and judiciary in a way that would make
emerge from the worst domestic crisis in judges more beholden to politicians. He
Israel’s 75-year history, Netanyahu must said he was acting “to avoid civil war.” Crit- Elvis Aceff For The Times
find a way to keep his radical, ultra-Ortho- ics say the plan would destroy the checks IAN SMITH was unaware that deputies had killed
dox coalition partners on board while at- and balances that have made the courts an his son when detectives asked about the boy’s history.
tempting to pacify the hundreds of thou- important pillar of Israeli democracy.
sands of angry Israelis filling the streets in “When there’s an opportunity to avoid
the name of defending democracy. civil war through dialogue, I, as prime min-
If he fails, his government could easily ister, am taking a timeout for dialogue,”
dissolve. If that were to happen, it is un-
clear who would fill the void or what new
unrest could be ignited.
Netanyahu said in a nationally televised
address.
[See Israel, A4]
Verily, the computer
sayeth unto you ...
Franklin, 38, who has
Religious leaders dark wavy hair and a friendly
vibe, knew that OpenAI’s
enter the discussion new ChatGPT program
about the ethics of could write sonnets in the
style of Shakespeare and
artificial intelligence. songs in the style of Taylor
Swift. Now, he wondered if it
By Deborah Netburn could write a sermon in the
style of a rabbi.
Sometimes Rabbi So he gave it a prompt:
Joshua Franklin knows ex- “Write a sermon, in the voice
actly what he wants to talk of a rabbi, about 1,000 words,
about in his weekly Shabbat connecting the Torah por-
sermons — other times, not tion this week with the idea
so much. It was on one of of intimacy and vulnerabil-
those not-so-much days on a ity, quoting Brené Brown” —
cold afternoon in late De- the bestselling author and
cember that the spiritual researcher known for her
Ahmad Gharabli AFP/Getty Images leader of the Jewish Center work on vulnerability,
PROTESTERS clash with police during a rally in Tel Aviv against the govern- of the Hamptons decided to shame and empathy.
ment’s judicial reform plans, which many see as a threat to Israel’s democracy. turn to artificial intelligence. [See AI, A12]
A difficult year
for LeBron’s son
Bronny James may
LGBTQ pardon plan has limited impact
never live up to unfair
expectations, but that omy that were used to target
hasn’t changed his Governor’s initiative LGBTQ people and may
demeanor. SPORTS, B10 remain on their criminal
to remedy wrongs records decades later.
Ranking L.A.’s for gay Californians But besides a post-
museum seating has had only one humous pardon for re-
nowned civil rights activist
Our artful report on
how the benches at
living beneficiary. Bayard Rustin, who died in
1987, only one other person
LACMA, MOCA and has benefited.
the Hammer rate. By Mackenzie Mays Henry Pachnowski, an
CALENDAR, E1 83-year-old man living in
Three years after Gov. Maryland, was pardoned
State Farm car Gavin Newsom announced last year for a lewd conduct
rates are rising an initiative to pardon charge for participating in
Regulators approve LGBTQ Californians who consensual sexual activity
a $264-million in- were prosecuted for being with another man in 1967 in
gay, only one living person Orange County.
crease for California’s
has benefited from the pro- “I am thrilled that this
largest auto insurer.
gram. finally happened. I thought I
BUSINESS, A8
The governor launched Michael Key Washington Blade was going to die with that,”
the LGBTQ California HENRY PACHNOWSKI received a pardon from said Pachnowski, a Holo-
Weather
Clemency Initiative in Feb- Gov. Gavin Newsom for a 1967 charge of lewd conduct. caust survivor who moved to
Clouds.
ruary 2020 and vowed to the United States when he
L.A. Basin: 71/51. B6
eradicate “historic homo- was 11 and lost his green card
Printed with soy inks on
phobia” in the criminal jus- ‘My life really hasn’t been the in the 1960s because of a
partially recycled paper. tice system by offering par-
dons to people “subjected to
happiest. It almost feels like now marijuana possession
charge — the only other cita-
discriminatory arrest and I’m whole.’ tion on his record. “My life
prosecution.” The program really hasn’t been the happi-
focuses on charges such as — H ENRY PACHNOWSKI est. It almost feels like now
vagrancy, loitering and sod- [See Pardon, A9]
A2 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M

PERSPECTIVES

Even in holy city

of Qom, Iranians
call for change
Clerics and others in
the center of Shiite
Muslim scholarship
want the theocracy to
change its approach.
associated press
DUBAI — The city of
Qom is one of Iran’s most
important centers for Shiite
Muslim clerics, packed
with religious schools and
shrines. But even there,
some are quietly calling for
Iran’s ruling theocracy to
change its ways after
months of protests have
shaken the country.
To be clear: Many in
Qom still support the cleric-
led ruling system, which this
month marked the 44th
anniversary of Iran’s 1979
Islamic Revolution. This
includes support for many
Nabih Bulos Los Angeles Times of the restrictions that set
IN LEBANON, private institutions ignored the government and set their clocks forward an hour on Sunday. off the protests, such as the
In bustling Beirut, above, some residents have found themselves having to be in two places at the same time. mandatory hijab, or head-
scarf, for women in public.
19,600 detained in the crack-
down that followed. The
Iranian government has not
provided figures.
Meanwhile, Tehran faces
increasing pressure abroad
over enriching uranium
closer than ever to weapons-
grade levels after the
collapse of the country’s
2015 nuclear deal with world
powers. Renewed sanctions
have worsened long-stand-
ing financial problems,
pushing the national cur-
rency, the rial, to historic
lows against the dollar.
“Many protesters either
had economic problems or
were influenced by the inter-
net,” Sahebnazaran said
from inside Khomeini’s for-
mer home, which bore pic-
tures of the ayatollah and
Iranian flags.
Protesters have even
vented their anger directly
at clerics, whom they see
as the foundation of the
system. Videos that circu-
lated online showed young
protesters running up be-
hind clerics on the street
and knocking off their tur-

Double trouble in two time zones

Supporters believe the bans, a symbol of their stat-
state’s claims that foreign us. Clerics wearing a black
enemies are the ones fo- turban claim to descend di-
menting the unrest. But rectly from Islam’s prophet
they say the government Muhammad.
saving to April 21. nore the decision and move same time,” she said. The 8 should change how it ap- The videos are a sign of
Lebanon’s last-minute No reason was given for to daylight saving Sunday as a.m. appointment for her the alienation felt by some
the decision, but a video of a previously scheduled. residency paperwork was toward the clergy in a nation
decision to postpone
daylight saving until
meeting between Mikati and
parliament Speaker Nabih
Even some public agen-
cies refused to comply.
with a government agency
following the official time,
‘The harsh where, 44 years ago, clerics
helped lead the revolution
the end of Ramadan Berri that was leaked to local Education Minister Abbas while her 9 a.m. Arabic class crackdown was a against Mohammed Reza
media showed Berri asking Halabi said in a statement was with an institute that in- Shah Pahlavi.
sparks mass confusion. Mikati to postpone the im- Sunday evening that the de- tended to make the switch to mistake from the “This was part of enemy
plementation of daylight
saving time to allow Muslims
cision was not legally valid
because it had not been tak-
daylight saving.
The schism has led to
beginning. The plans — they wanted to
tell people that the clerics
associated press
to break their Ramadan fast en in a meeting of the Cab- jokes about “Muslim time” youth should are the reason behind all
an hour earlier. inet. If the government and “Christian time,” while problems and high prices,”
BEIRUT — The Leba- In the video, Mikati re- meets and approves the de- different internet search en- have been treated Sahebnazaran said. “But
nese government’s last-min-
ute decision to postpone the
sponds that he had made a
similar proposal but goes on
cision, he wrote, “we will be
the first to implement it,”
gines came up with different
results early Sunday to que-
softly and the clergy are being im-
pacted by the inflation like
start of daylight saving time
by a month, until the end of
to say that implementing
the change would be difficult
but until then, “daylight sav-
ing time remains approved
ries about the current time
in Lebanon. While in many
politely.’ the rest of the people. Many
clerics live on tuition fees at
Ramadan, has resulted in because it would cause prob- and applied in the educa- cases the temporal schism — Abuzar the lowest economic level of
mass confusion. lems in airline flight sched- tional sector.” broke down along religious Sahebnazaran, society. The majority of
With some institutions ules, to which Berri replies: Soha Yazbek, a professor lines, some Muslims also ob- Iranian cleric them face the same prob-
implementing the change “What flights?” at the American University jected to the change and lems as the people do.”
Sunday while others re- After the postponement of Beirut, is among many pointed out that fasting dur- Seminary students re-
fused, many Lebanese have of daylight saving was an- parents who have found ing Ramadan is supposed to proaches demonstrators ceive the equivalent of $50 a
found themselves in the po- nounced, Lebanon’s state themselves and their chil- begin at dawn and end at and women’s demands for month, with many working
sition of juggling work and airline, Middle East Airlines, dren now bound to different sunset regardless of time the right to choose whether as laborers or taxi drivers.
school schedules using dif- said the departure times of schedules. zone. to wear an Islamic head cov- Fewer than 10% of Iran’s
ferent time zones — in a all flights scheduled to leave “So now I drop my kids Many saw the issue as a ering. 200,000 clerics have official
country that is 55 miles at its from the Beirut airport be- to school at 8 am but arrive distraction from the coun- “The harsh crackdown posts in the government.
widest point. tween Sunday and April 21 to my work [26 miles] away try’s larger economic and was a mistake from the Sakineh Heidarifard,
In some cases, the debate would be advanced by an at 7:30 am and then I leave political problems. beginning,” said Abuzar who works voluntarily with
took on a sectarian nature, hour. work at 5 pm but I arrive Lebanon is in the midst of Sahebnazaran, a cleric who the morality police in Qom,
with many Christian politi- The country’s two cellu- home an hour later at 7 pm!!” the worst financial crisis in described himself as an said arresting women and
cians and institutions, lar telephone networks mes- Yazbek wrote on Twitter, its modern history. Three- ardent backer of the theoc- forcefully taking them into
including the nation’s larg- saged people asking them to adding for the benefit of her quarters of the population racy, as he visited a former police custody isn’t a good
est church, the Maronite change the settings of their non-Lebanese friends: “I lives in poverty, and Interna- residence of the late revolu- idea. She said the morality
Church, rejecting the move. clocks to manual instead of have not gone mad, I just live tional Monetary Fund offi- tionary leader Ayatollah patrols are necessary but
The small Mediterranean automatic so that the time in Wonderland.” cials warned that the coun- Ruhollah Khomeini. “The should only give warnings.
country normally sets its would not change early Sun- Haruka Naito, a Japa- try could be headed for hy- youth should have been “Use of force and coercion
clocks forward an hour on day, although in many cases nese nongovernmental or- perinflation if no action is treated softly and politely. is not correct at all. We
the last Sunday in March, the time advanced anyway. ganization worker living in taken. They should have been en- should talk to them with a
which aligns with most Eu- While public institutions, Beirut, discovered that she The nation has been lightened and guided.” soft and gentle tone, with
ropean countries. in theory, are bound by had to be in two places at the without a president since Qom, 80 miles southwest kindness and care,” she said.
However, on Thursday, the government’s decision, same time Monday morn- the term of President Michel of Tehran, draws millions Still, she sees the hijab as
the government announced many private institutions, ing. Aoun ended in late October of pilgrims each year and a central tenet of the Islamic
a decision by caretaker including TV stations, “I had an 8 a.m. appoint- because the parliament is home to half of the coun- Republic.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati schools and businesses, an- ment and a 9 a.m. class, has failed to elect a replace- try’s Shiite clerics. Its reli- “We have sacrificed a lot
to push the start of daylight nounced that they would ig- which will now happen at the ment. gious institutions produce ... to keep this veil,” she said.
top clerical minds, making “God willing, it will never be
the city a power bastion removed from our heads.”
in Iran. The faithful believe Changes in approach,
the city’s dazzling, blue- however, are unlikely to sat-
domed Fatima Masumeh isfy those calling for whole-
Shrine represents a route to sale rejection of the cleric-
heaven or a place to have run government. Politicians
prayers answered and woes in the reform movement for
assuaged. years have been urging
For Iran, the woes are change within the theocratic
many. Protests have rocked system, and many pro-
the country since Septem- testers have lost patience.
ber, after the death in cus- Meanwhile, the ever-
IN HOUSE tody of Mahsa Amini, an Ira-
nian-Kurdish woman who
growing economic pressure
on Iran’s 80 million people

OC COUNSEL had been detained by moral- may explode across all of

ity police over allegedly im- society, said Alireza Fateh, a
proper dress. The demon- carpet salesman standing

INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP strations, initially focused

on the mandatory hijab,
next to his empty shop in
Qom’s traditional bazaar.

AWARDS soon morphed into calls for a “Economic collapse is

WOMEN revolution.
Activists outside the
country say at least 528 peo-
usually followed by political
collapse ... and unfortu-
nately, this is what is hap-
Trends. Updates. Visionaries. Thursday, May 4 | 6PM - 8:30PM ple have been killed and pening here,” he said.

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A CLERIC at the Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom, a
Shiite Muslim holy center and power bastion in Iran.
L AT I M E S . C O M
Russia launches recruitment campaign
Bonuses and benefits
are offered to eligible
men, who are needed
to replenish Kremlin’s
troops in Ukraine.
By Dasha Litvinova
TALLINN, Estonia — Ad-
vertisements promise cash
bonuses and enticing ben-
efits. Recruiters are making
cold calls to eligible men. En-
listment offices are working
with universities and social
service agencies to lure stu-
dents and the unemployed.
A new campaign is
underway this spring across
Russia, seeking recruits to
replenish its troops for the
war in Ukraine.
As fighting grinds on
in Ukrainian battlegrounds
such as Bakhmut and both
sides prepare for counter-
offensives that could cost
even more lives, the Krem-
lin’s war machine badly
needs new recruits.
A mobilization in Sep-
tember of 300,000 reservists
— billed as a “partial” call-up
— sent panic throughout the
country, since most men
under age 65 are formally
part of the reserve. Tens
of thousands fled Russia
rather than report to re-
cruiting stations.
The Kremlin denies that
another call-up is planned
for its “special military oper-
ation” in Ukraine, now more
than a year old.
But amid widespread un-
certainty of whether such a
move will eventually hap-
pen, the government is try-
ing to persuade men to vol-
unteer, either at makeshift
recruiting centers popping
up in various regions or with
phone calls from enlistment
officials. That way, it can
“avoid declaring a formal
second mobilization wave”
after the first one proved so
unpopular, according to a re-
cent report by the Institute
for the Study of War, a U.S.-
based think tank.
One Muscovite told the
Associated Press that his
employer, a state-funded or-
ganization, gathered up the
military registration cards
of all male employees of
fighting age and said it
would get them deferments.
But he said the move still
Zelensky meets
with U.N. atomic
agency director
By Hanna Arhirova
ZAPORIZHZHIA,
Ukraine — The United Na-
tions’ atomic energy chief
warned Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky in a
meeting Monday that the
perilous situation at the Za-
porizhzhia nuclear plant,
Europe’s largest, “isn’t get-
ting any better” as relentless
fighting in the area puts the
facility at risk of a nuclear
disaster.
The Zaporizhzhia nucle-
ar power plant’s six reactors
are in shutdown, and it is re-
ceiving the electricity it
needs to prevent a reactor
meltdown through just one
remaining power line. It has
on occasion had to switch to
emergency diesel generators
to power its essential cooling
systems.
In a meeting with Zelen-
sky in southern Ukraine cov-
ered exclusively by the Asso-
ciated Press, International
Atomic Energy Agency Di-
rector-General Rafael Mari-
ano Grossi said the situation
at the plant remains tense
because of the heavy mili-
tary presence around it and
a a recent blackout at the
facility, something that has
occurred repeatedly since
Russian forces took it over
last year.
Grossi plans to visit the
plant this week — his second
trip there since Russia’s in-
vasion 13 months ago. The
Vienna-based agency has
had staff permanently de-
ployed at the plant since
Grossi’s last visit in Septem-
ber.
Earlier this month, fight-
ing interrupted power sup-
ply to the plant for half a day,
forcing staff to activate
backup generators.
Grossi expressed alarm
A BILLBOARD for “contract military service” stands beside a highway this month outside the city of Krasnodar in southern Russia.
sent a wave of fear through
him.
“It makes you nervous
and scared — no one wants
to all of a sudden end up
in a war with a rifle in
their hands,” said the resi-
dent, who spoke on condi-
tion of anonymity because
he feared reprisal. “The spe-
cial operation is somewhat
dragging on, so any sur-
prises from the Russian au-
thorities can be expected.”
It’s been more than a
week since he handed in his
card, he said, and exemp-
tions usually get resolved in
a day or two, heightening his
anxiety.
Russian media report
that men across the country
are receiving summonses
from enlistment offices. In
most of those cases, men
were simply asked to update
their records; in others, they
were ordered to take part in
military training.
Kremlin spokesman
at that development.
“Each time we are rolling
a dice,” he told his agency at
the time.
“And if we allow this to
continue time after time,
then one day our luck will
run out.”
Grossi and Zelensky met
in the city of Zaporizh-
zhia, which is in Ukrainian-
held territory, about 30 miles
northeast of the nuclear
plant with the same name.
The IAEA announced in
January that it was placing
teams of experts at all four of
Ukraine’s nuclear power
plants to reduce the risk of
accidents, including the
now-closed Chernobyl plant
whose deadly nuclear acci-
dent in 1986 spread fallout
over much of Europe.
Grossi emphasized that
his seventh trip to Ukraine
underlined his commitment
and support for “as long as it
takes.” Also attending the
meeting were other IAEA of-
ficials; Andriy Yermak, the
head of Zelensky’s office;
and Petro Kotin, the head of
Ukrainian nuclear operator
Energoatom.
While in Zaporizhzhia,
Zelensky also inspected mil-
itary positions in the par-
tially occupied province and
awarded soldiers with mili-
tary honors. He visited
wounded soldiers at a hospi-
tal as well as an apartment
building that Kyiv says
was hit by Russian forces
Wednesday, killing at least
one person and injuring
more than 30.
Residents were still
shocked by the experience.
“It’s terrifying. I cannot
find the words to tell you,”
said Hanna Budkova, 39,
who was at a busy play-
ground in front of the apart-
ment block with her nearly
2-year-old daughter.
THE WORLD
Dmitry Peskov said last
week that serving sum-
monses to update records in
enlistment offices is “usual
practice” and a “continued
undertaking.”
Other unconfirmed me-
dia reports say authorities
have told regional govern-
ments to recruit a certain
number of volunteers. Some
officials announced setting
up recruitment centers with
the goal of getting men to
sign contracts that enable
them to be sent into combat
as professional soldiers.
Ads have appeared on
government websites and on
the social media accounts of
state institutions and or-
ganizations, including li-
braries and high schools.
One of them, posted by a
municipal administration in
the western Yaroslavl re-
gion, promised a onetime
bonus of about $3,800 to sign
up and, if the person is sent
to Ukraine, a monthly salary
IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, right, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky that fighting near the Zaporizhzhia plant could set off a nuclear disaster.
“I’m afraid to go any-
where near the windows.”
Zelensky later visited
Nikopol, a frequently shelled
city across the Dnipro River
from the nuclear power
plant, according to the presi-
dential office.
Elsewhere, two people
were killed and 29 wounded
Monday when Russian
forces shelled the eastern
Ukrainian city of Slovyansk
in the partially occupied
Donetsk region, officials
said.
Video of the aftermath
showed damaged residen-
tial buildings, debris in the
streets and vehicles on fire.
Zelensky described the at-
tack as “terrorism.”
Russia has denied target-
ing residential areas even
though artillery and rocket
strikes have hit Ukrainian
apartment buildings and ci-
vilian infrastructure daily
during the war.
The Slovyansk attack fol-
lowed a typical pattern of
long-range shelling adopted
by the Kremlin’s forces, es-
pecially in recent months as
the fighting became dead-
locked during the bitterly
cold winter.
In the Donetsk region,
some 10 cities and villages
of up to $2,500, plus about
$100 a day for “involvement
in active offensive opera-
tions” and $650 “for each ki-
lometer of advancement
within assault teams.”
The ad said the enlisting
soldier would also get tax
and loan repayment breaks,
preferential university ad-
mission status for his chil-
dren, generous compensa-
tion for his family if he is
wounded or killed in action
and the status of a war veter-
an, which carries even more
perks.
In the Siberian city of
Novosibirsk, officials asked
universities, colleges and vo-
cational schools to advertise
for recruits on their web-
sites, said Sergei Cherny-
shov, founder of a private vo-
cational school there.
Chernyshov posted the
ad on his social media ac-
count “so that everyone
knows what our City Hall is
up to,” but he told the AP
were shelled by Russian
forces over the previous 24
hours, Zelensky’s office re-
ported Monday.
On Monday morning,
Russian missiles hit the city
of Avdiivka, damaging resi-
dential buildings, a hotel
and a courthouse, it said.
Avdiivka Mayor Vitali
Barabash said utility com-
panies were being evacuated
from the front-line city, as it
“resembles more and more a
landscape from post-apoca-
lyptic movies.”
Attacks also intensified
in the partially occupied
southeastern Zaporizhzhia
region, where 14 settlements
on the front line were
shelled, authorities said.
In the partially occupied
Kherson region, the Ukrain-
ian-controlled part of the
province was shelled 20
times by Russian artillery
and aircraft, wounding four
people, the presidential of-
fice said.
Several explosions shook
the Russia-occupied city of
Melitopol in the Zapor-
izhzhia region, damaging a
building where Russian se-
curity forces are quartered,
said the exiled elected May-
or Ivan Fyodorov.
The Russian-installed
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
that he doesn’t plan to put it
on the school website. “It’s
weird” to target vocational
school students, he said.
Other efforts include en-
listment officials meeting
with college students and
unemployed men, or phon-
ing men to volunteer.
A Muscovite who spoke
on condition of anonymity
for his own safety said that
he received such a call and
was surprised at how polite
it was: “After my ‘no,’ there
were no threats or [attempts
to] convince me — [just]
‘Thanks, goodbye.’ ”
There have been only iso-
lated cases of enlistment of-
ficials really pressuring men
to sign up, said Grigory
Sverdlin, founder of a group
called Go by the Forest,
which helps men avoid
mobilization.
The group gets up to 100
messages a day from men
seeking advice on dealing
with summonses or enlist-
Efrem Lukatsky Associated Press
authorities said “artillery
shelling” of Melitopol par-
tially destroyed a vocational
school building, damaged
several other buildings and
wounded four people.
Earlier, Zelensky met in
Kyiv with British actor Or-
lando Bloom, Ukrainian offi-
cial Yermak said Monday.
Bloom, who is also a UNI-
CEF goodwill ambassador,
arrived in the Ukrainian
capital over the weekend
and visited its suburb of
Irpin.
During his meeting with
Zelensky, Bloom said “he
was struck by the courage
and resilience of Ukrainians,
who despite the war remain
strong,” Yermak wrote.
Bloom “will support proj-
ects to provide humanitari-
an assistance and restore in-
frastructure, focused on en-
suring the interests of
Ukrainian children,” the offi-
cial said.
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz said Monday at a
meeting in the Netherlands
that Germany has fulfilled
its promised delivery of 18
advanced Leopard 2 battle
tanks to Ukraine.
Arhirova writes for the
Associated Press.
A3
Associated Press
ment officials, he said. In
most cases, the officials
wanted to update their re-
cords with addresses and
phone numbers, and they
might try to recruit men dur-
ing that process.
But Sverdlin said some
cases stand out.
In the Vologda region,
about 250 miles north of
Moscow, the group received
messages saying that al-
most everyone going to the
enlistment office after re-
ceiving a summons “is
forced to sign a paper bar-
ring them from leaving the
region,” he said.
Lawyer Alexei Tabalov,
who runs the Conscript’s
School legal aid group, be-
lieves there’s nothing unusu-
al in authorities handing
out summonses now. Some
of the notices are tradition-
ally served before Russia’s
spring conscription draft,
scheduled to begin Saturday
for those eligible for manda-
tory service.
All Russian men ages 18
to 27 must serve one year in
the military, but a large
share avoid the draft for
health reasons or get stu-
dent deferments. The share
of men who avoid the draft is
particularly big in Moscow
and other major cities, and
many simply evade enlist-
ment officials bearing con-
scription summonses.
Tabalov said that men
have reported going to en-
listment offices to update
their records and encounter
officials who “beat around
the bush and promote the
idea of signing the contract,
talk about how one should
love their motherland and
defend it.”
He doubts that anything
could make volunteering at-
tractive after 13 months of a
war that has killed and
wounded tens of thousands.
“People already under-
stand what it means to sign
a contract,” he said. “Those
who got burned once are un-
likely to fall into the same
trap.”
The current recruitment
campaign is similar to one
enacted in the summer be-
fore the September call-up,
said Kateryna Stepanenko,
a Russia analyst with the In-
stitute for the Study of War.
Back then, authorities
also used financial incen-
tives, and various volunteer
battalions were formed, but
the effort clearly wasn’t suc-
cessful, because President
Vladimir Putin eventually
turned to the partial mobili-
zation.
Whether this one will suc-
ceed is unclear.
“They’ve already re-
cruited a significant portion
of people that were finan-
cially incentivized last sum-
mer. And they struggled to
do so last year,” Stepanenko
said.
The current recruitment
effort shows the military’s
awareness of manpower
needs in Ukraine.
“What the mobilization
campaign of 300,000 serv-
icemen told us is that it’s not
enough to form a sufficient
strike group for Russia to
push forward with its offen-
sive operations,” she said.
Litvinova writes for the
Associated Press.
A4 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 S L AT I M E S . C O M

‘I’m so worried about our democracy’

[Israel, from A1]
The vote in the Knesset,
or parliament, will be de-
layed until after the Pass-
over break, which starts
next week.
It was unclear, however,
whether postponement
would placate the opposi-
tion, which has swelled from
the left to include Israelis of
all political persuasions as
well as the military, the
Mossad spy agency and
high-tech entrepreneurs.
After 12 weeks of regular
demonstrations, a far larger
segment of Israeli society
was galvanized over the
weekend when Netanyahu
abruptly fired his defense
minister, Yoav Gallant, who
became the first govern-
ment member to openly
criticize the judicial over-
haul. The retired major gen-
eral warned that the plan
had already weakened Isra-
el’s national security by
alienating legions of military
personnel, from elite combat
pilots to army reservists who
refused to report to duty in
protest.
Israel burst into rolling
chaos Monday. The coun-
try’s largest trade union —
the umbrella organization
Histadrut, with about
800,000 members — called
on members to observe a
general strike. That forced a
partial shutdown of the in- Amir Levy Getty Images
ternational airport — which POLICE in Tel Aviv detain an Israeli protester during clashes after a demonstration against the government’s judicial overhaul plan.
Israel has prided itself on
keeping open through nu- ultranationalist security sured approach, refusing to Washington for its Summit nently his plans for the judi- “This demonstration in
merous crises — with outgo- minister whose history of defend Netanyahu but also for Democracy this week, ciary. no way, shape or form can be
ing flights canceled and anti-Arab hate has made refraining from harsh con- and Netanyahu is scheduled Martin Indyk, one of the perceived as anti-Israel,”
thousands of passengers him a lightning rod for much demnation as he has repeat- to speak. U.S. officials, re- most well-known U.S. di- said Susie Gelman, long-
stranded. of the criticism of the gov- edly violated his pledges to peatedly pressed, refused to plomats involved in the Mid- time activist in Jewish or-
The protest strike also ernment, said that when the American officials to not ex- comment on whether he was dle East, spoke to the crowd. ganizations and now chair of
triggered walkouts at uni- debate over the judicial pand Jewish settlements on still part of the program. He acknowledged it was the the Israel Policy Forum, an
versities, hospitals, ports changes resumes, lawmak- Palestinian land in the West Even before he began first time he had addressed a advocacy group. “This is for
and even all of Israel’s ers would consult with the Bank and his promises to presiding over the most protest rally, as he was usu- Israel ... for Israel’s future,
embassies and consulates opposition to find a compro- seek consensus on his judi- right-wing government in ally on the inside, making which is so closely linked to
the world over. Public mise. But if that proves im- cial overhaul. the state’s history, Netanya- policy. our future as American
transportation was cur- possible, he said, the over- Senior U.S. administra- hu had long exploited the “Israel is in trouble,” said Jews.”
tailed, and the fast-food be- haul would proceed. tion officials said they are fault lines that have riven Indyk, a two-time U.S. am- Similar rallies are being
hemoth McDonald’s closed Earlier, he had warned pursuing quiet, behind-the- the country into warring bassador to Israel and spe- held in capitals all over the
its doors. Netanyahu to not “surren- scenes diplomacy. But they camps. It was part of his for- cial envoy and Middle East world.
After Netanyahu’s re- der to anarchy.” In fact, also acknowledge they don’t mula for success. negotiator in the Obama At an anti-Netanyahu
marks Monday night, His- some of the same right-wing want to criticize Israel too But weeks of protests and Clinton administra- protest in Berlin on Mon-
tadrut called off the strike. political allies who threw Ne- forcefully. have also created odd politi- tions. Subordinating judges day evening, demonstrators
Israel’s figurehead presi- tanyahu a lifeline in forming “We have been very con- cal alliances, with some tra- to politicians in a country shouted “Shame! Shame!”
dent, Isaac Herzog, who has this government now ap- sistent and very clear both ditional rivals finding com- that doesn’t have a constitu- when word emerged of the
warned of the danger of Isra- peared poised to turn on him privately ... [and] publicly mon ground in the notion tion, Indyk warned, “will deal under which the prime
el plunging into civil war, if he tried to compromise that the concern about this that the prime minister has undermine not only Israel’s minister would temporarily
urged Netanyahu to halt the with his foes. pending legislation is that it embarked on an enormously democracy but [also] the pause his effort to ram
judicial overhaul. “Our secu- Nor has Netanyahu would fly in the face of the destructive path. relationship between the through the changes to the
rity, economy, society — all found much support whole idea of checks and bal- And in the Jewish dias- United States and Israel.” judiciary — but would also
are under threat,” Herzog abroad. His polish as a ances,” John F. Kirby, a pora, some of Israel’s most The strategic interests mollify a key far-right part-
said Monday. “Wake up statesman has long been a spokesman for the U.S Na- loyal supporters have begun and values that the U.S. and ner.
now!” major component of his tional Security Council, said to come out against the Israel share, including the “He’s acting only out of
Herzog later welcomed carefully crafted self-image Monday. plans and actions of Netan- hundreds of billions of dol- his own private interests,”
Netanyahu’s decision to and a tool for creating dis- Kirby said President Bid- yahu’s government. lars Washington has dedi- 29-year-old Israeli pianist
pause. tractions from domestic po- en, in a telephone conversa- At a rally outside the cated to Israel’s military ca- Matan Fishov, who is living
In what might sound to litical crises. tion last week with Netanya- Israeli Embassy in Washing- pabilities, “have also been and working in the German
many Americans like a fa- But those vaunted pow- hu, was “very, very forth- ton over the weekend, sev- undermined as a result of capital, said of the Israeli
miliar tactic, Netanyahu ers appeared to be deserting right” in stressing the need eral hundred protesters — this assault on Israel’s leader. “I’m so worried about
cast his critics and not him- him as he made the recent to “find a way forward based mostly American Jews — democracy,” Indyk said. our democracy.”
self as a threat to the coun- rounds of the main Europe- on compromise ... with the waved blue-and-white Isra- Most of the participants
try’s security, and sought to an capitals, dogged by broadest possible base of eli flags and chanted identified themselves as life- Times staff writers
position himself as a victim demonstrators and chas- popular support.” “democracy!” in Hebrew and long Zionists dedicated to Wilkinson and King
of perfidious judges and tised by the leaders of Israel was one of 122 English as they called for Ne- Israel. And that, they said, is reported from Washington
prosecutors. He is on trial on France, Britain and even countries the U.S. invited to tanyahu to shelve perma- why they were protesting. and Berlin, respectively.
corruption charges for alleg- Germany, loath to criti-
edly doing favors for wealthy cize Israel ever since its
businessmen in exchange establishment after the
for gifts and favorable media end of World War II. Ex-
coverage.
The most radical mem-
bers of his government are
unlikely to give Netanyahu
patriate Israelis, including
many American Jews, have
emerged as among his most
vehement critics.
Scotland picks its first leader of color
much space to maneuver. The Biden administra-
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the tion has taken a more mea- liament and governs in coali-
Humza Yousaf, the tion with the much smaller
Greens. The smaller party
son of South Asian had warned that it might
immigrants and a quit the coalition if the SNP
elected a leader who didn’t
How to contact us Muslim, is elected as share its progressive views,
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A Publication Tuesday, faces the challenge over Finance Secretary Kate bill has been hailed as a land- Yousaf said.
Founded Dec. 4, 1881 of uniting the SNP and re- Forbes, with lawmaker Ash mark piece of legislation by Critics say Yousaf, who
Vol. CXLII No. 115 energizing its campaign for Regan a distant third. trans rights activists but served in several posts in
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L AT I M E S . C O M
Union opposes Biden immigrant program
Asylum officers say
plan could force them
to break law and also
pose unjust hurdles for
those crossing border.
By Hamed Aleaziz
President Biden’s plan to
limit some migrants’ access
to asylum could force federal
asylum officers to break U.S.
law, the union that repre-
sents asylum officers argued
Monday in a formal filing op-
posing the proposal.
Enforcing Biden’s policy
would violate asylum offi-
cers’ oath to carry out
the immigration laws set out
by Congress and “could
make them complicit in
violations of U.S. and inter-
national law,” attorneys for
the American Federation
of Government Employees
Council 119 wrote in a com-
ment submitted to the De-
partment of Homeland Se-
curity.
The same union regularly
protested the Trump ad-
ministration’s efforts to re-
strict asylum at the south-
ern U.S. border, including by
joining lawsuits that sought
to block his policies. Its deci-
sion to oppose Biden’s asy-
lum proposal is one indica-
tion of the plan’s similarities
to Trump-era efforts.
“At their core, the mea-
sures that the Proposed
Rule seeks to implement are
inconsistent with the asy-
lum law enacted by Con-
gress, the treaties the
United States has ratified,
and our country’s moral fab-
ric and longstanding tradi-
tion of providing safe haven
to the persecuted,” the
union argued. “Rather, it is
draconian and represents
the elevation of a single pol-
icy goal — reducing the num-
“WE ALL SUFFER from destroyed lives,” said Anthony Broadwater, 62,
whose conviction for raping writer Alice Sebold in 1981 was overturned in 2021.
High court weighs free speech rights in immigration case
Legality of urging
someone to overstay
visa is focus of debate.
By David G. Savage
WASHINGTON — Is it a
crime or free speech for
someone to “encourage” im-
migrants to come to this
country illegally, or remain
here after their visas have
expired?
The Supreme Court
grappled with that question
Monday in a clash between
immigration law and the 1st
Amendment.
It arose in the case of Sac-
ramento man who charged
immigrants $500 to $10,000
and falsely promised he
could help them obtain U.S.
citizenship.
More than 470 immi-
grants paid for the bad ad-
vice from Helaman Hansen,
and he was convicted of 15
counts of fraud as well as two
counts of encouraging two
immigrants to overstay their
visas.
That latter charge won
IMMIGRANTS gather at a border fence in El Paso in December. Migrant advocates say a new Biden proposal
closely mirrors former President Trump’s move to deny asylum to people who crossed into the United States.
ber of migrants crossing the
southwest border — over hu-
man life and our country’s
commitment to refugees.”
Biden’s plan, unveiled in
February, is his latest at-
tempt to deter migrants
from entering the U.S. with-
out authorization. If en-
acted, it would make immi-
grants who cross into the
U.S. without permission and
fail to apply for protections
on the way to the southern
border ineligible for asylum.
The proposal has to go
him a partial acquittal be-
fore the U.S. 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals and sent
his case to the high court.
Since 1952, federal law
has made it a crime to “en-
courage or induce an alien to
come to, enter, or reside in
the United States, knowing
or in reckless disregard of
the fact” that doing so would
be illegal.
Pointing to those broad
words, the 9th Circuit ruled
that the provision violated
the 1st Amendment because
it could be read to make it a
crime for family members or
friends to encourage a per-
son to come to this country
or to remain here illegally.
“We apply the over-
breadth doctrine so that le-
gitimate speech relating to
immigration law shall not be
chilled and foreclosed,” the
San Francisco-based ap-
peals court said.
The 15 fraud counts
against the defendant were
upheld along with a 20-year
prison term.
The justices agreed to
hear the government’s
defense of the “encourage”
provision of the law, and
THE NATION
through a regulatory proc-
ess, including allowing the
public to send comments on
it, before it can be finalized
and take effect. Some ad-
ministration officials hope
that the new measure will
lessen the effect of the end of
Title 42, a Trump-era policy
set to expire in May that al-
lows border agents to
quickly turn back migrants.
The union also opposes
Biden’s plan because it
would erode commitments
to providing shelter to those
Katrina Tulloch Post-Standard
most of them sounded skep-
tical of the free-speech
claim, at least in this case.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch
said it was odd to argue that
Hansen’s right to free speech
was violated.
“I don’t think anybody
could say he’s been chilled
from speaking. He’s had no
problem soliciting people
here in this country and de-
frauding them to the tune of
lots and lots of money,” Gor-
such said, adding “this law
has been on the books for 50
years.”
Justice Amy Coney Bar-
rett agreed, noting there is
no record of the law being
used to prosecute otherwise
innocent people for encour-
aging immigrants to stay in
this country.
“The statute’s been on
the books for a long time.
There’s an absence of pros-
ecutions. There is also an ab-
sence of demonstrated chill-
ing effect,” she said.
But the court’s liberals
said they saw a potential
free-speech problem.
“We’re criminalizing
words related to immigra-
tion,” said Justice Sonia So-
fleeing from persecution, is
inconsistent with asylum
law and would undermine
the asylum screening proc-
ess, according to the com-
ment.
Asylum officers are “duty
bound to protect vulnerable
asylum seekers from per-
secution or torture,” the
union wrote. Under the pol-
icy, “they would face a con-
flict between the directives
of their departmental lead-
ers to follow the new rules
and adherence to our na-
N.Y. to pay $5.5 million in
wrongful rape conviction
Anthony Broadwater,
jailed for 16 years,
settles suit with state.
associated press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A
man who spent 16 years in
prison after he was wrong-
fully convicted of raping
writer Alice Sebold when she
was a Syracuse University
student has settled a lawsuit
against New York state for
$5.5 million, his lawyers said
Monday.
The settlement comes
after Anthony Broadwater’s
conviction for raping Sebold
in 1981 was overturned in
2021. The deal was signed
last week by lawyers for
Broadwater and New York
Atty. Gen. Letitia James,
said David Hammond, one
of Broadwater’s attorneys.
Broadwater, 62, said in a
statement relayed by Ham-
mond, “I appreciate what
tomayor. “So why should we
uphold a statute that crimi-
nalizes words and makes
the punishment five years,
which is rather significant?”
Justice Elena Kagan said
the law’s wording is so broad
that it could threaten every-
day conversations.
What if a lawyer, doctor or
neighbor advises someone
they should stay in this
country even if they are un-
documented, she asked.
“A huge number of such
communications are taking
place every day, because for
every person who’s in this
country unlawfully, there are
probably some number of
people who want that per-
son to stay, family members,
you know, whatever,” she
told Deputy Solicitor Gen.
Brian Fletcher. “They say, ‘I
really think you should stay.’
What happens?”
He replied the govern-
ment has not and will not
prosecute people for such
family or friendly conversa-
tions. He argued the govern-
ment takes a narrow view of
the words “encourage or in-
duce.”
“Everyone agrees that in
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
John Moore Getty Images
tion’s legal and moral com-
mitment to not return ref-
ugees to territories where
they will face persecution.
Asylum officers should not
be forced to honor rules that
are fundamentally contrary
to the moral fabric of our na-
tion and to our international
treaty and statutory obliga-
tions,” the comment read.
Immigrant advocates
have criticized Biden’s plan,
arguing that it mirrors for-
mer President Trump’s
move to deny asylum to peo-
Attorney General James has
done, and I hope and pray
that others in my situation
can achieve the same mea-
sure of justice. We all suffer
from destroyed lives.”
Sebold was an 18-year-old
first-year student at Syra-
cuse when she was raped in a
park near campus in May
1981. She described the at-
tack and the ensuing prose-
cution in a memoir, “Lucky,”
published in 1999.
Sebold went on to win ac-
claim for her 2002 novel “The
Lovely Bones,” which re-
counts the aftermath of a
teenage girl’s rape and mur-
der and was made into a
movie starring Saoirse
Ronan, Susan Sarandon
and Stanley Tucci.
Sebold, who is white,
wrote in “Lucky” that she
spotted a Black man in the
street months after being
raped and was sure he was
her attacker.
“He was smiling as he ap-
proached. He recognized
me. It was a stroll in the park
criminal law, the terms ‘en-
courage’ and ‘induce’ are
terms of art that can refer
narrowly to soliciting or aid-
ing and abetting unlawful
activity,” he said. They do
not extend to “abstract” or
general comments about
immigration, he said. In
prosecutions, the govern-
ment must show the defend-
ant intended to violate the
law.
If someone is prosecuted
for giving friendly advice
about immigration, the de-
fendant should invoke the
1st Amendment as a de-
fense, he said.
He urged the court not to
strike down the “encourage
or induce” provision based
on “absurd hypotheticals”
or because of the fear it could
be potentially misused in fu-
ture cases.
Several of the justices
also noted that Hansen may
be entitled to win a retrial for
part of his case because the
jury instructions were
flawed.
The case was United
States vs. Hansen, and a
written opinion is expected
by late June.
A5
ple who crossed into the U.S.
without authorization and
did not seek protections in
another country on their
journey. A federal appeals
court blocked that policy in
2020.
Biden administration of-
ficials, however, have said
the new policy is not compa-
rable to Trump’s because it
would not categorically deny
asylum to migrants who
cross through other coun-
tries on the way to the bor-
der. Under Biden’s plan, mi-
grants who cross through
third countries before enter-
ing the U.S. would still be
able to seek asylum at an of-
ficial port of entry.
“This administration just
won’t allow mass chaos and
disorder at the border be-
cause of Congress’ failure to
act,” an administration offi-
cial said on a call with re-
porters in February.
Under the Biden propos-
al, immigrants who cross the
southern border without au-
thorization after traveling
through a third country and
have not been denied asy-
lum in a country on their way
to the U.S. would be forced to
overcome a presumption
that they are ineligible for
asylum. Immigrants unable
to overcome that hurdle
would be liable to deporta-
tion unless they either meet
one of several exceptions in-
cluded in the policy or clear a
higher bar for protection in
the United States.
Michael Knowles, a long-
time asylum officer and
spokesperson for the union,
said it was “imperative” that
the union file the comment
because its members would
be forced to carry out the
policy.
“Our members feel that
this rule, if it goes forward,
would make them complicit
in an illegal act, in a human
rights violation by our coun-
try,” he said.
to him; he had met an ac-
quaintance on the street,”
Sebold wrote. “ ‘Hey, girl,’ he
said. ‘Don’t I know you from
somewhere?’ ”
Police arrested Broadwa-
ter, who was given the
pseudonym Gregory Madi-
son in “Lucky,” but Sebold
failed to identify him in a
lineup, picking a different
man as her attacker.
Broadwater was none-
theless tried and convicted
in 1982 after Sebold, on the
witness stand, identified
him as her rapist, and an ex-
pert said microscopic hair
analysis had tied Broadwa-
ter to the crime.
That type of analysis has
since been deemed junk sci-
ence by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice.
Broadwater was released
from prison in 1999 but had
to register as a sex offender
until his conviction was
vacated in November 2021.
William J. Fitzpatrick,
the district attorney for
Onondaga County, the cen-
tral New York county that
includes Syracuse, joined
the motion to vacate the
conviction, noting that wit-
ness identifications, par-
ticularly across racial lines,
are often unreliable.
Broadwater’s settlement
with the state must be ap-
proved by a judge before it
becomes final.
A message seeking com-
ment was sent to the attor-
ney general’s office.
Broadwater has filed a
federal civil rights lawsuit
against Onondaga County,
the city of Syracuse and an
assistant district attorney
and police officer who were
involved in prosecuting him.
That case is pending.
Sebold apologized to
Broadwater in a 2021 state-
ment that was released to
the Associated Press and
later posted on the online
platform Medium.
She wrote that “as a trau-
matized 18-year-old rape
victim, I chose to put my
faith in the American legal
system. My goal in 1982 was
justice — not to perpetuate
injustice. And certainly not
to forever, and irreparably,
alter a young man’s life by
the very crime that had al-
tered mine.”
A message seeking com-
ment on Broadwater’s set-
tlement with New York state
was sent Monday to a repre-
sentative for Sebold.
A6 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
[Investigation, from A1]
killing in order to collect in-
formation that, among
other things, is used to pro-
tect the involved officers and
their department, an inves-
tigation by the Los Angeles
Times and the Investigative
Reporting Program at UC
Berkeley’s Graduate School
of Journalism has found.
Police and prosecutors
routinely incorporate the in-
formation into disparaging
accounts about the people
who have been killed that
help justify the killings, bol-
ster the department’s de-
fense against civil suits and
reduce the amount of money
families receive in settle-
ments and jury verdicts, ac-
cording to police reports,
court records and interviews
with families and their attor-
neys.
The Times and the Inves-
tigative Reporting Program
documented 20 instances of
the practice by 15 law en-
forcement agencies across
the state since 2008. Attor-
neys specializing in police
misconduct lawsuits say
those cases are just a frac-
tion of what they describe as
a routine practice.
“I have seen this over and
over and over again,” said
Dale Galipo, a Los Angeles
attorney who has filed hun-
dreds of police-shooting law-
suits.
“I had no inclination
whatsoever that Luke had
been killed until all this in-
formation had been pulled
out of me,” Smith recalled in
a recent interview. The de-
tectives “build empathy
with us and then take all of
this information out of us
when we’re doped up on
painkillers, when we’ve just
experienced the trauma of
our lives.”
The practice has been
championed by Bruce Praet,
a lawyer and co-founder of
Lexipol, a company that
hundreds of police depart-
ments and district attorney
offices across California
have hired to train officers
and prosecutors on police
tactics and avoiding law-
suits.
Through a spokesperson,
Lexipol declined interview
requests. Praet defended
the tactic in a brief interview,
saying families will lie or
refuse to speak to investiga-
tors once they know a loved
one has been killed by police.
“I advocate getting to the
truth — unbiased, un-
tainted,’’ he said in an inter-
view. “Shouldn’t [investiga-
tors] get that before this per-
son is tainted and all of a
sudden in a defensive
mode?”
In an online training sem-
inar reviewed by The Times,
Praet instructs detectives to
approach a mom before she
learns her son has just been
killed by police: “You got
about five, 10, 30 minutes to
get out there before word
gets back on the street —
that bad guy is either in the
hospital, dead, jail, whatev-
er.”
Many policing experts
condemned the practice.
“The best approach is the
straightforward one,” said
Michael Gennaco, a consult-
ant who advises police de-
partments across the coun-
try on how to conduct police
shooting investigations. “It’s
important to be straight
with family members who’ve
lost someone to police
deadly force.”
Rick Myers, a retired po-
lice chief and former presi-
dent of the Major Cities
Chiefs Assn., was more
blunt.
“It’s inhumane,” he said.
Married to ‘evasive
concept’ called truth
In the 1970s, Praet be-
came a police officer in La-
guna Beach, a wealthy town
in Orange County. He told
the New York Times that he
was sued twice during his 11
years in policing, once by the
family of a kidnapping sus-
pect he had shot.
“I know how an officer
feels when he has to trust a
bunch of lawyers to defend
him after all he did was de-
fend himself,” Praet said.
Praet quit policing to
pursue a law career and es-
tablished a reputation as a
defender of police, especially
the Fresno Police Depart-
ment and several Orange
County agencies. On the
side, Praet trained police of-
ficers and wrote policy
manuals for smaller depart-
ments.
In 2003, he co-founded
Lexipol, which grew into one
of the nation’s largest pro-
viders of law enforcement
training and policy manuals.
It is particularly popular in
CRYSTAL LEFF sued the city of Garden Grove after police killed her ex-boyfriend in 2018 and held her for questioning. Afraid she’d be
charged, Leff felt compelled to answer. “I didn’t want to go to jail, and I was just telling them s— that was none of their business,” she said.
After a killing by police, agencies
are trained to limit their liability
California, where an esti-
mated 95% of law enforce-
ment agencies are Lexipol
customers.
Praet trained officers
from more than 100 Califor-
nia police departments and
district attorney offices from
2021 to 2022, according to
state records. In 2020, the
California Commission on
Peace Officer Standards
and Training, a public
agency that oversees police
training in California known
as POST, honored Praet
with a lifetime achievement
award and asked him to help
rewrite the guidelines for
teaching cops when they can
use force.
Lexipol’s marketing ma-
terials emphasize that de-
partments can slash what
they pay to settle lawsuits by
implementing its training
methods and adopting its
policies.
“The idea of reducing le-
gal liability seems to be front
and center in their pitch,”
said Joanna Schwartz, a
UCLA law professor who has
co-written two papers criti-
cal of Lexipol.
In one seminar high-
lighted by Schwartz, Praet
recommended that officers
who use force against people
in mental health crises
should describe them in
their reports as appearing to
be on drugs because “jurors
don’t like druggies.”
In another seminar,
Praet showed off a police
photograph of a man who
had just been mauled by a
police dog. He noted with
‘The best approach is the straightforward one. It’s
important to be straight with family members who’ve lost
someone to police deadly force.’
PATRICIA L. PEREZ holds a photo of her grandson Richard Perez, who was killed by police. “We’re not try-
ing to trick you or nothing,” an investigator told Richard’s parents as the investigator secretly recorded them.
approval how the police pho-
tographer had posed the
man with his arm draped
over the police dog while
smiling and flashing a gang
sign. “That was Exhibit One
in the lawsuit, guys.”
POST officials declined
to say whether the agency
sanctions Praet’s method of
extracting information from
families of people killed by
police officers.
Of the 20 examples The
Times found of officers in
California using the tactic, 18
involved police depart-
ments that have been Lex-
ipol clients.
Praet spells out his strat-
egy for investigating police
shootings in a 53-minute
training video titled “It’s
Your Story: Tips for Writing
More Effective Police Re-
ports,” which was available
on Lexipol’s website until
early last year, when it and
several other Praet semi-
nars were abruptly removed.
In the video, Praet says that
a key goal is to get families
talking candidly before they
know their relative is dead.
“Before the dust settles, I
want you sending a uni-
form[ed officer], detective, I
don’t care, somebody out
there, to their friends and
family to find out what
they’ve been up to for the
last 24 hours,” he says.
“Hi, Mrs. Jones. We’ve
had contact with your son,”
Praet instructs officers to
say to the mother of some-
one who’s just been killed by
police. “We’re trying to figure
out what he’s been up to.”
consultant who advises police departments on shooting investigations
Praet then acts the part
of the exasperated mother.
“Oh, you know what?”
Praet improvises, “He got
laid off. His girlfriend broke
up with him. His dog died.
He’s been on a drinking
binge. He’s been — meth all
week long. See that hole in
the wall? He just punched
his fist.”
When the imaginary
mother asks about getting
her son out of jail, Praet in-
structs officers to “get a very
concerned look on your
face.” Using a somber voice,
he demonstrates how they
should break the news: “Say:
You know what, Mrs. Jones?
I regret to inform you, your
son was involved in a shoot-
out with the officers, and he
didn’t survive.”
“What my, my son, the
Eagle Scout? No!”
Praet breaks character
and makes the sound of a
game show buzzer. “Sorry,
lady,” he says. “You’re mar-
ried to that evasive concept
called the truth.”
In an interview in June,
Praet claimed he could not
recall the training session,
which he recorded in Febru-
ary 2019, even after being
read excerpts of what he
said. Praet also denied ever
advising investigators to
withhold information from
families whose relatives had
just been killed by the police.
“Do I advocate getting
out there as early as possible
and getting information?
The truth from family,
friends, associates, co-work-
ers? Absolutely. Get it all
while it’s still fresh, while it’s
still truthful,’’ he said, before
cutting off the interview as
he left a training seminar
he’d just given in Clovis, a
suburb of Fresno.
Golden statement
that protects cops
In 2015, Diana Show-
man’s parents sued officers
from the San Jose Police De-
partment over the death of
their 19-year-old daughter.
Showman, who lived with
bipolar disorder, had called
911 one morning a year earli-
er to say she was armed with
an Uzi and pointed a black
cordless drill at the officers
who responded. Mistaking
the tool for a gun, an officer
shot her.
In their lawsuit, James
Showman and his ex-wife,
Victoria Caulfield-Show-
man, argued that officers
should have done more to
determine whether their
daughter was armed and
used their training to resolve
the standoff peacefully. The
lawsuit, they felt, was their
only way to hold the Police
Department and its officers
accountable.
They may have had a per-
suasive case, especially in
California, where large set-
tlements in police shootings
are common. But less than
two hours after the shooting,
two San Jose detectives in-
terviewed Showman’s father
in an interrogation room.
They knew the teen was
dead but chose not to tell her
father, who believed his
— M ICHAEL G ENNACO ,
Rich Pedroncelli Associated Press
L AT I M E S . C O M
Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times
daughter was being treated
at a hospital, according to
department records and in-
terviews with Showman’s fa-
ther.
They maintained the
ruse even when Showman
said, “I don’t even know if
she’s alive,” a recording of
the interview shows. They
pressed him for more infor-
mation about his daughter’s
mental health history.
Twenty-seven minutes
into the interview, Showman
asked, “Is she alive?”
“I’m sorry,” a detective
said. The interview ended
minutes later.
Police repeatedly use
these types of statements by
relatives to defend them-
selves in the press and in
court, police and court re-
cords show. Departments
share details collected from
family members with report-
ers to paint those shot as
criminals or drug addicts.
Internal affairs investigators
and district attorneys cite
them in their reports justify-
ing the killings. And when
families sue the police for ex-
cessive force or misconduct,
the department’s defense
attorneys include the state-
ments in motions to quash
the case and present them
as evidence to juries.
The statements gathered
by police can have the big-
gest effect at the end of these
civil lawsuits.
The size of a settlement
or verdict can hinge in part
on whether the person shot
had a history of drug use,
mental health issues, home-
lessness, or family strife. If
lawyers defending the offi-
cers and their department
can show that such prob-
lems limited how much mon-
ey the person stood to earn
over their working years, the
payout drops.
In other words, the more
disparaging information the
police have about someone
they’ve killed, the less mon-
ey the department may have
to pay.
In Showman’s case, au-
thorities made thorough use
of the statement her father
gave to detectives about his
daughter’s history of violent
outbursts and suicide at-
tempts.
When county prose-
cutors cleared the officer
who shot Showman of crimi-
nal wrongdoing, a report ex-
plaining their decision relied
heavily on James Show-
man’s statements to detect-
ives.
“[Showman] believed
that his daughter was capa-
ble of presenting a firearm to
police in order for the police
to shoot her,” the report
said. “He said Diana Show-
man was severely unstable
at that time.”
In the family’s lawsuit
against the department,
James Showman said the
department’s first settle-
ment offer included a cash
settlement. But after the
Showmans and their attor-
ney declined what they saw
as a lowball offer, the depart-
ment returned with a lower
one: a promise of new police
training, but no financial
award. Showman’s state-
ments to investigators were
[See Investigation, A7]
L AT I M E S . C O M
Police say 6
were targeted
‘randomly’ by
mass shooter
[Nashville, from A1]
“We know there were two
AR-style weapons — one a
rifle, another was an AR-
style pistol — and the other
was a handgun,” Drake said.
“We believe two of those may
have been obtained legally,
locally.”
Police said the shooter
had arrived at the school in a
Honda Fit, which police
searched after the attack —
finding writings by the
shooter.
The assailant’s maps of
the school were detailed and
included surveillance and
entry points, Drake said.
The shooter had “multiple
rounds of ammunition,” was
“prepared for confrontation
with law enforcement” and
was believed to have acted
alone, the police chief said.
Drake said the shooter
“randomly targeted” the six
victims, who were identified
as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie
Scruggs and William Kinney,
all age 9; head of school
Katherine Koonce, 60; Cyn-
thia Peak, a 61-year-old sub-
stitute teacher; and Mike
Hill, a 61-year-old custodian.
Families of the victims
could not immediately be
reached Monday.
The first 911 call came in
about 10:13 a.m., police said.
When officers arrived, the
shooter opened fire on them
from a second-story window,
police said.
The entire incident
lasted about 14 minutes,
ending after a five-member
team of responding officers
shot the assailant to death
on the school’s second floor,
police said. There were no of-
ficers specifically assigned
to the church-run school, po-
lice said.
Hours after the shooting,
investigators were seen on
video swarming a Nashville
residence associated with
the shooter’s family a few
miles from the school.
Tennessee has been at
the forefront of a recent con-
servative movement target-
ing transgender people and
others in the LGBTQ com-
munity.
Last month, state legisla-
[Investigation, from A6]
the “icing on the cake,” the
family’s attorney, Jaime
Leaños said, and the family
felt they had no choice but to
accept.
“I will beat myself up the
rest of my life for the amount
of information I told them,”
Showman said in an inter-
view.
Luke Smith’s family
learned a similar lesson. Six
months after his death,
Luke’s family sued the Santa
Cruz Sheriff ’s Office. At ev-
ery stage of the case — dur-
ing depositions, in motions
to dismiss the case and in
settlement negotiations —
the sheriff ’s lawyers kept re-
turning to what Luke’s fa-
ther had divulged to detect-
ives at the hospital in order
to argue that his life was
worth less.
The family settled for $2.5
million, an amount their law-
yer, Michael Haddad, said
was affected by what the de-
tectives learned from Luke’s
father. “It was their position,
the defendant’s position,
that the case was worth a lot
less because they contended
that Luke was so troubled.”
Wayne Smith, one of the
detectives who interviewed
James Showman, acknowl-
edged in an interview that he
and his partner had with-
held news of the woman’s
death, and said he had used
the same tactic with other
families. Now retired, Smith
said he probably learned the
tactic as a rookie from a field
training officer. If the family
of someone killed by the po-
lice characterized their
loved one as a “dirt bag,” he
said, it could help the de-
partment defend itself in
civil court.
“That’s a golden state-
ment because it protects the
police,” he said.
(Smith later backtracked
on those comments, saying
it was not the job of a police
officer to gather information
that can be used to protect
the officer’s department.)
Julie and Rick Perez un-
wittingly offered up a golden
statement when a detective
from the Richmond Police
Department and an investi-
gator from the district attor-
tors passed a bill banning
transgender youth from
receiving gender-affirming
care. Conservatives have
claimed such care is inap-
propriate for children re-
gardless of what they, their
families or their doctors
think. Critics have decried
the law as an invasion of
transgender people’s rights
and a threat to the mental
and physical health of trans-
gender kids, who can suffer
greatly when they are unable
to express their identity.
This month, Tennessee
became the first state in the
nation to severely limit drag
performances by passing a
bill that defines “male or fe-
male impersonators” as
adult cabaret performers —
thus banning drag perform-
ances from public spaces or
anywhere children may be
present.
Conservatives have sug-
gested drag queens are sexu-
alized performers who have
no business performing in
front of children, even when
those performances have
nothing to do with sex and
are limited to children’s
book readings. LGBTQ ad-
vocates and other critics of
the law have lambasted it as
another baseless attack on
the LGBTQ community and
particularly on transgender
people, who they say could
be unfairly targeted under
the law based on their iden-
tity and appearance.
The laws are part of
a much larger national
campaign by conservative
pundits, political leaders
and policymakers to cast
LGBTQ people as a threat
to children and to question
the rights of transgender
people overall.
Aiman Masri, owner of
Fresh Wraps & Smoothies, a
deli down the street from the
Covenant School, said he
heard what sounded like
fireworks Monday morning
before police arrived.
“The cops came all
around and came inside the
building,” he said, referring
to the office building that
houses his restaurant. “We
feel really bad for what’s hap-
VICTORIA Caulfield-Showman and her ex-husband may have had a persuasive
case after San Jose police killed their daughter Diana, who had bipolar disorder.
‘I will beat myself up the rest of my life for
the amount of information I told them.’
ney’s office knocked on their
door at 4:20 one morning in
2014. A few hours earlier, an
officer in the Bay Area city
had fatally shot their son.
When Julie Perez asked if
her son was in trouble, the
investigator said, “I’m going
to get to that in a second,”
according to a recording of
the encounter first pub-
lished by KQED.
The investigator
launched into a series of
questions about their son.
Did he use drugs? Did they
have a good relationship?
Did he have problems with
the police? Did he have
“demons to conquer?” Un-
known to Julie and Rick
Perez, the investigator and
the detective were secretly
recording their responses.
“We’re not trying to trick
you or nothing,” the investi-
CHILDREN from the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, hold hands on Monday as they
are taken to a reunification site at Woodmont Baptist Church after a deadly mass shooting on their campus.
Cumberland
Nashville
VANDERBILT
UNIVERSITY
Shooting at
Covenant School
2 miles
© OpenStreetMap contributors
pened.”
Nashville Mayor John
Cooper expressed his con-
dolences to the victims’ fam-
ilies in a tweet, writing that
his city had “joined the
dreaded, long list of commu-
nities to experience a school
shooting.”
In a Monday news confer-
ence, White House Press
Secretary Karine Jean-Pi-
erre said President Biden
had been briefed and was in
touch with federal and local
whom detectives interviewed after police had killed his daughter
gator told the increasingly
agitated parents.
“I hope he’s not in big
trouble, and I wish you guys
would get to the punch line,”
Rick Perez said 10 minutes
into the interview.
“I don’t know how to say
this,” the investigator said.
Rick Perez finished his
sentence: “You guys shot
him.”
When the couple filed a
lawsuit, it became clear that
the city intended to defend
itself by focusing heavily on
what they and other family
members had disclosed to
investigators. The thought
of having their family’s worst
secrets and darkest mo-
ments spilled in open court
was a factor in the family’s
decision to settle with the
city for $850,000.
“If we had taken it all the
River
NASHVILLE
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
Pa u l Du gins ki Los Angeles Times
officials involved in the
shooting. Jean-Pierre called
on Congress to pass an as-
sault weapons ban.
“The president has been
very clear,” she said. “We
need to take more action.”
She noted that Biden this
month signed an executive
order aimed at curbing gun
violence in the aftermath of
the deadly Monterey Park
dance studio shooting. But,
she said, further action from
Congress is needed to create
LiPo Ching Bay Area News Group
— JAMES S HOWMAN,
way to trial, these were going
to be the kind of things that
they were going to start
bringing out,” Julie Perez
said.
Years later, she still can’t
believe a detective would se-
cretly record her while she
was in her nightgown, con-
fused and worried for her
son.
“I felt like somebody
came into my house and
mentally raped me,” she
said.
‘We do that. I used
to lie to suspects.’
In several cases identi-
fied by The Times, investiga-
tors created the impression
that the people they were
questioning could them-
selves be in trouble, leaving
some to conclude they had
S T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
‘We know there
were two
AR-style weapons
— one a rifle,
another was an
AR-style pistol —
and the other was
a handgun.’
— John Drake,
Metro Nashville police chief
more robust gun control to
help ensure these shootings
stop.
In his remarks Monday,
Biden also called on Con-
gress to pass the assault
weapons ban, saying gun vi-
olence is “ripping at the soul
of the nation.” The president
ordered U.S. flags to be
flown at half staff until Fri-
day.
The killings come as com-
munities around the nation
are reeling from a spate of
school violence, including
the massacre at an elemen-
tary school in Uvalde, Texas,
last year; a first-grader who
shot his teacher in Virginia
in January; and a shooting
last week in Denver that
wounded two administra-
tors.
According to the Gun Vi-
olence Archive, an inde-
pendent online database
that tracks gun violence us-
ing police, government, me-
dia and other public data,
no choice but to cooperate.
In 2015, after a Gilroy po-
lice officer shot and killed
Sovonnah Flores’ fiance in
front of her apartment
building, detectives es-
corted Flores to a police in-
terrogation room. Detect-
ives questioned her aggres-
sively for more than an hour,
at one point warning that if
“you’re lying to us, that’s go-
ing to look very bad,” records
show.
In 2020, Orange County
sheriff ’s deputies shot and
killed Laurie Terryah’s
boyfriend when they re-
sponded to a call about the
boyfriend smashing up her
apartment. After the shoot-
ing, deputies kept Terryah
for nearly two hours in a pa-
trol car, where she was ques-
tioned by investigators.
They asked about the
boyfriend’s history of do-
mestic violence and drug
use, records show. Then they
asked about her past arrests
and whether she was on pro-
bation. After finally break-
ing the news of her
boyfriend’s death, the inves-
tigator asked Terryah to
sign a consent form allowing
him to search her apart-
ment.
“So I’m in trouble now
too?” Terryah asked. The of-
ficer assured her she was
not, and she signed the form
as she sobbed.
Wayne Smith, the San Jo-
se detective who inter-
viewed Diana Showman’s fa-
ther in an interrogation
room, acknowledged the
messy optics of these tac-
tics. “I’ll admit it doesn’t
look good, but it gets to the
truth,” he said.
“Ultimately what we
want is just the truth of the
matter, kind of like the police
being able to lie to suspects
to get the truth,’’ he added,
echoing one of Praet’s de-
fenses of the tactic. “We do
that. I used to lie to suspects
all the time.”
It is an imperfect com-
parison. While police lie to
criminal suspects in an ef-
fort to solve crimes, Gen-
naco, the policing expert,
said lying to the family mem-
ber of someone who has
been killed by police offers
A7
Jonathan Mattise Associated Press
there have been 129 mass
shootings in the U.S. this
year, including Monday’s
massacre in Nashville. The
organization defines a mass
shooting as a minimum of
four people shot — either in-
jured or killed — not includ-
ing any shooter who may
also have been killed or in-
jured.
The Nashville attack fol-
lows a string of mass shoot-
ings in California, including
the one in Monterey Park
that left 11 people dead; a
massacre in Goshen that
killed six family members;
and a workplace dispute at
Half Moon Bay that claimed
the lives of seven farm-
workers.
Everytown for Gun
Safety, a gun violence pre-
vention organization, ranks
Tennessee 29th for its fire-
arm legislation, one of the
weakest in the nation. Al-
though the state has laws
that bar some people from
owning a gun — including
those with domestic abuse
convictions, people with
mental health issues or fel-
ons — it does not require
background checks for pur-
chases or permits to carry
concealed weapons. It also
does not have “red flag” laws
that would permit a state
court to order the tempo-
rary removal of firearms
from a person believed to
present a danger to them-
selves or others.
Times staff writer Erin B.
Logan contributed to this
report.
no such payoff.
“You can’t prosecute
somebody who’s no longer
with us,” he said.
By the time Garden
Grove officers forced Crystal
Leff into an interrogation
room, there was no one left
to prosecute.
Leff picked up her ex-
boyfriend, Vic Steven Dis-
anzo, on Sept. 18, 2018, after
he’d been released from jail.
When the pair began to fight,
a witness called the police.
The officer who responded
shot Disanzo twice in the
chest. The officer said he
thought Disanzo was chok-
ing Leff.
As police and paramed-
ics swarmed the scene, an of-
ficer took Leff to the hospital
to be checked for injuries,
then to a police station.
Investigators questioned
Leff, who was wearing noth-
ing but a hospital gown,
about Disanzo’s back-
ground, according to a tran-
script of the interview.
“Did he have issues, men-
tally?”
“Was he the kinda guy
that got into trouble?”
“Does [he] have anger is-
sues?”
Afraid she’d be charged
with a crime, Leff felt com-
pelled to answer their ques-
tions. “I didn’t want to go to
jail, and I was just telling
them s— that was none of
their business,” Leff said.
Investigators went out of
their way to leave the im-
pression Disanzo was still
alive, even asking if Leff
wanted to press charges
against him. “In my mind, he
was alive, and I was mad at
him for bringing the cops
around,” she recalled.
Only when they were
walking her out of the police
station did investigators in-
form her of Disanzo’s death.
Furious at the way she was
treated, Leff sued the city of
Garden Grove for violating
her rights by detaining her.
Garden Grove settled
with Leff for $100,000.
Howey is a freelance
journalist. He reported this
story while at the
Investigative Reporting
Program at UC Berkeley.
A8 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
State Farm auto rates to jump 6.9% Disney
California insurance
regulator OKs the
increase, one of six
totaling more than
$1 billion for top firms.
By Ronald D. White
California drivers who
have State Farm auto insur-
ance are facing a premium
increase of $263.7 million, the
largest total amount ap-
proved since October by the
California Department of
Insurance.
State Farm insures more
California drivers than any
other company operating in
the state. Those 3.7 million
California drivers will see an
average annual boost of $71
per policy, an increase of
6.9%, said Consumer Watch-
dog, a Santa Monica advo-
cacy group.
The latest increase
granted by California Insur-
ance Commissioner Ricardo
Lara follows rate hike ap-
provals for several other
large auto insurers, includ-
ing Geico and Mercury In-
surance, after a long
COVID-19-era break.
In all, Lara has approved
more than $1 billion in pre-
mium increases at the
state’s top six companies,
which insure about 48% of
California registered vehi-
cles. Consumer Watchdog
called it “unjustified and ex-
cessive.” Low-income driv-
ers will be hit the hardest,
the group said.
“The department just
rolled out, and rushed out,
increases in each of these
cases without full justifica-
tion of any of them,” said
Carmen Balber, executive
director of Consumer
Watchdog, adding that it ig-
nores requirements to jus-
tify those increases that
were spelled out in Pro-
position 103, the state law on
automobile, homeowner
and casualty insurance
rates.
Balber saw “a disturbing
picture” of the department
“approving what is now over
$1 billion in rate increases
without the adequate over-
sight.”
Lara did not specifically
address the State Farm
case, but he said through a
spokesperson that there
was nothing excessive about
the approved rate increases.
“Commissioner Lara’s
actions since July 2020 have
3 topics to watch for in Congress’ bank hearings
Committees looking
into two recent
failures are likely to
target regulators, the
Fed and FDIC limits.
By Mackenzie Hawkins
and Austin Weinstein
Congressional commit-
tees are poised to start in-
vestigating the collapse of
Silicon Valley Bank and Sig-
nature Bank, offering a stage
for what’s likely to be a parti-
san clash over the role of fi-
nancial regulations — and
the people charged with en-
forcing them — in the sec-
ond-largest bank failure in
U.S. history.
The Senate Banking
Committee will meet Tues-
day, followed by the House
Financial Services Commit-
tee on Wednesday. Each will
hear from Martin J. Gruen-
berg, chair of the Federal De-
posit Insurance Corp.;
Michael Barr, vice chair for
supervision at the Federal
Reserve; and Nellie Liang,
undersecretary for domestic
finance at the Treasury De-
partment.
Notably absent from the
list: former SVB Chief Exe-
cutive Gregory Becker and
former Signature Bank CEO
Joseph DePaolo, who’ve
been asked to testify this
week or at a later date.
The witnesses face a
grilling over the handling of
SVB’s collapse, which sent
shock waves through the fi-
nancial system as regulators
seized the lender and took
emergency steps to prevent
a broader collapse. SVB was
sold to Raleigh, N.C.-based
First Citizens BancShares
late Sunday, two weeks after
the FDIC announced it
would backstop all of SVB’s
begins
STATE FARM has been granted a $264-million increase in its auto insurance rates. The 3.7 million California
drivers insured by State Farm will see an average annual boost of $71 per policy, an increase of 6.9%.
returned more than $2.55
billion to auto consumers so
far,” said Gabriel Sanchez,
press secretary for the In-
surance Department, “and
he is continuing to review
data from insurance compa-
nies to determine if they
overcharged drivers during
the pandemic.
“Since 2019, Commis-
sioner Lara has pumped the
brakes on rate increases in
California and protected
consumers despite rates
skyrocketing nationwide,
holding increases to the low-
est level in a decade,”
Sanchez said.
State Farm in February
reported record underwrit-
ing losses for 2022, saying:
“While State Farm experi-
enced unfavorable op-
erating results in auto, State
Farm Mutual Automobile
Insurance Co. remains fi-
nancially strong.” State
Farm, which writes auto in-
surance in all 50 states, said
the auto segment accounted
for a $13.4-billion underwrit-
ing loss on $45.7 billion of
earned premiums.
State Farm spokes-
person Sevag Sarkissian
said in an email that the in-
surer is “continuously moni-
toring and adjusting to
trends to make sure we’re
matching price to risk.”
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) has been
unsparing in her criticism of the Federal Reserve.
uninsured deposits.
Congress’ response has
primarily broken along
party lines. Republicans
have pointed to a lack of su-
pervision by the Fed and
criticized President Biden
for what they call a bailout of
a “woke” bank. Democrats
have largely blamed a regu-
latory rollback during Don-
ald Trump’s presidency that
loosened oversight require-
ments for midsize banks
such as SVB — though some
face criticism for joining Re-
publicans in voting for it.
Don’t expect legislation
immediately, though.
“My job is to do oversight
— not to rush this, but not to
delay it either,” Senate
Banking Committee Chair-
man Sherrod Brown, a
Democrat from Ohio, said
last week.
This week’s hearings are
expected to be the first of
many, in what’s set to be a
long, drawn-out debate over
legislative fixes. Here are
three topics to keep an eye
on — and the most impor-
BUSINESS
“As more people are on
the roads, we’re seeing an in-
crease in claims. Auto claim
costs are being compounded
by record inflation and sup-
ply chain disruptions. All of
this has increased the cost of
labor and materials, which
translates to higher auto re-
pair costs,” he said.
According to Consumer
Watchdog’s running tally of
rate increases approved,
drivers with the Interinsur-
ance Exchange of the Auto
Club will be paying $75 more
per vehicle. Those insured
by Mercury will pay $80 more
per vehicle. Geico drivers
will see an annual premium
increase of $125. Farmer’s
drivers will be paying $98
more a year, and those in-
sured by Allstate will see a
$167 annual increase.
The state’s Insurance
Department does not issue a
public statement when it
has approved rate increases.
Most motorists will learn
about the new premiums
when their bills arrive in the
mail.
The new round of in-
creases will come as an extra
burden to California con-
sumers who are already
dealing with high interest
rates and other inflationary
pressures that have made
credit card spending more
Tom Williams Associated Press
tant members to watch.
Fed oversight
The role of bank examin-
ers has become a central is-
sue in the debate over why
SVB collapsed, particularly
after Bloomberg reported
that examiners at the Fed-
eral Reserve Bank of San
Francisco raised flags about
the bank months before its
downfall.
Barr, the Fed’s vice chair
for supervision, is undertak-
ing an internal review of its
oversight and regulation of
the bank, which will be re-
leased by May 1. In prepared
remarks for the Senate hear-
ing released Monday, Barr
said, “SVB failed because
the bank’s management did
not effectively manage its in-
terest rate and liquidity
risk,” before then suffering a
“devastating” run by its
uninsured depositors.
Fed oversight of SVB
needs to be thoroughly re-
viewed, Barr also said. He
added that he was commit-
ted to ensure “we fully ad-
costly, especially as more
people rely on them for ev-
eryday purchases. Bankrate
recently said that the
average credit card interest
rate has climbed to 20.05%,
the highest since Bankrate
began tracking them in the
mid-1980s.
Roy Persinko, a Southern
California building contrac-
tor for the last 22 years, prob-
ably knows more than most
about the effects of all of
those increased costs.
“Everything in my busi-
ness has gone up,” Persinko
said. “But the cost of auto re-
pair has gone up. Thefts are
up. Am I thrilled about what
I pay for car insurance?
No, but it’s understand-
able.”
California waited longer
than any other state to raise
auto premiums after the
pandemic eased, said Denni
Ritter, a vice president at the
American Property Casu-
alty Insurance Assn.
In their return to the
roads, California drivers
have been driving faster and
increasingly while intoxi-
cated, Ritter said, leading to
accident injuries that are
more severe, and they’re
wrecking cars that have
higher repair costs than in
the past.
“Those are causing costs
dress what went wrong.”
While Barr’s inquiry is
underway, Sens. Rick Scott,
a Republican from Florida,
and Democrat Elizabeth
Warren, a Democrat from
Massachusetts, backed a bill
to create a Senate-con-
firmed watchdog for the Fed
and the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau. Warren
has also supported legisla-
tion to make the regional
Fed banks subject to free-
dom-of-information rules.
Barr and Fed Chair
Jerome H. Powell cleared
the panel last year — for con-
firmation and re-confirma-
tion, respectively — but the
Fed may take heat from both
sides now. Warren has been
unsparing in her criticism,
and Republicans including
Bill Hagerty of Tennessee
and Thom Tillis of North
Carolina have shown they
are ready and eager to find
fault in bank failures during
a Democratic administra-
tion.
Banking regulation
In 2018, Congress passed
S. 2155, a bill that rolled back
components of the 2010
Dodd-Frank law for small
and midsize banks — includ-
ing the need to stress-test
some of them. The measure
passed with bipartisan
support, 67 to 31, and re-
mains the last piece of major
legislation to move through
the Senate Banking Com-
mittee.
Since SVB was exempted
from stricter regulatory
standards under that 2018
bill, many critics have
pointed to it as a potential
cause of the blowup. Stress-
testing SVB might have
helped regulators to spot
weaknesses, they argued.
Warren introduced legisla-
tion this month to roll
back some of the deregula-
tion.
Luis Sinco Los Angeles Times
to really skyrocket in the
auto insurance realm,” Rit-
ter said.
Consumer Watchdog
said insurers’ claims that
they have been hurting be-
cause they haven’t been al-
lowed to raise premiums
quickly enough are
overblown and misleading.
Moreover, the rising pre-
mium costs will not be
shared equally among mo-
torists and will unfairly fall
more on low-income work-
ers who will pay up to 25%
more than professionals
with college degrees at cer-
tain insurers, including Ge-
ico, the group said.
Harvey Rosenfield, au-
thor of Proposition 103 and
founder of Consumer
Watchdog, said the rate in-
creases are being approved
when the insurers “have
failed to pay their customers
for windfall overcharges dur-
ing the pandemic lockdown,
when people dramatically
reduced their driving and
accidents and insurance
claims dropped.” Consumer
Watchdog has estimated
that motorists are owed bil-
lions.
Sanchez responded that
Lara is “using every tool
available to ensure consum-
ers aren’t paying more than
they should.”
But advocates of the 2018
measure have stood by it, in-
cluding two key moderate
Democratic senators, Mark
Warner of Virginia and Jon
Tester of Montana. How
they approach Tuesday’s
hearing will offer insight into
their willingness to bolster
bank regulation.
FDIC coverage
Although the goal of this
week’s hearings is primarily
fact-finding, members are
also likely to put down mark-
ers for legislative ideas per-
colating on Capitol Hill, in-
cluding potential bipartisan
action on FDIC deposit-in-
surance limits. Proposals in-
clude raising the insurance
cap, eliminating the cap per-
manently or temporarily,
and creating a different cate-
gory for businesses.
But Congress is a long
way from agreeing on a legis-
lative response — and some
members aren’t yet con-
vinced that one is necessary.
“Too often as legislators
we walk around and assume
the answer is legislation,”
Rep. Patrick T. McHenry —
a North Carolina Republi-
can and chair of the House
Financial Services Commit-
tee — said at last week’s
bankers’ conference. “We
can’t legislate competence.”
And even if key players
can agree on a solution, ob-
stacles abound in a factious
Congress. Ultraconserva-
tives from Sen. Josh Hawley
(R-Mo.) to the House Free-
dom Caucus are against
raising FDIC limits, while
progressives such as Warren
have demanded that higher
limits be tied to tighter regu-
lations for banks — a tough
sell in a GOP-led House and
with a narrow Democratic
majority in the Senate.
Hawkins and Weinstein
write for Bloomberg.
L AT I M E S . C O M
layoffs
7,000 jobs will be cut
in three rounds before
summer, CEO says.
By Ryan Faughnder
Walt Disney Co. this week
begins its plan to cut 7,000
jobs as part of a wider effort
to rejuvenate the Burbank
entertainment giant’s fi-
nances and reach profitabil-
ity at its streaming business.
The first wave of employ-
ees facing layoffs will be noti-
fied by Disney bosses over
the next four days, Chief
Executive Bob Iger said in a
Monday memo to staff. A
second, larger round of cuts
will come in April with “sev-
eral thousand more staff re-
ductions,” followed by a final
group before the beginning
of summer.
The layoffs are spread
throughout the company, af-
fecting roles in the units for-
merly known as Disney Gen-
eral Entertainment and Dis-
ney Media and Entertain-
ment Distribution, as well as
corporate positions and jobs
in the theme parks, experi-
ences and consumer prod-
ucts business, according to
people familiar with the
matter.
“The difficult reality of
many colleagues and friends
leaving Disney is not some-
thing we take lightly,” Iger
wrote. “For our employees
who aren’t impacted, I want
to acknowledge that there
will no doubt be challenges
ahead as we continue build-
ing the structures and func-
tions that will enable us to be
successful moving forward.”
The layoffs were ex-
pected.
Iger in February said the
company would be shedding
workers to help save $5.5 bil-
lion in costs in a sign of Hol-
lywood’s retrenchment
amid challenges in the busi-
ness of online video.
The streaming race has
been a boon for the produc-
tion of new shows. But the
cuts will reduce how much
content Disney makes and
what the company spends
on its movies and shows.
Iger, the longtime former
CEO who took over from the
ousted Bob Chapek in No-
vember, has specifically
highlighted the need to pare
back on general entertain-
ment content, calling it “un-
differentiated” compared
with the company’s best-
known franchises.
General entertainment
refers to Disney shows and
movies that don’t clearly fall
into any of the companies’
most popular brands, such
as Marvel, “Star Wars” and
Pixar. Disney’s general en-
tertainment unit has typi-
cally provided shows to ABC
and Hulu. Iger has been non-
committal about whether
Disney will buy the 33% of
Hulu it doesn’t already own
from Comcast.
One of Iger’s first moves
after coming back to Disney
was to announce the dis-
mantling of Disney Media
and Entertainment Distri-
bution, a controversial
Chapek-era unit that han-
dled distribution strategy.
Disney’s streaming busi-
ness has continued to bleed
cash, losing more than $1 bil-
lion in its fiscal first quarter,
but the company projects its
marquee streamer, Dis-
ney+, will be profitable by
the end of fiscal 2024.
The cuts underscore the
difficulties that Disney and
other media giants face as
they reckon with the reali-
ties of streaming, larger
economic woes and the chal-
lenges facing Iger.
The reductions also re-
flect an uncertain environ-
ment for entertainment, me-
dia and technology compa-
nies that expanded too ag-
gressively during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Upon returning to Dis-
ney, Iger faced a proxy fight
from billionaire activist in-
vestor Nelson Peltz, whose
investment firm Trian Fund
Management accumulated
a $900-million stake in Dis-
ney and lobbied the com-
pany for a seat on its board of
directors. Peltz criticized
the company for “self-in-
flicted” wounds, including
poor succession planning
and the costly acquisition of
21st Century Fox.
Peltz ended his effort
shortly after Iger announced
the cost-cutting plan.
L AT I M E S . C O M
LGBTQ pardon plan has limited impact
[Pardon, from A1]
I’m whole.”
Gay rights advocates are
calling for Newsom to issue
more pardons for people
like Pachnowski, and for
broader clemency actions
for LGBTQ people who are
in prison now.
Pardons, part of the gov-
ernor’s clemency powers
under the state Constitu-
tion, are sought by people
who have served their time
in prison and believe they
have proved that they are
rehabilitated. Pardons can
reinstate some civic rights,
including the right to own a
firearm and serve on a jury.
In California, pardons have
helped people avoid depor-
tation and provided housing
and job opportunities that
were limited by past convic-
tions.
“We were very thankful
and very happy with the ini-
tiative when it launched,”
said Jorge Reyes Salinas,
spokesperson for Equality
California, which advocates
for LGBTQ rights. “People
are still alive in California
impacted by these laws, and
seeing more of these par-
dons take place would really
impact tremendously the
life of someone, regardless of
their age, and how they are
accepted and reintroduced
back into the community.”
Newsom — who made his
name as a gay rights cham-
pion when he issued same-
sex marriage licenses as
mayor of San Francisco be-
fore it was legal — urged
Californians to apply to
the program three years ago.
He said the state was “turn-
ing the page on historic
wrongs.”
He would “work to iden-
tify eligible pardon candi-
dates and diligently process
applications with the ex-
press goal of pardoning eligi-
ble individuals,” Newsom
said then.
The governor’s office,
though, has not tracked in-
formation about applica-
tions related to the program.
Izzy Gardon, a spokes-
person for Newsom, said in a
statement that “given the
public nature of the pardon
process,” people often seek
alternative criminal record
remedies instead that “may
provide more meaningful
MARKET ROUNDUP
Most stocks rise, including banks
By Stan Choe,
Damian J. Troise
and Alex Veiga
A choppy day of trading
on Wall Street ended with
stocks mostly higher Mon-
day, as battered banks
showed more strength, at
least for now.
The Standard & Poor’s
500 index eked out a 0.2%
gain, closing up 6.54 points
to 3,977.53, after having been
up by as much as 0.8%.
Banks and energy stocks led
the gainers in the bench-
mark index, outweighing
losses in technology and
communications compa-
nies.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 0.6%, adding
194.55 points to 32,432.08,
while the Nasdaq composite
fell 0.5%, dropping 55.12
points to 11,768.84, reflecting
losses in Google parent Al-
phabet and other tech com-
panies. Gainers outnum-
bered decliners on the New
York Stock Exchange by
nearly 3 to 1.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq
are coming off two straight
weekly gains, even as mar-
kets have been in turmoil fol-
lowing the second- and
third-largest U.S. bank fail-
ures in history this month.
Investors have been hunting
for which banks could be
next to fall as the system
creaks under the pressure of
much higher interest rates.
Still, financial stocks
were among the biggest
gainers Monday. First
Citizens’ stock soared 53.7%
after it said it would buy
most of Silicon Valley Bank,
whose failure sparked the in-
dustry’s furor this month. As
part of the deal, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp.
agreed to share some of the
losses that may arise from
some of the loans First Citi-
zens is buying.
Other banks that in-
vestors have highlighted as
the next potential victims of
a debilitating exodus of cus-
tomers also strengthened.
First Republic Bank
jumped 11.8% and PacWest
Bancorp rose 3.5%. Most of
the focus in the U.S. has been
on banks that are below the
size of those that are seen as
“too big to fail.”
BAMBY SALCEDO , a transgender activist who has spent time in jail, says Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pardon plan
needs to be expanded to benefit people like her. She has what she calls an “unstable immigration status.”
concrete legal relief.”
Those include dismissals
and certificates of rehabili-
tation issued by judges, he
said. Gardon encouraged
people who have been prose-
cuted for lawful conduct be-
cause of their LGBTQ stat-
us to apply for pardons “or
other legal remedies.”
“The governor’s office
welcomes further input from
advocacy groups and others
on this effort,” Gardon said.
The pool of potential
pardon candidates could be
small and apply only to
elderly LGTBQ people; Cali-
fornia in 1975 repealed a law
that made consensual gay
sex a crime. But activists say
the program can have a
meaningful effect.
While the state in 1997
established a process for
LGBTQ people to seek re-
moval from the sex offender
registry for charges related
to consensual adult sexual
conduct, the underlying
convictions can remain on
records.
In his application for a
Major stock indexes
Index Close
Dow industrials 32,432.08
S&P 500 3,977.53
Nasdaq composite 11,768.84
S&P 400 2,426.84
Russell 2000 1,753.67
EuroStoxx 50 4,165.85
Nikkei (Japan) 27,476.87
Hang Seng (Hong Kong) 19,567.69
Associated Press
A broader worry has been
that all the weakness for
banks could cause a pull-
back in lending to small and
midsize businesses across
the country. That in turn
could lead to less hiring, less
growth and a higher risk of a
recession. Many economists
were already expecting an
economic downturn before
all the struggles for banks.
“Unfortunately, this is
what happens when you
tighten policy that quickly,”
Amanda Agati, chief invest-
ment officer of PNC Asset
Management Group, said
about the last year’s swift
rise in interest rates.
“Things break in the system.
Some of the weakest links
are starting to show up.”
The worries are interna-
tional. In Europe, Credit
Suisse’s stock tumbled so
quickly this month that
regulators brokered its take-
over by rival Swiss banking
giant UBS. At the end of last
week, the market’s sights set
on Deutsche Bank, whose
stock fell sharply as analysts
questioned why it had come
under pressure.
“So far, regulators and
lawmakers have worked to-
gether to keep the crisis
under control, and they have
used all the help they could
to do so,” Naeem Aslam of
Zaye Capital Markets said in
a commentary.
On Monday, Deutsche
Bank shares rose 6.1% in
Germany. Other big banks
across Europe also found
some stability.
These giant banks don’t
share many characteristics
with the smaller and midsize
banks in the United States
that have been under pres-
sure. But all are navigating
much more scrutiny from in-
vestors broadly.
pardon, Pachnowski said
clemency would “not only
recognize the injustice that I
suffered” but would also en-
sure that “I do not face any
future obstacles such as em-
ployment and housing re-
lated ones.”
Pachnowski spent 10
days in jail for engaging in
consensual sexual activity
with a man in a car in a des-
erted industrial area more
than 50 years ago. A security
guard who caught Pach-
nowski and his partner told
them they had “gone against
God and nature,” he said.
The pardon program’s
stagnancy is proof that it
was too narrow of an at-
tempt to meaningfully help
LGTBQ people affected by
the criminal justice system,
said Colby Lenz, an activist
with the California Coalition
for Women Prisoners who
advised Newsom’s staff
when the program was cre-
ated.
“We are looking for a way
to take this symbolic recog-
nition and make it real,”
Daily Daily % YTD %
change change change
+194.55 +0.60 -2.16
+6.54 +0.16 +3.60
-55.12 -0.47 +12.44
+22.68 +0.94 -0.15
+18.75 +1.08 -0.43
+35.23 +0.85 +9.85
+91.62 +0.33 +5.30
-347.99 -1.75 -1.08
The Federal Reserve and
other central banks an-
nounced their latest in-
creases to interest rates in
recent weeks as they fight in-
flation that’s still gripping
worldwide. Higher rates can
undercut inflation by slow-
ing the economy, but they
raise the risk of a recession.
They also hurt prices for
stocks, bonds and other in-
vestments.
The Fed has pulled its key
overnight rate to a range of
4.75% to 5%, up from virtu-
ally zero at the start of last
year. It indicated last week
that the troubles in the
banking system could end
up acting like rate hikes by
slowing lending.
The Fed has hinted that
it may raise rates just one
more time this year before
leaving them alone for a
while. Traders on Wall
Street, though, don’t believe
it. Many are betting the cen-
tral bank will have to cut
rates as soon as this summer
to prop up the economy.
Huge, quick swings in ex-
pectations for the Fed have
caused remarkable moves in
the bond market.
Yields jumped Monday.
The yield on the 10-year
Treasury, which helps set
rates for mortgages and
other important loans, rose
to 3.53% from 3.37% late Fri-
day.
The Russell 2000 index of
smaller stocks is on track for
a 7.6% loss this month versus
a 0.2% gain for the S&P 500.
On Monday it rose 18.75
points, or 1.1%, to 1,753.67.
Choe, Troise and Veiga
write for the Associated
Press. AP writers Elaine
Kurtenbach and Matt Ott
contributed to this
report.
Lenz said.
Newsom has named both
prison reform and LGBTQ
civil rights protections as
priorities of his administra-
tion. He signed a law in 2020
that allows incarcerated
transgender, nonbinary and
intersex people to choose
whether to be housed in a
men’s or women’s facility.
Last year, he signed a con-
troversial bill that repealed
anti-loitering laws at the
urging of LGBTQ advocates
who said police used it to
disproportionately target
transgender sex workers.
The Transgender Law
Center, Survived & Puni-
shed and Flying Over Walls,
among other groups, are
calling on the governor to
grant more commutations,
which may shorten current
prison sentences, as studies
show that LGBTQ people —
especially transgender peo-
ple — are more likely to be
incarcerated and face more
violence in prison.
Lesbian, gay and bisexu-
al people are incarcerated at
three times the rate of het-
erosexual people, according
to the nonprofit Prison Pol-
icy Initiative. Although data
are more limited for incar-
cerated transgender people,
1in 6 have reported that they
have served time, according
to the initiative.
Jennifer Orthwein, an Al-
ameda-based attorney who
represents LGBTQ clients
and formerly worked as a
forensic psychologist in
state prisons, said people
are still being discriminated
against by the justice sys-
tem, but not in the overt
ways of the past. Orthwein
said LGBTQ clients not only
face overly harsh sentences
but see more severe disci-
pline in prison than straight
people, which in turn makes
it harder for them to be
granted parole.
“While optically this ini-
tiative appears to be right-
ing a historical wrong, it
really has very little, if any,
impact on the actual lives of
the people subjected to
discriminatory laws in the
first place,” Orthwein said.
“I think if Gov. Newsom
wants to have an actual
impact on the current dis-
crimination LGBTQ+ peo-
ple face, he should take a
look at the discriminatory
laws that are disparately im-
pacting LGBTQ+ folks right
now and apply equitable
ATTORNEYS
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 A9
cally recommend that peo-
ple seeking to clear their
records apply for a guberna-
torial pardon. Pardons are
rare and more publicized
and time-consuming than
routes such as expunge-
ment, which does not erase
charges from records but
updates them to signal that
they have been dismissed,
he said.
“To rely on pardons —
this executive grant of mercy
that is exceptional almost by
definition — as a form of pol-
icy, I think it’s a misguided
effort. We should look at re-
lief that benefits everybody,”
Kim said. “But it doesn’t
mean my clients wouldn’t
want it. Symbolic relief is not
nothing.”
In response to activists’
calls for commutations,
Newsom’s spokesperson
said that LGBTQ people in
prison can apply for commu-
tations “to redress unjust
legal outcomes” in their
cases.
“Every clemency applica-
tion received by the gover-
nor’s office receives careful
consideration, and there are
Andrew Harnik Associated Press many factors the governor
weighs before granting
clemency in an individual
case,” Gardon said.
solutions.” Since being elected in
Bamby Salcedo, a trans- 2019, Newsom has called his
gender activist based in Los executive clemency power
Angeles, wants to see the ini- “an important part of the
tiative expanded to benefit criminal justice system.”
people like her. Salcedo, While in office, the gover-
president and chief execu- nor has issued 123 commuta-
tive of the TransLatin@ Co- tions, 140 pardons and 35
alition, traveled to the U.S. medical reprieves.
illegally as a minor and has A Times investigation
been denied the type of visa found that as of January, a
she seeks because of past third of people who were
convictions. A pardon from granted commutations re-
the governor could change mained behind bars due
what she called an “unstable largely to a process that de-
immigration status.” fers to the Board of Parole
Salcedo, 53, was in and Hearings, despite the gover-
out of jail from 1988 to 2000 nor’s executive authority to
for crimes including pos- free people from prison.
session of a controlled sub- Calls by Black and
stance, petty theft and pros- LGTBQ state lawmakers for
titution, according to rec- Rustin to be pardoned after
ords. She said she was a drug his death were the impetus
addict struggling to survive, for Newsom’s program.
and though she was not Rustin, who advised the Rev.
charged with crimes openly Martin Luther King Jr., was
targeting her because of her convicted of vagrancy in Cal-
identity, the discrimination ifornia for engaging in con-
she faced as a transgender sensual sexual activity with
woman contributed to her a man in 1953.
contact with the justice sys- Rustin, who was influen-
tem. tial in the 1963 March on
“I was not able to obtain Washington, was awarded
employment or proper the Presidential Medal of
healthcare. Being that there Freedom in 2013 by Presi-
was no opportunities for me dent Obama.
as a young trans woman, the State Sen. Scott Wiener
only venue to survival was (D-San Francisco) was in-
the street economy,” Sal-
cedo said. “I have been able
to reform my life and do a lot
fluential in Rustin’s post-
humous pardon.
Wiener said in an inter-
of good. I’ve been clean for view that he was “very grate-
more than 22 years.” ful” to the governor for cre-
Salcedo, who last year ating the initiative but has
was appointed to Newsom’s not been involved in its oper-
Commission on the State of ation. He worried that the
Hate, said the pardon initia- program has been held back
tive is too limited. because of fear, especially
“If the governor is saying among LGBTQ elders.
he is giving priority to a par- “These are historically
ticular population, the ac- horrific criminal laws that
tions don’t show that,” she destroyed countless peo-
said. ple’s lives,” Wiener said. “I
Josh Kim, an attorney don’t know exactly why
who works for Root & Re- the uptake of this program
bound, an organization that has been so low, but it could
provides legal support to be a combination of shame
those “harmed by mass in- and of people not knowing
carceration,” does not typi- about it.”
CONSUMER
ATTORNEYS
OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Trends. Updates. Visionaries.
Deadline: March 31
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A10 TU E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shut down juvenile probation
he Board of Supervisors’ be-
T lated flurry of directives this
month to prevent the state-or-
dered closure of L.A. County’s
two juvenile halls was far too lit-
tle and probably came far too late.
As The Times reported Friday, the Cali-
fornia Board of State and Community Cor-
rections notified the county’s interim chief
probation officer Thursday that it will de-
cide on April 13 whether to order the clo-
sure of the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in
Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Lin-
coln Heights because of the abysmal condi-
tion of the facilities, the inadequate num-
ber of staff and the resulting danger to ju-
veniles and staff alike.
The Board of Supervisors and the
county Probation Department have until
then to bring the facilities into compliance
with state standards.
If they fail, new secure accommodations
would have to be found for nearly 400
youths accused of serious crimes. And it is
almost certain they will fail to repair this
catastrophe in fewer than three weeks.
Most of those juveniles suffer from some
form of mental illness or deep trauma. Be-
cause of chaotic conditions at the deten-
tion facilities, few of the youths have had
the benefit of schooling or therapy the
county is required to provide during their
time awaiting resolution of their cases or
completion of their sentences.
The state board would be doing no one
any favors by keeping the facilities open.
They must close, and safe and suitable ac-
commodations for the juveniles must be
found. The L.A. supervisors, Probation De-
partment management and a workforce
crippled by employees who refuse to come
to work have shown repeatedly that they
are not up to the task of properly housing
and caring for the young offenders in their
charge.
Their failure has alarmed their counter-
parts around the state. Last week, the
Chief Probation Officers of California, an
organization of the 58 leaders of county
probation departments, called for a “nar-
rowly tailored receivership” in L.A. County
focused on facilities and staffing.
Their instinct to impose outside man-
agement, presumably under court over-
sight, is on target. But a narrow receiv-
ership is also too little and too late.
The department is already obligated to
correct horrendous health and safety prob-
lems — including juveniles having to uri-
nate on the floors of their cells because they
lack adequate access to bathrooms at night
— under a settlement agreement with the
California Department of Justice.
That agreement is also too little, too
late. Nor is proposed legislation in Sacra-
mento to create a facilities grant program,
exclusively for Los Angeles County to build
new juvenile halls, either sufficient or
timely.
All of these plans and agreements might
have been adequate if the Probation De-
partment’s meltdown were a recent phe-
nomenon, brought on by the pandemic, or
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGRIBUSINESS consultant Mark Grewel stands on a farm road that was
flooded near Corcoran, Calif., on March 21, after storms in the San Joaquin Valley.
‘Bring back
the lake!’
Re “Tensions high as Tulare
Lake reappears on prime
farmland,” March 26
For more than a century
Californians have been
trying to control water. Not
surprisingly we have failed,
for we still have too much
water and not enough water.
Perhaps we should direct
our efforts toward living in
harmony with nature.
Let’s work toward restor-
ing Tulare Lake, Owens
Lake, Buena Vista Lake, the
Salton Sink and the Sacra-
mento-San Joaquin River
Delta. Yes, this will reduce
the amount of farmland and
FOUNDED DECEMBER 4, 1881
A Publication
L AT I M E S . C O M / O P I N I O N
OPINION
EDITORIALS
the wildfires that threatened several
camps, or Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to
close the state Division of Juvenile Justice
and transfer the most serious juvenile
offenders to the counties by July 1.
But in fact, the county has allowed the
crisis to grow for at least two decades, and
the most recent challenges have merely ex-
acerbated the disaster. The shocking con-
ditions in the juvenile halls are symptoms
of deeper organizational sickness.
Refusal of probation staff to report to
work is nothing new. Massive no-shows
have beset the department for years. So
has employee misconduct.
A decade ago there was a spate of
arrests of probation department workers
for fraud, theft and excessive force. Allega-
tions of rape and sexual assault of juveniles Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times
perpetrated by probation workers go back LAUSD employees rally on the first day of three-day strike on March 21.
nearly a half century.
Off-duty drunk driving arrests of proba-
tion workers were rampant a decade ago
and remain a problem. One chief probation
officer attempted to crack down on miscon-
Mayor stepped up for schools
duct by requiring that promotion be based
on performance and not merely seniority, tion and child supervision. On Thursday,
but he was fired and his successor reversed Karen Bass was wise to offer her Bass declined to give many details about
the policy. her work at the bargaining table, saying,
The county long ago signed off on a com-
help to end the labor impasse that “I’m facilitating the discussions back and
pressed work schedule that was negotiated shut down LAUSD last week. forth. When you’re at this stage, it’s very
for the benefit of workers but undermines fragile.”
therapeutic programs for the juveniles. Union officials described Bass’ involve-
The Board of Supervisors spent tens of mil- os Angeles mayors have no offi- ment as instrumental, and district officials
lions of dollars on facilities and programs
designed for therapy that cannot be used
as intended because of disputes over staff
scheduling and seniority. The supervisors
have hired and fired a succession of chief
probation officers who were not up to the
task.
L cial authority over local schools,
but they have a big stake in their
success. And the kind of political
capital that can make people lis-
ten. For that reason, Los Angeles was fortu-
nate that Mayor Karen Bass stepped up
last week to mediate a labor impasse be-
expressed appreciation of her role.
State Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los
Angeles), the former head of the L.A.
County Federation of Labor, praised Bass
for taking leadership in a situation that
greatly affected Los Angeles residents.
“She could’ve run away from it. She
Most of the failures currently afflicting tween the Los Angeles Unified School Dis- could’ve blamed LAUSD. Instead, she ran
the Probation Department were flagged by trict and 30,000 low-wage workers that to it.”
the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006. The shuttered schools for three days. The tentative agreement is a big win for
county agreed to a host of remedies, but as Talks between the district and Service the district’s low-paid workers. It calls for
soon as the fixes were made and the com- Employees International Union Local 99, raises spread out over a period of time, be-
pliance boxes were checked, the depart- which represents cafeteria workers, custo- ginning with retroactive pay raises to July 1,
ment reverted to its former dysfunction. dians, bus drivers, teacher assistants, af- 2021, and ending with a $2-an-hour raise be-
The supervisors have repeatedly vio- ter-school program workers and gardeners, ginning Jan. 1, 2024, averaging about 30%.
lated the public trust in handling the issue. had broken down in this month over the The updated pay will bring the district’s
Last week, they put on the agenda their size of pay raises and other issues. minimum hourly wage to $22.52, higher
emergency session to discuss the state Many of these employees are part-time than the city of Los Angeles, which will be
board’s letter as “Department Head Per- and earn on average $25,000 a year. When $16.78 an hour beginning July 1, and the
formance Evaluations,” an apparent ruse SEIU members went on strike last week, state, which is $15.50 an hour. The amount
to justify a closed session without notifying they were accompanied by most of the is more than the $20.76 that LAUSD was of-
the public of the actual subject. 35,000 members of United Teachers Los fering before the strike.
The county’s mistreatment of youths in Angeles, who walked out in solidarity. The agreement also secures health ben-
its care is long-standing and unconscion- The school district had prepared in ad- efits for employees working a minimum of
able. No limited receivership or settlement vance for the disruption by preparing study four hours daily, who weren’t already re-
agreement can fix it. As with the county’s packages for students to take home and ceiving healthcare benefits, including
previous debacles in the abusive MacLaren provided free breakfasts and lunches for teacher assistants and after-school work-
Children’s Center and the deadly Martin three days. But the closures still sent par- ers.
Luther King Jr. medical center, the Proba- ents scrambling for day care during the The tentative agreement must still be
tion Department’s juvenile division— and three days and were a setback for students voted on by union members and the
not merely a couple of its detention centers who have a lot of ground to make up after LAUSD board, but it’s safe to say that a cri-
— is beyond repair. the pandemic. sis has been averted — at least until the
It must be closed down and replaced. Perhaps taking a cue from her prede- next labor impasse. That could come soon,
The only proper discussion for the Board of cessor Mayor Eric Garcetti, who helped ne- as United Teachers Los Angeles is now in
Supervisors now is how to do it, work with gotiate the end to a contentious teachers contract negotiations.
state officials to identify safer quarters and strike in 2019, Bass said she called both Ideally, the discussions will proceed
plan the responsible transfer of the juvenile parties about a week before the strike to of- smoothly, without any need for the mayor
probationers without exacerbating the fer her mediation help and the use of city to step in. But it’s nice to know that if neces-
damage already inflicted on them. parks and other buildings for food distribu- sary, Bass is up to the task.
LETTERS
opportunities for tourism It was nice to read that more important and appar-
and recreation. the underpaid support staff ently miss the whole point of
The giant corporate in LAUSD are being granted her writing. There is room
farms in the Tulare Lake long overdue raises. for us to work together.
basin have left a trail of Supt. Alberto Carvalho, When these writers say
destruction because of their who once warned that union that bridging our differenc-
greed. Bring back the lake! demands could put the es will be too difficult, com-
Donald Flaherty district on the brink of insol- plex or impossible, it makes
Fajardo vency, now states that the me feel hopeless. I need
Los Angeles “deal was structured in a them to be more engaged
way that staggered the and optimistic about the
spending, making it afford- importance of our great
Why all the L.A. able,” according to your
reporting.
American democratic expe-
riment.
school strikes? Assuming for the mo- Donald R. Duckworth
ment that this statement is Arcadia
Re “LAUSD, union reach accurate, it raises the ques-
tentative deal,” March 25 tions: Where exactly is this ::
money coming from, and
My children attend why wasn’t this done years None of the letters in
school in the Los Angeles ago to help the hardworking response to Guerrero’s
Unified School District, and support staff if the funds are column mentioned the
we just had another educa- available? elephant in our national
tional interruption. I sup- Joe Grauman media zoo — unchecked
ported the district workers Los Angeles propaganda.
Luis Sinco Los Angeles Times who went on strike, but I am The rise of one-sided
saddened it again came to right-wing propaganda is
this extreme measure.
Why do our public work-
Excuses for one outcome of the over-
turning in 1987 of the U.S.
water going to our met-
ropolitan areas, but there is
With the reemergence of
Tulare Lake, we have a
ers have to do this for such
basic requests? Every per-
polarization Federal Communications
Commission’s Fairness
no cause for panic.
Large water tanks next
once-in-a-lifetime opportu-
nity to rebuild a critical
son deserves a living wage,
and those who provide vital
Re “It’s about reality, not
respect,” letters, March 26
Doctrine.
Without a requirement
to homes to capture rain are natural resource. services at our public for licensed radio and televi-
common in Australia, so The draining of the lake schools deserve even more. Jean Guerrero’s March sion broadcasters to pre-
why not require them here? for cotton farming and other I know this is supposedly 20 column on the polariza- sent fair and balanced cov-
Mandate replacing water- water-intensive crops was a local matter, but I believe tion that is currently poi- erage and opposing points
hungry landscaping with an environmental blunder. it goes beyond that. Gov. soning our political system, of view, we are doomed to a
native vegetation. The lake once supported Gavin Newsom should and its advice from the national conversation
Wetlands are essential biodiversity and played a increase per-pupil spending teachings of Marshall Ro- where far too many never
for life. Why drain them for critical role in the entire in California, which has so senberg’s “Nonviolent Com- read, watch or hear the
crops that can be grown water system for the state. much wealth. munication,” was inspira- truth.
elsewhere? There will al- The ongoing depletion of I’ve heard it said that a tional. Robert Ferguson
ways be farming in the Central Valley’s water table budget is a moral docu- Specifically, Guerrero Atascadero, Calif.
Central and Imperial val- from overpumping and poor ment. Let’s spend more on suggested, “For a relation-
leys, but we need to reduce it water management began putting a child in school ship to survive, it’s best to
to a level that meets but with the draining of the lake. than we do on putting a communicate ‘what we are
does not exceed our needs Restoring large parts of it person in prison. And, let’s observing, feeling, and HOW TO WRITE TO US
and capacity. would solve a multitude of make sure that spending is needing.’ ” Please send letters to
We preach good stew- environmental issues, in- not tied to the metric of How disappointing to letters@latimes.com. For
ardship. Let’s practice it. cluding toxic dust and attendance. read letters in response that submission guidelines, see
Daniel Connell groundwater depletion. It Valerie Hurt only rationalize why their latimes.com/letters or call
Moorpark would also create countless Los Angeles point of view is different or 1-800-LA TIMES, ext. 74511.
Executive Chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
News: Executive Editor Kevin Merida • Senior Vice President, Content Business Strategy Julia Turner • Managing Editors Shani O. Hilton, Sara Yasin • Editor at Large Scott Kraft • Deputy
Managing Editors Hector Becerra, Shelby Grad, Sharon Matthews, Christian Stone • Creative Director Amy King • Assistant Managing Editors John Canalis, Steve Clow, Angel Jennings, Kimbriell
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LAT I M E S . C O M / O P I N I O N
enjamin Netanyahu
B may not realize it yet,
but his dare against the
political odds is over.
Israel’s longest-serving
prime minister, who was re-
elected in November despite an
ongoing corruption trial and
whom even rivals acknowledged
was a political magician, is out of
tricks. This fall won’t happen
imminently, but his coalition of
ultranationalists, religious fun-
damentalists and the merely cor-
rupt is losing its moral legitimacy,
even among growing numbers of
its voters.
Netanyahu’s fatal mistake
was his firing Sunday of his de-
fense minister, Yoav Gallant, for
calling on the government to halt
its judicial revolution — legisla-
tion that would erode the inde-
pendence of Israel’s Supreme
Court and destroy the nation’s
fragile system of checks and bal-
ances, effectively concentrating
governance in the hands of the
prime minister. Gallant noted the
deepening rift within the army
over the plan, and the growing
protest movement among army
reservists refusing to serve, and
warned that the nation’s security
was at risk.
In firing Gallant and ignoring
his warning, Netanyahu placed
loyalty to himself above loyalty to
country. With Iran approaching
the nuclear threshold, possibly in
a matter of weeks, even as Pal-
estinian terror attacks increase
and Hezbollah probes weak-
nesses in Israel’s northern border
defenses, perhaps in preparation
for the next war, Netanyahu is
presiding over the erosion of the
military’s cohesion. The man
who’d convinced Israelis that
only he was tough and shrewd
enough to keep Israel safe in the
Middle East has betrayed Israeli
security.
Immediately after Netanyahu
announced Gallant’s firing, tens
of thousands of young people
gathered in the streets, blocking
traffic and lighting bonfires
through the night. Their ranks
grew, and a general strike esca-
lated in the morning. Meanwhile,
several members of Netanyahu’s
Likud Party in the Knesset de-
clared their support for suspend-
ing his judicial legislation and
negotiating with the opposition
on reform instead. For the first
time, Netanyahu’s grip on his
party had faltered.
In a national speech Monday
night in Israel, the prime minister
announced a temporary halt to
the legislation.
Netanyahu’s miscalculation
was to assume that the Israeli
public would acquiesce in his
transparent attempt to extricate
himself from his legal troubles —
he faces multiple charges — by
initiating the most far-reaching
judicial transformation in the
nation’s history. Instead, since
January, an astonishing protest
What Israel’s right wing learned
from the Trump playbook
By Samuel G. Freedman
arly in 2019, as Israel
E was heading into a divi-
sive parliamentary elec-
tion, a massive cam-
paign poster along a Tel
Aviv freeway showed Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
shaking hands with President
Trump. Now, five elections and
one near-civil war later, that
same highway has been repeat-
edly blocked by protesters
against Netanyahu’s plan to
place the country’s Supreme
Court under his political control.
Nothing could be more grimly
appropriate to the crisis of
democracy in Israel than the
notion of Trump’s image looming
over it. For however much the
turmoil in Israel arises from some
distinctively Israeli causes, such
as the nation’s continuing lack of
a constitution, Netanyahu and
his far-right coalition have made
the Trump playbook their politi-
cal Torah.
Netanyahu portrayed his
bromance with Trump as the
essential factor in the president’s
many unreciprocated conces-
sions to Israel: moving the U.S.
Embassy to Jerusalem; recogniz-
ing Israeli sovereignty over the
Golan Heights; pulling the
United States out of the Iran
nuclear arms deal; ignoring and
undermining the Palestinian
Authority.
And Netanyahu was hardly
taking a risk in conflating himself
with Trump. A Pew Research
Center poll in early 2020 found
that 71% of Israelis approved of
Trump. In other words, Israeli
support for Trump exceeded by
roughly 20 points the one-half
share of Israeli voters who
backed Netanyahu’s various
right-wing coalitions in the last
ISRAELIS protest the prime minister’s judicial overhaul plan Monday outside the Knesset.
The biblical fall of
Benjamin Netanyahu
In firing his defense minister, Israel’s longest-serving leader
placed loyalty to himself above loyalty to country
By Yossi Klein Halevi
movement spontaneously
emerged, initially drawing tens of
thousands and now hundreds of
thousands to weekly demon-
strations around the country.
By simultaneously assaulting
liberal Israelis on multiple fronts
— from diminishing democracy
to augmenting ultra-Orthodox
power to indulging political cor-
ruption to tolerating growing
settler violence — this govern-
ment left large numbers of Isra-
elis feeling disenfranchised and
desperate.
Resorting to the divisive polit-
ical strategy that has served him
in the past, Netanyahu tried to
delegitimize the protesters, de-
nouncing them as anarchists and
leftists — by which he meant, not
patriots. His son Yair went one
step further, calling the pro-
testers Nazis. Meanwhile, some
Netanyahu supporters began
physically attacking demon-
strators, with no rebuke from the
prime minister.
But this time the usual tactics
didn’t work. There is no more
patriotic protest movement any-
where than this movement for
Israeli democracy, which is led by
veterans of the country’s tough-
est combat units and whose sym-
bol is the Israeli flag. Even more
than rage at Netanyahu, the
strongest emotion one senses
among the protesters is an over-
whelming love for Israel and fear
Oded Balilty Associated Press
A 2019 BILLBOARD for
Benjamin Netanyahu’s party
featured his role model.
five Knesset elections.
Perhaps many of those cen-
trist and center-right Israelis
genuinely believed that accept-
ing the benefits of Trump’s
largesse was not tantamount to
endorsing his brand of dema-
gogic, antidemocratic rule.
Presumably, they were like the
untold millions of Trump voters
who said they wished he wouldn’t
tweet so much but loved his bor-
der wall.
The problem in both the U.S.
and Israel is that when it comes
to Trump, you cannot separate
whatever purports to be a policy
agenda from the relentless and
deliberate effort to erode democ-
racy itself. As Rick Wilson of the
Lincoln Project titled a book that
was released about the same
time as the Tel Aviv billboard
went up, “Everything Trump
Touches Dies.”
Being an American Jew and a
liberal Zionist, I have often heard
from Israelis that people like me
OP-ED
for its future.
The man who rose to power as
the guardian of Israeli patriotism
has been defeated by a move-
ment of patriots.
Netanyahu’s tragedy is that,
at the end of his long political
career, he now endangers his own
most precious legacies. The
leader who presided over Israel’s
high-tech revolution jeopardizes
the Israeli economy with his
judicial recklessness, as the tech
companies contemplate relocat-
ing abroad, and leading econo-
mists warn of impending dis-
aster.
Thanks to the Abraham Ac-
cords, which the Trump adminis-
tration initiated and Netanyahu
endorsed, Israel established rela-
tions with four Arab countries, in
effect ending the Arab world’s
siege against the Jewish state.
Yet by including extreme anti-
Arab parties in his coalition, he is
endangering the durability of
those agreements.
No world leader did more to
focus international attention on
the danger of a nuclearizing Iran.
Netanyahu’s solemn vow was
that the Jewish state would never
allow a regime promoting Holo-
caust denial and committed to
Israel’s destruction to acquire
nuclear weapons. Yet Netanya-
hu’s judicial plan has left Israel
and its army distracted and
divided. If Iran acquires the
just don’t understand the dan-
gerous neighborhood in which
the Jewish state exists. And
that’s true. I don’t go through
every day weighing the risks of a
Hamas suicide bomber, an Irani-
an nuclear weapon, a wave of
Hezbollah missiles.
But when I was decrying
Trump as a candidate and presi-
dent — an opinion shared by the
overwhelming majority of Ameri-
can Jews who voted against him
in 2016 and 2020 — I was saying
that the U.S. is also a dangerous
neighborhood with some cau-
tionary lessons to teach.
Trump did not come from
nowhere. He traveled the hateful
path trod by Andrew Jackson,
Jefferson Davis, Charles Cough-
lin, Gerald L.K. Smith and
George Wallace. It’s revealing
that the most toxic figure in
Israeli political history until
Netanyahu was Rabbi Meir
Kahane, born and bred in the
U.S., where his anti-Black racism
anticipated the anti-Arab ver-
sion he espoused in Israel.
A previous version of Israel
saw fit to outlaw Kahane’s politi-
cal party. Now that party’s de-
scendants form integral mem-
bers of Netanyahu’s narrow gov-
erning majority. If that scenario
sounds more than a little like
America in the Trump years, it
should. The parallels are instruc-
tive and ominous.
Trump narrowly won election
in a backlash against the multi-
racial democracy embodied by
his predecessor, Barack Obama;
Netanyahu assembled his cur-
rent majority in backlash against
a previous coalition that dared to
include an Israeli Arab party
along with a wide spectrum of
Jewish Israeli ones.
Trump welcomed into his
movement the type of racists,
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Ariel Schalit Associated Press
bomb, that too will be Netanya-
hu’s legacy.
There is something biblical in
the tragedy of Benjamin Netan-
yahu. Followers often greet him
with an old Hebrew song cele-
brating King David but substitut-
ing Netanyahu’s nickname: “Bibi,
King of Israel!”
No doubt Bibi has been
tempted to compare himself to
David, ancient Israel’s greatest
king. But in an interview with
journalist Bari Weiss shortly after
he was elected last fall to his fifth
term, Netanyahu inadvertently
revealed a darker foreboding
about his place in history. Asked
to name his favorite biblical char-
acter, Netanyahu replied, “King
Saul. He was tragic.”
Saul, the first king of Israel,
ended his reign in defeat, half-
mad and disgraced, replaced by
the upstart David. Netanyahu,
the most talented and ambitious
leader of his generation of Israeli
politicians, might have been
another David. Instead, as more
and more sectors of Israeli soci-
ety turn against him, and his hero
story is transformed from savior
to destroyer, it is the specter of
Saul that torments his end.
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior
fellow at the Shalom Hartman
Institute in Jerusalem
and author of “Letters to My
Palestinian Neighbor.”
antisemites and neo-Nazis previ-
ously considered radioactive to
any presidency; Netanyahu not
only included in his coalition such
settler extremists as Itamar Ben-
Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich but
bought their participation with
ministerial appointments.
(Ben-Gvir’s consent was re-
quired Monday for Netanyahu to
suspend parliamentary action of
the judicial takeover, and Ben-
Gvir’s reward was reportedly the
prime minister’s promise to cre-
ate a new militia under the radi-
cal politician’s control.)
Trump interpreted his dubi-
ous electoral mandate, which
included losing the popular vote
to Hillary Clinton by several mil-
lion votes, as license to populate
the federal courts and the
Supreme Court itself with right-
wing judges and to attempt to
control the American military as
his personal army; Netanyahu,
having scraped together a thin
majority in the Knesset, set out to
seize control of Israel’s Supreme
Court.
This stunt is happening, of
course, at the same time that the
prime minister faces charges of
bribery and fraud, with the
potential of being barred from
office. In one more parallel,
Trump’s first indictment may be
just days away. Depicting them-
selves as tribunes of the real
people, the prime minister and
former president alike blame
their troubles on the “elite.”
When Netanyahu postponed
the next stage of his judicial over-
haul Monday, he may have spared
Israel its own Jan. 6 insurrection,
at least for the moment. And in
the streets of Israel, carrying
the flag of genuine patriotism
during all of their marches, his
multitude of opponents may
have shown both their country
and the United States the exam-
ple of standing up to MAGA in
any language.
Samuel G. Freedman is the
author of books that include
“Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the
Soul of American Jewry.”
A11
Congress
isn’t ‘lame’
for its
concerns
over TikTok
JONAH GOLDBERG
n a remarkable display of biparti-
I sanship, Congress last week went
to war with TikTok. The House
Energy and Commerce Committee
grilled Chief Executive Shou Zi
Chew about the platform’s independ-
ence — or lack thereof — from the Chi-
nese Communist Party.
The five-hour hearing was con-
tentious. Chew did his best to dodge
loaded questions about alleged spying
on U.S. users by TikTok and its China-
based parent company, ByteDance. The
questioning also delved into Chinese
persecution of Uyghurs and whether the
Chinese Communist Party could weap-
onize its access to massive amounts of
data generated by TikTok’s 150 million
U.S. users.
Outside the hearing room, TikTok’s
lobbying efforts were somewhat more
successful. TikTok “influencers” flooded
the halls, the press and, of course, Tik-
Tok feeds with scorn about how out of
touch American political leaders are.
“This is so embarrassing,” one user
wrote in a caption to a clip that garnered
more than 10 million views. “I swear to
god we need to get competent and
younger people in office.”
“Congress is kinda lame, TikTok-
verse decides,” read a Politico headline.
Maybe, for a change, Congress isn’t
the one being lame?
Finding a historical precedent for our
rivalry with China is difficult. Pundits
and politicians like to talk about a “new
Cold War,” but the analogy is misleading.
The Soviet Union had moderate success
peddling ideologically seductive ideas
about politics and economics to Ameri-
can activists and intellectuals partly
because it tried to put those ideas into
practice, but it didn’t have much to sell
us in terms of goods and services.
It’s almost the other way around for
China. Outside of some ideological
backwaters, few people envy China’s
political system, but many like to buy or
use Chinese stuff.
That’s fine. And if China had a differ-
ent political system, and different politi-
cal ambitions, few would care about the
national security issues raised by Tik-
Tok. Its ambitions, however, are obvious.
It’s been less than two months since the
U.S. caught China using a spy balloon for
surveillance.
Does having TikTok on your phone
mean having a spy balloon in your
pocket?
Defenders of the app argue that the
government hasn’t provided evidence of
user data being accessible to China-
based employees of ByteDance. But
there is such evidence.
“Everything is seen in China,” a mem-
ber of TikTok’s trust and safety depart-
ment said in leaked audio from the com-
pany. ByteDance admitted to using
TikTok to track and spy on journalists.
But focusing on TikTok as if it’s just
like an autonomous company misses the
point. By law, ByteDance is a resource of
the Chinese state, which has been steal-
ing intellectual property, hacking gov-
ernment systems and using other Chi-
nese firms, such as telecom giant
Huawei, for espionage for years.
The evidence of China’s brutal politi-
cal system is even more obvious — for
those not distracted by cool dance
videos. China has forced up to a million
Uyghurs into massive “reeducation”
camps. It has crushed democracy in
Hong Kong. Human rights abuses and
cultural cleansing in Tibet, Xinjiang,
Inner Mongolia and other ethnic minor-
ity regions have been documented for
years.
We didn’t have social media when I
was in high school in the 1980s, but it
would have been unimaginable to use
anything like TikTok if it had been made
in apartheid South Africa. Well, China
has its own system of apartheid, but it’s
apparently uncool to care much about
that.
Fortunately, some policymakers still
care about such things. The British
parliament exposed TikTok for its ef-
forts to censor any mention of China’s
persecution of Uyghurs. ByteDance even
tried to ban any use of the Uyghur lan-
guage on the platform.
This is worth keeping in mind when
TikTok’s defenders try to paint them-
selves as champions of free expression.
It’s no coincidence that China bans
TikTok (and Facebook and Twitter)
inside the country in favor of state prop-
aganda-compliant platforms.
Still, there are some plausible 1st
Amendment issues with trying to ban or
force the sale of TikTok, just as there
were when the U.S. government forced
Russia Today to register as a “foreign
agent” under U.S. law, because foreign
powers aimed at sowing discord in the
country do not have carte blanche access
to constitutional protections.
TikTok defenders wave all that away,
mostly because they just like TikTok.
But some, like Rep. Jamaal Bowman
(D-N.Y.), are trying to make the case that
TikTok is a victim of American bigotry
toward the Chinese.
I’m sorry, but such water-carrying for
China is what’s truly lame.
@JonahDispatch
A12 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
[AI, from A1]
The result, which he
shared that evening in the
synagogue’s modern blond
wood sanctuary and later
posted on Vimeo, was a co-
herent if repetitive talk that
many in his congregation
guessed had been crafted by
famous rabbis.
“You’re clapping,” Frank-
lin said after revealing that
the sermon he’d just deliv-
ered was composed by a
computer. “I’m terrified.”
As experiments like
Franklin’s and the recent
unsettling conversation be-
tween a tech columnist and
Microsoft’s new chatbot
demonstrate just how eerily
human-like some AI pro-
grams have become, reli-
gious thinkers and institu-
tions are increasingly wad-
ing into the conversation
around the ethical uses of a
rapidly expanding technol-
ogy that might one day de-
velop a consciousness of its
own — at least according to
its Silicon Valley apostles.
Calling upon a wide range of
myths from Icarus to the
Tower of Babel to the tale of
the genie who can grant all
our wishes with disastrous
results, they are sounding an
ancient warning about what
happens when humans try
to play God.
Before delivering the ser-
mon ChatGPT had written,
Rabbi Franklin told his con-
gregation that what he was
about to read had been pla-
giarized.
“Friends,” he began,
reading from the AI-
scripted sermon, “as we
gather today to study the
Torah portion of the week,
Vayigash, let us consider the
importance of developing in-
timacy in our relationship
with others.”
The robotic sermon went
on to relate the story of when
Joseph, the son of Jacob, was
reunited with his brothers
after many years. Although
they had betrayed him in the
past, Joseph greeted them
with warmth and love.
“By approaching them
with openness and vulnera-
bility he’s able to heal old
wounds and create deeper,
more meaningful bonds
with his siblings,” Franklin
read. “This is a powerful les-
son for all of us.”
It was an adequate ser-
mon, but not the one Frank-
lin would have penned.
“What was missed was the
idea of how we find God in
meaningful encounters with
others,” he said later. “How
community and relationship
creates God in our lives.” In
other words, a sense that the
sermon had sprung from the
lived experience of a yearn-
ing, questing, suffering hu-
man being rather than an al-
gorithmic formula.
It’s possible that spiritual
leaders may one day be re-
placed by robots as AI con-
tinues to improve (anything
is possible).
But most theologians say
other ethical concerns relat-
ing to AI are more pressing.
They worry about growing
financial inequality as auto-
mation eliminates thou-
sands of jobs, and they ques-
tion our ability to exercise
free will as we increasingly
rely on computer algorithms
to make decisions for us in
medicine, education, the ju-
dicial system and even how
Tornado hit area where people were barely scraping by
High poverty rates in
Mississippi counties
struck by twister add
to the challenges for
recovering residents.
associated press
ROLLING FORK, Miss.
— A massive tornado oblit-
erated the modest one-story
home that Kimberly Berry
shared with her two daugh-
ters in the Mississippi Delta
flatlands, leaving only the
foundation and random be-
longings — a toppled re-
frigerator, a dresser and
matching nightstand, a bag
of Christmas decorations,
some clothing.
During the storm Friday,
Berry and her 12-year-old
daughter huddled and
prayed at a nearby church
that was barely damaged,
while her 25-year-old daugh-
ter survived in the hard-hit
town of Rolling Fork about
15 miles away.
Berry shook her head as
S L AT I M E S . C O M
Will spiritual leaders
be replaced by robots?
we drive our cars and what
we watch on TV.
On a more existential lev-
el, the better AI becomes at
mimicking human intelli-
gence, the more it will call
into question our under-
standing of sentience, con-
sciousness, and what it
means to be human. Do we
want AI-driven robots to be-
come our servants? Will they
have feelings? And are we
obliged to treat them as if
they did?
These ethical dilemmas
may feel new, but at their
core they represent issues
that faith traditions such as
Judaism, Islam and Christi-
anity have grappled with for
millennia, religious leaders
say.
Though religious institu-
tions have not always be-
haved ethically in the past,
they have centuries of expe-
rience parsing moral conun-
drums through the lens of
their own belief systems,
said Father James Keenan, a
Catholic theologian at Bos-
ton College.
“There are certain ways
you can say all these great
traditions are problematic,
but they also have their in-
sights and wisdom,” he said.
“They have a history behind
them that is worth tapping
into.”
Since the earliest days of
AI research in the 1950s, the
desire to create a human-
like intelligence has been
compared to the legend of
the golem, a mythical cre-
ature from Jewish folklore,
created by powerful rabbis
from mud and magic to do
its master’s bidding. The
most famous golem is the
one allegedly made by the
16th century Rabbi Judah
Low ben Bezulel of Prague to
protect the Jewish people
from antisemitic attacks.
The golem also served as an
inspiration for Mary Shel-
ley’s Frankenstein.
For centuries, the idea of
an animate creature made
by man and lacking a divine
spark or a soul has been part
of the Jewish imagination.
Rabbis have argued over
she looked at the remains of
their possessions. She said
she’s grateful she and her
children are still alive.
“I can get all this back.
It’s nothing,” said Berry, 46,
who works as a supervisor
at a catfish growing and
processing operation. “I’m
not going to get depressed
about it.”
Like many people in
this economically struggling
area, she faces an uncertain
future. Mississippi is one of
the poorest states in the
U.S., and the majority-Black
delta has long been one of
the poorest parts of Missis-
sippi, a place where many
people work paycheck to
paycheck.
Two of the counties wal-
loped by the tornado, Shark-
ey and Humphreys, are
among the most sparsely
populated in the state, with
only a few thousand resi-
dents in communities scat-
tered across expanses of
cotton, corn and soybean
fields.
Sharkey’s poverty rate is
35%, and Humphreys’ is
33%, compared with about
whether a golem can be con-
sidered a person, if it could
be counted in a minyan (the
quorum of 10 men required
for traditional Jewish public
prayer), if it could be killed,
and how it should be treated.
From these rabbinic dis-
cussions, an ethical stance
on artificial intelligence
emerged long before com-
puters were invented, said
Nachson Goltz, a law profes-
sor at Edith Cowan Uni-
versity in Australia who has
written about the Jewish
perspective on AI. Although
it is considered permissible
to create artificial entities to
‘The stories of the genie are
an example of what happens
when you ask a nonhuman
to grant human wishes.’
— DAMIEN W ILLIAMS ,
science at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte
assist us in our tasks, “we
must remember our respon-
sibility to keep control over
them, and not the other way
around,” he wrote.
Rabbi Eliezer Simcha
Weiss, a member of the Chief
Rabbinate Council of Israel,
echoed this idea in a recent
speech. “In every story of the
golem, the golem is finally
destroyed or dismantled,”
he said. “In other words, the
lesson the rabbis are teach-
ing is that anything man
makes has to be controlled
by man.”
The rabbis also con-
cluded that though a golem
could not be considered a
full person, it was still impor-
tant to treat it with respect.
“The way we treat these
things impacts us,” Goltz
said. “The way we treat them
determines the devel-
opment of our own charac-
ters and sets the future
course of our own exercise of
moral agency.”
JERMAINE WELLS and his wife survived the tor-
nado but lost their home in Rolling Fork, Miss.
19% for Mississippi as a
whole and less than 12% for
the entire United States.
“It’s going to be a long
road to recovery, trying to
rebuild and get over the dev-
astation,” Wayne Williams,
who teaches construction
skills at a vocational educa-
tion center in Rolling Fork,
said Sunday as people
across town hammered blue
Another cautionary tale
from Jewish and Muslim
folklore revolves around the
djinn, a nonhuman entity
made of smokeless fire that
can occasionally be bound
by humans and chained to
their will. This is the origin of
the story of the genie who
can grant us anything we
want but cannot be put back
in the bottle.
“The stories of the genie
are an example of what hap-
pens when you ask a nonhu-
man to grant human
wishes,” said Damien
Williams, a professor of phi-
losophy and data science at
a professor of philosophy and data
the University of North Car-
olina in Charlotte. “What
comes out the other side
seems shocking and puni-
tive, but if you actually trace
it back, they are simply
granting those desires to the
fullest extent of their logical
implications.”
Islam provides another
ethical lens through which
to look at AI development. A
legal maxim of Islamic
jurisprudence states that re-
pelling harm always has pri-
ority over the procurement
of benefits. From this point
of view, a technology that
helps some people but puts
others out of a job would be
deemed unethical.
“Most of these technolo-
gies are being designed and
deployed in many cases for
the sake of it, and the harms
that accrue are sometimes
probabilistic,” said Junaid
Qadir, a professor of electri-
cal engineering at Qatar
University who organized a
Julio Cortez Associated Press
tarps onto damaged roofs
and used chainsaws to cut
fallen trees.
On Monday, the Missis-
sippi Emergency Manage-
ment Agency revised the
state’s death toll from the
tornado to 21, down from 25.
The agency said the new
number is based on deaths
confirmed by coroners.
Spokeswoman Allie Jasper
Mark Pernice For The Times
conference on Islamic Eth-
ics and AI. “We don’t know
what it will be; technology
has its own unintended ef-
fects.”
Overall, Islamic tradition
encourages a cautious ap-
proach to new technology
and its uses, said Aasim
Padela, a professor of emer-
gency medicine and bio-
ethics at the Medical College
of Wisconsin.
“Things that try to make
you rival God are not
thought of as a purpose to
pursue,” he said. “Trying to
seek immortality through a
brain transfer, or to make a
better body then the one
you’ve got, those impulses
are to be checked. Immortal-
ity is in the afterlife, not
here.”
“The Rule of St. Bene-
dict,” a book written in the
6th century as a guide to mo-
nastic life, offers an answer
to questions about how we
can ethically interact with
AI, both now and in the fu-
ture when we might en-
counter robots with human
features, said Noreen
Herzfeld, a professor of the-
ology and computer science
at St. John’s University and
the College of St. Benedict in
Minnesota.
In the section of the book
addressing the cellarer —
the person in charge of the
monastery’s provisions —
St. Benedict tells the cellarer
to treat everyone who comes
to him with a kind word, and
to treat all the inanimate ob-
jects in his storehouse “as if
they were consecrated ves-
sels of the altar.”
“To me that is something
we can apply to AI,” Herzfeld
said. “People always come
first, but we must treat AI
with respect, with care, be-
cause all earthly things
should be treated with re-
spect. The way you treat
things is part of what in-
forms your own character,
and informs how you treat
the Earth and other human
beings.”
The Catholic Church has
been especially vocal in the
push for an ethics of AI that
said the agency does not
know of any people still
missing.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency said in
a briefing Monday that pre-
liminary assessments show
313 structures in the state
were destroyed and more
than 1,000 were affected in
some way.
The tornado destroyed
many homes and businesses
in Rolling Fork and the
nearby town of Silver City,
leaving mounds of lumber,
bricks and twisted metal.
In the Rolling Fork area,
the local housing stock
was already tight. Some who
lost their homes said they
will live with friends or rela-
tives. Mississippi opened
more than half a dozen shel-
ters to temporarily house
people displaced by the tor-
nado.
President Biden issued
an emergency declaration
for Mississippi, making fed-
eral funding available to
hardest-hit areas.
Berry spent the weekend
with friends and family sort-
ing through salvageable
benefits humanity, centers
human dignity and does not
have as its sole goal greater
profit or the gradual re-
placement of people in the
workplace.
“Indeed, if technological
progress increases inequal-
ity, it is not true progress,”
Pope Francis said in a No-
vember 2020 video announc-
ing his prayer intention that
robotics and artificial intelli-
gence may always serve
humankind.
The Vatican’s goal is not
to slow down the devel-
opment of artificial intelli-
gence, but the church does
believe caution is essential,
said Paolo Benanti, a Fran-
ciscan monk and one of the
pope’s chief advisors on new
technology.
“On the one hand we do
not want to limit any of the
transformative impulses
that can lead to great results
for humanity; on the other
hand, we know that all trans-
formations need to have a di-
rection,” he wrote in an
email. “We have to be aware
that if AI is not well man-
aged, it could lead to danger-
ous or undesirable transfor-
mations.”
To that end, Vatican
leaders helped craft the
Rome Call for AI Ethics, a
pledge first signed in 2020 by
representatives of the Pon-
tifical Academy for Life,
IBM, Microsoft and the Ital-
ian Ministry of Innovation
among others to champion
the creation of AI technolo-
gies that are transparent, in-
clusive and impartial. On
Jan. 10, leaders from Jewish
and Islamic communities
gathered at the Vatican to
add their signatures as well.
Asking technology com-
panies to prioritize humani-
tarian goals rather than cor-
porate interests may feel like
an unlikely proposition, but
the influence of the religious
hierarchy on AI ethics
shouldn’t be underesti-
mated, said Beth Singler, a
professor of digital religions
at the University of Zurich.
“It can help the masses of
believers to think critically
and use their voices,” she
said. “The more the conver-
sation is had by significant
charismatic voices like the
pope, it will only increase the
possibility that people can,
from a grassroots level, ap-
preciate what’s going on and
do something about it.”
Benanti agreed.
“The billions of believers
who inhabit the planet can
be a tremendous force for
turning these values into
something concrete in the
development and applica-
tion of AI,” he said.
As for Franklin, the rabbi
in the Hamptons, he said
that his experiment with
ChatGPT has ultimately left
him feeling that the rise of AI
could have an upside for hu-
manity.
Though artificial intelli-
gence may be able to mimic
our words, and even read our
emotions, what it lacks is the
ability to feel our emotions,
understand our pain on a
physical level, and connect
deeply with others, he said.
“Compassion, love, em-
pathy, that’s what we do
best,” he said. “I think that
ChatGPT will force us to
hone those skills and be-
come, God willing, more hu-
man.”
items at her destroyed home
near a two-lane highway
that traverses farm fields.
She said she walked to
the church before the tor-
nado because her sister
called her Friday night
and frantically said TV
weather forecasters had
warned that a potentially
deadly storm was headed
her way. Berry said as the
storm rumbled and howled
overhead, she tried to ignore
the noise.
“That’s the only thing
that was stuck in my head
was just to pray, pray and cry
out to God,” she said Sat-
urday.
“I didn’t hear nothing but
my own self praying and
God answering my prayer. I
mean, I can get another
house, another furniture.
But literally saving my life —
I’m thankful.”
Her sister, Dianna Berry,
said her own home a few
miles away was undamaged.
She works at a deer camp,
and she said her boss has of-
fered to let Kimberly Berry
and her daughters live there
for as long as they need.

DD
CALIFORNIA
AT ONE TIME , tents with homeless people dotted the landscape surrounding Echo Park Lake. Recently,
Los Angeles officials have moved dozens of unhoused people into hotels in downtown and Silver Lake.
Workers begin removal
of fencing at Echo Park
Barrier is dismantled after homeless people were moved to hotels
By David Zahniser
Workers on Monday began dis-
mantling the fence that has sur-
rounded Echo Park Lake, two years
after a massive homeless encamp-
ment was cleared out of the historic
park.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Mar-
tinez, who took office in December,
ran on a promise to remove the tem-
porary chain-link fence, calling it a
“symbol” of the city’s biggest failure on
homelessness. The fence went up in
2021, just as scores of unhoused people
were moved out of the park and into
motels, hotels and homeless shelters
in downtown, Westlake and else-
where.
Soto-Martinez and Mayor Karen
Bass carried out their own encamp-
ment operation in the area two weeks
ago, taking dozens of homeless people
[See Echo Park, B5]
LAUSD budget seems flush, but is it?
By Howard Blume
For months, the Los An-
geles Unified School District
had been saying that, de-
spite an ending balance of
$4.93 billion for the current
school year, the district
could be at financial risk in
the future.
Part of that equation
changed Monday, when the
district updated that figure
to $5.12 billion — while also
stating the system’s poten-
tial financial risk is un-
changed and the available
money for employee raises
may be tighter than before.
Welcome to the compli-
Storm zeroes
in on Northern
California
Rain, snow and strong
winds mark a system
that will move south
through the week. B3
Delta passenger
detained in L.A.
Man allegedly opened
an emergency exit and
went down the slide,
authorities said. B3
Woman rescued
from power line
Firefighters said the
skydiver was not hurt
after her parachute
became entangled. B5
Lottery ...................... B2
SPORTS ON THE BACK: Bronny James manages the burden of being LeBron’s son. B10
T U E S D AY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L I F O R N I A
WORKERS remove segments of chain-link fencing surrounding Echo
Park Lake on Monday, about two years after it had been erected.
cated world of finance in the
nation’s second-largest
school system.
The teachers union,
which is negotiating a con-
tract with LAUSD, says the
picture is much simpler: The
district has bountiful finan-
cial reserves and can afford
its demands for a 20% pay
raise over two years.
Here is a look at district
finances and the simmering
labor troubles after a strike
shut down schools for three
days last week — and after
Local 99 of Service Employ-
ees International Union,
which led the walkout,
reached a tentative deal
with L.A. Unified.
In just over a week, three men die in county custody
Sheriff’s Department
says the youngest, 29,
was being held on
misdemeanor charges.
By Keri Blakinger
Three Los Angeles
County inmates died in a
nine-day period this month,
according to the Los Angeles
County Sheriff ’s Depart-
ment, a grim milestone that
comes even as the county is
facing scrutiny in court for
using a cash bail system that
can keep poor people behind
bars.
The youngest of the men
Myung J. Chun Los Angeles Times
Jay L. Clendenin Los Angeles Times
Irfan Khan L.A. Times
JOANNE Pineda backs
striking school workers.
How is the district’s finan-
cial health?
The Board of Education
on Monday reviewed the
who died in March — 29-
year-old Samuel Mark —
was being held on misde-
meanor charges for check
fraud and theft, according to
court records. He died
Thursday morning at Men’s
Central Jail, three days after
his arrest. Like the others
who died this month, he had
not yet been sentenced for a
crime.
The Sheriff ’s Depart-
ment has not released the
names of the other two men
who died.
To people paying close
attention to the county’s
lockups, the cluster of
deaths did not come as a sur-
prise.
“Because the jails are op-
district’s second interim
report — a budget update
required by state law as a
way to ensure no school
system could go bankrupt
without public disclosure
and taking steps to prevent
it.
The good news is that
district officials have certi-
fied to the Los Angeles
County Office of Education
that the district will remain
solvent this year and the
following two — the limit of
the specified time span
covered by the required
report.
More good news came
when Chief Financial Offi-
[See LAUSD, B2]
erating 20% over capacity,
we’re going to continue to
see people dying,” said Me-
lissa Camacho, a senior staff
attorney with the American
Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California. “There
are just too many people
there for correctional health
services to provide adequate
medical care and treat-
ment.”
When asked Monday
about the recent deaths and
whether overcrowding
played a role, the Sheriff ’s
Department said in a state-
ment that “various factors
contribute to the loss of life.”
“We are saddened by any
loss of life,” the statement
[See Jail deaths, B4]
Lawmakers OK
bill to deter
price gouging
in oil industry
Newsom’s legislation
adds transparency
and opens the door
for a profit cap.
By Taryn Luna
California lawmakers on
Monday approved Gov. Gav-
in Newsom’s legislation to
increase transparency in the
oil industry, ending a special
session he called last year to
penalize excessive profits.
After months of delibera-
tion, the final bill does not
cap oil refinery profits or
penalize the industry as
Newsom had intended when
he accused companies of
intentionally driving up gas
prices to boost revenue.
Instead, the bill, SBX1-2,
gives the California Energy
Commission the power to
set a cap and impose penal-
ties through a regulatory
process if it decides that oil
companies are making ex-
cessive profits and that a
penalty will not result in
higher prices for consumers.
The legislation focuses
on transparency, including
requiring the industry to
provide more information
about maintenance and
pricing decisions in order to
LAPD releases
edited video of
fatal shooting
Officers opened fire
on a woman after she
wielded what turned
out to be a pellet gun.
By Libor Jany
The Los Angeles Police
Department on Monday re-
leased edited footage from
the fatal shooting of a wom-
an last month near a freeway
overpass in Silver Lake,
showing officers shouting
orders and then opening fire
after she raised what turned
out to be a pellet gun.
A preliminary LAPD
investigation found that
several of the officers’ shots
may have gone into a nearby
group of tents belonging to
homeless people.
The graphic videos, re-
leased on the department’s
YouTube page, captured
officers rolling up to Mariela
Cardenas and training their
LOS ANGELES jails are on track to see fewer deaths
this year than last, though information is incomplete.
B
allow state officials to better
understand the market and
deter companies from goug-
ing consumers.
“Even when we are not
experiencing a spike, we pay
higher prices than in other
states, even when we ac-
count for our taxes and envi-
ronmental policies,” said
Assemblymember Jacqui
Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks),
who noted that Californians
paid as much as $2.60 more
per gallon than residents of
other states at one point last
year. “This is unacceptable.”
The Democratic majority
handed Newsom his bill, but
support wasn’t overwhelm-
ing within his own party.
The proposal passed 52-
19 in the Assembly, with
several Democrats declining
to vote, and with a stronger
30-8 vote last week in the
Senate.
Newsom is expected to
sign the bill as early as Tues-
day, and it will take effect in
90 days.
Democratic lawmakers
hailed the bill as an improve-
ment from the prior version.
Several pointed out that the
legislation prohibits regula-
tors from imposing any limit
on profits that could drive
up gas prices, underscoring
concerns about potential
[See Oil, B2]
cruiser’s spotlight on her as
she jogged down the side-
walk.
A male officer is heard
yelling, “Hey, get your f—
hands up!” as he jumps out
of the vehicle.
His female partner
shouts, “Hey, put your
hands up! Now, now!” She
begins to repeat herself, say-
ing, “Put your hands ...” but
is cut off by the sound of
gunfire.
The videos give a clearer
view of the Feb. 22 incident,
which drew scrutiny online
from activists after the
department identified one
of the officers involved:
Jacqueline McBride, the
daughter of the Los Angeles
Police Protective League’s
outspoken vice president.
McBride and the other
two officers involved —
Miguel Salazar and Preston
Moseby — are back on the
job after spending several
days on paid administrative
[See Shooting, B5]
Al Seib Los Angeles Times
B2 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Bill aimed at oil price gouging is approved
[Oil, from B1]
unintended consequences of
capping the oil industry’s
earnings.
Republicans criticized
Newsom and Democrats, ar-
guing that the legislation
will hurt Californians.
“This bill is a senseless
attack on domestic energy
production that will only
harm hardworking Califor-
nians in the field by creating
a hostile business climate,”
said Assemblymember
Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield).
Will the legislation result
in lower gas prices?
Supporters argue that
requiring refiners to dis-
close more information
about pricing decisions and
setting up an independent
watchdog agency will deter
price gouging and prevent
the kinds of spikes Cali-
fornia experienced over the
summer and fall.
Proponents also argue
that giving the California
Energy Commission the
ability to set a profits penal-
ty could motivate compa-
nies to keep prices down.
The bill prohibits commis-
sioners from setting a penal-
ty if they find that it will
have adverse consequences
on Californians and in-
crease gas prices.
The oil industry and
opponents of the bill dis-
agree. Western States Pe-
troleum Assn. argues that
prices are higher in Cali-
fornia as a result of the
state’s policies to limit gaso-
line production.
California relies on about
five main oil refiners to
produce gasoline, which
means the state is isolated
from alternative backup
sources, and maintenance
issues can reduce supply
and cause price spikes.
The legislation will re-
quire oil companies to pro-
vide the state with more
information around
planned maintenance,
making it easier to avoid
having several refineries go
offline at the same time and
drastically reduce supply. If
unplanned maintenance
occurs, regulators will have
more tools to investigate.
But the petroleum asso-
ciation argues that giving
the energy commission the
ability to cap profits could
carry negative conse-
quences for the industry.
Limiting profits and
placing additional require-
ments on refiners could
drive companies out of the
state, reducing supply and
increasing fuel costs, the oil
group said.
What did Newsom origi-
nally ask the Legislature
to do?
In the midst of his high-
profile battle with oil
companies, Newsom on
Sept. 30 issued a call for
lawmakers to pass a “wind-
fall tax” on the industry
“that would go directly back
to California taxpayers.”
At the time, average gas
prices in California topped
$6 per gallon as companies
“raked in” nearly $100 billion
in the prior three months,
Newsom said.
A week later, the gover-
nor expanded on his com-
ments during a press con-
ference and announced that
he would call lawmakers
into a special legislative
session on Dec. 5 to pass a
windfall profits tax. He said
he was responding to
record-breaking gas prices,
which he called “outrageous
and unconscionable.”
The governor’s office
worked for the next two
months to prepare an out-
line of a plan he shared with
lawmakers on the day they
returned to the state Capi-
tol to begin the legislative
session and kick off the
special session. By then,
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TRUCKS FILL UP at the Kern Oil & Refining Co. in Lamont, Calif. A divisive bill from Gov. Gavin Newsom
aims to improve transparency from such companies about pricing, maintenance, contracts and inventory.
“Even when we are not
experiencing a spike, we pay
higher prices than in other
states, even when we ac-
count for our taxes and
environmental policies,”
he’d transitioned away from
calling the proposal a “wind-
fall profits tax” and instead
had begun referring to it as
a “price-gouging penalty.”
The outline he proposed
Dec. 5 would have required
lawmakers to set and enact
a “maximum gross gasoline
refining margin” — or profit
cap — on refineries based on
a monthly calculation of the
average profit per barrel.
The proposal would have
also allowed the California
Energy Commission to
impose an administrative
civil penalty for violations of
the profit cap.
Why did the proposal
change?
Newsom hit a roadblock
in the Legislature. It be-
LAUSD, unions differ on district’s finances
[LAUSD, from B1]
cer David Hart, in response
to a board member’s ques-
tion, said the district would
remain solvent even when
anticipated contract settle-
ments with the various
employees are factored in.
But there are limits to what
the district can afford, he
said.
How big is the district’s
ending balance and why
does this matter?
Until this week, the offi-
cial ending balance on June
30 was an estimated
$4.93 billion. That has in-
creased to $5.12 billion. The
ending balance is spendable
financial worth that L.A.
Unified has at the end of the
fiscal year. Not all of this is
readily usable; the figure
includes the value of all
inventory, and revolving
cash, which add up to $43
million. But there’s still
much spendable money left
over.
However, officials said
the amount of “unassigned”
funds has declined, from
$139.7 million to $95.9 mil-
lion, because of a loss in the
value of investments.
The rest of the
$5.12 billion has been desig-
With a view of the snowy San Gabriel Mountains, Tom McDonnell of Irvine, left, and Roxanne Bradley
of Westminster hike a trail inside Saddleback Wilderness, which will open to the public on Saturday.
came clear during legisla-
tive hearings that state
officials needed more infor-
mation from the industry to
understand the problem
before setting a cap and
penalty.
Lawmakers shared
concerns about potential
unintended consequences
of capping earnings. Some
experts said limiting refin-
ery profits wouldn’t solve
the problem of “mystery
surcharges” believed to be
incurred at the retail end of
the supply chain.
“I know that legislators
do not want the answer
‘We need more investiga-
tion,’ but the fact is shooting
first and then finding out if
it’s the right solution is
going to likely be just as
detrimental as helpful,”
Severin Borenstein, director
of the Energy Institute at
UC Berkeley’s Haas School
of Business, told lawmakers
at the time.
nated for other purposes —
programs and expenditures
approved by the school
board or superintendent.
This includes $700 million
set aside for extra support
for the schools that are
struggling the most. Much
of this funding goes to extra
staffing.
L.A. Unified has been
flush in recent times with
one-time funding from
COVID-19 relief and from
record state tax revenues
that are not necessarily
stable from year to year. But
this surplus created an
unusual challenge. School
systems are allowed to have
an unallocated reserve of no
more than 10%. When the
unallocated reserve grows
higher than 10%, the money
must be returned to the
state.
Officials will record a
purpose for these funds
rather than lose them. That
also means these funds can
be redirected for a higher-
priority purpose should the
need arise.
Can the district afford the
contracts going to work-
ers?
L.A schools Supt. Al-
berto Carvalho said he
TAKING IT ALL IN
Borenstein and other
experts agreed about the
need for transparency from
oil refiners on pricing, main-
tenance, supply contracts
and inventory. Newsom’s
aides argued that changing
the plan to focus on trans-
parency made it stronger.
What does the bill say
about a profits penalty?
Instead of a cap ap-
proved by lawmakers,
SBX1-2 allows the energy
commission to establish a
maximum gross gasoline
refining margin and a penal-
ty for exceeding that mar-
gin, if they deem it neces-
sary. Before setting a cap
and penalty, the commis-
sion must find that benefits
of doing so outweigh poten-
tial costs to consumers.
The bill allows the com-
mission to petition the court
to prohibit a refiner from
exceeding the maximum.
Companies can request an
won’t agree to a contract
that the district cannot
afford.
Ongoing raises into the
future must be sustained.
Local 99 just won a sig-
nificant raise for the 30,000
employees it represents —
some of the lowest paid in
the school system, who
include teacher aides, spe-
cial education assistants,
bus drivers, security aides,
custodians and food-service
workers.
The union sought a 30%
raise, but not all workers are
getting that much, while
some are getting more. The
greatest percentage benefit
is going to the lowest-paid
workers, especially those
who have been with the
district the longest. The
structuring of the raise over
several years is a key factor
in making it affordable,
according to L.A. Unified.
The strike cost the dis-
trict $100 million because of
lost student attendance
funding and lost school
days, officials said. And
striking employees lost
three days of pay.
How much would the labor
contracts cost?
This information is
Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times
Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times
exemption from the profit
cap, which the commission
will be required to consider.
How does the bill im-
prove transparency?
The bill establishes the
Division of Petroleum Mar-
ket Oversight within the
energy commission. The
division will have the power
to subpoena records from
the oil industry and refer
violations to the California
attorney general for prose-
cution.
The bill also establishes
the Independent Consumer
Fuels Advisory Committee,
comprising industry ex-
perts appointed by the
governor and legislative
leaders, to advise the energy
commission and the new
oversight division.
Under the bill, oil refiner-
ies would be required to
report additional informa-
tion to the state, including:
8 The net gasoline refin-
emerging.
The district costs out
health benefits at $20,000
per employee — the cost of
dependents is factored into
that. The Local 99 contract
is going to increase the
number of employees who
receive health benefits.
Before the strike, the
district said its offer to Local
99 would cost $595 million
for next year alone. The
union rejected that offer.
The final agreement pre-
sumably costs more.
“Our research team
calculates the agreement is
about 7% of the district’s
budget,” Local 99 spokes-
person Blanca Gallegos
said.
A 1% raise across the
board for all employees
would cost about $62 million
per year, Hart said.
United Teachers Los
Angeles is almost certain to
challenge that calculation,
but the money adds up,
especially with employees
seeking larger-than-usual
raises to offset inflation and
address the high cost of
living in L.A.
This across-the-board
yardstick is relevant be-
cause district unions his-
torically have had “me too”
L AT I M E S . C O M
ing margin per barrel sold in
a given month.
8 Notification of all main-
tenance plans and the re-
duction of inventory levels
expected as a result of the
work. The bill authorizes
the energy commission to
regulate the timing of main-
tenance to minimize price
shocks.
8 Notification at least a
year in advance if a Cali-
fornia refinery intends to
shut down or sell.
8 Daily reports on spot
market transactions from
refiners, as well as non-
refiners.
The bill allows for in-
creased civil penalties if
information is not provided
— up to $20,000 per day or
$500,000 per submission.
Who supports the bill?
Environmental groups
and consumer advocates,
such as Consumer Watch-
dog and the Center for
Biological Diversity, have
continued to support the
policy despite the changes.
Many argue that the legisla-
tion goes further to hold the
industry accountable for
pricing than existing law,
even without a mandatory
cap on profits.
Supporters contend that
more transparency from the
industry is necessary to
prevent price gouging.
Who opposes it?
Oil interests and busi-
ness groups continue to
oppose the plan, arguing
that it won’t solve pricing
problems and will make
matters worse. They claim it
will have unintended conse-
quences, including the
potential to reduce gasoline
supply and drive up costs on
consumers and businesses.
The California Chamber
of Commerce, Western
States Petroleum Assn. and
the State Building and
Construction Trades Coun-
cil are among the most
high-profile groups that
oppose the plan.
contracts. Generally, the
teachers union has fought
for the biggest raise it can
get and then the other
unions receive about the
same increase — even if they
had settled before UTLA.
This time around, Local
99 settled first and set a high
bar — but “me too” may not
apply, as terms are bar-
gained with not only teach-
ers but also administrators,
clerical workers, Teamsters
and two police unions.
The district is budgeted
this year to spend about
$10 billion combined in its
restricted and unrestricted
budgets — so a $5.12-billion
ending balance seems like a
lot — although this budget
and the ending balance
could change considerably
once retroactive raises for
employees are applied.
The budget report is
current only through Jan. 31,
before labor agreements.
What are the prospects of a
teachers strike?
Other employee unions
have yet to settle, including
UTLA, which represents
about 35,000 teachers,
therapists, counselors,
nurses and librarians.
UTLA joined Local 99 in
the latter’s three-day strike,
resulting in the closing of
schools. Barring a settle-
ment, UTLA could stage its
own strike.
“This strike built great
solidarity between SEIU
Local 99 and UTLA mem-
bers,” Gallegos said. “Mem-
bers would ultimately need
to vote on a strike, but there
is a general sense that
school workers are ready to
stand with teachers to
continue moving forward
for our schools and stu-
dents.”
UTLA could justify a
strike with little notice by
accusing L.A. Unified of
unfair labor practices —
which is what Local 99 did.
However, if UTLA waits
for the state’s established
negotiation process to play
out, reaching a job action
would take time. UTLA and
the district remain in active
negotiations. These talks
would first have to falter and
fail. The union would then
declare impasse, and a
mediator would be called in.
If mediation failed, a fact-
finding process that in-
volves an appointed panel
would unfold. Only at the
end of this process could a
traditional strike, called an
“economic strike,” occur.
L AT I M E S . C O M
Heads up
for rare
sighting
of five
planets
Stargazers will get a
special treat as Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, Uranus
and Mercury align.
By Kevin Rector
Astronomy buffs and
others interested in ponder-
ing our place in the universe
will get a special treat this
week, as five of our solar
system’s planets align for
earthly viewing in the night
sky.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
Uranus and Mercury will be
visible from almost every-
where on Earth with a west-
erly view of the sky, experts
said — depending on cloud
cover and surrounding light
pollution.
The best time to catch
the show will be just after
sunset Tuesday — about 7:11
p.m. in Los Angeles — and
the window will be small:
Mercury will drop below the
horizon line not long there-
after.
“With this planetary
alignment, you can draw a
line in the sky and look
toward where the sun sets
and see a relatively faint
thing that looks like a star,
and that will be the planet
Mercury,” said Mark Morris,
an astronomy professor at
UCLA.
Morris said he’d be look-
ing for Mercury in particular,
as it’s less commonly seen
than the other planets. He
said those with good binocu-
lars should also check out
Jupiter.
“With binoculars, you can
see the moons of Jupiter,” he
said. “It’s like a miniature
solar system in the way they
are arranged.”
Tuesday will be the best
viewing, but it’s not just
a one-night show, Morris
said.
Such alignments occur
when the planets in view are
orbiting on the same side of
the sun as Earth (from the
perspective of Earth).
Morris said the planets
would stretch between the
horizon, where he’ll be look-
ing for Mercury, up toward
the moon, where Mars will
be visible with a reddish
glow. Jupiter and Venus will
also be bright; Mercury and
Uranus, not so much.
Morris said such align-
ments happen from time to
time but remain rare enough
to be a curiosity for star-
gazers.
He said those fearful of
extraterrestrial phenome-
non having effects on Earth
shouldn’t be concerned —
such alignments don’t pull
or push on our planet in any
way.
“People talk about plan-
etary alignments as if some-
thing godawful is going to
happen to the Earth,” he
said with a laugh. “There’s
no extra force involved or
anything like that. It has no
physical effect.”
Delta passenger allegedly opens
jet door and uses emergency slide
The plane was taxiing
toward takeoff at
LAX. Man was later
taken to a hospital.
By Salvador
Hernandez
A Delta Air Lines passen-
ger was detained at Los An-
geles International Airport
after he allegedly opened an
emergency exit door and
went down the emergency
slide as the airplane pre-
pared to take off for Seattle
on Saturday morning, au-
thorities said.
The incident occurred
about 10 a.m. when flight at-
tendants had made their
safety presentation to pas-
sengers and the plane
pushed off from the gate,
said Karla Rodriguez, a cap-
tain with Los Angeles Air-
port Police.
“There was no time for
COMFORTABLE BEACH weather may feel long gone as the chilly storm from the Gulf of Alaska moves into
the region. Above, a couple enjoy a run along the beach path in Santa Monica on Saturday.
Latest storm will bring
rain, snow, high winds
Northern part of state
will be hit first, with
Southland expected to
see it Tuesday night.
By Grace Toohey
California was bracing as
yet another strong, cold
storm was set to bring rain,
snow and high winds across
the state this week, blasting
Northern California as early
as Monday night, forecast-
ers say.
“Yet more rain, yet more
heavy mountain snow, more
travel disruptions,” Daniel
Swain, UCLA climate scien-
tist said Monday. He called it
“another moderate to strong
storm,” though not compa-
rable to last week’s destruc-
tive storm, which caused
multiple deaths, severe
flooding, and Southern Cali-
fornia tornadoes.
The effects of this storm
will be worse “just because
there’s been so many strong
storms that have preceded
it,” Swain said. “There could
be additional issues just giv-
en how much residual dam-
age there is from winds that
have already occurred, how
saturated the soils are.”
He said those living in
mountainous regions, espe-
cially in the northern third of
the state and in the Sierra,
should be prepared for sig-
nificant snowfall that would
affect roadways, while high
winds in the Central Valley
and San Francisco Bay Area
were likely to down trees and
power lines — and he didn’t
rule out the possibility of an-
other twister as the storm
moved down the coast later
in the week.
“This is the kind of pat-
tern that is at least hypo-
thetically favorable for an-
anybody to react,” said
Gillian Sheldon, who was on
the flight. “It happened so
incredibly quickly.”
Sheldon was sitting in
first class and doing last-
minute tasks on her phone
before the plane’s scheduled
takeoff when she said she
suddenly heard a man be-
hind her say, “What do I do
now?”
She said the man was
standing in the aisle as the
plane taxied toward the run-
way.
A flight attendant told
the man to return to his seat,
but the man ignored her and
quickly grabbed the emer-
gency exit door, Sheldon
said.
“You cannot open the
door!” the flight attendant
yelled at the man, according
to Sheldon.
The man opened the
door and deployed the in-
flatable emergency slide,
then jumped on it, Sheldon
said.
CITY & STATE
other weak spin-up or two,”
Swain said, explaining how
the storm could drag cold
and unstable air inland as it
moves south, creating
thunderstorms and possibly
more turbulent weather.
The brunt of the storm
will hit Northern California
late Monday through
Wednesday, with the heavi-
est snowfall expected Tues-
day, officials said. Snow lev-
els are expected to drop as
low as 2,000 feet in elevation,
Swain said, with accumulat-
ing snowfall possible in
Redding — another unusual
development for this atypi-
cal storm season.
“It’s pretty late in the sea-
son to be seeing snow at the
northern end of the Sacra-
mento Valley,” Swain said.
Although many moun-
tain residents have tired of
the ongoing snowfall, Swain
said this cold storm meant
the snowpack wouldn’t yet
melt, a growing concern be-
cause of the possibility of
flooding in the Central Val-
ley’s watersheds.
“I guess the good news is,
it isn’t going to really melt
any snowpack,” Swain said.
“It’s going to add to the
snowpack, and that’s going
to have to melt later.”
Southern California can
expect the “cold and vig-
orous storm system” to
move in late Tuesday, bring-
ing “rain, mountain snow,
and breezy to gusty winds”
beginning late Tuesday, ac-
cording to the National
Weather Service.
“This storm is weaker
than previous storms,” said
weather service meteorolo-
gist David Sweet, who is
based in Oxnard. “It still has
a pretty decent punch to it
though.”
The storm is expected to
bring steady rain late Tues-
day into Wednesday morn-
From her window, she
said, she saw the man walk
to a baggage cart and sit
down.
“What was so bizarre is it
was so quick,” said Sheldon,
adding that it took about a
second for him to open the
door and slide off the plane.
“I think some people didn’t
see it happen.”
As the man sat on the
cart, Sheldon said, she
thought about calling 911 but
then saw Los Angeles Air-
port Police officers take him
into custody.
Minutes later, the plane
headed back to the gate and
passengers were asked to
exit so they could be placed
on a later flight, Sheldon
said.
L.A. Airport Police is in-
vestigating the incident and
the FBI was notified, Rodri-
guez said.
The man, who was not
identified, was taken to a
hospital for a mental evalua-
tion, Rodriguez said.
Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times
ing in Southern California,
though totals shouldn’t top 1
or 2 inches for most of the re-
gion. Snow levels, however,
are expected at around 3,000
feet in elevation, meaning
the 5 Freeway at the Grape-
vine could get snow, and
higher elevations could see
as much as 10 inches of snow.
Wednesday afternoon
and Thursday could bring
more sporadic weather,
Sweet said, with scattered
showers and thunderstorms
possible, as well as “some lo-
cally heavy downpours,
small hail and gusty winds.”
A breezy day of Santa
Ana winds across Southern
California raised tempera-
tures into the 70s by Monday
afternoon for just the second
time this month, Sweet said.
Beginning Tuesday, he
said, those warmer temper-
atures will feel long gone as
the chilly storm from the
Gulf of Alaska moves into
the region.
The National Weather
Service is warning of heavy
snow, travel concerns and
“near whiteout conditions”
through Wednesday for Cali-
fornia’s most northern re-
gions, with multiple feet of
snow predicted for the east-
ern Sierra.
2 shot at Sikh temple festival
By Alexandra E. Petri
Two people, including a
suspect, were wounded in a
shooting Sunday at a Sikh
temple in Sacramento that
took place as crowds gath-
ered to celebrate a tradi-
tional festival.
Officers received reports
of a shooting about 2:30 p.m.
at Gurdwara Sahib Temple
on Bradshaw Road, accord-
ing to Sgt. Amar Gandhi of
the Sacramento County
Sheriff ’s Office.
They found two gunshot
victims amid hundreds of
people attending the festival
on the temple grounds.
Witnesses told author-
ities that a fight between two
A DEPUTY escorts a man to a vehicle after a shooting at a Sikh temple Sunday in
Sacramento. Officials say one person has been charged with attempted murder.
S T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Where snow is not predic-
ted, forecasters warn of sig-
nificant rain Tuesday across
Northern and Central Cali-
fornia, creating the possibil-
ity of mud and rock slides, as
well as stream and roadway
flooding.
Once the storm moves
out of the state by Thursday,
Sweet said the radar looked
relatively clear for at least a
few days.
“As we move into the
weekend with clearing skies
and dry weather, tempera-
tures will rise back into the
60s,” Sweet said.
But Swain said more wet
weather probably will con-
tinue through April, which
means a greater likelihood of
flooding and “deep-seated
landslides,” which the Cali-
fornia Geological Survey re-
cently warned could occur
“weeks to months” after
heavy rains and remain a
concern into the summer.
“We remain in a fairly ac-
tive weather pattern,” Swain
said. “Even though the
storms aren’t exceptional
necessarily by winter stand-
ards, they become increas-
ingly exceptional by spring
standards if they continue to
be at this level of coldness
and intensity.”
men escalated when one
shot the other man’s friend.
The second man returned
fire, wounding the first
shooter, before running
away.
It’s unclear how many
weapons were recovered at
the scene, Gandhi said.
The second shooter,
whom the Sheriff ’s Office
identified as Karman
Sandhu, 21, was taken into
custody around 8:30 p.m.
Sunday.
He was arrested on suspi-
cion of attempted murder,
Gandhi said.
The Sheriff ’s Office said
the two victims were trans-
ported to a hospital and are
expected to survive.
The Sheriff ’s Office is
B3
A runaway
freight train
hauling iron
ore derails,
catches fire
By Noah Goldberg
A runaway train with no
passengers derailed and
caught fire Monday morning
in San Bernardino, accord-
ing to authorities.
The train carrying iron
ore — the raw material used
to make steel — derailed
near Kelso, according to the
San Bernardino County Fire
Protection District and its
radio transmissions.
Fire engines and a haz-
ardous materials team were
responding, according to
the agency.
The department con-
firmed at 11:20 a.m. that the
blaze was out and that there
were no injuries or active
threats to the area.
“It did derail, and it is on
fire. Carrying 180 cars of iron
ore,” said a man on the San
Bernardino County fire and
rescue radio channel more
than an hour earlier. Anoth-
er fire employee said there
was a fire “under the first
locomotive.”
The department was
sending water tenders to the
scene to battle the blaze
caused by the derailment.
Soon after the reports came
in, law enforcement officers
at the scene confirmed that
there was no longer a fire,
and many of the firetrucks
that had been called there
were sent elsewhere.
The San Bernardino
County Fire Protection Dis-
trict said it was on the scene
with representatives from
the Union Pacific railroad
company.
Union Pacific told The
Times that the southbound
train crashed around 8:30
a.m., with 55 cars and two
locomotives derailing. The
train at the time was in the
Mojave National Preserve,
east of Barstow.
“The crew was not in-
jured,” said Kristen South, a
spokesperson for Union Pa-
cific. “The derailed rail cars
were loaded with iron ore,
which spilled. Iron ore is part
of the steel-making process
and is not a hazardous mate-
rial. Further, there were no
hazardous materials on the
train. The incident is under
investigation.”
She confirmed that none
of the crew members were in
control of the train when it
derailed.
“I can confirm the crew
was not in the cab at the time
of the derailment, and there
was uncontrolled train
movement,” South said.
“still sorting out some de-
tails” about what charges to
bring, Gandhi said.
“All three of the individu-
als involved all seemed to
know each other,” Gandhi
told KCRA-TV.
“It seemed very targeted
in the fact of it wasn’t some
random thing that posed
any danger to the other pa-
trons other than the shoot-
ing.”
The shooting happened
during a celebration of
Nagar Kirtan, a religious ob-
servance, that began around
9 a.m. and drew large crowds
to the temple for a parade
and other festivities
throughout the day.
The investigation is con-
tinuing.
Sara Nevis Sacramento Bee
B4 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Three men held in county jails die within nine-day span
[Jail deaths, from B1]
said. “We take our responsi-
bility of providing a constitu-
tional level of care for those
in our custody seriously.”
Los Angeles jails are on
track to see fewer deaths
this year than last, though
incomplete information
makes it difficult to draw
conclusions about why. Sev-
en people have died behind
bars this year; records show
the jails had seen 11 deaths
by this point last year.
But the cause of death
has not been officially deter-
mined for the majority of
this year’s fatalities, and
medical examiner records
show autopsies are not fin-
ished in roughly a third of
the 44 cases from 2022.
Nicholas Shapiro, an as-
sistant UCLA professor who
serves as director of the
Carceral Ecologies Lab, said
he did not see “any cause for
celebration” despite the
slower pace of deaths in
2023.
“The jails are still over ca-
pacity, and over half the
deaths this year are of Black
men in a county where some-
thing like 5% of the popula-
tion are Black men,” he said.
“When incarceration rates
MARKETPLACE
Business Names Business Names
Fictitious Business Name Statement NO.: 2023028639
The following person is doing business as:
Fictitious Business Name(s) Pacific Fertility Centers
Los Angeles 10880 Wilshire Blvd Ste 300, Los Angeles,
CA 90024. Registered Owner (S): Vicken Sahakian
M.D., Inc. 10880 Wilshire Blvd Ste 300, Los Angeles,
CA 90024. Business is conducted by: a Corporation.
The registrant commenced to transact business
under the fictitious business name or names listed
above on 09/2014. I declare that all information in
this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who
declares as true information which he or she knows to
be false is guilty of a crime) REGISTRANT/CORP/LLC
NAME: Vicken Sahakian M.D., Inc.. Signature: Greg
Wiles, CFO. This statement was filed with the County
Clerk of Los Angeles County on 2/7/2023. NOTICE- in
accordance with subdivision (a)of section 17920 A
Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the
end of five years from the date on which it was filed
in the office of the County Clerk except, as provided
in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40
days after any change in the facts set forth in the state-
ment pursuant to section 17913 other than a change
in the residence address of a registered owner. A new
fictitious business name statement must be filed
before the expiration. The filing of this statement does
not of itself authorize the use in this state of fictitious
business name in violation of the rights of another
under federal state or common law (see section 14411
et seq. Business and Professions code). Dean C. Logan,
Los Angeles County Clerk. BY: James Ng, Deputy.
Published 03/21/23, 03/28/23, 04/04/23, 04/11/23.
Unscramble these Jumbles,
Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble
one letter to each square,
to form four ordinary words.
NCUKS
USISE
CEISNK
BINEBL
©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
All Rights Reserved.
“ ”
Jumbles: CHIRP SOUPY
Yesterday’s
Answer: With her newly-sharpened axe, she was able to
chop through logs in a — SPLIT SECOND
S L AT I M E S . C O M
are vastly reduced and the
county meets its goals to
close Men’s Central Jail, I’ll
definitely be singing from
the rooftops.”
Three years ago, county
supervisors voted to create a
plan for shuttering the de-
crepit jail, though the county
has since come under fire for
its apparent lack of progress
toward closure.
The recent string of
deaths comes amid a days-
long hearing in a lawsuit that
could rein in the jail popula-
tion by forcing the county to
revamp its use of cash bail.
As of now, when police or
deputies in Los Angeles
make an arrest, the respond-
ing officers figure out bail
based on a predetermined
schedule that takes into ac-
count the type of charge but
not the person’s ability to
pay.
If the arrestee can’t af-
ford bail or a bail bondsman,
they’re held in a substation
or sent to the county jail —
often to the overcrowded In-
mate Reception Center,
where people are routinely
chained to chairs or gurneys;
denied food, water and
showers; and made to sleep
in cells covered with feces.
THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
Now arrange the circled letters
to form the surprise answer, as
suggested by the above cartoon.
(Answers tomorrow)
DENTAL SNEEZE
‘We’re going to continue to In the same filing, they wrote
that the county agrees that
fenses were released with-
out money bail,” said Salil
see people dying. There are “‘wealth-based detention’ is
completely and totally unac-
Dudani, a staff attorney with
Civil Rights Corps, a non-
ceptable.” profit legal organization rep-
just too many people there But the county shouldn’t
have been the target of the
resenting the inmates who
are suing.
for correctional health lawsuit, they said, because
the bail schedules were set
“Multiple reports by the
county have confirmed that
by judges whose courts are rearrest rates and rates of
services to provide considered part of the state
government, not the county
reappearance in court were
stable under the emergency
adequate medical care.’ government.
Similarly, lawyers for the
bail schedule,” he added.
“And the county itself has re-
city wrote that their police peatedly said that this made
— M ELISSA CAMACHO , ACLU of Southern California were simply following the a positive difference in the
law by carrying out the exist- human rights crisis caused
They wait there for any- “On any given night, peo- ing bail schedule, and that by jail overcrowding in Los
where between two and five ple languish in jail cells they needed to do so “lest of- Angeles jail.”
days until they see a judge throughout Los Angeles ficers be subject to criminal At least 10 people in re-
who can take other factors County because they lack penalties themselves.” cent years have died in jail
into consideration and po- the cash required to pur- The two sides began because they couldn’t afford
tentially adjust the bail chase their release,” the suit squaring off in court last the bail under the existing
amount. As a result, people says. “These individuals are week. When the hearing con- schedule, he said.
who do not have money wait not detained on the basis cludes, the judge will decide In addition to the bail liti-
in jail while those who do are that they are too dangerous whether to grant the in- gation in state court, the
able to go free — even if they to release: the government mates’ request, ordering county is also grappling with
are facing the same charges would release them right broad reforms to the bail a federal lawsuit filed by the
and present the same risk to away if they could pay. system and, in the mean- U.S. Department of Justice
the community. Rather, they are too poor.” time, directing the city and and a pair of class-action
In November, a group of Proponents of cash bail county to go back to the cases filed by the ACLU, one
inmates and religious lead- say it helps make sure peo- emergency zero-bail sched- of which dates to the 1970s. In
ers sued the county, the ple show up to court, and ule that was in place for the that case, ACLU lawyers re-
Sheriff ’s Department, the lawyers for the county re- first two years of the pan- cently asked a federal judge
city and the Los Angeles Po- sponded to the suit by accus- demic. to find that county in con-
lice Department, arguing ing the inmates’ attorneys of “Under the emergency tempt for failing to fix “ap-
that the bail system in L.A. disregarding “victim and bail schedule, individuals ar- palling” conditions in the In-
County is unconstitutional. public safety issues entirely.” rested for the lowest-level of- mate Reception Center.
JOBS · REAL ESTATE · MORE
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SUMMONS
SUMMONS (Family Law) (CITACION JUDICIAL)
CASE NUMBER (Numero del Caso): 21STCV25460
Case No. D22-03281
Notice to Respondent: (Nombre): NOTICE TO DEFENDANT:
Allison Z. Weigel (AVISO AL DEMANDADO):
You have been sued. Read the information below. DANIEL MORENO, doing business as MORENO
Lo han demandado. Lea la informaci6n a LANDSCAPING, and MOES 1 through 24, inclusive
continuaci6n.
Petitioner's name is: (Nombre del demandante): YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:
Gregory A. Weigel (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE):
OCEAN EXTERIORS, INC.
You have 30 calendar days after this Summons
and Petition are served on you to file a Response
NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide
(form FL-120) at the court and have a copy served
against you without your being heard unless you
on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not
respond within 30 days. Read the information below.
protect you. If you do not file your Response on
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons
time, the court may make orders affecting your and legal papers are served on you to file a written
marriage or domestic partnership, your property,
response at this court and have a copy served on the
and custody of your children. You may be plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.
ordered to pay support and attorney fees and Your written response must be in proper legal form if
costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer you want the court to hear your case. There may be a
immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the court form that you can use for your response. You
California Courts Online Self-Help Center can find these court forms and more information at
(www.courts.ca.govlselfhelp), at the California Legal the California Courts Online Self-Help Center
Services website (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law
(www.lawhelpca.org), or by contacting your local library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot
county bar association. Tiene 30 dias de pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver
calendario despues de haber recibido la entrega form. If you do not file your response on time, you
legal de esta Citacion y Peticion para presentar may lose the case by default, and your wages, money,
una Respuesta (formulario FL-120) ante la corte and property may be taken without further warning
y efectuar la entrega legal de una copia al from the court.
demandante. Una carta o llamada telef6nica o There are other legal requirements. You may want to
una audiencia de la corte no basta para call an attorney right away. If you do not know an
attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral
protegerlo. Si no presenta su Respuesta a tiempo,
service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be
la corte puede dar 6rdenes que afecten su
eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal
matrimonio o pareja de hecho, sus bienes y la
services program. You can located these nonprofit
custodia de sus hijos. Lacorte tambien le puede groups at the California Legal Services Web site
ordenar que pague mantuencion, y honorarios y (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts
costos legales. Para asesoramiento legal, pongase Online Self-Help Center
en contacto de inmediato con un abogao. Puede (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting
obtener informaci6n para encontrar un abogado your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The
en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on
(www.sucorte.ca.gov) en el sitio web de los Servicios any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or
Legales de California (www.lawhelpca.org) o more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid
poniendose en contacto con el colegio de before the court will dismiss the case.
abogados de su condado. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro
NOTICE-RESTRAININGORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin
These restraining orders are effective against both escuchar su version. Lea la información a
spouses or domestic partners until the petition is continuación.
Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le
dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court
entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para
makes further orders. They are enforceable
presenter una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y
anywhere in California by any law enforcement
hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una
officer who has received or seen a copy of them. carta o una llamada telefónica no lo prolegen. Su
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L AT I M E S . C O M
WORKERS began dismantling the fence surrounding Echo Park Lake on Monday, two years after a homeless
encampment was cleared from the historic park. Above, a runner jogs around the lake on Monday.
L.A. says park will be safe
[Echo Park, from B1]
from streets near Echo Park
Lake and moving them into
hotels in downtown and Sil-
ver Lake. Since then, Soto-
Martinez has promised to
send outreach workers into
the park seven days a week
to ensure that it remains
safe and people do not move
back.
“We look forward to con-
tinuing our work with the
community to achieve our
shared goals for the park,
which include ... ensuring
Echo Park Lake is safe, clean
and accessible for all,” Soto-
Martinez said in a state-
ment.
Some who were in the
park on Monday morning
had their doubts.
Reina Moreno, who walks
in the park each day, said she
does not want to see the park
again filled with trash and
human waste. Moreno, who
lives nearby, said she’s OK
with crews taking down the
chain-link barrier — “as long
as they put up another one.”
“If there is security here
24/7, then there won’t be a
problem,” the 57-year-old
hairstylist said. “But if
they’re not taking care of it,
then there should be a fence
— permanent.”
Some residents who live
closer to the lake have voiced
similar concerns, calling for
a nicer, permanent fence.
They said the park was the
backdrop for fistfights,
shootings and fatal over-
doses — including one in-
volving an 18-year-old from
San Diego County — when
the encampment was at its
peak.
Homeless advocacy
groups have sought to
counter the idea that the en-
campment was dangerous,
calling it a “beautiful and
much-lauded homeless-run
outdoor community” that
offered security, stability
and “healing for drug addic-
tion and mental illness.”
Some argued that a fence
Video gives clearer view of police shooting
[Shooting, from B1]
leave, in keeping with de-
partment policy.
An LAPD spokeswoman
said Monday that she
couldn’t comment on specif-
ics about the incident be-
cause it remains under in-
vestigation.
“Any time we lose a life,
it’s always tragic, and we
send our condolences to the
family,” said Capt. Kelly
Muniz.
The officers from the
department’s Rampart Di-
vision were responding to 911
calls about a woman in a
trench coat pointing a gun at
passersby in the area
around Silver Lake Boule-
vard and Temple Street, ac-
cording to a police account
of the incident. The calls
came in shortly before 8 p.m.
McBride and her partner
encountered Cardenas, who
matched the suspect’s de-
scription, near an overpass
of the 101 Freeway, police
said. As she passed them,
they hopped out of their
cruiser and began yelling at
her to drop her weapon.
The third officer involved
in the shooting arrived in a
separate vehicle.
They assumed Cardenas
had a revolver in her hand,
according to the footage, a
compilation of video from
body-worn and dashboard
cameras. Cardenas ignored
the commands and contin-
ued toward the overpass.
In one of the videos, Car-
denas appears to turn back
A CREW works in the water of Echo Park Lake on Monday. Los Angeles officials
promised to keep the area safe after drugs and crime had emerged as problems.
would do nothing to address
homelessness and other so-
cietal ills.
Spencer Bowman, 25,
was excited to see the fence
come down. Seated on a
bench facing the lake, he
called the fence “an eyesore
and a monument to that
ugly period.”
“It only seems to exclude
and it is visually metal and
gray and ugly,” said Bow-
man, who works in post-pro-
duction.
Two years ago, an en-
campment with nearly 200
tents covered much of the
park, occupying nearly all of
the grassy areas on the
Glendale Boulevard side
and much of its northern
end. Hundreds of people
showed up to protest the en-
campment’s removal, lead-
ing to clashes between L.A.
police officers and demon-
strators, as well as scores of
arrests.
On Monday, one of the
workers removing sections
of chain-link described the
heated atmosphere in 2021,
when he and others were in-
stalling the fence.
“We were getting yelled at
to the officers and extend
her right arm toward them.
Officers open fire almost im-
mediately, and Cardenas
drops to the pavement. The
object in her hand clatters
into the street.
After handcuffing Carde-
nas, officers attempted to re-
suscitate her. She was taken
by ambulance to L.A.
County-USC Medical Cen-
ter, where she was pro-
nounced dead, police said.
Only later did officers see
that she had been holding a
pellet gun that looked like a
revolver, according to a
photo on the LAPD website.
The gun had a black barrel
and brownish grip.
The shooting occurred
within eight seconds of offi-
cers encountering Carde-
nas.
The incident will be re-
viewed by LAPD investiga-
tors, who will consider such
factors as whether the offi-
cers should have reasonably
assumed that Cardenas was
armed and whether they
should have fired, knowing
that she was standing in
close proximity to a home-
less encampment.
The findings will be pre-
sented to the LAPD’s civil-
ian oversight commission.
Such investigations typi-
cally last from several
months to a year.
At least one of the police
bullets may have struck a
pair of tents near the over-
pass, according to a search
warrant application by
Photographs by Jay L.
by everybody,” said the
worker, who declined to give
his name.
In November, Soto-Mar-
tinez defeated Councilmem-
ber Mitch O’Farrell, who had
not taken a position on the
fence, saying he would follow
the community’s wishes on
whether it should become
permanent.
Soto-Martinez said earli-
er this month that voters in
the district, which stretches
from Echo Park to Holly-
wood and Glassell Park,
chose to take the fence down
when they elected him as
their council member, since
he had repeatedly promised
to remove it during his cam-
paign.
Echo Park, one of the
city’s most scenic open
spaces, received a $45-mil-
lion renovation a decade
ago, which introduced new
wetlands to various corners
of the lake.
In 2021, the Recreation
and Parks Department ini-
tially allocated up to
$600,000 for cleanup and re-
pairs needed following the
encampment’s removal. A
year later, O’Farrell commit-
Frank Marino, a detective
with the department’s Force
Investigations Division.
The warrant sought per-
mission from a judge to
search the two tents for
bloody clothing, spent shell
casings and a red jacket with
apparent bullet holes that
officers observed from out-
side.
Marino wrote in the war-
rant application that two
holes found in the tents
tested positive for lead, sug-
gesting they were created by
bullets.
It was not clear whether
anyone was inside the tents
at the time of the shooting.
The incident drew wide-
spread criticism online after
the department revealed
that McBride was involved.
She became the third mem-
ber of her immediate family
to shoot someone in the line
of duty.
Her father, Jamie Mc-
Bride, the controversial
union official, was involved
in at least six police shoot-
ings, none fatal, in the first 11
years of his career.
His other daughter, Toni
McBride — a sharp-shoot-
ing influencer and model on
Instagram who joined the
LAPD in 2017 — fatally shot
Daniel Hernandez in 2020 in
South Los Angeles after he
moved toward her with a
knife. After a months-long
internal investigation, the
Police Commission found
that Toni McBride’s use of
deadly force was justified
Clendenin Los Angeles Times
ted $500,000 for a “needs as-
sessment” of the park.
Soto-Martinez had been
somewhat vague in recent
weeks about the exact date
of the fence’s removal. In a
recent statement, he said
only that it would be gone by
the end of Friday.
For weeks, Soto-Mar-
tinez has promised to have
teams of unarmed respond-
ers available at the park dur-
ing nighttime hours. City
crews recently posted notic-
es saying that one block of
Lemoyne Street, between
the lake and Sunset Boule-
vard, would be the site of a
major sanitation cleaning on
Wednesday.
Gil Mangaoang, who lives
across from the lake’s lotus
bed, was not reassured.
Mangaoang, who belongs to
a group that has lobbied for
a permanent fence, said he
and his neighbors will work
in the coming weeks to en-
sure the park remains clean
and secure.
If crime and violence do
return to the park, Soto-
Martinez “will be a one-term
council member,” Man-
gaoang said.
but that the last two of her
six shots were out of policy.
She was later cleared of
wrongdoing in a separate in-
vestigation by the office of
California Atty. Gen. Rob
Bonta, which investigates
most shootings of unarmed
civilians by police. But the
ruling was met with skepti-
cism because it was based in
part on the analysis of a po-
lice use-of-force consultant
whose work has been criti-
cized for years as illegiti-
mate.
Unlike her better-known
relatives, Jacqueline Mc-
Bride seems to avoid the
limelight.
Little is known about
Cardenas, and attempts to
reach her relatives through a
GoFundMe page set up to
help pay funeral expenses
were unsuccessful.
A tribute video posted
online, set to the stirring
horns of La Adictiva’s “Mi
Último Día,” said she “was a
mother, a daughter, she was
a sister, she was a friend.”
It is not clear whether
Cardenas was homeless, as
some news accounts and
advocates have suggested.
Public records show that a
person with her name lived
at an address in the 500
block of Rampart Boulevard
— roughly a mile south of
where the shooting oc-
curred.
Times staff writer Richard
Winton contributed to this
report.
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Skydiver rescued
from power lines
By Grace Toohey
A woman who was train-
ing to skydive solo released
her parachute at the right
time and in a good location
Monday but somehow
missed the planned landing
spot, becoming entangled in
power lines in Lake Elsinore,
said Skydive Elsinore gen-
eral manager and co-owner
Josh Hall.
“She basically overflew
the entire airport,” Hall said
Monday afternoon. “Luckily,
she’s fine. Obviously, it could
have been a lot worse.”
Riverside County fire-
fighters rescued the woman
dangling from power lines on
Corydon Road — not far
from Cereal Street and the
Skydive Elsinore business —
just before noon Monday,
according to a tweet from
the Fire Department.
The power lines were live
when the woman became
stuck, but Southern Califor-
nia Edison officials turned
off electricity in the area
while firefighters worked to
untangle the woman, said
Maggie De La Rosa, a
spokesperson for Riverside
County Fire.
No one was injured in the
rescue.
RESIDENTS of two houses in Pacific Palisades were
displaced by debris and dirt sliding down a hillside.
Hillside crashes into
Pacific Palisades home
By Salvador
Hernandez
A 20,000-square-foot
piece of hillside crashed into
a Pacific Palisades home
Sunday night and displaced
the family of eight that lives
there and a man in an adja-
cent residence, fire officials
said.
Debris and dirt slid down
the hillside in the 900 block
of North Las Lomas Avenue
and struck the home below,
Nicholas Prange, a spokes-
person for the Los Angeles
Fire Department, said in a
statement. No injuries were
reported.
Fire officials described
OBITUARY NOTICES
Place a paid notice latimes.com/placeobituary
Search obituary notice archives: legacy.com/obituaries/latimes
BACH, Julian
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks
Hollywood Hills 800-600-0076
www.mountsinaiparks.org
BERMAN, David B.
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks
Simi Valley 800-600-0076
www.mountsinaiparks.org
GARBER, Betty Estelle
March 27, 1934 - March 25, 2023
The world is a less colorful place
today. A renowned interior designer in
the hospitality industry for more than
60 years. Betty will be remembered
for her meticulous and persnickety
work on world-class hotels and
residences. Her resume includes
work at The Hotel Bel Air, Regent
Hotels, Beverly Wilshire, Hong Kong
& Manila, Four Seasons New York,
and many, many others. She had a
passport that rivaled world traveling
diplomats. Betty leaves her partner in
crime for the past 40 plus years, Sidney
Nellis and his family Randy, Robert
(Francine) and Jennifer (Norm Neal);
Their children Maddie, Eden, Everett,
Nick Neal, Daniele Neal; Her sister Joan
Adlen, her children Irving (Monica),
Deanne Chalk (Alan), Andrew (Julie)
and their children Jake, Hannah
Chalk, & Ethan Chalk, Sara and Aaron.
Numerous friends and colleagues
from around the world. Service will
take place at Mount Sinai Memorial
Park Hollywood Hills Wednesday,
March 29th at 2:00PM, because the
fur vault at Bullocks Wilshire is no
longer available. We will start a few
minutes late in Betty’s honor. For a link
to the online ceremony, please email
bettyginfo@gmail.com
Have a piece of See’s Dark Chocolate
Buttercream in her memory.
GREENSPAN, Donald C.
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks
Hollywood Hills 800-600-0076
www.mountsinaiparks.org
B5
Hall said the woman,
whom he declined to iden-
tify, was part of Skydive
Elsinore’s Accelerated Free
Fall program, which trains
students to become certified
to skydive without a tandem
instructor.
As the student at-
tempted her first solo train-
ing dive Monday, there was a
problem after she released
the parachute.
Hall said she “could not
have been in a better spot,”
but something went awry
when she needed to steer
herself toward an open area
to land. He said the para-
chute “opened properly
and was in perfect working
order.
“From what it sounds
like, she just got confused,”
he added. “She basically flew
her parachute into an area
where she shouldn’t.”
The woman, he said, is
“very lucky she walked away
basically without a scratch”
and was in good spirits.
He called the incident
“very rare,” noting that the
company provides more
than 100,000 flights a year.
Hall said the incident is
under investigation, and the
company will release addi-
tional information when it is
available.
Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times
the event as a “slough off,”
meaning dirt and debris slid
down the hill; only the
uppermost layer of soil ap-
peared to be affected. A
grading inspector and geolo-
gist were called to inspect
the area Monday, according
to the Fire Department.
The family of four adults
and four children was able to
stay with relatives, accord-
ing to Prange. As a precau-
tion, an elderly man living at
the home above was asked to
evacuate, he said.
The incident comes after
Southern California was hit
by a strong storm last week.
Roads were flooded, and tor-
nadoes touched down in
Montebello and Carpinteria.
HUG, Emil
December 8, 1931 - March 17, 2023
In the early afternoon of March 17,
2023, Emil Hug of West Los Angeles,
renowned owner and pastry chef of
Emil’s Swiss Pastry, passed peacefully
away at the age of 91.
He is survived by his loving wife,
Violeta of 64 years, brother Josef, his
daughters Gina, Tita, Lissa and Susie,
their husbands, ten grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren.
The memorial service will be held
at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church
Wednesday, March 29 at Noon.
Reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, we ask that you
send donations to St. Jude’s Children
Hospital.
IARROBINO OSB, Brother
Joseph
December 1, 1931 - March 20, 2023
Died on Monday, March 20, 2023 at
St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, CA.
To place an obituary ad
please go online to:
latimes.com/placeobituary
B6 TU E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 S L AT I M E S . C O M

Today in Southern California Today in North America

Sunshine; rain moves in at night: Dry weather with temperatures near historical averages will continue Storm from the Pacific: A storm and its front will spread wet and windy
across most of the area today. An approaching front will spread rain to near Point Conception toward sunset. weather south from Oregon and Northern California into Central Cali-
The rain with this front will spread south tonight into Wednesday morning. An upper-level storm trailing the fornia. Showers and thunderstorms lining a front from Georgia west
front will bring showers and a thunderstorm Wednesday night and Thursday. along the Gulf Coast will bring locally heavy rain.
▲

◗
5-day forecasts Pressure: L Low H High Warm Front Cold Front Jet Stream Trough
High/low temperatures are average forecasts for entire zone.
Temps –0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+ Rain T-storm Snow Ice
L.A. Basin Valleys Beaches Mountains Deserts
Today 71/51 68/49 64/52 49/31 79/52
Inc. clouds Inc. clouds Sun, then clouds Windy Mostly sunny Winnipeg
Seattle 18/-2 Montreal
Wednesday Rain 58/47 Downpours 57/44 Rain 58/45 Snow, 1-3” 37/22 Showery 67/49 60/42
41/26
Thursday T-storms 57/47 T-storms 55/43 T-storms 56/48 A shower 34/18 A shower 63/49 Minneapolis Toronto
Friday Partly sunny 63/47 Partly sunny 61/45 Partly sunny 59/48 Cold 42/23 Mostly sunny 73/54 Billings 35/15 44/31
32/14
Saturday Clouds, sun 67/52 Partly sunny 68/49 Partly sunny 61/52 Partly sunny 49/26 Mostly sunny 78/56 Detroit
50/32
Chicago New York
Air quality Good Moderate Unhealthful for: Sensitive people All Not Available 50/35 52/38
South Coast Air Quality Management District forecasts air quality San Francisco Kansas City Washington
SANTA VENTURA CO. Santa Clarita 55/48 Denver 52/32
BARBARA CO. 58/41
Santa Paula 69/48 Hesperia 50/25
Santa Ojai 67/50 LOS ANGELES CO. 67/44 Los Angeles
Barbara 67/47 Simi Valley 71/51
Chatsworth SAN BERNARDINO CO. Atlanta
63/52 68/49 Burbank Monrovia
Ventura Camarillo 68/50 70/43
69/50 71/49
61/51 65/52 Pomona/ Yucca Valley El Paso
UCLA 67/44
67/46
Oxnard
Westlake 66/52 L.A. Downtown Fairplex Ontario San Bernardino
Chihuahua Houston
62/49 Woodland 71/51 70/49 70/48 74/55
Village 70/49 68/48
Hills Whittier Miami
66/48 Chino Monterrey
69/50 88/71
Santa Monica Hills 72/50 Riverside RIVERSIDE CO.
70/53
64/52 71/52 Fullerton 70/44
Surf and sea Torrance 73/54 U.S. cities
POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICO 65/54 Santa Ana
Inner waters: Wind variable, becom- Long ORANGE CO. Hemet Palm MONDAY’S EXTREMES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES
69/53
ing west 10-15 knots. Wind waves 1-3 Beach Newport Irvine 70/44 Springs High 92 in Orlando, Fla. Low –20 in Daniel, Wyo.
feet with a westerly swell of 2-4 feet. 71/55 70/54 79/52
Beach
Surf zone: The risk of dangerous rip 65/54 Mission Viejo
Temecula Monday Today Monday Today
currents is moderate at Ventura and Laguna 68/50 City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Sky City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Sky
L.A. county beaches and low at S.B., 71/42
Beach San Albany 52 27 .15 49 27 Cy Seattle 59 33 .01 60 42 Su
Orange and S.D. county beaches. 64/52 Clemente Albuquerque 49 33 -- 56 37 Su Tampa 84 72 -- 86 71 Cy
66/50 SAN DIEGO CO. Anchorage 37 24 -- 38 34 Pc Tucson 73 43 -- 82 51 Pc
Oceanside Aspen 24 11 .09 41 21 Pc Tulsa 61 31 -- 55 35 Su
Atlanta 80 63 1.50 70 43 Cy Washington, D.C. 61 46 .02 58 41 Cy
County Height Period Direction Temp Sun and moon 69/49 Austin 77 53 -- 70 50 W Wichita 56 30 -- 53 31 Su
Santa Barbara 1-3’ 7 sec W 54 Baltimore 63 41 .06 57 39 Cy
Today’s rise/set
Ventura 2-4’ 7 sec W 54 Escondido Ramona Boise 49 22 -- 50 35 Sh World
Los Angeles 2-4’ 7 sec W 57 Los Angeles Co. Orange Co. Ventura Co. 70/46 69/40 Boston 55 40 .13 43 35 Sh Acapulco 86 66 -- 87 69 Su
Orange 1-3’ 6 sec W 58 Sun 6:47a/7:11p 6:45a/7:09p 6:50a/7:15p Bufalo 43 34 .14 44 31 Cy Amsterdam 45 34 .44 48 42 R
Moon 11:25a/1:51a 11:25a/1:49a 11:29a/1:56a Poway
San Diego 1-3’ 6 sec W 58 Burlington, Vt. 49 28 Tr 43 27 Cy Athens 73 50 -- 64 44 R
69/48 Charleston, S.C. 74 67 .14 76 51 Cy Bangkok 97 82 -- 96 80 Su
Charlotte 79 60 .46 68 43 Cy Barcelona 63 54 -- 64 52 Su
Tides San Diego Chicago 46 32 -- 50 35 Pc Berlin 43 36 .03 46 33 Sn
L.A. Outer Harbor, in feet. 68/53 Cincinnati 56 46 .01 49 30 Pc Cabo San Lucas 81 59 -- 82 62 Pc
March 28 April 5 April 13 April 19
Today 2:00a 4.3 Hi 10:57a 0.6 Lo Cleveland 49 42 .17 44 32 Cy Cairo 76 58 -- 85 60 Su
------ Hi ------ Lo Columbia, S.C. 69 63 2.35 73 48 Cy Dubai 91 76 .04 86 70 Su
Wed. 3:43a 4.1 Hi 12:15p 0.4 Lo
Almanac Columbus 59 41 .10 51 27 Cy Dublin 48 25 .02 58 49 Sh
Monday Downtown readings Dallas/Ft.Worth 72 47 .03 63 43 Su Havana 90 67 -- 89 66 Pc
8:01p 3.5 Hi ------ Lo Denver 32 24 .06 50 25 Pc Ho Chi Minh City 93 77 -- 96 78 Su
Temperature Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura Precipitation Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura Detroit 47 39 .10 50 32 Pc Hong Kong 68 65 .69 72 65 R
UV index High/low 73/48 77/44 70/48 24-hour total (as of 5 p.m.) 0.00 0.00 0.00 El Paso 74 42 -- 67 44 Su Istanbul 66 46 .37 53 39 R
Minutes to burn for sensitive people Normal high/low 71/53 72/52 67/47 Season total (since Oct. 1) 26.09 19.47 24.54 Eugene 44 32 .03 50 36 Sh Jerusalem 62 48 -- 69 49 Su
High/low a year ago 69/56 70/57 66/52 Last season (Oct. 1 to date) 10.51 5.80 9.56 Fort Myers 90 68 -- 88 69 Pc Johannesburg 73 53 -- 71 54 Pc
Las Vegas, 30 Phoenix, 30
Record high/date 91/2015 91/2015 86/1969 Season norm (Oct. 1 to date) 12.80 10.54 14.39 Hartford 61 30 .19 47 31 Sh Kuala Lumpur 91 77 .18 94 76 R
Los Angeles, 30 San Francisco, 60 Record low/date 37/1884 44/2023 39/2020 Humidity (high/low) 47/12 76/14 60/20 Honolulu 83 70 .02 81 73 Sh Lima 80 71 .01 81 72 Hz
Houston 77 64 Tr 74 55 W London 52 39 -- 50 47 R
California cities Indianapolis 45 40 .50 49 31 Cy Madrid 68 41 -- 75 44 Su
Monday Today Wed. Monday Today Wed. Monday Today Wed. Jacksonville, Fla. 90 65 -- 82 58 Ts Mecca 93 68 -- 96 68 Su
Kansas City 51 27 -- 52 32 Pc Mexico City 85 58 -- 84 56 Sh
City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo Knoxville 75 58 Tr 62 38 Cy Montreal 45 30 -- 41 26 Pc
Anaheim 76 46 -- 72 53 61 49 L.A. D’ntown/USC 73 48 -- 71 51 58 47 San Diego 70 47 -- 68 53 61 51 Las Vegas 57 40 -- 67 54 Su Moscow 45 37 .04 49 40 Cy
Avalon/Catalina 64 47 -- 59 45 51 42 L.A. Int’l. Airport 72 47 -- 65 53 59 47 San Francisco 62 40 -- 55 48 55 45 Louisville 62 48 Tr 54 34 Pc Mumbai 86 73 -- 88 75 Hz
Bakersfield 69 37 -- 71 47 60 43 Laguna Beach 71 40 -- 64 52 57 50 San Gabriel xx xx -- 71 51 59 45 Medford 47 31 .02 52 32 R New Delhi 81 66 -- 85 65 Hz
Barstow 60 34 -- 72 51 62 41 Lancaster 60 26 -- 65 45 54 40 San Jose 67 36 -- 55 46 56 41 Memphis 67 51 -- 62 40 Su Paris 51 41 -- 54 45 Cy
Big Bear Lake 44 14 -- 49 31 37 22 Long Beach 77 47 -- 71 55 63 48 San Luis Obispo 67 40 -- 59 46 54 43 Miami 87 75 .03 88 71 Pc Prague 45 32 .28 42 29 Sf
Bishop 52 17 -- 59 37 54 30 Mammoth Lakes 29 -7 -- 41 26 34 19 Santa Ana 73 47 -- 69 53 61 50 Milwaukee 40 28 -- 47 31 Pc Rome 63 50 .33 62 39 Su
Burbank 70 41 -- 69 50 56 45 Mission Viejo 75 41 -- 68 50 57 48 Santa Barbara 67 40 -- 63 52 61 47 Minneapolis 41 24 -- 35 15 Pc Seoul 55 32 -- 60 37 Su
Camarillo 71 39 -- 65 52 61 46 Monrovia 70 39 -- 71 49 59 44 Santa Clarita 64 42 -- 69 48 57 41 Nashville 72 53 -- 60 35 Pc Singapore 84 79 .29 90 78 Sh
Chatsworth 69 50 -- 68 50 57 43 Monterey 60 35 -- 57 47 54 43 Santa Monica Pier 72 45 -- 64 52 58 45 New Orleans 82 74 .13 72 59 Ts Taipei City 66 61 .28 70 63 R
Chino 71 39 -- 72 50 55 45 Mt. Wilson 51 33 -- 43 31 35 26 Santa Paula 71 40 -- 67 50 59 42 New York 62 47 .28 52 38 Pc Tokyo 59 49 .39 58 48 Sh
Compton 74 42 -- 71 54 61 47 Needles 67 47 -- 75 53 75 49 Santa Rosa 60 31 -- 52 43 51 35 Norfolk 75 51 .05 58 46 Cy Vancouver 50 36 -- 58 37 Su
Dana Point 67 40 -- 64 51 57 49 Newport Beach 65 47 -- 65 54 60 51 Simi Valley 67 49 -- 68 49 58 42 Oklahoma City 58 34 -- 55 34 Su Vienna 48 46 .07 47 30 W
Death Valley 71 53 -- 80 70 75 53 Northridge 70 49 -- 70 50 57 45 Tahoe Valley 41 2 -- 38 18 34 21 Omaha 43 17 -- 51 24 Pc
Del Mar 68 44 -- 63 50 57 50 Oakland 61 37 -- 54 45 55 43 Temecula 72 41 -- 71 42 54 40 Orlando 92 70 -- 90 67 Cy Key: Su sunny; Pc partly cloudy; Cy cloudy; Fg
Escondido 74 42 -- 70 46 56 44 Oceanside 69 41 -- 69 49 57 47 Thousand Oaks 68 48 -- 66 48 58 44 Philadelphia 66 39 .15 54 37 Pc foggy; Prcp precipitation; Dr drizzle; Hz hazy Sh
Eureka 53 34 -- 51 40 54 39 Ojai 70 32 -- 67 47 56 39 Torrance 75 46 -- 65 54 61 49 Phoenix 72 50 -- 80 53 Su showers; Ts thunderstorms; R rain; Sn snow; Sf
snow flurries; I ice; Rs rain/snow; W windy; Tr
Fallbrook 73 47 -- 69 45 57 43 Ontario 69 40 -- 70 49 55 43 UCLA xx xx -- 66 52 58 45 Pittsburgh 55 40 .02 48 27 Cy trace. Notes: National extremes exclude Alaska
Fresno 65 37 -- 64 48 58 46 Palm Springs 69 55 -- 79 52 67 49 Van Nuys 73 50 -- 72 50 59 44 Portland, Ore. 55 35 .05 53 42 Sh and Hawaii. Missing data indicated by “xx”.
Fullerton 77 44 -- 73 54 62 49 Pasadena 70 41 -- 69 49 56 45 Ventura 70 48 -- 61 51 57 44 Providence 56 29 .13 43 33 Sh Monday’s readings as of 5 p.m.
Hemet 65 35 -- 70 44 54 41 Paso Robles 66 31 -- 57 42 54 43 Whittier Hills 77 45 -- 71 52 61 47 Raleigh/Durham 79 57 .54 67 45 Hz
Hesperia 55 27 -- 67 44 51 37 Redding 57 33 -- 47 42 47 29 Woodland Hills 72 38 -- 69 50 58 45 Reno 54 22 -- 50 31 Cy
Huntington Beach 69 41 -- 65 54 61 50 Riverside 65 33 -- 70 44 53 42 Wrightwood 42 22 -- 52 38 39 28 Richmond 70 50 .12 62 41 Cy Forecasts by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2023
Idyllwild 54 25 -- 55 36 43 34 Sacramento 63 33 -- 52 43 53 40 Yorba Linda 74 44 -- 70 51 57 46 St. Louis 56 39 .21 51 35 Sh
Irvine 76 41 -- 70 54 60 48 San Bernardino 68 37 -- 70 48 52 42 Yosemite Valley 56 29 -- 48 33 39 27 Salt Lake City 40 26 .08 53 44 Cy

Zegras NHL STANDINGS Hudson helps dogs find homes

injured in
WESTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE
Pacific W L OL Pts GF GA Metropolitan W L OL Pts GF GA [Baxter, from B10]
Vegas 46 21 6 98 242 205 x-Carolina 47 16 9 103 241 188 split once more this month,
KINGS 43 20 10 96 258 236 x-New Jersey 46 20 8 100 257 206 with soccer again forcing

fifth loss Edmonton

Seattle
Calgary
42
40
33
23
25
26
9
8
15
93
88
81
291
254
238
251
236
232
x-NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Pittsburgh
43
38
36
20
28
27
10
9
10
96
85
82
247
224
235
198
206
236
him to leave 12-year-old
Dyer and Junior, 7, to coach
the U.S. to Nations League
wins over Grenada and El

in a row Vancouver
DUCKS
San Jose
34
23
19
34
41
39
5
10
15
73
56
53
251
190
209
270
302
286
Washington
Philadelphia
Columbus
34
28
23
32
32
42
8
12
7
76
68
53
236
195
196
231
236
285
Salvador, the second com-
ing on Monday night, 1-0 in
Orlando, Fla. The two victo-
Central W L OL Pts GF GA Atlantic W L OL Pts GF GA ries, in Hudson’s first two
Minnesota 43 22 9 95 224 199 y-Boston 57 11 5 119 275 157 competitive matches as U.S.
Ducks’ leading scorer Colorado
Dallas
44
39
23
20
6
14
94
92
245
251
201
204
x-Toronto
Tampa Bay
44
42
20
26
9
6
97
90
251
253
203
230
coach, qualified the team for
both the Gold Cup and
exits with lower-body Winnipeg 41 30 3 85 222 209 Florida 36 31 7 79 257 256 Nations League Final Four
issue as Anaheim goes Nashville 36 28 8 80 204 216 Buffalo 35 31 7 77 261 271 this summer. The Ameri-
St. Louis 33 34 6 72 236 268 Ottawa 36 33 5 77 236 240 cans are the defending
1-6-1 on homestand. Arizona 27 35 13 67 211 262 Detroit 31 32 9 71 209 238 champions in both tourna- Courtesy of Anthony Hudson

Chicago 24 43 6 54 179 262 Montreal 30 38 6 66 215 273 ments. DYER AND JUNIOR wear hats from the Forgotten
COLORADO 5, DUCKS 1 Note: Overtime or shootout losses are worth one x-clinched playoff spot Away from the field, Dogs Foundation, founded by Anthony Hudson.
y-clinched division
point. however, Hudson spends
wire reports
RESULTS much of his time working while holding soccer clinics to be a labor of love, Hudson
with the Forgotten Dogs and tournaments as fund- also has other labors to
COLORADO 5 The Ducks gave up five unanswered goals after Derek
Nathan MacKinnon had Foundation, a nonprofit he raisers. worry about.
AT DUCKS 1 Grant’s first-period score and lost Trevor Zegras to injury.
a goal and an assist in his founded to help homeless “We wanted to use soccer After Berhalter’s con-
700th NHL game and the AT OTTAWA 5 Brady Tkachuk had two points and Mads Sogaard made dogs find safe haven and our contacts to raise tract with the national team
Colorado Avalanche won FLORIDA 2 32 saves as Ottawa handed Florida a fourth straight loss. through creative work with money for programs that expired in December, Hud-
their third straight, beating MONTREAL 4 Michael Pezzetta scored the decisive shootout goal and communities, shelters and are doing really, really good son was appointed interim
the Ducks 5-1 on Monday AT BUFFALO 3 (SO) the rallying Canadiens avoided playoff elimination. animal care and rescue things,” he said. manager while U.S. Soccer
night at Honda Center. programs across the coun- Those programs include conducted its standard
AT N.Y. ISLANDERS 5 Kyle Palmieri had two goals and Ilya Sorokin made 30
Bowen Byram also had a try. Tails of Redemption with performance review of the
NEW JERSEY 1 saves to help the Islanders end a two-game losing streak.
goal and an assist for the Av- “The pet overpopulation the Cook County (Ill.) sher- former coach.
alanche, who are one point AT MINNESOTA 5 Matt Boldy had his second hat trick in the last five games in most countries, but espe- iff ’s department, in which That process was com-
behind Dallas for the Cen- SEATTLE 1 for the Wild, who stayed in first place in the Central. cially in this country, is the jailed detainees work with plicated by Berhalter’s
tral Division lead. Jack EDMONTON 5 Connor McDavid became the first player to reach 140 issue,” he said. “People are troubled shelter dogs to admission he was involved
Johnson, Valeri Nichushkin AT ARIZONA 4 points since 1995-96 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins won it. breeding these dogs and increase their chances for in a physical altercation 32
and Samuel Girard also they’re literally just ending adoption. Or the MLS’ years ago with the woman
scored for Colorado, and TODAY’S GAMES up on the streets. If they Chicago Fire assisting with he later married, and by the
Jonas Johansson stopped 29 KINGS at Calgary, 6 p.m. Columbus at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. don’t get adopted, they get fundraising soccer camps departures of Earnie Stew-
shots. Montreal at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Nashville at Boston, 4 p.m. killed. That’s where it and the Chicago Red Stars art, the federation’s sport-
Anaheim, which went 1- Pittsburgh at Detroit, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 4 p.m. starts.” taking the pitch before a ing director, and Brian
6-1 on its eight-game home- Vancouver at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Dallas at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. The idea for the founda- National Women’s Soccer McBride, general manager
stand, got its lone goal from Edmonton at Vegas, 7 p.m. Winnipeg at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. tion was one Hudson, 42, League game last season of the men’s national team
Derek Grant and lost its fifth WEDNESDAY’S GAMES long considered but repeat- alongside shelter dogs program, the two men
straight. John Gibson made edly put off because of soc- needing forever homes; all charged with conducting
Florida at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Washington, 4:30 p.m.
39 saves. Leading scorer cer. After a 10-year playing four dogs quickly were Berhalter’s review and
Minnesota at Colorado, 7 p.m.
Trevor Zegras suffered a career with four teams in adopted. selecting a coach.
lower-body injury during the three countries, Hudson There are budding part- As a result, Hudson’s
second period and did not chise history to appear in 700 point just beyond the left embarked on an even more nerships between the foun- temporary gig has been
return. games. faceoff circle that found its peripatetic coaching career, dation and homeless facili- extended indefinitely —
Troy Terry, the Ducks’ MacKinnon scored the way through traffic. working in Wales, Bahrain, ties in New York, Los Ange- meaning more time away
second-leading scorer, re- go-ahead goal with 7.9 sec- Girard gave the Ava- New Zealand and MLS les and Chicago that pro- from home and his Ridge-
mained out because of a per- onds remaining in the first lanche a power-play goal for before joining U.S. Soccer in vide space, food and other backs. For Hudson, who is
sonal matter after he left last period with a great individu- the 12th straight game — the Chicago three years ago. supplies for people seeking unmarried and has no chil-
Saturday’s game. al effort. The center kept longest streak in the league “I kept saying, ‘I want to refuge with their pets. dren, it’s like leaving family
“Everyone gets frus- possession of the puck deep this year. do something,’ and then “Shelters here in Chicago — which is why he grimaces
trated when you’re losing. It in the offensive zone, skated because of my job, I always wouldn’t allow dogs in and when people ask if he’s ever
doesn’t matter if you’re to the top of the left faceoff AVALANCHE 5, DUCKS 1 said I was too busy,” said the city doesn’t provide hounded by his devotion to
playing a good team or not,” circle and put a wrist shot Colorado..................................2 2 1 — 5 Hudson, who has used his anything for dogs,” Hudson the dogs.
said Jakob Silfverberg, who over Gibson’s shoulder on DUCKS ....................................1 0 0 — 1 travels to volunteer at ani- said. “That’s something the “My mom — she knows
had the assist on Grant’s his blocker side for his 32nd FIRST PERIOD: 1. DUCKS, Grant 5 (Silfverberg), mal shelters around the foundation is trying to my schedule and the re-
goal. “We knew we were go- of the season and put Col- 12:08. 2. Col., Byram 9, 15:43. 3. Col., MacKinnon 32 world. “When I came to change.” sponsibility — she says, ‘Do
(Rantanen, Makar), 19:52. Penalties—Rantanen, COL
ing to have a tough game orado ahead 2-1. (Interference), 6:27. Chicago, I’m like ‘I’ve got to In California, his founda- you ever regret it?’ It’s never
tonight, so we were just go- The Ducks opened the SECOND PERIOD: 4. Col., J.Johnson 1 (Nieto, Mal- stop using that as an ex- tion has supported Assem- crossed my mind,” he said.
gin), 2:05. 5. Col., Nichushkin 16 (MacKinnon, Makar),
ing to try to outwork them scoring 12 minutes into the 3:46. Penalties—Silfverberg, ANA (Hooking), 14:08. cuse.’ ” bly Bill 1215, which would “There’s mornings I walk
out there, but it was a tough game when Grant took Silf- O’Connor, COL (Interference), 17:23. Instead, he used soccer make it easier for shelters to around the city with my
THIRD PERIOD: 6. Col., Girard 6 (Rodrigues, Byram),
game tonight and they are a verberg’s pass and put it be- 4:22 (pp). Penalties—Silfverberg, ANA (Holding), 4:06. as a platform, naming for- accommodate and care for dogs and people are rushing
good team.” tween Johansson’s legs for J.Johnson, COL (Interference), 5:41. Jones, ANA (Cross mer Premier League coach pets, a law that would have to work and there’s always a
Checking), 17:32.
MacKinnon has 24 points his fifth goal of the season. SHOTS ON GOAL: Col. 12-15-17—44. DUCKS 11-9- Harry Redknapp and wom- immediate benefits for as moment where someone
10—30. Power-play Conversions—Col. 1 of 3. DUCKS 0
this month, which is tied for Three minutes later, of 3.
en’s national team players many as 7,000 homeless will walk past and they’ll
second in the league. He also Byram found the net for the GOALIES: Col., Johansson 2-0-0 (30 shots-29 Rose Lavelle and Jane people in Los Angeles look at the dogs and smile.
saves). DUCKS, Gibson 14-29-8 (44-39). Att—13,158
became the eighth player in fourth time in the last nine (17,174). T—2:25. R—Cody Beach, Kendrick Nicholson.
Campbell to the founda- County. Who else can have that
Avalanche/Nordiques fran- games with a shot from the L—Julien Fournier, Kilian McNamara. tion’s 10-member board While all that has proven effect?”
L AT I M E S . C O M
James gets plenty of family support
[James, from B10]
went viral at 10 years old,
James has grown up in front
of millions.
A slice of his journey is
captured on Instagram
reels, TikToks and YouTube
channels, amplifying the
hype around his name while
also distorting reality. His
highlights draw praise and
admiration but also fuel cyn-
icism. Critics question: Is he
truly good enough to justify
the attention?
So the chirping follows
James at every turn. When
Instagram aggregator Le-
gionHoops posted that he
made the Nike Hoop Sum-
mit roster, some of the top
comments read: “Last name
privileges” and “Nepotism
merchant.”
James later was chosen
for the McDonald’s All-
American game, which will
be played Tuesday night in
Houston, and was outplayed
during subsequent games
by Sherman Oaks Notre
Dame senior Caleb Foster,
who wasn’t selected for the
game.
“There is kind of a smell
of nepotism here that isn’t
good for our kids,” Dinos
Trigonis, a West Coast
NCAA recruiting analyst,
said of James’ All-America
selection.
There’s that word again.
Nepotism.
LeBron recognizes his
son’s journey is different
from his own, says former
high school coach Dru Joyce,
and tries to protect Bronny
from scrutiny — or worse.
Bodyguards attend every
game, sometimes trailing
his tinted black Mustang af-
ter school. Bronny answered
questions from the media
once during four years at Si-
erra Canyon, making a few
brief comments after a jun-
ior-year game at the Lakers’
home arena.
“It felt special,” James
said of playing in the same
arena as his dad.
Inside the Chatsworth
bubble, life is simpler. James
patiently poses for pictures
with anyone who asks. He
takes over the sound system
in warmups to play rapper
Yeat. He is cheerful but gen-
erally quiet in public — very
similar to his father’s de-
meanor — and never loud.
“When you’ve got these
four- or five-star kids,
[sometimes] they’ve got the
entourage, the stardom, and
they’re not quality people in
general,” said coach Larry
Thompson of Wheeler High
in Marietta, Ga., which lost
to Sierra Canyon at Galen
Center in January. “They’re
entitled, spoiled, whatever
the case may be.
“[Bronny] is the com-
plete opposite.”
He might not demand at-
tention, but James’ online
presence is vast. He is one of
the most famous teenagers
in the world, with 7 million
Instagram followers and en-
dorsement deals galore.
Outside of commercial ap-
pearances and the occa-
sional social media flash, his
personality is tightly
guarded. It’s often left Le-
Bron to be the sole voice rep-
resenting his son.
Sometimes, the proud fa-
ther’s proclamations invite
more scrutiny.
On March 6, LeBron
tweeted “Man Bronny defi-
nitely better than some of
these cats I’ve been watch-
ing on [NBA] league pass to-
day. S— lightweight hilari-
ous.”
The following night,
Bronny scored 10 points as
Sierra Canyon was bounced
out of the state tournament
by Notre Dame.
“He has to live up to a
standard that most — well,
none of us — could ever live
up to,” Joyce said of Bronny.
“Let’s be real. You can’t be
LeBron James.
“He’s LeBron James Jr.,
and that’s important. That’s
important for him, because
that allows him to under-
stand who he is.”
::
He’s had to figure that
out inside a program where,
as assistant coach Chris
Howe put it, the pressure
and level of expectation is
“ridiculous.”
In his phone, Sierra Can-
yon co-founder Howard
Wang keeps a list of more
than 100 Hollywood A-listers
who sent their kids through
his campus. Will Smith.
Jamie Foxx. Stevie Wonder.
And the highest-profile cor-
ner of the institution is the
basketball team, which has
fielded sons of NBA legends
also on Wang’s list: Dwyane
BRONNY JAMES , left, doesn’t have to go far to get the love and support of brother Bryce, mother Savannah and the rest of his fam-
ily. “I think he’s just starting to see who he is,” Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier said of James, “and know who he is.”
JAMES , shown attempting a layup against Corona Centennial in February,
said in January that Ohio State, Oregon and USC are his college finalists.
USUALLY RESERVED , James, middle, wasn’t shy about showing passion
for his teammates during a game against Harvard-Westlake in January.
Wade, Scottie Pippen,
Penny Hardaway.
Recruits at Sierra Can-
yon are four- and five-star
prospects, transferring in
and out annually. Playing
time is precious. And glim-
mers of James’ promise — 15
points and the game-win-
ning layup against St. Vin-
cent-St. Mary as a freshman
— were dimmed by injury
and competition within the
Sierra Canyon program.
As a sophomore, in the
midst of COVID-19, he tore
meniscus in a knee. As a jun-
ior, he made strides but
again was slowed by knee in-
juries. And even as he
brought a new wave of celeb-
rity to Sierra Canyon, James
took supporting roles be-
hind players such as Amari
Bailey, who now stars for
UCLA, and Ziaire Williams,
who went to Stanford and
the NBA.
“Bronny has been
through a lot over the years,”
Sierra Canyon junior Isaiah
Elohim said in November. “I
think this is his year to really
break out.”
The baton was his at the
start of his senior season,
one of just two four-year
players on the Trailblazers’
roster after a fresh wave of
transfers. The stakes rose in
August, when LeBron first
told Sports Illustrated of his
goal to play with Bronny in
the NBA.
During a preseason tour-
nament in Las Vegas, fans
inside Bishop Gorman
HIGH SCHOOLS
High’s gym marveled at a
dizzying sequence of late-
game pull-up threes from
James. His jumper was pol-
ished, and he was now a well-
built senior unleashing rim-
rattling dunks.
“Don’t talk to me,” he
said to one trash-talking op-
ponent, en route to 31 points.
Confidence can be fickle
when you’re the son of a
great. Missteps in the public
eye take a toll, said Cross-
roads’ Nils Cooper, son of
Lakers legend Michael
Cooper.
“You start to question
yourself,” Nils said. “Like,
‘Am I even good anymore?’ ”
The Sierra Canyon sen-
ior’s demeanor struck
Cooper when the two met
during James’ second game
of the season. On one shot,
Cooper remembered, James
yelled “Boom!” as soon as
the ball left his fingertips.
He missed. It was a rare
missed shot as he finished
with 25 points.
“Having to live with his
name, he’s just really start-
ing to not just be serious
about basketball, but take it
as serious as other people
see him in that light,” said
Clippers assistant Dahntay
Jones, whose son has played
AAU ball with James.
After scoring outbursts
early in his senior season,
highlights of NBA-range
threes and transition dunks
were supplanted by min-
utes-long stretches during
which, somehow, it was easy
Nick Koza For The Times
Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times
to forget the son of the big-
gest star in the world was on
the court.
During most of a regular
season spent trying to find
his place as a leader, James
had big games against
weaker opponents (41 com-
bined points during the first
two days of the winter Les
Schwab Invitational in Port-
land, Ore.) but fell silent
against tougher teams (10
points during a loss to West
Linn, Oregon’s state cham-
pion).
“It just seems like he
turns it on and off,” Trigonis
said. “He’s not consistently
dominant. He’s talented but
he’s not consistently domi-
nant.”
::
In his famous Hall of
Fame speech in 2009,
Michael Jordan turned his
attention to his children for a
moment, delivering a blunt
message.
“I think that you guys
have a heavy burden,” Jor-
dan said. “I wouldn’t want to
be you guys if I had to, be-
cause of all the expectations
that you have to deal with.”
Jordan would sit high in
the stands when he watched
sons Marcus and Jeffrey
play. He was blocked from
view and inaccessible.
LeBron’s approach has
been radically different. If
his Lakers didn’t have a
game, he’d almost always be
courtside at Sierra Canyon,
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Mark J. Terrill Associated Press
sharing a laugh with wife Sa-
vannah.
Not a game went by with-
out interaction with his son.
In the second quarter of a
senior-night game against
Loyola High in January,
James threw an outlet pass
to senior Ashton Hardaway
in the open court. But the
pass was inches too long, tip-
ping off Hardaway’s fingers.
James turned his head to
his father. Subtly, LeBron
pursed his lips and nodded
at him in encouragement.
LeBron was a proud fa-
ther throughout his son’s
senior year. He gathered
Bronny and his brother,
Bryce, for a picture during
halftime of an ESPN-tele-
vised game against New
York’s Christ the King on
Dec. 12, posing with buddy
Carmelo Anthony and his
son, Kiyan. LeBron grinned
while watching Bronny re-
ceive a framed jersey and
bouquet of flowers during
Sierra Canyon’s senior night
in January. And LeBron
often was receptive to media
questions about his son’s
journey.
“If he wanted to, he could
shoot 20 shots a game and
average 30, but it’s not al-
ways about that,” LeBron
said in late February. “It’s
about how you can go out
and play the right way and
play for your team. And all
he cares about is winning
and playing with great
basketball players.”
At his core, though,
coaches inside and outside
of Sierra Canyon said,
Bronny is simply not a 30-
point scorer. To them, he
stands out in other ways.
Venice coach David Gal-
ley lauded James’ poise and
refined footwork. Wheeler’s
Thompson noted James’ im-
plicit understanding he
should sprint to the corner
in transition. And most ev-
eryone raves about his on-
ball defense, perhaps James’
best skill.
“Many people think you
got to light up the score-
board every night to be a
superstar,” Temecula Ran-
cho Christian coach Ray
Barefield said. “But he has a
lot of intangibles that go into
winning.”
James’ best perform-
ances this season came
when he guarded with com-
mitment. When he attacked
under control in transition.
If he trusted himself, Trail-
blazers coach Andre Cheva-
lier said, the sky was the lim-
it, and it all came together
during a 22-point perform-
ance that led Sierra Canyon
to the win over Wheeler.
“I think he’s just starting
to see who he is,” Chevalier
said after that game, “and
know who he is.”
::
The team’s collapse
started against La Cañada
Flintridge St. Francis on
Jan. 18. Sierra Canyon pulled
out a 61-43 win behind Elo-
him, and Chevalier said after
the game that James was
resting his knee because of
the previous year’s troubles.
Then one missed game
for James turned into five
before Elohim was knocked
out for most of the season
with an ankle sprain Jan. 27.
B7
Sierra Canyon went into
a tailspin. When James re-
turned Feb. 1, it was too late.
The Trailblazers dropped
four in a row through the end
of the regular season into
the Southern Section Open
Division playoffs, unceremo-
niously bounced from pool
play with an 0-3 record. Out-
side of a 19-point perform-
ance against Notre Dame
during the final game of the
regular season, James
underwhelmed.
For the first time in
Chevalier’s six-year tenure,
the Trailblazers were
bumped to Division I for the
state tournament. It seemed
as if a roller-coaster career at
Sierra Canyon would end
with little pomp and circum-
stance.
“He’s going to have to do
everything for us,” Chevalier
said entering the tourna-
ment. “He’s going to have to
be aggressive on the offen-
sive and defensive end. He’s
going to have to lead … he
understands right now what
his role is.”
James was always a qui-
et, lead-by-example player,
even in his senior year. But
suddenly, from the start of
the state tournament, he
was yelling defensive assign-
ments while waiting to check
in.
He scored 21 points
against Etiwanda, Chevalier
slapping his hand and en-
couraging him in the second
quarter to keep pushing the
pace. He scored 16 against
Torrance Bishop Mont-
gomery, burying a few mo-
mentum-changing shots.
And then he went dor-
mant again, scoring just 10
points as Sierra Canyon was
blown out by Notre Dame.
His high school career
ended, he trudged off the
court at Calabasas High. His
next big decision will be
committing to a college.
James announced in Janu-
ary that Ohio State, Oregon
and USC are his finalists.
::
James finished his senior
season averaging 14.1 points,
5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and
1.7 steals, numbers that
seem disappointing on the
surface. And the masses will
expect even more of him in
college. All under the con-
text that the clock is ticking
on his father’s time in the
NBA and his hopes to play
with his son.
“He’s had that bull’s-eye
on him before,” Madden
said. “Now, with obviously
his dad saying those things,
it multiplies times 10.”
But this is a kid who’s
seen and heard it all and con-
tinues to work.
“I think he’s ready,” Mad-
den said.
Perhaps the best story of
Sierra Canyon’s season
came from the bench, where
12-year-old team manager
Erik Ginsburg was waiting.
And Ginsburg grinned
brightly when asked about
James, someone the man-
ager calls a friend.
“He respects everyone,”
Ginsburg said.
It can be hard to see, be-
cause the name is so giant.
But Bronny James’ great-
ness comes in the little
things.
B8 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
THE CLIPPERS’ Kawhi Leonard blocks a shot by the Bulls’ Patrick Beverley, a former Clipper, at Crypto.com
Arena. Leonard finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Clippers’ 124-112 victory.
Batum, Leonard carry Clippers
[Clippers, from B10]
blowout loss to the Pelicans,
the Clippers were rejuvenat-
ed by new starter Nicolas
Batum, whose efficiency
carried over throughout the
roster.
Batum learned he would
start Sunday night and will
remain the starting forward,
in place of Marcus Morris Sr.,
the rest of the regular sea-
son. Coach Tyronn Lue
wouldn’t commit to whether
Robert Covington will slide
into a backup role or
whether Morris still will have
a role. Such a move had been
discussed internally since
early March, but making the
change marks a significant
shift, as Morris has been a
mainstay of the starting
lineup since 2021.
Leonard said Batum
adds pace and defense to the
starting unit.
“It was nothing that Mar-
cus did wrong, just trying
something different,” Lue
said. “And when you’re not
playing well, you want to try
something different, and
Marcus was all for it. We have
to sacrifice if we want to win
at a high level.”
A starting lineup that
had dragged in the previous
two games shot 65% from
the field, including 59% (16
for 27) on three-pointers,
NBA STANDINGS
Standings have been arranged to reflect how the teams will be deter-
mined for the playoffs. Teams are ranked 1-15 by record. Division
standing no longer has any bearing on the rankings. The top six
teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. Teams seven
through 10 will participate in a play-in tournament with the top-
seeded team playing the lowest qualifying play-in team. The next-
lowest qualifying team would play the second, etc. Head-to-head
competition is the first of several tiebreakers, followed by conference
record. (Western Conference divisions:S-Southwest; P-Pacific; N-
Northwest; Eastern Conference divisions: A-Atlantic; C-Central; S-
Southeast).
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Team
1. y-Denver
2. y-Memphis
3. Sacramento
4. Phoenix
5. CLIPPERS
6. Golden State
6. Minnesota
8. New Orleans
9. LAKERS
9. Oklahoma City
11. Dallas
12. Utah
13. Portland
14. San Antonio
15. Houston
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Team
1. x-Milwaukee
2. x-Boston
3. x-Philadelphia
4. x-Cleveland
5. New York
6. Brooklyn
6. Miami
8. Atlanta
8. Toronto
10. Chicago
11. Washington
12. Indiana
13. Orlando
14. Charlotte
15. Detroit
x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division
MONDAY’S RESULTS
CLIPPERS 124, Chicago 112
Dallas 127, Indiana 104
Phoenix 117, Utah 103
New Orleans 124, Portland 90
TODAY’S GAMES
Favorite Line Underdog
at Washington OFF Boston
at Toronto 3 Miami
Cleveland 2 at Atlanta
at Oklahoma City 9 Charlotte
at Memphis 81⁄2 Orlando
at Golden State 9 New Orleans
SCORING LEADERS
Through Sunday’s games
Embiid, PHI
Doncic, DAL
Lillard, POR
Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC
Antetokounmpo, MIL
Tatum, BOS
Mitchell, CLE
Brown, BOS
Morant, MEM
Young, ATL
SS L AT I M E S . C O M
THE DAY IN SPORTS
Ravens’ Jackson
seeks to be traded
ended when Texas was
wire reports
knocked out of the NCAA
tournament by Miami. Fi-
Lamar Jackson said nancial terms and years of
Monday he has requested a the agreement were not im-
trade from the Baltimore mediately available.
Ravens, saying the team
“has not been interested in North Carolina guard
meeting my value.” Caleb Love will enter his
In a series of tweets, the name into the transfer por-
star quarterback said he re- tal. ... Villanova star forward
quested a trade as of Maddy Siegrist will declare
March 2. On March 7, the for the WNBA draft. ... Jon
Ravens put the nonexclusive Sumrall agreed to a four-
franchise tag on Jackson year contract as Troy’s foot-
and said they still were hope- ball coach. ... Michigan’s Ma-
ful they could reach a long- son Parris won the Dan
term deal with him. Hodge Trophy as the na-
Jackson, the 2019 NFL tion’s top college wrestler.
most valuable player, might
not need a trade to join a new
team. The nonexclusive ETC.
franchise tag allows him to
Marcio Jose Sanchez Associated Press negotiate with other clubs. U.S. advances in
However, it also gives Balti-
more a chance to match any Nations League
agreement he makes.
Ricardo Pepi scored on
Green Bay general man- his first touch of the match
ager Brian Gutekunst said in the 62nd minute, and the
he’s not requiring a first- United States men’s soccer
round pick in a potential team beat El Salvador 1-0 in
and produced 25 assists sixth man of the year candi- the longtime combatants trade sending quarterback Orlando, Fla., to reach the
against seven turnovers. Ba- date before he injured his turned Lakers teammates and four-time most valuable CONCACAF Nations
tum made a season-high non-shooting shoulder. He this season before both were player Aaron Rodgers to the League semifinals June 15 in
eight three-pointers and had made 52% of his shots traded in February. Both, in- New York Jets but added he Las Vegas.
scored 24 points. He hit inside the arc and 41% of his cidentally, are close friends would want “fair value.” ... The 13th-ranked U.S. ex-
three of the triples during a three-pointers while pos- of George. San Francisco signed free- tended its unbeaten streak
third quarter in which the sessing an ability, unique on Last month, as the Clip- agent offensive lineman against No. 32 El Salvador to
Clippers pulled away from the roster, to draw shooting pers decided how to fill their Matt Pryor to a one-year 22 matches since 1992.
the Bulls (36-39), who beat fouls. final roster spot, the team contract. … Free-agent de-
the Lakers the day before. George’s knee bent back- considered both guards be- fensive linemen Michael Luka Doncic had
“I was pretty much wide ward upon his landing last fore ultimately signing West- Dogbe and Henry Mon- 25 points, seven rebounds
open on every single shot,” Tuesday while he battled brook. deaux signed one-year con- and six assists just hours af-
Batum said. “I like to play Oklahoma City’s Luguentz “I thought I was gonna be tracts with Jacksonville. … ter his most recent technical
like that.” Dort for a rebound. He de- everywhere,” Beverley said, Buffalo coach Sean McDer- foul and a one-game suspen-
George did not suffer lig- scribed feeling “throbbing” grinning, when asked mott also will serve as the sion were rescinded by the
ament damage in the knee, pain. whether he had thought he defensive play-caller in coor- NBA, leading the Dallas
and the team doesn’t believe “The only thing going would reunite with the Clip- dinator Leslie Frazier’s ab- Mavericks past the host In-
surgery is necessary. through my mind was: ‘I pers. sence. Frazier is taking the diana Pacers 127-104. ...
“I don’t know when that hope I didn’t tear no major The two embraced before 2023 season off. ... New Eng- Nikola Jokic recorded his
[return] date is, but the last s—. I hope I didn’t blow any- tipoff, then Westbrook land owner Robert Kraft 29th triple-double this sea-
thing I can do is not be in- thing,’ ” George said. “I was promptly made a jump shot launched a $25-million son, and host Denver beat
volved with what’s going on like: ‘Damn. Is this it? Is this while drawing a foul on Bev- Stand Up to Jewish Hate Philadelphia 116-111. The
because who knows how what it feels like when you erley — and celebrated with campaign. 76ers’ Joel Embiid sat out
long injuries take,” George tear your ACL, when you his “rock the baby” gesture. because of a sore right calf. …
said on an episode of “Pod- tear your MCL? Is this that It was part of the fast Khris Middleton had
cast P” that was taped late injury right here?’ ” start Lue asked for after the COLLEGES 34 points, and visiting Mil-
last week but released Mon- Though one of the pod- Clippers fell behind early in waukee defeated Detroit 126-
day morning. cast co-hosts, Jackie Long, their two previous games fol- Terry is named 117 without Giannis An-
Nonetheless, reinforce- said “dirty player” in refer- lowing George’s injury. tetokounmpo (knee). ...
ments are coming soon. ence to Dort, George said he The combination of Ba- coach for Texas Devin Booker scored
Backup guard Norman Pow- didn’t believe Dort’s play tum, Westbrook and Eric 24 points, and Phoenix won
ell is expected to play during was malicious. Gordon had been used spar- Texas named Rodney 117-103 at Utah.
the road trip for the first George said he has ingly before Monday but Terry as full-time men’s
time since he injured his left watched the Clippers’ played impressively on short basketball coach, removing Angels outfielder Mike
shoulder March 2. Lue said games closely since the in- notice. the interim tag after he led Trout and a business part-
he will use a nine-man rota- jury to remain engaged. If he The team said Morris was the Longhorns to the Elite ner are building a golf club
tion upon Powell’s return. watched Monday, he saw a unavailable because of ill- Eight following the midsea- called Trout National — The
“We need him back. We reunion of Russell West- ness. son firing of Chris Beard. Reserve in southern New
need his juice. We need his brook (12 points, 10 assists, “Tonight we get to see The announcement Jersey. They have hired Ti-
scoring,” Lue said of Powell, three turnovers) and Pat- more of it, and going for- came barely 24 hours after ger Woods’ architecture
who had become an NBA rick Beverley (nine points), ward,” Lue said before tipoff. the Longhorns’ season firm, TGR Design, to create
the course. ... Cleveland
starting pitcher Triston Mc-
Kenzie could be out for two
months because of a shoul-
CLIPPERS 124, CHICAGO 112 Milwaukee 126, Detroit 117 Dallas 127, Indiana 104 New York 137, Houston 115
CHICAGO MILWAUKEE DALLAS HOUSTON
der strain. ... Slugger Darin
Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Ruf was cut by the New York
DeRozan .........33 8-16 3-3 0-5 7 0 21 Middleton........33 13-23 7-8 3-8 5 2 34 Bullock ...........21 4-7 0-0 0-2 0 1 11 Martin Jr..........32 7-11 3-4 1-6 2 1 18 Mets. … The Chicago Cubs
Williams ..........29 7-8 0-0 0-2 1 2 16 Portis..............31 7-14 4-4 3-14 2 1 21 Hardaway Jr......24 4-8 3-4 0-2 2 1 13 Smith Jr...........29 6-13 2-2 4-11 6 2 14
Vucevic ...........30 9-13 0-0 1-8 5 3 20 Lopez..............34 8-11 8-10 5-14 2 3 24 Powell .............11 2-3 0-0 1-2 0 2 4 Sengun ...........28 5-9 0-1 1-5 1 2 11 reached a three-year, $35-
Beverley ..........29 3-6 0-0 0-0 2 2 9 Allen...............29 2-9 1-2 0-2 7 3 7 Doncic ............28 8-17 5-5 2-7 6 0 25 Green .............34 4-11 10-12 0-3 4 0 19 million deal with second
LaVine ............32 8-14 7-9 1-5 3 1 23 Carter .............33 8-15 0-0 1-1 2 3 22 Irving ..............29 7-11 1-1 1-3 6 2 16 Porter Jr...........34 8-14 7-8 0-0 4 3 26 baseman Nico Hoerner. …
White..............28 3-8 1-1 0-1 5 2 7 Ingles .............20 1-7 0-0 0-1 4 3 3 Hardy..............23 8-12 0-0 0-4 4 2 20 Eason .............27 5-11 2-2 4-8 1 4 13
Jones Jr. ..........19 1-4 1-2 2-3 1 0 3 Connaughton ...18 3-8 0-0 2-5 0 2 7 Green .............20 1-1 0-0 0-4 1 3 2 Garuba ...........14 1-4 0-0 0-1 3 1 2 Milwaukee signed first base-
Dosunmu ........18 0-5 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Matthews ........15 1-3 2-2 0-2 1 2 4 Ntilikina ..........15 1-4 2-2 0-1 2 1 5 Christopher ......13 6-10 0-0 1-1 0 2 12 man Luke Voit. ... Pitcher
Drummond ......14 4-6 3-6 3-8 0 0 11 Crowder ..........12 1-2 0-0 1-3 1 1 2 McGee ............13 4-5 2-3 0-2 0 3 10 Nix .................13 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 1 0
Terry .................4 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 Dragic...............8 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 0 Wood..............12 3-6 0-0 0-1 2 0 6 Marjanovic.......10 0-2 0-0 1-3 1 2 0 Sergio Romo retired as a
W L PCT GB L10 Rk. Totals 44-82 15-21 8-34 26 11 112 T.Anttkounmpo ...1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Morris .............10 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 4 3 Totals 42-87 24-29 13-40 24 18 115 San Francisco Giant.
Shooting: Field goals, 53.7%; free throws, 71.4% Wigginton..........1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Holiday .............9 1-2 2-2 0-2 0 0 4 Shooting: Field goals, 48.3%; free throws,
51 24 .680 5-5 N1 Three-point goals: 9-23 (Beverley 3-5, Williams 2-2, Vuce- Totals 45-95 22-26 15-50 28 23 126 Bertans.............6 2-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 6 82.8%
47 27 .635 31⁄2 9-1 S1 vic 2-3, DeRozan 2-5, Dosunmu 0-1, Jones Jr. 0-2, LaVine 0-2, Shooting: Field goals, 47.4%; free throws, Pinson ..............6 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 3 0 Three-point goals: 7-26 (Porter Jr. 3-7, Sengun 1-1, Third-ranked Stefanos
White 0-3). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked 84.6% Wright IV ...........5 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 0 2 Martin Jr. 1-3, Eason 1-4, Green 1-5, Christopher 0-1, Tsitsipas beat qualifier
45 30 .600 6 6-4 P1 Three-point goals: 14-44 (Carter 6-7, Portis 3-7, Totals 47-83 15-17 4-33 29 23 127 Smith Jr. 0-1, Garuba 0-2, Nix 0-2). Team Rebounds:
Shots: 3 (Beverley, Drummond, Williams). Turnovers: 14
Allen 2-7, Ingles 1-5, Connaughton 1-6, Middleton Shooting: Field goals, 56.6%; free throws, 88.2% 7. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 4 (Garuba, Cristian Garin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at
40 35 .533 11 4-6 P2 (LaVine 4, Vucevic 3, DeRozan 2, Beverley, Drummond, Jones Porter Jr., Sengun, Smith Jr.). Turnovers: 14 (Sengun 5,
Jr., White, Williams). Steals: 9 (Beverley 2, DeRozan 2, Do-
1-7, Crowder 0-1, Dragic 0-1, Lopez 0-1, Matthews Three-point goals: 18-37 (Hardy 4-6, Doncic 4-10, Bullock
Christopher 2, Green 2, Porter Jr. 2, Eason, Martin Jr.,
the Miami Open. Francisco
40 36 .526 111⁄2 7-3 P3 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked 3-6, Bertans 2-2, Hardaway Jr. 2-4, Irving 1-2, Morris 1-2,
sunmu 2, Drummond, Jones Jr., Williams). Technical Fouls: Shots: 4 (Lopez 2, Matthews, Portis). Turnovers: 8 Ntilikina 1-2, Holiday 0-1, Wood 0-1, Wright IV 0-1). Team Re- Nix). Steals: 6 (Eason 2, Christopher, Green, Martin Jr., Cerundolo surprised sixth-
39 37 .513 121⁄2 5-5 P4 DeRozan, 8:47 third. Smith Jr.). Technical Fouls: Smith Jr., 9:36 third.
(Allen 3, Middleton 2, Crowder, Ingles, Lopez). Steals: bounds: 9. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 8 (Irving 3, ranked Felix Auger-Alias-
39 37 .513 121⁄2 5-5 N2 CLIPPERS 5 (Matthews 2, Allen, Ingles, Lopez). Technical Fouls: McGee 2, Hardaway Jr., Wood, Wright IV). Turnovers: 13 (Hardy NEW YORK
Bucks, 6:45 first 4, Hardaway Jr. 2, McGee 2, Wright IV 2, Holiday, Morris, Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T sime 6-2, 7-5 and Lorenzo
38 37 .507 13 7-3 S2 Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T
Batum ............31 8-10 0-0 0-3 5 2 24 DETROIT Pinson). Steals: 7 (Hardy 3, Irving 2, Doncic, Ntilikina). Techni- Barrett ............29 6-12 6-9 0-3 5 0 19 Soneog was a 6-3, 6-4 winner
37 38 .493 14 6-4 P5 Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Randle............28 10-19 3-3 0-4 3 0 26
Leonard ..........33 8-13 3-3 1-7 6 3 22
Bagley III .........35 6-11 3-4 2-9 2 0 16
cal Fouls: Mavericks, 11:20 fourth.
Robinson.........19 1-1 1-2 1-6 0 3 3
over Frances Tiafoe. In
37 38 .493 14 6-4 N3 Zubac .............24 5-6 1-5 1-7 1 3 11 INDIANA
Gordon ...........28 7-12 3-3 0-0 3 3 22 Livers..............34 4-5 0-0 1-6 2 2 9 Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Grimes............37 5-12 0-0 1-9 6 2 14 women’s play, Bianca An-
Westbrook .......32 6-11 0-3 1-5 10 0 12 Wiseman.........20 5-12 4-4 3-6 1 1 14 Mathurin .........38 9-19 6-7 1-4 2 1 26 Quickley ..........30 14-18 7-9 0-2 9 3 40 dreescu left the court in a
Mann..............25 3-7 0-0 1-5 4 2 8 Hayes .............37 6-17 2-5 0-3 5 4 14 Hart................24 4-4 0-0 2-5 2 3 9
37 39 .487 141⁄2 3-7 S3 Ivey ................31 9-19 11-12 1-8 8 4 32
Nwora .............30 5-11 1-2 2-9 1 2 13
Hartenstein......24 3-3 2-3 3-6 6 4 8 wheelchair because of a
Hyland ............23 5-11 1-2 0-2 8 2 13 Smith .............23 4-8 2-4 0-6 0 2 11
35 40 .467 16 4-6 N4 Plumlee...........19 5-7 0-0 2-5 2 1 10 Duren .............27 8-11 2-4 6-10 3 4 18 Nembhard .......36 8-16 0-0 1-5 5 3 17 Toppin.............19 6-12 0-0 0-2 0 1 15 lower left leg injury against
Joseph ............24 1-7 1-1 1-2 1 1 4 McBride ..........17 1-4 1-2 0-2 4 3 3
32 43 .427 19 1-9 N5 Covington ........11 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 0
Hampton .........14 1-7 1-2 0-3 0 0 3
Nesmith ..........34 1-10 1-1 0-1 3 4 4
Sims.................4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Coffey ...............4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 McConnell .......27 7-13 0-0 1-5 7 2 15
19 56 .253 32 3-7 S4 Diabate.............4 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 Omoruyi ..........13 1-3 4-4 0-0 0 4 7 Jackson...........24 4-11 0-1 9-12 1 4 8 Keels................4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 World No. 2 Aryna Sa-
Moon................1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 McGruder ..........0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brissett ...........18 1-5 8-8 0-0 1 0 10 Totals 50-86 20-28 7-39 35 20 137 balenka defeated Barbora
18 58 .237 331⁄2 3-7 S5
Totals 48-81 8-16 6-37 41 17 124 Totals 41-92 28-36 14-47 22 20 117 Hill ...................5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Shooting: Field goals, 58.1%; free throws,
Shooting: Field goals, 44.6%; free throws, 71.4% Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 and Jes-
Shooting: Field goals, 59.3%; free throws, 50.0% Totals 39-93 18-23 14-43 20 19 104
Three-point goals: 20-40 (Batum 8-10, Gordon 5-9, Leon-
77.8% Shooting: Field goals, 41.9%; free throws, 78.3%
Three-point goals: 17-39 (Quickley 5-7, Grimes sica Pegula, the No. 3 seed,
W L PCT GB L10 Rk. Three-point goals: 7-24 (Ivey 3-6, Livers 1-1, Bagley 4-9, Randle 3-8, Toppin 3-8, Hart 1-1, Barrett 1-3,
ard 3-5, Mann 2-5, Hyland 2-7, Covington 0-1, Westbrook 0-3). III 1-2, Omoruyi 1-2, Joseph 1-4, Wiseman 0-1, Hayes
Three-point goals: 8-28 (Nwora 2-4, Mathurin 2-8, Mc- Keels 0-1, McBride 0-2). Team Rebounds: 8. Team beat Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5.
54 21 .720 7-3 C1 Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Cof- Connell 1-1, Smith 1-3, Nembhard 1-4, Nesmith 1-5, Brissett Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 8 (Robinson 3, Hart 2,
0-3, Hampton 0-5). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turn-
fey, Diabate, Leonard, Plumlee). Turnovers: 15 (Plumlee 3, overs: None. Blocked Shots: 0 Turnovers: 10 (Ivey 4, 0-3). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 McBride, Quickley, Toppin). Turnovers: 10 (Barrett 3,
52 23 .693 2 7-3 A1
Westbrook 3, Mann 2, Zubac 2, Batum, Coffey, Covington, Hampton 2, Duren, Joseph, Omoruyi, Wiseman). (Jackson, Mathurin, Nesmith). Turnovers: 13 (Mathurin 4, Mc- McBride 2, Grimes, Hart, Hartenstein, Quickley, Ilya Lyubushkin cited an
49 26 .653 5 6-4 A2 Steals: 5 (Hayes 2, Bagley III, Duren, Wiseman). Tech- Connell 3, Nwora 3, Jackson, Nesmith, Smith). Steals: 6 (Mc- Randle). Steals: 11 (Grimes 2, Hart 2, Hartenstein 2, antigay Kremlin law and
Hyland, Leonard). Steals: 10 (Hyland 3, Westbrook 3, Batum 2,
nical Fouls: None. Connell 2, Brissett, Jackson, Mathurin, Nembhard). McBride 2, Barrett, Quickley, Randle). Technical Fouls:
48 28 .632 61⁄2 8-2 C2 Diabate, Leonard). Technical Fouls: Hyland, 1:47 fourth. fears of retribution at home
Milwaukee 31 26 37 32— 126 Dallas 29 30 40 28— 127 None.
43 33 .566 111⁄2 4-6 A3 Chicago 32 23 22 35— 112
Detroit 27 24 39 27— 117 Indiana 27 20 27 30— 104 Houston 33 28 29 25— 115 in Russia for not participa-
Clippers 27 35 37 25— 124
40 35 .533 14 3-7 A4 A—21,090. T—2:15. A—17,022. T—2:13. New York 36 30 36 35— 137 ting in the Buffalo Sabres’
40 35 .533 14 6-4 S1 A—19,812. T—2:10. pregame warmup on Pride
37 38 .493 17 5-5 S2 Phoenix 117, Utah 103 Denver 116, Philadelphia 111 New Orleans 124, Portland 90 night, when players wore jer-
Minnesota 119, Sacramento 115 seys with the team’s rain-
37 38 .493 17 5-5 A5 PHOENIX PHILADELPHIA NEW ORLEANS
MINNESOTA
36 39 .480 18 7-3 C3
Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T
Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T
bow-colored logo in support
Craig ..............16 2-6 0-0 1-3 0 2 4 Harris .............28 6-12 2-2 0-5 2 3 16 Ingram ............31 12-19 4-5 1-6 4 0 29
Okogie ............21 3-6 2-4 1-2 2 0 9 Tucker .............22 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Murphy III ........27 5-11 5-5 0-2 1 3 16 Anderson.........36 5-10 3-4 3-4 11 4 15 of the LGBTQ+ community.
Ayton ..............30 5-10 4-4 2-8 0 1 14 Dedmon..........10 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 0 Valanciunas .....29 4-6 2-4 4-21 0 5 10 McDaniels .......39 8-15 3-4 1-3 2 5 20
33 42 .440 21 2-8 S3 Booker ............33 7-19 8-8 4-7 5 3 24 Jones..............26 3-4 1-1 1-2 4 0 7 Gobert ............35 5-9 6-8 4-16 4 4 16
Maxey.............33 12-21 3-5 1-4 5 1 29
33 43 .434 211⁄2 4-6 C4 Paul................26 4-12 0-0 1-3 10 1 9 Melton ............25 3-12 1-1 1-2 2 4 7 McCollum ........25 7-15 0-0 0-1 8 1 17 Conley ............27 6-8 3-4 0-2 3 3 16
A.Edwards .......38 6-15 4-8 1-5 7 4 17
32 43 .427 22 5-5 S4 Payne .............21 4-9 3-3 0-3 5 1 12 Niang..............23 3-5 0-0 0-4 0 2 8 Daniels ...........22 3-8 0-0 0-3 4 3 8
Reid ...............20 7-12 2-4 0-4 1 1 18 TENNIS RESULTS
Warren ............21 4-9 1-1 2-4 1 3 9 Milton .............21 0-7 2-2 3-6 3 2 2 Richardson ......22 4-5 0-0 0-3 1 0 10
25 51 .329 291⁄2 5-5 S5 Wainright.........18 3-6 0-0 2-7 1 2 9 McDaniels .......21 6-8 1-1 1-2 1 2 14 Marshall..........18 3-7 2-2 2-5 4 1 8 Nowell ............16 6-11 1-2 2-4 1 3 14 $8.8-MILLION MIAMI OPEN
Biyombo..........17 5-7 1-1 3-5 2 4 11 House Jr. .........17 3-8 1-2 1-1 1 0 8 Nance Jr. .........11 1-1 0-0 0-3 0 1 2 McLaughlin ......16 1-2 0-0 0-1 4 2 3 At Miami Gardens
16 59 .213 38 1-9 C5 Hernangomez.....6 2-3 0-0 0-3 1 1 4 Alxander-Walker..9 0-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor
Ross...............15 5-14 1-1 2-5 1 2 13 Reed ..............16 7-7 2-3 3-9 1 2 16
Shamet...........13 0-2 0-0 0-2 4 1 0 Korkmaz............7 2-2 2-2 0-1 1 1 6 Lewis Jr. ............6 2-2 0-0 0-0 3 0 6 Totals 44-86 22-34 11-40 33 27 119 MEN’S SINGLES (round of 32) — Daniil Medvedev (4),
D.Lee................3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Harrell ..............5 1-2 1-2 1-2 0 1 3 Temple..............6 2-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 5 Shooting: Field goals, 51.2%; free throws, Russia, def. Alex Molcan, Slovakia, walkover. Karen
Totals 43-101 20-22 18-49 31 20 117 Springer ............5 0-1 2-2 0-2 1 0 2 Hayes ...............4 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 2 64.7% Khachanov (14), Russia, def. Jiri Lehecka, Czech Repub-
New York 137, Houston 115 Totals 43-89 17-22 11-40 18 20 111 Totals 49-86 14-17 8-53 31 16 124 Three-point goals: 9-24 (Anderson 2-3, Reid 2-5, lic, 6-2, 6-4. Stefanos Tsitsipas (2), Greece, def. Cris-
Shooting: Field goals, 42.6%; free throws, 90.9% tian Garin, Chile, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Quentin Halys, France,
Milwaukee 126, Detroit 117 Three-point goals: 11-36 (Wainright 3-5, Booker 2-6, Ross Shooting: Field goals, 48.3%; free throws, 77.3% Shooting: Field goals, 57.0%; free throws, 82.4% McLaughlin 1-1, Conley 1-2, A.Edwards 1-3, Nowell
1-3, McDaniels 1-4, Alexander-Walker 0-3). Team Re- def. Mackenzie McDonald, U.S., 7-6 (2), 6-3. Francisco
Denver 116, Philadelphia 111 2-9, D.Lee 1-1, Okogie 1-3, Payne 1-3, Paul 1-4, Shamet 0-1, Three-point goals: 8-30 (Harris 2-4, Niang 2-4, Maxey 2-6, Three-point goals: 12-28 (McCollum 3-7, Lewis Jr. 2-2,
bounds: 15. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 3 Cerundolo (25), Argentina, def. Felix Auger-Aliassime
Craig 0-2, Warren 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 1. McDaniels 1-1, House Jr. 1-4, Harrell 0-1, Tucker 0-2, Milton Daniels 2-3, Richardson 2-3, Temple 1-1, Ingram 1-2, Murphy
Minnesota 119, Sacramento 115 (Gobert 2, Reid). Turnovers: 6 (Gobert 2, A.Edwards, (5), Canada, 6-2, 7-5.
Blocked Shots: 7 (Paul 2, Biyombo, Booker, Craig, Wainright, 0-3, Melton 0-5). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: None. III 1-7, Marshall 0-1, Hayes 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Team
Alexander-Walker, Anderson, Nowell). Steals: 6 (An- WOMEN’S SINGLES (round of 16) — Martina Trevisan
Warren). Turnovers: 6 (Booker 4, Ayton, Ross). Steals: 7 Blocked Shots: 3 (Dedmon 2, Reed). Turnovers: 11 (Melton 4, Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 6 (McCollum 2, Valanciunas 2,
derson 2, McDaniels 2, Conley, Reid). Technical Fouls: (25), Italy, def. Jelena Ostapenko (24), Latvia, 6-3, 6-3.
(Booker 2, Paul 2, Biyombo, Craig, Okogie). Technical Fouls: Harris 2, Milton 2, House Jr., McDaniels, Reed). Steals: 10 Richardson, Temple). Turnovers: 16 (Valanciunas 5, Ingram 4,
Anastasia Potapova (27), Russia, def. Zheng Qinwen
Time None. (Maxey 3, Reed 2, House Jr., Korkmaz, McDaniels, Melton, Murphy III 2, Daniels, Hayes, Jones, McCollum, Richardson). Timberwolves, 4:48 third.
(23), China, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Jessica Pegula (3), U.S., def.
4 p.m. Milton). Technical Fouls: None. Steals: 5 (McCollum 2, Ingram, Lewis Jr., Murphy III).
UTAH SACRAMENTO Magda Linette (20), Poland, 6-1, 7-5. Sorana Cirstea,
4:30 p.m. DENVER PORTLAND Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Romania, def. Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic,
Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T
Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Barnes............35 5-12 9-11 2-5 1 2 19 7-6 (3), 6-4. Elena Rybakina (10), Kazakhstan, def.
4:30 p.m. Markkanen ......35 6-22 11-12 3-9 2 1 25 Little...............20 3-10 0-0 1-2 3 2 7
Gordon ...........24 6-14 0-0 3-4 2 1 12 Elise Mertens, Belgium, 6-4, 6-3. Petra Kvitova (15),
Olynyk.............29 3-6 4-4 0-7 7 2 10 Murray ............27 1-8 0-0 2-6 0 3 3
5 p.m. Porter Jr...........30 6-14 0-0 1-6 0 1 15 Thybulle ..........14 1-4 1-2 0-1 0 0 3
Sabonis ..........39 11-14 2-3 3-10 4 6 24
Czech Republic, def. Varvara Gracheva, Russia, 7-5, 7-6
Kessler............29 8-10 2-5 1-8 1 2 18 Eubanks..........23 4-8 4-4 2-3 1 2 12 (5).
5 p.m. Agbaji .............24 3-8 0-0 1-4 1 5 9 Jokic...............34 8-11 9-11 3-17 12 3 25 Fox.................35 10-20 8-10 0-4 6 1 29
Caldwell-Pope ..31 2-8 0-0 1-1 2 1 5 Arcidiacono .....16 1-4 0-0 0-2 1 1 3 MEN’S DOUBLES (round of 16) — Maximo Gonzalez
7 p.m. Horton-Tucker ...34 7-18 0-4 2-8 8 1 16 Sharpe............34 5-13 1-1 1-8 0 4 12
Huerter ...........26 4-7 2-2 0-3 1 5 13 and Andres Molteni, Argentina, def. Marcelo Melo,
Tscn-Anderson..23 3-5 0-0 0-1 0 3 6 Murray ............35 8-14 0-0 0-5 7 3 19 Monk..............26 4-13 4-4 0-1 3 2 12
Brown .............29 5-10 6-7 1-4 5 3 18 Knox II ............32 6-15 2-2 1-5 3 1 15 Brazil, and John Peers, Australia, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-6.
Dunn ..............22 4-6 1-2 1-3 5 1 9
Green .............23 2-5 4-4 0-2 3 0 8 Johnson ..........31 7-15 3-4 0-3 6 1 20
Lyles...............22 1-6 3-4 4-11 0 2 5 Harri Heliovaara, Finland, and Lloyd Glasspool (5), Brit-
Jones..............18 1-2 0-0 2-5 0 3 3 Mitchell...........12 1-1 2-2 0-0 1 1 4 ain, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, and Alexander
Braun .............16 3-4 0-0 1-3 1 2 8 Reddish ..........25 5-9 1-1 0-1 0 1 11
Juzang ............12 2-7 0-0 0-1 1 1 5 Len ..................7 1-1 2-4 1-2 0 1 4 Bublik, Kazakhstan, 6-2, 6-2. Edouard Roger-Vasselin,
Nnaji ..............13 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 2 6 Walker ............24 3-9 1-1 1-3 0 1 7
G FG FT PTS AVG Brantley ............9 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 2 K.Edwards .........5 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 France, and Santiago Gonzalez, Mexico, def. Robert
Totals 43-85 19-22 10-42 34 16 116 Butler Jr...........16 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 3 0
Totals 38-86 18-27 10-47 25 19 103 Totals 39-84 32-40 12-42 16 23 115 Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal, Colombia, 6-3, 6-4.
61 673 623 2032 33.3 Shooting: Field goals, 50.6%; free throws, 86.4% Totals 35-90 13-15 6-29 14 16 90 Wesley Koolhof, Netherlands, and Neal Skupski (1),
60 664 486 1983 33.1 Shooting: Field goals, 44.2%; free throws, 66.7% Shooting: Field goals, 46.4%; free throws,
Three-point goals: 11-32 (Murray 3-6, Porter Jr. 3-7, Braun Shooting: Field goals, 38.9%; free throws, 86.7% Britain, def. Mackenzie McDonald, U.S., and Botic Van
Three-point goals: 9-36 (Agbaji 3-7, Horton-Tucker 2-7, 80.0%
58 556 510 1866 32.2 2-3, Brown 2-5, Caldwell-Pope 1-4, Green 0-2, Nnaji 0-2, Gor- Three-point goals: 7-33 (Johnson 3-7, Arcidiacono 1-2, de Zandschulp, Netherlands, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Markkanen 2-10, Jones 1-2, Juzang 1-5, Brantley 0-1, Toscano- Three-point goals: 5-27 (Huerter 3-5, Fox 1-6, Mur-
don 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Sharpe 1-4, Little 1-5, Knox II 1-7, Eubanks 0-1, Walker 0-1, WOMEN’S DOUBLES (round of 16) — Irina-Camelia
64 664 620 2003 31.3 Anderson 0-1, Olynyk 0-3). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turn- ray 1-6, K.Edwards 0-1, Lyles 0-2, Barnes 0-3, Monk
Shots: 4 (Jokic 2, Caldwell-Pope, Gordon). Turnovers: 12 (Mur- Butler Jr. 0-2, Reddish 0-2, Thybulle 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Begu, Romania, and Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine, def. Xu
59 660 469 1836 31.1 overs: None. Blocked Shots: 7 (Kessler 7). Turnovers: 13 (Ag- 0-4). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: None.
ray 4, Jokic 3, Brown 2, Gordon, Green, Porter Jr.). Steals: 8 Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 2 (Eubanks, Thybulle). Yifan and Zhaoxuan Yang (5), China, 7-6 (6), 6-2. Taylor
baji 4, Horton-Tucker 3, Olynyk 3, Jones 2, Markkanen). Steals: Blocked Shots: 4 (Len 2, Fox, K.Edwards). Turnovers:
69 678 499 2078 30.1 (Gordon 2, Murray 2, Braun, Brown, Caldwell-Pope, Green). Turnovers: 12 (Johnson 4, Eubanks 2, Sharpe 2, Arcidiacono, Townsend, U.S., and Leylah Annie Fernandez, Canada,
10 (Lyles 3, Sabonis 3, Monk 2, Fox, Huerter). Steals:
64 619 289 1753 27.4 2 (Horton-Tucker, Kessler). Technical Fouls: None. Technical Fouls: None. Knox II, Little, Reddish). Steals: 6 (Little 2, Eubanks, Knox II, def. Beatriz Haddad Maia, Brazil, and Giuliana Olmos
4 (Lyles 2, Murray, Sabonis). Technical Fouls: None.
Phoenix 37 20 27 33— 117 Philadelphia 18 39 20 34— 111 Sharpe, Walker). Technical Fouls: Little, 00:52 second. (7), Mexico, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Nicole Melichar-Martinez,
63 640 260 1699 27.0
Utah 26 26 29 22— 103 Denver 25 36 30 25— 116 New Orleans 34 24 31 35— 124 Minnesota 34 23 29 33— 119 U.S., and Ellen Perez (8), Australia, def. Anna Kalin-
56 530 352 1498 26.8 Sacramento 25 33 27 30— 115 skaya, Russia, and Caty McNally, U.S., 6-7 (7), 6-4,
Portland 14 21 20 35— 90
68 571 520 1812 26.6 A—18,206. T—2:07. A—19,781. T—2:07. 11-9.
L AT I M E S . C O M T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 B9
CHARGERS REPORT
PRO CALENDAR

Staley thrilled to add Kendricks TUE

28
at
WED
29
THU
30
FRI
31
SAT
1

was sexually assaulted by Angels*

By Jeff Miller
PHOENIX — Drue Tran-
quill just led the Chargers in
tackles, finished tied for
third in sacks and estab-
lished himself as a down-in,
down-out defensive leader.
Still, coach Brandon Sta-
ley said Monday that the al-
lure of free agent Eric
Kendricks was too much to
pass up.
“He’s one of the most
complete linebackers in the
last decade,” Staley, speak-
ing at the NFL’s owners
meetings, said of Kendricks,
a former UCLA standout.
“You’re talking about five to
seven players that are as
complete a linebacker as he
is.”
So the Chargers signed
Kendricks this month after
Minnesota released the
eight-year veteran.
Tranquill, a 2019 fourth-
round pick of the Chargers,
then signed with Kansas
City, one of the Chargers’
AFC West rivals.
“I love the way he plays
the game,” Chiefs coach
Andy Reid said of Tranquill.
“He’s smart. He’s aggres-
sive, good cover guy.”
Staley praised Tranquill
for his contributions and
wished him luck with Kan-
sas City.
Staley then turned his at-
tention to Kendricks, who
likely will assume Tran-
quill’s role of relaying the sig-
nals in the defensive huddle.
“A true commander,” he
said. “A tackling machine —
sideline to sideline, in the
box, physicality. He’s one of
the best passing-game line-
backers in the last decade.”
Staley also noted
Kendricks’ instincts, energy
and ability to communicate.
He said he expects the tran-
sition to the Chargers to be
“seamless,” as the Vikings
employ a similar scheme.
Other highlights of Sta-
ley’s 30-minute session with
reporters:
Ekeler, Chargers
together but apart
The Chargers and run-
ARIZONA ARIZONA ARIZONA
TSA personnel at John 7 7 6
6
Wayne Airport in Orange SNLA SNLA SNLA
SNLA
County last week. DODGERS
Joseph-Day explained
at at
himself as being “uncom- DODGERS*
Oakland Oakland
fortable” and called the ex- 6
7 1
change with a TSA agent BSSC
BSW BSW
“unnecessary.” He also de- ANGELS
scribed himself as being
at at
“swarmed” by three agents
Chicago Minnesota
during the incident. 5 5
In a statement, the TSA SpecSN SpecSN
said it was investigating. LAKERS
Tight end talk at at at
Memphis Memphis New Orleans
The Chargers have Ger- 5 5 5:30
ald Everett and the recently BSSC BSSC Ch. 5
re-signed Donald Parham CLIPPERS
Jr. to go along with the still-
at at at
developing Tre’ McKitty.
Calgary Edmonton Seattle
But tight end remains a
6 6 7
position of need, one that BSW BSSC Ch. 13
could be addressed early in KINGS
the NFL draft next month.
at at
New offensive coordina-
Seattle Edmonton
Matt York Associated Press tor Kellen Moore had suc-
7 7
COACH Brandon Staley called Eric Kendricks “one cess with Dallas while em-
Hulu BSSC
of the most complete linebackers in the last decade.” ploying multiple tight ends. DUCKS
Among the top incoming
ning back Austin Ekeler re- market in which the value of players at the position are SEATTLE
main at odds over his con- running backs has dimin- Utah’s Dalton Kincaid, No- 4:45
tract, but both sides publicly ished in recent seasons, that tre Dame’s Michael Mayer Ch. 11
have said the right things. trend continuing over the and Oregon State’s Luke GALAXY
Speaking on former NFL first two weeks of free Musgrave.
player Chris Long’s podcast agency. “When you can find it,” at
Colorado
last week, Ekeler explained Staley said, “it changes the
Herbert’s big bucks 6:30
that he hoped to remain way people have to play
Apple TV
with the team but still is Another contract situa- you.” LAFC
seeking what he believes is tion for the Chargers in-
more adequate compensa- volves quarterback Justin Noteworthy at
tion. Herbert, who is eligible for Staley said the Chargers Orlando
2:30
Staley spoke at length his first extension. remain in contact with wide
Paramount+
and effusively about what Herbert figures to receive receiver/kick returner De- ANGEL CITY
Ekeler has meant to the a contract with an average Andre Carter and would like
Shade denotes home game. *Spring training.
Chargers since he took over annual value in the neigh- to re-sign him. … As ex-
as coach two years ago. borhood of $50 million. He pected, Staley said the Char-
“I know that Tom and I will join a growing group of gers plan to start Jamaree
want him to be a part of our quarterbacks with at least Salyer at guard, where they
football team,” Staley said, $100 million fully guaran- need to replace the released
TODAY ON THE AIR
referring to general manager teed. That group now num- Matt Feiler. Telesco said the TIME EVENT ON THE AIR
Tom Telesco. bers five. intention is to put Salyer at BASEBALL: SPRING EXHIBITIONS
“We see him as someone “These contracts are right guard and move Zion 9 a.m. New York Yankees at Washington TV: MLB
that’s going to help us win a really complex,” Staley said. Johnson to the left side. …
Noon Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs at Mesa, Ariz. TV: MLB
world championship. But “You’re talking about a lot of Staley also said the plan is
6 p.m. Dodgers at Angels TV: BSSC, SNLA
we’re also respectful of the different things, and there for Easton Stick to back up
R: 570, 830, 1020
position that he’s in within are other quarterbacks that Herbert. “He’s a great fit for
BASKETBALL
his career and what he’s are going through the same how we want to play,” Staley
looking for too.” thing right now. Just be pa- said of Stick, who’s thrown 4:30 p.m. Miami at Toronto TV: TNT
Ekeler, who has a 2023 tient.” one pass since being drafted 4:30 p.m. G League playoffs, Fort Wayne at Capital City TV: NBA
base salary of $6.25 million in 2019. “He and Justin have a 7 p.m. G League playoffs, Sioux Falls at Salt Lake City TV: NBA
in the final season of a four- really good relationship. It’s 7 p.m. New Orleans at Golden State TV: TNT
Joseph-Day
year extension, received per- a great quarterback envi- COLLEGE BASEBALL
mission to seek a trade after allegedly assaulted ronment with those two.” 4 p.m. Texas at Texas A&M TV: SEC
talks with the Chargers on a In a series of tweets COLLEGE BASKETBALL: TOURNAMENTS
new deal lagged. posted Friday, Chargers de- Times staff writer Gary 4 p.m. NIT, semifinals, North Texas vs. Wisconsin TV: ESPN
He and his agent, Camer- fensive tackle Sebastian Jo- Klein contributed to this 6:30 p.m. NIT, semifinals, Utah Valley vs. Alabama TV: ESPN2
on Weiss, are operating in a seph-Day alleged that he report. Birmingham
COLLEGE LACROSSE
3 p.m. Women, Cornell at Syracuse TV: ESPNU

Rams limit spending this offseason COLLEGE SOFTBALL

[Rams, from B10]
The Rams came to the
2016 owners meetings with a
plan, and they pulled the
trigger three weeks later by
trading up a record 14 spots
to select quarterback Jared
Goff with the No. 1 pick.
Two years later, they
completed a torrid offseason
at the league meetings by
consummating the signing
of defensive lineman Ndam-
ukong Suh — and kicking
the tires on trading for star
receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
In 2021, the Rams arrived
at the league meetings less
than two months after trad-
ing for Stafford. And last
year they were the belle of
the ball after completing
their all-in, boom-or-bust
season with a victory in Su-
per Bowl LVI at SoFi Sta-
dium.
But this week, after last
season’s disastrous 5-12 fin-
ish, McVay’s second con-
secutive postseason flir-
tation with a sabbatical, the
trade or release of several
marquee players and the
Noon Nebraska at Iowa, Game 1
2:30 p.m. Nebraska at Iowa, Game 2
HOCKEY
TV: Big Ten
TV: Big Ten
lack of big free-agent sign- phy. could be a top-10 pick.
ings, the Rams are some- “Odell is going to have to The Rams still have 6 p.m. Kings at Calgary TV: BSW R: iHeart
what of a buzzkill. determine where he wants Stafford, Kupp and Donald, PREP BASKETBALL
Team executives are not his next chapter to be,” but they will not be flanked 6 p.m. McDonald’s All-American Game TV: ESPN
concerned. Snead said. by stars. SOCCER
Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ The Rams re-signed ver- “We knew when we did 6 a.m. Africa Nations Cup, qualifying, Egypt at Malawi TV: beIN1, beINes
chief operating officer, said satile offensive lineman those deals, ‘Hey you’ve got 9 a.m. UEFA European qualifying, Norway at Georgia TV: FS2
he “fully expects” the Rams Coleman Shelton and defen- three very highly compen-
9 a.m. Africa Nations Cup, qualifying, Senegal at TV: beIN1, beINes
to be a playoff team. sive lineman Marquise sated players you’re going to Mozambique
“This year is the model Copeland. But they bid fare- have to surround with more
11:30 a.m. Friendly, Belgium at Germany TV: FS2
without a little bit of the siz- well to a parade of free cost control around them,’ ”
zle that’s come outside of it,” agents, including backup said Tony Pastoors, Rams 11:30 a.m. UEFA European qualifying, Croatia at Turkey TV: FS1
Demoff said. “But I actually quarterback Baker May- vice president of football 1 p.m. Africa Nations Cup, qualifying, Tunisia at Libya TV: beIN1, beINes
don’t feel that we’ve strayed field, receiver Brandon Pow- and business administra- 3 p.m. CONCACAF Nations League, Bermuda at Haiti TV: TUDN
too far from our core DNA ell, offensive lineman David tion. He estimated that the 5 p.m. CONCACAF Nations League, Honduras at Canada TV: TUDN R: 1330
under Sean and Les.” Edwards, safeties Nick Scott team could have $55 million 7 p.m. CONCACAF Nations League, Panama at Costa Rica TV: TUDN . R: 1330
To get under the $224.8- and Taylor Rapp, corner- to $65 million in cap space TENNIS
million salary cap, the Rams back David Long, kicker next year. 8 a.m. Miami Open, men’s fourth round; women’s TV: Tennis
released linebacker Bobby Matt Gay, punter Riley That does not mean the quarterfinals
Wagner and edge rusher Dixon and long snapper Rams will refrain from be- 10 a.m. Miami Open, men’s fourth round; women’s TV: BSW
Leonard Floyd and traded Matt Orzech. coming aggressive again if quarterfinals
star cornerback Jalen It is all part of the Rams’ they are contending at the 4 p.m. Miami Open, men’s fourth round; women’s TV: Tennis
Ramsey. They also restruc- formula to gain future-com- trade deadline, he said. quarterfinals
tured the contracts of offen- pensation draft picks. “I have no doubt we will
sive linemen Joe Noteboom The Rams have 11 picks in do what we do,” he said.
and Brian Allen. the April draft. But for the So, the Rams are not wor-
They are shopping re- seventh consecutive year, a ried about a lack of offseason E-NEWSPAPER BONUS
ceiver Allen Robinson and pick in the first round is not excitement. Subscribers get free access to the daily digital replica of
remain interested in free among them. “Offseason excitement is The Times print edition that now includes one bonus
agent Beckham, whose mid- That is scheduled to really — it means nothing,” sports page. Today, our Prep Rally newsletter high-
season signing in 2021 pro- change next year. And if the Snead said. “Postseason ex- lights the Southland’s top baseball players at the mid-
vided the exclamation point Rams repeat anything near citement really, really mat- season mark. To view the e-newspaper on your phone,
on the Rams’ all-in philoso- last season’s meltdown, it ters.” tablet or computer, visit latimes.com/enewspaper.

NCAA WOMEN’S DODGERS-ANGELS REPORT

ROUNDUP

South Walsh, Stassi join injured list

Carolina By Sarah Valenzuela
issue with his hip during a
minor league game Sunday.
He returned to the team’s
being sidelined, a 25-pitch
outing that manager Dave
Roberts said “went really

returns to
Catchers Logan Arizona facility that day to well.”
O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss begin ramping back up after Gonsolin will throw a few
and infielder Jake Lamb — being away for a family emer- more bullpen sessions be-
who was scratched from gency. fore progressing to live bat-

Final Four Monday’s Freeway Series

associated press
Aliyah Boston had
22 points and 10 rebounds,
Zia Cooke scored 18 points
and top-seeded South Car-
olina used its smothering
defense to take control in the
second quarter, outlasting
second-seeded Maryland 86-
75 on Monday night in Seat-
tle to reach its third consecu-
tive Final Four.
Coach Dawn Staley’s
team improved to 36-0 with
its 42nd victory in a row dat-
ing to last year’s NCAA title
run.
The Gamecocks are two
wins away from repeating as
champions and completing
the 10th undefeated season
in women’s history.
South Carolina will play
Iowa and do-it-all star
BREA BEAL is fouled by Shyanne Sellers and Faith
Masonius of Maryland in South Carolina’s 86-75 win.
NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR
at Houston
Saturday’s semifinals
No. 5 San Diego State (31-6) vs.
No. 9 Florida Atlantic (35-3), 3 p.m., Channel 2
No. 4 Connecticut (29-8) vs.
No. 5 Miami (29-7), 5:45 p.m., Channel 2
NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR
at Dallas
Friday’s semifinals
No. 1 Virginia Tech (31-4) vs.
No. 3 Louisiana State (32-2), 4 p.m., ESPN
No. 1 South Carolina (36-0) vs.
No. 2 Iowa (30-6), 6 p.m., ESPN
(all times Pacific)
Caitlin Clark in the national
semifinals in Dallas on Fri-
day night.
Boston, the 6-foot-5 sen-
ior, made 10 of 14 shots
against Maryland (28-7).
The three-time All-Ameri-
can added five assists and
Mic Smith Associated Press
blocked two shots.
Virginia Tech 84, Ohio
State 74: Elizabeth Kitley
scored 25 points and
grabbed 12 rebounds, Geor-
gia Amoore added 24 points
and top-seeded Virginia
Tech advanced to the Final
Four for the first time in
school history.
Playing in its first re-
gional final, Virginia Tech
(30-4) won its 15th consecu-
tive game and will head to
the Final Four having not
lost in more than two
months. The Hokies will face
Louisiana State on Friday in
Dallas.
Taylor Mikesell led Ohio
State (28-8) with 25 points.
game with glute tightness —
were added to the Angels’
opening day roster. Infielder
Jared Walsh and catcher
Max Stassi will start the
season on the injured list.
Walsh has been dealing
with headaches and insom-
nia the last couple of weeks
but was not overly con-
cerned, Angels manager
Phil Nevin said. Walsh still
has been able to do baseball
activities. He has been ex-
amined by team doctors and
also will see a specialist for a
two-week program.
“This is a quality-of-life
thing. This isn’t baseball-re-
lated,” Nevin said. “I think us
as a team and as a support
group need to be relieved as
well with him and that he
feels comfortable that he’s
gonna be back with us soon
and in a good place in his
mind.”
Stassi started having an
“I don’t know specifically
the pain he’s feeling, I just
know it’s not good,” Nevin
ting practice, pitch in minor
league games at the team’s
Arizona spring-training
said. “It’s not something he’s complex and, perhaps, go on
particularly alarmed with a minor league rehabilita-
for being a long-term thing. tion assignment.
“There’s been a lot going
on with Max lately, and then Familiar faces
this was thrown on top of it Tyler Anderson pitched
yesterday.” Monday against his former
team, while starting for the
Gonsolin update Dodgers was former Angel
The Dodgers are target- Noah Syndergaard. The
ing a late-April return for Angels beat the Dodgers,
pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who 5-4.
is three weeks into his recov- Anderson threw 51⁄3 in-
ery from a left ankle sprain nings, giving up two earned
suffered when the right- runs solo home runs by
hander twisted his ankle Mookie Betts and Miguel
while trotting off an Arizona Rojas.
mound after a round of field- Syndergaard gave up five
ing drills March 6. earned runs in five innings,
Gonsolin, who had a surrendering homers to
breakout 2022 season, going Mike Trout and Taylor
16-1 with a 2.14 earned-run av- Ward.
erage in 24 starts and earn-
ing his first All-Star selec- Staff writer Mike
tion, threw off a mound Mon- DiGiovanna contributed to
day for the second time since this report.

DD
BRONNY JAMES averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in his senior year at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon.
A BURDEN OF PROOF
e bounded out of the
H tunnel at Nationwide
Arena in Columbus,
Ohio, with his trade-
mark poker face,
running past older fans who
watched his father dominate in
local gyms and teens in puffy
coats calling his name.
“Bronny! Bronny!”
Bronny James threw down a
windmill dunk in warmups that
drew an “oooooh” from thou-
sands gathered for a high school
game in mid-December. The nar-
rative was simple: Bronny and
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon tak-
ing on LeBron James’ alma
mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary, for
the third time in four years.
But this was the first time that
Sierra Canyon really was Bron-
ny’s team.
“I’m hoping to see a good show
from Bronny … see Bronny really
take it to the next level,” said Clint
Smith, a former college and pro-
fessional player from Cleveland
sitting in the stands.
He did not. James scored sev-
en points, fouled out with a few
minutes to play and was rele-
gated to the bench during a 67-61
loss.
That poker face, assistant
coach Chris Madden said, gener-
ally remained intact through four
Rescuing dogs is more than his pet project
U.S. men’s national
team coach Hudson
uses sport to find safe
havens for canines.
KEVIN BAXTER
ON SOCCER
Anthony Hudson likes a
lot of things but he’s pas-
sionate about just two: dogs
and soccer.
He ranks them in that
order, apparently, because
on the biggest day of his
professional career, Hudson
almost left the World Cup to
look after his two Rhodesian
Ridgebacks, who were
locked in a high-rise Chi-
cago apartment half a world
away.
When Hudson, then
Gregg Berhalter’s top as-
sistant coach with the U.S. ANTHONY HUDSON , with his beloved dogs, Dyer and Junior, for whom he al-
national team, departed for most left the World Cup to care for at home. On the field, the interim coach is 2-0.
SPORTS
T U E S D AY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / S P O R T S
Brian Rothmuller Icon Sportswire/Getty
Bronny James may never live up years of impossible expectations
to sky-high expectations but that
hasn’t changed his demeanor
BY LUCA EVANS
as the most visible high school
athlete in America. Pull on the
headphones, block out the noise.
Seeing, reading but not reacting.
Yet a half-hour after that loss
in December, in the hallway,
James slumped in a chair next to
brother Bryce, headphones on,
burying his head between his
legs.
His mother, Savannah, ap-
proached. She gently patted his
head.
It was a low point during a tu-
multuous senior season of
growth, injury and disappoint-
ment for James, an athlete trying
to forge his own path that’s con-
stantly altered by outside expec-
tations. From media. From fans.
From his father.
The Times traveled 6,000
miles and attended 21 games dur-
ing James’ senior season. After
months of observations and 70 in-
terviews inside Sierra Canyon
and outside the program, two
truths became clear.
Bronny James is great, in his
own way. And for many, that will
never be enough.
::
Wally Skalij Los Angeles Times
LeBRON JAMES celebrates with his sons, Bronny, center, Ever since his AAU highlights
and Bryce, after becoming the all-time NBA scoring leader. [See James, B7]
Qatar last November, he left
the dogs with a caretaker.
But when the sitter was
involved in a car accident,
the abandoned animals,
hungry and lonely, began
howling.
Soon Hudson’s neigh-
bors were calling. With no
one to care for them, who’d
let the dogs out?
“I was ready to leave,
walk away from the bloody
World Cup,” he said. “I was
ready to fly back to make
sure they’re OK.”
Crisis eventually was
averted, allowing Hudson to
stay with the team, but the
moral of the story remains:
“I naturally just love dogs
and want to help dogs,” said
Hudson, now a caretaker of
sorts himself as interim
coach of the men’s national
team. “I can’t stand seeing
Courtesy of Anthony Hudson the mistreatment of dogs.”
Hudson’s passions were
[See Baxter, B6]
B10
GEORGE
HOPING
HE CAN
RETURN
New starter Batum
lifts Clippers without
star, who aims to play
again this season.
CLIPPERS 124
CHICAGO 112
By Andrew Greif
Paul George doesn’t
know when he will be ready
to return from his sprained
right knee, “but I’m gonna
do whatever I can do to
shorten the process,” the
Clippers’ All-Star forward
said on his podcast.
The Clippers also are not
in any position to make long-
term plans — but they are
trying to do whatever they
can to extend how long they
are playing, just in case a re-
turn for George is possible.
In their third game since
George injured his knee, and
with Kawhi Leonard scoring
22 points while back in a new
starting lineup after he took
an elbow to his face two
nights earlier, the Clippers
pushed past the Chicago
Bulls 124-112 on Monday
night at Crypto.com Arena
to keep a tenuous hold on a
first-round playoff series.
With two games in Mem-
phis and a third game at New
Orleans coming this week,
the Clippers (40-36) remain
in fifth place, half a game be-
hind Phoenix but only one
game up on seventh place, a
spot that will compete in the
play-in tournament. Given
how densely packed the
Western Conference stand-
ings remain, there is much
work to do. But two nights
after a forgettable, 21-point
[See Clippers, B8]
‘Boring’
Rams
eyeing
future
A goal of their quiet
offseason is to create
a ‘more sustainable’
salary-cap situation.
By Gary Klein
PHOENIX — The silence
is deafening.
No marquee players ac-
quired by trade. No high-
profile free-agent signings.
No buzz.
This is not a rebuild for
the Rams, or a reboot or re-
model.
This is an offseason re-
treat — though Rams execu-
tives insist not a surrender.
“We’re the boring Rams
this year,” general manager
Les Snead quipped Monday
at the NFL owners meetings.
The Rams still employ
coach Sean McVay, star
quarterback Matthew Staf-
ford, star receiver Cooper
Kupp and star defensive
lineman Aaron Donald. All
signed huge extensions after
the Rams won the Super
Bowl following the 2021 sea-
son.
But the Rams’ 2023 aus-
terity plan is a calculated
pull-back, one that has
made them as quiet as a Sa-
guaro cactus in the Arizona
desert.
The Rams are muted in-
tentionally, Snead said, to
“engineer a healthier, more
sustainable” salary-cap situ-
ation.
“So that when we do get
to a moment where we think,
‘OK, let’s press the gas
again,’ ” he said, “you have
the capability to do it.”
[See Rams, B9]
L AT I M E S . C O M / S P O RT S
LEVI STERLING of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is fired up after he picked up a save against Harvard-Westlake. The junior has committed to Texas.
We’re getting close to mid-
season in baseball. The
weather has not been great,
leading to starts and stops, but
there have been some note-
worthy individual perform-
ances.
A look at high school base-
ball players distinguishing
themselves in the opening two
months:
Levi Sterling, Sherman
Oaks Notre Dame: The No. 1-
ranked Knights have found
their closer in Sterling, a junior
committed to Texas. He comes
in and uses his velocity and
poise to bring games to an im-
mediate end. If he keeps it up,
beware of the Knights in the Di-
vision 1 playoffs. He has three
saves and counting.
Justin Santiago, La Verne
Bonita: The senior pitcher just
committed to Long Beach
State and is 5-0 with an 0.35
earned-run average.
Sterling Patick, West Co-
vina South Hills: The senior
pitcher has 50 strikeouts in
30 innings and is 5-0 without
giving up any runs.
Landon Gordon, Santa
Ana Mater Dei: The sopho-
more pitcher has been a key as-
set in the Monarchs winning
seven of their nine Trinity
League games.
Blake Wilson, Santa Mar-
garita: The two-sport stand-
out has led the Eagles to an 11-2
record.
Collin Clarke, Santa Mar-
garita: An uncommitted senior
pitcher, all Clarke has done is
defeat San Juan Capistrano
JSerra, Orange Lutheran and
Anaheim Servite.
Diego Velazquez, Encino
Crespi: The sophomore is bat-
ting .451 and is 3-0 on the
mound.
Mason Edwards, Pali-
sades: The left-handed pitcher
committed to USC might be
the best in the City Section. He
is 3-0 with an 0.32 ERA.
Gavin Grahovac, Villa
Park: One of the region’s top
pro prospects is delivering as
expected with 19 hits, 14 RBIs
and three home runs.
Chris Downs, Newhall
Hart: At 6 feet 7, Downs is a
towering presence on the
mound and has come into
games and been an immediate
stopper. He has 18 strikeouts in
92⁄3 innings with saves against
Villa Park and Saugus.
Richard Ojeda, Valencia:
He has given up just 15 hits and
no earned runs in 37 innings
while going 5-1, striking out 51
and walking six.
Dylan Fien, Temecula
Great Oak: The junior catcher
has 16 hits in 28 at-bats.
Tanner Mahon, Studio City
Campbell Hall: The Oregon
commit is batting .419 with
three homers. As a pitcher, he is
4-0 and has given up no runs in
24 innings while striking out 33
for 9-1-1 Campbell Hall.
Wyatt Rosales, Cypress:
The sophomore pitcher is 5-0
with 25 strikeouts in 232⁄3 in-
nings.
Big games ahead
League play picks up steam
this week in high school base-
ball. Lake Balboa Birmingham
and Granada Hills are set for a
critical two-game series that
These players
have stood out
between storms
GARDENA SERRA’S Rodrick Pleasant and Brazil Neal, who are the defending
200 state champions and headed to Oregon, had the Pasadena Games’ best times.
PATRICK SANDOVAL, an Angels left-hander and former Mission Viejo High
star, pitched for Mexico and made the World Baseball Classic all-tournament team.
could decide the West Valley
League title if either team
sweeps.
No. 1 Notre Dame is playing
second-place Crespi in a three-
game Mission League series.
The Celts have one of their best
teams in years, and it brings
back memories of great
matchups and players, includ-
ing Jeff Suppan, Giancarlo
Stanton, Trevor Plouffe, Ryon
P REP RALLY
By Eric Sondheimer
Eric Sondheimer Los Angeles Times
Healy and Hunter Greene.
A group of teams is headed
to Cary, N.C., for the National
High School Invitational that
begins Wednesday. The teams
include Santa Margarita, San
Bernardino Aquinas, Hunting-
ton Beach and JSerra.
Track
The Arcadia Invitational is
two weeks away, and the top
T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Wilfredo Lee Associated Press
track and field athletes are
gearing up for top perform-
ances April 8 at Arcadia High.
Rodrick Pleasant of Gar-
dena Serra ran his first out-
doors 200 meters Saturday and
is scheduled to run in his first
100 on Saturday at Trabuco
Hills.
Here is a look at some of last
week’s top performances from
the Pasadena Games and Simi
DD1
Craig Weston For The Times
Valley Invitational:
Notre Dame quarterback
Steele Pizzella ran the anchor
leg on a 4x200 relay team that
was impressive. He’s running
track for the first time and is
gaining speed. He also was
clocked running the 40-yard
dash in 4.47 seconds at a foot-
ball showcase Sunday.
Jordan Coleman of Grana-
da Hills is giving his City cham-
pion teammate Dijon Stanley
some competition this spring.
Coleman, a junior, won the 100
at the Simi Valley Invitational
in 10.61 seconds and finished
second to Stanley in the 200.
Rivalry week
It’s the week in high school
volleyball that fans enjoy: ri-
valry week. And no match
draws more yearly excitement
than when Manhattan Beach
Mira Costa takes on L.A. Loyo-
la. The latest is set for Friday
night at Loyola Marymount
University.
Loyola is expected to be
ranked No. 1 in Division 1 vol-
leyball this week after knocking
off defending champion New-
port Harbor last week. Sean
Kelly had 24 kills, Luke Ander-
son contributed 11 and fresh-
man Blake Fahlbusch added 10.
Mira Costa is led by 6-foot-8
junior setter Tread Rosenthal,
a Hawaii commit who helped
lead the U.S. U19 team to the
gold medal at the Pan Ameri-
can Cup this month. He was
named tournament most valu-
able player.
Notes ...
Kyle Murphy is the new
football coach at Garden Grove
Pacifica. ...
Former Mission Viejo
pitcher Patrick Sandoval of the
Angels was named to the World
Baseball Classic all-tourna-
ment team after pitching for
Mexico. ...
Former Loyola defensive
back David Long signed with
the Las Vegas Raiders as a free
agent after playing with the
Rams. ...
Michael Nobles, who was an
assistant at Dana Hills, is the
new football coach at Santa
Ana Saddleback. ...
At 83, John Tyree retired as
football coach at Banning High
in Banning. He won CIF South-
ern Section championships at
Imperial High (1973) and Pasa-
dena Muir (1989). ...
Pitcher Gavin Pacheco of
Huntington Beach committed
to San Francisco. ...
Mike Prewitt is retiring after
32 years of coaching at Cama-
rillo, most recently nine sea-
sons as girls’ basketball coach.
He also coached the boys’
team. ...
De’Jon Frazier is the new
boys’ basketball coach at
Montebello Cantwell-Sacred
Heart. He was an assistant at
Long Beach Jordan. ...
Standout sophomore
basketball player Jovani Ruff of
Long Beach Poly is headed to
prep school Southern Califor-
nia Academy.
Did you enjoy this excerpt of
our Prep Rally newsletter?
Visit latimes.com/newsletters
to sign up and get it delivered
each week to your inbox.
DD2 TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2023 LOS ANGELES TIMES

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 E

CALENDAR T U E S D AY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L E N D A R

The good, the bad, the flimsy: a report card on seating ‘Rust’
at LACMA, the Hammer and other L.A. museums
ruling
presses
state
team
Prosecutor says her
office is understaffed,
but judge won’t allow
outside assistance.
By Meg James

New Mexico’s criminal

case against Alec Baldwin in
the fatal “Rust” shooting
faced another setback as a
judge signaled that she will
reject a request by the Santa
Fe prosecutor to add anoth-
er high-powered attorney to
the case.
New Mexico 1st Judicial
District Attorney Mary Car-
mack-Altwies said during a
Monday hearing that she is
struggling to shore up an
office plagued by attorney
defections and vacancies.
She asked a judge for autho-
Christina House Los Angeles Times rization to hire a new special
prosecutor to help land
criminal convictions for
Baldwin and Hannah
Gutierrez Reed, the armorer
on the ill-fated western mov-
ie.
“We are in dire straits,”
Carmack-Altwies told Judge
Mary Marlowe Sommer dur-
ing the virtual court hearing.
“We do not have sufficient
manpower to fully prosecute
this [case] by ourselves.”
But Sommer made it
clear that she planned to
deny Carmack-Altwies’ re-
quest for help, instead siding
with a lawyer for Gutierrez
Reed, who had objected to
the appointment of outside
counsel to work in collabora-
tion with Carmack-Altwies
and others in her office.
In late January, the Santa
Fe prosecutor charged Bald-
win and Gutierrez Reed with
involuntary manslaughter
in the October 2021 shooting
death of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins on the set
Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times of “Rust,” near Santa Fe.
THE GETTY, top, offers comfy, stylish seating, while at the Academy Museum, above, a dramatic banquette oozes glam. Both Baldwin and Gutierrez
Reed have pleaded not
guilty.
The previous special

A sit-down bench trial

CAROLINA A. MIRANDA
When French novelist
Marie-Henri Beyle —
better known as Stendhal
— paid a visit to the Basil-
ica di Santa Croce in
Florence, Italy, in the
early 1800s, he became so
overcome with emotion after gazing upon
Volterrano’s “Sybils” that he experienced
not only palpitations of the heart but also
“The well-spring of life was dried up within
me, and I walked in constant fear of falling
to the ground.”
Thankfully, there was a bench nearby.
Otherwise, he might have never written
“The Red and the Black.”
The humble museum bench does it all.
It provides a place to rest, admire a per-
plexing painting, ogle the crowd or check
DMs. Experiencing a bout of Stendhal
syndrome? Cue the bench. Benches also
help make museums more accessible to
people of all mobility levels. New York-
based artist and accessibility activist
prosecutor, Andrea Reeb,
resigned this month amid
controversy over her dual
role as prosecutor and a
member of the New Mexico
Legislature. Baldwin’s attor-
neys had argued the Repub-
Shannon Finnegan has made work related lican lawmaker’s involve-
to this, including bright blue benches in- [See ‘Rust,’ E2]
scribed with text that reads, “This exhib-
ition has asked me to stand for too long. Sit
if you agree.”
Now that I’m at the age when I grunt Lana Del Rey
when I stand, I have become deeply appre- gets personal
ciative of benches. But all benches are not
The singer turns
created equal. Some beckon the sitter with inward on “Did You
backrests and velvety upholstery; others Know That There’s a
offer all the comfort of a Calvinist pew, Tunnel Under Ocean
demanding that you sit ramrod straight — Blvd.” Review, E3
apparently the ideal [See Museums, E2]
Comics ................... E4-5
Puzzles ...................... E4

Studio’s diversity pact 3 MVPs level up ‘John Wick 4’

hasn’t delivered yet
Landmark production
deal between NAACP
and CBS challenged
by economic picture.
By Greg Braxton
The 2020 murder of
George Floyd at the hands of
Minneapolis police horrified
the country, sparking mas-
sive protests and propelling
the Black Lives Matter
movement demanding jus-
tice for Black people in the
face of systemic racism and
violence.
The tragedy also rocked
Hollywood, which has had a
roller-coaster history when
it comes to diversity, par-
ticularly prioritizing proj-
Two action icons and
ects by and for people of col- a pop star add fresh,
or. Numerous studios, pro- operatic energy to
duction companies and TV
networks swiftly pledged the hit-man saga.
large donations to various
By Jen Yamato
advocacy groups and social
programs. Others an-
nounced new programs and No Hollywood franchise
initiatives committed to lo- is doing ballistic, balletic,
cating and promoting Black bone-crunching fight action
talent in front of and behind better than the “John Wick”
the camera. series — and in its newest in-
But of all of Hollywood’s stallment, a murderer’s row
efforts to show solidarity of talent joins Keanu Reeves
with the Black Lives Matter to take the hit-man saga to
movement, one stood out. the next level.
CBS Television Studios Fleshing out the western-
announced it was joining and jidaigeki-influenced
forces with the NAACP to underworld of “John Wick:
develop scripted, unscripted Chapter 4” as the titular
and documentary programs man in black ramps up the
for TV networks and stream- body count in his quest for
ing platforms. The deal vengeance, stuntman-
marked new territory, the turned-director Chad Sta-
[See CBS, E6] Photo illustration by Ross May Los Angeles Times; Lionsgate [See ‘John Wick 4,’ E6]
E2 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
Museum
seating:
good,
bad,
comfy
[Museums, from E1]
posture for experiencing the
wrath of God or contempo-
rary video artists.
How do museum
benches in the Greater Los
Angeles area rate? In this
highly scientific, first-ever
report card on museum
seating, I sit and tell:
IMMEDIATELY, NO
Seating for video works
is a perpetual problem in
museums. In many cases,
you’re groping around a
pitch-black room in search
of that one bench in a sea of
empty space. Or you’re
perched on a stool while
tethered to a monitor via
headset. A recent jaunt
through the galleries at the
Los Angeles County Muse-
um of Art revealed the latter
setup (sans headsets). It’s
the sort of seating that feels
like you’ve just been yelled
at for misbehaving in class.
For the record, LACMA
isn’t the only museum to
employ these diminutive
stools. A recent video art
exhibition at the Hammer
Museum featured similar
seating. If this is going to be
the aesthetic of video pre-
sentation, perhaps it’s time
to consider emailing Vimeo
links instead? I will happily
watch those from the com-
fort of my couch.
Grade: F
FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY
At some point, the art
world had a meeting — to
which I wasn’t invited — and
decided that house-flipper
gray would be the default
color of museum benches.
There is a lot of gray out
there, “the color of soldiers
and battleships” and “the
color of the death of trees,”
to quote essayist Meghan
Flaherty (who, unlike me, is
really into gray).
Gray comes in all kinds
of textures and tones at
L.A.-area museums, includ-
ing upholstered gray
benches with slender-yet-
firm cushions (LACMA and
the Hammer) and solid
rubbery prisms (the Broad
and the Orange County
Museum of Art). Though
not necessarily uncomfort-
able, they offer all the visual
delight of the skies over a
British coal-mining town
during the Thatcher era.
Grade: C, because these
benches don’t even try to fail
BRUTAL BENCH
Of all the gray museum
benches in the Greater Los
Angeles area, I had to high-
light this dire piece of indus-
trial seating, several of
which can be found in the
public areas of the Academy
Museum of Motion Pictures.
Manufactured from the
coldest, hardest plastic
known to man, they look as
if they might have been
ordered out of a jailhouse
furniture catalog.
Grade: D
Info Line
ROYAL
11523 Santa Monica Blvd. West L.A.
rodeo
1:20 4:20 7:10
LA ciViL
3:50 PM
the ForGer
1:00 7:00
tehrAnto
1:30 4:30 7:20
MONICA
1332 Second Street Santa Monica
the Lost kinG C
1:20 4:30 7:20
the tutor E
7:20 PM
inside E
1:20 PM
moVinG on E
1:00 3:10 5:20 7:30
the Quiet GirL C
1:30 7:10
crouchinG tiGer, hidden
drAGon C
4:00 PM
return to seouL E
4:10 7:10
A diFFicuLt LiFe (unA VitA
diFFiciLe)I
1:00 4:00 7:00
the WhALe E
4:20 PM
oPus coPe I
1:00 PM
BARGAIN IN ( ) CLOSED CAPTION
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
Judge
denies
‘Rust’
request
[‘Rust,’ from E1]
ment in the case was politi-
Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times Jeff McLane MOCA cally motivated. Baldwin,
MOVIE seats recycled for installation at the Broad, left. At MOCA, the artist designed his own benches. who famously lampooned
former President Trump on
NBC’s “Saturday Night
Live,” is reviled in some con-
servative circles.
Reeb’s resignation was a
win for Baldwin and Gutier-
rez Reed. It left an enor-
mous gap in the prosecution
team just weeks before a
pivotal May hearing. Reeb
had participated in the case
for months and had con-
ducted key interviews to
strengthen the case for trial.
With Reeb’s departure,
Carmack-Altwies was left
scrambling to fill the void.
Paley Fairman Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times She told the judge her office
MOCA bench, left, is sleek and stylish. At Huntington, a wooden bench pairs well with an organ screen. is dealing with a statewide
crisis. “There are not
enough prosecutors in the
state, and we have to be able
to look outside of our offices
in order to find people,” she
said.
Carmack-Altwies said
she had identified a new
lawyer to join her in prose-
cuting the case but needed
the judge’s permission. Typ-
ically, special prosecutors
are introduced when the
lead prosecutor has an ethi-
cal conflict of interest. But
that’s not at issue here.
“We need extra man-
Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times power on this case so that it
RED POUFS in the Academy Museum lobby, left. Bold, one-of-a-kind cushions await at the Hammer. does not take away from
prosecuting all of the other
cases currently in our of-
fice,” Carmack-Altwies said,
noting that her office is sup-
posed to function with 24
lawyers. “We’re down seven
attorneys and we will be
down nine by the end of this
month.”
Late last week, Gutierrez
Reed’s Albuquerque-based
lawyers — Jason Bowles and
Todd Bullion — objected to
the appointment of the new
special prosecutor, saying
the the law did not allow
Carmack-Altwies to stay in-
Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times volved in the case if she
GRAY seating is a thing, including at the Academy Museum, left, and Orange County Museum of Art. planned to hand it off to a
special prosecutor.
Bowles argued that if a
Room, the MOCA Bench screen by Johnson, one of special prosecutor were al-
features vertical surfaces the first Black visual artists lowed, then Carmack-Al-
clad in mirrored panels. from California to be recog- twies and her office also
These have the effect of nized at a national level. should resign.
reflecting the museum’s Grade: A- “I am trying to continue
wood floors and making the to prosecute this case with
bench feel transparent. The BEST IN SHOW the special prosecutor be-
best part? If you really like Firm cushions. A soft yet cause I think it’s important
it, Project Room will make supportive backrest that is that this office be involved
one for you. kind to even the creakiest in the case for the public pol-
Grade: A back. A small wooden shelf icy and public accountabil-
on which to rest your bag. ity,” Carmack-Altwies said
VIVA GLAM The Getty Museum takes in response to Bowles’ criti-
The Academy Museum the gold for best overall cism.
makes up for its carceral bench design. (It always Bowles suggested that
Carolina A. Miranda Los Angeles Times benches with a dramatic helps to have an almost Carmack-Altwies was look-
PULL up a stool for video installation at LACMA. circular, cherry-red ban- $8-billion endowment.) Its ing to bolster the case be-
quette that sits inside the wooden banquettes are cause Baldwin is famous.
curving gallery that holds topped with cushions up- He said that puts his client,
RUSTIC CHIC, they might make you forget historic Oscar statuettes. holstered in handsome, the 25-year-old armorer,
ART WORLD STYLE you’re sitting in a museum Designed by the team at earth-toned pile, and their who doesn’t have Baldwin’s
The Hammer is business housed in a former petro- Why — the L.A. architectur- sturdiness makes them easy ample resources, at a dis-
in the back, party in the leum tower. al studio founded by Kula- to get in and out of. And the tinct disadvantage.
front. Inside the galleries, Grade: A- for style; B+ for pat Yantrasast, which bench isn’t a one-off: These “We did not make a re-
you’ll find dull benches in comfort worked on the museum’s are thoughtfully staggered quest for extra funding ...
gray. But in the lounge installation design — the around the permanent because it was Alec Bald-
areas, the museum has MIRROR, MIRROR seating not only evokes collection galleries. 10/10 win; we made that request
inserted quirk and color ON THE FLOOR the form of the room but would read the Sunday because there were poten-
with handmade furnishings Museum benches can be also brings a dash of vintage paper and drink my dirty tially three to five people
by artist duo Johanna Jack- minimal without being department store glam horchata on this hospitable that we were going to be
son and Chris Johanson. dreary. Thank the Museum to a Streamline Moderne bench. charging,” Carmack-Al-
These one-of-a-kind pieces of Contemporary Art for building that once housed Grade: A++ twies said.
are fabricated with re- commissioning a bench a May Co. store. The fabu- Baldwin’s team did not
claimed wood and are often that is sleek and unobtru- lous settee is, unfortunately, EXTRA CREDIT object to the naming of a
asymmetrical in design, sive yet still has a sense of a one-off, but it is very Two exhibitions cur- new special prosecutor.
featuring hand-sewn cush- panache. Created by Lizz inviting. rently on view in L.A. come Sommer indicated that
ions with abstract shapes Wasserman and Isaac Grade: A with seating installed by the Carmack-Altwies should ei-
quilted onto the surface. Resnikoff of the collabora- artist — and while these will ther hand the case over to a
The craft vibe is so bold that tive design group Project RED ALL OVER last only for the life of their special prosecutor and step
Red is a signature color respective shows, they aside or find a way to “stay
for the Academy Museum deserve a mention: the course” and prosecute
(red carpet!) as well as for At the Broad, artist the case with her existing re-
Renzo Piano, the architect William Kentridge, cur- sources.
TM
NOTAFRAID
OF SUBTITLES whose firm revamped the rently the subject of the solo The judge directed Car-
old May Co. building into a show “In Praise of Shad- mack-Altwies to respond
310.478 .3836 www.LAEMMLE.com functioning museum. Dot- ows,” along with its exhib- and come up with a plan by
ting the lobby, therefore, are ition designer, Sabine The- week’s end.
TOWN CENTER GLENDALE NoHo 7
17200 Ventura Blvd. Encino 207 N. Maryland Ave Glendale 5240 Lankershim Blvd. No. Hollywood a series of cherry red poufs unissen, have created envi- “The District Attorney
A Good Person E A Good Person E requested (but not de- ronments not only for continues to evaluate all
1:00 4:00 7:00 John Wick: chAPter 4 E 1:00 4:00 7:00 signed) by Piano’s firm. watching video but they available options for prose-
the Lost kinG C John Wick: chAPter 4 E These bring a splash of color have supplied seating too. cuting the ‘Rust’ case,”
12:50 3:50 7:30
1:20 4:20 7:20 12:50 4:00 7:30 to this chilly industrial This includes an array of Heather Brewer, a spokes-
moVinG on E the Lost kinG C
shAzAm! Fury oF the space, which is largely con- vintage chairs and stools, person for Carmack-Al-
12:50 5:10 1:20 4:20 7:20
inside E crete. When I first laid eyes and in the case of one view- twies, said in a statement af-
the Quiet GirL C Gods C
1:30 4:20 7:30 on these, I was doubtful ing chamber, antique thea- ter the hearing. “Securing
1:30 4:30 7:30 12:50 4:00 7:00
shAzAm! Fury oF the about the support they ter seats. Extra points for justice for Halyna Hutchins
the ForGer Gods C
might offer. But their firm artists who recycle and remains the priority and will
1:00 4:10 7:10
the Quiet GirL C 1:00 4:30 7:40 construction makes them a supply hard-back seats. be at the heart of any deci-
tehrAnto tWo Friends
2:55 7:20 1:20 7:20 popular perch for lounging. Grade: B+ sion the District Attorney
1:10 4:10 7:10
Grade: B makes on how best to pro-
NEWHALL screAm Vi E
22500 Lyons Ave. Santa Clarita PAciFiction 1:10 4:10 7:10 For his solo show at ceed.”
A Good Person E 4:00 PM INTO THE WOOD MOCA, L.A. painter Henry
CLAREMONT
1:15 4:15 7:20 450 W. 2nd Street Claremont As new museums in- Taylor fabricated his own
John Wick: chAPter 4 E return to seouL E my neiGhbor totoro creasingly turn to concrete benches — and they resem-
12:50 4:00 7:30 35th AnniVersAry - as a gallery material, I find ble giant blocks of govern-
4:20 PM studio GhibLi Fest 2023 A
the Lost kinG C myself comforted by spaces ment cheese. Their yellow-
7:00 PM
1:30 7:10 rendered in warm wood. I orange hue and rubbery
suzhou riVer I John Wick: chAPter 4 E
the schooL oF mAGicAL
12:50 4:00 7:30 am therefore a fan of the texture scream commodity
AnimALs B 7:40 PM hexagonal wooden bench food, and within them he
12:55 5:20 the Lost kinG C
1:10 PM (even if it’s hard) before the has embedded objects such
inside E A diFFicuLt LiFe (unA VitA
moVinG on E stylized pipe organ screen as screws, scraps of paper
4:20 PM
diFFiciLe) I 4:30 PM by Sargent Claude Johnson and afro picks. This is less a
moVinG on E shAzAm! Fury oF the
3:10 7:35 1:00 7:30 (1888-1967) in the Virginia seat than a sculpture you sit
Gods C Steele Scott Galleries of on, one that evokes the
shAzAm! Fury oF the 1:00 4:00 7:00
Gods C American Art at the Hunt- social and economic chasms
APe Vs. mechA APe screAm Vi E
1:00 4:30 7:40 ington Library, Art Muse- in U.S. society — a good spot
4:30 PM 1:10 4:10 7:10
65 C oPus coPe I um, and Botanical Gardens. to meditate on who our
12:50 3:10 5:25 7:40 1:00 PM Here, the bench’s form and finest institutions embrace Kate Russell
oPus coPe I
chAmPions C stAticA material pair handsomely and who they leave out. PROSECUTOR Mary
1:00 4:00 7:00 1:00 PM 1:20 4:20 7:20 with the carved redwood Grade: A Carmack-Altwies.
NON-STANDARD PRICING FOR 3/28/2023 ONLY
LAT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
ALBUM REVIEW
The depths of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ocean’
On her self-referential
new album, the singer
delivers a staggering
blend of the profound
and the vernacular.
MIKAEL WOOD
POP MUSIC CRITIC
Lana Del Rey’s sprawling
and obsessive new LP —
“the ninth studio album,” as
its cover describes it in a
flourish of self-mythologiz-
ing graphic design — is the
one where this great Ameri-
can collage artist begins
cut-and-pasting herself.
Known since she
emerged over a decade ago
for alluding to or borrowing
from the music of Lou Reed,
Nancy Sinatra, Joni Mitch-
ell and the Beach Boys,
among countless others,
Del Rey here quotes a line
from her own song “Cinna-
mon Girl” and repurposes a
string arrangement from
her “Norman F— Rockwell”
before concluding the
record with a luscious-
spooky dub-trap remake of
2019’s “Venice Bitch,” in
which she rhymes “Get
high” with “Never die” and
“Drop acid” with “Lake
Placid.”
And why not? At age 37,
Del Rey has ascended to a
level of prestige that for her
younger inheritors — in-
cluding famous fans like Bil-
lie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo
— more or less matches the
esteem in which she holds
those in her pantheon.
What’s more, she’s almost
equally revered by musi-
cians from the generation
before hers: Stevie Nicks,
who appeared on Del Rey’s
2017 “Lust for Life”; Cat
Power, who’s covered her
“White Mustang”; and
Courtney Love, who re-
cently told Marc Maron that
Del Rey and Kurt Cobain
are “the only two true musi-
cal geniuses I’ve ever
known.”
Consider that as the new
album arrives — it’s called
“Did You Know That
There’s a Tunnel Under
Ocean Blvd,” in reference to
MARIO AGUILAR
Artist & Comedian
Saturday, April 22
JORDAN MOBLO
Jordy’s Book Club
Saturday, April 22
PRESENTING SPONSOR
a long-forgotten under-
ground passageway in Long
Beach — Del Rey’s 2012
major-label debut, “Born to
Die,” is in its 475th week on
the Billboard 200, one indi-
cation of a cultural endur-
ance few envisioned back
when that album was inspir-
ing skeptical takes about
her artistic authenticity.
And yet the self-canoniz-
ing she undertakes on
“Ocean Blvd” isn’t merely a
flex (though she does do a
bit of told-you-so-ing re-
garding those old criticisms,
as when she sings sarcasti-
cally of “big men behind the
scenes sewing Frankenstein
black dreams into my
songs”). Rather, her sum-
moning of Lanas past is a
way to frame a work of deter-
mined introspection on
which she’s taking stock of
the social and emotional
forces that shaped her ideas
about family, marriage, art,
motherhood, sex, celebrity
and death — “the stuff that’s
at the very heart of things,”
as she puts it in “Sweet.”
Indeed, the scope of her
examination is so broad
that her count of nine studio
LPs includes a little-heard
2010 indie project released
under the name Lana Del
Ray (note the slightly differ-
ent spelling); “Ocean
Blvd’s” opener, “The
Grants,” points back even
farther, to her upbringing in
Lake Placid, N.Y., as Eliza-
beth Grant.
“My pastor told me when
you leave, all you take is your
memory,” she sings,
haunted yet blissed out,
over churchy piano chords,
“And I’m gonna take mine of
you with me.”
Del Rey isn’t the only
A-list pop star engaging in
this type of personal history.
“Endless Summer Vaca-
tion,” by another of her ad-
mirers, Miley Cyrus, has a
similar my-back-pages en-
ergy, while Taylor Swift —
who recruited Del Rey for a
cameo on last year’s “Mid-
nights” and with whom she
shares a key studio collabo-
rator in Jack Antonoff — just
launched a blockbuster sta-
dium tour built to showcase
a succession of former
selves.
AUTHORS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS
“A Living Remedy: A Memoir”
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LANA DEL REY is revered by fellow musicians from Billie Eilish to Stevie Nicks.
But Del Rey’s thinking,
and by extension her song-
writing, is the deepest and
most penetrating. On “The
Grants,” she ponders the
comforts and obligations of
being a daughter and a sis-
ter; “Fingertips” recalls the
tragic deaths of an uncle
and a high school crush and
explores the singer’s trou-
bled relationship with her
mother. Del Rey muses on
romance in “Let the Light
In,” a country-ish duet with
Father John Misty, and the
tender “Margaret,” which
she wrote about Antonoff ’s
engagement to actor Mar-
garet Qualley.
“A&W,” whose title ab-
breviates “American whore”
even as it knowingly evokes
the nostalgic fast-food
chain, takes up Del Rey’s
complicated performance of
gender with startling can-
NICOLE CHUNG
Author of
Saturday, April 22
Author of
Sunday, April 23
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about volunteer opportunities.
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dor: “If I told you that I was
raped, do you really think
that anybody would think I
didn’t ask for it?”
Line by line, her lyrics de-
liver a staggering blend of
the profound and the ver-
nacular, as in “Candy
Necklace,” where she’s “sit-
ting on the sofa, super-sui-
cidal / Hate to say the word,
but, baby, hand on the
Bible, I do.” Savor the intri-
cate rhythms in those
words! And behold her skill
as a phrase-maker: “You’re
so funny, I wish I could
skinny-dip inside your
mind,” she tells somebody
in “Fishtail”; “I’m a different
kind of woman,” she de-
clares in “Sweet,” “If you
want some basic bitch, go to
the Beverly Center and find
her.”
At 77 minutes in length,
“Ocean Blvd” risks tiring
SAEED JONES
Author of
“Alive at the End of the World”
Sunday, April 23
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“Maybe We’ll Make It:
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Sunday, April 23
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the listener’s ear, which is
why Del Rey and her co-pro-
ducers — Antonoff along
with Drew Erickson, Zach
Dawes and Mike Hermosa
— keep folding unexpected
sounds and textures into
the album’s largely piano-
based arrangements. “The
Grants” has lush gospel-
choir background vocals;
“Fishtail” has squirmy
synths reminiscent of those
on Swift’s “Midnights”;
“Peppers” and “Taco Truck
x VB” have the kind of bleary
hip-hop beats that Del Rey
mostly stayed away from on
the folkier albums that fol-
lowed “Lust for Life.”
But even at its most
stripped-down, as on “Fin-
gertips” and the desperately
pretty “Paris, Texas,” Del
Rey’s richly expressive sing-
ing holds your attention in
part because you’re never
IDINA MENZEL &
CARA MENTZEL
Authors of “Loud Mouse”
Sunday, April 23
ANGIE THOMAS
Author of “Nic Blake and the
Remarkables: The Manifestor
Prophecy” and “The Hate U Give”
Sunday, April 23
GIFTING PARTNER
E3
Interscope Records
Lana Del Rey
“Did You Know That
There’s a Tunnel Under
Ocean Blvd”
Interscope, Polydor
quite sure where her slowly
unwinding melodies will go.
In a recent chat with Eilish
in Interview magazine, Del
Rey described her approach
on “Ocean Blvd” as
“straight vibing,” and the
result can remind you of the
way SZA illuminates a mys-
terious interior world on
“SOS.”
Del Rey’s inward focus
doesn’t mean she’s stopped
using her music to map the
dense web of connections
that is life in the digital era.
These songs are bursting
with samples and suggesti-
ons and shoutouts: On
“Peppers,” she and her
boyfriend are listening to
the Red Hot Chili Peppers
and dancing to the surf-
rock classic “Wipe Out,”
while “Kintsugi” nods to
Leonard Cohen’s famous
line about the light getting
in through a crack in every-
thing.
Del Rey herself doesn’t
even sing on “Judah Smith
Interlude,” a 4 ½-minute ex-
cerpt from a sermon by the
controversial pastor to the
stars who also counts Justin
Bieber among his flock.
Yet the way Del Rey pre-
sents it, as an apparent
voice recording captured on
her phone, we’re hearing
Smith not at the pulpit but
from what sounds like a pew
at his megachurch; she
shifts in her seat, murmurs
in assent, laughs now and
then whether or not Smith
was making a joke. He’s got
the mic, but the moment is
hers.
PRIZE PRESENTER
E4 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
SUDOKU
KENKEN
Every box will contain a number; numbers depend on the size of the grid. For a 6x6
puzzle, use Nos. 1-6. Do not repeat a number in any row or column. The numbers in each
heavily outlined set of squares must combine to produce the target number found in the
top left corner of the cage using the mathematical operation indicated. A number can be
repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.
HOROSCOPE
By Holiday Mathis
Aries (March 21-April 19):
Ensure success by setting
yourself up for it. The action
you need to take is some-
thing small that you’ve over-
looked. Momentum builds
as you get small things right.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): You’ll get into the flow of
doing what needs to be done
and serving the needs of
your team, and for a while
nothing else seems to exist.
Gemini (May 21-June 21):
You’ll dance around big
questions and delve into ex-
istential topics, if not with
others then in your own
thought processes.
Cancer (June 22-July 22):
Media offers experiences be-
yond what seems possible in
real life. You’ll expand your
potential as you model your-
self in some small way after a
character you admire.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): It’s
time to achieve a higher
understanding of your cir-
CROSSWORD
Edited By Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis
By Tim D’Alfonso
ACROSS
1 Hotel amenity that may
require a password
5 Put up with
11 More, in Spanish
14 Playmates
15 Negative campaign
message?
16 Molecule in some vac-
cines
17 Nondigital means of
telling time
19 Plum’s center
20 Bar bill
21 Southeast Asian lan-
guage
22 __ Valley: Reagan
Library site
23 Takeout option with egg
rolls
27 Tool for opening wood-
en crates
29 Display after a poker
player’s call
31 “Star Trek Beyond”
actor John
32 Small vortex
33 Pigpen
34 Breathe heavily
36 Place for a peel
38 Common promise from
a procrastinator
42 MMA org.
45 Stately trees
48 Be nosy
49 Appreciation at a live
performance
54 Naval officer
55 Onion kin
56 Snoozes
57 Milk source
59 Sault __ Marie
60 Brief “Oversharing!”
61 Quick polling method,
and what 17-, 29-, and
49-Across all are, in dif-
ferent ways
66 Play it by __
67 Taken from above, as
photos
68 Early color TVs
69 Unenviable grade
70 Harden into bone
71 Email folder
DOWN
1 43-Down job-creating
program
2 Bond creator Fleming
3 __ Building: Manhattan
landmark named for its
triangular shape
4 Kitchen prep spot
cumstances, how they came
to be and what your part is in
this drama, or comedy.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Go where you have stiff com-
petition. You’ll be inspired
by how others are achieving
results and you’ll also be in-
spirational to others.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23):
Find out the intentions of
others. Poke around. Be
skeptical of obviously re-
hearsed pitches or unearned
compliments.
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21):
You’re brave. First, you’ll act
like you have confidence in
your skills, and then you’ll
use them enough to actually
become confident.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-
Dec. 21): Empiricism is the
philosophical tenet that
keeps you on track today.
Stick with what works in
practice over theory.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.
19): You will transcend hu-
man bias and take up a
cause for other beings.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.
5 Slugger’s stat
6 Archery device
7 Lang. of Florence
8 Separate
9 Concert bonuses
10 Play-__: kids’ clay
11 Onetime Dr Pepper
rival
12 Cat or rat
13 Political humor, often
18 Beyond plump
22 Influences
23 Letters on a Soviet uni-
form
24 “Very funny”
25 Lawn roll
26 Conclusions
28 Baseball Hall of Famer
Mel
30 Far from laid-back
35 North African capital
37 Swiss peaks
39 Wealth
40 “... __ it seems”
41 Russian “no”
43 New Deal president’s
initials
44 Team instructors
46 Speedometer abbr.
47 Drastically lower, as
prices
COMICS
3/28/23
18): As gardeners know, if
you’re too aggressive with
fragile roots, you can kill the
system. To get to the bottom
of the problem, dig gently.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March
20): Knowing people can al-
ways change their minds,
you seize their moment of in-
terest in you. You’ll make a
decision quickly.
Today’s birthday
(March 28): Welcome to your
year of self-discovery. Just
when you think you know
what you like, the universe
conspires to offer you new
delights. You’ll travel to pur-
sue interests. A circle of
friends opens to include you.
More highlights: an adjust-
ment of power structures,
upgrades in transportation
and the mastery of a much-
needed skill. Libra and Cap-
ricorn adore you. Your lucky
numbers: 8, 30, 3, 13 and 29.
Mathis writes her column
for Creators Syndicate Inc.
The horoscope should be
read for entertainment.
© 2023 Tribune Content Agency
49 __ and raved
50 Whoopi’s “Ghost” role
51 Ballpark figure?
52 Elevator stops
53 Chapel fixtures
58 Conflict during
43-Down’s presidency,
briefly
61 __ Paulo, Brazil
62 Clumsy sort
63 Go by plane
64 Levy of “Schitt’s Creek”
65 Bygone jet, for short
ANSWER TO
PREVIOUS PUZZLE
3/28/23
BRIDGE
By Frank Stewart
In today’s deal (reported
by Barry Rigal) from the Life
Master Pairs at the ACBL
Fall Championships, East
had options at his first turn
to bid and chose a preem-
ptive lift to three spades. He
failed to shut out South, who
came in with four diamonds
(a lusty 3NT was possible)
and was raised.
West led his singleton
club: deuce, queen, ace.
South drew trumps and next
led the jack of hearts,
putting up dummy’s ace
when West played low. Fine
so far; but then declarer
tried a spade to his king, He
lost two spades and later a
club. Down one.
It’s sad to see this quality
of play in an event for Life
Masters. After South takes
ASK AMY
Masked for good reason
Dear Amy: I’m writing in
response to “E.D.,” who
wrote that the pandemic has
changed her. I found your
advice for her to engage in
her cultural interests of mu-
sic and art useful, but I
wanted to offer my perspec-
tive, as someone who wishes
desperately that I could do
these things without consid-
ering my personal risk.
I’m 65, a physician with
an immune deficiency, and I
must consider my risk every
day. As infectious disease
specialist Michael Oster-
holm says, we’re still in the
“high plains plateau” of the
pandemic, where real people
are dying of COVID daily.
As the risk is narrowed to
older people and those with
medical issues, it’s reason-
able for lower-risk people to
move on. But those of us still
concerned about a virus that
could harm or kill us are
more isolated.
I’d love to move freely and
not feel so judged when I
wear a mask. And as masks
are now optional in health-
care settings, per CDC guid-
ance, there are really no pub-
lic spaces that are risk-free
for me at this point.
I’ve talked to my physi-
cians and a psychologist
about this, but I’m strug-
gling. I appreciate my
friends who see my need and
don’t reject me.
FAMILY CIRCUS By Bil Keane
REPLY ALL LITE By Donna Lewis
BLISS By Harry Bliss
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
the ace of hearts, he has an
extra chance by cashing the
king and ruffing a heart. The
fall of East’s queen makes
dummy’s 10 high for the 11th
trick.
When I became a Life
Master in 1972, the title had
prestige. But now with mas-
terpoint inflation plus the
proliferation of events, play-
ers can achieve LM ranking
without ever playing in
tough competition.
You hold: ♠ K 7 ♥ J 4
♦ A K 9 7 5 2 ♣ A J 8. You open
one diamond, your partner
responds one spade, you
jump to three diamonds and
he bids three hearts. You try
3NT. Partner goes to four
diamonds. What do you say?
Answer: Partner has a
good hand with shortness in
clubs. Since your ace of clubs
is a good card and your king
of spades may fill in part-
Compassion, acceptance
and tolerance are greatly ap-
preciated.
There are different reali-
ties, and people are on their
own to assess their risk and
risk tolerance at this point.
It’s very stressful.
JN, M.D.
Dear JN: Thank you for re-
minding us that for many,
the pandemic is not over.
I cannot fathom wonder-
ing about or judging any-
one’s choice to wear a mask.
In addition to the real
and practical medical rea-
sons, it’s a free country, folks!
At this year’s Oscars, Jes-
sica Chastain was seen
wearing a mask. Her rea-
son? She is appearing on
Broadway, and she doesn’t
want to get sick! (Masks not
only help to protect against
the virus causing COVID
but also protect against
other airborne viruses.)
There was an outpouring
of support on social media
for her, with many who still
need to mask noting her ex-
ample made them feel less
alone. I wish you the same.
Dear Amy: I have a niece,
“Jane,” whom I love. I’ve
been very supportive of her
— practically, emotionally
and financially.
Around five years ago,
Jane came to me with an
DENNIS THE MENACE By Hank Ketcham
MARMADUKE By Brad & Paul Anderson
SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly
ner’s long suit, slam is likely.
Cue-bid five clubs or just
jump to six diamonds.
West dealer
Both sides vulnerable
NORTH
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♥ A K 10 6
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WEST EAST
♠AQJ952 ♠ 10 8
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♦ J 10 ♦Q
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SOUTH
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WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
2♠ Pass 3♠ 4♦
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Opening lead — ♣ 7
Tribune Content Agency
emergency need for several
thousand dollars. I didn’t
hesitate to give it to her, and
she was extremely grateful.
Over the years I’ve given
her smaller sums (without
her asking) when I’ve had
the sense that she was finan-
cially on the edge. Again, she
has always been grateful.
I’ve decided not to con-
tinue to do this. I know she
can make it on her own. I also
recognize that she is making
choices that keep her life-
style where it is. If she
wanted to live in a higher in-
come bracket, I know she’s
capable of getting there.
Just as I’d decided this,
she asked for financial help
for the down payment on a
house. I support home own-
ership for her and know she
can handle it, responsibly.
I can afford to do this, but
I’m wondering if I should.
Your thoughts?
Devoted Aunt
Dear Aunt: If you do this,
you might set it up as a long-
term loan, to be repaid if (or
when) she sells the house.
Get the terms in writing.
If she comes to you for a
bailout, you can tell yourself
(and her) that the well is dry
until the loan is repaid.
Email questions to Amy
Dickinson at askamy@
amydickinson.com.
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23 E5

COMICS

LA CUCARACHA By Lalo Alcaraz PICKLES By Brian Crane

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CANDORVILLE By Darrin Bell CRANKSHAFT By Tom Batiuk & Chuck Ayers

HALF FULL By Maria Scrivan

JUMP START By Robb Armstrong

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MACANUDO By Liniers

LIO By Mark Tatulli BLONDIE By Dean Young & John Marshall

ZITS By Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman BETWEEN FRIENDS By Sandra Bell-Lundy

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SIX CHIX By Bianca Xunise DRABBLE By Kevin Fagan

FRAZZ By Jef Mallett MUTTS By Patrick McDonnell

NON SEQUITUR By Wiley PEANUTS By Charles M. Schulz

E6 T U E S DAY , M A R C H 2 8 , 2 0 23
‘John Wick 4’s’ triple threat
[‘John Wick 4,’ from E1]
helski tapped a bounty of top
international action stars to
complicate his antihero’s
journey.
Many of the 169-minute
sequel’s best sequences,
however, belong to a trio of
faces who are new to the fran-
chise — some of whom could
return to the ever-expanding
Wick-verse.
HIROYUKI SANADA AS
SHIMAZU KOJI
Japanese screen legend
Hiroyuki Sanada was ini-
tially set to reunite with his
“47 Ronin” co-star Reeves in
“John Wick: Chapter 3 —
Parabellum” but had to drop
out due to a training injury. A
few years later, Stahelski
called about a new role that
had been written just for him:
Shimazu Koji, the principled
owner of the Osaka Conti-
nental, who shares a deep
and loyal brotherhood with
John Wick.
“I said, ‘Oh my goodness
— he gave me another
chance,’ ” Sanada recalled.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I will see you on
set.’ ”
Sanada, 62, brings a soul-
ful presence to Koji, the mor-
al center of “Chapter 4,” who
puts his life and his neon-
soaked luxury hotel on the
line to defy the cruel wrath of
the High Table. “Chad asked
me to carry the samurai spir-
it in Koji,” said Sanada — and
because of that code, Koji
can’t refuse helping his old
pal.
He also poured his off-
screen friendship with
Reeves into their onscreen
chemistry. “I love the scene
on the rooftop where we’re
drinking whiskey, talking to
each other. It’s the only quiet
scene in the movie,” he said.
“It was like we were talking in
real life. Sometimes I forgot
the camera was there.”
Tokyo-born Sanada, who
began acting at the age of 5,
developed a love for Europe-
an and Hollywood movies —
“musicals, action, fantasy,
everything” — and studied
dance, singing and martial
arts before joining mentor
Sonny Chiba’s famed Japan
Action Club at 13.
Established as a film star
in Japan and Hong Kong, he
tested his skills by starring in
the Royal Shakespeare Com-
pany’s 1999 production of
A blurry picture
for CBS pact
[CBS, from E1]
most prominent agreement
ever hatched between a ma-
jor television studio and an
organization outside Holly-
wood to create entertain-
ment content.
“An important way to di-
versify and grow our story-
telling is to expand our hori-
zons beyond the traditional
studio-producer system,”
CBS Entertainment Group
President George Cheeks
said in a statement at the
start of the pact. “There is no
better partner than the
NAACP — the preeminent
civil rights organization in
our country — to help us find,
develop and tell these inclu-
sive stories.”
The announcement pri-
vately bewildered a number
of industry executives, par-
ticularly those familiar with
the sector’s diversity efforts:
How could a TV studio work
with a civil rights group?
they recall asking. What
would the content look like —
would there be dramas, com-
edies, historical specials?
Was this a serious endeavor
or just a declaration geared
to generate positive publicity
for CBS, whose record on di-
versity has been uneven?
“If you’re going to an-
nounce a bold deal like that,
there is a danger if people
don’t see great results,” said
one TV executive who re-
quested anonymity in order
to speak candidly about an-
other network’s decision-
making. “It’s a real risk.”
As the three-year anni-
versary of Floyd’s death ap-
proaches, optimism contin-
ues to fuel the unusual pair-
ing: Several intriguing proj-
ects have been sold and are
being developed under the
CBS Studios/NAACP ban-
ner, including a reboot of the
1991 movie comedy
“Soapdish” starring Whoopi
Goldberg and a drama in-
spired by the life of a female
head of the oldest minority-
owned construction com-
pany in the country.
But despite the enthusi-
asm and ambitious slate, the
promise of the pact has
stalled: None of the projects
DONNIE YEN took on the role of Caine on the condition that he could reshape it.
HIROYUKI SANADA
returns to the franchise.
“King Lear,” which he calls
“the biggest challenge of my
life.” “I learned how difficult
mixing cultures is,” he said,
“but to respect each other,
learn about each other and
create something new that
no one’s ever seen is a very in-
teresting thing.”
It also made him more de-
termined to pursue interna-
tional projects. Soon after, he
landed his breakthrough role
opposite Tom Cruise in “The
Last Samurai.” Since then,
Sanada has appeared state-
side in everything from
“Rush Hour 3” to “Lost” to
the Marvel Cinematic Uni-
verse. He’ll next star in and
produce the FX miniseries
“Shogun,” based on the 1975
novel. “If I didn’t take a role in
Shakespeare, I wouldn’t have
a role in Hollywood,” he said.
RINA SAWAYAMA AS
AKIRA
Pop singer-songwriter
Rina Sawayama was looking
forward to a rare bit of down-
have yet made it from the
boardroom to your living
room. Of the eight projects
sold, only three are in active
development with their orig-
inal buyers, while three are
being shopped to other ven-
ues after being shelved by
their original buyers.
Two others — a CBS com-
edy starring comedian
Earthquake and a limited se-
ries for Apple TV+ about the
Little Rock Nine, a group of
Black students who enrolled
in a racially segregated Ar-
kansas high school in 1957 —
are not moving forward.
Executives involved with
the partnership continue to
be hopeful, proclaiming that
the five-year commitment
will continue. They point out
that the progress has been
heavily affected by a devel-
opment atmosphere that did
not exist when the partner-
ship was announced.
“Images are advocacy,”
said NAACP President Der-
rick Johnson. “This was the
right timing for this to hap-
pen, and the wrong timing
for this to happen. The entire
industry is in transition —
cable, broadcast, networks.”
DOWNTURN IN TV
Analysts have forecast
since late last year that the
decadelong boom on original
content is coming to a close,
as programmers cut back on
spending in a crowded enter-
tainment marketplace. Or-
ders by TV networks and
streaming platforms of origi-
nal scripts for adult dramas
and comedies dropped by
24% in the second half of
2022, according to research
firm Ampere Analysis.
Cheeks said the partner-
ship, like production ven-
tures of all sorts, has been
swept back by “a devel-
opment headwind. The de-
velopment process is ardu-
ous at the best of times.
There are shows that can be
several years in development
before they make it to being
platformed and greenlit.”
He continued: “Neither
Derrick or I realized when we
made this deal how challeng-
ing the environment would
Photographs by Murray Close Lionsgate
tion and self-expression.
Working day jobs, she saved
up to self-fund her career and
didn’t sign her first album
deal until 29. “I didn’t realize
that I wanted to be an artist,
writing my own music and
turning my experiences and
my life and my world into mu-
sic, until I was in my late
teens,” said Sawayama, 32.
Choosing the indie route
gave her space to experiment
with sounds from nu metal to
RINA SAWAYAMA New Jack Swing to U.K. ga-
makes her film debut. rage and hone her talent for
turning personal introspec-
time after writing her second tion into genre-defying
album when she got a call too dance-pop. When her 2020
intriguing to pass up: The di- debut album came out to ac-
rector of the “John Wick” claim, it announced the ar-
movies wanted to meet with rival of an audacious multi-
her — and was she free for the hyphenate who also danced,
next three months? acted in and co-directed her
“If someone had said, ‘In a own music videos.
few years’ time you’re going Fast-forward to “John
to be crawling up this really Wick 4”: Stahelski was in
big guy in a suit up the stairs prep in Berlin trying to cast
at 3 a.m., pretending to stab the role of Akira, the cautious
him, ...’ ” she said with a concierge of the Osaka Conti-
laugh, flashing back to film- nental and daughter to
ing the scene-stealing fight in Sanada’s Koji, when he fell
which her character, Akira, down a rabbit hole of
dagger-picks her way up a Sawayama’s work.
much larger adversary. “It’s Music videos like “XS,” in
such a surreal moment!” which she plays a demented
Sawayama didn’t know it home shopping network
yet, but the years of hard host, and “Bad Friend,”
work she’d put into her music which sees her playing an an-
career were about to open an guished salaryman, showed
unexpected door into acting. off a chameleonic presence
Her family moved from and physicality. The director
Japan to England when she similarly cast Asia Kate Dil-
was 5, making for a tough lon in “Chapter 3” after
transition into the British watching them on an episode
school system as a non- of “Billions.” He offered
native English speaker. But Sawayama the role, inviting
in music, she found connec- her to tailor it to her instincts.
Charles Sykes Invision/AP
NurPhoto via Getty Images
CBS shelved a “Soapdish” reboot with Whoopi Gold-
berg, but a Martin Lawrence show is in the works.
become. Streamers are now val network, who requested
reconfiguring and redirect- anonymity to discuss a com-
ing their programming fil- petitor candidly. “It’s not
ters on the amount of shows easy out there to sell content,
they want to buy. Cable is so they have nothing to feel
slowly moving away from bad about. What they’ve
scripted.” done already is noteworthy.”
Sheila Ducksworth, who
was hired in October 2020 to PART OF A TREND
head up the partnership, The CBS Studios/
said she is determined to NAACP deal was not the only
overcome the hurdles. studio-activist partnership
“Everyone is aware of the to follow the Floyd killing.
state of TV these days with Black Lives Matter co-
the cutbacks and all of that, founder Patrisse Cullors in
but I always feel that in due October 2020 signed an over-
time and the time it’s sup- all “multi-year and far-reach-
posed to happen, it will,” said ing” deal with Warner Bros.
Ducksworth, who previously Television Group to develop
was head of scripted televi- scripted and unscripted se-
sion and production for Will ries, as well as animated and
Packer Media. “We’re con- kids shows. (Seven months
stantly feeding these proj- after the announcement,
ects, looking to see how we which also called for amplifi-
can get them to where we cation of work by the move-
want in pushing them over ment, Cullors resigned from
the finish line. We’re very pro- her leadership role at Black
active, and every day is like a Lives Matter Global Network
new day.” Foundation amid a firestorm
While some industry over her real estate holdings
skepticism remains, others — which Cullors has de-
have praised what the ban- scribed as a conservative
ner has accomplished so far: smear campaign — and criti-
“If this group has already cism of the organization’s
sold all these properties, handling of donor contrib-
they are doing really, really utions.)
well,” said one diversity and In 2021, Tarana Burke,
inclusion executive from a ri- founder of the #MeToo
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
She took on months of
training to prepare for her
film debut, working with
Reeves and Sanada. Even so,
Stahelski was prepared to
shoot around Sawayama’s
abilities should complex ac-
tion sequences be too tricky.
He didn’t need to worry —
within the first week she’d
memorized a fight scene.
“From all the dance train-
ing and live shows, stress
does not get to Rina,” Stahel-
ski said, describing the train-
ing run that showed him
what she could do. “She’s
knocking out the bow and ar-
row, she’s doing a knee slide,
she does two judo throws. I
was like, ‘We’re good.’ ”
Sawayama makes an im-
pressive debut as the lithe
and lethal Akira is forced into
action, but her performance
also is grounded in conflicted
emotion, torn between her fa-
ther’s wishes and her worry
for him as he helps John Wick.
She was glad that Akira, one
of the few female characters
in the franchise, wasn’t sexu-
alized but given her own per-
spective and agenda.
“It’s very clear to the audi-
ence whether she actually
wants to be in this world or
not. I can tell the story and I
don’t have to worry about
how I’m being portrayed, or
how I’m portraying Asian
people,” said Sawayama,
who’s eager to reprise her role
in the future. “I loved that. It
wasn’t a stereotype. It was a
real person. And I wouldn’t
have said yes if it wasn’t.”
DONNIE YEN AS CAINE
“John Wick 4’s” not-so-se-
cret weapon is the biggest ac-
tion star to join the franchise:
Hong Kong cinema icon Don-
nie Yen.
As the blind assassin
Caine, another old friend and
antagonist of Wick’s maybe-
final chapter, he fills the
screen with cool wit and le-
thal grace — a deadly Fred
Astaire with a bladed walking
stick who steals the movie
each time he glides onscreen.
For lifelong martial-arts-
and action-obsessive Stahel-
ski, asking the “Ip Man” and
“Once Upon a Time in China
II” star to join the “John Wick”
universe was intimidating.
One of Asia’s most successful
crossover stars, seen in
“Rogue One” and “Mulan,”
actor-producer-director Yen
had turned down plenty of
Hollywood roles before.
“I’m asking a bit of a life
commitment, to put his life
on hold for me, and it’s not a
‘Donnie Yen movie,’ ” said
movement, and her Field/
House Productions partner
Mervyn Marcano signed a
deal with CBS Studios to
produce scripted, unscripted
and documentary projects.
The groundwork for the
agreement between CBS
Television Studios and the
NAACP was laid before the
summer of 2020. Soon after
Cheeks was named head of
the CBS Entertainment
Group in January of that
year, he announced several
measures to demonstrate his
seriousness about making
diversity and inclusion a pri-
ority. For one, he mandated
that 50% of the casts on un-
scripted shows such as “Sur-
vivor” and “Big Brother”
must be BIPOC (Black, In-
digenous and people of col-
or).
That order came after
years of criticism about “Big
Brother,” which is contin-
ually accused of racism and
the targeting of minority con-
testants. Although racial
conflicts between the partici-
pants have not disappeared,
the last two seasons have
ended with the crowning of
Black winners, the first since
the series premiered in 2000.
Given her extensive expe-
rience and contacts within
creative circles, Cheeks said,
the hiring of Ducksworth to
head up the CBS/NAACP
partnership would help “cre-
ate and distribute truly
groundbreaking content
that speaks to the Black ex-
perience.”
Asked what shows pro-
duced under the banner
would look like, Ducksworth
said, “When we meet with
people, we tell them we’re
looking for things that are
entertaining, stories that
mean and say something.
That could mean straight-up
drama, horror, science fic-
tion, thriller, animation.
There’s really nothing we
would not do or categorically
shut off. We’re open to any-
thing; it depends on the
story.”
Johnson said the NAACP
is deeply involved in the part-
nership, and that he is in con-
stant contact with Cheeks
and Ducksworth: “We work
directly with Sheila in mak-
ing and evaluating pitches,
sharing content, adding our
input and being a part of the
larger conversation.”
IN THE PIPELINE
Ducksworth last January
announced the partnership
Stahelski. “We’ve invited him
as a guest to our world. It was
a bit daunting.”
Yen, 59, only agreed if he
could reshape the role, which
Stahelski admits had been
written with “placeholder”
details. “The name was
Shang or Chang,” Yen told
GQ. “Why can’t he have a nor-
mal name?” Stahelski appre-
ciated the blunt honesty:
“Donnie got the pages and
said, ‘I don’t like the charac-
ter. But I want to be in it. You
want to work?’ ”
Yen found intriguing ways
for his character to mirror
Wick. “He said, ‘John Wick’s
cool. I want to be cool. I want
to make this something that
you and I haven’t seen,’ ” said
Stahelski. “He gave me a
great education of what Chi-
nese audiences like, or what
the Asian community might
prefer more than just a ste-
reotypical kind of role.”
They arrived at a new
name, Caine, with its layers of
meaning: as a brother in
arms to Wick’s Abel; as a nod
to David Carradine’s “Kung
Fu” wanderer — and recla-
mation of Bruce Lee’s re-
ported exclusion from the
role; and in the literal sense,
the personification of his
epee-like weapon of choice.
Yen sent the director an
image of Bruce Lee in a
skinny tie and suit, inspiring
Caine’s sleek look. “We went
off on this riff about Chow
Yun-fat and how we both love
John Woo and thought,
‘We’ve gotta be as cool as
Chow Yun-fat,’ ” said Stahel-
ski. “If John looks that cool,
Caine’s got to look that cool.”
Yen, whose latest film as
director and star, “Sakra,” is
also due out this year,
brought his own ideas to
Caine’s fighting style, folding
fencing into his action vocab-
ulary. And for his most emo-
tional scene, in which he du-
els with the wounded Koji, he
and Sanada collaborated to
create their own character-
driven choreography. “We
tried to let the audience see:
What are they thinking?
What are they feeling? Why
do they have to fight?” said
Sanada.
“That’s why I love the
‘John Wicks’ so much — it’s
this nexus, this fantasyland,
where you can have the leg-
end of Hiroyuki Sanada, you
can have the legend of Don-
nie Yen, and put them to-
gether to come up with some-
thing that hasn’t been done,”
said Stahelski. “If 14-year-old
me could see that, he’d be
like, ‘Ahhhh!’ ”
had sold five projects to vari-
ous platforms. The most
noteworthy was “Soapdish,”
a reboot of the film that
starred Goldberg, Sally Field
and Kevin Kline, which was
sold to Paramount+. The
update would have centered
around Goldberg’s charac-
ter, Rose Schwartz, the head
writer of a hit soap opera.
Goldberg also was listed as
an executive producer along
with writer Jennie Snyder
Urman (“Jane the Virgin”).
“The show would focus on
Rose and her daughters, who
were mentioned in the movie
but never seen,” Ducksworth
said. “It would be the nexus
of an important story that
has yet to be told.”
Although Ducksworth
said at that time that the
“project is going very
well,” the show ultimately
was dropped by the streamer
and is being shopped else-
where.
Projects still in active de-
velopment with their origi-
nal buyers include:
—“The Pact,” a drama in-
spired by a true story about
three childhood friends from
inner-city Newark, N.J., who
become doctors and reunite
to open a medical center in
their community. CBS has
opened a writers room for
the potential series.
— “The Finest” (a.k.a. un-
titled Katrina Brownlee proj-
ect), inspired by the life of
NYPD homicide detective
Brownlee. CBS has ordered
additional scripts.
— “Construction,” a dra-
ma for Paramount+ inspired
by the life of Cheryl McKis-
sack, fifth-generation owner
of the oldest minority- and
woman-owned construction
company in America. The se-
ries is described as “ ‘Billions’
meets ‘Succession’ meets
‘Dynasty.’ ”
— “Carver Law,” a series
about a charismatic bache-
lor and his “judicious legal
savant twin sister working
together in their family’s his-
toric, Black-owned law firm,”
with star Martin Lawrence
attached.
Cheeks said the deal with
the NAACP will be intact for
at least five years: “For me,
the endgame is not just get-
ting a show on the air or on a
platform. It’s about devel-
oping projects that really are
at the right home and have
the best shot at enduring
success. Putting a show on
the air and not having it suc-
ceed is not a win.”