Brown

A Labour MP said: “Not sure voters in Wigan, Wandsworth, Salford or Sunderland voted Reform because they thought we needed more advisers from a different era of Labour politics. I think this shows that Keir doesn’t even understand the problem, never mind the solution.”

Brittany Brown looks strong.

She looks confident.

She looks capable of achieving her dreams.

That’s how Brown looks in the mural painted in her honor at Vista del Valle Elementary — and it’s how the 31-year-old U.S. sprinter feels in real life nearly two years after winning a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But that’s not always how she felt decades ago during her time as a student at the Claremont school.

“I grew up very sickly,” Brown told The Times last month while visiting Vista del Valle for a mural unveiling ceremony. “I had asthma. I had pneumonia, bronchitis. … I never thought I’d be running because I just was not the person that would be running. I was told to stay inside, not go outside.”

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown celebrates winning the bronze medal in the women’s 200-meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Former Vista del Valle Elementary student Brittany Brown wears her 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal at the school’s district track and field competition April 24.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Brown’s family also faced housing uncertainty and financial struggles during that time. They moved around a lot, and sometimes Brown and her family — mother Yo-Landa, father Wayne, older sister Brandi, twin brother Brandon and younger brother Bryan — found themselves living in a hotel room near the elementary school.

Her mother told The Times that the school and the community provided invaluable support during those trying times.

“I think emotionally, it took a toll on her,” Yo-Landa Brown said. “But, of course, she was always joyful. She was very observant. She was kind. I could tell she used to cry a lot, but we all just tried to keep things calm and collected around her.”

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown, a bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is all smiles after winning a ribbon in the Vista del Valle track meet as a fourth grader in 2007.

(Brandi Brown)

The mural ceremony was held April 24 immediately after the school’s 50th annual district track meet, where Brown interacted with the participants and handed out ribbons. Vista del Valle Elementary hosts all seven elementary schools in the district each year for the meet. It was as a fourth-grade participant at the same event nearly 20 years ago that Brown discovered she loved to run — and also that she was very good at it.

“I remember running just felt very freeing. Like it just felt like, ‘OK, I’m not the sick kid. I can just try and do something,’” said Brown, who holds the Claremont High School record in the girls 100-meter and 200-meter races. “And I was also winning, so that helped as well. … Running has brought me opportunities I never thought I would ever experience.”

The mural was painted by local artist Xiucoatl Mejia, who attended Claremont Unified School District schools from kindergarten (Sumner Elementary) through high school (Claremont High). He has painted several murals at district schools in recent years and was already working with first-year Vista del Valle principal Charles Boulden to start an after-school art club for the students.

The two men thought it would be great to have a mural on campus to tie in with the half-century anniversary of the district track meet. The realization that one of the country’s top sprinters was a Vista graduate who got her start at the same meet served as further inspiration.

The mural depicts an adult Brown running while wearing a Vista track uniform and carrying a torch. A large group of children runs behind her, with some of those kids resembling students from the art club.

People gather in front of a mural featuring U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown prior to its unveiling ceremony April 24 at Vista del Valle Elementary in Claremont.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“It just made sense to include some of the kids who were in the class and make it a little bit more custom to the school and personal to these kids,” Mejia said.

Third-grader Levi Adams said being depicted in a mural on a school wall is “special because when you’re older you can go back and look at it.”

Second-grader Holland Ly agreed that “it’s pretty special” to be featured in a painting that “many people” will see through the years.

Art club students also helped paint the mural.

“I had the kids lay out the whole track,” Mejia said. “I wanted them to do that very specifically, because I wanted them to understand that that’s the foundation for the race in our scene. … I wanted them to have that part in it, and be able to look back on it and see it.”

The theme of the piece initially was victory, Mejia said, but it evolved.

“As it progressed, the theme kind of changed into carrying the torch and paving the way for a better future for our youth and for our communities,” Mejia said. “It became a lot bigger than what initially it was. It became something that is a little bit more powerful than any singular victory. It was a collective victory with everyone.”

Boulden thinks the mural ended up being a tremendous success.

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown holds up her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics surrounded by, from left: mother Yo-Landa Brown, twin brother Brandon Brown, brother Bryan Brown, grandmother Jeanette Royston and sister Brandi Brown.

(Brandi Brown)

“I couldn’t be happier with how it is — the colors, how vibrant it is and what it represents to me,” the principal said. “I see perseverance in there, and I see chasing dreams, and I see kids chasing after somebody who’s chasing their dreams as well.”

Brown is also thrilled with how the first mural in her honor turned out.

“I think it’s really good! I’m really, really happy with it,” said Brown, who is currently training in Los Angeles with the long-term goal of competing for the U.S. again in the 2028 Summer Olympics. “I love the colors. It even has my choker — I wear a choker when I run a lot. It has the little, fine details, so I think that was really cool.”

Her mother said she thought it was “really touching” that Mejia included images of current Vista students in the painting.

“Yes, Brittany is the Olympian, but now you have the next generation involved,” Yo-Landa Brown said. “Their stories will continue to live on and they will remember that. And that will give them the inspiration to be better and to do better in their lives. I thought that was phenomenal. I felt so thankful that he was able to capture that.”

Wearing her Olympic medal around her neck, Brown addressed the student body at the mural ceremony and became emotional while talking about the hardships she overcame while attending the school.

Olympian Brittany Brown hands out ribbons and high-fives to participants in Vista del Valle’s annual district track and field meet April 24 in Claremont.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“I really just want them to know you can create beautiful stuff, even in the struggle,” Brown told The Times afterward. “It’s going to be a lot harder, but you can still create beautiful stuff in the struggle. And I definitely have created a different life for me. …

“I never thought the little girl in the hotel would freaking have a mural. I never thought, like a little asthma girl, you know, someone who wasn’t allowed outside, that this would be my story. So it’s definitely crazy. That’s what I want them to know.”

Brown’s message seems to have resonated with the students. Fifth-grader Kaylee Mency said Brown’s story of her childhood struggles “really meant a lot to me because she still kept going even though her life wasn’t as good.”

Fifth-grader Eliana Ocegueda added: “She went to this school and now she’s an Olympian. It’s really inspiring and it kind of makes you think about you can be anything you want to be.”

Trevor Brown needs to beat his alma mater, Hart High, to win the Foothill League baseball title.

Brown, a first-year head coach at West Ranch, has his team at 8-3, which is tied for first place with Castaic going into Friday’s regular-season finale against Hart at West Ranch.

West Ranch defeated Hart 6-5 earlier this week.

Brown was a standout catcher for Hart, then went on to star at UCLA and played briefly with the San Francisco Giants.

They say catchers make the best managers, and Brown is another example of using his catcher’s experience to help with coaching.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have barred medical marijuana dispensaries within 600 feet of homes, saying it stepped on the powers of cities and counties that already have authority to regulate pot shops.

The governor also signed 28 measures into law, making it easier for California firms to sell wine over the Internet and allowing bars to infuse alcohol with fruits and vegetables for use in cocktails.

Brown has until Oct. 9 to act on nearly 600 bills sent to him by the Legislature this year and has already wielded his veto pen several times, complaining about the state imposing too many standards on communities and families.

On the medical marijuana issue, the governor noted that he had previously signed a measure giving cities and counties clearer authority to regulate the location and operation of dispensaries.

“Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the State Capitol,” Brown wrote in his veto message.

The bill was SB 847, by state Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), who said he wanted to allow cities to chose their own regulations and to protect children living near such facilities from second-hand smoke.

The governor signed a bill Wednesday allowing wine merchants without stores to obtain a special state license to sell to customers over the Internet or by telephone or direct mail. Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) introduced AB 623 because current law provides for an alcohol wholesaler’s license but requires holders to periodically sell to other retailers, even if they only want to sell directly to customers on the Internet.

The governor also signed a measure eliminating a state prohibition against bars and restaurants providing infused alcoholic beverages, with fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices added to spirits for flavor.

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), author of SB 32, said the restrictions were decades old and were intended to address health concerns about the infusion process. Modern methods make the practice safe, he said.

On another measure, Brown exercised his veto pen and took a swipe at its author in the process.

With budget cuts forcing many state parks to close or reduce operations, Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) proposed that the state post details of potential park closures on a website and respond to any efforts from the private sector to help keep them open.

Brown said the idea in Harman’s bill, SB 386, was good but didn’t require a state law.

“What parks do need is sufficient funding to stay open — something I feel compelled to note the author and his colleagues refused to let the people vote on,” Brown wrote in his veto message, referring to Republican opposition to putting tax extensions on the ballot.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat and the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, was once a leading voice for Democrats on issues related to farm aid policy and food aid for consumers and a prominent Black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. But he faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health, enduring a primary challenge in 2024 and facing another one at the time of his death.

Democrats on Capitol Hill praised the longtime lawmaker.

“The news of Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Ag Committee,” Jeffries said. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

News of Scott’s death came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill. The Black Caucus’ chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, told lawmakers at the outset of the meeting, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Many lawmakers in the room, some of whom had served with Scott for decades, were shocked and saddened by the news.

Scott’s death slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority going into the thick of this midterm election year.

The congressman was not especially active on the campaign trail in 2026. But he had been dismissive of pressure to retire.

“Thank God I’m in good health, moving and doing the people’s work,” Scott said in 2024.

David Albert Scott was born in rural Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, in the era of Jim Crow segregation. He graduated from Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest historically Black college campuses — and in office he was an outspoken advocate for federal support of HBCUs. Scott also earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

He was already a veteran state lawmaker in Georgia before being elected to Congress in 2002.

Barrow, Brown and Amy write for the Associated Press. Brown reported from Washington.

If you’re able to get junior pitcher Tanner Brown of Huntington Beach High to crack a smile, you have to be the greatest comedian in the world

“He plays angry,” coach Benji Medure said.

He’s the “other” left-hander on the team. While Jared Grindlinger, a likely first-round draft pick, gets most of the attention, don’t forget about Brown, who had the save in a win over St. John Bosco at the Boras Classic on Wednesday.

He’s 2-0 with a 1.94 ERA.

“I like to play with fire,” he said.

Left-hander Tanner Brown of Huntington Beach.

(Nick Koza)

He wears his emotions on his sleeve. So if something bad happens, watch out. If something good happens, you can exhale.

Asked when he smiles, Brown said, “When the job is done.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

A dream team has assembled to bring a scripted series based on the book “Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story” from the drawing board to the small screen.

Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern has signed on to portray Miami Herald investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, whose tireless reporting on the Epstein sex-trafficking case exposed how federal prosecutors approved what many have referred to as a “sweetheart” plea deal for Epstein in 2008.

Per Variety, the official description of the series reads: “An explosive account of an investigative reporter exposing the secret plea deal between Epstein and federal prosecutors. Drawing from Brown’s experience as a groundbreaking reporter for the Miami Herald, the book and the limited series follow her relentless years-long investigation that identified 80 victims, persuaded key survivors to go on the record, and led to Epstein[‘s] and Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrests.”

In 2008, the financier was charged with luring underage girls to his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion for sex. Under the plea agreement with then-U.S. Atty. for the Southern District of Florida Alexander Acosta, Epstein avoided a federal trial — where, if convicted, he could have faced a potential sentence of life in prison — and pleaded guilty instead to two state felony solicitation charges.

He served 13 months in a county jail but was allowed to go to his office six days a week on a work-release program.

Co-showrunners for the project are Eileen Myers, known for “American Hostage,” and Sharon Hoffman, best known for her work on “House of Cards” and who is adapting Brown’s book for television. Dern will also executive produce, along with Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, known for “The Big Short,” “Don’t Look Up” and “Succession.” Brown is also executive producing.

Although Sony Pictures Television is still pitching the series to networks and streamers, industry insiders predict that, with Dern and McKay on board, a green light is on the horizon.

Last week, Brown joined veteran journalist Katie Couric live on Substack to discuss her reporting on Epstein, and how the disgraced financier and his camp underestimated her. “I don’t think he worried about the little old reporter from the Miami Herald,” she said.

“When you have a sex predator of children who is — at the time I wrote this story, he was out there, you know, he was free — and he was still, as we now know, harming children,” Brown told Couric. “And so my goal at the time was to look at how this happened.

“Where was the breakdown? Was there someone who … was powerful who let him off the hook, and I just thought it was a good time to take a new look at it like a cold case detective would.

“By the time I decided to reopen the case, these women, these victims who were 13, 14, 15 years old, were now in their late 20s and early 30s, and Donald Trump became president right around this time. And ironically, as I was already looking at this story, he nominated Alexander Acosta to be his Labor secretary, and I knew at the time that he was the very person who had let [Epstein] off the hook. And so that’s where I started looking at this case.”

STRANGER Things sensation Millie Bobby Brown is one of the top ten highest-paid Hollywood screen stars — aged just 22. 

The Brit actress earned a whopping £19.6million last year, Forbes magazine has revealed. 

Her bumper pay makes her the youngest star to grace the business bible’s annual highest-paid actors list.

It comes after Millie’s hit Netflix sci-fi show ended with its fifth and final series last year — becoming one of the streamer’s most-watched shows of all time. 

Topping Forbes’ 2025 list is US actor Adam Sandler, 59, known for his comedy roles.

He reportedly made £36.2million last year from producing and starring in Happy Gilmore 2, and co- starring in Netflix comedy drama Jay Kelly. 

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Tom Cruise, 63, came in second with a £34.7million payday off the back of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.

Scarlett Johansson, 41, was fourth and the best-paid woman in the industry, raking in some £32.4million. 

While Hollywood pay is still huge, the combined earnings of the top 20 actors actually fell from 2024’s £551million — down to £445million.