$3.66 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER © 2023 FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023 latimes.

com

State
power
grid
preps
for heat
Officials hope more
battery storage and
backup resources will
prevent blackouts.
By Grace Toohey

It’s a summertime se-

quence that’s become all too
familiar in California: Ex-
treme heat forces air condi-
tioners into overdrive, which
pushes the state’s power
grid to the brink.
In August 2020, a major
heat event fueled by the cli-
mate crisis forced some of
the state’s first rotating
power outages in decades, as
Mario Tama Getty Images the ongoing transition to
PEOPLE WORK on a church in Phoenix, which has notched at least 27 consecutive days of temperatures 110 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. green energy lagged behind
demand. Last September,
Californians narrowly

Biden announces plan to

avoided blackouts as a
record-breaking heat wave

MORE broiled almost every corner

of the state for days.
Now, California is trying

help adapt to temperatures

to avoid a repeat this sum-

CHARGES mer as global warming

pushes temperatures higher
for longer stretches of time.

FILED Measures include protections for people working outside and

As an unrelenting heat
wave across the West nears
the start of its second
month, officials said the

AGAINST improvements to forecasting, water storage and climate resilience risks remain high. But they
are hopeful they have new
tools at their disposal, in-

TRUMP By Courtney Subramanian

Former president is
accused of trying to
delete video related
to classified records.
By Sarah D. Wire
WASHINGTON — For-
mer President Trump faces
additional charges in the
federal case related to his
handling of classified docu-
ments, with a superseding
WASHINGTON — As millions of
people in California, the Southwest
and across the country endured
dangerously hot conditions Thurs-
day, President Biden unveiled new
measures to help Americans adapt
to extreme temperatures.
July is likely to be the hottest
month ever recorded on the planet,
the United Nations announced
Thursday, citing data from its World
Meteorological Organization.
In Phoenix, which is on track to
become the first major American
city to average over 100 degrees for
an entire month, some residents are
suffering pavement burns from
sidewalks. The city has notched at
least 27 consecutive days of temper-
atures 110 degrees Fahrenheit or
higher.
“I don’t think anybody can deny
the impact of climate change any-
more,” Biden said as he sheltered
from Washington’s high-90s tem-
peratures in an air-conditioned
soundstage near the White House.
“Even those who deny we’re in the
midst of a climate crisis can’t deny
the impact extreme heat is having
on Americans.”
Biden announced plans to ask
federal regulators to step up en-
forcement of heat-safety measures
to better protect construction work-
ers, farmers and other laborers who
are exposed to sweltering tempera-
tures. His administration will also
spend $159 million from his infra-
structure law and his climate and
drug-pricing package to develop
better weather forecasting and bol-
ster water storage and climate resil-
ience in California, Colorado and
Washington state, he said.
But Biden’s actions Thursday
were limited in scope and aimed at
helping Americans adapt to ex-
treme heat. Preventing extreme
heat from becoming more common
[See Biden, A7]
cluding substantial growth
in battery storage, increased
hydropower thanks to his-
toric winter rains and
storms, and backup re-
sources available through
contingency plans.
“We’re feeling more confi-
dent in [California Inde-
pendent Service Op-
erator’s] ability to get
through the summer, and
more resources are getting
added to the grid,” said Ric
O’Connell, executive direc-
tor of GridLab, a nonprofit
focused on power grid trans-
[See Blackouts, A7]

Refugees
indictment filed Thursday ANALYSIS
in a Florida federal court al-

Is mayor
leging that he tried to de-
stroy surveillance video at
his Mar-a-Lago estate last
year.
Trump, his aide and co-
struggle the hero
defendant Walt Nauta, and a
new defendant, Mar-a-Lago
employee Carlos de Oliveira,
56, are charged with two new
to survive the strikes
counts of obstruction based
on allegations that they
tried to delete surveillance
in Japan need?
video at Mar-a-Lago in June
2022 after receiving a sub-
poena ordering that the vi- Amid labor shortage,
deo be turned over to special
asylum seekers who Bass has met with
counsel Jack Smith’s team.
The 60-page indictment are desperate to work studios and guild
outlines a 24-minute phone
face new crackdown. members but remains
call between Trump and De
Oliveira on June 23, 2022, the a background actor.
[See Trump, A7] By Joseph Coleman
By Julia Wick
TOKYO — Iranian asy-
lum seeker Afshin had With Hollywood’s double
hoped he’d be spending the strike soon to enter its third
San Quentin final decades of his career Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times full week and no hint of rap-
plan faces doubt contributing to a Japanese HOSPITALITY workers rally at the Hyatt Regency LAX. Taylor Swift’s Eras prochement on the horizon,
economy desperate for tour is a boon for hotels, and workers want her to withhold the bounty for now. talk is increasingly turning
Critics say Gov. Gavin workers. to what role — if any — Los
Newsom’s proposal to

Hotel workers ask Swift

overhaul the prison is
too short on detail.
CALIFORNIA, B1
Instead, the former con- Angeles Mayor Karen Bass
struction worker has been could play in resolving the
sidelined from Japan’s disputes and getting thou-
shrinking labor force while sands of actors, writers and
battling immigration offi- others back to work.

to ‘Speak Now’ in unity

Another push
for rent control
Effort to expand ten-
ant protections quali-
fies for the ballot after
it lost twice at the
polls. CALIFORNIA, B1
Twitter’s bizarre
name change
Tech firm used to have
a viable model; now it
has a brand problem,
Brian Merchant
writes. BUSINESS, A8
Weather
Sunny and hot.
L.A. Basin: 93/68. B6
Printed with soy inks on
partially recycled paper.
cials. He has endured years
of detention.
At one point, he said, he
was saved from deportation
only because a scuffle with
officials had left his clothes
so bloody that when he ar-
rived at the airport, the air-
line refused to allow him to
board.
When he hasn’t been in
detention in recent years, he
has been banned from seek-
ing work or government sup-
port.
“It makes no sense,” said
Afshin, 57, who was a politi-
cal activist in Iran and spoke
on condition that he be iden-
tified by only his childhood
nickname to protect family
there. “They won’t let you
work, so you can’t make
money, but they also won’t
let you sign up for unemploy-
ment.”
[See Japan, A4]
Union urges the pop star to delay L.A. concerts
By Carly Olson,
That’s a boon for L.A.’s
tourism industry, which has
Suhauna Hussain been grappling with the ef-
and Helen Li fects of a rolling labor strike
this summer since contracts
Ticket prices aren’t the expired June 30, affecting
only eye-popping expense some 15,000 hotel workers.
that comes with seeing Tay- But Unite Here Local 11, the
lor Swift perform selections union representing workers
from her 10-album career on at some 60 hotels in L.A. and
the final leg of her record- Orange counties, wants to
breaking Eras tour. see Swift withhold her
With her six Los Angeles bounty until more of it can
shows drawing fans from all be shared with its members.
over the Southwest, hotels On Thursday morning,
near SoFi Stadium and L.A. hotel workers gathered
around the city are booking for a curious crossover be-
up, sending rates through tween a rally and a love letter
the roof. to Swift. Housekeepers,
front desk workers, cooks
and other hotel employees
protested in front of the Hy-
att Regency LAX, urging the
pop star to postpone her up-
coming concerts in solidari-
ty with hospitality employ-
ees, who are fighting for
higher wages while hotels
stand to profit enormously
from her visit.
Protesting workers held
printed signs referencing
the tour and Swift’s music,
urging, “Taylor, make this
your solidarity era.”
Wherever Swift touches
down, local economies
[See Swift, A9]
This is the first time
unions representing Holly-
wood writers and actors
have staged simultaneous
walkouts since 1960. The fall-
out has dealt a brutal blow to
an industry still limping out
of a pandemic and strug-
gling to reset in the age of
streaming.
Screenwriters went on
strike May 2 and SAG-
AFTRA, the 160,000-mem-
ber performers union, joined
the picket lines in mid-July,
freezing what little scripted
production was left and
painfully upping the city-
wide economic ante.
The cast of Hollywood’s
hot labor summer has been
rife with villain roles and
star-making soliloquies. But
a hero capable of leading the
guilds and studios out of ac-
rimony valley and toward a
[See Mayor, A12]
A2 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
CARROL JOHNSTON passes the spot where her home stood in the East Prairie Metis Settlement in Canada
before a fire razed it in May. Wildfire evacuations have disproportionately affected Indigenous communities.
Canadian wildfires slam Indigenous areas
By Tammy Webber
and Noah Berger
EAST PRAIRIE METIS
SETTLEMENT, Canada —
Carrol Johnston counted
her blessings as she stood on
the barren site where her
home was destroyed by a
fast-moving wildfire that
forced her to flee her north-
ern Canadian community
two months ago.
Her family escaped un-
harmed, though her beloved
cat, Missy, didn’t make it out
before a “fireball” dropped
on the house in early May.
But peony bushes passed
down from her late mother
survived and the blackened
Mayday tree planted in
memory of her longtime
partner is sending up new
shoots — hopeful signs as
she prepares to start over in
the East Prairie Metis Set-
tlement, about 240 miles
northwest of Edmonton in
Alberta province.
“I just can’t leave,” said
Johnston, 72, who shared a
home with her son and
daughter-in-law. “Why
would I want to leave such
beautiful memories?”
The worst wildfire season
in Canadian history is dis-
placing Indigenous commu-
nities from Nova Scotia to
British Columbia, blanket-
ing them in thick smoke, de-
stroying homes and forests
and threatening important
cultural activities such as
hunting, fishing and gather-
ing native plants.
Thousands of fires have
scorched more than 42,000
square miles across the
country. On Tuesday, al-
most 900 fires were burning
— most of them out of con-
trol — according to the
Canadian Interagency For-
est Fire Center website.
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L AT I M E S . C O M
PERSPECTIVES
Trump’s timid
rivals may use
Etch A Sketch
strategy later
MARK Z. BARABAK
Some things
are so obvious,
they scarcely
bear mention.
Birds fly.
Fish swim.
Politicians say
things they
hope will get
them elected.
That’s not as terrible as it
might sound.
Noah Berger Associated Press Candidates could have
the most ingenious proposal
to, say, banish poverty and
end hunger, but what good Charlie Neibergall AP
is that if they can’t win office
and at least try to imple-
ment their vision?
RON DeSANTIS won’t
call out Donald Trump.
There is, however, an Party.”
important qualitative differ- Ramer is political direc-
Fires aren’t uncommon evacuations involving al- same time, fire suppression ence between telling voters tor for the Republican Ac-
on Indigenous lands, but most 25,000 people, accord- shifts to larger communities. what they’d like to hear or countability Project, a
they’re now occurring over ing to Indigenous Services Indigenous communities dialing an issue up or down group working to depro-
such a widespread area that Canada. “really want to be leaders in depending on the audience gram members of the Cult
many more people are expe- It’s not uncommon for In- managing fires in their terri- and knowingly, calculatedly of Trump.
riencing them at the same digenous communities to tory,” including a return to telling a flat-out lie. As the 2022 midterms
time — and some for the first evacuate repeatedly, Chris- preventive burning that was Donald Trump lost the demonstrated, election
time — stoking fears of what tianson said. A recent analy- long suppressed by the gov- 2020 election. That is an denialism is a non-starter
a hotter, drier future will sis of the Canadian Wildland ernment, Christianson said. incontrovertible fact. with most voters outside the
bring, especially to commu- Fire Evacuation database The Algonquins of Barri- And yet for many Repub- MAGA minority. The GOP
nities where traditions run found that 16 communities ere Lake in northern Quebec licans — including most of lost winnable races in Ne-
deep. were evacuated five or more province evacuated in June those seeking the party’s vada, Arizona, New Hamp-
“I’ve never seen anything times from 1980 to 2021 — all because of heavy smoke 2024 nomination — Trump’s shire and elsewhere around
like this,” said Raymond Su- but two of them First Na- from wildfires that came irrefutable loss and direct the country, turning an
pernault, chairman of the tions reserves, said Chris- within nine miles of and al- responsibility for the Jan. 6 anticipated red wave into a
East Prairie Metis Settle- tianson. most surrounded the re- insurrection are a verity pink puddle, by fielding
ment, where he said more Fires now “are so danger- serve where about 350 to 400 they dodge and duck. numerous candidates who
than 85% of the 129-square- ous and so fast-moving” that people live, often miles At least right now. parroted Trump and his
mile settlement burned in evacuations increasingly are apart, said Chief Casey Ratt, Florida’s flailing gover- incessant lies.
the first wildfire there in necessary, a challenge in who never experienced a for- nor, Ron DeSantis offers a Naturally, if he’s the 2024
more than 60 years. Four- some remote communities est fire before this year. prime example. nominee, Trump will keep it
teen houses and 60 other where there might be one “Last year, me and my The won’t-back-down- up. But if someone else
structures were destroyed road in, or no roads at all, wife were talking about how culture warrior, who glee- emerges to lead the GOP,
by the intense, fast-moving said Christianson, who is many fires there were in Al- fully stoops to swat at teach- watch how he or she does an
fire that led to the evacua- Metis. berta, then boom! There ers and transgender people, about-face, moving to get on
tion of almost 300 people Ken McMullen, president were so many in Quebec this meekly tucks his tail when it the right side of most voters.
and decimated forested of the Canadian Assn. of Fire year,” said Ratt. “I was like, comes to Trump’s Big Lie In Nevada, Adam Laxalt
land. Chiefs and fire chief in Red ‘Oh my gosh, now we’re deal- and Jan. 6. was one of the architects of
“In blink of eye, we lost so Deer, Alberta — a province ing with wildfires like they DeSantis won’t say if he efforts to overturn Biden’s
much. … It was devastating. where about 7,600 square are out west.’ ” believes President Biden victory and he recklessly
I can’t stress that enough,” miles have already burned, But it also wasn’t a total was duly elected and sug- fobbed off Trump’s false-
said Supernault, who added compared with just over 695 surprise, said Ratt, because gests it’s wrong to call the hoods throughout the 2022
that he hasn’t seen any elk or square miles in all of 2022 — summer heat is more in- assault on the Capitol “a GOP Senate primary. Then,
moose, both important food said some places burning tense and ice forms later in plan to somehow overthrow once nominated, Laxalt
sources, since the fire. again this year haven’t fully the winter and melts faster the government of the allowed as how, yes, Biden
“We don’t just jump in the recovered from previous in the spring. United States” — though had certainly won the White
car and go to” the supermar- fires. “Something is happen- how else would you define a House and was legitimately
ket for groceries, Supernault “It’s going to take a long ing,” said Ratt, who believes violent attempt to overturn president.
said. “We go to the bush.” time,” said McMullen, call- climate change is largely to the result of a free and fair (Laxalt was among those
In Canada, 5% of the ing it the worst fire season in blame. “I think this will be election? deservedly defeated.)
population identifies as In- Canadian history. “These the norm moving forward.” South Carolina Sen. Tim In California, 2022 con-
digenous — First Nation, are life-altering events.” The biggest concern is Scott blames the attempted troller candidate Lanhee
Metis or Inuit — with an even Christianson said the ef- whether cultural traditions coup on “the folks who Chen steadfastly refused
smaller percentage living in fects will be felt for genera- that have been passed down broke into the Capitol” but throughout the primary
predominantly Indigenous tions, because the intense from generations of elders not Trump — which is like season to say whether he’d
communities. Yet more than heat is burning the soil and will survive, said Super- faulting the gunman for a voted for Trump for presi-
42% of wildfire evacuations making it difficult for trees nault, of the East Prairie murder and absolving the dent. Then, lo, just a few
have been from communi- and other plants to regener- Metis Settlement. mob boss who ordered the weeks later Chen revealed to
ties that are more than half ate. “Our Earth is changing ... hit. CalMatters that he’d never
Indigenous, said Amy Cardi- She said Indigenous and our traditional way of Scott and others in the cast a ballot for Trump and
nal Christianson, an Indige- communities are increas- life is now put on hold,” Su- Republican presidential wouldn’t in 2024.
nous fire specialist with ingly vulnerable because pernault said. “You can’t put field glancingly acknowl- (Chen also lost in the
Parks Canada. they’re often left out of deci- a price on culture and tradi- edge Biden’s victory (mum- general election, though
As of Monday, 106 wild- sions about forest manage- tional loss.” ble, mumble) then go on to given California’s Demo-
fires have affected 93 First ment and fire response. amplify provocative, un- cratic hegemony he doubt-
Nations communities this What’s more, when fires af- Webber and Berger write for founded claims of voter less would have been de-
year, and there have been 64 fect urban centers at the the Associated Press. fraud and other election feated even if he’d tattooed
irregularities, which serves “I [black heart] Joe” to his
only to legitimize Trump’s forehead.)
bogus claims. In 2012, during the Re-
Their motivation isn’t publican primaries, a strate-
hard to figure out. gist for Mitt Romney dis-
Polls have consistently cussed his boss’ positioning
shown most Republicans in the race.
buying into Trump’s lie Asked if he was con-
about a stolen election, or at cerned that Romney’s right-
least telling pollsters they ward movement would
do. The sentiment is strong- complicate efforts to win in
est among the likeliest GOP November, Eric Fehrnstrom
voters; roughly a third of the glibly responded, “I think
party base might be de- you hit a reset button for the
scribed as Bergdorf Good- fall campaign. Everything
man Republicans — those changes. It’s almost like an
OC willing to back Trump even
if he raped a woman in the
department store’s dressing
room.
The candidate most
bluntly calling out Trump’s
Etch A Sketch. You can kind
of shake it.”
Fehrnstrom’s statement
was one of those gaffes in
which he’d merely said the
quiet part out loud —
mendacity — New Jersey’s
ex-Gov. Chris Christie —
though his candor certainly
didn’t help Romney, who
and the one most directly was already dogged by an
associated with thwarting image of ideological elastic-
Trump’s failed attempt to ity.
reverse the election — for- Some Republicans may
mer Vice President Mike try to Etch A Sketch away
Pence — are both running their timidity toward
far out of contention for the Trump come the fall cam-
nomination. paign. But voters should
Pence may not even remember which candi-
qualify for the stage at next dates had the guts to speak
month’s scheduled Republi- truth and at what point in
can presidential debate. the election season.
Yeesh. Spreading Trump’s
There is, of course, noth- corrosive lies — or, at the
ing new about a candidate least, enabling his mendac-
Deadline: August 2
9
running to the right (or left) ity by failing to call him
RSVP YOUR to secure their party’s nomi-
nation, then scurrying
out— is no typical infrac-
tion, like blithely promising
SPOT TODAY! NOMINATE NOW! toward the center in the a balanced budget or over-
general election. It’s a well- stating the benefits of re-
thumbed page from the forming the healthcare
campaign playbook. system. It’s a knife directly
But today’s Republicans in the heart of our democ-
www.latimes.com/b2bpublishing
aren’t simply running right- racy.
ward. They’re running They say character is
“Trumpward,” as GOP doing the right thing when
Paid Gold Sponsor strategist Gunner Ramer nobody’s looking.
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organized by the L.A. Times B2B team and does not involve the editorial staf of the L.A. Times.
L AT I M E S . C O M
Fighting
increases
in critical
region in
Ukraine
By Hanna Arhirova
and Dasha Litvinova
KYIV, Ukraine — Fierce
fighting raged Thursday in
southeastern Ukraine,
where a Western official said
Kyiv has launched a major
push and Russian President
Vladimir Putin said “hostil-
ities have intensified signifi-
cantly.”
Battles in recent weeks
have taken place on multiple
points along the more than
600-mile front line as
Ukraine wages a counterof-
fensive with Western-sup-
plied weapons and Western-
trained troops against Rus-
sian forces who invaded 17
months ago.
Putin praised the “hero-
ism” with which Russian
soldiers were repelling at-
tacks in the Zaporizhzhia re-
gion of the southeast, claim-
ing Moscow’s troops not only
destroyed Ukraine’s military
equipment but also inflicted
heavy losses to Kyiv’s forces.
He insisted on state TV
that Ukraine’s push in the
area “wasn’t successful,” al-
though it was not possible to
independently verify his re-
port. Putin was in St. Peters-
burg at a summit of African
leaders.
Ukrainian troops have
made only incremental
gains since launching a
counteroffensive in early
June, and Putin has repeat-
edly claimed Ukraine has
suffered heavy losses, with-
out offering evidence.
Ukraine has committed
thousands of troops in the
region in recent days, ac-
cording to a Western official
who was not authorized to
comment publicly on the
matter.
A U.S. official said
Ukraine has begun to com-
mit troops from the 10th
Corps, although it’s not cer-
tain all of its units are mov-
ing into the fight.
Ukraine had been hold-
ing the 10th Corps in reserve,
with the expectation it
would be used to exploit
gaps or soft spots opened up
by ground forces. Those ad-
ditional new forces would be
used to take advantage of
places where Ukrainian
troops have been able to
break through some of Rus-
sia’s defenses.
Ex-Mexican president’s rants stir outrage
By Patrick J.
McDonnell
MEXICO CITY — It has
been 23 years since Vicente
Fox won the Mexican presi-
dency, a historic victory that
ended seven decades of one-
party rule and ushered in
democracy.
Out of office, Fox has also
broken tradition. Instead of
shutting up, shunning pub-
licity and staying out of poli-
tics like other former presi-
dents, he has often been a
cantankerous, right-wing
scold in the news and on so-
cial media.
Now his caustic commen-
tary has caused a furor in the
current race for president.
In the last week or so, Fox
has maligned poor retirees
and Jews while pandering to
xenophobes.
His outbursts were
meant to damage candi-
dates from the party of Pres-
ident Andrés Manuel López
Obrador — Fox’s longtime
political antagonist — and
boost the chances of his fa-
vored contender.
Instead, Fox sparked an
outcry that political experts
say could make him a liabili-
ty for Xóchitl Gálvez, a sen-
ator from the National Ac-
tion Party, or PAN, who has
emerged as Fox’s favorite
candidate and a spirited
challenger to López
Obrador’s Morena move-
ment in next year’s elec-
tions.
The blowup began last
week when Fox, a former
Coca-Cola executive, griped
that he has been “battling to
survive economically” since
López Obrador discontin-
ued monthly pensions and
other benefits for retired
MEDICS attend to an injured Ukrainian in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russia’s
president claimed success in countering Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the southeast.
The U.S. official spoke on
condition of anonymity to
discuss ongoing military op-
erations.
Gen. Mark A. Milley,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, told Pentagon re-
porters last week that
Ukraine was “preserving
their combat power” and
that a “significant” amount
of it had not yet entered ac-
tion as Ukrainian forces
slowly and deliberately
worked their way through
the Russian minefields.
It was unclear how the
current effort differs from
previous ones by the Ukrain-
ian military to break
through deeply entrenched
Russian defenses.
The Russian army has
set up vast minefields to
stymie Ukrainian advances
and used combat aircraft
and loitering munitions to
strike Ukrainian armor and
artillery.
Ukrainian authorities
have kept operational de-
tails of the counteroffensive
under wraps, and they have
released scant information
about its progress.
However, Deputy De-
fense Minister Hanna Maliar
said Wednesday that troops
are advancing toward the
city of Melitopol in the Za-
porizhzhia region.
The seizure of Melitopol
near the Sea of Azov would
be a major success for
Ukraine, which hopes to
punch through the land cor-
ridor between Russia and
the Crimean peninsula, il-
legally annexed by Moscow
in 2014. That could split Rus-
sian forces into two and cut
supply lines to units farther
west. Russia currently con-
trols the whole Sea of Azov
coast.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky posted
a video Thursday in which a
group of Ukrainian soldiers
said they had taken control
of the village of Staro-
presidents. At the same
time, he excoriated less well-
off beneficiaries of public
welfare programs.
“The lazy ones don’t be-
long in the government or in
the country,” Fox, who re-
cently turned 81, told the
Latinus website, using an of-
fensive slang word to deni-
grate both politicians and
pensioners.
He also suggested that
Gálvez would cut back pub-
lic aid and send more people
back to work.
Gálvez’s political rheto-
ric has lauded the value of
work, and she denies López
Obrador’s assertions that
she favors cutting social aid
programs for the needy.
López Obrador, who is
limited to one term as presi-
dent, and Morena enjoy high
approval ratings in no small
part because of his adminis-
tration’s social initiatives
and grants to the elderly,
students, the disabled and
others at the bottom of the
income ladder.
Morena candidates
jumped on the provocative
comments from Fox, whose
penchant for verbal blun-
ders was a problem during
his presidency.
“Our movement will con-
tinue to be allied with the
people whom [the opposi-
tion] belittle,” Claudia
Sheinbaum, a former mayor
of Mexico City who is re-
garded as the Morena front-
runner to succeed López
Obrador, wrote on Twitter.
Marcelo Ebrard, an ex-
foreign minister competing
for the Morena presidential
nomination, also assailed
Fox’s assault on aid recipi-
ents.
“What did señor Fox say?
That social programs have
THE WORLD
Kateryna Klochko Associated Press
maiorske in the Donetsk re-
gion next to the Zapor-
izhzhia province. “Our
South! Our guys! Glory to
Ukraine!” Zelensky de-
clared.
Russian military blog-
gers say that the latest
Ukrainian push has focused
Staromaiorske near an area
separating Donetsk and Za-
porizhzhia provinces. If the
Russian defenses there col-
lapse, it would open the way
for the Ukrainian forces to
push southward toward the
coast.
The Institute for the
Study of War, a Washington-
based think tank, reported
that Ukrainian forces
launched “a significant
mechanized counteroffen-
sive operation” in western
Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday
and “appear to have broken
through certain pre-pre-
pared Russian defensive po-
sitions.”
The reinvigorated
Ukrainian push comes in the
wake of Russian military
and political turmoil in June
that saw Yevgeny Prigozhin,
head of the Wagner merce-
nary group, stage a short-
lived rebellion that posed
the gravest threat to Putin in
his 23-year rule.
The mercenaries have
withdrawn from the battle-
field in Ukraine, where they
played a pivotal role in cap-
turing the stronghold of
Bakhmut following the war’s
longest battle. Thousands of
Wagner troops have report-
edly moved to Belarus to
help train its troops before
moving to Africa.
Zelensky, meanwhile, vis-
ited the city of Dnipro, along
the Dnipro River to the
north of Zaporizhzhia,
meeting with military com-
manders to discuss air de-
fenses, ammunition sup-
plies and regional recruit-
ment.
He also visited a medical
facility caring for the
to be done away with, and we
are a bunch of lazy people?”
Ebrard asked at a campaign
event in western Colima
state. “Did you see that?
Isn’t that outrageous?”
But Fox wasn’t finished.
Tweeting to his more
than 1 million followers, Fox
dismissed Sheinbaum as a
“Bulgarian Jew” and called
Ebrard a “French snob.”
Sheinbaum is of eastern
European Jewish ancestry.
Ebrard is of French descent.
The tweet from Fox, him-
self of Spanish and German
lineage, concluded: “The
only Mexican is Xóchitl!”
In the ensuring uproar,
Mexicans across the politi-
cal spectrum denounced
Fox’s ill-advised attempt at
humor.
“What lamentable com-
ments from the ex-presi-
dent!” tweeted Luis Carlos
Ugalde, who served as presi-
dent of Mexico’s Federal
Election Institute during
part of Fox’s presidential
term. “He denigrates his
status. If he wants to help
Xóchitl Gálvez, his best con-
tribution would be pru-
dence, respect and, above
all, silence.”
Even Gálvez joined in the
litany of condemnation.
“No more hate and divi-
sion,” tweeted Gálvez, who
served as coordinator of In-
digenous affairs in Fox’s
Cabinet and touts her Indig-
enous roots.
Fox removed the posting
and issued an apology, as-
serting that he had mistak-
enly retweeted someone
else’s remark. “I have a pro-
found respect for the Jewish
community,” Fox wrote.
But the incident raised
the specter of future cam-
paign mudslinging — espe-
wounded from the front,
thanking the staff and em-
phasizing the importance of
their work in saving lives. A
recent increase in wounded
at a Dnipro hospital hinted
that the tempo of fighting
had increased.
In what appeared to be a
precautionary move, Rus-
sia’s Federal Security Serv-
ice, known as the FSB, pro-
hibited civilian access to the
Arabat Spit in Crimea, a nar-
row strip of land that links
the peninsula to the par-
tially occupied Kherson re-
gion. The open-ended ban is
needed to contain security
threats, the FSB said in a
statement quoted by Rus-
sia’s state news agency RIA
Novosti.
U.S. officials, who have
provided Kyiv with weapons
and intelligence, declined to
comment publicly on the lat-
est developments, though
they have previously urged
patience as Ukraine seeks to
grind down Russian posi-
tions.
Defense Secretary Lloyd
J. Austin III said during a
visit to Papua New Guinea
that Kyiv’s effort to retake
land seized by Russia since
its full-scale invasion in Feb-
ruary 2022 would be tough
and long, with successes and
setbacks.
Secretary of State An-
tony J. Blinken said “an in-
tense battle” is taking place
but declined to provide de-
tails.
“We believe that tools, the
equipment, the training, the
advice that many of us have
shared with Ukrainians over
many months puts them in
good position to be success-
ful on the ground in recover-
ing more of the territory that
Russia has taken from
Ukraine,” Blinken said in
New Zealand.
Arhirova and Litvinova
write for the Associated
Press.
cially targeting Sheinbaum,
who would be Mexico’s first
female president and the
country’s first leader of Jew-
ish ancestry.
Sheinbaum has already
responded to insinuations
that she was “a foreigner,”
posting her birth certificate
on Twitter to show she was
born in Mexico City to Mexi-
can parents and declaring
that she was “more Mexican
than mole” — the traditional
sauce.
Gálvez, an engineer and
tech entrepreneur from
humble origins, has faced
withering broadsides from
López Obrador, who has de-
picted her as tool of Fox and
the rich.
That criticism, too, may
have had unintended conse-
quences. Political experts
say the tirades made López
Obrador look like a bully and
helped Gálvez vault from
long-shot candidate to po-
tential front-runner in an
opposition coalition formed
to thwart López Obrador’s
Morena political machine.
In September, both the
opposition alliance and
Morena are scheduled to
name their presidential can-
didates for June’s national
elections. Gálvez, mean-
while, has distanced herself
from Fox, the elder states-
man and onetime political
mentor who has become
campaign kryptonite.
At an appearance in
Puebla on Tuesday, Gálvez
told reporters: “I don’t need
… an ex-president and a
president speaking about
me. The two say things that
aren’t true.”
Special correspondent
Cecilia Sánchez contributed
to this report.
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
Niger president
is defiant in the
face of mutiny
After soldiers detain
him, he refuses to quit
and says democracy
will win out.
By Sam Mednick
NIAMEY, Niger — Ni-
ger’s president defiantly de-
clared Thursday that
democracy would prevail, a
day after mutinous soldiers
detained him and an-
nounced they had seized
power in a coup over the
West African country’s dete-
riorating security situation.
While many people in the
capital of Niamey went
about their usual business,
it remained unclear who was
in control of the country and
which side the majority
might support. A statement
tweeted by the army com-
mand’s account declared
that it would back the coup
in order to avoid a “murder-
ous confrontation” that
could lead to a “bloodbath.”
It was not possible to con-
firm that the statement was
genuine.
Meanwhile, President
Mohamed Bazoum — who
was elected in 2021 in Niger’s
first peaceful, democratic
transfer of power since its in-
dependence from France
and is a key ally of the West —
appeared to have the back-
ing of several political
parties.
“The hard-won achieve-
ments will be safeguarded.
All Nigeriens who love
democracy and freedom will
see to it,” Bazoum tweeted
early Thursday morning.
Foreign Minister Has-
soumi Massaoudou issued a
similar call on news network
France 24, asking “all Ni-
gerien democratic patriots
to stand up as one to say no
to this factious action.”
He demanded the presi-
dent’s unconditional release
and said talks were ongoing.
U.N. Secretary-General
António Guterres, who
spoke to Bazoum by phone
on Wednesday, said in a
statement that he was “ex-
tremely worried” about the
situation in Niger and
warned of the “terrible ef-
fects on development” and
civilians because of “succes-
sive unconstitutional
changes of government in
the Sahel region.”
The Economic Commu-
nity of West African States,
known as ECOWAS, sent
Benin President Patrice Tal-
on to lead mediation efforts.
Bazoum is a key ally in
the West’s efforts to battle
Islamic militants linked to
Al Qaeda and Islamic State
in Africa’s Sahel region. Ex-
tremists in Niger have
carried out attacks on civil-
ians and military personnel,
but the overall security situ-
ation is not as dire as in
neighboring nations.
The fight against extrem-
ism in the region has become
a major arena in which the
West and Russia have vied
for influence.
Bazoum was seen by
many as the West’s last hope
for partnership in the Sahel
after Mali turned away from
former colonial power
France and instead sought
support from the Russian
mercenary group Wagner.
Wagner appears to be mak-
ing inroads in neighboring
Burkina Faso as well.
Western countries have
poured aid into Niger, and
U.S. Secretary of State An-
tony J. Blinken visited in
March, seeking to strength-
en ties. American, French
and Italian troops train the
country’s soldiers, and
France also conducts joint
operations.
But the threat to
Bazoum has raised con-
cerns that Niger could also
turn away from the West.
On Thursday, several
hundred people gathered in
the capital and chanted sup-
port for Wagner while wav-
ing Russian flags. Later,
they began throwing rocks
at a passing politician’s car.
“If Mohamed Bazoum re-
signs from the presidency,
Niger will probably move to
the top of the list of countries
where the Wagner Group
will seek to expand,” said
Flavien Baumgartner, an Af-
rica analyst at Dragonfly, a
security and political risk
consultancy.
Wagner already had its
A3
sights set on Niger, in part
because it’s a large producer
of uranium, sought by Rus-
sia. But Bazoum posed an
impediment because of his
pro-French and pro-West-
ern stance, said Baumgart-
ner.
Wagner’s head, Yevgeny
Prigozhin, weighed in on
Thursday, describing the de-
velopments as part of Ni-
ger’s fight against the “colo-
nizers.”
“It effectively means win-
ning independence. The rest
will depend on the people of
Niger, on how efficient they
could govern,” Prigozhin,
who led a brief mutiny
against the Kremlin last
month, said in a statement.
Underscoring the impor-
tance of Niger to the West,
Blinken said Thursday that
he had spoken with the pres-
ident, saying that he “made
clear that we strongly sup-
port him as the democrati-
cally elected president of the
country.”
Blinken, who was in New
Zealand, repeated the U.S.
condemnation of the mutiny
and said his team was in
close contact with officials in
‘The hard-won
achievements will
be safeguarded.
All Nigeriens who
love democracy
and freedom will
see to it.’
— President
Mohamed Bazoum,
on Twitter
France and Africa.
On Wednesday morning,
members of the presidential
guard surrounded
Bazoum’s house and de-
tained him.
The mutinous soldiers,
who call themselves the Na-
tional Council for the Safe-
guarding of the Country,
took to state television and
announced they had seized
control because of deterio-
rating security and poor
economic and social govern-
ance in the nation of 25 mil-
lion people. They said they
had dissolved the constitu-
tion, suspended all institu-
tions, and closed all the bor-
ders.
The coup was reportedly
sparked because Bazoum
was allegedly planning to
fire the head of the presi-
dential guard, Gen. Omar
Tchiani, Niger analysts say.
Military experts say some of
the people who appeared on
state TV were high-ranking
officers, including Gen.
Moussa Salaou Barmou, the
head of Niger’s special forces
who has a strong relation-
ship with the U.S.
According to someone
close to Bazoum who spoke
on condition of anonymity
because they were not au-
thorized to speak about the
situation, the president has
not resigned and will not,
and is safe in his residence.
In a statement Wednes-
day, several political parties
expressed their support for
him, calling the coup “suicid-
al and anti-republican mad-
ness.”
The “country, faced with
insecurity, terrorism and the
challenges of underdevelop-
ment, cannot afford to be
distracted,” they said. Pro-
testers also came out in sup-
port of Bazoum that day.
The international com-
munity strongly condemned
the attempted takeover in
Niger, which has experi-
enced multiple coups since
independence in 1960.
French Foreign Minister
Catherine Colonna tweeted
that France “firmly con-
demns any attempt to take
power by force,” she said.
U.N. Human Rights chief
Volker Turk called for
Bazoum’s release and said
“all efforts must be under-
taken to restore constitu-
tional order and the rule of
law.”
Russia also called for the
president’s release, and For-
eign Ministry spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova said Mos-
cow wants to see “a speedy
resolution of this internal
political crisis.”
Mednick writes for the
Associated Press.
A4 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 S L AT I M E S . C O M

Japan struggling amid labor-refugee paradox

[Japan, from A1] toll on Afshin. He downs
Japan, which has the handfuls of prescription pills
world’s third-largest econo- for a heart condition and for
my, is struggling to repair a PTSD that he blames on
labor force cratered by rapid attempts to deport him.
aging. Fertility rates are Over the last year, he had to
stubbornly low, and fore- raise thousands of dollars
casts show the already through an aid organization
shrinking population could to pay the full price for angio-
drop from 124 million to 104 plasty to remove plaque
million by midcentury as the from his arteries. He said his
share of people 65 and older doctor had advised that an-
approaches 40%, deepening other round of treatment
crises in the labor market, may be necessary.
pensions and healthcare. Afshin said he fears he
But Japan has been slow could be deported at any
to open to foreign labor, time.
stymied by a historical skit- “I first went into immi-
tishness about foreigners gration detention 22 years
and fears that significant ago, and I haven’t gotten
immigration would lead to anything from them,” he
crime and instability. The said. “Why do I have to be
number of foreign-born resi- grateful for this residence
dents in Japan — mostly card? Maybe 20% of what I
from Asia — hit a record high feel is appreciation, but the
last year of 3 million, or 2.4% other 80% is resentment.”
of the population, well short Not all asylum seekers
of the 13.6% in the United are denied work visas. Myo
States. Kyaw Kyaw, 38, a member of
To boost the waning la- Myanmar’s persecuted Ro-
bor force, the government is hingya Muslim minority, ar-
expanding a foreign skilled- rived in Japan in 2006 with a
worker system and loos- visa. He said he’d been tar-
ening visa rules for ethnic David Mareuil Anadolu Agency geted for his pro-democracy
Japanese born abroad. Last PROTESTERS in Tokyo decry the Japanese government’s immigration policies in April, demanding rights for activism.
year, Tokyo launched an refugees who face indefinite detention, lack of employment and benefits, and increased risk of deportation. But his applications for
overhaul of a foreign trainee asylum have been rejected
program that brings hun- patchwork. Now they’re try- three times, and he has been
dreds of thousands of people ing to deport a bunch of peo- detained for about 2½ years.
to Japan temporarily to ple, but at the same time His third application was re-
work in agriculture, facto- they want people to come. jected in February, but in-
ries and elsewhere. Now the There’s no balance at all.” stead of being deported,
government is pushing a Japanese officials say the Japanese officials issued
plan to improve childcare new rules are aimed at pro- him a six-month visa that al-
benefits, hoping to increase tecting those directly threat- lowed him to work 28 hours a
birthrates. ened by persecution in their week. The visa, which is good
But Japan refuses to home countries — and until mid-August, has let
make it easier for some of the quickly deporting those who him work for the first time
world’s millions of refugees are not. The measure also since 2013. He is appealing
to settle here and join the closed a loophole that offi- the February decision.
workforce. Instead, the par- cials said encouraged unsuc- Now he’s employed by the
liament passed legislation in cessful applicants to keep Anti-Poverty Network, a
June that could fast-track applying repeatedly just to nonprofit that supports asy-
thousands of asylum seek- stay in Japan. lum seekers, and is a regular
ers to deportation. Justice Minister Ken at pro-refugee rallies in
Refugees pose specific Saito recently asserted in Tokyo. But he is tormented
challenges to Japan’s foreign parliament that a third of re- by uncertainty.
worker ambitions. They can jected asylum seekers who “I don’t know how long I
show up without any par- had resisted deportation can do this,” he said, adding
ticular skills and sometimes were guilty of crimes unre- that he’d prefer death in
with political baggage at lated to immigration, in- Japan to being sent home,
odds with Japan’s foreign cluding violent offenses. where his presence could en-
policy positions. And Japan “Deportation refusal and Jiji Press danger his family. “I’m going
is loath to grant residency to long-term detention are ur- OPPOSITION lawmaker Taro Yamamoto lunges toward Hisatake Sugi, seated, as to die here. I don’t want to
foreigners who could require gent problems that need to ruling coalition lawmakers push the harsher immigration rules to a vote in June. die in Myanmar.”
government support or ben- be dealt with quickly,” Saito Many asylum seekers pri-
efits. said earlier this year. “Unfor- vately concede that they
“Refugees for Japan tunately, there are those work on the side despite the
mean difficult people,” said who misuse or abuse refugee ban, particularly in con-
Gracia Liu-Farrer, a sociolo- recognition applications as struction and demolition
gist at Tokyo’s Waseda Uni- a means of avoiding depor- work, though they say that
versity who studies the tation.” employers fearful of prose-
plight of the country’s immi- The Justice Ministry says cution are reluctant to offer
grants. “So ‘refugee’ does that more than 4,000 re- steady gigs, and that pay is
not have a good reputation jected asylum seekers are lower than for those with of-
— it has a social stigma to it.” still in Japan after defying ficial work authorization.
Japan grants asylum to deportation orders, and Nishiyama, the attorney,
only a few dozen of the thou- that an additional 1,400 on said some employers come
sands of applicants it gets provisional release from de- to rely on such workers to do
each year. tention have gone missing. punishing labor most Japa-
Amid protests in Tokyo The sometimes raucous nese are unwilling to per-
and tumult in parliament, parliamentary debate over form.
lawmakers voted last month the measure shed further “It would be much better
for new rules that say any- light on a system widely for Japan to give those peo-
one who has applied more criticized by human rights ple special permission to
than twice for asylum — groups, which cite tactics — stay here,” she said. “Immi-
such as Afshin — can be sent such as banning many asy- gration makes them out to
home. lum applicants from lawful be criminals, but from my
Critics say the crack- work — that seem to be experience, most of those
down on refugees is point- aimed at encouraging asy- people would live stable lives
less when Japan needs to im- lum seekers to give up or ne- Carl Court Getty Images here if they had visas.”
port labor. ver come to Japan in the first HOMELESS Vietnamese migrants settle in for the night at a Buddhist temple in Meanwhile, many of
“Nobody’s looking at the place. Honjo, Japan, in 2021 as the pandemic worsened foreigners’ prospects for work. Japan’s would-be refugees
big picture,” said Koichi Ko- “The system makes it so are dependent on handouts
dama, a leading immigra- difficult to live in Japan that ma, an immigration lawyer. ments of government of- “But in Japan, the question like the bags of food and
tion and foreigners’ rights people just want to go The harshest criticism fices,” he told reporters in is who is eligible to be re- other necessities distribut-
attorney. “Instead, it’s just a home,” said Atsuko Nishiya- has been directed at Japan’s June. “But I don’t think that jected.” ed every Sunday at St. Al-
feared immigration deten- means we have to change ban’s Anglican-Episcopal
tion centers, where inmates our system now.” :: Church in Tokyo.
can be held indefinitely The total of 202 people The volunteer operation
while their cases are adjudi- granted asylum last year Afshin has witnessed the is run by American film-
How to contact us cated. Former detainees say was a record high spurred by vagaries of the system first- maker Thomas Ash, direc-
at best they are treated like an influx of former Japanese hand over the last three dec- tor of “Ushiku,” a 2021 docu-
(800) LA TIMES
criminals; at worst, they can Embassy employees who ades. mentary about detainees at
Home Delivery and latimes.com/mediakit or call be denied critical medical fled Afghanistan amid the He arrived in Tokyo on a a center north of Tokyo. The
Membership Program (213) 237-6176. care and are subject to phys- Taliban takeover. But most short-term visa in 1990 after film, which Ash shot with
For questions about delivery,
Reprint Requests ical and emotional abuse. applicants were from Cam- fleeing death threats as a hidden cameras to get
billing and vacation holds, or Since 2007, 17 detainees have bodia, Sri Lanka, Turkey or member of a group opposed around the center’s photog-
for information about our For the rights to use articles,
Membership program, please photos, graphics and page died in custody, including Myanmar. to Iran’s Islamic govern- raphy ban, features the an-
contact us at (213) 283-2274 or reproductions, e-mail several by suicide. Hunger By comparison, both ment, he said, joining a guished stories of several
membershipservices@ reprint@latimes.com or call
(213) 237-4565. strikes are not uncommon. Germany and the United stream of Iranians taking refugees — including a
latimes.com. You can also Recent protesters have States recognized some advantage of Japan’s then- hunger striker — as they
manage your account at Times In Education
myaccount.latimes.com. rallied around the case of a 45,000 refugees each in 2022, relaxed attitude toward visi- grapple with physical and
To get the digital
Los Angeles Times at no 33-year-old Sri Lankan the United Nations re- tors from the oil-rich nation. emotional abuse in deten-
Letters to the Editor woman, Wishma Sandamali, ported. Even the tiny Afshin said he, like many tion.
Want to write a letter to be cost (along with our
published in the paper and newspaper–based teaching who died in 2021 after offi- Netherlands recognized other Iranians at the time, Ash said the idea to docu-
online? E-mail materials), contact us at cials dismissed her repeated more than 14,000 asylum worked illegally with no ment the refugees’ plight
letters@latimes.com. latimes.com/tie, or email
Heidi.stauder@latimes.com requests to be sent to a hos- seekers that year. problem for about 10 years, came when he became dis-
For submission guidelines, pital. A criminal case against Japan has responded to until he was arrested in a turbed by detainees’ condi-
see latimes.com/letters. The Newsroom
Know something important
officials has stalled, but her allies’ demands for help in crackdown on people who tion while visiting the center
Readers’ Representative family is pursuing a civil law- handling global crises by ac- had overstayed their visas. a few years ago as part of a
If you believe we have we should cover? Send a
made an error, or you have secure tip at suit. cepting outsiders who aren’t He applied for asylum in volunteer church group.
questions about our latimes.com/tips. To send a Once asylum seekers legally classified as refugees. 2002. “I prayed about what I
press release go to the
journalistic standards
newsroom directory at
make their applications, The country, for instance, In an interview with im- could do, and I felt that I
and practices, our readers’ their chances of approval are had taken in 121 Syrians flee- migration officials, he said should preserve evidence in
representative can be latimes.com/staff.
reached at
razor-thin. Japan joined the ing war by the end of last he had been threatened at case someone died,” he said.
Media Relations
readers.representative For outside media requests U.N. Refugee Convention in year, but as international gunpoint in Iran. An official, On a recent Sunday, Ash
@latimes.com, (877) 554-4000 and inquiries, e-mail 1982 but has historically re- students. A couple of thou- he said, asked for a photo of and other volunteers hosted
or online at commsdept@latimes.com. jected about 99% of applica- sand Ukrainians have been the incident. “I laughed,” Af- a coffee and pastry hour for
latimes.com/readersrep.
L.A. Times Store tions. welcomed at least temporar- shin said. “Who is going to refugees and handed out
Advertising Search archives, merchandise Attention has focused on ily as “evacuees” and given take a photo at that mo- bags of rice, coffee, soy milk,
For print and online and front pages at what critics say is Japan’s work permits and govern- ment?” curry, candy and other
advertising information, go to latimes.com/store. overly strict interpretation ment support. Since then, he has been foods.
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international law: somebody system operates largely out as appeal after appeal was there, Julius Nde, 53, said he
A Publication with “a well-founded fear” of of public view, and activists turned down. came to Japan in 2018 be-
Founded Dec. 4, 1881 persecution based on race, and human rights lawyers He was paroled from de- cause of fighting in his native
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$8.50/week, $442 annually.
Monday–Saturday $18/week, $936
via USPS with 2 issues in Jan., 5 in Feb., 2 ways put our hands on our question is who is eligible to bans him from working or ask for money,” he said.
in May, 4 in June, 3 in Aug., 1 in Oct., 3 in
annually (also includes Sundays, except Nov. and 5 in Dec. hearts to ensure that there be accepted,” Afshin said on applying for unemployment “They give me an allowance.
2/19, 4/9, 9/3, and 10/8). Monday–Friday
are no mistakes in our own the sidelines of a protest out- benefits. That’s how I live my life in
Printed with soy-based ink on recycled newsprint from wood byproducts.
judgments and the judg- side parliament in June. The stress has taken a Japan.”
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A6 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 S L AT I M E S . C O M

THE NATION

Giuliani says his

false vote claims
are protected
associated press
ATLANTA — Rudolph
W. Giuliani is not disputing
that he made public
comments falsely claiming
that two Georgia election
workers committed ballot
fraud during the 2020 presi-
dential race, but he argues
that his words are constitu-
tionally protected state-
ments, according to a court
filing.
That assertion by Giu-
liani, who as part of then-
President Trump’s legal
team tried to overturn re-
sults in battleground states,
Richard Shotwell Invision came Tuesday in a lawsuit
PICKETERS carry signs Friday outside Paramount. Thirty-seven members of California’s congressional by Ruby Freeman and Wan-
delegation signed a letter expressing support for striking actors and urging studios to bargain in good faith. drea “Shaye” Moss. The De-
cember 2021 lawsuit accuses
the former New York mayor
said Freeman and Moss are
“pleased with this major
milestone in their fight for
justice, and look forward to
presenting what remains of
this case at trial.”
Freeman and Moss filed a
motion this month alleging
that Giuliani had “failed to
take any steps to preserve
relevant electronic evi-
dence.” They know such evi-
dence exists because other
people provided it to them,
their filing says. They asked
U.S. District Judge Beryl
Howell to impose sanctions.
In the court filing, a law-
yer for Giuliani argued that
his client did not fail to pre-
serve or destroy any elec-
tronic evidence “because all
pertinent documents were
seized by the government
and were in their possession,

California lawmakers
of defaming them by falsely
stating that they had en-
gaged in election fraud while
counting ballots at State
Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The lawsuit says Giuliani
custody, or control.”
The federal government
has executed search war-
rants at Giuliani’s home and
office in a separate case in
New York and seized his

voice support for actors repeatedly pushed

bunked claims that Free-
man and Moss — who are
mother and daughter —
de-

pulled out suitcases of illegal

expand their horizons, and
Congressional experience unrivaled per-
formance talent,” wrote the
Democrats sign lawmakers, including Judy
a letter to studios Chu of Monterey Park, Ro
Khanna of Fremont, Ted
in Hollywood. Lieu of Torrance, Pete
Aguilar of Redlands and
By Erin B. Logan Jimmy Gomez of Los Ange-
les.
WASHINGTON — Barbara Lee of Oakland,
Democratic members of Katie Porter of Irvine and
California’s congressional Adam B. Schiff of Burbank,
delegation, increasingly the three House Democrats
concerned about the on- vying for the U.S. Senate
going strikes in Hollywood, seat held by Dianne
are warning studios that Feinstein, all signed the let-
they are watching. ter. Reps. Josh Harder of
Hollywood ground to a Tracy, Jim Costa of Fresno,
halt after negotiations be- and former House Speaker
tween studios and the guilds Nancy Pelosi of San Fran-
representing writers and cisco are the only three Cali-
then actors collapsed earlier fornia House Democrats
this summer. Thousands of who did not join the letter.
workers are protesting on Gomez, who organized
picket lines, demanding the letter, told The Times in
more money and better a phone interview that he
working conditions. has more than 33,000 SAG-
“As thousands of our con- AFTRA members living in
stituents engage in their le- his district and that their
gally and constitutionally strike is having a ripple ef-
protected capacity to partic- fect on the economy. Still, a
ipate in a work stoppage, we strike is not something
urge all parties to respect unions do lightly, he said.
and affirm collective bar- Striking is “the option of
gaining rights as these em- last resort” and comes
ployees negotiate with their “when an employer is not ne-
employers,” 37 Democratic gotiating in good faith,” he
lawmakers wrote in a letter said.
sent Tuesday to the presi- “We’ll be supporting the
dents of Screen Actors right of these workers to go
Guild-American Federation on strike and use their right
of Television and Radio Art- to collectively bargain,” he
ists — known as SAG- said. “But we want every-
AFTRA — and the Alliance body to go to the table and
of Motion Picture and Tele- we want the studios to take
vision Producers, which rep- the workers’ demands seri-
resents Hollywood studios ously.”
and streaming services. Gomez said he has been
“The contributions of increasingly wary of studios’
these artists are indispens- labor tactics.
able to productions that mil- The studios’ “endgame is
lions of Americans watch to allow things to drag on un-
each year to be entertained, til union members start los-
ing their apartments and
losing their house,” an
anonymous studio execu-
tive told Deadline earlier
this month. The Alliance of
Motion Picture and Televi-
sion Producers has said that
such anonymous people
“are not speaking on behalf
of the AMPTP or member
companies, who are com-
mitted to reaching a deal
and getting our industry
back to work.”
Last week, NBCUniver-
sal trimmed trees that had
provided shade for workers
picketing during a heat wave
outside its studios. (L.A.
City Controller Kenneth
Mejia said his office is
investigating the matter.
NBC said it did not intend to
create challenges for picket-
ers and the trimming was
part of annual mainte-
nance.)
Tactics such as these
have a “reverse effect” on
workers, Gomez said. “It ac-
tually forces workers to be-
come more cohesive and
united, because they feel
that they’re under attack,”
he said.
This letter is meant to
“demonstrate to the studios
that Congress is watching,”
he said. “We are paying at-
tention to what they say and
how they behave.”
The letter, sent Tuesday
to Fran Drescher, president
of SAG-AFTRA, and Carol
Lombardini, president of
the AMPTP, highlighted the
role that artificial intelli-
gence has played as a bar-
gaining issue in the talks.
The lawmakers said they
“understand that union
members have expressed
the importance of agree-
ment on the reproduction
and use of their likenesses
and work product in a rap-
idly changing digital econo-
my with emerging technolo-
gies that are not yet fully
understood or regulated.”
The actors union has
called AI a “real and immedi-
ate threat” and said it wants
to guard against misuse by
requiring studios to obtain
consent and to compensate
actors for the use of their
likenesses or voices. The
AMPTP has said it offered a
variety of protections for
workers related to the tech-
nology, including that the
studios would be prohibited
from using “‘digital replicas’
of background actors in lieu
of hiring the required num-
ber of covered background
actors.”
Still, Gomez likened the
studios’ proposal for the use
of AI to “wage theft,” saying
that it “undermines the abil-
ity for [background actors]
to get work.”
Representatives for
SAG-AFTRA did not re-
spond to a request for com-
ment.
Gomez said that though
striking is often union work-
ers’ “ultimate leverage” dur-
ing negotiations, it can also
have an adverse effect on
California’s economy.
Gomez does not lay blame
on the union for the strike,
saying that it happens when
a “corporation refuses to lis-
ten to what the demands of
the workers are.”
Still, Gomez said that he
hopes the strike does not
last too long.
“Strikes are a means to
an end,” he said. “Their end
is trying to get a good and
fair contract for the work-
ers.”
ballots and committed other
acts of fraud to try to alter
the outcome of the race.
Though Giuliani is not
disputing that the state-
ments were false, he does
not concede that they
caused any damage to Free-
man or Moss. That distinc-
tion is important because
plaintiffs in a defamation
case must prove not only
that a statement made
about them was false but
that it also resulted in actual
damage.
Giuliani’s statement was
attached to a filing arguing
that he did not fail to pro-
duce evidence in the case
and should not be sanc-
tioned as Freeman and Moss
had requested.
“While Giuliani does not
admit to Plaintiffs’ allega-
tions, he — for purposes of
this litigation only — does
not contest the factual alle-
gations,” the filing said.
Giuliani political advisor
Ted Goodman said in an
email Wednesday that the
filing was made “in order to
move on to the portion of the
case that will permit a mo-
tion to dismiss.”
Michael Gottlieb, a law-
yer for Freeman and Moss,
said in an emailed state-
ment that Giuliani is con-
ceding “what we have always
known to be true — Ruby
Freeman and Shaye Moss
honorably performed their
civic duties in the 2020 presi-
dential election in full com-
pliance with the law; and the
allegations of election fraud
he and former-President
Trump made against them
have been false since day
one.”
Certain issues, including
damages, still have to be de-
cided by the court. Gottlieb
electronic devices.
The records that Moss
and Freeman said were not
produced “have not been in
the possession of Giuliani
since their seizure in April
2021,” according to the court
filing, and therefore it is
“physically impossible” for
him to have destroyed the
evidence.
Moss had worked for the
Fulton County elections de-
partment since 2012 and su-
pervised the absentee ballot
operation during the 2020
election. Freeman was a
temporary election worker,
verifying signatures on ab-
sentee ballots.
Giuliani and others al-
leged during a Georgia legis-
lative subcommittee hear-
ing in December 2020 that
surveillance video from
State Farm Arena showed
the election workers com-
mitting election fraud. As
those allegations circulated
online, the two women said,
they suffered intense har-
assment, both in person and
online. Moss detailed her
experiences in emotional
testimony before the U.S.
House committee investi-
gating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack
on the U.S. Capitol. The
committee also played video
testimony from Freeman.
In a court filing that
month, Giuliani asked the
judge to toss the lawsuit, ar-
guing the claims against him
were barred by 1st Amend-
ment protections for free
speech. Howell rejected that
request.
The defamation lawsuit
originally named right-wing
cable news channel One
America News Network, its
owners and its chief White
House correspondent for
also pushing the debunked
claims. Those defendants
were dismissed from the suit
in May 2022 after an undis-
closed settlement with Moss
and Freeman.

Memphis and its police force face federal inquiry

Justice Department
launches investigation
months after Tyre
Nichols’ fatal beating.
By Adrian Sainz
and Jonathan Mattise
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The
U.S. Department of Justice
said Thursday it is investi-
gating the patterns and
practices of the Memphis,
Tenn., Police Department,
nearly seven months after
the violent beating of Tyre
Nichols by five officers after
a traffic stop.
Assistant Atty. Gen. Kris-
ten Clarke of the Justice De-
partment’s Civil Rights Divi-
sion made the announce-
ment in Memphis. Federal
authorities plan to look into
the city Police Department’s
use of force and stops,
searches and arrests, and
whether it engages in dis-
criminatory policing.
Clarke said that in even in
the majority-Black city of
Memphis, the Police De-
partment may be dispropor-
tionately focusing its traffic
enforcement on Black driv-
ers.
She said the investiga-
tion will look into the city’s
government as well as its Po-
lice Department. She men-
tioned Nichols’ death, but
said the investigation is not
based on a single event and
will not be into a single unit
with the police agency. Nich-
ols’ death added to a list of
problematic killings of Black
people by police in recent
years and intensified na-
tional calls for police reform.
“The tragic death of Tyre
Nichols created enormous
pain in the Memphis com-
munity and across the coun-
try,” Atty. Gen. Merrick
Garland said in a news re-
lease Thursday. “The Jus-
tice Department is launch-
ing this investigation to ex-
amine serious allegations
that the City of Memphis
and the Memphis Police De-
partment engage in a pat-
tern or practice of unconsti-
tutional conduct and dis-
criminatory policing based
on race, including a danger-
ously aggressive approach
to traffic enforcement.”
Clarke said the Depart-
ment of Justice had received
reports of Memphis officers
escalating encounters with
people in the community
and using excessive force;
using force punitively when
they perceive someone’s be-
havior as insolent; and using
force against people who are
already restrained or in cus-
tody.
Rodney Wells, Nichols’
stepfather, told the Associ-
ated Press he hopes the in-
vestigation will lead to
changes in the way police
deal with Memphis resi-
dents.
“We’re moving in the
right direction, trying to get
some justice,” Wells said.
Clarke said investigators
will ride along with Memphis
police and speak with offi-
cers as part of the inquiry.
She said the Justice Depart-
ment had told the police
chief and mayor about the
investigation, adding that
they had pledged to cooper-
ate.
However, Memphis May-
or Jim Strickland said he
was “disappointed that [his]
request was not granted by
the Department of Justice to
discuss this step before a de-
cision was made to move
down this path.”
“I hope the remainder of
the process is more forth-
right and inclusive than it
has been so far,” he said in a
statement.
Memphis Police Director
Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said offi-
cers are expected to follow
their training and depart-
ment policies.
“While the officers in-
volved in the Tyre Nichols
case demonstrated no re-
gard for these tenets, I am
appreciative of the ... officers
that continue to serve our
city with integrity,” she said.
The five officers have
pleaded not guilty to crimi-
nal charges including sec-
ond-degree murder in Nich-
ols’ beating after a Jan. 7
traffic stop and his death
three days later. Caught on
police video, the beating of
Nichols, 29, was one in a
string of violent encounters
between police and Black
people that sparked pro-
tests and renewed debate
about police brutality and
police reform across the U.S.
The five officers charged
in the case are Black. So was
Nichols.
The officers, part of a
team known as Scorpion,
punched, kicked and used a
baton to hit Nichols as he
yelled for his mother. The
police chief disbanded the
Scorpion unit after Nichols’
death.
In addition to the five offi-
cers who were fired and
charged with murder, one
white officer involved in the
initial traffic stop has been
fired. That officer will not
face charges. Another offi-
cer, who has not been identi-
fied, also has been fired. An
additional officer retired be-
fore he could be fired.
Three Memphis Fire De-
partment emergency medi-
cal technicians were fired as
well, for failing to render aid
to Nichols. Two Shelby
County Sheriff ’s Office dep-
uties who went to the loca-
tion after the beating were
suspended for five days for
policy violations.
Activists have been call-
ing for what is known as a
pattern-or-practice investi-
gation into Memphis police
for years due to several inci-
dents, including the fatal
shooting of Darrius Stewart,
a Black man who was killed
by a white officer during a
traffic stop in 2015, and the
improper police surveillance
of activists that resulted in a
federal court order.
“This is a necessary step
in ensuring the citizens of
Memphis have our civil
rights protected and that
we’re moving beyond tacit
political talking points” on
changing the criminal jus-
tice system, said the Rev.
Earle J. Fisher, a Memphis
activist.
The Memphis City Coun-
cil passed an ordinance ear-
lier this year that outlawed
so-called pretextual traffic
stops for minor violations
such as a broken tail light.
But some activists say the
ordinance is not being con-
sistently enforced.
In June, a similar Depart-
ment of Justice investiga-
tion concluded that Minne-
apolis police had systemat-
ically discriminated against
racial minorities, violated
constitutional rights and
disregarded the safety of
people in custody for years
before George Floyd was
murdered during an arrest.
And in March, the de-
partment found Louisville
police had engaged in a pat-
tern of violating constitu-
tional rights and discrimi-
nation against the Black
community, following an in-
vestigation prompted by the
fatal police shooting of Bre-
onna Taylor.
The investigations can
take years — the Louisville
and Minneapolis inquiries
were both launched in April
2021.
Depending on their find-
ings, the investigations can
result in agreements that re-
quire reforms that are over-
seen by an independent
monitor and are approved
by a federal judge. The fed-
eral oversight can continue
for years.
Sainz and Mattise write for
the Associated Press.
L AT I M E S . C O M
ELECTRIC POWER lines at sunset. California’s energy grid could fall short if faced with a wildfire or other extreme event, officials say.
State prepares to prevent blackouts
[Blackouts, from A1]
formation. “In general, we’re
doing better this summer
because we have better hy-
dro, we have more batter-
ies.”
Since last summer, Cali-
fornia ISO — the nonprofit
that runs the state’s electric
grid — has brought more
than 2,000 megawatts of new
battery storage online, an al-
most 75% increase in capac-
ity, officials said. And that’s
expected to continue.
“The batteries are impor-
tant, because they charge
during the middle of the day
when we have surplus solar
production and discharge
that energy onto the grid in
the evenings, when solar is
ramping off the system and
we’re trying to fill the gap in
supply,” Anne Gonzales, a
spokesperson for the Cali-
fornia ISO, wrote in a state-
ment.
California ISO just
reached a record high of bat-
tery charging this week — al-
most doubling the peak
from a year prior, according
GridStatus, a website that
tracks independent service
operators. And compared to
data from last summer’s
heat wave, California ISO’s
energy supplies this week
have already relied more
heavily on battery supply
Biden announces measures to help in heat
[Biden, from A1]
will require a more hercule-
an effort to address climate
change, scientists say.
Earlier this week, a study
found the extreme heat grip-
ping North America, Europe
and Asia in July would have
been “virtually impossible”
without climate change and
increased greenhouse gas
emissions, according to re-
searchers at the World
Weather Attribution.
“Climate change is here.
It is terrifying, and it is just
the beginning,” U.N. Secre-
tary-General António
Guterres said.
In his remarks, Biden
pointed to his Inflation Re-
duction Act, which included
a $400-billion investment in
clean energy subsidies, and
the Bipartisan Infrastruc-
ture Law, which includes bil-
lions in subsidies for electric
vehicles, as proof of his com-
mitment to tackling the
underlying cause of extreme
heat.
“Climate change is very
real,” White House Press
Secretary Karine Jean-Pi-
erre told reporters Thurs-
day. “We have to take serious
steps to continue to deal
with this issue.”
Heat is already the No. 1
cause of weather-related
deaths in the world, with
more than 600 people dying
from heat-related illness ev-
ery year in the U.S., accord-
ing to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and
Prevention.
The measures that Biden
announced Thursday are
only his latest to boost cli-
mate resilience and heat
preparedness. The Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Ad-
ministration (OSHA), the
agency charged with pro-
tecting workers, is drafting a
heat standard for work-
places, but the federal rule-
during peak hours, accord-
ing to supply data.
One megawatt of electric-
ity is enough to power about
750 homes. And while renew-
able resources have expo-
nentially increased in recent
years, it’s worth noting that
natural gas still fuels well
over 40% of the state’s power
most days.
But even with additional
resources available this
summer, officials say noth-
ing is for certain in our
changing climate.
“This year, we predict no
shortfalls under average
conditions,” Siva Gunda,
vice chair of the California
Energy Commission, said in
a May briefing. “Extremes of
climate change remain a
wild card — another ex-
treme event like last sum-
mer could once again put the
grid into vulnerable terri-
tory.”
He predicted that a situa-
tion like last September —
when the grid hit record-
high demand, at about
52,000 megawatts — could
likely be managed with the
state’s contingency re-
sources and additional mar-
ket procurements. But if
faced with another chal-
lenge such as a major wild-
fire or provider outages,
Gunda said, the grid could
A CREW BATTLES the Agua fire in Soledad Canyon this week. “I don’t think
anybody can deny the impact of climate change anymore,” President Biden said.
making process takes years
to complete.
Biden has launched
other heat-related initia-
tives across the administra-
tion, including funneling
cash through a Department
of Health and Human Serv-
ices program to help lower
cooling costs for low-income
households. The Depart-
ment of Energy is helping
states to modernize their
electric grids, which could
allow more Americans to
keep their air conditioners
running without triggering
brownouts. The Environ-
mental Protection Agency
has assisted communities in
setting up designated
fall short.
Grid operators already
have issued multiple energy
emergency alerts during the
last few days of the heat
wave, albeit at the lowest pri-
ority. Blackouts or Flex
Alerts weren’t a real con-
cern, officials said, though
high demand and high tem-
peratures forced the need to
unlock additional energy
supplies.
“We got some luck during
the July heat waves, because
while inland temperatures
were hot and in some cases
above normal, the direct
coastal temperatures didn’t
get extreme,” Gonzales said,
noting that cloud cover and
the cooler coasts have kept
demand for energy well be-
low prior records. “We
haven’t hit particularly high
demand yet.”
Even still, California ISO
last week issued an energy
emergency alert 1, noting
“higher than anticipated de-
mand,” but ended it an hour
later. Then this week, offi-
cials issued two energy
emergency watches — the
lowest warning — citing
Wednesday “some resources
going offline, continued ex-
cessive heat in interior
Southern California and
transmission congestion re-
stricting movement of
spaces within schools so
people without air condi-
tioning can cool off.
Last summer, the presi-
dent unveiled Heat.gov, a
website that features a heat
tracker, heat index guides
and tips to deal with ex-
treme heat for state and lo-
cal officials.
The administration
could still do more to help
protect the most vulnerable
people from extreme heat,
said Kelly Turner, an associ-
ate professor of urban plan-
ning at the UCLA Luskin
School of Public Affairs and
co-leader of the Heat Resil-
ient L.A. project.
“You can’t address the
Patrick T. Fallon AFP/Getty Images
power to parts of the state.”
But data show demand,
even at peak hours, never
quite flirted near capacity as
it did repeatedly last Sep-
tember.
“So while we haven’t seen
substantial stress on the
grid this summer, we haven’t
been fully tested,” Gonzales
said. “August and Septem-
ber historically can be times
of stress on the grid.”
In the later summer, heat
often becomes more ex-
treme and wildfire activity
increases, the latter of which
can take out major trans-
mission lines or generation.
That time of year also be-
comes drier and days are
shorter, reducing hydro and
solar power, officials have
said.
“Even though we see an
improved situation for this
summer, folks shouldn’t be
surprised to see a Flex Alert,
necessarily,” Alice Reynolds,
president of the California
Public Utilities Commission,
warned this spring. “We’re
talking about extreme heat,
unusual events that are hard
to manage.”
And there are also loom-
ing concerns about regional
power supplies that can af-
fect California, said Carrie
Bentley, an energy consult-
ant for the California ISO
David Swanson AFP/Getty Images
problem of rising tempera-
tures without thinking
about virtually every policy
that affects schools, the
workplace, labor, transit —
all of those sectors are going
to be affected and have rules
that need to be revisited,”
she said.
The high heat roasting
much of the West is only go-
ing to continue, according to
Turner. In California, at
least 100 days out of the cal-
endar year are expected to
be extreme heat days, while
in other places it could be up
to 200 days, she said.
“Every single community
should have basic tools like a
heat action plan, knowing
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
and chief executive of Grid-
well Consulting.
“I think it’s going to be a
challenging summer,” Bent-
ley said. “I think from the
California perspective we
are much better, but we’re
connected with the rest of
the West.”
Unlike in California,
hydropower in the Pacific
Northwest is down, and the
region has also recently
shuttered some power
plants — all while more resi-
dents are using air condi-
tioners, sweltering under
the kind of heat not typically
felt in the historically cooler
region.
“We’re not seeing the im-
ports that we typically see
during the summer,” Bent-
ley said. “Higher demand
and lower supply in the Pa-
cific Northwest — they just
simply have less power to im-
port into California.”
So the balancing act of
transitioning to green ener-
gy while keeping the lights
on continues.
“The tight situation we
had back in 2020 is behind
us, but it’s hard to say — the
weather this summer has
been weird and intense,”
O’Connell said. “How do we
get resources online faster?
Because we don’t want to be
caught short again.”
where their shade infra-
structure is and where they
need more of it,” Turner
said. “That’s going to hap-
pen through these sorts of
federal investments in local
communities.”
Local and state officials
in areas that regularly en-
dure heat waves have
stepped up efforts to boost
heat preparedness. Phoenix
Mayor Kate Gallego, who at-
tended Biden’s remarks vir-
tually on Thursday, created
the country’s first office of
heat response and miti-
gation in 2021.
We’re “really trying to
prepare for what is for us a
long-term emergency,” Gal-
lego said during Thursday’s
event.
Phoenix, Los Angeles
and Florida’s Miami-Dade
County have all appointed
chief heat officers within the
last three years, an effort
Turner said could be effec-
tive at the federal level.
“There’s a lot of knowl-
edge bottled up in places like
Los Angeles and Phoenix,
which have experienced the
weather that other cities are
going to be experiencing in
the future,” Turner said.
Tackling the problem at
the federal level will require
exploring the differences
among communities. Ex-
panding access to cooling in
homes may be more effective
in one city or county, where-
as directing people to cool-
ing centers that are already
set up might be more effi-
cient in another area. Using
cooling paint might work in
the Southwest, but it might
not be effective in places
where city officials winterize
roads with salt.
“Having somebody who
is coordinating and thinking
very broadly about those is-
sues is going to be neces-
sary,” Turner added.
A7
Trump
accused
of effort
to wipe
video
[Trump, from A1]
day after the ex-president
learned the subpoena was
coming. It also says that
Nauta took a clandestine
trip to Mar-a-Lago and that
De Oliveira pressured an un-
named IT employee by indi-
cating that “the boss” want-
ed the server with the securi-
ty video to be wiped clean.
Nauta surreptitiously
went to Mar-a-Lago on June
25, 2022, according to the in-
dictment. After the IT em-
ployee declined to delete the
footage, the indictment
says, Nauta and De Oliveira
met twice at a property adja-
cent to Mar-a-Lago, which
De Oliveira then accessed
through the bushes.
The indictment also re-
counts August 2022 conver-
sations between Nauta and
another unidentified Trump
employee about whether De
Oliveira was “loyal,” and a
phone call from Trump to De
Oliveira in which the ex-
president told the Mar-a-
Lago employee that he’d get
him an attorney.
In a statement, Trump
called the new indictment “a
continued desperate and
flailing attempt” to “harass”
him.
Trump, who is again run-
ning for president, pleaded
not guilty in June to 37 felony
charges in connection with
his handling of classified
documents and alleged at-
tempts to prevent the gov-
ernment from recovering
them. Nauta pleaded not
guilty on charges of making
false statements and con-
spiring to obstruct justice.
The original indictment
in the case charged that
Trump had unlawfully taken
classified records when his
presidency ended in Janu-
ary 2021, then obstructed the
government’s efforts to re-
trieve hundreds of the secret
documents. The indictment
states that Trump kept the
records in unsecured areas
of Mar-a-Lago, including in a
bathroom, ballroom and
storage room. The property
is home to a private club that
hosts thousands of people
each year.
According to that indict-
ment, top-secret and other
classified records that the
FBI recovered last August —
after a subpoena and a
search of the property — in-
cluded details on U.S. and
foreign nations’ nuclear and
other defense and weapons
capabilities; potential vul-
nerabilities of the U.S. and
its allies to military attack;
and plans for possible retali-
ation in response to such an
attack.
Trump is accused in the
original indictment of in-
structing Nauta to move 64
boxes out of a Mar-a-Lago
storage room to Trump’s
residence at the club so the
former president could go
through the contents before
his lawyer Evan Corcoran re-
viewed them to comply with
a subpoena for their return
issued in May 2022. The in-
dictment says Nauta re-
turned only 30 boxes to the
storage room for the lawyer
to review.
According to the super-
seding indictment, Nauta
and De Oliveira loaded some
of the boxes onto a plane for
Trump to take with him for
the summer — just hours be-
fore FBI agents arrived at
Mar-a-Lago on June 3, 2022,
to collect classified docu-
ments identified by Trump’s
attorney.
Trump was also charged
Thursday with an additional
count of willful retention of
national defense informa-
tion. The charge stems from
a top-secret presentation
outlining a potential attack
on a foreign country, which
Trump reportedly shared on
July 21, 2021, at his Bedmin-
ster, N.J., golf club in a con-
versation with two staff
members and two people
working with his former
chief of staff, Mark Mead-
ows, on Meadows’ autobiog-
raphy.
Trump has denied the
document’s existence and
said he did not show it to
anyone.
De Oliveira is also
charged with making false
statements and representa-
tions to the FBI. The indict-
ment says he denied knowl-
edge of the boxes that were
brought to Florida and that
he helped move the boxes.
A8 FR I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
ON TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERNET
Why the bizarre rebranding of Twitter?
BRIAN MERCHANT
.I.P. Twitter.
R Welcome to the
world, uh, X.
We all know
that the world’s
richest man is impetuous
and more than happy to
court controversy. Even so,
Elon Musk’s sudden move
over the weekend to trans-
form Twitter, the social
media company he pur-
chased for $44 billion last
year, into an entity obliquely
named after the 24th letter
of the alphabet, struck even
his admirers as bizarre and
ill-conceived.
The Twitter name and
bird logo are gone; a
slapped-together X now
stands in their place.
Bloomberg reported that
the move may wipe out as
much as $20 billion in brand
value — almost half of what
Musk paid for it. Observers
noted that the X logo made
it look more like a porn
company than a social
platform. A reporter for
TechCrunch, a website
famous for reflecting Silicon
Valley optimism, wrote,
simply, “It’s trash.”
The tech world spent the
following days trying to read
the tea leaves, to game out
Musk’s plans and motives
for overhauling — some
would say desecrating —
one of the most recogniz-
able names in tech. Why
would Musk do this now,
with so little planning or
warning? Why would he do
it at all?
But any efforts at ratio-
nal analysis are futile.
This is, quite simply, the
richest entrepreneur in
world history doing what he
wants, what his lizard brain
tells him to do, when there is
no one left in a position to
advise him against doing it.
And what Musk has wanted,
for decades, is to call a com-
pany “X.”
In the late 1990s, Musk
was chief executive of Pay-
Pal, a successful payment
processing company, and he
wanted to turn that into X
too. The board, led by Peter
Thiel, revolted, and ousted
Musk. An idea that most
everyone else at the com-
pany was embarrassed to be
associated with was nipped
in the bud. This time, there
is no board of directors at
Twitter, because Musk
dissolved it, and Musk feels
he no longer needs to an-
swer to anyone.
The difference between
these two epochs is pretty
simple: money. So much
money. And power, sure, but
mostly money. The so-called
PayPal mafia that would go
on to dominate the tech
world were then con-
strained by serving custom-
ers and the bottom line.
Elon Musk and the Silicon
Valley of today exist in an-
other universe; a vague
notion issued from a tech
billionaire’s lips can trans-
form a network used by
hundreds of millions of
people, overnight.
As a result, like so many
of his fellow tech sector
heavies, Musk — buffeted by
unprecedented stores of
capital, surrounded by yes
Could clothes be a climate answer? Walmart tests the idea
Retailer teams with
a startup to capture
carbon and spin it
into yarn for apparel.
By Brendan Case
Walmart Inc. is teaming
up with a California startup
to test technology that re-
moves carbon dioxide from
its supply chain, with plans
to eventually turn that CO2
into yarn for clothing.
As part of a pilot project
with Rubi Laboratories Inc.
of San Leandro, Walmart
will identify factories in its
supply chain where carbon
dioxide in waste gases can be
captured using Rubi’s reac-
tor systems.
Climate experts say the
emerging technology of cap-
turing CO2 from industrial
smokestacks can divert bil-
lions of tons of greenhouse
gas from the Earth’s atmos-
phere and store it deep
underground or reuse it in
ways yet to be discovered.
Most carbon-capture
A WORKER dismantles the Twitter sign after the company was renamed X, a move that could wipe out billions of dollars in brand value.
men and a rapidly waning
stock of good ideas — is
becoming further unteth-
ered from the constraints of
reality.
This was apparent im-
mediately in the announce-
ment of the new X enter-
prise.
Former Twitter and
current X CEO Linda Yac-
carino heralded the venture
in a series of what were
formerly known as tweets —
now, apparently they’re
supposed to be called
“xeets.”
(“Sheets”? “Zeets”?
“Exeets”? Your guess is as
good as mine. Anyway.)
“X is the future state of
unlimited interactivity,” she
wrote, “centered in audio,
video, messaging, pay-
ments/banking — creating a
global marketplace for
ideas, goods, services, and
opportunities. Powered by
AI, X will connect us all in
ways we’re just beginning to
imagine.”
This can be interpreted
as an insistence the com-
pany will be able to do al-
most everything, but ulti-
mately means next to noth-
ing. It’s not the language
that’s novel — such impene-
trable buzzspeak has been
the currency of Silicon Val-
ley for decades — but that it
was instantly put into ac-
tion, in service of a product
that remains equally ab-
stract. Twitter is now not
merely a company but a
“future state”!
Despite the highfalutin
framing, the only part of X
described above that is not
already in some way a part
of Twitter is a means of
making payments. Fortu-
nately, in a recent interview,
Musk himself elaborated on
his vision for X’s foray into
finance. Namely, it would be
large. “Essentially if done
plants are operated by oil
and gas companies, accord-
ing to the Global CCS Insti-
tute, a think tank devoted to
accelerating the use of the
technology. Skeptics, in-
cluding U.S. climate envoy
John Kerry, have questioned
whether carbon capture can
play a significant role in
fighting the climate crisis.
Instead of injecting car-
bon dioxide underground,
Rubi’s system uses bio-
chemical processes to con-
vert the gas to cellulose, the
main substance in the walls
of plant cells. It’s a technique
inspired by the way trees use
carbon dioxide to grow.
That cellulose is used to
produce lyocell yarn, which
can be made into textiles. Af-
ter performance testing,
Walmart and Rubi plan to
develop a prototype apparel
collection, according to a
statement released Thurs-
day. The pilot project runs
through the end of 2024.
The goal is to “find a
greener way to manufacture
apparel,” Andrea Albright,
Walmart’s executive vice
president of sourcing, said in
BUSINESS
right, X would serve peo-
ple’s financial needs to such
a degree that over time it
would become half of the
global financial system,”
Musk said. “It would be by
far the biggest financial
institution.”
This is a fundamentally
unserious thing to say, but
Musk was serious. Half the
global financial system, in
this projection, would be
conducted on an app that
has 350 million users, and is
constantly glitching out and
running up against rate
limits.
Musk has a reputation
for making bold statements
that rarely resolve into
reality — remember the
brain-computer interface he
promised, or the artificially
intelligent humanoid robot?
Or that he’d be sending
people to Mars soon? But
even so, this one feels like a
new frontier. It’s a tell, in
part because it’s so lazy. It’s
hard to know if Musk even
believes the line himself, or if
it just fell out of his mouth, a
half-formed notion. But
Twitter, a hallmark of 21st
century communication, is
being hastily remade in its
shape anyway.
And it is nothing if not
hasty. The move was so
sudden that when the an-
nouncement was made, the
link to X.com on Musk’s
profile directed many users,
myself included, to a Go-
daddy error page. Engineers
and web developers
scratched their heads — a
modicum of planning could
have avoided this kind of
amateurish outcome. Mean-
while, it’s not even clear that
Musk owns the trademark
for X. It may even be owned
by Meta, his chief competi-
tor.
The physical rebrand
didn’t fare much better:
an interview. “If we can pull
CO2 out of the atmosphere
and put it into a raw material
in a way that doesn’t cause
an abundance of electricity
usage or other implications,
that’s compelling to us.”
That’s still a big if.
Rubi Chief Executive
Neeka Mashouf, who
founded the company with
her twin sister Leila in 2021,
said its equipment should be
able to capture 90% of a fac-
tory’s carbon emissions. Al-
though Rubi has success-
fully created yarn out of car-
bon emissions, it has yet to
do so at scale.
The startup has raised
$13.5 million from investors
that include Talis Capital,
Patagonia Inc.’s Tin Shed
Ventures and Sweden’s
H&M Group, and has part-
nerships with brands such
as Nuuly by Urban Outfit-
ters Inc.
Carbon capture, too, is
dealing with growing pains.
Direct air capture alone
could be a nearly $1-trillion
business in the next decade,
according to Bloomberg-
NEF, but cost and scalability
When construction workers
brought a crane to Twitter
HQ to tear down the old
logo, city officials had to
interrupt the work. Musk
hadn’t filed for a permit, and
the crane was blocking
traffic — including, appar-
ently, some autonomous
cars. (You could do worse
for a snapshot of our tech-
nological moment than the
most famous entrepreneur
of our age ordering a spur-
of-the-moment name
change on his social media
company, and mucking up
the works so much that a
line of robotaxis were forced
to wait to get by.)
In the past, launches of
new companies announced
by founders and the tech
giants were highly pro-
duced, carefully stage-
managed affairs. Now
they’re rush jobs. Face-
book’s misbegotten trans-
formation into Meta wasn’t
much better, though at least
Zuckerberg didn’t torch his
own social platform in the
process — Facebook is
called Facebook. When
Google announced Bard, its
new AI service, it made
embarrassing, billion-dollar
errors right out the gate.
There’s an increasing
sense that Silicon Valley is
scrambling to chase fads,
dodge scrutiny and franti-
cally grasp at a future it can
no longer be bothered to
properly articulate. In my
last column, I argued the
2010s would be remembered
as the era of the valley’s
magical thinking, due large-
ly to its insistence that
endless scale would solve
any problem.
The 2020s are shaping up
to be Silicon Valley’s era of
reactionary indulgence.
Power has concentrated
into a handful of players,
who have more money to
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Associated Press
WALMART says it’s seeking “a greener way to man-
ufacture apparel.” Above, workers organize a display.
remain open questions. The
nascent technology has also
drawn fire from environ-
mentalists who say it can be
misconstrued as a license to
continue burning fossil fuels.
Walmart is among many
large companies looking to
cut emissions to reach cli-
mate goals.
In 2020, the Bentonville,
Ark., retailer said it planned
to achieve net zero emis-
throw around than ever
before, yet less of a coherent
vision to throw it at. They
wind up chasing short-term
trends such as the meta-
verse, crypto or whatever X
is, pouring capital and
resources into grand but
impossibly half-baked
schemes.
Just last week, it was
revealed that Sam
Bankman-Fried, who ran a
major crypto exchange and
is now facing fraud charges,
aimed to purchase the
entire island nation of Nau-
ru to build a network of
survival bunkers. If the
exchange hadn’t collapsed,
he very well may have.
David Karpf, an associ-
ate professor of media and
public affairs at George
Washington University, has
a research project in which
he’s reading through every
back issue of Wired maga-
zine through the ‘90s. One
thing he keeps noticing, he
tells me, “is just how small
the numbers were back
then. It’s the same set of
people, with the same mind-
set and the same mistakes.
But they’re covering mil-
lion-dollar companies. Bill
Gates is a titan as a single-
digit billionaire. It all got
magnified a hundredfold.”
“Musk with $2 billion
can’t put himself into this
situation,” Karpf says.
“Musk with $200 billion can.
And that creates a feedback
loop where he and his hang-
ers-on believe he is 100x
more insightful and tal-
ented than a person with $2
billion. And that belief, in
their own meritocratic
status, is central enough
that everything just keeps
getting weirder, supported
by so much money that they
can get way out of hand.”
Before Musk entered the
picture, Twitter had a real,
sions across its operations
— known as Scope 1 and
Scope 2 emissions — by 2040.
That target would zero out
just 5% of Walmart’s total
emissions, though.
To address Scope 3, emis-
sions generated by suppliers
and customers, Walmart
launched Project Gigaton in
2017. Today that initiative
has about 5,200 suppliers en-
gaged in the goal of reducing
L AT I M E S . C O M
Justin Sullivan Getty Images
and mostly sustainable,
business model. It sold
advertising to brands
around the world to a global
audience of users. It was
never as immensely prof-
itable as Google or Face-
book, but it was a reason-
able business. Musk’s poli-
cies, such as reinstating
accounts banned for racism
and harassment, as well as
his own increasingly reac-
tionary politics, have
tanked that business.
Rather than try to rebuild it,
he’s tried and failed to build
a subscription model in
Twitter Blue. Now he’s
running out of options.
He faces mounting bank
fees and server payments,
not to mention potentially
enormous fines from the
Federal Trade Commission
and the European Union.
Musk’s rebrand may allow
him a venue through which
to ask investors for more
money. One thing Musk can
still reliably do — or could
this time last year, anyway
— is raise very large sums of
cash to support his projects.
If all of a sudden Twitter
isn’t just Twitter but X, the
future state of interconnec-
tivity or whatever, maybe he
can scare up enough cash to
keep the lights on.
But really, my hunch is
that he’s just flying by the
seat of his pants. And, sit-
ting atop world-historic
wealth and his own storied
mythology, he’s not acting
the visionary, he’s reacting
to unfavorable conditions
with a hefty dose of science
fiction.
Elon Musk is the prime
mover in Silicon Valley’s
new age of reactionary
indulgence, and if that
finally brings the wrecking
ball down on the app mil-
lions of people use every
day, so be it.
or avoiding 1 billion metric
tons of carbon dioxide equiv-
alent by 2030.
But for now, the compa-
ny’s supply chains still rely
heavily on manufacturing
processes that generate car-
bon.
Price could prove anoth-
er challenge for Walmart and
Rubi: Walmart shoppers are
used to affordable clothing.
Albright said she’s confi-
dent the retailer will be able
to turn a profit on apparel
from its Rubi collaboration,
and Neeka Mashouf said
Rubi expects to be cost-
competitive with existing
textiles. Although Neeka
and her sister came to the
startup world from a science
and engineering back-
ground, they learned about
the fashion business grow-
ing up around their family’s
brand, Bebe Stores.
“Affordability is really
key,” Mashouf said. “We de-
veloped the technology to fo-
cus on making that possible
from a unit-economics per-
spective.”
Case writes for Bloomberg.
L AT I M E S . C O M
Hotel workers ask Swift to delay concerts
[Swift, from A1]
thrive.
Reports have shown that
out-of-town concertgoers
push up hotel room demand
and the concerts cause pub-
lic transit use to soar. Ex-
perts project that L.A.’s
economy will see a similar
boost from Swift’s weeklong
stay.
“We love Swifties,” Peter
Hillan, a spokesman for the
California Hotel and Lodg-
ing Assn., said Thursday.
The tour — and the demand
it generates — is “good for
everybody involved,” he
said. “Concerts of this size
provide for everybody up
and down the ladder.”
Room rates in Los Ange-
les for the nights of Swift’s
tour are up 16% year over
year, to an average of $302 a
night, according to data
provided to The Times from
the travel search platform
Kayak.
The site has seen a 38%
increase in searches for hotel
stays in the city from Aug. 2
to Aug. 10.
Hotels are also more full
than usual. Occupancy rates
in the L.A. metro area on the
nights of Swift’s tour are up
between 14% and 20% from
the same dates last year, ac-
cording to data provided to
The Times from CoStar, a
global provider of real estate
data, analytics and news.
A spokesperson for Co-
Star said she expects these
numbers to rise as the
events get closer.
Alan Reay, president of
Newport Beach-based Atlas
Hospitality Group, expects
Swift’s tour to give a boost to
downtown L.A.’s sluggish
hotel business, which has
been hurting since the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just going to be a
huge boom,” he said.
Reay does not think
higher nightly rates are a
product of “junk fees,” but
rather supply and demand.
“Recently down in San
Diego, Comic-Con was
there. You know, when that
comes into town, there’s so
much demand that hotels
raise their rates substan-
tially,” he said. “And that’s
what’s happening here with
Taylor Swift.”
MARKET ROUNDUP
Wall Street’s rally runs out of gas as bond yields jump
associated press
Stocks fell Thursday, tak-
ing some air out of Wall
Street’s big recent rally, de-
spite fatter-than-expected
profit reports from big com-
panies and the latest signals
of a resilient economy.
The Standard & Poor’s
500 sank 29.34 points, or
0.6%, to 4,537.41 after touch-
ing its highest level in nearly
16 months during the morn-
ing. The Dow Jones indus-
trial average also flipped
from an early gain to a loss
and dropped 237.40 points,
or 0.7%, to 35,282.72. The
Nasdaq composite fell 77.17
points, or 0.5%, at 14,050.11.
Honeywell International
was a heavy weight on the
market despite reporting
stronger profit for the spring
than analysts expected. It
dropped 5.7% after its reve-
nue fell short of analysts’ ex-
pectations, as did its fore-
cast for earnings in the cur-
rent quarter.
The dip for Wall Street
put a halt to a torrid run in
which the Dow climbed for 13
straight days.
Stocks have been roaring
on hopes the Federal Re-
serve can pull off what earli-
er seemed like a long-shot
bet: successfully pulling
down high inflation by rais-
ing interest rates without
sending the economy into a
painful recession.
But critics have been say-
ing that the market’s sharp
move upward has been too
much, too fast and that the
seemingly growing consen-
sus about a “soft landing” for
the economy is hardly a cer-
tainty.
Major stock indexes
Index Close
Dow industrials 35,282.72
S&P 500 4,537.41
Nasdaq composite 14,050.11
S&P 400 2,694.62
Russell 2000 1,954.90
EuroStoxx 50 4,447.44
Nikkei (Japan) 32,891.16
Hang Seng (Hong Kong) 19,639.11
Associated Press
HOTEL GUESTS walk past housekeepers calling on Taylor Swift to support their fight for a better contract.
Room rates in L.A. for the nights of Swift’s tour are up 16% year over year, to an average of $302 a night.
Erika Gurnee, 44, is trav-
eling from Las Vegas to see
Swift perform Aug. 5 at SoFi.
She booked a room at the
Los Angeles Airport Marri-
ott hotel last week and paid
the $492 room rate with
taxes. A weekend room at
the hotel normally costs
around $150, according to
rates shown on the hotel’s
website.
Swift’s Eras tour has
boosted regional economies
since it began in March. In
its first three months alone,
the tour generated $98.2 mil-
lion in hotel room revenue,
according to a June report
from STR, a hospitality re-
search firm. And the bulk of
that additional revenue was
generated from higher-
than-normal average daily
rates.
“While high occupancy
levels were seen for most of
the host markets, the bigger
driver of top-line gains was
higher average daily rate,”
the report said.
During Swift’s two-night
stop in Cincinnati on June 30
and July 1, room rates were
more than double what they
were for those same nights
“The move is very ex-
plainable, but I stop short of
calling it justifiable because
I think it’s too early to go all
in on the idea that the Fed
can claim victory” over high
inflation, said Bryant Van-
Cronkhite, managing direc-
tor at Allspring Global In-
vestments.
“We still have to be hum-
ble about our ability to pre-
dict the long-term effects of
what we’re living through,
including the rapid rise in in-
terest rates and recovery
from a pandemic that forced
massive changes in the labor
force and supply chains.”
Reports about the econo-
my on Thursday were
mostly encouraging, but
VanCronkhite said they
could also keep the pressure
up on inflation. Strong data
on the job market in particu-
lar could mean U.S. house-
holds will keep spending, en-
couraging companies to
keep raising prices. That in
turn could push the Federal
Reserve to keep interest
rates higher than expected,
keeping alive the threat of a
recession.
In the bond market,
Treasury yields rallied after
a wave of reports indicated
the economy is in stronger
shape than expected.
One estimate said
growth for the overall econo-
my accelerated in the spring.
That easily topped forecasts
from economists, who were
expecting a slowdown from
the first three months of the
year. That report also sug-
gested a measure of inflation
wasn’t as high from April
through June as expected.
Another report, mean-
while, said that fewer work-
Daily
change
Daily % YTD %
change change
-237.40 -0.67 +6.44
-29.34 -0.64 +18.18
-77.17 -0.55 +34.24
-33.08 -1.21 +10.87
-25.46 -1.29 +11.00
+101.93 +2.35 +17.28
+222.82 +0.68 +26.05
+273.97 +1.41 -0.72
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 A9
“Not only am I a union
leader, but I’m a huge Taylor
Swift fan,” said Unite Here
Local 11 organizer Maria
Hernandez, decked out in an
Eras tour T-shirt stamped
with Swift’s likeness.
Hernandez blasted mu-
sic from Swift’s 2017 album
“Reputation” as workers
marched in a circle in front of
the Hyatt Regency, carrying
signs and banging drums
that have become a staple in
protests in recent weeks —
to the chagrin of hotel guests
and nearby residents who
have filed noise complaints
about 5 a.m. picketing.
Handmade signs
scrawled in marker said,
“Management has made
this a CRUEL SUMMER”
and “Don’t Shake It Off,
stand with workers.”
“Union Power (Taylor’s
Edition),” another said.
Many Los Angeles hotels
will raise prices and “reap
unprecedented profits” next
Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times week — and in particular the
Hyatt Regency and other
hotels near SoFi Stadium,
where the singer’s Eras tour
the previous year, according said, “Hi, Taylor.” but very important question is scheduled for a run of six
to the city’s tourism board. Kemple, a personal con- to all the Swifties around the concerts, Unite Here Local 11
The raised rates did not cierge at the Waldorf Astoria world and to Taylor herself. officials said.
deter fans from seeking ho- in Beverly Hills, said he and Please honor our struggle.” “Taylor, the choice is sim-
tels downtown, resulting in a other employees are over- A representative for ple,” Unite Here Local 11 co-
98% occupancy rate during worked, plagued by severe Swift did not respond to a re- President Kurt Petersen
the nights of the tour and understaffing since the on- quest for comment. said at the Thursday pro-
bringing in $2.6 million. set of the pandemic. Hotel workers are asking test. “On the one hand we
In Nashville, hotels in the The spirit of the Swift hit for a $5 immediate hourly have the sacrifice, solidarity
downtown area were more song “Look What You Made wage increase, and a $3 and courage of these work-
than 96% full during Swift’s Me Do” speaks to the state of boost each subsequent year ers, on the other, the bound-
performances there in May. contract negotiations, Kem- of the three-year contract, less greed of these rapacious
On May 6, room rates down- ple said: His employer has for a total raise of $11. corporations. … Which side
town were an average of $578 failed to bargain in good The union also has made are you on?”
a night, up 74% from their faith. Pre-pandemic, the proposals related to health- An open letter to Swift
usual rates, according to Waldorf Astoria — where care, pensions, workload signed by 50 local hotel
Bruce McGregor, an execu- workers walked off the job in and a policy against hotels housekeepers published in
tive from the Nashville Con- the third and most recent using E-Verify, a federal sys- The Times on Thursday also
vention & Visitors Corp. wave of the strike — had 27 tem used to check work eligi- asked that she postpone her
“In recent history, there personal concierges. Now, bility, to protect immigrant upcoming concerts.
really hasn’t been these high Kemple is among six. workers. “In Los Angeles, hotels
rates for a weekend or a sin- In his role, he said, he Hotel operators have are doubling and tripling
gle day,” McGregor said at a handles check-ins at the said Unite Here Local 11’s de- what they charge because
meeting of the county’s tour- front desk, delivers pack- mands are unreasonable you are coming,” the letter
ism commission in May. ages and mail to guests, di- and an overreach. Keith said. “They also add junk
The hotel workers’ strike, rects internal calls, drafts Grossman, an attorney rep- fees on rooms, just like Tick-
which has rumbled through accounting reports and resenting a group of hotel etmaster does. But we see
scores of Los Angeles and shines guests’ shoes. owners and operators, has none of it.”
Orange County hotels since “I do the job of five peo- said the work stoppages rep- “The hotels are making
early July, has seized upon ple.… I’m only paid for one,” resent “Local 11’s continued more money than ever, but
Swift’s arrival to promote Kemple said. “We are tired of counterproductive con- we can’t afford to live close to
the cause. the abuse, the overwork and duct.” work, so some of us sleep in
At Thursday’s rally, Alain the disrespect.” The two sides returned to our cars between shifts. Our
Kemple adjusted a mic, Through tears, Kemple the bargaining table July 18 paychecks are so small
looked directly into a cam- addressed Swift once again. but talks ended without a many of us are losing our
era set up in front of him and “I want to ask a very difficult deal. homes.”
ers applied for jobless ben- Wednesday raised its federal bolstered hopes among tra- rose to 4.92% from 4.85%.
efits last week. It’s the latest funds rate to its highest level ders that Wednesday’s in- Thursday’s drops for
indication that the job mar- in more than two decades in crease may have been the fi- stocks came despite a
ket remains solid, while an- hopes of dragging inflation nal one of this cycle. Powell stronger-than-expected
other report showed orders lower. High rates work by also said the Fed’s staff is no earnings report from Meta
for long-lasting manufac- slowing the entire economy, longer forecasting a reces- Platforms, one of Wall
tured goods strengthened pulling down prices for sion. Street’s most influential
more than expected last stocks and other invest- The yield on the 10-year stocks. The owner of Face-
month. ments. Treasury rose to 4% from book, Instagram and What-
All the data helped keep Fed Chair Jerome H. 3.98% late Wednesday. It sApp attracted additional
Wall Street ebullient amid Powell on Wednesday, helps set rates for mortgag- active members, and its
hopes the economy can keep though, said any further in- es and other important stock rose 4.4%.
defying predictions for a re- creases in rates will depend loans. McDonald’s rose 1.2% af-
cession despite much higher on what reports say about The two-year Treasury ter it easily topped analysts’
interest rates. the path of inflation and the yield, which moves more on forecasts for profits during
The Federal Reserve on economy in the future. That expectations for the Fed, the spring.
Your Guide to ORANGE COUNTY
Community Development
VISIONARIES
Financial Institutions
SUBMIT
SURVEY NOW Deadline: August 11
NOMINATE NOW!
Survey Deadline: August 2
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A10 FR I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M / O P I N I O N

OPINION

EDITORIAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ven with subsequent Texas) told Politico. House Repub-

E qualifications,
Speaker Kevin McCar-
House

thy’s floating of the idea

of an inquiry into im-
peaching President Biden is irre-
sponsible and another example of
McCarthy giving aid and comfort
licans are currently considering
impeaching Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for
“disastrous” border management
and have recently raised the
prospect of going after U.S Atty.
Gen. Merrick Garland too. Treat-
to the crazy caucus of the Republi- ing impeachment as a routine tac-
can Party. tic is contrary to the Constitution
In an interview on — where and corrosive of public trust in gov-
else? — Fox News, the Bakersfield ernment.
Republican referred to congres- Even worse would be to use this
sional investigations of the Biden tactic as tit-for-tat retaliation for
family and said: “This is rising to the two impeachments of Donald
the level of impeachment inquiry, Trump by a Democratic-con-
which provides Congress the Patrick Semansky Associated Press trolled House. Those impeach-
strongest power to get the rest of HOUSE SPEAKER Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) during a news conference on July 14. ments were justified by evidence of
the knowledge and information Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to in-
needed.” McCarthy later clarified vestigate Biden, and Trump’s role
that he was not yet announcing an
impeachment inquiry.
Impeachment of the president
is supposed to be based on the
Ringmaster of the GOP’s in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the
Capitol. In any event, the Republi-
can-controlled House has been
able to investigate allegations
commission of “high crimes and
misdemeanors.” But we are far
from any justification for an im-
peachment inquiry. McCarthy
cited old, much-hyped but unsub-
impeachment circus? against Biden and has yet to find
evidence of any wrongdoing.
In recent years, McCarthy has
played many parts on the political
stage: enabler of election denial,
stantiated allegations that the
president accepted bribes or was
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is dredging up old and Trump apologist (he said he sup-
ports the idea pushed by extrem-
involved in questionable business
activities of his son Hunter Biden
unsubstantiated allegations against Biden ists in his party to expunge the two
impeachments of Trump) and
when he was vice president. In an punching bag for extremists in his
obvious attempt to damage Bid- ceedings. when and if Republicans secured nal indictment, this time for alleg- party who prevented him from win-
en’s presidential bid, Senate Re- In what seemed like another the evidence to justify one. If that’s edly trying to overturn the results ning the speakership until the 15th
publicans tried, and failed, in 2020 see-saw, Politico reported that on true, why raise impeachment at of the 2020 election. ballot.
to find evidence of corruption in Wednesday the speaker told a this point — other than to placate “There are some people that ar- Does he want to add the even
these same allegations. Last Octo- closed-door meeting of House Re- the party’s extremists? Or perhaps en’t going to be happy until every- more demeaning role of ringmas-
ber, McCarthy said that he didn’t publicans that an impeachment it’s an attempt to provide a distrac- body in Washington gets im- ter of the circus that an impeach-
see a basis for impeachment pro- probe would be launched only tion as Trump faces another crimi- peached,” Rep. Tony Gonzales (R- ment inquiry could easily become?

LETTERS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

used to kill, America will not have to cook in the heat and the nation would have been titles and my favorite au-
force federal and state gov- flee their own homes to find enough to put an end to this thors on Amazon or brows-
ernments to enact and any relief. Knowing that this debate once and for all. ing in Barnes & Noble.
enforce gun control. heat will double by 2050 Since that tragedy, oc- I’m trying to cut down on
Learn the lesson from makes me worried for the curring 11 days before this habit as I have stacks of
history, take action immedi- future of the planet, espe- Christmas, I have resolved books ready for me to read. I
ately — print the photo- cially young people such as to send a donation to the donate to the library and
graphs. myself, who have to live in Sandy Hook Promise foun- used book stores to reduce
Robert L. Graham this future. We know that dation every time I write a the amount of titles threat-
Manhattan Beach the cause of rising heat is letter like this, because I ening to make my house
due to climate change and know now that a financial look like a book store itself,
:: greenhouse emissions, but response is the only way to and I highly recommend
it seems like there is no dire deal with a gun lobby that that approach to fellow
action from the government would seem to have us and collectors.
and those in power to com- our elected officials believe, Dave Wilson
bat it. as in some bad cowboy or Murrieta
Protecting We need to pressure the war movie, that a “winner”
unhoused youth government into focusing
its attention on combating
in a violent exchange is “the
good guy.” Yet politicians
::

climate change instead of often care more about pla- In response to the ques-
Re “Homeless, when you
developing artificial intelli- cating gun hobbyists than tion, “why do I hoard so
just can’t afford the rent,”
gence that isn’t solving the even the most innocent of many books,” I ask: Why
Opinion, July 23
problems that we have now! lives. not?
Jules Pizano I am encouraged that Joan Walston
Homelessness is increas-
Whittier the sheriff of Shasta County, Santa Monica
ing in the United States due
who raised concerns about
to rising rent prices and
:: an original draft of the
other issues. There is much
county board of supervi-
focus on adults who are
homeless and how they
This July seems likely to sors’ resolution to defend Humans, keep
ended up without housing,
but not enough on children
go down as one of the
hottest months in recorded
gun rights, seems to know
that the statistics in the
your distance
Associated Press
history. Some people dis- FBI’s annual Uniform
EMMETT TILL was killed in the Mississippi Delta and youth. Re “Two sea lions charge
miss global warming as a Crime Reporting Program
in August 1955. The Runaway and through crowd during
hoax or as a potential future are more than just num-
Homeless Youth and Traf- breeding season at San
phenomenon. To those bers.
ficking Prevention Act Diego’s La Jolla Cove,” July

Biden won’t let Till’s would create temporary

shelters for youth who run
doubters, climate scientists
are increasingly saying in
unison, "the future is now."
Ronald Webster
Long Beach
26

memory fade from away or are homeless —

particularly victims of traf-
ficking, abuse or exploita-
Why does it matter? Well,
for one thing, especially in
::
Federal guidelines rec-
ommend people stay at
least 50 yards away from
American memory tion — and provide other
community services. This
our dense inner city urban
centers, heat is a killer,
particularly of the elderly
Shasta County Supervi-
sor Patrick Jones manages
his family’s gun store. Be-
seals and sea lions, and it
appears the people in the
bill will direct the federal images of San Diego’s La
Re “Emmett Till’s place in U.S. history is cemented, Per- and the health-compro- cause of that, he should
government to provide Jolla Cove were much closer
spectives,” July 27 mised. have recused himself from
programs for these youth to the sea lions who charged
The Earth is getting voting on his performative
and give grants to nonprofit through groups at the
eave it to a man of compassion, empathy, tolerance hotter and all living beings resolution purporting to

L and decency such as President Biden to spearhead

the establishment of memorials to commemorate the
savage murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy.
organizations.
Services and organiza-
tions like these are essential
to society to provide better
must adapt to these condi-
tions or face perishing.
Ken Derow
Swarthmore, Pa.
defend the 2nd Amend-
ment. At the very least.
Thomas Bliss
Los Angeles
beach.
One “rule of thumb” is
that you should be able to
cover up your view of the
Till was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, his body shelter for children and animal with your thumb
thrown into a river by racists. Calling to mind Till today youth who need it. held at arm’s length; if that
would not be popular in some parts of the country in which Mary Fishwick doesn’t work, you are too
America's racist underpinnings is deemed too uncomfort-
Montpelier, Va. Local 2nd The love of close.
When people fail to re-
able to acknowledge, something which needs to be erased
from history.
Amendment collecting books spect wild animals and are
attacked, the animals often
It is gratifying that a president to whom civil rights has
Our relentless fanaticism Re “Why do I hoard so many
end up being killed. Please
always been important has made it more likely that the stay the recommended
memory of an atrocity, one for which the perpetrators tragi- heat wave Re “Shasta County affirms
gun rights,” July 27
books? An investigation,”
Opinion, July 25
distance away: It may save
cally were not called to account, will endure. The president’s their lives, and save you
actions bring comfort to surviving members of Till’s family Re “El Nino blamed as heat from harm.
The 2nd Amendment The article by Chris
and to all whose lives have been affected by racial animus. wave lingers,” July 27 Carol Mathews
fanatic's thinking is as Vognar hit awfully close to
Oren Spiegler, Peters Township, Pa. dense as a diamond and has home! I have lined too many Redwood City
Growing up in Southern
the depth of a spoon, so of the walls in my home with
California, I have suffered
much so that something bookcases and filled them
record heat year after year,
Emmett Till’s mother horrific event is that until Freudian must be involved with books.
making me resent summer HOW TO WRITE TO US
required an open casket for America sees the mutilated with it. When I worked, I would
for being so hot.
her son, so the world could pictures of children and The 2012 Sandy Hook listen to audiobooks during Please send letters to
Low-income families
see his mutilated body. adults from Texas to Illinois, Elementary School shoot- my commute. letters@latimes.com. For
that don’t have enough to
This act changed the New York to California and ing in Newtown, Conn., But I always loved to submission guidelines, see
pay for air conditioning are
United States forever. Florida, that occur when an affected me so strongly that read a hard book. I can’t latimes.com/letters or call
affected the most. They
The lesson from this AR-15-style assault rifle is I only imagined its effect on resist perusing the book 1-800-LA TIMES, ext. 74511.

Executive Chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

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LAT I M E S . C O M / O P I N I O N
PROTESTERS rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court after the justices struck down
President Biden’s student debt relief program on June 30.
A student loan system that
doesn’t crush Americans
An approach based on
debtors’ income would
be a huge improvement.
By Cecilia Elena Rouse
ome 44 million Ameri-
S cans owe $1.6 trillion in
student loan debt, and
more than 7 million of
them were in default
prior to the pandemic repay-
ment pause. This crushing bur-
den is associated with reduced
homeownership, degraded
credit ratings, and delayed
marriage and childbearing.
The Biden administration’s ef-
fort to cancel $430 billion of stu-
dent loan debt, however, was
struck down as unconstitu-
tional by the Supreme Court.
Although advocates have
pushed for blanket student
loan forgiveness, a one-time
loan cancellation was never go-
ing to be a lasting solution to
the challenge of financing
higher education in the U.S.
We still need to figure out
how to help students invest in
their education without sad-
dling them with crushing debt
in the first place. A critical step
forward would be to replace the
existing loan system with a
standard repayment plan that
aligns payments with a borrow-
er’s ability to pay.
Don’t expect Congress to find
consensus on UFOs or aliens
Skeptics and believers
alike want transparency,
but that only goes so far.
By Greg Eghigian
W
ednesday’s
hearing from a
congressional
subcommittee
probing uni-
dentified anomalous phenome-
na, or UAP, introduced a new
chapter in an ongoing saga.
For almost six years now,
newspapers, cable news and so-
cial media have regaled us with
stories about military
encounters with strange air-
craft and secret government
UFO programs. The fallout has
led to the creation of a new gov-
ernment office to track UAP
sightings (the All-domain
Anomaly Resolution Office or
AARO) and an independent
study panel to advise NASA on
the phenomenon. Even the Na-
tional Archives and Records
Administration has been digi-
tizing government records on
unidentified flying objects over
the past few months.
The hearing, held by the
House Subcommittee on Na-
tional Security, the Border and
Foreign Affairs, gave speaking
time to three witnesses: former
Navy pilots David Fravor and
Ryan Graves and former intelli-
gence official David Grusch. All
three had already spoken to the
media about their experiences,
but this was public testimony
under oath.
Grusch’s allegations were by
far the most explosive, claiming
that the government had access
Funding for postsecondary
education in the U.S. comes
from the public sector as well as
from private gifts, contracts,
student tuition and fees. But
state and local contributions
have not kept pace with the in-
crease in cost. In 1980, tuition
and fees paid by students rep-
resented only 13% of the cost of
education at public institu-
tions; by 2020, this share had
risen to nearly 20%. Students
and their families have increas-
ingly borrowed to cover the
cost.
There are many proposals
for making higher education
more affordable, such as offer-
ing free (two-year) community
college or eliminating student
loans altogether. Given that
postsecondary schooling yields
benefits for all of society —
through greater tax contrib-
utions, higher productivity, re-
duced dependence on the so-
cial welfare system, and so
forth — some public subsidiza-
tion of the cost of higher educa-
tion makes sense.
At the same time, it also
makes sense for students to
bear some responsibility for a
share of the cost of the educa-
tion, which produces benefits,
such as a boost lifetime earn-
ings. Given the substantial re-
turn on investment, it is appro-
priate that loans remain in fi-
nancial aid packages.
But the standard federal
student loan does not align
to crashed “nonhuman” tech-
nology with “biologics” aboard
and that the artifacts were be-
ing reverse engineered. Grusch
admitted, however, “I’m speak-
ing to the facts as I’ve been told
them.” Afterward, Rep. Tim
Burchett (R-Tenn.) congratu-
lated the three men and an-
nounced, “We made history to-
day.”
Just how historic the hear-
ing was is up for debate. Yes, it
was novel to have Congress
hear openly from some UFO
witnesses who appear sincere
and credible. But there wasn’t
much new information shared,
and Grusch balked when he
was asked to give details about
his most stunning claims in an
open forum.
If the Twitterverse (X-
verse?) is a reliable guide, both
UFO believers and skeptics
came away unshaken in their
views — showing the limits of
pushing to shine a light on this
issue.
Discussion about UFOs has
always been about more than
just the prospect of alien visi-
tors, and this time was no dif-
ferent. From the outset, both
Republicans and Democrats
invoked one word to highlight
what the hearing was all about:
transparency. Representatives
insisted on greater transpar-
ency from the military, from the
intelligence community and
from private defense contrac-
tors.
The demand for greater gov-
ernment openness about
UFOs has a long history, dating
back to the very first wave of
“flying saucer” sightings in 1947
. But while many have beaten
the drum for transparency —
inspiring what’s been called the
disclosure movement by a
OP-ED
Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times
with the economic realities of
postsecondary schooling and
the labor market. And, though
education is an investment
that does not pay off for every-
one, students face complex and
limited options for reducing re-
payment burdens and are pro-
hibited from discharging the
debt through bankruptcy.
Equally important, the
standard repayment plan ex-
pects students to repay their
loans over the first 10 years of
their careers, before most have
hit their peak earnings. Even
for those whose investment
pays off over time, the financial
burden may be too high during
the repayment period.
Aiming to solve these prob-
lems, Congress and the De-
partment of Education have,
over time, created several in-
come-driven repayment pro-
grams — a bipartisan idea that
arose decades ago, when it was
endorsed by economists across
the political spectrum. Unlike a
mortgage, which requires bor-
rowers to pay a predetermined
amount each month, income-
driven repayment plans set the
payment at a percentage of
borrowers’ income. Under a
well-designed plan, borrowers
who fall on hard times or select
an occupation that does not
pay well (such as working in the
public sector) would be able to
repay what they can of their
loans without undue financial
hardship.
largely online community —
this goal has been stubbornly
elusive.
There are a number of rea-
sons for this.
For one thing, both military
and intelligence officials in the
U.S., South America and Eu-
rope have historically down-
played UFO sightings while
also keeping a good deal of in-
formation about them classi-
fied. While the classification is
not exactly surprising from
government agencies, some ob-
servers have seen in this an in-
dication of what Burchett
called a “cover-up.”
As far back as the 1960s,
however, others like atmos-
pheric physicist James McDon-
ald believed government’s
blasé attitude toward UFOs
stemmed from incompetence
and ignorance. He and astron-
omer J. Allen Hynek were of the
view that the only solution lay
in having civilian scientists
take the lead in examining the
phenomenon, comparable to
the panel of civilian scientists
recently appointed to advise
NASA.
Another factor complicat-
ing the pursuit of transparency
is politics. Secrecy has been an
indelible part of all modern
states and became only more
pronounced during World War
II and the Cold War (just watch
“Oppenheimer”). While those
demanding disclosure often
claim to be scrutinizing the de-
ficiencies of government at
large, the targets tend to be the
policies of specific administra-
tions.
The hearing Wednesday
provided an example of this
very thing. While lip service was
paid to nonpartisanship, both
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.)
But the existing plans are
not optimally designed. Bor-
rowers must opt into such a
plan over the standard repay-
ment plan. Payments are based
on the prior year’s income,
which means they do not seam-
lessly adjust to changes in bor-
rowers’ earnings and employ-
ment circumstances. Nor do
they automatically adjust to
borrowers’ current hardships,
necessitating complicated for-
bearance and deferment rules
and requiring annual recertifi-
cation. Further, the plans have
different eligibility rules, pay-
ment rates, repayment periods
and definitions of discretionary
income. As a result, choosing a
plan is so confusing that to date
only a minority of eligible bor-
rowers take advantage of them.
As a stopgap measure, the
Biden administration has in-
troduced Saving on a Valuable
Education, a larger, more gen-
erous income-driven repay-
ment plan than the existing op-
tions. The hope is that the new
program will be so obviously
advantageous that more stu-
dents will sign up for it. But
SAVE is far from perfect. It will
not be the default plan, and it
still bases payments on the
past year’s income. As a result,
it is not clear how effective it will
be at addressing the country’s
student debt crisis and higher-
education financing chal-
lenges.
More to the point, SAVE is
an expensive plan layered on
top of a labyrinth of other stu-
dent loan options. That brings
us to the larger problem: The
Department of Education can-
not simply eliminate plans cre-
ated by Congress. Genuinely
transforming federal student
loans requires Congress to
phase out all existing income-
driven payment plans and re-
place them with a well-struc-
tured plan as the default. Ideal-
ly, such a plan would be admin-
istratively straightforward and
designed to encourage stu-
dents to assume a responsible
level of debt to pay for valuable
education programs.
While even a well-designed
plan would not solve all the
problems in the financing of
higher education in the U.S.,
making income-driven repay-
ment the default plan for stu-
dent loans would be a huge im-
provement, and is a reform that
both parties should be able to
get behind.
Cecilia Elena Rouse, former
chair of President Biden’s
Council of Economic Advisors,
is a professor of economics and
public affairs at Princeton
University.
and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-
N.C.) used the occasion to cas-
tigate the Biden administra-
tion for its handling of the Chi-
nese balloon incident back in
February, with Foxx dubbing it
a “fiasco.” The call for openness
is sometimes just partisan poli-
tics by other means.
Finally, transparency
doesn’t guarantee clarity and
consensus, especially not on a
topic as consequential as
whether UFOs and aliens are
real.
In 1994, the Office of the Sec-
retary of the Air Force released
the results of its investigation
into the famous Roswell Inci-
dent of 1947, concluding wit-
nesses had been mistaken
about the existence of flying
saucer crash and alien body re-
trievals in New Mexico. Files
from the Air Force’s old UFO in-
vestigation, Project Blue Book,
have long been publicly avail-
able.
In fact, across the globe
countries including Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ita-
ly, New Zealand and Spain have
released thousands of pages of
declassified UFO-related docu-
ments. Between 2008 and 2013,
the U.K. released around 60,000
pages of its Ministry of De-
fense’s UFO reports and corre-
spondence.
Yet despite this, UFO en-
thusiasts and researchers have
not always agreed on how to in-
terpret the released docu-
ments and have continued to
accuse officials of holding back
key records.
Without a doubt, the hear-
ing has left advocates of disclo-
sure emboldened to carry on
the cause. Yet it remains to be
seen just how illuminating
transparency will ever be.
Greg Eghigian is a professor
of history and bioethics at
Penn State University and the
author of “After the Flying
Saucers Came: A Global
History of the UFO
Phenomenon,” forthcoming in
2024.
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 A11
Was it safe
to keep our
rescue dog?
We loved our adopted bull terrier,
but after she attacked another dog, it
felt like she was a gun with no safety.
By Paul Karrer
early two years ago, my wife
N and I adopted a 57-pound, 8-year-
old female bull terrier from the
SPCA. She was pure white with
black patches over both eyes. And
she was all muscle.
Some might remember bull terriers as the
Target dog, the Budweiser dog or Gen. George
S. Patton’s dog. You don’t see the breed too
often.
Our bull terrier, whom we named Snoopy,
had been used for breeding and was probably
abandoned when she was no longer able to pro-
duce puppies. She came to us with issues, as is
the case with many rescued animals.
On her first day with us Snoopy jumped in
the clothes dryer and then hyperventilated —
perhaps from anxiety — on our couch. She’d go
in the shower, lingering in the dark if we let her.
She could seemingly never drink enough water.
And nothing mattered to her more than food. In
the car she always buried her head in the seat,
rarely interested in what was outside.
I mentioned all this and more to our vet on
her first visit and said, “I’d love to know her his-
tory.” The vet replied, “I don’t think you would. I
can only guess, but it sounds like she was not fed
or given water regularly, and probably lived in a
tiny kennel. That’s most likely why she made a
beeline to your dryer. It’s a small, safe place. You
know, they are a very difficult breed to manage.”
Yes, I knew. I’d done my reading on bull terri-
ers before we got her. Some dog trainers believe
bull terriers should be on a leash in public, par-
ticularly if they have not been socialized as
puppies with other dogs.
After eight
months with us,
Snoopy
calmed down. I
had
could walk her in
town with no is-
sues, including
when eating at an
outdoor restau-
rant, where she
stayed right
under my seat,
while another dog
lay a few feet
away.
Then, one day
on a walk in the
woods, we
Paul Karrer rounded a corner
SNOOPY, the writer’s and came upon a
bull terrier. woman sitting
with her large dog.
Snoopy went nuts and tried to attack it. I man-
aged to pull her away but from that day on, if she
spotted a big dog not to her liking, Snoopy
would growl and lunge.
I talked to our vet again, who told me, “Some-
times after they settle in, their true nature
comes out. Or something triggers them.”
A few months later I left Snoopy in our
fenced-in backyard. Normally, I leave her out
there for five minutes, letting her back in when
she barks. This time I didn’t realize I had left the
gate open a hair. Snoopy left the yard, saw a
young woman walking her pit bull on a leash
and attacked.
I heard a high-pitched scream and looked
out to see the two dogs going at it. Even though
I’m an old geezer I ran out, put my arms around
Snoopy’s chest and my legs around her back
legs. The woman was also on the ground, tug-
ging at her dog for all she was worth. But the
dogs would not let go. I ended up getting bitten
by Snoopy. My clothes were shredded and splat-
tered with blood — both the dogs’ and my own.
The police and an ambulance came. Thank
goodness the pit bull’s owner was not bitten.
We paid vet bills for both dogs and we did not
get sued. The woman was super. She even called
a week later to find out how Snoopy and I were
doing.
I learned that there are five dogs that my
homeowners’ insurance does not cover: pit
bulls, chows, Rottweilers, Dobermans and, of
course, bull terriers. Most insurance policies
don’t cover these breeds. Snoopy seemed like a
loaded gun with no safety. My wife and I loved
her but we knew some visitors to our home were
intimidated by her and after the attack we were
worried. What if something else set her off and
she hurt one of us, or worse, someone else? We
already knew neither of us was strong enough to
control her if she lost it again.
We debated and debated but came to the de-
cision that we had to put Snoopy down. We cried
as we brought her to the vet. And then we were
informed they would not euthanize for aggres-
sion. And the vet told us about anti-aggression
classes.
That was four months ago. Snoopy has gone
to eight anti-aggression classes. When she’s in
public she wears a muzzle at all times and is al-
ways on a leash. I have a metal cable that I at-
tach to her harness when she’s in the backyard.
In the car now, Snoopy no longer hides — she
looks out the window and puts her head outside
to feel the wind. She rarely goes into the shower
anymore. When she sits on the couch, instead of
hyperventilating she likes to put her massive
head on my shoulder. I like it too.
I guess cats aren’t the only critters with more
than one life.
Paul Karrer is a writer in Monterey, Calif. He
taught fifth grade in Castroville for 27 years
and is the host of the podcast “Karrer Shorts.”
FOR THE RECORD
Twitter: In the July 27 edition, an Opinion
article dated the “smiling Macintosh” computer
to 1980. The correct year is 1984.
A12 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
Will mayor try to solve strikes? Can she?
[Mayor, from A1]
happy ending has yet to
emerge.
In that leadership vacu-
um, some have speculated
that Bass could play concil-
iator. In an industry known
for its egos, the mayor’s de-
cidedly unflashy style could
be a boon, and she has long
been known as a coalition
builder.
But as of now, the general
consensus seems to be that
she remains a background
actor in Hollywood’s current
drama.
Bass said last week that
she has been “in discussion
with members of the WGA
who have told me about
their working conditions, as
well as studio executives to
talk about the economic
conditions and the changes
within the industry,” but de-
clined to comment further
about her role.
The mayor has met with
with members of the Writers
Guild of America and Screen
Actors Guild-American
Federation of Television and
Radio Artists as well as stu-
dio representatives and con-
tinues “to engage with labor
leaders, studio heads,
elected leaders and other
impacted parties,” her
spokesperson Zach Seidl
said Thursday.
Several prominent Holly-
wood figures from different
corners of the industry said
they had not heard about
the mayor stepping into the
quagmire in any meaningful
way, at least as of yet.
Representatives for the
WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the
Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers ei-
ther declined to comment or
did not respond to requests
for comment.
It’s not uncommon for
big-city mayors to get in-
volved, and sometimes even
mediate, in labor disputes
that have a broad impact on
the local economy.
Four months ago, Bass
helped broker a deal be-
tween the Los Angeles Uni-
fied School District and the
union representing school
support staff, preventing
further campus closures
and drawing effusive praise
from both sides. Former
Mayor Eric Garcetti took on
a similar role during the 2019
teachers’ strike.
But Hollywood labor dis-
cord has historically been
handled in-house, with little
influence or assistance from
Los Angeles City Hall.
In 2007, then-Mayor An-
tonio Villaraigosa’s offers to
mediate near the start of the
last writers’ strike were re-
buffed by the Alliance of Mo-
tion Picture and Television
Producers. Writers and pro-
ducers also worked out their
differences during the 1988
writers’ strike without the
involvement of then-Mayor
Tom Bradley.
A burgeoning economic
A family’s move to live off the grid ends in tragedy
Loved ones feared the
3 weren’t prepared.
Their remains were
found in Colorado.
By Alexandra E. Petri
The world had become
increasingly perilous, and
Rebecca Vance, her teenage
son and her sister Christine
Vance decided last summer
to get away from it all, live in
the wild, off the grid in the
Colorado Rockies.
Trevala Jara, a stepsister
to the two women, tried per-
suading them not to go.
But their minds were
made up. So they hugged,
cried and said their good-
byes on Jara’s front porch a
few days before leaving. Jara
asked her stepsister Chris-
tine to send postcards —
anything to let her know that
they were safe.
The postcards never
came, but tragedy did.
The Gunnison County
Coroner’s Office identified
Rebecca Vance, 42, Chris-
tine Vance, 41, and Rebecca’s
14-year-old son as the three
people whose decomposed
remains were discovered in a
remote area of the national
forest, east of Gunnison, in
the Colorado Rockies earlier
this month.
The identification of the
remains comes weeks after
the Gunnison County Sher-
iff ’s Office said it received a
call on July 9 from a hiker
who discovered a remote
campsite in the area of Gold
Creek Campground with a
“heavily decomposed de-
ceased individual within the
A MAN pickets outside Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank on Wednesday as part of the strikes by Hollywood writers and actors.
L.A. MAYOR Karen Bass, shown in June, is known
as a coalition builder and has deep ties in Hollywood.
crisis with pain radiating
from the region’s best-
known industry is of obvious
concern to a city’s chief exe-
cutive. But Bass, who has
been laser-focused on home-
lessness since taking office,
also finds herself in a fraught
position.
Despite the deeply felt
impacts on her city, Bass has
camp,” the Sheriff ’s Office
said in a statement.
The next day, sheriff ’s in-
vestigators located the
campsite and discovered
two more heavily decom-
posed remains, the Sheriff ’s
Office said.
Evidence suggested the
family was trying to live off
the grid and probably died
because of malnutrition or
exposure to the elements,
said Michael Barnes, the
Gunnison County coroner.
The autopsy reports are not
yet complete, and Barnes
said the office is waiting on a
toxicology report. He added
that carbon monoxide poi-
soning was also a concern
because evidence suggested
the family tried to stay warm
by burning materials, in-
cluding vegetation in soup
cans, inside their tent.
Jara described her sister
Rebecca, whom she called
Becky, as an intelligent, qui-
et child with only one best
friend growing up. “It wasn’t
exactly that she didn’t trust
anyone,” Jara said. “It was
just that she’d much rather
be by herself.”
During the pandemic,
Rebecca Vance grew in-
creasingly fearful of the state
of the world, concerned
about external influences or
dangerous people, Jara said.
Christine Vance had also
grown frightened, but not to
the same extent, Jara said.
Rebecca began to dream
about living disconnected in
the wilderness — a path she
deemed necessary to sur-
vive.
After schools reopened
from the pandemic shut-
down, Rebecca chose to con-
tinue home-schooling her
Jason Armond Los Angeles Times
no authority over the situa-
tion or specific levers to pull,
beyond the bully pulpit of
her office. Unlike with the
school strike, the employers
here are largely multina-
tional corporations. And
several of the major studios
are not even located within
city limits.
Other politicians, includ-
A TENT by Lamphier Lake in western Colorado, not far from where the bodies of
Rebecca Vance, her teenage son and her sister Christine Vance were found.
teenage son, whom Jara de-
scribed through tears as
smart, and who loved to play
video games like Pokemon
and Mario Kart.
Early in the fall of 2021,
Rebecca Vance shared her
plan only with Christine,
who was not going to join
them. Then, one day in July
last year, Christine arrived
at Jara’s doorstep with their
mother’s urn and some of
their parents’ belongings.
She was going with Rebecca,
she said. Jara broke down.
Her sisters told other
family members they were
headed out of state for a fam-
ily emergency, Jara said. But
they confided in Jara their
plans to go live off the land,
though they did not share
any precise details, includ-
ing members of Congress,
state legislators and quite a
few City Council representa-
tives, have been a frequent
presence on the picket lines,
giving their full-throated
support to the striking ac-
tors and writers. Bass has
taken some flak, particu-
larly online, for not taking a
similar stand.
“The mayor has heard
from both sides that what is
most helpful to arrive at a
fair and equitable solution is
for her to remain in a posi-
tion where she can convene
all involved when the time
comes,” Seidl said, seem-
ingly alluding to a potential
mediator role down the line.
One could also argue that
there is little political upside
for Bass publicly inserting
herself during a moment of
relative paralysis.
Both sides remain deeply
divided on key issues, such
as AI technology and resid-
uals on streaming plat-
forms, and there’s no clear
indication of when talks will
resume with either guild.
The dog days of summer are
also a historically dead time
in Hollywood, when power
brokers take lengthy vaca-
tions and the pace of deal-
making stalls.
“The challenge is that
mayors will likely weigh in
when they have a pretty
good sense that their inter-
vention will yield significant
results,” UCLA Labor Cen-
ing where they’d be going.
“[Rebecca] really
thought she was saving her
son and Christine by living
by themselves and being off
the grid,” Jara said. “I really
did not think it was going to
get this far.”
Jara and her husband,
along with a close family
friend who is experienced
with off-the-grid living, tried
to stop them, Jara said. Jara
even proposed they go live
on her and her husband’s
property in the mountains,
which has no running water
or electricity but had a gen-
erator and an RV, along with
a general store not too far
away.
“We offered that to them
so they can at least practice,
and then we know where
ter Director Kent Wong
said.
“If you have a situation
where there is a huge gap be-
tween what the employer is
offering versus what the
union is asking for, then it
makes it very difficult for the
mayor to come in to create
miracles.”
As a former six-term Los
Angeles congresswoman,
she certainly has deep re-
lationships in Hollywood,
but it’s also unclear how
close she is with any of the
current guild or studio lead-
ership.
Disney Chief Executive
Bob Iger and Warner Bros.
Discovery CEO David Za-
slav were invited to her inau-
gural State of the City ad-
dress in April, though nei-
ther attended. (Zaslav gave
$1,500 to Bass’ mayoral cam-
paign; Iger donated to nei-
ther of the two candidates in
the race.)
During her 2022 cam-
paign, financial support
came from all sides of the en-
tertainment industry.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the
Dreamworks SKG co-found-
er and former chairman of
Walt Disney Studios, was by
far the biggest financial sup-
porter of Bass, pouring in
about $1.85 million to an in-
dependent committee sup-
porting her campaign. That
committee also received
$125,000 from Netflix co-
founder and Executive
Denver Post
they are at, and we can check
on them,” Jara said. The
idea appealed to Christine
Vance, but not to Rebecca,
who was certain they could
“live on their own,” she said.
Realizing they couldn’t
persuade them to stay, Jara
said she, her husband and
the family friend did what
they could to help the family
prepare before venturing off,
teaching them about differ-
ent plants to eat or to avoid
or items to pack.
According to Barnes, the
family settled about 9,500
feet in elevation in the na-
tional forest, an hour out-
side of Gunnison, a town in
western Colorado. Empty
cans and refuse suggested
the family had been there for
an extended time, Barnes
L AT I M E S . C O M
Valerie Macon AFP/Getty Images
Chairman Reed Hastings’
wife, Patty Quillin.
Film and TV writers and
actors collectively gave
about $200,000 directly to
Bass’ campaign, according
to campaign finance re-
cords. Many also used their
platforms to boost her can-
didacy, headlining events
and amplifying her talking
points on social media.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who
also has deep political and
personal connections to ac-
tors, writers and studio exe-
cutives, has toed a similar
line to Bass’ in recent weeks,
though he has offered to step
in to negotiate an end to the
standoff.
“He’s willing to help if
both sides want it. At this
point that’s not where we
are,” said Anthony York, a
spokesperson for Newsom.
“That being said, of course
he has concerns about the
impact of a prolonged stale-
mate on the local and the
state economy because of
the tens of thousands of peo-
ple who rely on the enter-
tainment industry for their
livelihood.”
The governor and his top
staff continue to have con-
versations with industry
players on all sides, his office
said.
Times staff writer Taryn
Luna in Sacramento
contributed to this
report.
said.
But they appeared to
struggle to survive against
the snow and bitter cold,
which he said crept up
quickly and lasted through
spring.
Near the campsite au-
thorities found a lean-to — a
type of crude shelter — made
with logs held together by
some cordage, a sign that
the group was probably try-
ing to find refuge from the
weather.
There were empty soup
cans and other garbage
found around the site, in-
cluding signs the family built
fires to stay warm in the tent.
The area where the fam-
ily would go to the bathroom
was just a few feet away from
the tent, which Barnes said
also indicated the family
probably struggled with the
winter conditions. “They
didn’t want to venture far to
use the restroom.”
“I think they kind of got
marooned out there,” he
said. The remains were also
“abnormally thin,” and were
identified based on “dental
records, fingerprints and
other associated evidence,”
he said.
Jara hopes the story of
her sisters and nephew
could be a cautionary tale for
others, particularly those
who plan to venture into the
wilderness but are inexperi-
enced.
“YouTube and the inter-
net is not enough,” Jara said.
She added: “Fear can get
ahold of the best of us. Do
not let fear take over you. Re-
search if you think some-
thing is wrong. Do your
homework, before you let
fear take over you.”
 B

CALIFORNIA F R I D AY , J U L Y 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

Prison
reform
vision
faces
doubts
Newsom’s plan to
overhaul San Quentin
runs into questions
about cost, objectives.
By Hannah Wiley

Photographs by Myung J. Chun Los Angeles Times
A PLAN to build three warehouses just south of Jurupa Hills High School, shown above, raised concerns about traffic and air pollution.
MARIN COUNTY —
Tucked in the back corner of
San Quentin State Prison’s
sprawling campus here sits a
dilapidated warehouse, a
humdrum building that’s
fallen into disrepair since
the days it was used as an of-
fice furniture factory.
It’s also ground zero for
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambi-
tious $380-million plan to
transform the state’s oldest
prison into a sweeping reha-
bilitation center modeled on

Fontana rejects warehouse proposal the Scandinavian approach

City Council narrowly
vetoes a development plan
amid concerns of polluting
two nearby high schools.
By Tony Briscoe
Facing heated criticism from
residents, as well as complaints of
worsening air pollution due to truck
delivery traffic, the Fontana City
Council has narrowly rejected a pro-
posal to build three sprawling ware-
houses near two high schools.
At a turbulent three-hour meet-
ing Tuesday evening, council mem-
bers voted 3 to 2 against rezoning 29
acres of residential property directly
south of Jurupa Hills High School
and west of Citrus High School. The
request came from Acacia Real Es-
tate Group, which wanted the land
approved for industrial use.
The warehouses, which would
have comprised 540,000 square feet
and 69 loading docks, were expected
to generate more than 300 daily
truck trips and 600 passenger vehi-
cle trips, releasing more harmful
tailpipe emissions near school recre-
ational areas, according to a state-
mandated environmental analysis.
Before the vote, the Newport
Beach-based developer had sought
to ease community concerns by
proposing a 45-foot landscaped
buffer between warehouses and Ju-
rupa Hills, in addition to boosting its
contribution to a neighborhood ben-
efit fund to nearly $3.3 million. Coun-
cilmember Philip Colthran also sug-
gested amendments intended to al-
ter truck traffic. Those concessions,
however, failed to persuade a major-
ity of the City Council, including
LIZ SENA, founder of the South Fontana Concerned Citizens John Roberts, who described his de-
Coalition, says the City Council favors developers over residents. [See Warehouse, B2]
to incarceration, which fo-
cuses less on severe punish-
ment and more on preparing
individuals for life after pris-
on.
Newsom’s vision for San
Quentin builds on the pris-
on’s already expansive pro-
gramming by layering on
more robust job training
courses, additional sub-
stance-use and mental-
health treatment and ex-
panded academic classes.
The plan fits into Newsom’s
broader goal of reducing the
incarcerated population,
largely through treatment
and prevention programs
and a handful of prison
closures, and builds on his
prior decisions to impose a
moratorium on the death
penalty and shut down the
execution chamber at San
Quentin.
Newsom proposed the re-
named “San Quentin Reha-
bilitation Center” in March,
alongside leaders in the
criminal justice reform
movement, which advocates
for funneling money toward
rehabilitation, diversion and

Rent control push prevention programs and

rolling back the state’s
tough-on-crime laws of the
1980s and ’90s. In May, New-

qualifies for ballot som announced an advisory

After two failed
attempts, group will
again try to expand
tenant protections.
By Benjamin Oreskes
Will the third time be the
charm?
After trying and failing
twice before, a coalition of
housing advocates led by the
AIDS Healthcare
Foundation have collected
enough signatures to place a
measure on the 2024 ballot
asking voters to repeal a ma-
jor restriction on rent con-
“Many of our members
are the working poor,” said
Ada Briceno, co-president of
Unite Here Local 11, who
noted that her union mem-
bers are on the picket lines
right now for the same rea-
sons that the ballot initiative
is necessary.
“They live paycheck to
paycheck. They’re couch
surfing. They’re living in
their cars and struggling to
pay rent,” she said. “Many of
them have been pushed out
of their communities and
now have long hours of com-
mute.”
Some of the initiative’s
supporters include the
Coalition for Humane Immi-
council set up to implement
his vision by 2025.
But despite the initial
fanfare over the project, law-
makers, prison closure ac-
tivists and the Legislature’s
own nonpartisan financial
advisors grew increasingly
alarmed in the weeks follow-
ing the announcement over
the plan’s murky details,
rushed timeline and high
cost.
After initially rejecting
his funding request for the
overhaul, lawmakers re-
lented in June and approved
the money Newsom’s ad-
ministration says is needed
to tear down the old furni-
Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times ture warehouse and make
MICHELLE MITCHENOR touches a necklace that carries ashes of her room for what California De-
child Serenity, who was found to have grave abnormalities in utero. partment of Corrections
and Rehabilitation officials

She loved her baby. But

trol, in effect allowing more
cities and counties across
the state to cap rents on
more types of homes.
California Secretary of
State Shirley Weber’s office
announced Wednesday that
the initiative has qualified
for the November 2024 ballot
after its proponents submit-
ted more than 800,000 signa-
tures and enough were certi-
fied as valid.
In a news conference
Thursday, backers of the
Justice for Renters Initiative
said the changes would give
Californians living on the
edge an ability to hold on to
their housing as wages lag
increases in rent across the
state. Supporters said many
people are one rent increase
away from homelessness
and the initiative would give
cities and counties more
tools to prevent tenants
from being displaced.
grant Rights of Los Angeles
and the California Nurses
Assn., along with Housing Is
a Human Right, the housing
advocacy division of the
AIDS Healthcare Founda-
tion.
If the initiative succeeds,
it would repeal the Costa-
Hawkins Rental Housing
Act, a state law that prohib-
its rent control from being
placed by cities and counties
on single-family homes and
apartments built after 1995,
among other prohibitions.
The measure would also
specify that the “state may
not limit the right of cities
and counties to maintain,
enact, or expand rent con-
trol. However, the state still
could set some minimum
protections for renters, like
the current statewide limit
on rent increases,” accord-
ing to a summary from the
[See Rent, B4]
she needed an abortion
ANITA CHABRIA
The quiet told Michelle
Mitchenor something
was wrong.
Feet up, belly ex-
posed, the actress was in
an Atlanta obstetrician’s
office in 2022 for a routine
ultrasound as she neared
her fifth month of preg-
nancy.
But the technician wasn’t saying
anything as she ran the probe across
Mitchenor’s womb, sound waves bounc-
ing off the fetus to create a fuzzy black-
and-white image on the monitor.
What’s going on? Mitchenor remem-
bers thinking. Why are you silent?
envision as a college-cam-
pus-like setting of new pro-
grams.
“There are many ways to
light a spark and launch an
initiative,” Sacramento
Mayor Darrell Steinberg,
whom Newsom tapped as
lead advisor to the transfor-
“Then doctor came in, and immedi- mation council, said during
ately was like, ‘Hey, so what we have a Wednesday media tour of
found is that your baby’s kidneys just did San Quentin.
not properly, well, they didn’t properly “You put out a vision and
form,’ ” Mitchenor told me recently, then you get to work and you
sharing one of the most painful moments make it happen.”
of her life. Steinberg acknowledged
Her unborn child, she was told, had anxiety around the transfor-
bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney, or mation. But he said hard
MCDK, leaving her with bunches of cysts work is underway to provide
where kidneys were supposed to be. the Legislature and the pub-
Without functioning kidneys, the lic much-needed details on
fetus was unable to produce urine, which changes planned for the
forms the amniotic fluid. prison in a December report.
Without amniotic fluid to push in and In the meantime, he said,
out of her lungs, they were failing to concerns being raised
develop. The walls of Mitchenor’s uterus should not slow progress.
instead pressed in as the baby struggled Much of the apprehen-
[See Chabria, B2] [See San Quentin, B5]

SPORTS ON THE BACK: Angels’ decision to not trade Ohtani is a two-sided debate. B10
B2 FR I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M

A mom’s story of ‘strength and ... hard decisions’

[Chabria, from B1]
to move, to breathe and
grow — impeding bones
from maturing and smash-
ing down on the umbilical
cord that carries nutrients.
The child had less than a
1% chance of being born
alive. If she was, she would
probably be in immediate
multiple organ failure. Bilat-
eral MCDK is almost always
fatal.
And carrying the preg-
nancy could risk
Mitchenor’s own life —
especially in Georgia, which
has one of the nation’s worst
maternal mortality rates for
Black women.
The doctor brought up
abortion, but despite know-
ing in her mind how bleak
the odds were, Mitchenor’s
heart held a mother’s hope.
She had been through a
hard pregnancy before,
giving birth to a premature
daughter. But now that
child, Noir, was thriving.
“I didn’t want to just give
up,” she said. “It felt like
giving up on my child.”
But there was a ticking
clock.
Though the Supreme
Court had not yet over-
turned Roe vs. Wade, abor-
tions in Georgia were al-
ready fraught with politics,
as they now are almost
everywhere.
On the books, a woman
could obtain an abortion up
to 21 weeks and six days. But
in 2019, Georgia had tried to
institute a ban on the pro-
cedure after about six weeks
— a so-called heartbeat law
that was stayed by courts.
So doctors were cau-
tious. Mitchenor was told if
she wanted a later abortion,
it would have to be ap-
proved by a panel at the
hospital that would decide if
it was medically warranted.
She could not imagine
putting such a decision in
the hands of strangers.
She also wasn’t ready to
make that choice herself.
And so she began to ask
questions, seek the experts
who might be able to offer
her a miracle.
::
Like so many Hollywood
couples, Mitchenor and her
husband, actor Mustafa
Speaks, met on a produc-
tion.
They both were cast in a
2016 pilot for “The Infa-
mous,” a hip-hop crime
drama set in 1990s Los An-
geles. He played an under-
cover cop. She was a young
rapper. They never crossed
paths on set, but he saw an
Instagram post of her with
“Poetic Justice” braids, he
said, and thought he saw
something deeper than her
obvious beauty. (Both asked
me to note that we did this
interview before the SAG-
AFTRA strike, and its pro-
hibition on members speak-
ing with media.)
He hit her up on social
media. She hit him back.
They finally met at the wrap
party. She says she played it
cool when she saw him. He
doesn’t remember it that
way. He said she hugged
him as soon as she saw him
on the dance floor.
“She didn’t want to let go
of the hug. Like there was a
linger,” he recalls.
So Speaks did the un-
thinkable in an age of casual
hangouts and hookups. A
few weeks in, he told
Mitchenor he wanted to
date her.
“I was really impressed
by him being really clear on
what it was he wanted, but
also not in a creepy way,”
she said.
About eight months
later, she invited him on a
trip to Uganda. In 2015,
Mitchenor was cast in Spike
Lee’s “Chi-Raq,” billed as a
musical crime comedy
drama. With some of her
paycheck from that job, she
started a nonprofit to bring
the arts to kids in under-
served communities, in-
cluding overseas. Now, she
was going to do some of that
work herself.
Speaks grew up in the
Booker T. Washington
projects in New Jersey. His
grandmother picked cotton
in the South.
In the slums of Kampala,
he fell in love with another
side of Mitchenor, the one
that wanted to teach street
kids to dance, that didn’t
just want to give back, but
was making it happen.
“I saw her raw, vulnera-
ble, naked, all of that, and I
loved everything I saw,” he
said. “Even the stuff that got
on my nerves.”
In 2018, they married.
In early 2020, before the
pandemic hit, Mitchenor
realized she was pregnant.
But only months into that
pregnancy, doctors warned
that the baby might be born
early and suggested she
terminate the pregnancy.
Mitchenor was adamant
she would do anything to
keep the child. She checked
into the hospital and stayed
on bed rest for a month, cut
off from the world as the
pandemic shut down ac-
cess. She didn’t care about
loneliness or viruses.
Noir was born prema-
ture, “small but mighty,” as
the nurses put it. Speaks
and Mitchenor spent the
summer in the neonatal
intensive care unit, until
Noir was strong enough to
come home.
“Bringing Noir home felt
like such that light at the
end of the tunnel,” she said.
“I am constantly reminded
why her middle name is
Phoenix, because she rose
from the ashes.”
Life was looking good.
Speaks booked roles on two
shows, the football drama
“All American” and a lead on
“Joe Pickett,” a western
crime drama filming in
Canada. Mitchenor landed
a role in Tyler Perry’s “First
Wives Club.”
Weeks before leaving for
that set, when Noir was
about a year and a half,
Mitchenor found out she
MICHELLE MITCHENOR and her husband, Mustafa Speaks, with their
5-month-old baby at their home in Northridge. They named the baby Legacy.
was pregnant, unexpected
but welcome.
Then came the
ultrasound at 18 weeks, and
their world turned upside
down.
::
Eighteen weeks turned
into 19, then into the twen-
ties as Mitchenor searched
for answers, scouring spe-
cialists across the country.
“I [needed] time,” she
said. “I’m not rushing any-
thing with my body, my
decision. I just [had] to
figure it out. It was just too
overwhelming for me.”
None of the answers were
ones she wanted to hear.
There is no cure for bilat-
eral MCDK. No cutting-
edge surgery, no experimen-
tal genetic intervention.
It was becoming real to
her that this baby, if she
lived to birth, would not
have working kidneys and
would have severely dam-
aged lungs at best. She
began to understand that
no miracle was coming.
On a work trip back to
California, Speaks, who has
two older children as well as
Noir, went to the beach
seeking “some kind of peace
and solace and guidance,”
he said.
Lutheran theologian
Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Seren-
ity Prayer,” believed to have
been written to address the
Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times
horrors of World War II, her unborn child from even
came to his mind. her own desires, accept
God grant me the seren- what she could not change
ity to accept the things I and release this soul from
cannot change, courage to suffering, she said.
change the things I can, and “I would have never
the wisdom to know the thought that I would have to
difference. make decisions on if my
When he told Mitchenor child should live or not,” she
that these words filled his told me.
spirit as he thought of their But she began to believe,
situation, she decided to she said, that going forward
name the child she carried at all costs wasn’t the only
Serenity. path that a good and kind
And she began to ask mother could take. She did
questions of herself rather not have to choose trauma
than her doctors. for herself or this unborn
What obligation do I child — sometimes the most
have to survive for Noir? untainted choices are the
What obligation do I have to ones that few understand,
survive for my husband? but that bring stillness to
What would Serenity our hearts.
suffer, if she was born alive? “I can make a decision to
What was she suffering in say, ‘You know what, I’m
the womb? going to release this light
“I’m already a mom, I inside of me and trust that
already have a child,” she this is the best decision for
told me she thought in the my child and for my family.
midst of this unimaginable And I have the autonomy to
hurt. do that.’ ”
“So am I putting myself She decided to have an
potentially in a position abortion “and trust that
where the child that I do [Serenity’s] spirit will re-
have could maybe not have turn.”
a mom? Am I putting myself Mitchenor is clear that
potentially in a position she is speaking only of her
where my husband could be personal situation. Another
without a spouse raising the woman may have decided to
baby?” carry the pregnancy. Some
She began to see that her would have terminated the
accountability as a mother day they found out. About
demanded that she not 1% of abortions, 5,200 a year,
hope against reality, but occur after 21 weeks, and
face it. many of those involve a
She needed to protect fetus with severe fetal
anomalies — which, despite
our genetic testing and
ultrasounds, sometimes
can’t be diagnosed early on.
With this private and
personal decision, she told
me, came a sorrowful peace.
At 27 weeks, she and
Speaks traveled to another
state where Mitchenor
could have an induced abor-
tion. Both held Serenity
after the procedure to say
their “earthly goodbyes.”
“We had as much time as
we wanted to just hold her
and talk to her and I wanted
that closure,” she told me.
But even as they
mourned, a different kind of
miracle happened than the
one they had prayed for.
Six weeks later,
Mitchenor found out she
was pregnant.
She and Speaks felt
certain this was Serenity’s
soul returning to them.
After a trouble-free
pregnancy, Mitchenor gave
birth at home earlier this
year to Legacy, a baby girl
who was happily breast-
feeding with a flowered
headband in her curls on the
day I met her.
Why is Mitchenor shar-
ing this story, one that will
surely bring out the haters,
those who will never even
try to understand her deci-
sion?
“You know, it’s my re-
demptive story. It’s my story
of strength and overcoming
and making hard decisions
and being able to make
those hard decisions as a
mom,” she told me. “That
was like a defining point in
me and for me.”
If you ask her, she will tell
you Legacy is her third child
— Serenity will always be
her second, her angel baby.
But even with all the
support she had, she felt
alone and isolated — drown-
ing in heartache, anger,
shame, you name it. She
wants other women, espe-
cially now as abortion rights
are rolled back across the
country, to know their
choices are valid, no matter
how difficult.
In this post Roe vs. Wade
world, we are quickly be-
coming used to the idea that
abortions have restrictions.
As we fight to hold on to any
rights, we are making com-
promises, most often
around abortions that occur
later.
With some states seeking
to ban almost all abortions,
even before a woman real-
izes she is pregnant, it
sounds reasonable to out-
law one that takes place at
six months. Reproductive
choice is shrinking, even in
the minds of its defenders.
But Mitchenor wants us
to understand that “none of
us are exempt from trage-
dy.”
And the choices we make
in the face of that tragedy
have to be our own, made in
our own time and space.
Especially when they are
the choices that define us,
the kind only our shrouded
hearts can understand.

Fontana narrowly rejects warehouse development plan

[Warehouse, from B1]
cision as an “uncharacteris-
tic” no vote.
“It was a difficult spot to
put one to begin with,” Rob-
erts said about the proposal.
“I would have liked to see a
little bit more mitigation, as
far as doing other amenities
build a large warehouse next
to Jurupa Hills High School.
Liz Sena, co-founder of
South Fontana Concerned
Citizens Coalition, urged of-
ficials to reconsider, but
failed to convince them. Her
efforts, however, attracted
Bonta’s attention.
later, Acacia proposed a Her sentiments were ech-
warehouse complex that oed by representatives from
was two times larger than business and labor organi-
the one Bonta challenged in Valley Blvd. zations on the employment
court. and tax revenue these devel-
Ben Vasquez, a lifelong opments bring.
resident of Fontana, claimed “The local logistics in-
that some officials were in- I-10 dustry is the backbone of
tent on approving any ware- our local economy,” said
Oleander Ave.
Citrus Ave.

in the community, that kind
of make it a little bit more
palatable.”
The decision marked a
rare win for community ac-
tivists and residents who
have been fighting against
the unrelenting pressure of
warehouse expansion in the
Inland Empire, a region with
more than 4,000 warehouses
and notoriously heavy truck
traffic.
Over the last decade, a
wave of consumerism and a
shift to online shopping have
given rise to the construc-
tion of massive logistics and
distribution depots.
But trucks ferrying this
cargo release tremendous
amounts of harmful particu-
late matter and smog-form-
ing nitrogen oxides. San
Bernardino County already
endures the highest annual
concentrations of smog in
the nation.
Many Fontana residents
were particularly outraged
about the Acacia proposal
because the city had been
sued by California Atty. Gen.
Rob Bonta over another
warehouse development
nearby.
Two years ago, the city of
Fontana approved a Duke
Realty Corp. proposal to
“I can’t help but think
how nervous I was at that
time, because of the preced-
ent it was going to set,” Sena
said. “I knew that so much
was on the line. If this city
was going to allow for this
warehouse to be built next to
the high school back then, it
would be impossible to stop
anything that comes after.”
In his lawsuit, Bonta ar-
gued the City Council, in its
haste to greenlight the
205,000-square-foot facility,
failed to thoroughly evaluate
the unhealthy levels of air
pollution that already per-
vaded South Fontana.
At the time, more than 20
warehouses were located
within a mile of Jurupa Hills
High School, each attracting
convoys of heavy-duty
trucks emitting harmful air
pollution in “a low-income
residential community that
bears one of the heaviest pol-
lution burdens in all of Cali-
fornia,” according to his law-
suit.
Bonta eventually settled
with the city, allowing the de-
velopment to move forward
after Fontana adopted an
ordinance with a litany of en-
vironmental provisions for
large warehouses.
A little more than a year
house plan, despite the pro-
tests of residents to Bonta’s
office.
“The mayor and her de-
veloper buddies are skirting
the rules once again, and
now this time, they’re kind of
laughing in Bonta’s face,
saying, ‘We don’t care,’”
Vasquez said.
Bonta’s office did not re-
spond to several requests for
comment.
Regulators at all levels of
government have struggled
to reduce pollution from the
movement of goods between
the Inland Empire and the
San Pedro Bay Port Com-
plex.
The South Coast Air
Quality Management Dis-
trict has implemented a
first-of-its-kind rule that
would require warehouses to
offset a certain amount of
emissions from their truck
traffic, taking actions such
as installing solar panels
and electric vehicle char-
gers, or using zero-emission
forklifts. Otherwise, they
would have to pay a pollu-
tion mitigation fee.
This March was the
deadline for the largest
warehouses (more than
250,000 square feet) to dem-
onstrate what steps they
Amanda Morales of the Fon-
tana Chamber of Com-
Fontana merce.
Slover Ave. But some residents
pleaded with the City Coun-
Approved cil to move in a different di-
project
Fontana Adult rection.
School Oscar Gonzalez, 23, who
Jurupa Hills
graduated from Jurupa Hills
High School Citrus High High in 2018, told elected offi-
School cials he witnessed firsthand
how the area around the
school has changed: Vacant
lots have been filled by mas-
sive warehouses and traffic
Santa Ana Ave. congestion has worsened.
Proposed Now, he is worried about
project the health consequences
1000 feet future students will face,
© OpenStreetMap contributors
including his younger
Paul Duginski Los Angeles Times sister, who will be attending
the school next year. The
had taken to mitigate air her fourth term last year, proposed development
pollution or whether they in- touted the new warehouse would’ve placed warehouses
tended to simply pay a fee. ordinance, which included right next to the baseball
At the deadline, only 45% of buffer requirements and fields of Jurupa Hills and
warehouse operators even other measures. She voted Citrus high schools.
filed a report, according to in favor of the Acacia devel- “I wanted to ask all of the
the air district. opment, underscoring the council members voting,
Air district spokesperson job opportunities these de- would you knowingly send
Nahal Mogharabi said it was velopments have brought. your kids to a school every
“not as high as we want it to “We have a really good single day knowing that
be yet,” but noted ware- economy because we are there’s constantly this risk
house operators who sub- providing good jobs,” War- that they’re going to develop
mitted reports outper- ren said before casting her health issues later on?” Gon-
formed the district’s expec- vote. “We have so many op- zalez said. “And if you don’t
tations. portunities to bring young have the heart to do that,
Fontana Mayor Ac- people and so we’re proud of then why would you wish
quanetta Warren, elected to what we’ve done.” that upon us?”
L AT I M E S . C O M F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 B3

CITY & STATE

Man arrested
in Mexico, sent
to U.S. on sex
assault charges
Suspect part of at
least eight violent
attacks in L.A. area,
authorities say.
By Richard Winton
A 21-year-old man
wanted in connection with
an attempted murder and a
series of violent sexual as-
saults in East L.A. and other
Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times parts of Los Angeles was be-
ASYLUM SEEKERS bused from Brownsville, Texas, arrive at St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church in Los hind bars Wednesday. Ser-
Angeles earlier this month. Another bus of migrants sent from Texas arrived in L.A. on Thursday morning. gio Andrew Garcia was ap-
prehended in Mexico and re-
second case, he allegedly
stole the woman’s car keys.
On July 16, the next morn-
ing, Luna said Garcia re-
turned and stole the car and,
shortly after, crashed it near
the 10 Freeway and Western
Avenue.
A third woman, age 55,
came forward after seeing
the department’s public out-
reach on the suspect and re-
ported that she had been as-
saulted, also in East Los An-
geles, on July 10 at 6:45 a.m.
in the 1200 block of South
Woods Avenue. Charges
have been filed so far in those
incidents.

36 more asylum seekers arrive

turned to the United States
to face a slew of criminal
charges.
Garcia is a suspect in at
least eight violent attacks
Luna said a fourth pos-
sible victim in the sheriff ’s
territory came forward just
two hours before Wednes-
day’s news conference an-

in L.A. on a bus sent from Texas and sexual assaults in the

Migrants ages 2 to 54
made 25-hour trip as
part of Republican
governor’s strategy.
By Nathan Solis
A bus carrying 36 asylum
seekers arrived in Los Ange-
les on Thursday morning —
the sixth group of migrants
sent to California by Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott’s admin-
istration in the last two
months, according to offi-
cials.
The bus left Brownsville,
Texas, around 9:45 a.m.
Wednesday and arrived
at L.A.’s Union Station
about 25 hours later, the
Coalition for Humane Immi-
grant Rights of Los Angeles
said in a news release.
There were 23 adults and
13 children on the bus, rang-
ing in age from 2 to 54,
according to the advocacy
group, and include asylum
seekers from Honduras,
Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
“In one of the hottest
summers in recent history,
the lives of 36 asylum seekers
have been upended once
again by political ploys cour-
tesy of Governor Abbott,”
said Angelica Salas, execu-
tive director of the coalition
also known as CHIRLA.
“We will rise to the mo-
ment as we have previously
done when our community is
being attacked or persecu-
ted, is frightened, or needs
guidance and services. ... we
will stand with our commu-
nity,” she said in a state-
ment.
Mayor Karen Bass’ office
said it was notified Wednes-
day that the latest group of
asylum seekers was headed
to Los Angeles via bus.
The city activated an offi-
cial response in partnership
with the county, faith-based
groups and nonprofit or-
ganizations to meet the mi-
grants.
A spokesperson for the
Texas governor’s office con-
firmed that a bus from Texas
had arrived in Los Angeles
on Thursday. The Abbott
administration was also re-
sponsible for sending five
previous groups of migrants
to California by bus under
the Republican governor’s
policy initiative that aims to
send migrants to so-called
“sanctuary” states.
The first bus arrived with
42 asylum seekers on June
14; followed by the arrival of
41 more people on July 1; the
arrival of 30 on July 13; 41 on
July 18; and 44 on July 22, ac-
cording to CHIRLA.
A spokesperson for Ab-
bott’s office referred The
Times to a news release after
the first bus arrived in Los
Angeles. In it, Abbott said
that Texas would continue
to send migrants to other
parts of the nation until
President Biden “steps up to
do his job and secure the
border.”
The federal government
sued Texas on Monday after
the Abbott administration
oversaw the installation of
a roughly 1,000-foot line
of bright-orange, wrecking-
ball-sized buoys on the Rio
Grande between the border
cities of Eagle Pass, Texas,
and Piedras Negras, Mexico.
last month. He has been
charged with attempted
murder, robbery, assault
with intent to commit rape,
and penetration with a for-
eign object in connection
with three attacks in recent
weeks.
Los Angeles County
Sheriff Robert Luna said
Garcia fled to Mexico and
was found in Tijuana by the
Pacific Southwest Regional
Fugitive Task Force on
Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m.
Garcia was arrested without
incident, returned to the
United States and booked at
the East Los Angeles sher-
iff ’s station, whose detect-
ives had worked the investi-
gation.
“I am amazed and im-
pressed with the work that
was done to capture this in-
dividual, because he needed
to be off the streets,” said
Sheriff Robert Luna.
Luna said the search for
Garcia began after he alleg-
edly assaulted a 67-year-old
woman at around 6:15 a.m.
on July 15 in the yard of her
East Los Angeles home. In-
nouncing Garcia’s arrest.
LAPD Chief Michel
Moore said his department
had at least four separate as-
saults in which Garcia was a
suspect — one on July 10, an-
other on July 11 and two more
on July 15. Moore said he be-
lieved Garcia could be re-
sponsible for other attacks:
“We have likely only identi-
fied a small sampling of his
activities.”
According to the police
chief, the string of attacks
began July 10 when a man
matching Garcia’s descrip-
tion followed a woman as she
walked under the 110 Free-
way near Olympic Boule-
vard and L.A. Live Way and
attempted to sexually as-
sault her.
Moore said Garcia was
also suspected in an attack
near Chick Hearn Court and
Georgia Street in downtown
Los Angeles on July 11. Gar-
cia allegedly slapped a wom-
an on her backside and sexu-
ally assaulted her, he said.
On July 15, about three
hours after the East L.A. as-
sault on the 67-year-old
woman, Garcia allegedly ap-

Plan for forest-thinning advances vestigators working with

Court dismisses a
lawsuit targeting a
plan to clear trees on
acreage north of Ojai.
By Christian Martinez
An effort to stop the U.S.
Forest Service from taking
chain saws to a section of
Los Padres National Forest
that is home to old-growth
pines and a multitude of na-
tive plants and wildlife has
hit a dead end.
A lawsuit filed last year
by the county of Ventura,
the city of Ojai, the Patago-
nia clothing company and
other environmental groups
aimed at blocking the Forest
Service plan to thin the trees
on Pine Mountain was dis-
missed last week by a federal
judge.
The lawsuit hoped to halt
the Reyes Peak Forest
Health and Fuels Reduction
Project, which affects more
than 750 acres of forestland
north of Ojai.
“We had hoped the court
would rule in favor of the
planet, biodiversity and the
community,” Hans Cole,
head of environmental activ-
Stuart Leavenworth Los Angeles Times
A VIEW from Pine Mountain in Los Padres National
Forest. Foes of the plan can appeal last week’s ruling.
ism at Patagonia, said in a
news release. “We’re disap-
pointed, but the work to pro-
tect Pine Mountain will con-
tinue.”
The plaintiffs alleged
that the plan was without
merit and improperly ap-
proved to meet logging
quotas instituted by then-
President Trump.
The project also gar-
nered sharp criticism when
it was proposed in 2020.
The Forest Service re-
ceived more than 12,000
comments from the public
opposing the project — more
than any other project in the
history of the Los Padres Na-
tional Forest, the plaintiffs
said in a news release.
A federal judge on July 19
dismissed the suit with prej-
udice, preventing Patago-
nia, Ventura County, the
Center for Biological Diver-
sity, the Earth Island Insti-
tute and other parties to the
lawsuit from refiling.
They have 60 days from
Monday to file an appeal.
“The court deferred to
the Forest Service’s argu-
ments and we respectfully
disagree with that,” said
Maggie Hall, an attorney
with the Environmental De-
fense Center who was work-
ing on the lawsuit.
“This logging project
would permanently harm
this incredible ecological re-
source,” Hall said. “It’s also a
popular recreation area and
it’s on ancestral lands of the
Chumash people.”
Jeff Kuyper, executive di-
rector of Los Padres Forest-
Watch, said in a news release
that the group would “ex-
plore all of our options for
protecting Pine Mountain
from a misguided and po-
tentially damaging project.”
In a statement, the For-
est Service said it would
“work with states, counties,
Tribes and other partners to
address wildfire risks to
critical infrastructure, pro-
tect communities, and make
forests more resilient.”
“We are in a wildfire crisis
and must take immediate
action to protect our forests
in Southern California,” Los
Padres Forest Supervisor
Chris Stubbs said in the
statement, adding: “Let me
be clear — this is not a com-
mercial logging project. We
are trying to save the re-
maining trees on Reyes Peak
from the devastating effects
of a stand-replacing wild-
fire.”
colleagues from the Los An-
geles Police Department de-
termined it was one in a
string of attacks on women
in the L.A. area.
Garcia approached the
victim from behind, pulled
her hair and threw her to the
ground, where he repeatedly
punched her in the face, offi-
cials said. Garcia was star-
tled when a neighbor began
to yell at him, they said, but
continued to punch the
woman two more times be-
fore he rode away on a bicy-
cle.
Garcia allegedly pulled
down the woman’s pants
and underwear during the
attack, according to the de-
scription of the assault by
the Sheriff ’s Department.
The woman told KTLA that
she had pain throughout her
body, two black eyes and re-
quired a neck brace.
Luna said that, within 72
hours, East L.A. detectives
had learned of two similar
attacks inside the city limits
with a suspect who matched
Garcia’s description. By July
18, he had been identified as
the alleged perpetrator.
The sheriff said Garcia
was suspected of assaulting
and robbing an 84-year-old
woman in the 5200 block of
Via Corona Street in East
Los Angeles about 30 min-
utes after the assault on the
woman in her yard. In the
proached a woman who was
walking home from church
in the 1300 block of South Al-
varado Street, hit her in the
face multiple times, knock-
ing her unconscious, and
robbed her.
Minutes later, in the 1300
block of South Burlington
Avenue, Moore said, Garcia
allegedly grabbed a woman
who was rummaging
through the trunk of her car
and sexually assaulted her.
“We are not done; this
person did not start this
spree on the 10th of July,”
Moore said. The chief said
LAPD Cmdr. Lillian Car-
ranza, who helps oversee the
the department’s Central
Bureau, previously worked
with the U.S. Marshals Serv-
ice and brought that agency
into the investigation after
learning the suspect had
fled.
Chief Marshal Frankie
Sanchez said the marshals’
foreign field office in Mexico
made contact with author-
ities there about Garcia,
who was then apprehended
and deported to the United
States.
Investigators say that
Garcia has seven prior fel-
ony arrests but no convic-
tions. Among those arrests
is one in July 2021 on suspi-
cion of battery and cruel or
inhuman corporal punish-
ment against a child, accord-
ing to court records.

LAPD officer involved in 2nd shooting in a 7-month span

By Libor Jany
Los Angeles Police De-
partment officials this week
released the names of two of-
ficers who fired their weap-
ons in a shooting that killed
a knife-wielding man at a
supportive housing facility
in Skid Row. One of the offi-
cers was involved in another
fatal shooting at the begin-
ning of the year.
According to an LAPD
news release, the most re-
cent shooting occurred
when officers were called to a
report of a man with a knife
who had threatened another
person at the Ford Hotel in
Skid Row.
When they arrived, a se-
curity guard directed them
to the 6th floor. As they
stepped off the elevator, they
encountered a man holding
an umbrella and a knife, the
release said. Police said the
officers ordered the man to
drop the knife, but instead
he raised it above his head
and “advanced toward”
them. Officers Diego Braca-
montes and Hayley Basile
both shot the man with their
service firearms. The 56-
year-old man, who police
have not yet named, was
pronounced dead at the
scene.
Police said another offi-
cer also fired a projectile
from a less-lethal weapon
during the incident. The
Times has not yet independ-
ently verified the depart-
ment’s account of events.
The incident happened
around 11:30 a.m. on July 20,
at the Ford, a century-old
former hotel in the 1000 block
of E. 7th Street that has been
turned into single-room-oc-
cupancy housing for people
on the brink of homeless-
ness.
On Tuesday, Chief
Michel Moore told the Police
Commission that officers
were immediately con-
fronted by the man as soon
as the elevator doors
opened. Moore said he was
limited in what he could say
by the “very active investiga-
tion” of the incident, but pre-
liminary information indi-
cated the man had previ-
ously threatened police.
The incident will be in-
vestigated by the LAPD’s
Force Investigations Divi-
sion, which will present the
findings of its probe to the ci-
vilian-led Police Commis-
sion for a ruling on whether
the officers involved fol-
lowed department policy.
Such investigations typi-
cally take several months
and can last up to a year.
In the meantime, the two
officers involved will be tem-
porarily taken off the streets
in keeping with the depart-
ment’s policy following on-
duty shootings.
Bracamontes, a 13-year
department veteran, was in-
volved in another fatal
shooting of a 35-year-old
man at a South L.A. home
earlier this year.
The incident came amid
a string of police killings of
unarmed individuals at the
start of the year that drew
renewed attention to how
the department handles
calls involving people in cri-
sis.
At the time, police said
that Bracamontes and his
police partner were re-
sponding to reports of an as-
sault with a deadly weapon
when they encountered Os-
car Leon Sanchez.
He was holding what po-
lice described as a “sharp
metal object about a foot in
length.” Leon Sanchez’s
family has said it was a
scooter part.
According to police, the
officers repeatedly ordered
him to drop the item, and
they shot him when he
stepped toward them.
The family has since filed
a lawsuit against the city and
the two officers — Braca-
montes and Christopher
Guerrero — alleging negli-
gence in their handling of the
encounter.
Leon Sanchez’s family
says in the lawsuit that he
didn’t understand what was
happening when the officers
came into his home on Jan. 3
and shot him in his living
room.
His last words were in
Spanish, telling the officers,
“no les voy a dejar que me
roben,” which translates to
“I am not going to allow you
to rob me,” according to the
lawsuit filed in Los Angeles
County Superior Court.
The city has not yet
lodged a formal response to
the allegations in the law-
suit.
Times staff writer Nathan
Solis contributed to this
report.
B4 FR I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M

Rent control expansion qualifies for ’24 state ballot

[Rent, from B1]
Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Cities including Los An-
geles and San Francisco,
among others, already have
limits in place for whether
rent can be raised on a yearly
basis if at all. The state has
also passed regulations in
recent years that limit rent
hikes to either 5% plus yearly
inflation or 10%, whichever is
lower.
In recent years, smaller
municipalities have also be-
gun instituting their own
rent control ordinances.
In 2018 and 2020, the same
groups backed efforts to
pass similar ballot mea-
sures. In both instances,
nearly all of the funding for
the initiative came from the
Los Angeles nonprofit AIDS
Healthcare Foundation,
which put about $60 million
into the losing efforts. Both
efforts to repeal the Costa-
Hawkins Rental Housing
Act lost by nearly 20 per-
centage points in 2018 and
2020 after $100-million-plus
campaigns in which land-
lord groups outspent sup-
porters of the initiative by
more than 2 to 1.
One of the biggest oppo-
nents of the past two efforts
was the California Apart-
ment Assn., which is gearing
up to oppose this latest pro-
position as well.
If this measure passes,
“landlords lose any hope of
ever charging fair market
value for their investment,”
Tom Bannon, the associa-
tion’s chief executive, said
this year when supporters
began collecting signatures.
cause the situation is so
much more dire.
“Renter protection legis-
lation goes to Sacramento to
die, and we have no hope of
getting it through the Legis-
lature,” he said. “The main
reason why we have a better
chance now is that the situa-
tion has gotten so extreme.
Rates of homelessness are
going up. Where are people
going to live? The popula-
tion of California is
shrinking, and the Califor-
nia dream is dying.”
Around the time of the
Michael Owen Baker For The Times first ballot initiative, the
MICHAEL WEINSTEIN, a backer of the rent con- foundation — best known as
trol effort, believes voters are finally ready to pass it. a behemoth in the health-
care industry, with more
“There is little incentive to Michael Weinstein, presi- than $2 billion in annual rev-
keep the unit on the market, dent of the AIDS Healthcare enue earned largely from its
let alone invest in improve- Foundation, and others said chain of pharmacies and
ments.” this time will be different be- clinics — began purchasing
single-room-occupancy ho-
tels and other apartment
complexes in Skid Row and
other parts of Los Angeles.
Its goal has been to provide
homes to low-income resi-
dents more quickly, cheaply
and humanely than private
developers, public agencies
and other nonprofits.
Some of these buildings,
The Times found, have been
plagued by problems, in-
cluding substandard condi-
tions and faulty elevators,
which led several residents
to sue.
The foundation settled a
lawsuit about an elevator at
one building for more than
$800,000, but other class-ac-
tion lawsuits alleging overall
uninhabitable conditions at
two buildings remain pend-
ing.

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Your exclusive
Legal Notices Legal Notices
NOTICE OF PETITION
TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
RAIMO AULIS ANTTILA
Case No.: 23STPB07743
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent
creditors, and persons who may otherwise be
interested in the will or estate, or both, of: RAIMO
AULIS ANTTILA.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by
Anne Nikula in the Superior Court of California,
County of LOS ANGELES.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that
Matthew P. Halme be appointed as personal
representative to administer the estate of the
decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and
codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and
any codicils are available for examination in the file
kept by the court.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the
estate under the Independent Administration of
Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal
representative to take many actions without
obtaining court approval. Before taking certain
very important actions, however, the personal
representative will be required to give notice to
interested persons unless they have waived notice
or consented to the proposed action.) The
independent administration authority will be
granted unless an interested person files an
objection to the petition and shows good cause
why the court should not grant the authority.
A HEARING on the petition will be held on
August 25, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. in Dept. 67
located at:
Stanley Mosk Courthouse Central Division
111 North Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you
should appear at the hearing and state your
objections or file written objections with the court
before the hearing. Your appearance may be in
person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or contingent creditor of
the decedent, you must file your claim with the
court and mail a copy to the personal
representative appointed by the court within the
later of either (1) four months from the date of first
issuance of letters to a general personal
representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the
California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the
date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a
notice under section 9052 of the California Probate
Code. Other California statutes and legal authority
may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want
to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in
California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If
you are a person interested in the estate, you may
file with the court a Request for Special Notice
(form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and
appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or
account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.
A Request for Special Notice form is available from
the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner:
Matthew P. Halme SBN 212725
REDELL HALME LLP
1610 Oak Street, #103
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 350-6868
Published in The Los Angeles Times
YOUR
PERFECT
Legal Notices
SUMMONS
CITACION JUDICIAL
Case Number (Numero del Caso): 22CV04486
NOTICE TO DEFENDANT:
(AVISO AL DEMANDADO):
STUART RUBIN, an individual; ANNETTE RUBIN, an
individual; STUART AND ANNETTE RUBIN, as Trustees
of the Stuart and Annette Rubin Family Trust Dated
November 4, 2003
YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:
(LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE):
CAPPELLO & NOEL LLP
NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide
against you without your being heard unless you
respond within 30 days. Read the information below.
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons
and legal papers are served on you to file a written
response at this court and have a copy served on the
plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.
Your written response must be in proper legal form if
you want the court to hear your case. There may be
a court form that you can use for your response. You
can find these court forms and more information at
the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.
courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or
the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the fil-
ing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you
do not file your response on time, you may lose the
case by default, and your wages, money, and property
may be taken without further warning from the court.
There are other legal requirements. You may
want to call an attorney right away. If you do not
know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney
referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you
may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit
legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit
groups at the California Legal Services Web Site (www.
lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online
Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or
by contacting your local court or county bar associa-
tion. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived
fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award
of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must
be paid before the court will dismiss the case.
іAVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde
dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede decider en su
contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informacion a
continuacion.
Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que
le entreguen esta citacion y papeles legales para
presenter una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y
hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una
carta o una llamada telefonica no lo protegen. Su
respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal
correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es
posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar
para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios
de la corte y mas informacion en el Centro de Ayuda
de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en
la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte
que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota
de presentacion, pida al secretario de la corte que le
de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si
no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el
caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su
sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.
The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y
direccion de la corte es):
SANTA BARBARA SUPERIOR COURT
1100 ANACAPA STREET
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101
The name, address, and telephone number of
plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an at-
torney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero
de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del
demandante que no tiene abogado, es):
CAPPELLO & NOEL LLP
831 State Street
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101
(805)564-2444
Date: (Fecha) December 9, 2022
Darrel E. Parker Clerk
Narzalli Baksh Deputy
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SUMMONS
(CITACION JUDICIAL)
CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): 22CHLC08047
NOTICE TO DEFENDANT:
(AVISO AL DEMANDADO):
PERCH BILBULYAN
YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:
(LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE):
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide
against you without your being heard unless you
respond within 30 days. Read the information below.
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons
and legal papers are served on you to file a written
response at this court and have a copy served on the
plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.
Your written response must be in proper legal form if
you want the court to hear your case. There may be a
court form that you can use for your response. You
can find these court forms and more information at
the California Courts Online Self-Help Center
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law
library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot
pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver
form. If you do not file your response on time, you
may lose the case by default, and your wages, money,
and property may be taken without further warning
from the court.
There are other legal requirements. You may want to
call an attorney right away. If you do not know an
attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral
service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be
eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal
services program. You can located these nonprofit
groups at the California Legal Services Web site
(www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts
Online Self-Help Center
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your
local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court
has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any
settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in
a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the
court will dismiss the case.
¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30
días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su
version. Lea la información a continuación.
Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le
entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presenter
una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se
entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una
llamada telefónica no lo prolegen. Su respuesta por
escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea
que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un
formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta.
Puedo encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más
información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de
California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de
leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más
cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida
al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de
extención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su
respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por
incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo,
dinero y hiener sin más advertencia.
Hay otros requisites legales. Es recommendable que
llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un
abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remission a
abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible
que cumpla con los requisites para obtener servicios
legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin
lines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin lines de
lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services,
(www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de
las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o
poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de
abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho
a reclamar las cuotas y los costos extentos por imponer
un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó
más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una
(Secretario) concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene
que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte
(Adjunto) pueda desechar el caso.
The name and address of the court is:
(El nombre y dirección de la corte es):
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY
OF LOS ANGELES
9425 Penfield Avenue
Chatworth, CA 91311
The name, address, and telephone number of the
plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is:
(El nombre, la dirección y el número del abogado del
demandante, o del demandante que no tiene
Legal Notices Legal Notices
SUMMONS
(CITACION JUDICIAL)
CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): 23CHLC01442
NOTICE TO DEFENDANT:
(AVISO AL DEMANDADO):
ULYSSES L HOLLAND
YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:
(LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE):
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide
against you without your being heard unless you
respond within 30 days. Read the information below.
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons
and legal papers are served on you to file a written
response at this court and have a copy served on the
plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.
Your written response must be in proper legal form if
you want the court to hear your case. There may be a
court form that you can use for your response. You
can find these court forms and more information at
the California Courts Online Self-Help Center
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law
library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot
pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver
form. If you do not file your response on time, you
may lose the case by default, and your wages, money,
and property may be taken without further warning
from the court.
There are other legal requirements. You may want to
call an attorney right away. If you do not know an
attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral
service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be
eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal
services program. You can located these nonprofit
groups at the California Legal Services Web site
(www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts
Online Self-Help Center
(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your
local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court
has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any
settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in
a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the
court will dismiss the case.
¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30
días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su
version. Lea la información a continuación.
Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le
entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presenter
una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se
entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una
llamada telefónica no lo prolegen. Su respuesta por
escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea
que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un
formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta.
Puedo encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más
información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de
California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de
leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más
cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida
al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de
extención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su
respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por
incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo,
dinero y hiener sin más advertencia.
Hay otros requisites legales. Es recommendable que
llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un
abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remission a
abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible
que cumpla con los requisites para obtener servicios
legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin
lines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin lines de
lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services,
(www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de
las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o
poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de
abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho
a reclamar las cuotas y los costos extentos por imponer
un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó
más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una
concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene
que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte
pueda desechar el caso.
The name and address of the court is:
(El nombre y dirección de la corte es):
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY
OF LOS ANGELES
9425 Penfield Avenue
Chatworth, CA 91311
The name, address, and telephone number of the
plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is:
(El nombre, la dirección y el número del abogado del
demandante, o del demandante que no tiene

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LA Times
latimes.com/jobs and conditions go to: Sherri R. Carter Executive Officer/Clerk of Court David W. Staton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court
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Published in the Los Angeles Times Published in the Los Angeles Times
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L AT I M E S . C O M F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 B5

Newsom’s plan for San Quentin raises doubts

[San Quentin, from B1]
sion surrounding San
Quentin’s transformation
focuses on a damning May
report from the nonpartisan
Legislative Analyst’s Office,
which offers independent
advice to lawmakers. Al-
though Newsom’s goals for
San Quentin deserve some
consideration, the analyst’s
office wrote, the plan lacks
details and objectives to de-
termine its merit. The report
warned lawmakers that to-
tal costs to reconstruct
parts of the prison and op-
erate its new programs were
uncertain, and criticized the
expedited 2025 timeline as
“unnecessary and problem-
atic.”
The analyst’s office en-
couraged lawmakers to re-
ject Newsom’s funding re-
quest and instead mandate
a study on how best to ac-
complish Newsom’s ambi-
tions for developing a prison
heavily focused on rehabili-
tation.
Legislators considered
those recommendations
during several budget hear-
ings this spring before final-
izing the state’s $310-billion
spending plan.
State Sen. María Elena
Durazo, a Los Angeles
Democrat who chairs a
budget subcommittee that
oversees prison spending,
said she supported New-
som’s overall objective for
San Quentin.
“On the other hand, I
don’t see the details,” Du-
razo said. “And I’m not say-
ing it has to be down to the
letter, right? But it certainly
has to be far more than what
was provided to us.”
Assemblymember Tom
Lackey (R-Palmdale) was
similarly frustrated by the
lack of information provided
during budget negotiations.
“I’m not necessarily
against it. But where’s the
public benefit?” said Lackey,
who sits on the panel that al-
locates prison dollars.
“When we talk about reha-
bilitation, we also need to
consider victims and vic-
tims’ families, and how are
they going to benefit? I just
think there’s more balance
in the discussion that needs
to take place. When there are
big ideas like this, there
needs to be big explanation.”
Criminal justice reform
advocates have also flocked
to the Capitol in recent
weeks to blast the plan as
misguided and expensive.
They urged lawmakers to
steer the money toward pre-
vention programs, or spread
it out to other prisons, in-
cluding those that house
women and don’t have the
opportunities San Quentin
offers its men, such as jour-
nalism courses, computer
coding and college classes.
“I am formerly incarcer-
ated, and I would love as a
taxpayer to see the money
going towards more pro-
grams and things that’s a lit-
tle bit more realistic and
more viable for people
across the state. Not just at
this one prison, where only
certain people go there and
it turns into this who de-
serves and who doesn’t de-
serve rehabilitation,” said
Katie Dixon, a policy and
campaign organizer for the
California Coalition for
Women Prisoners.
Steinberg said San
Quentin is a smart place to
start the overhaul, because
it’s “already halfway there on
the culture change,” which
gives the state a “chance to
build the model faster than
at other places.”
A major part of the gen-
eral plan for San Quentin in-
cludes retraining correc-
tions officers in an approach
centered more on rehabilita-
tion and restorative justice,
a strategy that focuses on
the impact of a crime and
how to remedy its effects.
Both Steinberg and San
Quentin Warden Ron
Broomfield said that officers
at San Quentin are inter-
ested in those training op-
portunities, which they
think will improve work mor-
ale among the guards.
Broomfield said he envi-
sions building up the pris-
on’s award-winning
newsroom and adding more
seats to its substance-use
treatment programs, college
classes and the technology
and coding courses that lead
to quality jobs upon release.
The goal, Broomfield said, is
to cut waiting lists so more
prisoners have access to life-
changing and skills-building
programs that help people
prepare for life back home.
For now, San Quentin’s
residents are cautiously on
board with Newsom’s vision.
During the media tour
this week, the prison was
bustling with activity, the
yard full of men running the
track, playing tennis and
working out in the sun.
There’s been a shift in at-
titude at the prison, one
more toward optimism, said
Gregory Eskridge, a host for
the “Uncuffed” podcast,
which is made in the prison’s
recording studio.
“It’s about getting people
those tools and opportuni-
ties to go back out there in
society and be successful,”
said Eskridge, who has
served over 25 years for a
murder conviction, among
other charges. “I think ev-
eryone is hoping for some-
thing positive to happen.”
But there’s some skepti-
cism too.
The new rehabilitation
center is largely intended for
those with shorter sen-
tences, because they’re
more likely to be released
sooner. The California De-
partment of Corrections
and Rehabilitation has al-
ready begun moving the
hundreds of condemned in-
dividuals off death row and
into other prisons.
But San Quentin is home
to people convicted of some
of California’s most violent
and serious crimes. Many of
the nearly 4,000 people at
San Quentin are serving
decades-long sentences,
with the real possibility that
they could die in prison.
Many fear being displaced,
or moved out of programs
they now help run.
Although they probably
won’t benefit from the new
rehabilitation programs in
the same way that those who
have shorter sentences or
who are younger might, pris-
on officials said, they could
still play a crucial role as
mentors to prisoners in the
programs.
Tommy Wickerd, who is
serving nearly six decades in
prison for voluntary man-
slaughter and has prior con-
victions for other violent
crimes, said the old-timers
need to be part of the plan:
“Without the lifers,” he
said, “it’s not going to hap-
pen.”

Obituaries Saira Grinshpan

Mount Sinai Mem Parks
Lilia Roytman
Mount Sinai Mem Parks
Robert Bush
June 4, 1929 - June 23, 2023
Place a paid notice latimes.com/placeobituary
Search obituary notice archives: legacy.com/obituaries/latimes

H. Hills 00-600-0076 H. Hills 00-600-0076

Kenneth Leonard
Goldman
February 24, 1931 -
June 10, 2023
Kenneth (Ken) Goldman,
92, of Rancho Palos Verdes
passed away peacefully
on June 10, 2023. Born in
Brooklyn, New York on
February 24, 1931, he at-
tended Brooklyn Technical
High School. He earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in
Mechanical Engineering from
Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He
worked on a fellowship for
the Aeronautics Department
at the Polytechnic Institutes
o f B ro o k l y n w h e re h e
earned his Masters’ Degree.
He moved to Los Angeles,
California in 1953 and worked
at North American Aviation
and McDonnel Douglas. In
1959 he joined TRW’s Space
Technology Laboratory where
he spent 32 years working on
satellites in thermal control
and system engineering.
He met Dr. Billie Moore, a
pediatrician, in Long Beach,
California in February 1956.
After a brief romantic court-
ship, Ken and Billie married in
November 1956. They moved
from Belmont Shores to
Rancho Palos Verdes in 1960
where they built their home,
raised their two children and
remained for the rest of their
lives.
After their children were
grown, Ken and Billie began
traveling around the world
and visited 92 countries.
When Billie passed away in
2009, Ken continued travel-
ing with his daughter Lisa
to Africa and islands in the
Caribbean.
Ken was a true renaissance
man, loving classical music,
ballet, theater, and sports.
He was an ardent fan of the
Los Angeles Dodgers and
enjoyed skiing in the U.S. and
the Italian Alps. He coached
Little League was a vice
president of American Youth
Soccer Organization (AYSO),
where he coached daughter
Lisa’s and son Keith’s soccer
teams. He represented the
Rancho Palos Verdes El Prado
Homeowner Association in
mountsinaiparks.org
Judith Lewis
Munro
June 3, 1934 -
July 18, 2023
Judith (Judy) Lewis Munro,
89, of Westhills and recently
Ventura, CA, passed away July
18, 2023 after a valiant battle
with cancer.
Born in Boston, MA on
June 3, 1934 and raised in
Montréal, Canada, Judy was
the daughter of the late
Dorothea Whiteley Lewis and
Lt. Colonel John Bower Lewis.
She graduated from West Hills
High School in Montréal and
McGill University, where she
was president of her Alpha
Gamma Delta sorority.
While at McGill, Judy met an
adventurous geologist who
shared her love of travel,
and in 1959–after two years
teaching in London while her
geologist paramour explored
mines in Africa—they were
married in Montréal. Married
for over sixty-three years to
Robert Cauldwell Munro, she
is survived by her husband
and their three children,
John Munro, M argaret
Munro Lyons, and Hilary
Munro McLeod, sons-in-law
Jefferson Lyons and Alan
McLeod, and beloved grand-
daughters Amelia and Evelyn
McLeod. She was preceded
in death by her cherished
younger sister, Penelope
MacNaughton, and she was
the devoted aunt of Gillian
and Andrew MacNaughton,
their partners Diane Frey and
Julie MacNaughton, and was
the delighted great-aunt of
August MacNaughton.
Judy was a teacher, a tire-
less and enthusiastic traveler,
and a passionate supporter of
the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra. Generous and ever
interested in cultures differ-
ent from her own, she wel-
comed exchange students
and travelers from all across
the world into her home and
embraced them all as family.
She also enjoyed skiing, hik-
ing, and lovingly renovating
the “fixer-upper” property
mountsinaiparks.org
Lucia Abadesco
Villareal
January 9, 1925 -
June 30, 2023
On 1/9/195, instead of be-
ing “sweet and lovely,” Lucia A.
Villareaal came kicking and
screaming into the world in
Invisan, Capiz, Philippines.
On 6/30/2023, she left this
world as “sweet and lovely”
as she was. Predeceased
by her husband of 44 years
(Frank), “Auntie Lucy” is
survived by her daughter,
Julie (Charles), and her son,
Nicholas (Leilanie), her four
grandchildren Caroline &
Sean Mack and Leigh Ann
& Bryan Villareal, and a full
family of nieces, nephews,
nex t- gen cousins, and
friends. Although she had
full-blown Alzheimer’s at the
time of her death, she lived a
full life of 98 years. Viewing
and service arrangements
are available through Forest
Lawn Glendale, their website, Mackel Company provided design services on over 9,000
and posted on Facebook.
She loved you all and will building many properties around the L.A. area. Larry was still
forever be “sweet and lovely.” working three weeks before his death.
David Wales
July 31, 1939 -
July 17, 2023
David Bertram Wales died
of pneumonia on July 17,
2023 at a hospital in London.
His death came at the end of
a wonderful trip to England
with his wife. David was
born in Vancouver, British
Columbia on July 31, 1939.
He received his bachelor’s
and masters’ degrees from
the University of British
Columbia and his doctorate
from Harvard University.
David was a theoretical
Robert (Bob) Bush passed away peacefully in his sleep
on June 23. Bob was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska.
A proud Cornhusker, he graduated from the University of
Nebraska in 1950 earning a BS in Business. In 1951-1952, he
was deployed by the army and served as a first lieutenant
and aerial observer in the Korean War. He later moved to Los
Angeles where he met his wife Arlene, they were married for
63 years. He opened his first car wash in the late 60’s eventually
opening Sunset Carwash followed by Downtown Carwash
where he thoroughly enjoyed chatting and getting to know
his customers. He loved people. An avid biker, he stayed fit
with his daily ride and rode his bike well into his 80’s. At the
age of 90, Bob fulfilled a lifelong dream of revisiting Korea,
making the trip with his daughter Julie and grandchildren
Ruth J Lavine
April 21, 1920 - July 25, 2023
Chloe and Julian. There he received an Ambassador for Peace
medal from the Korean government. Bob never missed his A trailblazing, exceptional woman, who was always ahead
grandchildren’s milestones, or the chance to offer them the of her time. A lawyer, a matriarch, a beloved member of the Los
knowledge he gained from life lessons, usually with humor. Angeles community, Ruth lived to the wonderful age of 103
He touched the people around him with his generosity, sound while always maintaining her wit, charm, and sense of humor.
advice, dry wit and stellar sense of humor. He was a supportive
husband, and a loving father and grandfather who had a deep Ruth immigrated to Los Angeles from Germany with her
love of his family. He is survived by his wife Arlene, his two parents and sister having left in 1933 as the Nazis came to
daughters Stefanie Ivener (Jason) and Julie Bush, and his three power. Ruth had been admitted to Oxford and she initially
grand children Chloe Vasilescu, Julian Vasilescu and Mia Ivener. cried when she realized she could not attend her dream school.
He will be deeply missed. In Bob’s memory, please consider a Arriving in Los Angeles she enrolled in USC and had so many
donation to woundedwarriorproject.org credits she was able to finish her undergraduate education in
two years. She then enrolled at USC Law School not realizing
that most women did not go to law school in those days. Her
Lawrence Owen Mackel younger sister, Laura, followed her to law school. Ruth became
October 20, 1934 - July 16, 2023 a passionate lifelong Trojan.
At USC Law, Ruth met the love of her life, Dick Lavine. They
Lawrence Owen Mackel was born October 20, 1934
in Los Angeles and died on July 16, 2023 following were an immediate couple. Dick graduated and joined the
Army Air Corps to prepare for war. Dick proposed and when
a short illness. He was the third of four boys born
to Marguerite and John Mackel. Larry made lifelong friends he returned for a short leave on April 12,1944, they celebrated
a beautiful, quickly-planned wedding.
while attending St Paul Grammar School ’48. His admiration
for the Jesuits and a Jesuit education were formed during his
Dick went to war and Ruth stayed home and was able
years at Loyola High School ’52, and Santa Clara University to practice law which was not easy for women at that time.
’56, where he earned a Civil Engineering degree. Following
Dick came home in 1946 and Cathy was born the next year,
graduation, he entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Santa followed by Raymond in 1949. In 1952 the family relocated
Maria Island in the Azores as the lead engineer on an airfield
to Germany as Dick was recalled into the service during the
construction project. Korean War.
Larry joined his father’s architectural and engineering Returning to Los Angeles in 1954, Ruth stayed home with
firm in 1958. He eventually held licenses as an architect, civil her children during their formative years, and then went back
engineer, and structural engineer registered in 5 states. The to practicing law full time. Although she was a busy practicing
lawyer, she never missed a Girl Scout or Cub Scout meeting.
projects in the western U.S. In the ‘70s, he and his brothers
started a construction and a property development company, She and Dick had a full life, practicing law separately and
then together. They had an immense passion for travel,
exploring exotic places that most would only dream of. Dick
went to DC in the 70’s to work in the government and Ruth
As much as Larry loved his work, it was faith, family, and commuted back and forth. They had a full social life in both
friends that mattered most to him. He married Suzanne Mayer
places.
in 1965, and their marriage was blessed with two beloved
children, Maria and Michael. He became very involved in Ruth was very involved with Women Lawyers, LA County
Bar, and the LA County Bar Foundation. She was on the board
parish life and Catholic education. Larry was on the boards
of a wide range of schools: Marymount High, Verbum Dei of Jewish Family Services for many years. She also supported
High, St Andrews Elementary, Assumption BVM Elementary, countless organizations near and far. Her philanthropic efforts
for USC Law School were legendary. She was so proud of her
and was a Santa Clara University Regent.
scholarship students at USC Law School and met with them
Larry was an active member of many Catholic charities and as recently as this past May.
clubs. He was involved in The Knights of Malta, the Los Angeles
Serra Club, The Newman Club, The Hospitaller Brothers of St. After Dick died in 1994, Ruth’s years were filled with chil-
John of God, and The Good Shepherd Center for Homeless dren, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She traveled,
Women & Children, to name a few. went to board meetings, and loved going to grandparent’s
days at her great grandchildren’s schools. She would lecture
In 1997, he married Margaret Johnston Doherty (Gigi) the headmaster about extending the title of the day to “great
and moved to Pasadena. Larry was an instant favorite in the
grandparent’s day”.
Johnston clan. His dry wit, astounding memory for history
and poetry, his whistling, and all around happy, generous She is survived by her children Cathy (Len), Raymond
(Barbara); Grandchildren Laura (Randy), Dan (Maura), Amanda;
nature were well appreciated and loved. To Gigi’s children he
did a heartfelt job of filling the shoes of their late father. He Great-grandchildren Jack, Emma, Nate, Dylan, Henry, Luca
especially enjoyed the weekly family dinner party and was Donations can be directed to Jewish Family Services of Los
an eager participant. To his adored grandchildren, he was
Angeles or the charity of your choice.
Grandpa or Grumpa. He never tired of their company or lost
interest in their activities and educational pursuits. The funeral service will be held on Friday, July 28th at Noon
at Hillside Memorial Park 6001 West Centinela Avenue, Los
Perhaps one of Larry’s greatest traits was the grace and Angeles, 90045.
openness he showed to anyone he met. At any gathering
he looked for the strangers by themselves and engaged in
a conversation with them. Everyone had a story that Larry
wanted to hear. Truly a man for others.
Larry is survived by his wife, Gigi, his children Maria
Kerrigan (Jim), Michael Mackel (Ashley), Matthew Doherty,

presentations to the Rancho
Palos Verdes and Los Angeles
boards of directors.
He was a very savvy and
successful investor in stocks
and bonds. In his later years,
he was able to live his life
in his home supported by
a cadre of dedicated home
service employees, includ-
ing his primary caregiver Jill
Sanders.
Ken is survived by his
children Lisa Brackbill and
Keith Williams-Goldman, his
son-in-law Craig Brackbill
and daughter-in-law Carolyn
Williams-Goldman, his grand-
children Tyler Goldman, Sarah
Jackson, Jackson Goldman
and David Brackbill, and his
dear friend Jill Sanders.
she and Robert purchased in
Summerland, CA. She leaves
behind countless friends,
students, and beneficiaries
of her time and support, and
she is sorely missed by all
who loved her.
A memorial service and
interment will be held at
1:00 PM on Friday, August
4, 2023 at Prince of Peace
Episcopal Church. 5700
Rudnick Avenue, Woodland
Hills, CA 91367. A reception
in the church hall will follow.
In lieu of flowers, dona-
tions may be made to the
West Valley Food Pantry.
(818) 346-5554. https://www.
westvalleyfoodpantry.org
mathematician and spent
his entire career at Caltech,
where he taught for over 40
years and did mathematical
research until his death.
David enjoyed working with
students and was actively
involved in student affairs,
serving as Dean of Students
and later Master of Student
Housing. David’s interests
outside of Caltech included
hiking and international
travel. His happiest times
were those spent with friends
or family.
David is survived by his
wife, Kathy TeStrake Wales;
his son, Jonathan Wales
(Nicolle); his daughter,
Jennifer Singleton (Scott);
and grandsons Matthew and
Joshua Singleton. A private
family service will be held
Share a memory
Anna Doherty Rivas (Andre), Meg Doherty, his brother Tom,
(Marty), and his grandchildren: Christopher Mackel, Ryan
Mackel, Kody Kerrigan, Charlotte Doherty, John Doherty,
Catherine Doherty, Brendan Rivas, Annie Rivas, Morgan
Mackel, and Molly Mackel. He was Wonderful Uncle Larry
to his many nieces and nephews.He was predeceased by his To sign a guest book please go to
parents and his brothers John and Bill Mackel.
latimes.com/guestbooks
Gigi always says that Larry was what God had in mind when
He started making men. Every night Larry prayed for a happy
death, and after 88 years of good health, he died peacefully
at home. Requiescat in pace.
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Bede the Venerable
Church on Aug 3rd at 11 am. A reception will follow immedi-
ately at Annandale Golf Club, Pasadena. A private burial will
be held on Aug.5th,11am at Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of
flowers, please make a donation in Larry’s honor to Homeboy
The year
1935
Industries or Loyola High School.
that was
The year
1958
Although a primitive, two-color process
that was was first used in 1922, audiences weren’t
impressed by Technicolor until a three-
First transatlantic jet passenger service started by BOAC, with a New color system appeared in “Becky Sharp.”
York to London route.
latimes.com/archives latimes.com/archives
B6 FR I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M

Today in Southern California Today in North America

Sunny and hot inland: Hot weather will continue away from the beaches again today and Saturday. The Severe storms along a rim of heat: Heat will prevail across the South-
humidity will remain elevated, adding to the discomfort. Deeper moisture coming around high pressure to the west through the Plains and East. Severe storms, with the risk of flood-
east will move in Sunday and Monday, when thunderstorms will increase from the deserts to the mountains ing, will accompany a front along the rim of the heat across the Great
with the risk of flooding. Isolated storms could drift into the inland valleys. Lakes and upper Midwest. Storms may be heavy across Florida.
▲

◗
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 93/68 100/72 80/67 84/54 116/89
Seattle Winnipeg
Sunny and hot Hot with sunshine Mostly sunny Sunny Sunny and warm 79/55 Montreal
69/48
Saturday Sunny; warm 90/68 Sunny and hot 101/73 Mostly sunny 81/68 Mostly sunny 85/54 Hot 118/88 86/65
Sunday Partly sunny 93/69 Hot 101/70 Partly sunny 82/70 Storm 82/62 Storm 110/81 Billings
Monday Partly sunny 89/69 Partly sunny 94/69 Mostly cloudy 81/68 Heavy t-storm 75/61 Mostly sunny 106/84 83/62 Toronto
Tuesday Mostly sunny 88/68 Sunny; warm 94/68 Mostly sunny 79/63 Clouds, sun 76/56 Sunny 108/85 Minneapolis 89/70
87/63
San Francisco Detroit New York
Air quality Good Moderate Unhealthful for: Sensitive people All Not Available 71/57 Chicago 89/70 93/78
Denver 96/70
SANTA VENTURA CO. Santa Clarita South Coast Air Quality Management District forecasts air quality 95/63 Washington
Kansas City 97/78
BARBARA CO. Santa Paula 103/73 Hesperia 102/74
Santa Ojai 91/63 LOS ANGELES CO. 105/66
Barbara 96/64 Simi Valley
Chatsworth SAN BERNARDINO CO. Los Angeles
Atlanta
79/61 98/68 Burbank Monrovia 93/68
Ventura Camarillo 100/71 94/76
98/72 98/70
76/63 84/63 Pomona/ Yucca Valley El Paso
UCLA 103/77
107/76
Oxnard
Westlake 87/67 L.A. Downtown Fairplex Ontario San Bernardino Houston
77/64 Woodland 93/68 100/69 106/72 Chihuahua 98/78
Village 101/72 96/67
Hills Whittier Miami
93/66 Chino
99/68 Monterrey 89/81
Santa Monica Hills 103/69 Riverside RIVERSIDE CO. 97/70
80/67 95/69 Fullerton 104/69
Surf and sea Torrance 91/69 U.S. cities
POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICO 82/69 Santa Ana
Inner waters: Wind becoming west Long ORANGE CO. Hemet Palm THURSDAY’S EXTREMES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES
85/70
at 10-15 knots in the afternoon. Wind Beach Newport Irvine 102/68 Springs High 124 in Death Valley, Calif. Low 31 in Yellowstone N.P., Wyo.
waves 2 feet or less. Mixed west and 88/70 Beach 87/69 116/89
south swell 1-3 feet. Mission Viejo
79/70 Temecula Thursday Today Thursday Today
Surf zone: The risk of strong rip Laguna 90/70 City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Sky City Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Sky
currents is expected to be low at all 100/67
Beach San Albany 87 74 .34 90 71 Pc Seattle 79 57 -- 79 55 Pc
area beaches, although rip currents 79/69 Clemente Albuquerque 101 75 Tr 98 73 Ts Tampa 92 80 Tr 92 80 Ts
are always possible.
81/67 SAN DIEGO CO. Anchorage 64 56 -- 61 54 R Tucson 108 79 .41 105 81 Ts
Oceanside Aspen 85 50 Tr 86 52 Ts Tulsa 99 78 -- 102 78 Pc
Atlanta 97 75 -- 94 76 Su Washington, D.C. 96 79 .01 97 78 Ts
County Height Period Direction Temp Sun and moon 86/65 Austin 99 72 -- 100 73 Su Wichita 100 71 -- 102 73 Su
Santa Barbara 1-3’ 10 sec SW 65 Baltimore 97 76 .02 96 75 Ts
Today’s rise/set
Ventura 1-3’ 10 sec SW 65 Escondido Ramona Boise 95 63 -- 97 69 Su World
Los Angeles 1-3’ 15 sec SW 71 Los Angeles Co. Orange Co. Ventura Co. 94/65 99/66 Boston 91 71 .23 90 75 Pc Acapulco 92 77 .04 92 78 Ts
Orange 1-3’ 15 sec SW 72 Sun 6:01a/7:58p 6:01a/7:56p 6:05a/8:02p Bufalo 79 70 1.30 86 70 Ts Amsterdam 70 57 1.84 73 61 Ts
Moon 4:29p/1:27a 4:27p/1:26a 4:34p/1:30a Poway
San Diego 1-3’ 15 sec SW 71 Burlington, Vt. 80 71 .73 90 69 Ts Athens 99 86 -- 90 75 Hz
84/66 Charleston, S.C. 92 75 Tr 87 76 R Bangkok 95 80 -- 95 82 Sh
Charlotte 95 74 -- 95 75 Ts Barcelona 84 72 .15 84 73 Pc
Tides San Diego Chicago 92 72 -- 96 70 Ts Berlin 71 52 .21 75 60 Ts
L.A. Outer Harbor, in feet. 78/68 Cincinnati 90 74 Tr 95 75 Ts Cabo San Lucas 97 78 -- 93 78 Sh
Aug. 1 Aug. 8 Aug. 16 Aug. 24
Today 7:58a 3.1 Hi 1:13a 0.4 Lo Cleveland 82 70 .69 90 72 Ts Cairo 105 82 -- 104 78 Su
6:14p 5.9 Hi 11:21a 2.7 Lo Columbia, S.C. 94 73 -- 92 74 Su Dubai 109 93 -- 108 93 Hz
Sat. 8:44a 3.5 Hi 1:59a -0.3 Lo
Almanac Columbus 89 76 Tr 91 74 Su Dublin 70 59 .88 69 53 Sh
Thursday Downtown readings Dallas/Ft.Worth 101 82 -- 101 79 Su Havana 91 71 -- 91 76 Ts
7:07p 6.4 Hi 12:32p 2.7 Lo Denver 95 63 .01 95 63 Ts Ho Chi Minh City 88 79 .82 91 79 Sh
Temperature Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura Precipitation Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura Detroit 84 70 -- 89 70 Ts Hong Kong 96 86 .29 95 83 R
UV index High/low 92/69 93/68 76/72 24-hour total (as of 5 p.m.) 0.00 0.00 0.00 El Paso 106 77 -- 103 77 Su Istanbul 82 79 .01 83 67 Su
Minutes to burn for sensitive people Normal high/low 83/65 85/67 75/58 Season total (since Oct. 1) 28.03 21.35 26.61 Eugene 86 53 -- 85 52 Su Jerusalem 94 73 -- 95 71 Su
High/low a year ago 82/62 86/63 66/58 Last season (Oct. 1 to date) 12.17 6.56 11.35 Fort Myers 92 75 .06 90 78 Ts Johannesburg 67 38 -- 70 49 Su
Las Vegas, 10 Phoenix, 10
Record high/date 102/1972 95/2007 88/1977 Season norm (Oct. 1 to date) 14.15 11.73 15.99 Hartford 92 71 .55 91 72 Pc Kuala Lumpur 96 76 -- 93 76 Ts
Los Angeles, 10 San Francisco, 25 Record low/date 52/1903 60/2010 50/1965 Humidity (high/low) 78/36 89/39 93/66 Honolulu 89 76 Tr 88 76 Sh Lima 72 66 -- 72 67 Pc
Houston 97 75 -- 98 78 Su London 73 59 .34 73 59 Pc
California cities Indianapolis 88 75 Tr 95 74 Ts Madrid 95 70 -- 96 65 Su
Thursday Today Saturday Thursday Today Saturday Thursday Today Saturday Jacksonville, Fla. 93 75 .01 88 74 Ts Mecca 112 89 -- 116 90 Hz
Kansas City 92 74 Tr 102 74 Pc Mexico City 64 57 .24 71 55 Ts
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 93 75 -- 95 72 Su Montreal 77 66 .57 86 65 Ts
Anaheim xx xx xx 92 68 92 68 L.A. D’ntown/USC 92 69 -- 93 68 90 68 San Diego 77 69 -- 78 68 79 69 Las Vegas 112 88 -- 111 87 Su Moscow 75 61 .14 74 57 Ts
Avalon/Catalina 90 73 -- 89 75 90 76 L.A. Int’l. Airport 80 67 -- 80 67 80 68 San Francisco 69 57 -- 71 57 73 56 Louisville 96 80 -- 98 78 Cy Mumbai 81 77 1.69 82 79 Ts
Bakersfield 102 75 -- 101 73 100 70 Laguna Beach 84 62 -- 79 69 79 71 San Gabriel xx xx xx 97 69 97 70 Medford 90 63 -- 93 59 Su New Delhi 93 81 -- 87 78 Ts
Barstow 112 80 -- 110 80 109 81 Lancaster 108 75 -- 106 72 106 74 San Jose 78 58 -- 81 57 81 56 Memphis 94 78 Tr 97 78 Pc Paris 77 64 .13 77 62 Ts
Big Bear Lake 85 55 -- 84 54 85 54 Long Beach 94 69 -- 88 70 89 70 San Luis Obispo 82 55 -- 89 56 90 56 Miami 88 77 .30 89 81 Ts Prague 70 50 .20 75 61 Ts
Bishop 103 60 -- 102 63 101 61 Mammoth Lakes 84 45 -- 86 50 85 48 Santa Ana 87 69 -- 85 70 84 69 Milwaukee 88 67 -- 86 69 Ts Rome 85 63 -- 85 68 Su
Burbank 97 71 -- 98 72 97 72 Mission Viejo 99 62 -- 90 70 89 69 Santa Barbara 79 61 -- 79 61 80 61 Minneapolis 96 77 Tr 87 63 Ts Seoul 91 77 -- 95 76 Ts
Camarillo 84 62 -- 84 63 86 62 Monrovia 98 65 -- 98 70 97 73 Santa Clarita 103 69 -- 103 73 104 75 Nashville 96 76 .02 99 75 Su Singapore 92 82 -- 92 81 Ts
Chatsworth 104 69 -- 100 71 101 74 Monterey 65 54 -- 68 51 68 52 Santa Monica Pier 81 66 -- 80 67 81 68 New Orleans 95 77 -- 95 77 Su Taipei City 91 84 .28 90 78 R
Chino 104 66 -- 103 69 102 67 Mt. Wilson xx xx xx 77 70 76 68 Santa Paula 100 61 -- 91 63 93 66 New York 92 75 -- 93 78 Su Tokyo 95 80 -- 93 79 Su
Compton 88 69 -- 90 68 88 68 Needles 117 93 -- 116 91 116 92 Santa Rosa 84 55 -- 87 48 87 49 Norfolk 95 75 .23 97 79 Cy Vancouver 72 57 -- 73 58 Su
Dana Point 76 64 -- 79 68 80 70 Newport Beach xx xx xx 79 70 78 70 Simi Valley 94 65 -- 98 68 97 69 Oklahoma City 97 69 -- 99 73 Pc Vienna 77 57 Tr 84 65 Pc
Death Valley 124 97 -- 118 98 118 97 Northridge 102 68 -- 100 70 99 69 Tahoe Valley 81 60 -- 82 45 80 46 Omaha 97 78 -- 97 71 Ts
Del Mar 74 67 -- 74 67 76 68 Oakland 67 58 -- 71 56 71 55 Temecula 100 67 -- 100 67 99 69 Orlando 87 75 .04 91 77 Ts Key: Su sunny; Pc partly cloudy; Cy cloudy; Fg
Escondido 99 69 -- 94 65 93 65 Oceanside 80 61 -- 86 65 87 68 Thousand Oaks 92 69 -- 91 64 93 63 Philadelphia 94 74 -- 97 79 Pc foggy; Prcp precipitation; Dr drizzle; Hz hazy Sh
Eureka 65 55 -- 64 56 62 55 Ojai 98 59 -- 96 64 95 67 Torrance 84 66 -- 82 69 80 69 Phoenix 115 88 -- 112 91 Su showers; Ts thunderstorms; R rain; Sn snow; Sf
snow flurries; I ice; Rs rain/snow; W windy; Tr
Fallbrook 94 66 -- 91 64 92 66 Ontario 102 73 -- 101 72 100 72 UCLA xx xx xx 87 67 86 67 Pittsburgh 89 72 .06 91 70 Pc trace. Notes: National extremes exclude Alaska
Fresno 103 71 -- 101 69 100 70 Palm Springs 117 85 -- 116 89 118 88 Van Nuys 102 74 -- 103 74 101 75 Portland, Ore. 83 60 -- 84 59 Su and Hawaii. Missing data indicated by “xx”.
Fullerton 93 68 -- 91 69 92 70 Pasadena 101 72 -- 97 70 96 71 Ventura 76 72 -- 76 63 77 61 Providence 88 69 .12 91 72 Su Thursday’s readings as of 5 p.m.
Hemet 106 67 -- 102 68 102 68 Paso Robles 103 51 -- 104 56 104 57 Whittier Hills 95 62 -- 95 69 94 69 Raleigh/Durham 97 76 -- 97 77 Su
Hesperia xx xx xx 105 66 103 65 Redding 97 68 -- 98 65 97 64 Woodland Hills 106 66 -- 99 68 98 69 Reno 95 62 -- 96 61 Su
Huntington Beach 80 67 -- 79 69 78 69 Riverside 103 66 -- 104 69 104 71 Wrightwood xx xx xx 88 70 87 66 Richmond 96 75 -- 98 78 Su Forecasts by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2023
Idyllwild 94 58 -- 92 71 93 72 Sacramento 88 60 -- 93 60 94 58 Yorba Linda 98 66 -- 95 67 95 67 St. Louis 100 82 -- 103 81 Pc
Irvine 89 62 -- 87 69 88 68 San Bernardino 106 72 -- 106 72 105 74 Yosemite Valley 94 59 -- 88 61 86 53 Salt Lake City 102 78 Tr 101 77 Su

ROTATION INFLATION
After six seasons of dominance, Dodgers starting pitchers are currently carrying an earned run average that ranks in the bottom third of Major League Baseball through Wednesday.

Rotation trouble
shaw-Urías-Gonsolin tri-
umvirate to lead the pitch-
ing staff into the playoffs is
quickly looking like a ten-

might drive up uous bet.

Even when Kershaw re-
turns, the mysterious nature
of his unspecified shoulder

price for Dodgers injury — which was origi-

nally expected to keep him
out only a couple of weeks —
makes his durability no
said. “The homer was right guarantee.
The club finds itself down the middle. I think While Urías has been a Cy
when I did execute the two- Young contender in con-
in a desperate need strike pitches, we got good secutive seasons, this year
of quality arms but results out of it. But overall, he has rarely looked sharp in
just gotta make better and consecutive starts.
so do other teams. more quality pitches.” Gonsolin’s slump might
Like the six-inning, be the most ominous devel-
By Jack Harris three-run start Urías pro- opment of all, with the right-
vided on Tuesday, Gonsolin hander continuing to trend
The Dodgers are all but was clearly lacking his best in the wrong direction de-
certain to add to their start- stuff in the weekday mat- spite a recent uptick in fast-
ing rotation before Tues- inee. Unlike Urías, he failed ball velocity.
day’s trade deadline. to preserve a respectable “Yeah, results have
The question is, will they stat line, giving up four runs sucked,” Gonsolin said.
settle for a low-cost depth or more for the sixth time in “They’ve been what they are.
arm, or splurge for one of the seven outings to raise his But I’m just trying to stay
bigger names in a solid but ERA to a season-worst 4.25. with the process.”
unspectacular starting “There’s just that next It puts the Dodgers in a
pitching deadline class? gear that he can tap into,” spot they’ve long tried to
To part with top pro- manager Dave Roberts said. avoid: In desperate need of a
spects, the team would need “I don’t know if it’s a mindset high-demand commodity
to acquire a pitcher they be- thing. I don’t know if it’s a fa- when trade costs are at their
lieve is an upgrade over their tigue thing. I don’t know if peak.
current trio of veteran start- it’s an execution thing. It’s “July prices are meaning-
ers in Clayton Kershaw, Jul- something that we’re obvi- fully higher than at any
io Urías and Tony Gonsolin. ously mindful of. I think it’s other point on the calendar,”
At one point this season, closer than say the last three John Bazemore Associated Press Friedman said this week.
that felt like a relatively high or four outings have been.” THE DODGERS’ Tony Gonsolin has given up four or more runs six times in seven “We try as hard as we can in
bar. Still, given Gonsolin’s outings. “Overall, [I] just gotta make better and more quality pitches,” he says. the offseason to put our-
Lately, however, it’s a struggles, Urías’ inconsis- selves in position to not need
standard that is quickly be- tencies (he still has a 4.98 ERA — they have increas- and Ky Bush. An equivalent from Kershaw, who had been to do it.”
ing lowered — in a way that ERA) and Kershaw’s shoul- ingly looked like a team that package from the Dodgers, the team’s best pitcher be- This year, injuries and
might force the team to der troubles (the team is could benefit from bigger according to one rival scout, fore getting hurt in late June; underperformance have
more aggressively pursue its hopeful the left-hander will names such as Marcus Stro- could’ve been built around a and possibly even a late-sea- backed the Dodgers into
biggest deadline need. be back early next month, man of the Chicago Cubs, prospect such as Dalton son return from Walker that corner nonetheless.
In an 8-1 loss against the but no return date has been Jordan Montgomery of the Rushing, plus a double-A Buehler, though he can’t af- And while they don’t
Toronto Blue Jays on publicly announced yet), the St. Louis Cardinals or Mitch pitcher such as Kyle Hurt or ford any setbacks in his re- want to give up more than
Wednesday, it was Gonsolin Dodgers rotation is only Keller of the Pittsburgh Pi- Nick Nastrini. covery in order to meet his they feel an asset is worth,
who turned in the team’s lat- growing as a major midsea- rates. The Dodgers, who swung goal of starting games again the state of their rotation
est troublesome outing. He son question mark. Arms of that caliber, of a pair of smaller trades for in September. might give them no other
pitched only five innings. He In the month of July, their course, will require a higher right-handed hitters Kiké “We’re looking at our Au- choice.
gave up five runs. And he 6.18 ERA as a unit ranks sec- (or, in the Dodgers view, po- Hernández and Amed gust, September, October “Starting depth has been
ended the day with a re- ond-highest in the majors. tentially inflated) cost in Rosario this week, aren’t pitching depth and what a topic of conversation that
sounding thud, hanging an While it still seems likely what figures to be a seller’s rushing to overhaul their that looks like,” president of we’re certainly mindful of
0-and-2 splitter with two that the Dodgers could opt market. pitching staff yet. baseball operations Andrew and we’ll see what happens,”
outs in the fifth that Whit for lower-cost depth options For reference: The An- They’re still banking on Friedman said. “With the Roberts said. “I know our
Merrifield hammered for a with potential late-season gels’ acquisition of Lucas internal improvements from guys that are rehabbing, [we guys are working hard to see
three-run home run. upside — Chicago White Sox Giolito on Wednesday night Gonsolin, Urías and some of are] being conservative with if we can add some depth
“I think just the execu- right-hander Lance Lynn is required them shipping out the prospects they’ve our estimate of what we ex- and raise the floor, raise the
tion with two-strike pitches one name they like, for ex- two of their highest-rated counted on in the rotation pect and factoring that in.” ceiling, any way you want to
just wasn’t there,” Gonsolin ample, despite his 6.00-plus prospects in Edgar Quero this year; a return to health Still, counting on a Ker- look at it.”
L AT I M E S . C O M
With trade,
push to make
postseason
By getting two needed
pitchers, Angels signal
they are buyers, not
sellers, down stretch.
By Sarah Valenzuela
DETROIT — Shohei
Ohtani will not be traded.
That was the first vote of
confidence the Angels made.
Angels trade for starting
pitcher Lucas Giolito and
reliever Reynaldo López
from the Chicago White Sox.
That was the second signal.
With the names involved
and the moves that were
made, the front office and
team ownership sent a clear
message: These Angels are
all in.
“Big news laying in the
hotel room,” Mike Trout said
with a big grin before the An-
gels swept a doubleheader
against the Tigers on Thurs-
day. “All the speculation
with Shohei, I kind of knew
he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Been saying it since the
beginning of the year, the
front office wants to win,”
Trout said. “You see [Angels
general manager Perry Mi-
nasian’s] working some
magic there and [owner]
Arte [Moreno] is agreeing
with it. That’s a good mes-
sage for the guys. The mes-
sage has been the same all
year: We’re in it until we’re
not. So just gonna keep
pushing forward and see
how it goes.”
The team took two-way
star Ohtani off the trade
market on Wednesday. Not
long after the news of that
decision came out, first re-
ported by Sports Illus-
trated’s Tom Verducci, the
Angels then acquired Giolito
and López for minor league
pitcher Ky Bush and catcher
Edgar Quero.
The trade, announced
late Wednesday, plugged
major holes in the team’s
starting rotation and
bullpen. Giolito and López
have contracts that expire at
the end of this season, but
Bush and Quero ultimately
were not part of the Angels’
long-term plans. Never-
theless, they were tough to
part with, Minasian said be-
fore the first game of Thurs-
day’s doubleheader with the
By not trading Ohtani, Angels ignore history
[Plaschke, from B10]
He has chased the glamour
of Hollywood and ignored
the grit of Huntsville. He
has one of baseball’s highest
payrolls and yet one of its
shallowest farm systems
and today his team is tied
with the Tigers for the long-
est playoff drought in base-
ball, at eight years and
counting.
Unless a miracle hap-
pens — and I root for Angels
miracles, I was there when
Scott Spiezio’s fly ball
sneaked over the fence —
this sort of destruction is
going to happen again.
It’s wonderful to tell your
fans that you’re not trading
Ohtani.
But what are you going
to tell them a few months
from now when he leaves
Anaheim forever for only a
middling draft pick? When
you know he probably will
not re-sign with you or he
would have signed already?
When you could have dealt
him now for several top
prospects?
It’s cool to tell your fans
that, in order to keep Ohtani
interested, you acquired top
starting pitcher Giolito and
reliever Reynaldo López
from the Chicago White Sox
for two minor leaguers.
What are you going to tell
them a few months from
now when both Giolito and
López can walk out that
same door with Ohtani?
And when are you going to
acknowledge that the two
traded kids — catcher
Edgar Quero and pitcher Ky
Bush — are rated as two of
the organization’s top three
prospects?
It’s awesome to send
your fans the message that
you’re pushing in all of your
chips for a chance at a
championship.
But do those fans know
that your probability of even
making the playoffs is slim?
Assuming Tampa Bay and
Houston aren’t going to fold,
there are basically six teams
Tigers.
“I think this team de-
serves a chance to win,” Mi-
nasian said, “and to acquire
two pitchers, we think that
will really help. … If you want
to be aggressive and go and
get the [players] you want, I
think you’ve gotta move
early and it’s going to cost.”
The Angels made a
strong effort to change their
fortunes in the first half de-
spite early and significant
injuries to key starters. They
lost nine out of 10 before the
All-Star break as those in-
juries mounted, including a
wrist fracture for Trout.
But it appeared the An-
gels quickly turned a corner,
going 6-3 during their first
homestand coming out of
the break and playing them-
selves back into playoff con-
tention before sweeping a
three-game series in Detroit
against the Tigers — which
included Ohtani’s first MLB
complete-game effort in a
6-0 victory and two homers
by Ohtani in an 11-4 win on
Thursday.
“I’ve been under the as-
sumption that I’d play here
until the end [of the sea-
son],” Ohtani said in Japa-
nese after his start Thurs-
day. “But considering what
the voices around me were
saying, it allowed me to enter
the game feeling refreshed.
From here on, I’d like to do
my best to aim for the play-
offs.”
The Angels, who moved
to within three games of the
final wild-card spot in the
American League, will next
play in Toronto and Atlanta
during this crucial trip.
“It’s exciting. I think
there’s a different buzz in the
room today,” Angels man-
ager Phil Nevin said Thurs-
day. “If you would have told
me in spring training we’d be
in a position to be adding at
the deadline and acquire
players of the caliber that we
have, yeah, of course you’re
gonna feel great about it.
“There’s people that
trust us with this,” Nevin
continued. “The players feel
that, the coaches feel that, I
certainly do.”
Giolito, 29, is from Santa
Monica and starred at Stu-
dio City Harvard-Westlake.
He was among the top pitch-
ers on the market after mak-
ing it clear he did not intend
fighting for one American
League wild-card spot. You
still won’t have injured Mike
Trout back until at least the
middle of August. Your
team is still beset by in-
juries, underperforming
starting pitching, and what-
ever the heck happened to
Anthony Rendon.
Look, this column has
preached the same message
for 27 years — Southern
California teams must
always do everything they
can to win it all. There is no
rebuilding allowed here.
There are no awards for
effort here. By this stand-
ard, the Angels are doing
precisely the right thing.
And so it is understandable
that Angels fans, in the
immortal words of Mike
Scioscia, would consider
this column “poppycock.”
But in this case, the
Angels had a unique oppor-
tunity to help shape their
future instead of being
shaped by it, and yet they
resisted. They traded sev-
eral years of growth for two
months of buzz. Is this the
right team and the right
time for all this? Should you
even have to ask that ques-
tion?
By the way, since Ohtani
and Trout became team-
mates six years ago, the
Angels have gone 380-429.
That winning percentage is
suddenly going to drasti-
cally change over the next
eight weeks?
“We feel like there’s an
opportunity to win and to
play well going forward,”
said Angels general man-
ager Perry Minasian to
reporters Thursday. “We’re
going to roll the dice and see
what happens.”
Roll the dice? It’s hard to
believe that anybody in his
player development depart-
ment felt it necessary to roll
the dice. Building a founda-
tion does not require rolling
the dice. Growing and ac-
quiring great young players
such as shortstop Zach
GAME 1 of doubleheader in Detroit: Shohei Ohtani pitches a one-hit complete
game. Game 2: He hits two home runs, including one in the second inning, above.
to remain with the White
Sox. He is 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA
in 21 starts. He threw a no-
hitter in 2020 and was an All-
Star in 2019.
He should add stability to
the rotation that has been
inconsistent outside of
Ohtani. Giolito will start Fri-
day in Toronto, a key series
for the Angels as they chase
a playoff spot.
López, 29, is 2-5 with a
4.29 ERA and four saves in 43
appearances. He’s a veteran
expected to bolster the
struggling bullpen.
The trades, Minasian ex-
plained, were made in ad-
vance of the deadline to help
the Angels continue to rack
up as many wins as they can
sooner rather than later.
As far as that last bit of
speculation that remained
of an Ohtani trade prior to
Wednesday’s news, it had
seemed unlikely from the be-
ginning that the Angels were
going to part with their star
who is in the middle of an-
other most-valuable-player-
worthy campaign.
“I think I made it pretty
clear the last time we talked
that he wasn’t going any-
where. I don’t know if any-
body believed me,” Minasian
said lightheartedly. “I think
it’s not somebody we wanted
to move. But this is a special
THE ANGELS trading for White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is no guarantee of a
playoff appearance, and there’s a chance he winds up being a two-month rental.
Neto and catcher Logan
O’Hoppe requires more
hard work than crazy gam-
bling.
But style over substance
has been Moreno’s mantra
since his first news confer-
ence 20 years ago when he
bought the team and im-
mediately lowered beer
prices before systematically
tearing apart a World Series
championship organization.
He covets only the most
buzz-worthy big-ticket
items and doesn’t consider
the everyday reality of those
starry eyed decisions. He
puts a “Los Angeles” in front
of his team even though
nobody has ever believed
they actually play in Los
Angeles. He ignores the
future needs of his organiza-
tion in an attempt to court
Ohtani, when few believe
Ohtani can be courted.
Moreno will fill his sta-
player having a unique sea-
son with a team that has a
chance to win.
“To me that’s grounds for
trying to improve the club,”
Minasian continued. “And
that’s something that
whether it works or whether
it doesn’t, I can go to bed at
night and say: ‘You know
what? We did this for the
right reasons and we’re giv-
ing ourselves a chance.’ And
I’m excited to see how we
play.”
Ohtani leads MLB with
38 home runs, the last two of
which he hit after pitching
his first complete game. But
the excitement over his he-
roics dampened slightly
when he started grabbing at
his side and lower back while
running the bases after hit-
ting his second home run.
He was pulled before his at-
bat in the sixth inning for
what the team initially
called cramping.
The team said after the
game that Ohtani is fine and
they’re expecting him back
at designated hitter Friday
against Toronto.
“He just cramped up. I
mean, really a lot of volume
today for him,” Nevin said.
Entering Thursday,
Ohtani also had an MLB-
leading .668 slugging rate
and a 1.066 on-base-plus-
dium for the next couple of
months, but if the Angels
don’t miraculously win a
championship and Ohtani
doesn’t miraculously sign a
long-term deal and San
Fernando Valley kid Giolito
doesn’t miraculously stay in
Orange County, then what?
The franchise is back to
ground zero, that’s what.
They will lose their best
pitcher for virtually nothing.
They will lose their best
hitter for virtually nothing.
They will lose two of their
best prospects for virtually
nothing. And Mike Trout
will be 32 and declining.
That’s one serious roll of
the dice.
About basing this big bet
on Ohtani, Minasian ex-
plained, “This is a special
player having a unique
season with a team that has
a chance to win. To me
that’s grounds for trying to
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
Paul Sancya Associated Press
slugging rate. He also is tied
for first with seven triples.
He has 77 runs batted in
(tied for third) and a .299
batting average (tied for
10th).
As a pitcher, he is 9-5 with
a 3.43 ERA in 120 2⁄3 innings
over 20 starts after going the
distance against the Tigers
on Thursday, holding them
to one hit while striking out
eight.
Ohtani said after his last
start in Anaheim that he
wanted to see this season
through with the Angels,
who have never been so close
to playoff contention at this
point of the season since he
joined the team in 2018.
“Previously, we were al-
ways in situations in which
we were sellers,” Ohtani
added in Japanese on
Thursday. “This is a first-
time experience. I’d like to
do my best while establish-
ing solid communication
with the new players.
“The GM did his job last
year,” Ohtani said in Japa-
nese. “With the team in a bad
situation, he did his best. He
did what he had to do. But
last year is last year. Every-
one was doing their best.”
Times columnist Dylan
Hernández contributed to
this report.
Gene J. Puskar Associated Press
improve the club…whether
it works or whether it
doesn’t, I can go to bed at
night and say ‘You know
what? We did this for the
right reasons and we’re
giving ourselves a chance.’”
Truly, it will be the best
baseball story of the season
if the Angels are inspired by
these moves and Ohtani is
charmed by this commit-
ment and Angel Stadium is
rocking again in late Octo-
ber for the first time in
forever. But, honestly,
there’s a much greater
chance that Minasian wakes
up to a nightmare.
Not to mention a new
boss, as one can imagine
Moreno fleeing the scorched
earth to make a second
attempt at selling the team.
And while that wouldn’t
be a heartwarming baseball
story, it would be the perfect
Angels’ story.
B7
Moreno
made
correct
decision
[Hernández, from B10]
is marked by similar wagers
that were lost.
Owner Arte Moreno did
right by their fans. He did
right by the organization.
He did what he had to do,
and the Angels somehow
just became the most inter-
esting team in a region that
is also home to the Dodgers.
Moreno kept the best
player in baseball and did
what he could to maximize
Ohtani’s chances for
success by sacrificing two
prospects from a notori-
ously talent-deprived farm
system. General manager
Perry Minasian was smart
to strike early, eliminating
the possibility of another
team snatching up Giolito.
Now that Moreno and
Minasian have done their
jobs, manager Phil Nevin
and the players have to do
theirs.
In the wake of the front
office’s commitment to
Ohtani and addition of
Giolito, responsibility has
shifted to the organization’s
uniformed personnel. Nevin
and his players will have to
win games. They have to
return the Angels to the
postseason for the first time
in nine years. They will have
to play better than they
have.
The Angels could point
to their failing health to
defend their place in the
standings, but the reality is
that they were underper-
forming even before their
recent wave of injuries.
Minasian picked up
Carlos Estévez on a bargain
deal and Estévez became an
All-Star closer. The third-
year GM fortified a previ-
ously top-heavy lineup with
the likes of Brandon Drury
and Hunter Renfroe.
Why weren’t the Angels
closer to the first-place
Texas Rangers in the
American League West?
The Angels will have
another chance to be as
good a team as they are on a
spreadsheet, only now they
will have another former
All-Star in their rotation in
Giolito. Zach Neto has
returned from the injured
list. Drury could also be
back soon. Mike Trout could
rejoin the team in August.
The players just have to
perform.
This means Trout can’t
have another extended
slump when he recovers
from his wrist injury.
This means Anthony
Rendon will have to do
something, anything, to
justify his $245-million
contract.
This means Tyler Ander-
son will have to pitch the
way he did last year for the
Dodgers.
This means Reid Det-
mers or Griffin Canning will
have to be more consistent.
This means Ohtani will
have to rediscover his form
on the mound while main-
taining his MVP-level pro-
duction at the plate. Ohtani
said last week that he
wanted to go to the playoffs
“with this team.” Well, here’s
his opportunity.
The stakes are enor-
mous.
Ohtani will be a free
agent after this winter. The
Angels could very well lose
him and receive nothing
more than a compensatory
draft pick.
They could have taken a
conservative approach and
secured a greater bounty by
sending Ohtani to a con-
tender before the trade
deadline. To his credit,
Moreno recognized what
Angels fans wanted. He
understood that with the
team as close to the playoffs
as it’s been in years, his
paying customers didn’t
want him to retreat. They
wanted him to see the sea-
son out.
And so he will.
Moreno is gambling the
Angels can win. He is gam-
bling they can convince
Ohtani to re-sign with them
rather than move to the
Dodgers or any of the other
teams that will be offering
him record contracts this
winter.
There will be no middle
ground. The Angels will win
or they won’t. They will
re-sign Ohtani or they
won’t.
The Angels could be
destroyed by the decisions
they made this week. But
they could also be trans-
formed by them. The pos-
sibilities are breathtaking.
B8 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 L AT I M E S . C O M

USA watch party an extended family affair

It seems all of
Monrovia was
on hand to root
for Sanchez
HELENE ELLIOTT
Six big-screen
TVs were
positioned
around the
room of a
light-filled
restaurant in
Monrovia,
every screen
tuned in to the U.S. women’s
World Cup team’s prepara-
tions for a stern test against
the Netherlands in prelimi-
nary-round play in New
Zealand.
Julie Sanchez didn’t have
to go far to find a spot to
watch the team’s pregame
routines and try to catch a
glimpse of her daughter,
Ashley, a former UCLA
standout and NWSL rookie
of the year who made the
U.S. World Cup roster in a
stacked midfield.
But for most of the build-
up and parts of the game
itself, Julie Sanchez and her
husband, Ralph, weren’t
gazing up at those screens
at all.
Instead, they were busy
embracing and catching up
with the friends, neighbors
and family members they
had invited to join them at a
watch party Wednesday,
their thanks for the many
ways their guests had sup-
ported Ashley as she pur-
sued her unlikely dreams.
Ashley didn’t get into the
Americans’ first game or
their 1-1 tie against the
Dutch, but she was in the
minds and hearts of every-
one at the joyful party.
“It’s incredible,” Julie
Sanchez said, looking
around a room filled with
laughter, love and pride that
a young woman from what
feels like a charming small
JULIE SANCHEZ , center, cheers on daughter Ashley and the rest of Team USA during a Women’s World
Cup watch party in Monrovia. The Sanchez family is in its fourth generation of residence in Monrovia.
town had made it to the
World Cup stage.
Texas-based Siete
Foods, owned by a Mexican
American family, sponsored
watch parties for the U.S.
team’s three Mexican
American players —
Sanchez; Naomi Girma, in
San Jose and Sofia Huerta,
in Seattle. Julie Sanchez
drew up the list for the party
at Basin 141 in Monrovia,
where the Sanchez family is
in its fourth generation of
residence.
Included in the crowd —
nearly all of them wearing
replicas of Sanchez’s U.S.
jersey with her No. 2 on the
back or other U.S. team gear
— was the manager of the
first club soccer team Ash-
ley had played for when she
was 7. A counselor from the
Boys and Girls club Ashley
had played with when she
was in grade school was
there, too.
In every corner, at every
table, was someone who had
encouraged Ashley, had
helped her refine her re-
markable skills, had
cheered her on while she
climbed the soccer ladder of
club teams, travel teams,
youth teams, UCLA and the
U.S. national team. Most
knew each other and, if they
didn’t, they quickly became
friends.
Together, they cheered
each good play by the U.S.
women’s team, groaned
when the Dutch scored in
the first half, chanted “USA”
when Lindsey Horan scored
the tying goal, and gasped in
one voice when a shot by
Trinity Rodman rolled just
wide of the goal.
“It’s people that their
kids played with Ashley.
Might be some people that
played with Ashley. It’s full
circle,” Ralph Sanchez said
of the gathering. “It’s teach-
ers. Coaches. Everything.
It’s pretty cool.”
Michelle Palfrey, back
home in Monrovia after
spending seven years in
Denver, played with Ashley
in high school and for Leg-
ends FC. Palfrey’s soccer
career was ended by an
injury but she followed
Ashley’s progress closely
through college and beyond.
“I knew her when she was
young and she was better
than everyone, even then,”
Palfrey said.
“You knew she’d go far,
but just to see this is amaz-
ing.”
Mary Wiesner, also of
Monrovia, knows Ashley
because her daughter, Kate,
played with Ashley on the
U-17 women’s national team.
“Seeing her play as a
youngster and now reach
this level, a local Monrovian,
it’s totally awesome,” Wies-
ner said. “We were thrilled.
We’ve been rooting her on
probably ever since she was
16 years old.”
Ashley benefited from
soccer genes from both
parents. Her father coached
Gary Coronado Los Angeles Times
the family’s two oldest kids,
Evan and Sierra, in various
sports. Her mother played
the game as a kid through
the American Youth Soccer
Organization and in high
school.
“That was really the only
girls’ sport that was offered
around here when I grew up
in the ‘70s and ‘80s,” Julie
said. “My dad at the time
never knew soccer but my
dad being a coach for foot-
ball and stuff, he was like,
‘I’ll do it. I’ll try it out.’ He
had a little bit of success.
He’d watch and see what the
other coaches were doing.
He coached for a few years.
“I played in high school. I
was pretty OK, I guess. I
made CIF and stuff so we
were doing OK, but nothing
close to what Ashley does.”
Ashley benefited from
watching her older siblings’
activities and by playing
against them and other kids
above her age group.
Though small, she showed
tenacity from the start,
determined to find ways to
influence the game. She’d
practice her footwork on her
own, working the left foot
and the right, quickly build-
ing skills.
Ralph Sanchez had seen
other kids display promise,
so he was hesitant at first to
believe what he saw in his
youngest child or to put
much stock in the constant
praise he heard from other
players’ parents.
“All kids are different.
Sometimes they peak early.
And then a couple years
later they’re not even
playing anymore,” he said.
“Me and my wife have al-
ways been pretty realistic.
“OK, she’s good right now,
let’s see what happens in a
few years.’ ”
She became even more
skillful while she played for
clubs in Arcadia and San
Juan Capistrano. Soon, the
junior national team came
calling. So did UCLA.
“Then, I was like, ‘I guess
she is good,’ ” Ralph said.
“I’ve seen a lot of good,
talented kids and you think,
‘Oh, maybe there’s a
chance,’ but still the chance
is very, very small. But
thank God. She’s kind of
there.”
The party kept going
after the game ended. No
one wanted to break the
circle of friendship and
family that Ashley had
created, least of all Julie and
Ralph, who said thanks and
goodbye for now.
They’re planning to
travel to the World Cup next
Thursday in time for the
knockout stage, and hope to
see their daughter not only
in person, but also on the
field. “There’s going to be
some tired legs, so hopefully
she’ll get in next game and
be able to do something,”
Julie said.
The tenacious little kid
already has done so much
for her family and her com-
munity. That’s a World
Cup-sized win in itself.

With Horan’s
the Dutch with confidence.
“We are not afraid of the
USA,” Andries Jonker said
before the match.
Maybe. But some of

ire raised, U.S. them were a little

starstruck.
“To play on the pitch
with Alex Morgan is, like,

raises its game

KEVIN BAXTER
ON SOCCER
WELLINGTON, New
Zealand — The Netherlands
was on its way to women’s
World Cup history Thurs-
day when it made the big-
gest mistake of the tourna-
ment.
It poked the bear.
With the Dutch leading
the U.S. by a goal and seem-
ingly in control of the group-
play match, midfielder
Danielle van de Donk laid
out American captain Lind-
sey Horan with a vicious
cross-body block along the
touch line.
Uh-oh.
That made Horan mad.
Then moments later she got
even, climbing gingerly off
the turf and dunking on the
whole Dutch team, heading
in a Rose Lavelle corner kick
at the near post to salvage a
1-1 tie and leave the U.S. in
control of its own destiny
heading into next week’s
group-play finales.
“Instead of crying about
it, she just goes and makes a
statement,” U.S. coach
Vlatko Andonovski said.
“And basically shows every-
one the direction that the
game is going to take.”
With the draw the Ameri-
cans and the Netherlands
share the top spot in the
group table with four points
apiece. But the U.S. leads on
goal differential, so if it
beats Portugal and main-
tains any part of that two-
score edge, it wins the group
and will be rewarded with
an easier path through the
knockout rounds.
They have Van de Donk
to thank for that.
After the play along the
sideline, a furious Horan
sought out Van de Donk, her
club teammate at Lyon, in
the Dutch penalty area as
the teams sent up for the
corner kick.
At first players tried to
separate the two before
Japanese referee Yoshimi
Yamashita briefly paused
the match for an attempt at
peace talks. That went
nowhere.
“I got a little heated and
she got to hear it,” Horan
said. “I don’t think you ever
want to get me mad. I don’t
react in a good way.”
Van de Donk thought it
was much ado about noth-
ing.
“It was just a duel along
the sideline that I won,” she
said. “She came over. We
just had a little talk and the
referee came in-between. It
wasn’t really necessary. I
mean, we just play football
again after that.”
Horan’s teammates
knew how she’d settle
things.
“We were like, ‘OK, now
you’ve got to score,’ ” Sophia
Smith said. “You can’t do all
that and not score.”
“We were feeling like it
was coming,” Alex Morgan
added. “After the ref pulled
Lindsay and Van de Donk
aside, I felt like something
was going to happen.”
And it did, with Horan
losing her mark as she
dashed through traffic for
the near post. She then
went high to reach Lavelle’s
in-swinging corner, deflect-
ing it off defender Esmee
Brugts and into the net in
the 62nd minute.
“It’s a big game,” Smith
said. “She’s a big player that
steps up in big games.”
For the first hour, every-
thing had gone the Nether-
lands’ way. When Jill Roord
scored in the 17th minute,
the Dutch became the first
team to lead the U.S. in a
World Cup game since 2011.
That was also the last time
the U.S, the two-time de-
fending champions, had lost
in this tournament.
But with the Nether-
lands dominating pos-
session and playing keep-
away in the midfield, the
Americans’ 18-game un-
beaten streak was in danger.
So was another: the Nether-
lands hadn’t beaten the U.S.
in 32 years. Only two players
on the team were even alive
the last time it happened,
and both were wearing
diapers.
The Dutch have been
getting close though. Thurs-
day’s game was a replay of
the 2019 World Cup final,
won by the U.S. 2-0. The
teams also met in the
quarterfinals of the Tokyo
Olympics, playing to a draw
before the Dutch were elimi-
nated on penalty kicks.
Those two games filled
LINDSEY HORAN was taken out with a cross-body block by the Netherlands’
Danielle van de Donk, then responded by scoring the Americans’ tying goal.
WORLD CUP TV
GROUP G
SWEDEN VS. ITALY
Where: Wellington Regional Stadium,
Wellington, New Zealand
Time: 12:30 a.m. Saturday
TV: FS1, Peacock, Telemundo
The buzz: Both teams opened the first
round with one-goal wins, Sweden rallying
from a second-half deficit to beat South
Africa and Italy scoring late to edge Argen-
tina. A win for either here would virtually
guarantee a spot in the second round, some-
thing Sweden has achieved seven times in
eight previous World Cups. Italy made it to
the quarterfinals four years ago in its only
other World Cup appearance this century. A
draw, on the other hand, would leave both
teams’ fates unsettled heading into the
group-stage final.
GROUP F
FRANCE VS. BRAZIL
Where: Brisbane Stadium, Brisbane, Aus-
tralia
Time: 3 a.m. Saturday
TV: FOX, Peacock, Telemundo
The buzz: Racing Louisville’s Ary Borges,
one of 61 NWSL players called up for the
World Cup, had a hat trick in Brazil’s 4-0
opening-game win over Panama. Brazil
outshot Panama 32-6 in that game, taking 18
tries from inside the box and putting 10 on
target. Another win here would leave Brazil
well-positioned to advance. Highly regarded
France, meanwhile, a pre-tournament
unreal,” said the 19-year-old
Brugts. “Normally I see her
on television but not playing
next to her. So that’s weird.”
The momentum began
to swing at the start of the
second half when An-
donovski brought Lavelle on
in place of Savannah
DeMelo.
“Rose brings flair to the
game,” center back Julie
Ertz said. “When she came
in, she definitely elevated
and added a little bit more
threat.”
Thursday’s effort was an
improvement over the U.S.
performance in its tourna-
ment-opening win over
Vietnam, with the Ameri-
cans outshooting the
Netherlands 18-5; Roord’s
goal was the only one the
Dutch put on target.
But once again they blew
far too many chances, with
Trinity Rodman holding the
ball a beat too long on Mor-
gan’s apparent go-ahead
goal late in the second half,
causing the score to be
negated by an offside call.
Alysa Rubin Associated Press Rodman had another
chance in the 82nd minute
when she came in alone on
Dutch keeper Daphne van
Domselaar, but she pushed
that try wide of the far post.
“This team has not had
favorite, has a lot of work to do after a score- time together,” said An-
less draw with Jamaica in its first game; donovski, whose roster
anything short of a win here will leave it with includes 14 World Cup debu-
a steep hill to climb. France had 72% pos- tantes. “Hopefully as we
session in that game, putting five shots on move forward, we’re going
goal, but Jamaica keeper Rebecca Spencer to see a better and better
would not be beaten. Perhaps more costly U.S. team.”
for France was the stoppage-time tackle The fact the U.S. had to
Jamaica’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw made on scratch and claw its way to a
France captain Wendie Renard. The play result Thursday will help in
earned Shaw a suspension but it left Re- that process.
nard, France’s top defender, with a calf “It’s huge,” the coach
injury that could keep her sidelined through said. “It’s one thing to have
the rest of the group stage. an experienced team and to
do that. But it’s a lot bigger
PANAMA VS. JAMAICA with a younger team, an
inexperienced team. We’re
Where: Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth,
obviously disappointed we
Australia
didn’t win the game but
Time: 5:30 a.m. Saturday
there are lots of positives
TV: FOX, Peacock, Telemundo
coming out of this game,
The buzz: The loss of captain Khadija
and going forward into the
“Bunny” Shaw to a suspension will hurt
next one.”
Jamaica since Shaw had half the Reggae
The next one will come
Girlz six shots in their opening draw with
Tuesday, back in the U.S.
France. Panama was outplayed in its World
base of Auckland, where the
Cup debut, giving up two goals in each half
Americans will meet Portu-
against Brazil. The loss was its third
gal, a 2-0 winner over Viet-
straight and Panama has been outscored
nam on Thursday, in the
16-0 in that slide. An upset of Jamaica here
game that will set the team’s
and La Marea Roja could dream of a berth
path through the rest of the
in the knockout round. The more likely
tournament.
result is Jamaica’s first-ever World Cup win,
“The group,” Morgan
which would leave the Reggae Girlz in con-
said, “is up for grabs.”
trol of their own destiny heading into the
All because Danielle van
group-play final.
de Donk decided to poke the
— Kevin Baxter bear.
L AT I M E S . C O M F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 B9

Staley’s rap session with Kerr

PRO CALENDAR

FRI SAT SUN MON TUE

28 29 30 31 1

helps put angst of loss in past DODGERS

CIN.
7
SNLA
CIN.
6
SNLA
CIN.
1
SNLA
OAKLAND
7
SNLA

He seeks counsel from at Toronto

NBA coach to help
him deal with weight
of playoff collapse.
By Jeff Miller
He has been an All-Pro
and a Pro Bowl selection —
three times, in fact — and re-
mains the NFL’s highest-
paid safety.
All of which today rings
decidedly hollow for one of
the most abundantly opti-
mistic and affable Chargers.
“The time is now,” Der-
win James Jr. said. “We’re
not still trying to get settled
in L.A. or any of that. That
stuff ’s over. We know we
have the guys to win right
now. We just gotta go do it.
I’m tired of hearing about
what we can do.”
As training camps
opened around the league
this week, the Chargers re-
convened again as a widely
forecast playoff contender, a
team stuffed with excep-
tional talent but coming off
elite disappointment.
When last seen, they were
blowing a 27-0 first-half lead
and tumbling 31-30 at Jack-
sonville in the AFC wild-card
playoffs, a defeat that was
historic in nature and hor-
rific in reflection.
Picking through the rub-
ble, changes were made at
offensive coordinator
(Kellen Moore replaced Joe
Lombardi) and defensive
coordinator (Derrick Ansley
in, Renaldo Hill out).
The Chargers signed vet-
eran linebacker Eric
Kendricks to take over for
Drue Tranquill, who was al-
lowed to depart via free
agency. They’ll also have a
new starting safety and cor-
nerback, the team listing JT
Woods as a backup safety on
their website depth chart
and no one listed for one of
the corner slots.
Otherwise, the roster re-
mained largely intact as the
franchise attempts to qual-
ify for the playoffs in con-
secutive seasons for the first
time since a four-year run
that ended in 2009.
Defensive lineman
Sebastian Joseph-Day lik-
ened his feeling of the loss in
Jacksonville to his experi-
ence with the 2021 Rams,
who rebounded from a play-
off defeat the year before to
become Super Bowl champi-
ons.
“If you don’t learn from it
… I mean, how do you not
learn from something like
that?” he said. “But it’s just a
distant memory now. You
move on, yeah, you don’t for-
get, though.”
So unfamiliar was Bran-
don Staley in dealing with
such a troubling defeat —
the collapse was the third-
CHARGERS COACH Brandon Staley, center, calls his talk with Golden State
Warriors coach Steve Kerr “very helpful” in dealing with last season’s playoff loss.
worst in NFL postseason
history — that the coach
sought counsel not just out-
side the team but also the
sport.
Having met Steve Kerr
through a mutual friend in
2021, Staley spent two days
with the Golden State Warri-
ors in April during their first-
round playoff series against
Sacramento.
He noted that Kerr has
significant experience with
championship coaches such
as Lute Olson, Phil Jackson
and Gregg Popovich and ti-
tle-winning players such as
Michael Jordan, Tim Dun-
can and Stephen Curry.
Staley also knew Kerr
was coaching the Warriors
when they lost a 3-1 series
lead to Cleveland in the 2016
NBA Finals and then came
back the next season to win
the whole thing.
“His perspective was
really big for me because I
hadn’t been through any-
thing like that before,” Sta-
ley said. “I’ve always been at-
tracted to how he thinks,
how he leads. You gotta
choose people you’re going
to try to line up with.
“I wanted to make sure
that I tried to engage as
many people as possible
who had been through
something similar so that I
could draw off their experi-
ence and apply it to our situ-
ation here. It was very help-
ful.”
Staley described the
aftermath of the Jack-
sonville collapse as “a feeling
of complete responsibility.”
He said the weight included
the disappointment being
felt by everyone from the
team’s ownership to lifelong
fans.
This is still a franchise
that, in 64 seasons, has
reached only one Super
Bowl, where the 1994 Char-
gers became kindling for the
legend of 49ers Hall of Fame
quarterback Steve Young.
Now, here’s another
group of Chargers trying to
4 p.m.
at Toronto
Noon
at Toronto
9 a.m.
at Atlanta
4:15
at Atlanta
4:15
BSW BSW Peacock BSW BSW
ANGELS
VAN.*
6
Apple TV
GALAXY
AUG. 20 VS. COLORADO, 7:30, APPLE TV
LAFC
PORT.**
7
Paramount+
ANGEL CITY
NEW YORK NEW YORK
Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times 1 7
ESPN SpecSN
SPARKS
Shade denotes home game. *Leagues Cup **NWSL Challenge Cup
climb from a hole they didn’t dence that the Chargers can
dig but one that swallowed compete with the NFL’s
them nonetheless — simply best. They won at Kansas ON THE AIR
because of the lightning City, Cincinnati and Phila-
bolts they wear. delphia in his first season TIME EVENT ON THE AIR
“I can’t even believe any and won four straight late AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL
of us are lumped in with it last season to clinch a playoff 2 a.m. (Sat.) AFL, Essendon vs. Sydney TV: FS2
because none of us are built spot. AUTO RACING
like that,” Staley said. “None “We saw what we can do 7:30 a.m. Formula 1, Belgian GP, qualifying TV: ESPN2,
of us come from even re- when we were decimated by ESPND
motely that type of back- injuries,” Linsley said. “So I 2 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity, Road America, qualifying TV: USA
ground. It’s part of this think it’s more of setting the 2:55 a.m. (Sat.) Formula 1, Belgian GP, sprint shootout TV: ESPN2,
team, and I understand bar pretty high despite all ESPND
that. that and now finding out BASEBALL
“It’s also part of sports. what we can do if we can stay 4 p.m. Angels at Toronto TV: Apple TV; R:
There have been plenty of healthy.” 830
teams in the NFL, the NBA, The bar never has been 5 p.m. Tampa Bay at Houston TV: MLB
whatever, that have gone higher for Herbert, who is
7 p.m. Cincinnati at Dodgers TV: SNLA; R: 570,
through the same thing we entering his fourth season 1020
have and then you have this but first with Moore calling
BASKETBALL
breakthrough and you don’t plays. In four years with Dal-
look back. las, Moore’s offenses fin- 5 p.m. WNBA, Minnesota at New York TV: ION
“I know that’s part of ished among the top six in BOXING
building, that you’re going to points three times. 6 p.m. Lightweights, Idalberto Umara vs. Wilfredo Flores TV: CBSSN
go through some things like The Chargers used their CYCLING
this. Listen, what’s on the first-round pick in April on 6:15 a.m. (Sat.) Tour de France Femmes, Stage 7 TV: Peacock
outside is on the outside. It’s another target — wide re- GOLF
our responsibility to get the ceiver Quentin Johnston — 8:30 a.m. Senior British Open, second round TV: Golf
results.” for Herbert. More explosive- 11 a.m. U.S. Junior Amateur, semifinals TV: Golf
Any belief that the Char- ness and production is now 1 p.m. PGA, 3M Open, second round TV: Golf
gers are somehow jinxed has expected as Herbert has be- 2:30 a.m. (Sat.) LPGA, Evian Championship, third round TV: Golf
been only bolstered the last come a popular flier pick for
6 a.m. (Sat.) Senior British Open, third round TV: CNBC
two seasons, both of which NFL MVP.
HORSE RACING
ended with the opposition “You know you can rely
kicking a deciding field goal on him, on that side of the 10 a.m. Saratoga Live TV: FS2
on the game’s final play. ball,” defensive lineman Noon Saratoga Live TV: BSSC
Still, this team did step Morgan Fox said. “You love LITTLE LEAGUE
forward in 2022, winning one knowing that you have a guy 8 a.m. Softball, Southeast regional championship TV: ESPN
more game than the previ- on offense who really is that 10 a.m. Softball, New England regional championship TV: ESPN
ous season and reaching the dude.” Noon Softball, Central regional championship TV: ESPN
playoffs, something the fran- With the start of camp, 2 p.m. Softball, West regional championship TV: ESPN
chise hadn’t done in four the Chargers finally and offi- 4 p.m. Softball, Mid-Atlantic regional championship TV: ESPN
years. cially can put space between 6 p.m. Softball, Northwestern regional championship TV: ESPN
“If you look at it from 100 themselves and the graphic,
PICKLEBALL
feet up, yeah, it looks bad,” punchline-fodder failure
Noon PPA Tour, Seattle Open TV: CBSSN
center Corey Linsley said. that ended their 2022 sea-
“But if look at it from 10,000 son. SOCCER
feet up, we’ve improved. They’ve had more than 10:30 a.m. Friendly, Real Betis vs. Burnley TV: ESPN+,
We’ve improved our record six months to process the ESPND
and how far we went. That loss, to accept their various 11:30 a.m. Friendly, Hamburg SV vs. Schalke 04 TV: ESPN+
tells us the method of what slices of responsibility, to re- 4 p.m. CPL, Hamilton vs. Vancouver TV: FS2
we’re doing is working.” member whatever can help 6 p.m. Mexico women, Santos Laguna vs. Guadalajara TV: FOXD
The ’22 Chargers im- them now and forget every- 7 p.m. Honduras, Real Espana vs. Victoria TV: FOXD
proved despite injuries to thing else. 12:30 a.m. (Sat.) Women’s World Cup, Sweden vs. Italy TV: FS1,
starsJustin Herbert, “It was like that first Telemundo
Keenan Allen, Mike heartbreak,” James said. “It 3 a.m. (Sat.) Women’s World Cup, France vs. Brazil TV: 11, Telemundo
Williams, Rashawn Slater, don’t feel good. It stings. It 5:30 a.m. (Sat.) Women’s World Cup, Panama vs. Jamaica TV: 11, Telemundo
Joey Bosa and J.C. Jackson. hurts even more when you 5:45 a.m. (Sat.) Friendly, FC Augsburg vs. Ajax TV: ESPND
Better health alone this sea- know you were prepared and 6 a.m. (Sat.) Friendly, Celtic FC vs. Wolverhampton TV: CBSSN
son could have a profound ready for it. But I’m off of last
SOFTBALL
impact. year, and so is everybody
4 p.m. Athletes Unlimited: Team McCleney vs. Team TV: ESPN2
And, since Staley’s hiring else. We’ve moved on, and
Denham
in January 2021, there is evi- now we’re ready to go.”
6:30 p.m. Athletes Unlimited: Team Mulipola vs. Team TV: ESPNU
Rhodes

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Burrow gets scare in Bengals practice James positive after

wire reports
Cincinnati Bengals
quarterback Joe Burrow
was carted off the practice
field after he came up hob-
bling from a scramble on
Thursday.
The 26-year-old franchise
quarterback hobbled on one
leg and then went to the
ground after the play near
the end of the afternoon
practice. Coach Zac Taylor
later said it was a calf injury.
Burrow was wearing a sleeve
on it and came up limping.
Several teammates gath-
ered around while trainers
tended to the Pro Bowl
quarterback before he was
helped on to the back of a
cart.
“Sometimes players feel a
little sore after the first day,”
Taylor said when asked
about Burrow wearing the
sleeve on his right calf.
“I’m not the expert here,
but my gut says Joe will be
OK,” center Ted Karras said
in the locker room.
The Arizona Cardinals
reworked the contract for
All-Pro safety Budda Baker,
adding $2.4 million in bo-
nuses and incentives for the
upcoming season, including
a $300,000 signing bonus, ac-
cording to a person familiar
with the deal. ... Dalvin Cook
will meet with the New York
Jets this weekend. The free
agent running back, who
turns 28 next month, could
join a revamped Jets offense
led by quarterback Aaron
Rodgers and coordinator
Nathaniel Hackett. ... Dol-
phins All-Pro cornerback
Jalen Ramsey will undergo
surgery Friday to repair a
torn meniscus in his left
knee, a person familiar with
the diagnosis told the Asso-
ciated Press. The former
Ram was injured and he was
carted off the field at the end
of Miami’s practice. ... Two-
time Pro Bowl defensive end
Trey Hendrickson signed a
one-year contract extension
that ties him to Cincinnati
through the 2025 season.
ETC.
Colorado exits
Pac-12 for Big 12
Colorado is leaving the
Pac-12 to return to the con-
ference the Buffaloes jilted a
dozen years ago, and the Big
12 celebrated the reunion
with a two-word statement
released through Commis-
sioner Brett Yomark:
“They’re back.”
“The landscape of col-
legiate sports is ever-evolv-
ing, and the University of
Colorado Boulder has deter-
mined the Big 12 is the best
future fit for our athletic
teams,” CU President Todd
Saliman said after the
board of regents voted 9-0 in
a special remote meeting to
approve the conference
switch in 2024.
Oregon and head coach
Dan Lanning agreed to a
contract extension that will
extend his deal through the
2028 season. The Oregon
Board of Trustees unani-
mously approved the terms
of the contract Thursday.
Lanning’s new deal will pay
him a total of $45 million in
base salary over six years.
Nneka Ogwumike had 25
points and nine rebounds,
Jordin Canada added 21
points and seven assists,
and the Sparks beat the In-
diana Fever 81-68 at Crypto-
.com Arena for their second
series victory in two days.
The Milwaukee Brewers
acquired veteran first base-
man/designate hitter Carlos
Santana for minor leaguer
Jhonny Severino, a source
tells the AP.
Casper Ruud fought
back after being “destroyed”
in the first set to beat Cris-
tian Garin at the clay-court
Hamburg European Open,
while Daniel Altmaier upset
Andrey Rublev in the sec-
ond round. In the Hamburg
women’s competition, up-
and-coming German player
Noma Noha Akugue
reached the semifinals in her
first WTA Tour event with a
5-7, 6-4, 7-5 win over Martina
Trevisan.
Paula Reto had eight
birdies as she carded a sev-
en-under 64 to take a sur-
prise first-round lead at the
LPGA’s fifth major, the
Evian Championship in
France. Reto holds a two-
shot lead over 2015 champi-
on Lydia Ko of New Zealand
and three other players
locked on 66: France’s Ce-
line Boutier, American Ali-
son Lee, and Thai golfer
Wichanee Meechai. ... In
Wales, Miguel Angel
Jimenez shot a five-under 66
to take the first-round lead
at the Senior British Open,
five years after he became
the first Spaniard to win the
tournament. ... Lee Hodges
got off to a good start in his
bid to make the FedEx Cup
playoffs, shooting an eight-
under 63 for a one-stroke
lead in the first round of the
3M Open in Blaine, Minn.
France’s Leon Marc-
hand, 21, won his third gold
medal at the swimming
world championships in Fu-
kuoka, Japan, taking the
200-meter individual medley
in 1 minute, 54.82 seconds.
Canada’s Summer McIn-
tosh, 16, won her first gold
taking the 200 butterfly in
2:04.06, repeating her title
from last year’s worlds. She
also set a world junior
record.
At the Women’s World
Cup, Barcelona striker
Asisat Oshoala came on as a
second-half substitute and
inspired Nigeria’s 3-2 upset
win over co-host Australia,
scoring a goal that sealed
the victory and sparked a
jersey-shedding celebration.
In the other match, Telma
Encarnacao scored a goal
and assisted on another as
Portugal beat Vietnam 2-0.
The Portugal win ensured
Vietnam can’t advance to
the knockout stage.
The Ottawa Senators
signed free-agent right wing
Vladimir Tarasenko to a
one-year, $5-million deal.
his son exits hospital
By Dan Woike
Bronny James was re-
leased from the hospital af-
ter successful treatment for
a sudden cardiac arrest,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Cen-
ter announced in a state-
ment Thursday.
“Thanks to the swift and
effective response by the
USC athletics’ medical staff,
Bronny James was success-
fully treated for a sudden
cardiac arrest. He arrived at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Cen-
ter fully conscious, neuro-
logically intact and stable,”
Dr. Merije Chukumerije, the
cardiologist treating James,
said in a statement. “Mr.
James was cared for
promptly by highly trained
staff and has been dis-
charged home, where he is
resting. Although his work-
up will be ongoing, we are
hopeful for his continued
progress and are encour-
aged by his response, resil-
ience, and his family and
community support.”
In his first public state-
ment since his son collapsed
and lost consciousness dur-
ing a USC basketball work-
out at Galen Center on Mon-
day, LeBron James also of-
fered a positive update.
“I want to thank the
countless people sending
my family love and prayers.
We feel you and I’m so grate-
ful. Everyone doing great,”
James tweeted Thursday.
“We have our family to-
gether, safe and healthy, and
we feel your love. Will have
more to say when we’re
ready but I wanted to tell ev-
eryone how much your sup-
port has meant to all of us!”
He also posted a family
photo with a heart emoji on
his Instagram account.
Monday at 9:26 a.m., Los
Angeles Fire Department
paramedics were called to
Galen Center for a medical
emergency, according to a
department spokeswoman.
Bronny James lost con-
sciousness and was taken
“Code 3, lights and sirens” to
Cedars-Sinai shortly after
the ambulance arrived, ac-
cording to a source who was
not authorized to speak
about the situation publicly,
The Times previously re-
ported.
Tuesday morning, a fam-
ily spokesperson released a
statement thanking the
USC training staff.
“Yesterday while practic-
ing Bronny James suffered a
cardiac arrest. Medical staff
was able to treat Bronny and
take him to the hospital. He
is now in stable condition
and no longer in ICU. We ask
for respect and privacy for
the James family and we will
update media when there is
more information. LeBron
and Savannah wish to pub-
licly send their deepest
thanks and appreciation to
the USC medical and ath-
letic staff.”
Staff writers Ryan Kartje
and Richard Winton
contributed to this report.

SPORTS F R I D AY , J U L Y 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / S P O R T S
THE ANGELS’ decision to not trade Shohei Ohtani means the team hopes to re-sign him after the season. But the Dodgers will be among many suitors.
DREAM OR DELUSION?
By refusing to trade
Ohtani, team takes a
huge gamble, but one
that was necessary
DYLAN HERNÁNDEZ
Suddenly, everything feels
possible.
The Angels playing in
October. Shohei Ohtani re-
maining in Anaheim beyond
this season. And maybe some-
day, another championship
parade that starts at Disney-
land.
The Angels aren’t just dreaming. They’re
dreaming big.
And why shouldn’t they? Isn’t that the
entire point?
Hours after Sports Illustrated’s Tom
Verducci reported the Angels decided to not
deal Ohtani before the Aug. 1 trade dead-
line, the team shocked the baseball world on
Wednesday night by acquiring one of the top
starting pitchers on the market in Lucas
Giolito.
The Angels also added reliever Reynaldo
López in their deal with the Chicago White
Sox, which cost them a couple of prospects.
Four games behind the Toronto Blue
Jays for the American League’s final wild-
card position at the time — it’s now three
games — the Angels were doing more than
not giving up on their season.
They were going for it.
They weren’t afraid of the risk, which is
considerable. They weren’t discouraged by
their history, which [See Hernández, B7]
B10
Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times
Here we go again.
Angels make big
mistake in not building
for their future
BILL PLASCHKE
Same old Angels. Same old
Arte.
Before getting all misty-
eyed over the Halos’ latest
splashy headline grab —
They’re not trading Shohei
Ohtani!...they traded for
Lucas Giolito!…they’re going
for it! — understand one
thing.
They’ve done this before. They’ve tried
this before. They’ve sacrificed a solid invest-
ment in their future for an awkward dance
with a superstar and wound up falling on
their face.
His name was Albert Pujols. His name
was Josh Hamilton. His name was Vernon
Wells. His name was … OK, we’ll stop now.
No, this is not to compare the incompa-
rable Ohtani to any of those Angels’ failures.
Paul Sancya Associated Press Did you see his one-hitter against the De-
AN ARGUMENT is raging over whether keeping Ohtani was the best deci- troit Tigers Thursday? There’s increasingly
sion by the Angels. The question will be answered in the next two months.
little argument that he could be the greatest
player ever.
But there is little chance of him continu-
IN N E E D O F A H OT F I N I S H
ing to do this for the Angels beyond this
If the Angels are to make a push for a playoff berth, they will need a stronger season, all of which means the failed history
late-season run than they have in recent years. The team has not finished with a of owner Arte Moreno’s star-chasing strate-
winning record in the final two months since 2017. gy could sadly be repeating itself.
Time and again, Moreno has spent big
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 money on big names and been ultimately
30-30 25-33 24-28 16-36 26-28 29-27 left with nothing. [See Plaschke, B7]

CALENDAR
SINÉAD O’CONNOR , seen in 1990, used her renown to give voice to social concerns roiling below the surface. She spoke for many who couldn’t speak for themselves.
TELEVISION
REVIEW
Oh, it’s
easy to
follow
In Freeform’s ‘Praise
Petey,’ Annie Murphy
plays an ‘It’ girl who
inherits a cult.
ROBERT LLOYD
TELEVISION CRITIC
I haven’t heard anyone
talk about this, but when AI
does take over Hollywood
(which everyone does talk
about), it might well start
with cartoons.
Robot voices are already
working onscreen, imitating
dead people for docu-
mentaries. (And who’s going
to stop a producer from
cloning Mel Blanc or June
Freeform
PETEY and Bandit meet
cute in “Praise Petey.”
Foray or Daws Butler — not
Mel or June or Daws, at any
rate.) As to the animation,
well, computers already do a
lot of the heavy lifting in that
department, and genera-
tions of viewers raised on TV
cartoons are accustomed to
characters who often barely
merit the term “animated.”
Once they feed a century of
animated stories into the
matrix, it’ll be a small step to
getting rid of us completely.
So enjoy this moment,
[See ‘Petey,’ E2]
A Pokémon or
Quincy weekend
Five activities picks
include a gaming art
show and a Quincy
Jones tribute. E3
Comcast touts
strong earnings
A call with analysts
hints at companies’
health so far in the
Hollywood strikes. E3
Comics ................... E4-5
Puzzles ...................... E4
F R I D AY , J U L Y 2 8 , 2 0 2 3 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L E N D A R
SHE WAS RIGHT
Sinéad O’Connor was on ‘SNL’ supporting her
standards album, a flop that displayed mastery
BY MIKAEL WOOD POP MUSIC CRITIC
veryone in the world
E
knows whose photo
Sinéad O’Connor ripped
up on “Saturday Night
Live” in 1992. Hardly
anybody recalls why she
was there in the first place.
The Irish singer and songwriter,
whose death at age 56 was announced
Wednesday, famously nuked her ca-
reer that night when she punctuated
an a cappella performance of Bob
Marley’s song “War” by tearing a pic-
ture of Pope John Paul II into shreds
as an act of protest against the
church’s sexual abuse of children.
But what had gotten O’Connor
booked on “SNL” that October was
actually its own form of professional
self-immolation: the release just days
earlier of her third studio album, “Am
I Not Your Girl?,” a collection of old
songs — standards, if we’re defining
MOVIE REVIEW
You have to hand it to this horror debut
The devilishly fun
‘Talk to Me’ has sharp
young directors and a
a revelatory star turn.
JUSTIN CHANG
FILM CRITIC
If Regan MacNeil were to
go skittering backward
down the stairs today, would
her onlookers scream in ter-
ror or whip out their phones
— or both? The question
comes to mind more than
once during “Talk to Me,” a
viscerally effective super-
natural freakout in which
demonic possession isn’t
just an abomination but an
addiction, a recreational
pastime and sometimes
even a viral event.
In the movie’s most SOPHIE WILDE impresses as Mia, a grieving teenager who must deal with the
pleasurably disturbing se- terrifying consequences after she and her friends unleash malevolent spirits.
IN REMEMBRANCE
that term loosely — on which she was
backed by an orchestra of several doz-
en players. (Before she sang “War” on
“SNL,” she promoted the LP by doing
a version of its “Success Has Made a
Failure of Our Home,” a country hit in
the early 1960s for Loretta Lynn.)
I suppose I can understand why
O’Connor’s team might have thought
this idea might play. Two years before,
Madonna had gone big band to dou-
ble-platinum success with her album
“I’m Breathless,” which accompanied
her role as Breathless Mahoney in
Warren Beatty’s Hollywood adapt-
ation of “Dick Tracy.” Two years later,
Tony Bennett would make a splashy
commercial comeback with the
Grammy-winning “MTV Un-
plugged,” on which he pulled from the
same Great American Songbook that
provided O’Connor with some of her
repertoire. [See Mastery, E6]
Matthew Thorne A24
E
Mick Hutson Redferns via Getty Images
Singer was pilloried
for protest on TV but
kept up her activism
By Allyson McCabe
For many years, like most of the
world, what I knew about Sinéad
O’Connor was limited to three facts:
her head was shaved, she had a mega-
hit in 1990 with “Nothing Compares 2
U” and two years later, her career
came crashing down when she de-
stroyed a photograph of Pope John
Paul II on “Saturday Night Live.”
After that, whenever I saw her
name, or names (she later went by
Magda Davitt and Shuhada’
Sadaqat), it was invariably tied to
tabloid headlines: She’s married, she’s
divorced. She’s come out as a lesbian
— actually, no she’s not. She’s been
ordained as a Catholic priest. Hold
that, now she’s a Muslim. She’s been
diagnosed as bipolar — scratch that,
it’s borderline personality disorder. Or
maybe her mood swings are because of
her hysterectomy. Or drugs. Or all of
the above.
I had no idea that [See ‘SNL,’ E6]
quence, several thrill-seek-
ing teenagers take turns
shaking hands with the dev-
il, conjuring malevolent spir-
its for a brief spell and vi-
deoing the results for kicks,
laughs and internet posteri-
ty. Better judgment be
damned; the power of likes
compels them.
The idea that kids these
days might rent out their
bodies and risk their souls
for 90 seconds at a time is so
darkly funny and spookily
resonant, it’s a bit of a let-
down that this sharp,
bristling Australian thriller
doesn’t take it much further.
What the concept does es-
tablish from the outset —
starting with a squirmy
house-party prologue, fea-
turing much stabbing of
flesh and waving of phones
— is a keen sense of the dark
side of youthful anomie, and
[See ‘Talk,’ E2]
E2 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
ZOE TERAKES is the owner of an embalmed hand that can conjure spirits in “Talk to Me,” Danny and Michael Philippou’s feature debut.
A gripping thriller
about love and loss
[‘Talk,’ from E1]
the ways even an ostensibly
good time can go lethally
awry. Danny and Michael
Philippou, twin brothers
making a slick and assured
feature directing debut,
know that a casual hangout
isn’t always just a casual
hangout, especially when
there are lingering rivalries
and unhealed traumas fes-
tering just beneath the sur-
face.
Purely in terms of latent
‘Praise Petey’ baptized in ‘Schitt’s Creek’
[‘Petey,’ from E1]
while the people are still in
charge. It’s unlikely that a
machine, no matter how
deep its learning, would
cook up “Praise Petey,” a
generally amusing, vaguely
satirical show about a girl
who inherits a cult. Created
by “SNL” head writer Anna
Drezen (who also worked on
the “Dark Ages” season of
“Miracle Workers”), it pre-
miered last Friday on
Freeform. Although televi-
sion animation is currently
in flux, with shows being
canceled or whole platforms
getting out of the business,
“adult animation” remains a
going concern — and is
something of a novel move
for the network, though its
theme — young woman
growing in a complicated
world — is right in its wheel-
house.
Petey, played by Annie
Murphy, who is always a
pleasure to see, or in this
case, hear again, is a New
York “It” girl, a sweet but
practically helpless person
who has a job as a “senior as-
sistant editorial assistant at
the biggest fashion maga-
zine in Midtown,” a rich
mother (Christine Baran-
ski), who hates her when she
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BARGAIN IN ( ) CLOSED CAPTION
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
what may be the spirit of her
late mom, what began as a
game has tilted into a full-
blown hallucinatory night-
mare.
The specifics, violent and
terrifying, are best left for
you to discover. Suffice to
say that Mia is hurled into a
maelstrom of guilt, terror
and desperation that finds
her suddenly estranged
from a family — Jade’s —
that had come to feel like her
own. To some extent, “Talk
to Me” is very much about
this blurring of emotional
and relational boundaries.
With parents and children so
often at odds, whether it’s
Jade arguing with her pro-
tective single mother (a fine
Miranda Otto) or Mia
walling herself off from her
grieving dad (Marcus John-
son), real family is often
where you find it. The inti-
macy of friendship becomes
its own benign form of pos-
session, a willing exchange
of souls.
These are fascinating,
even moving ideas, even if
the Philippou brothers don’t
always have them entirely
under control. In its harrow-
ing closing stretch, the nar-
rative begins to unravel in
ways both effective and not;
as Mia struggles to appease
Andre Castellucci A24 or defeat the demonic forces
in her midst, it’s not always
clear if the movie is drama-
tizing or succumbing to her
its headlights revealing a must be revoked in 90 sec- break with reality.
mortally wounded kanga-
roo — a regionally specific
piece of roadkill, yes, but
otherwise an all-too-famil-
iar harbinger of horror-mov-
onds or less, lest the pos-
session risk becoming per-
manent.
It’s a nifty, hooky prem-
ise, one that soon gives rise
But even when “Talk to
Me” flirts with incoherence,
Wilde pulls it back from the
brink. More than just a great
scream queen, she makes
ie disaster. Before long,
Jade, Riley and Mia find
themselves at a party, where
they’re sucked into a game
centered on a creepily dis-
to that inspired recreational
montage. The grotesque
prosthetic effects
nerve-shredding sound de-
and
sign are first rate; they’re
vivid sense of Mia’s ravaged
emotions, revealing her to be
a captive less to the spirit
realm than to her own incon-
solable grief. She’s the mov-
emotional volatility, the brother, Riley (Joe Bird, in a embodied hand, now em- also a calculatedly showy ie’s revelation, hands down.
most troubled and troubling superb and surprising per- balmed and encased in ce- distraction. Beneath all the
character in “Talk to Me” is formance). It’s both telling ramic, that’s rumored to creepy pupil dilations and
its teenage protagonist, Mia and touching that one of the have once belonged to a me- ghoulish makeup, the Phil-
(the excellent newcomer first times we see Mia, she’s dium with the power to con- ippou brothers, working ‘Talk to Me’
Sophie Wilde), who’s hiding giving Riley a ride home, jure the dead. The hand’s from a script by Danny Phil-
more than her share of scars with both of them belting rowdy present owners (Zoe ippou and Bill Hinzman, Rated: R, for strong/
beneath her warm smile and along to Sia’s “Chandelier” Terakes and Chris Alosio) maintain a strong grip on bloody violent content,
gregarious demeanor. Since on the radio. The two are lay out the rules: With a few the group’s emotional dy- some sexual material and
her mother’s untimely practically surrogate sib- magic words (“Talk to me,” namics, layering on the mi- language throughout
death not too long ago, Mia lings; unlike Jade, with “I let you in”) and a firm, will- nor misunderstandings and Running time: 1 hour,
spends less time at home whom Riley bickers con- ing handshake, each player petty jealousies while ma- 35 minutes
and more time with her best stantly, Mia is the cool big can invite a spirit into their neuvering their characters
Playing: In general
friend, Jade (Alexandra sister he wishes he had. body, with deliciously freaky into position. By the time release
Jensen), and Jade’s younger But then the car stops, results. But the invitation Mia comes face to face with
the other hand, is Eliza
(Kiersey Clemons), the
anomalously normal town
bartender (the bar’s name
is, by Times standards, an
unprintable joke), with
whom she bonds over their
shared love of a TV show
called “Hot People Over-
Sharing Their Trauma and
Then Kissing”; like Petey
and Bandit. Eliza, who does
not seem to belong there at
all, is also hot — hotter than
Petey’s former best friend,
for even in cartoons, physi-
ognomy is destiny.
The art is pleasant but
generic. For the purposes of
the show, Petey and Bandit
need to be conventionally
good-looking to support the
romantic tension and, in the
bargain, give the teens and
young adults that constitu-
te the Freeform demo-
graphic something pretty to
look at. (A cameo appear-
ance by “working actor Alan
Tudyk,” played by Alan
Tudyk — who does seem to
be everywhere — gives Petey
the occasion to wonder, “I
don’t even know who the
‘Euphoria’ generation’s
Alan Tudyk is … Is it Evan
Freeform Peters?” “Evan Peters is 36,”
ANNIE MURPHY , formerly of “Schitt’s Creek,” moves to New Utopia, N.C., in Freeform’s “Praise Petey.” she’s told. Old people!)
The Freeform audience
recognizes her, and is en- the context of the show as a job, her apartment, her fi- walking here,” says Petey, is also liable to have
gaged to Brian, literally a catch. (They break up when ancé and her best friend New Yorker that she is.) The watched a lot of cult docu-
block of wood — unpack Petey discovers a splinter in brings on an existential cri- two don’t get along at all — mentaries and docudramas
that metaphor as you may her best friend’s lip.) sis, at which point Petey’s and so begins the series’ in their relatively short lives
— who/which is regarded in The sudden loss of her mother, aware of her for a rom-com subplot. because, you know, there are
moment, produces a “VHS It has been a year since a lot of them out there. But a
tape I’ve been hiding from Petey’s father died, and af- comedy about cults, as op-
you.” In it, the father she ne- ter meeting Bandit — who posed to a cult comedy, is a
ver knew she had (Stephen grew up in the cult, left and rarer thing. Indeed, apart
TM
NOTAFRAID
OF SUBTITLES Root) introduces her to the has come back to dismantle from “Praise Petey,” and
town and cult he has it — Petey makes her way to perhaps “The Unbreakable
310.478 .3836 www.LAEMMLE.com founded and which, having town. She finds the popula- Kimmy Schmidt,” I couldn’t
TOWN CENTER
apparently passed on, he tion restless and rudderless think of or find a single one,
GLENDALE NoHo 7
17200 Ventura Blvd. Encino 207 N. Maryland Ave Glendale 5240 Lankershim Blvd. No. Hollywood has left in her keeping. and on the edge of ruin perhaps because, although
Sympathy for the Devil With nothing to keep her awaiting the prophesied re- their beliefs and practices
BarBie C
1:10 4:30 7:30
5:25 PM in Manhattan, Petey boards turn of the Great Daughter. can seem silly, their real-
the miStreSS talk to me E a bus to New Utopia, N.C., at There are the familiar cult- world effects often are not.
oppenheimer E 12:50 3:05 5:20 7:35
1:00 3:40 7:00 which point culturally edu- ish features — multiple Those Heaven’s Gate people
BarBie C
the miracle cluB C 1:10 7:00 1:20 4:10 7:00
cated minds will turn wives for the leader, an all killed themselves, pre-
1:30 PM quickly to “Schitt’s Creek,” apocalyptic cosmology that sumably to get to space par-
the Beanie BuBBle E
miSSion: impoSSiBle - DeaD 1:10 7:20 the show that made Murphy has the elected riding a com- adise. It isn’t an isolated in-
reckoning part one C
1:00 4:00 7:10 talk to me E oppenheimer E a star; this impression will et to “space paradise,” cident.
12:50 3:40 7:10 only strengthen when the which echoes the famous Which makes “Praise Pe-
paSt liveS C
7:20 PM the miracle cluB C first person she encounters, Heaven’s Gate cult. tey” a little edgy, or creepy,
1:00 4:45 7:20 10:10 3:15 PM
kaDDiSh Bandit (John Cho), is a tall, It’s a theme of the series but also a trifle unbalanced,
4:45 PM theater camp C dark, beardy hunk on the that Petey was a self-depre- given the job of making New
1:15 4:40 7:30
mourning in loD line of “Schitt’s Creek’s” cating mouse who has spent Utopia somewhat appealing
1:10 3:15 5:20 7:30 BarBie C miSSion: impoSSiBle - DeaD
Mutt. Their cute meet finds eight years as an assistant — “acceptable” might be the
reckoning part one C
NEWHALL 1:00 3:55 7:00 her in a mud puddle, after an assistant, and nearly better word — to the viewer
22500 Lyons Ave. Santa Clarita
1:20 4:20 7:10 10:00 aSteroiD city C encounter with a goat. (“I’m overnight becomes the per- and finding something
4:30 PM
son to whom everyone looks charming in its members’
the eSSential church C have you got it yet? the
1:10 4:10 7:10 Story of SyD Barrett anD
for answers, whose will is deluded self-abasement.
haunteD manSion C the Beanie BuBBle E pink floyD their command — albeit her But if the cultists are essen-
1:20 4:20 7:30 10:15 1:00 7:40 BAYTHEATERLA.COM stated goal is to “de-weirdy” tially harmless, they are also
310-230-1457
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12:50 3:05 5:20 7:35 10:10 450 W. 2nd Street Claremont PALISADES VILLAGE MALL
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MIRACULOUS:
BarBie C She is guided away from this “human shih tzu” who only
1:00 4:30 7:25 10:10
oppenheimer E
haunteD manSion C
1:20 4:20 7:20 10:15 LADYBUG & CAT NOIR, THE MOVIE by Mae Mae (Amy Hill), her wants to lie on her feet, or
oppenheimer E COMPLIMENTARY POPCORN, DRINK, SWAG BAG AT THE
12:50 3:45 7:10 talk to me E SAT. 1:30 & 4:15 SHOWS (COURTESY OF NETFLIX FAMILY SUMMER) father’s true-believing old the three men who form a
miSSion: impoSSiBle - DeaD
1:00 4:35 7:30 10:10
ENTER SANDMAN: right hand, who has been writing desk, they panic.
THE SUMMER OF SANDLER
1:00 3:30 7:10
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1:00 4:10 7:20 1:00 4:20 7:20 10:10 FUNNY PEOPLE & HUSTLE DOUBLE FEATURE ently not very well, and her part, and in the way of
TWO FILMS FOR A SINGLE ADMISSION!
inDiana JoneS anD the Dial oppenheimer E needs Petey’s presence in culture-clash, fish-out-of-
of DeStiny C
12:55 4:05 7:20
theater camp C 12:50 3:30 7:00
HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS order to fulfill a random water stories, Petey will
aSteroiD city C
miSSion: impoSSiBle - DeaD
reckoning part one C
THEY CLONED TYRONE prophecy. have as much to learn as to
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LAT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
Comcast gains
amid walkouts
Earnings underscore
why some media firms
might be able to dig in
during labor unrest.
By Meg James
Comcast Corp. President
Mike Cavanagh on Thursday
tiptoed around the twin
strikes that have paralyzed
Hollywood.
“We are committed to
reaching a fair deal with the
guilds as soon as possible,”
he said during a conference
call with analysts to tout
Comcast’s strong second-
quarter financial results.
“For all involved in the in-
dustry broadly, a prolonged
work stoppage, the longer it
goes, the worse that it will
be,” said Cavanagh, who also
oversees the firm’s NBCUni-
versal media unit — one of
the companies that writers
and actors have refused to
work for since their respec-
tive guilds went out on strike.
But Comcast’s earnings
underscore how some media
companies are doing well, at
least in the short term, de-
spite the labor unrest that
analysts expect to do lasting
damage to the entertain-
ment business. Economists
have estimated that the
strike could cost the econo-
my as much as $4 billion.
Comcast’s performance
— and the sprawling nature
of its businesses — illustrate
why industry observers ex-
pect companies will dig in for
a long, bitter fight against
the Writers Guild of America
and the performers’ union,
SAG-AFTRA.
The Philadelphia cable
giant beat analyst estimates
by generating $30.5 billion in
revenue in the second quar-
ter, up 1.7% from the year-
earlier period. The bulk of
Comcast’s business is in de-
Chris Pizzello Invision / AP
PICKETER Dee Thomp-
son outside Universal.
livering broadband internet,
cable TV channels and
phone service to more than
30 million customers.
NBCUniversal helped
propel Comcast’s earnings.
The media unit contributed
$10.9 billion in revenue and
$2.2 billion in adjusted earn-
ings — a 7.5% increase from
the year before. Increased at-
tendance at its Universal
Studios theme parks and
ticket sales from Universal
movies — including “The Su-
per Mario Bros. Movie” — de-
livered in a big way.
Comcast said it generat-
ed $3.4 billion in free cash
flow company-wide in the
quarter that ended June 30.
Wall Street applauded its
results, sending its shares
soaring 6% to more than $45
a share in midday trading.
The upbeat earnings
from Philadelphia marked a
stark contrast to the scene
2,700 miles away in Los Ange-
les, where writers have been
picketing outside the com-
pany’s Universal Studios
complex since early May.
There’s no end in sight for
the strikes against the media
companies, which are repre-
sented in negotiations by the
Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers.
SIDES NOT TALKING
SAG-AFTRA leaders and
the AMPTP have not held
talks since July 12. Similarly,
there have been no conversa-
tions between the AMPTP
and WGA for nearly three
months. Large gaps remain
over minimum pay, resid-
uals, mandatory staffing for
writers rooms, revenue shar-
ing with streaming compa-
nies and concerns about the
use of artificial intelligence.
Analysts anticipate that
the labor conflict will boost
NBCUniversal’s short-term
financial results as the com-
pany saves millions it other-
wise would spend producing
TV shows and movies.
Cavanagh acknowledged
the expected savings but
noted that NBCUniversal
will spend capital next year
to ramp up productions after
the strike ends. Because of
that, profits are expected to
be lower next year, he said.
In addition to the theme
parks and Universal film and
TV studios, the company
owns the NBC broadcast
network, Bravo, E!, USA,
MSNBC, CNBC and the
Spanish-language Telemun-
do television business.
The company’s stream-
ing service, Peacock, added
2 million paying subscribers
to reach 24 million, about
double its total from a year
ago. Peacock generated
$820 million in revenue in the
quarter but posted a loss of
$651 million, swelling from a
$437-million loss in the year-
earlier period.
Comcast recently an-
nounced an increase in Pea-
cock’s subscription fees by as
much as $2 a month. Its pre-
mium plan will cost $5.99 a
month, while ad-free will be
$11.99. It was the first price
hike for the service that
launched three years ago.
Since January 2021, Comcast
has lost $5.5 billion on Pea-
cock, according to research
firm SVB MoffettNathanson.
STREAMING ISSUES
The industry’s shift to
streaming, which introduced
a different set of economics,
fueled concerns that helped
lead to the strikes.
Media company execu-
tives, including Walt Disney
Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger,
have said the dual strikes are
coming at an awful time for
studios because they were
only beginning to stabilize
their businesses after
COVID-19 pandemic-related
closures. The advertising
market also has been soft.
The traditional compa-
nies are reeling from huge
losses in streaming in an ef-
fort to compete with Netflix
and Amazon Prime Video.
The entertainment giants
are grappling with heavy
debt loads due to mergers
and acquisitions.
Unlike other media com-
panies, Comcast quickly
paid off the more than
$30 billion in debt it took on
in 2018 to purchase the Sky
satellite television operation
in Europe that was once
owned by Rupert Murdoch’s
21st Century Fox.
Comcast reaps hoards of
cash from its broadband in-
ternet and phone business.
In the second quarter, Com-
cast used some of its extra
cash to spend $2 billion buy-
ing back stock and an addi-
tional $1.2 billion paid to
shareholders in dividends.
For that reason, Comcast
has fared better this year on
Wall Street than Disney, Pa-
ramount Global and Warner
Bros. Discovery. Those com-
panies have all seen their
shares hammered since the
WGA strike began.
Investors are also pleased
that Comcast plans to sell its
33% stake in streaming serv-
ice Hulu to Disney, which will
generate another financial
windfall for the company.
Comcast’s stock is up
more than 25% since the be-
ginning of the year.
Netflix also has seen its
shares soar. The streamer
last week reported that it
had added nearly 6 million
subscribers in the second
quarter and that it had gen-
erated $1.5 billion in profits.
The quarter opened with
an abrupt management
shake-up when then-NBC-
Universal Chief Executive
Jeff Shell exited the com-
pany. He resigned under
pressure in late April after a
sexual harassment com-
plaint was lodged against
him by a CNBC international
anchor, who has since left the
company.
Cavanagh stepped in to
oversee the entertainment
company. This month, he
overhauled the management
structure of NBCUniversal,
elevating Donna Langley to
chief content officer, putting
her in charge of television
production as well as her
longtime role overseeing the
film studio.
Cavanagh was sanguine
about the company’s con-
tent pipeline for the rest of
the year despite the walk-
outs, which are expected to
hobble the 2024 film slate
and efforts to promote up-
coming movies.
Universal’s highly antici-
pated release, Christopher
Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” has
generated $220 million at the
box office worldwide in its
first six days, according to
Box Office Mojo. Those re-
sults fold into Comcast’s cur-
rent quarter.
“We’ve got a lot of strong
content coming,” Cavanagh
said, mentioning the NFL
and Big 10 college football,
which will air on NBC and
stream on Peacock.
“We feel very good about
what we have coming in the
second half of the year, con-
tent-wise.”
F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 E3
Tifrere presents her third
summer exhibition, “Art
Genesis: 100 Days of Sum-
mer,” with her organization
ArtLeadHER. The group
exhibition shares the work
of eight early-to-mid-career
artists — Arielle Austin,
Akilah Watts, Jewel Ham,
Lanise Howard, Tawny
Chatmon, Victor Ubah,
Natalie Lauren and Ronnie
Robinson. The works depict
themes of love, growth and
mystery and range from
Howard’s portraiture to
Chatmon’s blend of photog-
raphy and paintings about
Black childhood. The exhib-
ition immediately follows
Megan Lewis’ solo exhib-
ition curated by Tifrere
titled “Soft Landings.”
“Art Genesis: 100 Days of
Masayuki Hayashi Summer” opens Wednesday
REIKO SUDO’S “Pickachu’s Adventures in a Forest” on display at Japan House. and runs until Aug. 5 with a
panel discussion by artists,
L.A. GOES OUT curators and collectors at
6:30 p.m. on closing day. The
Catch ’em all, then
exhibition is free at Art
Genesis Space pop-up at
the 3110 Gallery in Silver
Lake, and it is open from 1 to
6 p.m. Tuesday through
catch a tribute or play Saturday. More details can
be found on eventbrite.com.
5. ‘LA HAVANA MADRID’
Travel back in time to
1960s Chicago with a play
By Steven Vargas filled with mambo, salsa and
romance. South Coast
Here are the top five Repertory’s “La Havana
events for this weekend, as Madrid” transports you to
recommended by the crew. the legendary Chicago
nightclub of the same name,
1. ‘POKÉMON X KOGEI’ where Latino immigrants
Pokémon are taking over found community through
a Hollywood gallery. Can you dancing and dining. The
catch ’em all? Japan House play by Sandra Delgado
Los Angeles presents “Poké- documents the stories of
mon x Kogei,” an exhibition Cuban, Puerto Rican and
in which the beloved ani- Colombian settlers seeking
mated creatures come to life refuge in the city.
with the work of Japanese Delgado pulls from his-
craft. Supervised by the torical writing, photographs
National Crafts Museum in Paul Lester South Coast Repertory and personal interviews to
Kanazawa, Japan — with TRISTAN TURNER , left, and Maria Jimena craft the narrative — all
support from the Pokémon Gastelum in “La Havana Madrid” by Sandra Delgado. while immersing the audi-
Co. — the exhibition consists ence in the music that
of 70 works by 20 artists congregation and focuses on House, two organizations scored Latino life through-
using traditional Japanese the stories of Black women in providing assistance and out the decade. SCR’s pro-
art techniques, varying from the church community. The support to women experi- duction takes you even
ceramics to copper. reimagined classic presents encing homelessness. The deeper into the story by
As a Pokémon fan grow- its own set of archetypes for show takes place at the setting the performance at
ing up, I felt like a kid in a the comedy of errors, from a Friendship Baptist Church, Mission San Juan Capi-
candy store when I went to recent divorcée who is the a historic Black church in strano in Orange County.
the exhibit. The entrance victim of church gossip to the Pasadena, and runs until The show runs until Aug. 4
invites you in with large-scale innocent daughter of an Saturday. Tickets are $25 and tickets range from $20
sculptures of Pokémon. overbearing mother. Like and the remaining shows are to $50. More information can
Taiichiro Yoshida’s copper any Shakespeare comedy, it at 8 p.m. Friday, and 2:30 and be found on scr.org.
sculptures of Eevee’s evolu- is full of witty banter, come- 7 p.m. Saturday. More de-
tion particularly stood out. dic plot twists and joyous tails can be found on This article is taken from
Eevee and its water, fire and resolutions. Hero Theatre herotheatre.org. the July 26 edition of L.A.
electric evolutions — Va- commissioned the piece by Goes Out, a weekly
poreon, Flareon and Jolteon, Amina Henry and partnered 4. ‘ART GENESIS: 100 newsletter about what to do
respectively — are made with Downtown Women’s DAYS OF SUMMER’ with your weekend. Sign up
with small copper pieces Center and Alexandria Curator Mashonda at latimes.com/newsletters.
chiseled into unique shapes
like tiny flames and thunder-
bolts.
Keiko Masumoto’s ves-
sels best represent the
beauty of the exhibition by
combining the 12th century
practice of Shigaraki ware
with Pokémon — for exam-
ple, Charizard pokes its
limbs out of a traditional
ceramic jar. Masumoto
embraces Fire-type Poké-
mon by highlighting the
kilning process and embrac-
ing the natural effects of the
flames on the work. Other
standouts include a vase by
Yuki Hayama decorated
with more than 500 Pokémon
and a forest of Pikachus by
Reiko Sudo made with cot-
ton and lace hanging from
the ceiling in a sea of yellow.
In the middle of the immer-
sive piece by Sudo, you
might notice one discolored
Pikachu that is more golden
than the others. Pikachu is
difficult to capture in the
Pokémon universe. Perhaps
you could be the Pokémon
master who finds it.
The free exhibition runs
until January 2024. Japan
House is open from 11 a.m. to
7 p.m. Monday through
Friday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday. More
details on “Pokémon x Ko-
gei” can be found on japan
housela.com.
2. QUINCY JONES’ 90TH-
BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE: A
MUSICAL CELEBRATION
The Los Angeles Philhar-
monic Assn. presents a
musical celebration tribute
to Grammy-winning artist
Quincy Jones at the Holly-
wood Bowl in the Hollywood
Hills. In celebration of his
90th birthday, artists includ-
ing H.E.R., Samara Joy, BJ
the Chicago Kid and Alfredo
Rodriguez are coming to-
gether to perform some of his
top hits, from “P.Y.T.” to
“Thriller.”
Renowned conductor
Jules Buckley will lead the
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
for the event. Performances
are at 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday and remaining
tickets range from $18 to $129.
For more information, see
hollywoodbowl.com.
3. ‘NOTHING, NOTHING’
Put on your Sunday best
for Hero Theatre’s site-
specific adaptation of Shake-
speare’s comedy “Much Ado
About Nothing,” set and
performed in a Baptist
church — live gospel music
and all. “Nothing, Nothing”
follows the romantic twists
and turns of those in the
E4 F R I DAY , J U LY 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):
Difficult people will require
your patience and it will be
worth your while to extend
it. The more patient you are
now, the richer you’ll be later.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): Getting mixed up into
something you do strictly for
fun will take your mind off is-
sues you need a break from.
Gemini (May 21-June 21):
Good fortune comes from
organizing your thoughts
and ideas with the aim of ef-
fectively imparting your
knowledge.
Cancer (June 22-July 22):
There are so many excellent
questions, why waste time in
foggy territory? You’ll aim
your curious mind precisely.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22):
You know it’s love by the
price you’re willing to
pay. When love’s chord is
struck, you will be willing to
endure the tedious and
painful parts to keep that
CROSSWORD
Edited By Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis
By Samantha Podos Nowak and Katie Hale
ACROSS
1 Shred
7 Built-in part of a
camisole, maybe
10 Menu item
14 Mark who won the
Masters and the British
Open in 1998
15 __ Palmas de Gran
Canaria
16 Spanish tykes
17 Feature of a jean
jacket with a snowflake
design?
19 Nerve fibers
20 Big heads
21 Center of operations
22 Settle a score
23 “Hotel du __”: Anita
Brookner novel
24 French dessert for a
romantic date?
26 Mortgages, e.g.
28 Bear on a star chart
29 Scent
31 Introductory offer?
33 Plus or minus
37 Handwoven textile
that’s a big source of
comfort?
41 Fifth Avenue icon
42 Spool
43 Assailed
44 Overhead projection?
46 Needing a sweep
48 Group that oversees
tablets?
53 Emeril catchword
56 Get a move on
57 Actress Dunaway
58 Latvian seaport
59 Hunter on a star chart
60 “Go on, take a taste!” ... 18 __ sax
or an apt title for this
puzzle?
62 Highlander’s pattern
63 Flamenco cry
64 Places for addresses
65 Email status
66 Part of a bridal quartet? 31 Dec. 31
67 “In spite of all that ... “ 32 Georgia airport code
DOWN
1 Beach blanket, often
2 Compañera
3 Common time for local
news
4 Needlework?
5 Flub
6 Wayfarer maker
music strumming.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
You already know what you
want the future to look like.
Bringing this together will
involve many projects. Start
anywhere.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23):
You may field requests that
are ill-aligned with how you
work. You will give them the
benefit of the doubt without
catering to their ignorance.
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21):
Gaining self-knowledge can
be harder than you think it
should be. Stress has a way
of highlighting the traits you
most and least prefer.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-
Dec. 21): Vacations aren’t al-
ways tremendously relax-
ing, but there’s a benefit to
doing something different
from your usual routine.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.
19): Perhaps you’re not as
skilled at something as you
thought.You’ll keep improv-
ing because you’ll keep work-
ing. Believe in yourself all
along the way.
7 Crater creator
8 Soap Box Derby entrant
9 “Shoot”
10 Property that
may depreciate, in
accounting
11 Hole-__
12 Feature of “butte” but
not “but”
13 London’s neighboring
county
16 Pew areas
22 Many a “Mad Men” role
24 Orchard fruit
25 Arizona city
27 “Eh, this happens a lot”
29 Burro
30 “Michael Collins” actor
34 Wee
35 Higher ed. test
36 Empire St. paper
38 Monte of the 1950s
Giants
39 Frosh, probably
40 TikTok aesthetic
45 Change
46 Lid woe
COMICS
7/28/23
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.
18): You can start over at any
moment. The thing that
keeps you from doing that is
the safety of holding on to
certain ideas about yourself.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March
20): Keep your fantasies
alive and work your way
toward them. Reality just
might let you win.
Today’s birthday (July
28): Astonishing surprises
are in store in this year of
plot twists. Relationships
will be sweeter than birth-
day cake. A settlement or
sale allows you to open a new
chapter. More highlights:
Someone credits you with
changing their life. You’ll be
often above the clouds liter-
ally and emotionally. Your
work will meet a much bigger
audience. Libra and Aquar-
ius adore you. Your lucky
numbers: 5, 30, 10, 17 and 8.
Mathis writes her column
for Creators Syndicate Inc.
The horoscope should be
read for entertainment.
© 2023 Tribune Content Agency
47 Brand named for two
states
48 Restaurants
with stacks
49 “Je __ français”
50 Made in Japan, say
51 Woodruff ’s co-anchor
52 Hit Ctrl-S
54 Second something
55 Hath permission
58 Bust
60 Ooze
61 Sun shade
ANSWER TO
PREVIOUS PUZZLE
7/28/23
BRIDGE
By Frank Stewart
I saw Cy the Cynic in the
club lounge, sitting at a far-
corner table. He looked
glum.
“Minnie’s glasses got him
again,” Rose told me. “Don’t
let Cy fool you. Minnie is 82,
and deep down, he admires
her.”
Minnie Bottoms, our sen-
ior member, wears old bifo-
cals that make her mix up
kings and jacks, often to her
opponents’ dismay. Cy has
been Minnie’s chief victim.
He declared today’s 3NT in a
duplicate, and West led a low
heart.
“Minnie was East,” Rose
said, “and played the jack!
Cy took his king and led the
10 of diamonds — and Min-
nie said it was her lead.”
“She thought her jack
ASK AMY
The boss was not invited
Dear Amy: I am hurt by
not being invited to either of
my two employees’ baby
showers. It’s just the three of
us in this office. Because of
my choice to provide growth
and creative opportunities
for these employees, as well
as flexibility and generous
compensation and benefits,
my life is pretty miserable.
They are flourishing
while I am left with a hugely
complicated list of adminis-
trative tasks, including be-
ing a one-person HR depart-
ment. This is in addition to
managing the other respon-
sibilities essential to the ex-
istence of the organization.
It is hard to find someone
willing and able to handle
these essential but boring
tasks, though I keep trying.
We all know a lot about
each other’s personal lives,
which are entwined through
relatives and friends, and I
care about them. This feels
like a personal rejection. Do
you think I am overreacting?
Hurt Boss
Dear Hurt Boss: I don’t
think you are overreacting.
After addressing this
with these women calmly
and honestly, you should re-
assess your business model.
You’ve described your
own life as “pretty misera-
ble,” while these employees
flourish. The experience of
FAMILY CIRCUS By Bil Keane
FREE RANGE By Bill Whitehead
BLISS By Harry Bliss
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
had been the king,” I smiled.
“Cy let the 10 ride,” Rose
said. “Minnie won and led
the ace and another heart,
and down the Cynic went.
He should have led the jack
of diamonds; it might have
won the trick!”
Minnie’s play was cor-
rect; Cy needed the king of
hearts to have 16 points his
1NT promised. If Minnie
takes the ace of hearts and
returns the jack, Cy holds up
his king effectively.
You hold: ♠ J 9 8 2 ♥ A J 2 ♦
K 6 ♣ J 10 8 3. Your partner
opens one diamond, you bid
one spade and he rebids two
diamonds. What do you say?
Answer: With most 10-
point hands, you would give
up on game and pass part-
ner’s minimum rebid, but
this hand has likely stoppers
in both black suits, an ace,
and a king that may solidify
small organization propri-
etors is one of extreme hard
work and sacrifice, but you
should not place your own
needs below that of the peo-
ple who work for you. Ideally,
everyone flourishes, each in
their own way.
Perhaps you could rebal-
ance the workload, offering
your employees fewer cre-
ative opportunities and
more of the administrative
tasks. If you professionalize
your office experience, you’ll
create more of a boundary
between yourself and these
employees; thus you would
also be less hurt by their per-
sonal choices.
Dear Amy: We live in a qui-
et cul-de-sac. Our homes are
spread apart and noise has
never been an issue.
Our next-door neighbor
is a sweet widow. When the
pandemic hit, her son
“Brad” moved in with her af-
ter his restaurant shut
down. He has a car that has
been modified to be very
loud. Their garage is right
next to our master bedroom.
Brad has a habit of starting
the car and sitting for up to
30 minutes before he leaves.
He will also sit for an ex-
tended period before he
turns off the car when he ar-
rives home, which — be-
cause of his shift — is often in
the middle of the night.
DENNIS THE MENACE By Hank Ketcham
MARMADUKE By Brad & Paul Anderson
SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly
his long suit. Bid 2NT, espe-
cially if you are vulnerable.
Partner will raise to 3NT
with 10 4, K 7, A Q J 8 5 2, A 2.
South dealer
N-S vulnerable
NORTH
♠ Q 10 4
♥ 10 7
♦AQ952
♣A94
WEST EAST
♠753 ♠J982
♥Q9863 ♥AJ2
♦74 ♦K6
♣762 ♣ J 10 8 3
SOUTH
♠AK6
♥K54
♦ J 10 8 3
♣KQ5
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass
Opening lead — ♥ 6
Tribune Content Agency
We didn’t say anything,
believing Brad’s tenancy
was temporary. But it’s been
three years and he recently
purchased another vehicle
that’s louder than the first!
Because we have waited,
I feel bad saying something,
and struggle with what to
say. What should we do?
Vroomed Out
Dear Vroomed Out: Most
towns have noise ordinan-
ces, and “Brad’s” hot rod is
likely violating yours.
I assume that Brad’s car
bothers everyone in the area
as he circles the cul de sac at
night and then sits with the
motor running (this also
likely violates a local ordi-
nance). And imagine the im-
pact on his mother!
So tell him now. Say,
“Brad, we appreciate having
you as a neighbor, but our
bedroom is right next to
your garage. Your new car is
even louder than your previ-
ous car and you sometimes
run the engine for several
minutes right underneath
our window. I should have
said something sooner, but
can you be more aware of the
impact on us?” Depending
on his response, you might
need to rev up your efforts.
Email questions to Amy
Dickinson at askamy@
amydickinson.com.
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23 E5

COMICS

LA CUCARACHA By Lalo Alcaraz PICKLES By Brian Crane

CRABGRASS By Tauhid Bondia BABY BLUES By Jerry Scott & Rick Kirkman

CANDORVILLE By Darrin Bell CRANKSHAFT By Tom Batiuk & Chuck Ayers

LOOSE PARTS By Dave Blazek

JUMP START By Robb Armstrong

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE By Stephan Pastis

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

TUNDRA By Chad Carpenter BIZARRO By Wayno and Piraro

SIX CHIX By Maritsa Patrinos DRABBLE By Kevin Fagan

FRAZZ By Jef Mallett MUTTS By Patrick McDonnell

NON SEQUITUR By Wiley PEANUTS By Charles M. Schulz

E6 F R I DAY , J U LY 2 8 , 2 0 23
Singer
sought
justice
for all
[‘SNL,’ from E1]
long after she stopped
making pop hits, O’Connor
released nearly a dozen
albums (many excellent),
recorded songs for film and
TV, collaborated with other
artists and contributed
music to causes including
HIV/AIDS awareness and
Black Lives Matter. I didn’t
know that many of the
public statements she
made over the years were
lucid and insightful and
that she often got them
right, especially about
important issues.
On Wednesday, O’Con-
nor’s family announced
that the singer had died at
age 56. No cause of death
was given.
To understand her inevi-
table rise and fall from pop
stardom, it’s important to
consider that O’Connor’s
life began in theocratic
Ireland, in the 1960s, where
she suffered abuse at the
hands of her devoutly reli-
gious mother. When O’Con-
nor’s parents split, in her
early teens, her father was
awarded custody, nearly
unheard of in a country
where divorce was illegal
and courts invariably sided
with mothers in cases of
separation.
By then, O’Connor had
already been hauled into
police stations for shop-
lifting and other petty of-
fenses, landing in a Catholic
reform school where a
kindly nun bought her a
guitar and a book of Bob
Dylan songs. Finding her
voice in music, O’Connor
signed her first recording
contract at age 18 — shortly
after her mother died in a
car wreck on the way to
Mass.
O’Connor wrote her own
songs, a musical memoir in
progress. One of her first,
“Troy,” was a mesmerizing
account of love and be-
trayal. On “Mandinka,” she
sings defiantly about not
knowing shame or pain.
After complaining that the
producer assigned to work
on her 1987 debut album,
“The Lion and the Cobra,”
was taking the bite out of
her songs, she took over the
production herself. Reject-
ing the record label’s plan to
market her as a teen pop
queen, O’Connor had her
hair shaved off and wore
ripped jeans and combat
boots. Deeming the photo
she wanted for the album
cover, where her mouth is
open in song, “too angry”
for American audiences,
label execs swapped in
another image, where her
eyes are half closed, looking
downward, demure.
O’Connor’s music, and
message, caught on
through college and alter-
native radio and MTV. Her
first public prime-time TV
appearance — at the 1989
Grammys, where she was
nominated for female rock
vocal performance — tele-
graphed that she was, as
Billy Crystal said in his
introduction, “no ordinary
talent.”
That year, the Recording
Academy was to present its
first-ever awards for rap
music, but citing limited
airtime, the presentation
would not be televised. In
response to being written
out of the Grammy telecast,
some of the rap nominees
boycotted the ceremony.
When 21-year old O’Connor
came out singing
“Mandinka,” she wore Pub-
lic Enemy’s logo painted in
her hair as a badge of soli-
darity with the artists who
had been erased from the
program. When she was
done, a reporter from The
Times said she appeared
nervous backstage, as if she
somehow knew that she
didn’t belong in the pop
world and that her moment
was bound not to last.
That was OK, because
O’Connor saw herself as a
protest singer in the vein of
Dylan — a point she made
clear on her next album,
1990’s “I Do Not Want What I
Haven’t Got.” While it was
the Prince-penned single
“Nothing Compares 2 U”
that made her a global
superstar, she took on
racism and police brutality
in “Black Boys on Mopeds”
and the warped values of
the music industry in “The
Emperor’s New Clothes.”
And, more obliquely, she
sang about being an abuse
Maria Bastone AFP via Getty Images
SINÉAD O’CONNOR, performing at a Bob Dylan tribute in 1992, saw herself as a protest singer à la Dylan.
ing the photo was meant to
draw attention to the Cath-
olic Church’s pervasive
sexual abuse of its young
and most vulnerable follow-
ers, not to attack the faith or
even the pope, but to de-
stroy a symbol of the institu-
tion’s hypocrisy as it cov-
ered its tracks and silenced
survivors.
The retribution was swift
and unforgiving. Her al-
bums were steamrollered
outside of her label’s offices
in Rockefeller Center. On
late-night TV, O’Connor was
turned into a punchline and
a punching bag by Joe Pesci,
who bragged that he would
have “gave her such a
smack,” and by Phil Hart-
man, who joked about tear-
ing up a photo of her sup-
posed lookalike, Uncle
Fester from “The Addams
Family.”
Even Madonna, no
stranger to controversy
herself, was critical of
O’Connor, telling Irish
public broadcaster RTE
that she thought there was
a better way to present her
ideas. Within days, O’Con-
nor did just that, releasing
an open letter in which she
doubled down on her criti-
Allan Tannenbaum Getty Images cism of the church.
THE SINGER’S albums are destroyed in New York “SNL” effectively marked
City after controversial “SNL” appearance in 1992. the end of O’Connor’s career
as a pop star, but she never
survivor, on the title track nor stood at a dais testifying stopped making music or
and elsewhere. (via sign language) about speaking out against social
From that point on, child abuse. On the wall injustice, her activism over-
whenever she sat with jour- behind her were the faces of shadowed by the relentless
nalists, she talked about children on slides from attention on her personal
racism, sexism, child abuse Amnesty International — struggles, including her
and the music industry’s the young victims of war mental health, which she
relentless focus on commer- atrocities — while photogra- spoke about openly even
cial success, though she phers snapped pictures of though it was often used to
rarely found a sympathetic O’Connor’s testimony, discredit her.
ear. She also used awards confusing it with entertain- O’Connor didn’t always
shows to do the same, until ment. get her point across the way
she decided to forgo them All of this was the lead- she wanted, and did some-
altogether — another form up to her Oct. 3, 1992, ap- times purposefully stoke
of protest. pearance on “Saturday outrage, because that’s
O’Connor followed the Night Live.” The song she what provocateurs do. But
breakout success of “I Do sang that night was Bob unlike her male counter-
Not Want What I Haven’t Marley’s “War,” which was parts, she was never af-
Got,” which went to No. 1 in not on her album. She forded the right to use her
multiple countries, with a changed some of the song’s voice as she saw fit. Even
1992 collection of show tunes lyrics, which addressed decades later, she was still
and standards — not ex- racial oppression, to ad- routinely asked by journal-
actly a formula for pop dress child abuse. The ists if she regretted her
success. In the music video photo of the pope belonged actions on “SNL,” sidestep-
for “Success Has Made a to her late mother, a sou- ping the question of
Failure of Our Home,” a venir of his 1979 trip to Ire- whether an apology was
Loretta Lynn song given a land that had been her owed to her.
big-band treatment, O’Con- prized possession. Destroy- In 2021, O’Connor pub-
L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R
lished her memoir “Remem-
berings,” and I interviewed
her for NPR’s “Morning
Edition.” Despite the way
she’d been characterized in
the press — let’s just say it
plainly, as crazy — she was
on time and on point. She
answered all of my ques-
tions, even the difficult
ones, the so-called triggers
her publicist asked me to
avoid. After the interview,
she emailed me a few times,
not to promote herself, but
to share music she discov-
ered by other largely un-
known artists that she was
excited about.
That radio feature
turned out to be the begin-
ning of a much deeper ex-
amination into O’Connor,
culminating in a book that
not only looked into her
story but also how that
story was a reflection of our
culture: the double stand-
ards female artists are held
to, the misogyny they expe-
rience and how our percep-
tions of them are often
filtered through the lens of
sexism.
It also led me to reflect
on my position within that
culture, as a journalist and
an abuse survivor myself. It
was risky, emotionally and
professionally, for me to
write about that, but, in-
spired by O’Connor, I hoped
to spark a conversation
about who we are as a cul-
ture and what we could be if
we listened as easily as we
judged.
I don’t know if O’Connor
read my book. I didn’t ask
her to, and she didn’t owe
me that. But I do know that
the fans around the world
who have reached out to me
saw her, rightly, as much
more than a one-hit wonder
or a lightning rod.
By singing and talking
about things people often
didn’t want to hear, O’Con-
nor made it possible for
others to confront their own
shame and silencing and to
step toward healing and
something that feels like
hope.
McCabe is a music
journalist and the author of
“Why Sinéad O’Connor
Matters.”
Listen
to this
anew
[Mastery, from E1]
But beyond its inclusion
of Rodgers and Hart’s dura-
ble “Bewitched, Bothered
and Bewildered,” “Am I Not
Your Girl?” is a truly peculiar
take on the standards-album
concept, with far-flung mate-
rial she selected according to
her personal history of listen-
ing — these were songs that
“inspired and comforted”
her, she said — rather than
any notion of joining a canon-
ical hit parade.
And indeed it was no hit:
Critics hated the album —
“labored” and “cloying,” said
Rolling Stone — while it
climbed no higher than No.
27 on the Billboard 200 (com-
pared with six straight weeks
at No. 1 for its predecessor,
1990’s “I Do Not Want What I
Haven’t Got”). Even the
Grammys, which had show-
ered nominations on O’Con-
nor’s breakout smash,
“Nothing Compares 2 U,” ig-
nored “Am I Not Your Girl?”
— perhaps because the sing-
er had boycotted the 1991 cer-
emony, saying the awards
show upheld “false and de-
structive materialistic val-
ues.”
Here’s the thing, though:
“Am I Not Your Girl?” —
largely overlooked even now
in remembrances of O’Con-
nor’s life and work — is a bril-
liant showcase of her artistry,
starting with the eclectic
track list that foreshadowed
her later explorations of
reggae and Motown and tra-
ditional Irish music. She
mixes lush stuff from Broad-
way and the movies (“Be-
witched,” “Secret Love,”
“Love Letters”) with the
stark folk ballad “Scarlet
Ribbons” and that Loretta
Lynn tune and “Don’t Cry for
Me Argentina,” from Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s mid-’70s
“Evita”; she winks at Betty
Boop on “I Want to Be Loved
by You,” then contemplates
suicide on “Gloomy Sunday.”
There are songs associated
with Billie Holiday, Ella
Fitzgerald and especially
Peggy Lee, but no Cole
Porter, no Jerome Kern, no
Irving Berlin, no George
Gershwin — the warhorses of
the form, all left out in favor of
a raunchy blues like “Why
Don’t You Do Right?”
And her performances!
That this natural songwriter
was also a gifted interpreter
should have surprised no
one; “Nothing Compares 2
U,” of course, was a cover of a
throwaway Prince song in
which she found new emo-
tional depth. Yet the range of
vocal approaches she takes
here is astounding: hushed
and trembling in “Black Cof-
fee,” haunted by memory in
“Scarlet Ribbons,” vulgar
and proud of it in “Why Don’t
You Do Right?”
She brings so much
yearning sensuality to “Be-
witched, Bothered and Be-
wildered” — a tune you’d
have thought had been
squeezed dry long before she
got to it — that you almost
have to blush when she whis-
per-moans the line about
worshiping the trousers that
cling to him. And then there’s
“Success” and “Argentina,”
two very different songs
about the wages of celebrity
that she sings with a sense of
drama bordering on des-
peration. The climax of “Suc-
cess” in particular, with
O’Connor practically sob-
bing as the orchestra blares
around her, is brutal — all the
more so given what we know
was to come for her just after
the album came out.
Speaking to The Times’
Robert Hilburn on the eve of
its release, she said her rendi-
tion of the song was about
“the way that desire for ma-
terial success has been re-
sponsible for so much pain in
the world,” drawing a line
from England’s invasion of
Ireland to the abuse she suf-
fered as a child at her moth-
er’s hands.
Quite a way to frame a big-
band project that came out
on the heels of Harry Con-
nick Jr.’s swinging sound-
track from “When Harry Met
Sally … .”
Does this forgotten treas-
ure — my favorite of the 10
LPs O’Connor released dur-
ing her life — leave any kind of
legacy? I hear traces of its for-
lorn wit in Billie Eilish’s qui-
eter ballads and of its queasy
fascination with the Holly-
wood dream factory in music
by Lana Del Rey (the latter of
whom knows something
about damaging appear-
ances on “SNL”). But I sus-
pect it lives on primarily as a
footnote to a showbiz scan-
dal — and as a shared secret
among those of us who love it.