Association

WASHINGTON — Stewart McLaurin knew it was coming.

An entire wing of the White House, a building he calls “the most special, important building on the planet,” was going to be replaced to make way for a ballroom that President Trump wants to add to the building.

But when McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Assn., saw the first images of backhoes tearing into the East Wing, it still came as a bit of a shock.

“When the reality of things happen, they strike us a little bit differently than the theory of things happening, so it was a bit of a jarring moment,” McLaurin told the Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

McLaurin, who has led the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for more than a decade, did not take a position on the changes. It’s not his job. “Ours is not to make happen, or to keep from happening — but to document what does happen, what happens in this great home that we call the White House,” he said.

But he said he sees a silver lining from the “jarring” images: They have piqued public interest in White House history.

“What has happened since then is so amazing in that in the past two weeks, more people have been talking about White House history, focused on White House history, learning what is an East Wing, what is the West Wing … what are these spaces in this building that we simply call the White House,” McLaurin said.

Trump demolishes the East Wing

The general public became aware of the demolition work on Oct. 20 after photos of construction equipment ripping into the building began to circulate online, prompting an outcry from Democrats, preservationists and others.

In a matter of days, the entire two-story East Wing — the traditional base of operations for first ladies and their staffs — was gone. The demolition included a covered walkway between the White House, the family movie theater and a garden dedicated to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Trump had talked about building a ballroom for years and pushed ahead with his vision when he returned to office in January. His proposal calls for a 90,000-square-foot structure, almost twice the size of the 55,000-square-foot White House itself and able to accommodate 1,000 people. The plan also includes building a more modern East Wing, officials said.

The president ordered the demolition despite not yet having sign-off for the ballroom construction from the National Capital Planning Commission, one of several entities with a role in approving additions to federal buildings and property. The White House has yet to submit the ballroom plans for the commission’s review because it is closed during the government shutdown.

Trump appointed loyalists to the planning commission in July. On Tuesday he also fired the six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, a group of architectural experts that advises the federal government on historic preservation and public buildings. A new slate of members who are more aligned with Trump’s policies will be named, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on personnel decisions. The Washington Post was first to report the firings.

East Wing art and furnishings preserved

It was the job of the White House curator and their staff to carefully remove, catalog and store the art, the official portraits of former first ladies, and furnishings from the East Wing, McLaurin said.

The White House Historical Assn. does not have a decision-making role in the construction. But it has been working with the White House to prepare for the changes.

“We had known since late summer that the staff of the East Wing had moved out. I actually made my last visit on the last day of tours on August the 28th,” McLaurin said.

Working with the curator and chief usher, the association used 3D scanning technology “so that every room, space, nook and cranny of the East Wing, whether it was molding or hinges or door knobs or whatever it was, was captured to the nth degree” to be digitally recreated as an exhibit or to teach the history of that space, McLaurin said.

A photographer also documented the building as it was being taken apart. It will be a while before any images are available, but McLaurin said items were found when flooring was pulled up and when wall coverings were pulled back that “no living person remembered were there. So those will be lessons in history.”

White House has grown over the years

Trump’s aides have responded to criticism of the demolition by arguing that other presidents have made changes to the White House too. Trump said the White House needs a bigger entertaining space.

McLaurin said the building continues to evolve from what it looked like when it was built in 1792.

“There is a need to modernize and to grow,” he said, noting that White House social secretaries for generations chafed at the space limitations for entertaining. “But how it’s done and how it’s accomplished and what results is really the vision of the president who undertakes that project.”

What the White House Historical Assn. does

Jacqueline Kennedy created the historical association in 1961 to help preserve the museum quality of the interior of the White House and educate the public. It receives no government funding and raises money mostly through private donations and sales of retail merchandise.

It is not the mission of the association to take a position on construction, McLaurin said. Its primary mandate is preserving the State Floor and some of the historic bedrooms upstairs in the private living quarters, and teaching the history of the White House, which is an accredited museum. The State Floor is made up of the Green, Blue and Red Rooms, the East Room and State Dining Room, the Cross Hall and Grand Foyer.

“Ours is not to support — or to not support,” McLaurin said. “Ours is to understand, to get the details.”

Since the demolition, McLaurin said he has seen attendance spike at a free educational center the association opened in September 2024 a block from the White House. “The People’s House: A White House Experience” is open seven days a week — including during the shutdown.

The educational center had its busiest days the weekend of Oct. 17-19, with about 1,500 daily visitors, up from a previous average of 900, he said.

Superville writes for the Associated Press.

Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government in March 2022 over alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin – something he has denied.

He was granted a special licence to sell Chelsea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, providing he could prove he would not benefit from the sale.

The 58-year-old said funds from the sale would be donated via a foundation “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”, which would include those in Russia.

The £2.5bn in proceeds have been frozen in a UK bank account since the sale – Abramovich does not have access to the money but it still legally belongs to him.

In 2023, the BBC reported that leaked documents revealed a money trail linking Abramovich to two men dubbed “wallets” of Putin.

BBC Newsnight, BBC Verify and Panorama partnered with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to uncover the revelations as part of Cyprus Confidential – a global investigation led by reporters at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Paper Trail Media.

The reports alleged that the leaked documents from Cyprus revealed new evidence linking the former Chelsea owner to a secret £26m deal in 2010.

Abramovich has previously denied any financial relationship with the Russian leader.

In June, the Government threatened to sue Abramovich to make sure the money from the Chelsea sale goes to Ukrainian humanitarian aid – rather than “all victims of the war in Ukraine” as Abramovich had said.

Two months before selling Chelsea in May 2022, Abramovich was said to have suffered from suspected poisoning at peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border.

The Russian billionaire, who made his fortune in oil and gas, was reported to have a role as a broker in talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Sept. 1 (UPI) — The International Association of Genocide Scholars on Sunday passed a resolution accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, which Israeli officials deny.

The IAGS resolution cites U.N. statistics that claim more than 59,000 adults and children have died in Gaza without citing how many are Hamas casualties and not civilian casualties.

“The government of Israel has engaged in systemic and widespread crimes against humanity, including indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure of Gaza,” the IAGS resolution says.

“These crimes are estimated to have left many thousands of people buried under the rubble or otherwise inaccessible and most probably dead.”

Alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity

The IAGS accuses the Israeli government of torture, arbitrary detention and sexual and reproductive violence, including “deliberate attacks on medical professionals, humanitarian aid workers and journalists.

It also says Israel deliberately has deprived Gazans of food, water, medicine and electrical services that are necessary for survival.

The IAGS resolution says Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza “constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.”

It calls on the Israeli government to immediately end all acts that “constitute genocide and war crimes.”

The IAGS also wants the International Criminal Court to surrender any individuals who are subject to arrest warrants, which would include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The IAGS describes itself as a “global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes and consequences of genocide and advance policy studies on genocide prevention.”

Israeli government denies genocide accusation

“The statement of the International Association of Genocide Scholars is an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard,” officials for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X on Saturday night.

“It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others,” the Israeli officials continued.

“Above all, the IAGS has set a historic precedent — for the first time, ‘Genocide Scholars’ accuse the very victim of genocide.”

Netanyahu denied allegations of genocide during a 2024 address to Congress and said Hamas uses civilians as human shields in violation of international law.

Israel drops leaflets and sends texts in locations targeted for military action to warn civilians to leave, but Hamas won’t let them leave or seek shelter in its extensive tunnel system beneath Gaza, he said.

“They even shoot their own people when they try to get out of the way,” Netanyahu told the joint session of Congress. “They want Palestinian civilians to die.”

He also accused Hamas of stealing humanitarian aid intended for civilians.

The prime minister said the Israeli military has the lowest combatant-to-non-combatant casualty ratio in military history.

Hamas accused of falsifying casualty data

Tablet Magazine in March 2024 reported that the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry distributes false casualty figures.

A statistical analysis of casualty reports showed relatively little change in the numbers of women and children reported dead, instead of wide variations.

Soon after Tablet published its report, the United Nations revised down its estimates of women and children killed from 69% to 52%.

The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between Hamas casualties and those of Gazan civilians.

The United Nations also acknowledged it had incomplete information and adjusted down its reports of deaths among women and children in Gaza, the BBC reported.

Aug. 29 (UPI) — American nurses are expressing serious concerns over the changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the American Nurses Association.

The White House on Thursday named Jim O’Neill, a close ally of top health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to serve as acting director of the CDC, according to sources in multiple media reports.

The move came one day after the President Donald Trump administration fired CDC Director Susan Monarez less than one month into the job. Kennedy, secretary of Health and Human Services, had pushed Monarez to resign after she disagreed with his anti-vaccine policies, but she refused.

Four other CDC leaders also resigned Wednesday over frustration about anti-vaccine policy pushed by Kennedy.

“The removal of the CDC director and resignation of key leaders raises serious questions about our country’s ability to respond to a public health crisis if it were to happen today” said ANA President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy in a press release. “There has been a lot of change but not a lot of change management. The amount of change without transparency and clear communication is whipsawing to healthcare professionals and the public at large. Americans deserve steady and consistent leadership at the helm of the CDC to safeguard their health, safety, the economy and national security.”

The press release said that public confidence in federal health guidance hinges on agencies that operate free from political interference and grounded solely in science and evidence-based practice.

“At a time when America faces constant public health threats, these abrupt changes do not further the public’s trust in our health care system and could potentially pose a direct risk to the safety and security of our nation. We are concerned that if a public health crisis were to occur today, our nation would not be positioned to respond effectively,” the release said.

The ANA was removed, along with others, from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which compounds concerns, the ANA said.

“A strong ACIP must be reconstituted to ensure robust and balanced debate. As the largest and most trusted segment of the health care workforce, nurses understand that public health and national security are interconnected as health crises can threaten a nation’s stability, economy and national security. We saw this during COVID. A strong CDC is essential to safeguarding public health,” the release said.

O’Neill, who served as deputy secretary of the HHS, was selected to fill the top CDC post temporarily, unnamed sources told The Washington Post, which first reported the news. Axios and The Hill independently confirmed the appointment.

O’Neill previously served as principal associate deputy secretary of the HHS during the administration of President George W. Bush. He is also the former CEO of the Thiel Foundation, founded by Peter Thiel, a Trump donor.

Monarez has refused to leave her job as head of the CDC and was contesting her ouster, saying only Trump has the authority to fire her. Monarez’s lawyers said Kennedy sought to remove her because she declined “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives” and she accused him of “weaponizing public health,” according to the BBC.

Indeed, Wissa has been expecting the Bees to agree his move to Tyneside this week after the west London side completed the signing of Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth.

However, according to sources, Brentford are still hesitating in allowing Wissa to leave amid suggestions they now value him above their original £40m asking price.

Reports suggest Brentford now value Wissa, who did not feature for the club during pre-season, at £60m.

As a result, the ongoing conflict between Wissa and Brentford has escalated, with the forward removing all photographs of him playing or training for the club from his official Instagram page.

Tottenham are also interested, but as things stand Newcastle’s move is more advanced. It now remains to be seen whether Brentford sanction his sale before the transfer deadline.

Wissa has scored 49 goals in 149 appearances for the Bees.

‘Do you think I’m going to be cold?” asks my friend Ellie as we navigate the winding roads of Mosedale, on the north-eastern reaches of the Lake District, while rain batters against the windscreen. It’s a fair question. Both the Met Office and Mountain Weather Information Service are clear – being in the Lakeland hills will not be pleasant this Friday night, due to a sudden cold and wet snap. But there’s another reason she’s asking. I’m taking her to stay in her first bothy – that’s a mountain shelter left open, year-round, for walkers, climbers and outdoor enthusiasts to use, free of charge, with no way to book.

Unlike mountain huts in other parts of Europe and the world, they weren’t built for this purpose. They are old buildings left to ruin in wild places – former coastguard lookouts, gamekeepers’ cottages, remote Highland schoolrooms – before the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) began to maintain them, offering shelter in a storm. And during this particular storm, shelter is definitely needed.

Before we left, Ellie was worried about what to pack, and well she might be. Despite a bothy having four walls, a roof, windows and a front door (they range from tiny, one-room affairs to sprawling, multi-bedroom structures), they are still very basic. There is no running water (there’s usually a stream nearby for this), no toilet (each has a bothy spade so you can dig your own) and no electricity (tealights and a headtorch are a must), and the one we are heading to, Great Lingy Hut, doesn’t even have the usual bothy stove for warmth.

Yet it’s precisely for these reasons that I’ve chosen it to be Ellie’s first. I know that because of the bad weather it’s unlikely we’ll have to share with anyone else. We park at the base of Carrock Fell, where the River Caldew is now a raging torrent. It is past dusk; the rain has eased to a mere mizzle and we can just make out the shape of the building on the skyline. With backpacks shouldered we begin uphill, keeping our eyes open for signs of walkers who may have potentially beaten us to it.

“Visitor numbers have definitely gone up in recent years,” the chair of the MBA, Simon Birch, tells me when I speak to him the night before. “Of course, back in the day they were kept a secret – some old documents I was going through have ‘confidential’ written across them. But people can’t keep secrets like this.”

It was in 2009 that the MBA decided to publish grid references to its 100-strong network on its website – despite some internal protests. After that, the “cat was out of the bag”, says Birch. When the MBA celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2015, I asked and was granted permission to write the first guidebook about bothies – as a love letter to them, rather than a definitive guide. There was a lot of pushback, though. When The Book of the Bothy was published, I experienced online trolling (from MBA members and others), abusive emails, complaints to my publisher and even threats. But at the same time, one of the MBA’s co-founders, Betty Heath, told me how much she loved my passion; Birch told me that younger members began to sign up (when there was a real danger of membership ageing out); and now there is even a female thirtysomething trustee.

Out of the 105 bothies they currently look after, only two are owned by the MBA. All the others are on leases. “Ultimately, we could lose all our bothies, if the owners decided to take them back,” says Birch – which proves just how special the network and ethos of bothies is.

The hut we head to in the Lakes was originally used by miners at the nearby and now disused Carrock Mine (which dates back to the 16th century). It was relocated to its higher location on the moor as a shooting box. During the 1960s it was leased to the “Friends” Quaker boarding school in Wigton as an outdoor base and was fitted with a sleeping platform. When that school closed in 1984, it became an open shelter, and eventually the Lake District national park took responsibility for its maintenance before handing it over to the MBA in 2017.

We pass the mine workings under a starry sky, so they appear only as silhouettes. We ford the stream with the help of walking poles and mutual words of encouragement. Finally, we reach the door and experience the anticipatory few seconds that anyone who’s ever stayed in a bothy will know – when after hours of walking you knock on the door with mild trepidation, to discover if anyone else has beaten you to it. The door swings open. It’s empty. We have it to ourselves.

“The biggest change has been the impact that the growing popularity of long-distance trails has had on the bothies,” Simon tells me. “Some of the spots are incredibly well used, and we now have a sanitation officer in the MBA.”

I give Ellie a brief rundown of bothy etiquette. Put candles and the camping stove in the designated area so as not to cause a fire risk. Use the spade for the toilet – well away from the building and any watercourses. Set up a bag for waste. As a countryside girl, she has a good idea of the code – but Birch says a problem the MBA is facing in its 60th year is that content creators are showing people the bothies on social media but not teaching good practice. As such, in a very modern move, the MBA is seeking creators to collaborate with it, to demonstrate responsible bothying.

We settle in, heating a pre-made tagine and making hot chocolates to keep us warm. I also fill hot-water bottles. We chat for hours, me regaling Ellie with stories of previous bothy visits – including the time I inadvertently crashed a stag party in Scotland.

The wind whistles through the cables that hold Great Lingy Hut down, but despite this, as mothers of young children, we both sleep well away from the madness of our day-to-day lives.

Recent figures put the MBA membership at 3,800 – with many more users who don’t pay the annual £25 donation to join. We’re staying at one of the newer buildings in the network, but Birch tells me there are no plans to take on any more.

We enjoy our breakfast beside the window, where a lifting fog offers tantalising views down this little-visited valley.

As we leave, I feel hopeful for the next 60 years of bothies in Britain. We pack not only our own rubbish but empty packets and used candle holders left by others. “I love it,” says Ellie, “leaving it better than we arrived.” She may have begun this adventure worried about feeling cold but, thanks to the magic of bothies, is leaving as many do, warmed by the whole wild and wonderful experience.

For more information visit the Mountain Bothies Association. The Book of the Bothy by Phoebe Smith is available for £12.95 from guardianbookshop.com

The association also claims the governance of snooker “should factor in more of the views of the players”.

It has vowed to foster a “collaborative relationship” with the sport’s authorities, including the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the existing WPBSA Players’ Board, and World Snooker Tour “to enhance the sport’s future, while safeguarding player welfare and commercial interests”.

The PSPA says it has established a players board comprising of Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, Stephen Maguire, Mark Allen, Ryan Day and Joe Perry. Another player – Matthew Selt – has been appointed a director, alongside lawyers Ben Rees and Mark Kenkre.

The association also claims that seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has agreed to become a member, along with Chinese stars Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong.

“I’ve had lots of discussions with Ronnie” said Higgins. “He’s really excited about it, so it’s full steam ahead.”

The fact so many of the top players are behind the new body suggests some feel they do not have enough say in the running of the World Snooker Tour (WST), particularly the commercial side.

During the 2024 World Championship, the headlines at the Crucible were dominated by talk of a potential breakaway tour. This came after the game’s top players were approached to play in lucrative events in China and North America as part of a potential breakaway circuit.

Professional players sign a contract which does not allow them to compete in any outside events while WST tournaments are being played, unless they are events sanctioned by the WST, although players have recently negotiated more flexibility.

However, the WST has been increasing the amount of prize money in the game, and is preparing to stage the sport’s “fourth major” in Saudi Arabia with a prize pot of more than £2m. The second Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will take place later this week in Jeddah.

The WPBSA’s own players’ body was formed in 2020, and the governing body says it has “a specific mandate to act in the collective best interest of members in relation to welfare and issues affecting the professional game.”

It says that it “acts as a channel for member concerns and provides a platform whereby issues surrounding their wellbeing can be raised at the highest levels by the WPBSA Players Board.”

The PSPA says it has been formed with expert guidance from leading sports law professionals, and that its key objectives include legal and commercial support to protect players’ rights in sponsorship, broadcasting, and contractual matters.

In 2022, Robert Ellis pledged $200,000 to create a garden in the Los Angeles Zoo’s bird theater.

By January, the city of Los Angeles had sued its nonprofit partner, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., amid longstanding tensions over spending and other issues.

Ellis, a GLAZA board member, redirected his donation to a fund for the nonprofit’s legal fees.

At stake in the messy divorce between the city and the association is a nearly $50-million endowment that each side claims is theirs and that funds much of the zoo’s special projects, capital improvements and exhibit construction.

The city’s contract with GLAZA, which governs fundraising, special events and more, ends Tuesday, leaving the zoo in a precarious place, with no firm plan for how to proceed.

The elephant exhibit is empty after the last two Asian elephants, Billy and Tina, were transferred to the Tulsa Zoo.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

The zoo, which houses more than 1,600 animals, has become increasingly dilapidated. Exhibits including the lions, bears, sea lions and pelicans have closed because they need major renovations. The last two elephants, Billy and Tina, recently departed for the Tulsa Zoo after decades of campaigning by animal rights advocates over living conditions and a history of deaths and health challenges.

The 59-year-old zoo, which occupies 133 acres in the northeast corner of Griffith Park, is struggling to maintain its national accreditation, with federal regulators finding peeling paint and rust in some exhibits.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors and the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums found a “critical lack of funding and staffing to address even the most basic repairs,” L.A. Zoo officials wrote in a budget document in November 2024.

A sign designating a closed exhibit is posted in an animal enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, attendance has declined to a projected 1.5 million visitors in 2024-25, down about 100,000 from the previous year, the zoo said, citing “outdated infrastructure” and closed exhibits as part of the reason.

“We’re not vibrant like we should be,” said Karen Winnick, president of the city Board of Zoo Commissioners.

GLAZA has been the zoo’s main partner since it opened in 1966, handling fundraising, special events, membership, publications, volunteers and sponsorship.

The zoo’s $31-million operating budget comes largely from tickets and other sources, with only 1% to 2% directly from the association, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo.

But the indirect amount is higher, since GLAZA raises money through membership and special events, depositing some of it in a fund that covers most of the zoo’s budget.

Outside of the operating budget, the group also raises money for facility renovations and programs such as animal care, conservation and education.

Through a spokesperson, Ellis and other GLAZA board members declined to comment.

Devin Donahue, a lawyer for GLAZA, said in a statement that the nonprofit “spent more than 60 years building up an eight-figure endowment that the City of Los Angeles is now attempting to seize without concern for the intent of the donors who chose to give to a trusted charity, and not to a city running a billion-dollar deficit. To remove GLAZA’s safeguarding hand from Zoo funding would be catastrophic for both the LA Zoo and its animals.”

A flamingo basks in water at the Los Angeles Zoo.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

One GLAZA insider blamed the conflicts on Zoo Director and CEO Denise Verret, saying she has tried to take power away from the association since she assumed the role in 2019.

Another source familiar with the relationship said that zoo officials believe they don’t need GLAZA and have wanted to end the partnership for years.

“They [the city] believe they could do this on their own,” said the second source, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the partnership amid the ongoing litigation. “There’s a lot of animosity, as opposed to it being a healthy relationship or one of gratitude.”

The relationship between the zoo and GLAZA has been fraught for decades, stemming from issues regarding money and power, said Manuel Mollinedo, who was zoo director from 1995 to 2002.

“They would make the zoo literally beg for money,” Mollinedo said. “The problem with GLAZA is they see themselves as an entity only responsible in answering to themselves. They don’t see themselves as an organization there to support and work with the zoo.”

Mollinedo said he always thought the zoo would be better off taking some power away from GLAZA and instead partnering with different organizations.

GLAZA has accused the zoo of not properly spending the money that the association raises.

“Notwithstanding red flag warnings of disrepair at the Zoo, enclosure and exhibit closures, and troubling risks to the health and safety of the Zoo’s animals, the City has failed to spend money raised by GLAZA and available to it for necessary remediation,” the nonprofit said in court papers.

In 2023, more than 20 years after Mollinedo left the zoo, city officials announced that they would open up “requests for proposals” for organizations interested in performing GLAZA’s functions, in what they described as an effort to promote fairness and transparency and ensure that the zoo was getting the best services.

By initiating the application process, the city showed that it had no interest in continuing its “overarching partnership” with the organization, Erika Aronson Stern, chair of the GLAZA Board of Trustees, said in a letter to Mayor Karen Bass in October.

GLAZA declined to apply and announced that it would be walking away, along with its nearly $50-million endowment.

A giraffe watches as people pass by its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the endowment money still needed to spent on the zoo, according to donors’ wishes, and GLAZA would transfer that money to the facility — but it refused to cede control of the fund.

Late last year, the city sued the association, arguing that it was the rightful owner of the endowment.

“GLAZA has only been permitted to raise funds on behalf of the City, never on its own exclusive behalf,” wrote Deputy City Atty. Steven Son.

GLAZA said it does have the right to raise funds for itself and asserted that the city has been mismanaging zoo money for years.

Los Angeles Zoo Director Denise Verret stands in front of an area of the zoo slated for redevelopment. The 20-acre expansion would include a new hilltop Yosemite lodge-style California Visitor Center with sweeping views of a 25,000- square-foot vineyard.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Verret, the zoo’s director, spent exorbitant amounts on activities unrelated to the zoo, GLAZA alleged in court documents, including $22,000 on a party celebrating her own appointment in 2019, $13,000 improving her office and $14,000 on the assistant director’s office.

The association also said in court documents that it provided at least $1.7 million at Verret’s request for conservation organizations that are “separate and distinct” from the zoo.

Verret argued in court papers that her use of the money was appropriate. She modernized “1960s-era” administrative offices, and her welcome party helped “strengthen relationships.” Conservation is one of the zoo’s “core purposes,” she said, noting that GLAZA didn’t raise the spending questions until after the city sued.

In a statement, Verret said the zoo is prepared to be on the international stage for the Summer Olympics in 2028.

“With the new structure and … new business partners in place, the L.A. Zoo is in a very healthy place now and continues to focus on its mission,” she said.

As for fundraising, she was less clear.

“Although we are still developing plans to establish a new fundraising model, we are future-focused with our priorities and efforts grounded in the gold-standard care and well-being for the animals at the zoo,” she said.

On Wednesday, a judge ruled that GLAZA cannot solicit donations “that are not for the exclusive benefit of the Los Angeles Zoo” and may not use funds from the endowment without the city’s permission. The question of who controls the endowment is still open.

Donahue, the GLAZA lawyer, called the judge’s ruling “wrong on the law and facts, deeply flawed analytically and not in the best interest of the Zoo, its animals, its donors, or the people of Los Angeles.” He said was confident that an appellate court would reach a different decision.

As the lawsuit moves forward, the City Council is working to approve new contracts with other organizations to handle concessions, memberships and other functions. City employees perform many core jobs, such as feeding and caring for the animals, but volunteers supplied by GLAZA, including the docents that gave tours, played a major role in the zoo’s day-to-day operations.

“It’s really a shame that it has devolved to this point,” said Ron Galperin, a former city controller who conducted a special review of the relationship between the nonprofit and the zoo in 2018 and found it “cumbersome and confusing.”

Galperin has advocated for the zoo to be run as a public-private partnership, with the city leasing the land and animals to an organization like GLAZA that would run it, similar to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or the Hollywood Bowl.

The city previously explored that option after the 2008 financial crisis, but it was opposed by unions that represent zoo workers, as well as by animal rights activists who believed there would be less transparency surrounding the care of the animals.

About 73% of accredited zoos are managed by non-government entities — 57% by nonprofits and 16% by for-profit organizations, according to a study by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums.

Winnick, the Zoo Commission president, believes a privately run zoo would raise funds more effectively and save the city money.

“We need new governance for our zoo, and this is the time to do it, with our city overwhelmed by so many problems,” she said. “It would serve people of L.A. and the community for us to go into public-private partnership.”

Instead, the city will run the zoo piecemeal, with at least two organizations taking over what GLAZA once did.

The city recently came to an agreement with SSA Group, LLC to run membership, special events and publications, while The Superlative Group will run sponsorship programs. The city plans to manage volunteers itself.

But the zoo still has not found a fundraising partner.

“For the city to lose a fundraising partner at this point in time, with the deficit we have and visitors we’re expecting to L.A., is sad,” said Richard Lichtenstein, a former member of the GLAZA board and a former zoo commissioner, who said he was speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the association.

“The city does deserve, and its residents deserve, a first-class facility, and without a funding partner, it is difficult to see how the zoo is going to be able to maintain itself as a world-class facility,” he said.