friday

President Trump frequently contradicts himself, sometimes in the same speech, social media post or even sentence. On Friday, he sent a torrent of mixed signals about the Iran war that raise more questions about the direction of the conflict and his administration’s strategy.

Within a few hours, Trump said he was considering winding down the war, his administration confirmed it was sending more troops to the Middle East and, in an effort to lessen the economic influence on global energy markets, the United States lifted sanctions on some Iranian oil for the first time in decades — relieving some of the pressure that Washington traditionally has used as leverage.

The confusing combination of actions deepens a sense among Trump’s critics that there is no clear, long-term strategy for the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran. Now in its fourth week, the war remains on an unpredictable path and a credible endgame is unclear as the global economy is being roiled.

‘Winding down’ the war

After another rough day in the financial markets, Trump said Friday afternoon on his social media network: “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”

Trump contended that the U.S. has adequately degraded Iranian naval, missile and industrial capacity and prevented Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The president then suggested the U.S. could pull out of the conflict without stabilizing the Strait of Hormuz, the channel through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply travels. The strait has been ravaged by Iranian missile, drone and mine attacks during the war.

“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!” Trump wrote. But, in another contradiction, he said the U.S. would help if asked, “but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated.”

While oil that traverses the strait is usually bound for Asia and other places rather than North America, the chaos still affects the United States. Oil is bought and sold globally, so a shortage in oil for Asian countries leads to bidding up prices on oil sold to companies in America too.

That fact, coupled with an Israeli strike on Iran’s gas fields and an Iranian retaliation that crippled a major terminal to ship liquefied natural gas from Qatar, helped tank U.S. equity markets Friday, with the S&P dropping 1.5%. There also was a sharp increase in U.S. fuel prices.

More troops to the war zone

Even as Trump said the U.S. was close to winding down the war, his administration announced it was sending three more warships to the Middle East with about 2,500 additional Marines. It was the second time in a week that the administration said it was deploying more forces to the war zone. The military says some 50,000 are supporting the war effort.

Trump has often said he has ruled out sending in ground troops, but not always, and his administration has hinted at a possible deployment of special forces or similar units.

The Marines being sent to the region are an expeditionary unit designed for quick amphibious landings, but their deployment does not mean a ground invasion is certain. Analysts have suggested the presence of U.S. forces on the ground may be needed to ultimately secure the strait.

The surge in troops came just a day after news emerged that the Pentagon was seeking an additional $200 billion from Congress to fund the war. That extraordinarily high figure does not suggest that the war was winding down.

Lifting some sanctions on Iran

The administration said it would lift sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil, provided it was already at sea as of Friday. The move was an attempt to help lower skyrocketing energy prices by allowing freer sale of oil that Iran has let pass through the strait. It also extends a financial lifeline to the Iranian government that Trump is targeting.

His administration has tried other methods to lower oil prices. It has tapped the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and lifted sanctions on some Russian oil. Yet Brent crude remained at $112 per barrel Friday, and analysts say oil prices are likely to remain high for months regardless of the next steps in the war.

The Iranian oil eventually would have reached another country, but now the United States and its allies can bid on it as well, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X.

“At present, sanctioned Iranian oil is being hoarded by China on the cheap,” Bessent wrote. “By temporarily unlocking this existing supply for the world, the United States will quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets, expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.”

While 140 million barrels may seem like a lot, that is only a couple of days’ worth of oil on the global market.

Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a U.S. fuel-tracking service, said he does not expect the temporary suspension to have a major influence on gas prices. The de facto closure of the strait has a much greater effect, he said. “Prices will likely still continue to rise so long as the Strait remains silent,” De Haan said.

And the contradictions in the position were obvious in Bessent’s post announcing the move, which labeled Iran “the head of the snake for global terrorism.” He said the administration would take steps to prevent Tehran from cashing in on the sales, but it was unclear how that would be done.

Even among some Republicans, the contradictions triggered rare public skepticism.

“Bombing Iran with one hand and buying Iran oil with the other,” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X on Saturday.

Riccardi writes for the Associated Press. AP business writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Ann Arbor, Mich., contributed to this report.

Friday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Arleta 4, VAAS 2

Bell 17, Huntington Park 1

Carson 6, Wilmington Banning 4

Cleveland 3, Taft 2

Eagle Rock 6, Sotomayor 0

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 3

Hollywood 22, Contreras 3

LA Wilson 14, Roybal 2

Jefferson 14, Diego Rivera 3

LACES 6, Fairfax 2

Monroe 14, Van Nuys 2

Palisades 13, LA Hamilton 2

San Pedro 4, Narbonne 3

SOCES 18, Panorama 2

South Gate 17, South East 2

Triumph Charter 12, CALS Early College 1

Vaughn 11, Grant 1

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 14, Lucerne Valley 4

Alemany 10, Harvard-Westlake 4

Anaheim 2, Saddleback 0

Anaheim Canyon 5, Crean Lutheran 4

Apple Valley 3, Ridgecrest Burroughs 2

Arcadia 10, Hoover 0

Ayala 6, Chino Hills 1

Bassett 5, La Puente 4

Beaumont 6, La Quinta 0

Big Bear 13, Loma Linda Academy 7

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0

Buena 16, Oxnard 6

Camarillo 8, Oak Park 3

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 5, St. Monica 1

Castaic 4, West Ranch 3

Chadwick 4, Rio Hondo Prep 2

CIMSA 23, Victor Valley Christian 4

Corona del Mar 8, Newport Harbor 1

Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 1

Costa Mesa 4, Bonita 2

Crescenta Valley 3, Pasadena 1

Dana Hills 6, Capistrano Valley 1

Dos Pueblos 6, Oxnard Pacifica 3

El Dorado 4, Villa Park 2

El Modena 3, Brea Olinda 2

Estancia 6, Savanna 5

Fillmore 8, Carpinteria 6

Ganesha 4, Edgewood 1

Great Oak 8, San Clemente 2

Hart 15, Valencia 14

Hawthorne 6, HMSA 3

Hemet 12, Perris 1

Heritage Christian 13, Village Christian 3

Hesperia 19, Sultana 10

Hesperia Christian 14, Bethel Christian 6

Highland 4, Quartz Hill 2

Hillcrest 19, Lakeside 1

Hueneme 9, Santa Paula 5

Huntington Beach 13, Marina 1

Irvine 11, Irvine University 5

Kaiser 7, Northview 4

Katella 12, Buena Park 5

Knight 13, Antelope Valley 0

La Canada 6, San Marino 0

Laguna Beach 2, Sage Hill 1

Laguna Hills 7, Ocean View 4

Lancaster 15, Palmdale 4

Loara 3, Century 2

Liberty 8, Heritage 1

Long Beach Jordan 11, Rolling Hills Prep 8

Long Beach Poly 2, Lakewood 1

Long Beach Wilson 1, Millikan 0

Los Alamitos 6, Edison 5

Loyola 5, St. Francis 4

Magnolia 10, Santa Ana Valley 5

Maranatha 6, Whittier Christian 3

Mark Keppel 4, Bell Gardens 1

Mary Star of the Sea 31, Verbum Dei 0

Mission Viejo 7, Capistrano Valley Christian 0

Monrovia 5, South Pasadena 3

Montebello 12, Oxford Academy 0

Norco 7, Corona Centennial 4

Norwalk 4, Firebaugh 0

Nuview Bridge 11, San Jacinto Leadership 1

Oak Hills 11, Serrano 7

Orange 17, Balsa Grande 11

Paramount 18, Lynwood 1

Patriot 7, Jurupa Valley 6

Pioneer Valley 10, Bishop Diego 0

Placentia Valencia 8, Santa Ana 4

Pomona 15, Workman 5

Ramona 10, Rubidoux 0

Rancho Christian 6 Citrus Hill 4

Rancho Verde 12, Vista del Lago 0

Redondo Union 6, Mira Costa 2

Riverside North 11, Canyon Springs 6

Riverside Poly 1, Arlington 0

Rosemead 11, Pioneer 5

Royal 6, Simi Valley 2

Salesian 14, SAt. Genevieve 4

San Bernardino 19, Pacific 11

Santa Barbara 4, Rio Mesa 3

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 11, Southlands Christian 9

Santa Ynez 15, Malibu 9

Saugus 10, Canyon Country Canyon 3

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, Chaminade 4

Sierra Canton 19, Crespi 2

Silver Valley 19, ACE 18

South Torrance 9, North Torrance 2

St. Anthony 1, Bosco Tech 0

St. Bonaventure 12, Grace 4

St. John Bosco 13, JSerra 0

St. Margaret’s 6, Portola 2

Tesoro 3, Murrieta Valley 0

Valley View 6, Orange Vista 0

Ventura 3, San Marcos 2

Warren 6, Downey 5

Western 14, Garden Grove Santiago 13

Westminster 15, Whitney 6

Woodbridge 7, Northwood 1

INTERSECTIONAL

Fullerton 12, Idaho Owyhee 2

Marquez 4, Mountain View 2

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Animo Leadership 23, Alliance Ouchi 18

Chatsworth 5, Chavez 1

Cleveland 13, SOCES 3

Fremont 14, Diego Rivera 4

Harbor Teacher 11, LA Roosevelt 2

Marquez 11, Eagle Rock 3

Monroe 31, Canoga Park 30

Sylmar 9, Van Nuys 2

Taft 11, Northridge Academy 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

ACE 21, Silver Valley 0

Anaheim 12, Loara 1

Apple Valley 5, Quartz Hill 1

Aquinas 10, Carter 4

Arbor View 11, Sultana 0

Ayala 8, Diamond Bar 0

Azusa 6, Baldwin Park 4

Big Bear 18, Lucerne Valley 0

Bishop Montgomery 5, Rosary Academy 4

Canyon Springs 7, West Valley 1

Cathedral City 10, Palm Springs 0

Colony 10, Don Lugo 6

Coronado 7, Lakewood 6

Costa Mesa 17, Samueli Academy 6

Dana Hills 13, Northwood 3

Dos Pueblos 12, Oxnard Pacifica 2

Duarte 10, Gahr 0

Heritage Christian 14, Village Christian 3

Hesperia 18, Granite Hills 17

Hesperia Christian 20, Bethel Christian 8

Jurupa Valley 7, Patriot 6

La Canada 15, Muir 11

La Puente 13, Bassett 1

Mission Bay 10, Mayfield 0

Monrovia 25, Blair 1

Norte Vista 20, La Sierra 9

Northview 2, Los Osos 2

Oceanside 9, Santa Ana Foothill 6

Orange 10, Western 0

Ramona 16, Rubidoux 0

Rancho Christian 17, Sherman Indian 7

Rancho Cucamonga 12, Ontario Christian 7

Redlands East Valley 14, Heritage 2

Riverside King 10, Corona 1

Riverside Poly 10, Santa Margarita 0

San Bernardino 32, Pacific 4

San Clemente 6, Spanish Springs 2

San Dimas 10, South El Monte 6

San Marcos 6, Ventura 4

Sierra Canyon 12, Shadow Ridge 2

Sierra Vista 11, Nogales 9

South Pasadena 8, San Marino 7

Valley View 4, Riverside North 1

INTERSECTIONAL

Bakersfield Frontier 4, Paraclete 2

Carson 15, Galena 0

Carson 9, Louisville 2

Eastside 2, Bakersfield Ridgeview 0

Eastside 9, Chavez 5

Flintridge Scared Heart 12, La Jolla Country Day 0

Louisville 3, Nevada Foothill 3

Mission Viejo 6, Nevada Douglas 5

Paraclete 8, Tulare Union 4

Santa Margarita 6, Nevada Reed 0

Trabuco Hills 18, Galena 4

Utah Lehi 3, Mission Viejo 0

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with an assist from Libor Jany and Howard Blume, giving you the latest on city and county government.

It was a dramatic moment for City Hall: Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, appearing at a meeting about reining in certain traffic stops by police, revealed that he had been pulled over only two days earlier.

Harris-Dawson, who is Black, told his colleagues that police have stopped him four times since he took office in 2015. During the most recent incident, he said, an officer asked him a number of questions, including, “How do you have this vehicle?”

“It was as traumatic on Wednesday as it was when I was 16,” Harris-Dawson said at the March 6 committee meeting.

It wasn’t the Los Angeles Police Department that pulled over Harris-Dawson’s car, a Tesla Model Y with a government license plate. Instead, it was an officer from the L.A. Unified School District police, who began trailing him while he was heading to work on the freeway, Harris-Dawson said recently.

The district has provided minimal details, and its police union has not commented. But the union that represents nearly 8,700 LAPD officers, known for its bare knuckle politics, is now deeply involved.

Ricky Mendoza, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, urged Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman on Thursday to investigate whether Harris-Dawson attempted to resist, delay or obstruct the officer who carried out the traffic stop, in violation of state law.

Mendoza pointed to a California Post story that accused Harris-Dawson of contacting an unnamed school board member during the incident “in an apparent effort to get out of the citation.”

Tom Saggau, a police union spokesperson, said Harris-Dawson was caught driving “recklessly” in a school zone — and should have disclosed it during his remarks about the incident.

“Mr. Harris-Dawson’s testimony implied LAPD pulled him over because of his race, not his driving behavior,” Saggau said in an email. “That implication painted our minority-majority membership as racist, and we will always stand up for our membership and correct falsehoods and other tall tales.”

Harris-Dawson, for his part, told The Times he received the citation for attempting to enter a left turn lane too early — before it was actually marked as a turn lane. That maneuver did not pose a threat to anyone, he said.

Harris-Dawson said he did contact other people during the traffic stop, to ensure he had real-time witnesses. He would not provide their names.

“I called several people during that encounter so that there was a record of it besides myself,” he said.

The Times reached out to the school board about the police union’s claims. Four of the seven, either in person or through a representative, said they did not talk to Harris-Dawson about the stop.

The dispute comes as the council is weighing new limits on “pretextual stops,” where officers use a minor violation as justification to pull someone over and then investigate whether a more serious crime has occurred. The stops have disproportionately affected Black and Latino drivers, and the LAPD has scaled back their use over the past decade.

At the meeting where Harris-Dawson revealed he had been pulled over, two council committees were discussing next steps on the issue.

On Thursday, a Harris-Dawson aide hit back at the union, accusing the group of trying to divert the public’s attention away from that work.

“Just like pretextual traffic stops, the call for these pointless investigations violates the public trust, is wholly ineffective, and wastes precious resources that could be used to keep us safe,” said Harris-Dawson spokesperson Cerrina Tayag-Rivera in a statement this week.

Asked about his recent experience with the school police, Harris-Dawson said: “It’s not up to the driver to determine if a stop is pretextual, but it felt pretextual.”

School district officials have offered only minimal information about the incident.

“During our morning school drop-off, a Los Angeles School Police Department officer conducted a traffic stop based on an observed moving traffic violation in the vicinity of one of our high schools and issued the driver a citation,” the statement said.

Harris-Dawson told The Times that the encounter began the morning of March 4, during his drive from his South L.A. home to City Hall, when he noticed a white, unmarked car following him on the northbound 110 Freeway.

He took the Adams Boulevard offramp, turned right on Adams and headed toward Main Street, with the unmarked car following him through multiple intersections. When he turned left on Main, the officer turned on his lights and pulled him over, he said.

The officer walked up to the car with his hand on his gun and told him to roll down the windows, Harris-Dawson said.

“Because it was an unmarked car … I thought I was dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he said.

Harris-Dawson said the officer told him that he had illegally crossed the double-yellow line in the center of the street, preparing to turn left before his car was actually in the marked left-turn lane.

The intersection is four blocks from Santee High School.

Harris-Dawson said the officer asked him how he came to possess the car. He informed the officer that it was a city vehicle and that he sits on the council. He handed the officer his driver’s license and, at a certain point, demanded it back.

The officer refused twice, Harris-Dawson said.

“He said, ‘Are you accusing me of taking your property?’” Harris-Dawson said. “I said, ‘That’s absolutely what I’m accusing you of.’”

Harris-Dawson said he was cited for violating the state vehicle code that prohibits motorists from driving the double-yellow lines.

“That stop was not about traffic safety,” he said, adding: “It was an investigative stop where the officer decided to give a citation, frankly, because I failed the attitude test.”

Harris-Dawson said through his spokesperson that he has paid the $238 citation. Asked if he is considering any legal action, he responded: “I’m weighing all my options.”

Meanwhile, Mendoza said he wants not just the D.A. but also City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto to investigate Harris-Dawson’s behavior during the stop, determining who he called, what he said, and whether the officer was contacted by a school board member.

The police union president said it’s “unethical and potentially illegal for a city leader to use their position of power to attempt to avoid accountability for their reckless driving in a school zone.”

The Police Protective League is well known for its heavy involvement in city politics, especially during election season. On the Westside, the union has already put nearly $500,000 into efforts to reelect Councilmember Traci Park.

The union has endorsed Mayor Karen Bass, a close ally of Harris-Dawson, but hasn’t been spending on her behalf.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who sits on the council’s public safety committee, said he believes the union is trying to “bully” Harris-Dawson, to ensure that others remain silent about pretextual stops.

“I think the council president is very courageously bringing up a reform on one of the most racist practices” in the LAPD, he said.

State of play

— DROPPING CHAVEZ: The bombshell New York Times report that found that labor organizer Cesar Chavez sexually abused minors left the state’s elected officials scrambling to rename streets, buildings and of course, the holiday itself. In L.A., Bass and several council members said they would rename the March 31 holiday “Farm Workers Day,” a move also backed at the county level by Supervisor Janice Hahn. Meanwhile, Raul Claros, running for an Eastside council seat, said Cesar Chavez Avenue should be renamed Dolores Huerta Avenue.

— DEMS WEIGH IN: The L.A. County Democratic Party threw its endorsement behind Bass and Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Katy Yaroslavsky, Monica Rodriguez, Hugo Soto-Martínez and Tim McOsker. The group also backed several newcomers: Marissa Roy for city attorney, Zach Sokoloff for city controller and council candidates Barri Worth Girvan and Jose Ugarte.

— PLUS THE COUNTY: The Dems also threw their support behind four countywide candidates: Sheriff Robert Luna, Assessor Jeffrey Prang, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who is running to replace termed-out Supervisor Hilda Solis.

— SPEAKING OF WHICH: It’s been pretty clear from the past year that Horvath is not a fan of Bass, offering bracing critiques of the city’s approach to homelessness and other issues. But her four colleagues — Hahn, Solis, Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell — have all lined up behind the mayor’s reelection, according to a campaign announcement issued Friday.

— POLICE PAYOUT: A jury awarded $5.9 million to a former LAPD commander who claimed she was wrongfully fired over an alcohol-fueled incident in 2018. The commander, Nicole Mehringer, said she was held to a different standard than her male colleagues, losing her job after being arrested on a charge of public intoxication.

— MINDING MEASURE ULA: Councilmember Ysabel Jurado was named the chair of a new three-member ad hoc committee formed to take a fresh look at the impacts of Measure ULA, the 2022 tax on high-end property sales. She will be joined by Councilmembers John Lee and Imelda Padilla in examining the measure, which has been criticized by real estate leaders.

— HOLLYWOOD’S HOMELESS: Bass and Soto-Martínez celebrated the opening of a new homeless services hub on Hollywood Boulevard to help unhoused residents shower, find new clothes, obtain meals and receive help finding an apartment or a bed in an interim housing facility.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to address homelessness went to South Los Angeles, focusing on the area around Broadway and 23rd Street, according to the mayor’s team.
• On the docket next week: The council meets Tuesday to discuss its strategy for complying with Senate Bill 79, which seeks to add taller, denser apartments within a half mile of rail and dedicated bus stops.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

PHOENIX — Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto went into his final start of the spring with a focus on throwing first-pitch strikes, while also hoping to test his composure with men on base.

He achieved both Friday, limiting the traveling half of the Padres’ split squad to three hits in five scoreless innings. The next time Yamamoto takes the mound for a game, it’ll be on opening day at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

“There were a few things I wanted to try,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter after his part of the Dodgers’ 4-3 win. “And [Friday] I was able to get into the game very nicely.”

The game featured a possible preview of the Dodger’s opening-day lineup — “I don’t know, we’ll see, it’s some good players,” manager Dave Roberts said with a smile.

Few roster decisions remained, after camp cuts Wednesday included right-handers Kyle Hurt and River Ryan, and infielder Ryan Fitzgerald.

“They’re always difficult with guys hoping, expecting to break with us,” Roberts said of his conversations with cut players. “There’s obviously some good ones where you tell a guy that he’s going to make the club. But I think the main thing that just shouldn’t get lost is, it’s not always just about starting. It’s where you finish.”

As of Friday, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland were still locked in a second-base battle. And the Dodgers had to sort out roles at the back end of the rotation.

Roberts said he expected to carry a swingman who would likely pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen early in the season, when the Dodgers’ schedule includes frequent off days, and later serve as a sixth starter.

Yamamoto, however, had been the clear choice to lead the rotation, long before Roberts made it official Monday.

“It’ll be nice to hand the ball to him and it’s not an elimination game,” Roberts said, referencing Yamamoto’s World Series MVP performance. “That’ll be fun for me.”

Coming off pitching meaningful games in the World Baseball Classic, Yamamoto had one last chance Friday for a tuneup.

He struck out the first three batters he faced, with first-pitch strikes to each.

The next inning, Yamamoto gave up back-to-back one-out singles. He escaped the jam with two more strikeouts. Yamamoto tallied seven strikeouts in an overall smooth performance.

“He came out, really, with a purpose,” Roberts said. “And I thought everything looked good, the fastball — the life to it, the command of it — the cutter, slider, curve ball was good, the split, everything was good. And very efficient. And pretty effortlessly got through five innings, so that was really good to see.”

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta is asking a judge to unravel Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2-billion acquisition of rival TV station owner Tegna — the latest in a flurry of merger twists.

Nexstar announced late Thursday that it had consummated the Tegna takeover — despite a lawsuit that Bonta and seven other Democratic state attorneys general had filed in federal court the previous day.

The state officials sued to block the union of the station groups, alleging the new colossus would violate antitrust rules and a federal law limiting broadcast station ownership.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

Hours after that filing, the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau in Washington approved Nexstar’s deal — clearing the way for the nation’s largest TV station group owner to swallow the third-largest station group.

The purchase gives Nexstar, which owns KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles, 265 television stations.

On Friday, Bonta and the other attorneys general asked a judge for a temporary restraining order to freeze the takeover until a hearing on the matter.

“Nexstar/Tegna is not a done deal,” Bonta said Friday in a statement. “I will not let these corporate behemoths merge without a fight.”

It was not immediately clear when a judge might rule on the request for a restraining order.

Bonta appeared at a lawmakers’ hearing in Burbank on Friday to explore the impacts of another huge merger: Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Bonta’s office has opened an investigation into the Paramount-Warner merger, but Bonta said Friday that no decision has been made on whether he or other attorneys general will seek to block it.

For now, he is focused on derailing the Nexstar-Tegna deal.

“We filed a suit before that deal closed,” Bonta told The Times. “We think our case is extremely strong. There is no way this should be approved.”

At issue is whether the FCC had the power to grant a waiver that would allow Nexstar to control TV stations that reach nearly 80% of U.S. households. In 2003, Congress set the station ownership cap at 39% of the country.

The Department of Justice also gave its blessing to close the deal.

The three FCC commissioners did not vote on the matter — despite pleas from the lone Democrat on the panel who advocated for an open process.

Approval of the merger was rapid after President Trump endorsed the consolidation on Feb. 7.

“We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” Trump wrote in his social media post.

“Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar – Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level,” Trump wrote. “GET THAT DEAL DONE!”

In a statement Thursday, Nexstar founder and chief executive Perry Sook thanked Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, saying Nexstar was “grateful” they recognized the “dynamic forces shaping the media landscape” and allowed the transaction to move forward.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is reportedly sending three California-based warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East, the second significant deployment in a week.

The three warships are part of the San Diego-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group. The Marines are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Pendleton. The deployments were reported Friday by the Associated Press, citing Pentagon sources.

A 2,500-strong Marine unit accompanied by the USS Tripoli warship launched from Japan on Saturday.

The major reinforcement comes as the war’s economic shock waves are felt throughout the globe, as Washington seeks to secure vital shipping lanes and deter further attacks on energy infrastructure around the Persian Gulf.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, front, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine arrive for a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on Thursday.

(Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump has continued pressing allies to join his proposed coalition to patrol the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. So far, Europe, Japan, China and Australia have refused to heed the call.

Trump on Thursday said Iran “is close to demolished,” but that securing the Strait of Hormuz remained a struggle. He suggested the U.S. was working to secure the strait not for its own oil needs, but “just to be nice” to other countries that rely on oil from the region to a much larger degree than the U.S.

Marines perform a demonstration with helicopters and the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer Oct. 18, 2025, on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

“They complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.

Iran continued sweeping attacks on Mideast energy facilities, a retaliation to Israeli strikes on its Iran’s South Pars field, the world’s largest natural gas field Wednesday. The fallout has dragged the gulf states into the war amid the largest energy supply disruption in history.

Iranian Shahed drones hammered Kuwait’s largest oil refinery Friday. Similar attacks triggered fires at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, bringing energy product screaming to a halt at the largest natural gas hub in the globe. Repairs are expected to take years.

Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates’ air defense systems were countering Iranian missiles overnight, and Saudi Arabia said it might respond with force if Iran continues to attack facilities in the kingdom.

An Israeli self-propelled howitzer artillery gun fires rounds toward southern Lebanon from a position in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border on Friday.

(Jalaa Marey / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel said Friday it had killed Esmail Ahmadi, a senior intelligence official in Iran’s Basij and deputy to its commander, in an airstrike. Officials described Ahmadi as “one of the most important pillars” of the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.

Even as Israel carries out daily decapitation airstrikes in Tehran and the U.S. deploys renewed forces to its front door, the Islamic Republic has not faltered.

Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, said American and Israeli officials could be targeted worldwide.

“From now on, based on the information we have, even recreational and tourist locations around the world will not be safe for you,” Shekarchi said.

Oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel and found a volatile new floor amid the chaos.

Financial markets have reacted with sustained losses. Wall Street has now posted its fourth consecutive week of declines, with investors increasingly pricing in the risk that higher energy costs could slow economic growth while reigniting inflation. Analysts warn that persistently elevated crude prices are likely to squeeze corporate margins and weigh on consumer spending in the United States and beyond.

The International Monetary Fund has cautioned that the conflict could push inflation higher, too. The Federal Reserve is now facing renewed uncertainty as they weigh whether to hold interest rates higher for longer in response to rising energy costs.

At a White House event on Friday, Trump maintained that the United States’ military operation is “going extremely well in Iran.”

“The difference between them and us is they had a navy two weeks ago and they have no navy anymore. It’s all at the bottom of the sea,” Trump said. “Fifty-eight ships were knocked down in two days and we have the greatest navy in the world. It is not even close.”

The president did not take questions from reporters in the room. But in unprompted remarks, he said the United States and Iran are not engaging in talks because their leaders “are all gone,” adding to the uncertainty about the war’s exit strategy.

“We are having a hard time, we want to talk to them and there is nobody to talk to,” he said. “We have nobody to talk to and you know what? We like it that way.”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin expects his team to embrace lofty expectations that follow the Bruins any time they take the floor during the NCAA tournament.

The program has won an NCAA record 11 national titles and made 19 Final Four appearances.

No. 7-seed UCLA’s (22-11) push for another deep NCAA tournament run begins Friday against No. 10-seed Central Florida (21-11) in Philadelphia in the East Regional. If the Bruins win, they will face the winner of No. 2 Connecticut (29-5) versus No. 15 Furman (22-12).

Cronin was hoping the Bruins, who flew home from the Big Ten tournament in Chicago on Sunday morning, would get a break and open postseason play Friday rather than Thursday. He recalled playing in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship on Sundays and still getting assigned Thursday NCAA tournament games, but Purdue coach Matt Painter told Cronin on Saturday night that he should be in line for a Friday NCAA tournament opener and the forecast proved accurate.

Cronin said the universal UCLA program focus on NCAA tournament success drove his decision to hold forward Tyler Bilodeau and guard Donovan Dent out of a 73-66 Big Ten semifinal loss to Purdue on Saturday night at the United Center. Bilodeau’s injury was a minor knee sprain suffered in the win over Michigan State on Friday, while Dent suffered a minor calf strain early in the game against the Boilermakers. Both are expected to be ready to play Friday.

“Tyler could have played [against Purdue.] You know, Donny could have played. They would have been playing hurt,” Cronin said after the loss to the Boilermakers. “I wouldn’t have played them in a regular season game. I just try to take care of guys.”

The coach said the extra minutes played by Eric Freeny, Xavier Booker, Steven Jamerson II and Brandon Williams will help the Bruins when the full lineup is in place for NCAA tournament games.

He called the team’s effort to push eventual Big Ten champion Purdue valiant, but the games ahead in March simply mean more to the Bruins.

“With all due respect to the Big Ten, you could see how hard our guys are trying to win,” Cronin said. “But our guy are well aware, because they practice under 11 banners that say national championship every day. They warm up under another banner with 19 Final Fours on it. We don’t even have one with conference championships cause there’s 36 or something. There’s so many. So [this] week is what it’s about for us.”

UCLA enters the tournament on a 4-1 streak, looking especially strong since the calendar hit March.

“I was happy with the way we competed,” Cronin said when asked whether he learned anything about his players during a spirited Big Ten tournament run. “… We got talent, we just haven’t always had our mind on defense, which is very rare for teams that I coach. We got great guys. Since March 1 or whenever the heck we played Nebraska, it’s been a noted change in our team, we’ve just got to keep it up. And we’ve got to get some rebounds out of the five spot.

”… We’re at UCLA, no matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA tournament, we’re going to be the ones wearing the baby blues and four letters. So we believe in ourselves.”

UCF is coached by former Duke star Johnny Dawkins. Point guard Themus Fulks is a key leader for the Knights, earning third team All-Big 12 honors after averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists per contest during the regular season.

UCF posted top-25 wins over Kansas, Texas Tech and Brigham Young.

SACRAMENTO — With more than 100 fans supporting from the bleachers, Garfield High’s boys’ soccer put on a strong performance at the inaugural CIF state Division V championship game Saturday morning before losing to Ross Branson 2-0 at Natomas High.

Two communication errors on defense proved costly for the Bulldogs, who took a bus from East Los Angeles on Friday, stayed overnight and were set to return after the match.

Coach Pablo Serrano praised his team. “I felt we played outstanding,” he said.

Goalkeeper Javier Zarate turned in another impressive performance. “He can only do so much,” Serrano said.

Zarate, without prodding, went up to CIF executive director Ron Nocetti and thanked him for what will become an annual state soccer championship event.

On Friday, Irvine University won the Division IV boys’ title with a 3-2 win over Del Mar.

Cole Barkett, Jake Raboid and Brendan Leung scored goals.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from David Zahniser and Melissa Gomez, giving you the latest on city and county government.

Former Deputy City Atty. Michelle McGinnis wants to know why she was escorted out of City Hall in front of her colleagues, forced to turn in her work computer and placed on administrative leave in April 2024.

In her search for answers, a separate issue has arisen: whether her former boss is withholding or deleting text messages.

In a lawsuit against the city, McGinnis subpoenaed text messages about her between City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and one of her top deputies, Denise Mills.

But according to a new petition that McGinnis filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Feldstein Soto produced zero text messages between her and Mills, and Mills produced just three with Feldstein Soto. The subpoena also asked for messages on Signal and other apps.

McGinnis’ lawyer, Caleb Mason, said the lack of texts strains credulity and probably means that some were deleted or withheld. McGinnis, who headed the criminal branch of the City Attorney’s Office, was fired in January 2025.

“It is obviously relevant and critical … to see what Ms. Feldstein [Soto] and Ms. Mills were saying to one another about Ms. McGinnis … that led to the extraordinary and unprecedented action of escorting a Branch Chief out of the building,” Mason wrote in a Feb. 23 brief.

A deputy city attorney representing Feldstein Soto and Mills disputed Mason’s claims in court filings, calling the new petition “uncomprehensible [sic]” and asserting that the two officials complied with the subpoenas. The attorney also sent 2,061 pages of documents to Mason.

Feldstein Soto, in a declaration, said that she “diligently searched for any documents” and shared them with her lawyer.

Mills said she did the same. In an effort to “retrieve any backup text messages,” she performed a factory reset of her phone on Jan. 30. McGinnis said the subpoenas were served on Dec. 15.

McGinnis’ lawyer said that was tantamount to spoliation — or destruction of evidence.

“Every court and every attorney in the country knows that ‘performing a factory reset’ means erasing information from a phone,” he wrote.

“It is reckless or negligent to reset a device when you know the opposing party is seeking that info,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School.

Still, Levenson said, politicians and lawyers often prefer speaking in person or on the phone to avoid their communications being exposed in a lawsuit. So it’s possible that the two didn’t exchange many text messages.

Feldstein Soto said in a statement that she has turned over all text messages about McGinnis. “There is nothing new here,” she said. “Ms. McGinnis was terminated, for cause. We remain confident in that decision.”

The city has argued that McGinnis “routinely opposed” Feldstein Soto’s policy and prosecutorial decisions.

McGinnis was placed on administrative leave due to a “pattern of insubordination and failure to meet minimal job requirements,” the city wrote in a legal filing in 2024.

The lawsuit that McGinnis filed against the city in 2024 alleged that Feldstein Soto retaliated against McGinnis and made prosecutorial decisions based on “personal relationships” or “perceived political gain.” The lawsuit also accused Feldstein Soto and Mills of “inappropriate alcohol consumption” in the office.

Other local politicians have also coughed up remarkably few text messages in response to public records requests.

Mayor Karen Bass came under scrutiny following the Palisades fire over the fact that her text messages auto-delete after 30 days, destroying potentially critical information about her decisions surrounding the devastating blaze. The Times sued the city after Bass’ counsel argued that her texts were “ephemeral” and not subject to public records requests. L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger also said she auto-deletes messages after 30 days — and sometimes manually deletes them.

City Council President Marqueece Harris Dawson, meanwhile, turned over zero texts, emails, Signal and WhatsApp messages in response to a Times public records request for his communications with Bass from Jan. 6 to Jan. 16, 2025 — before, during and after the Palisades fire.

Harris-Dawson’s office said it had “conducted a search and found no responsive records for this request.”

State of play

— IDK, VOTERS SAY: A majority of Angelenos have not made up their minds about the June 2 mayoral primary, according to a poll released this week. Bass had the most support at 20%, while reality TV star Spencer Pratt had 10% and Councilmember Nithya Raman had 9%, the poll found.

— HOMELESS DEATHS DROP: For the first time in the decade that homeless mortality has been tracked in Los Angeles County, fewer people have died on the streets and in shelters than the year before, the Department of Public Health reported Tuesday. A sharp decrease in overdose deaths drove a decline of 10% in the rate of homeless deaths from all causes in 2024, the most recent data analyzed by the county.

— LAST-MINUTE MEMO: The City Council was set to vote on a $177-million contract for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to continue representing tenants for the next three years, with other groups providing related services. But the night before the March 3 vote, Feldstein Soto sent a confidential memo to council offices recommending that council members “reconsider the award of such a large contract to a frequent litigant against the city.”

The council approved the contract, with changes, a week later.

— CAMPAIGN REVELATION: Community organizer Jordan Rivers, who is running against incumbent Tim McOsker to represent Council District 15, said he will continue his campaign after a report surfaced that he stabbed a neighbor when he was 12. Rivers, now 22, stabbed the 8-year-old boy in the neck and shoulders, inflicting “severe and life threatening physical and emotional injuries,” a lawsuit said. On Monday, Rivers said it was an “accident” that happened a decade ago.

“I do not believe that past situations or indeed past mistakes define or determine who a person is or what they are,” he said.

— LAPD REFORMS: A series of proposed changes to the city’s charter — essentially its constitution — could give elected leaders in Los Angeles more oversight over the Police Department and enable the police chief to fire problem officers. The changes, recommended by the city’s Charter Reform Commission, have long been sought by advocates and are likely to face fierce opposition.

— SUPE SPEAKS: Embattled Los Angeles schools chief Alberto Carvalho made his first public statement since the FBI raided his home and district office on Feb. 25. He denied any wrongdoing and asked to return to his duties.

“While the government’s investigation remains ongoing, no evidence has been presented by prosecutors supporting any allegation that Mr. Carvalho violated federal law,” the statement said.

— A WEEK OF WIPEOUTS: With city officials finalizing the list of candidates for the June 2 election, a number of hopefuls failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. They include community leader Eddie Ha, publicist Dory Frank and entrepreneur Jeremy Wineberg on the Westside; residential connectivity specialist Rosa Requeno on the Eastside; neighborhood council member Jon Rawlings in the San Fernando Valley; and neighborhood council president Adriana Cabrera, civil rights attorney Chris Martin and social worker Michelle Washington in South L.A.

— REWORKING ULA (TAKE 3): The City Council voted Wednesday to create an ad hoc committee to look at potential changes to Measure ULA, the tax on high-end property sales passed in 2022. City leaders have made two previous moves to rewrite the measure, neither of which succeeded.

— VOTING OLYMPIC VALUES: The council voted Friday to “express concern” about LA28 Olympics committee chairman Casey Wasserman, saying his appearance in the Epstein files poses a “potential conflict” with the values of the Olympic movement. Several elected officials at City Hall, including Bass, had already called for Wasserman to step down.

— MEETING OF MAYORS: On Friday, about 20 mayors and city council members from across L.A. County, including Bass, came together to discuss the impact that immigration raids have had on their communities. Many raised concerns about the role of local law enforcement in allowing federal agents to act with what they described as impunity.

One mayor suggested that all the cities that contract with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department should get together to demand accountability for deputies in their interactions with immigration agents.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program went to Washington and Lincoln boulevards in Councilmember Traci Park‘s district, bringing more than 20 people inside, according to a mayoral spokesperson.
• On the docket next week: The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America will meet on Saturday, March 21, at Immanuel Presbyterian in Koreatown. Members are expected to vote on whether to make an endorsement in the mayoral primary.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

SACRAMENTO — Delaney Shiring, a 5-foot-10 senior at El Dorado High, kept delivering clutch baskets when her team needed them most during a nerve-racking second half that enabled the Golden Hawks to win their first state girls’ basketball championship with a 42-40 win over San José Valley Christian in the Division III final on Friday at Golden 1 Center.

“It’s amazing,” said Shiring, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds. “It’s meant to be. Everything is so historic. We bought into those big moments.”

El Dorado (24-14) appeared to have a comfortable nine-point lead midway through the third quarter when Kenedi Nomura, who scored 18 points, helped ignite a Valley Christian rally. A basket by Shiring near the end of the quarter ended a 5-0 Warriors run.

Shiring’s biggest basket came with 47 seconds left for a 41-38 lead. The lead dropped to 41-40 with 38 seconds left on a basket by Anaya Bannarbie. Then Riley Morikawa made one of two free throws with 13.1 seconds left for a two-point advantage. Valley Christian never got off a potential tying shot.

Kennedy Wood of El Dorado focus on making free throw in Division III state final.

(Greg Stein)

“They had some really good defenders,” Shiring said. “I really focus in big moments when the shot matters.”

El Dorado made the Southern Section playoffs as an at-large team before surging in the postseason under coach Matt Raya, winning a Division 4 section title and Division III regional title.

The Trump administration on Friday moved to roll back Biden-era limits on emissions of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing chemical often used in the sterilization of medical devices.

The Environmental Protection Agency said repealing the rules, which fall under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, would “safeguard the supply of essential medical equipment” — saving approximately $630 million for companies over 20 years. California is home to about a dozen such facilities.

The government said the emissions are part and parcel of protecting people from “lethal or significantly debilitating infections that would result without properly sterilized medical equipment.”

“The Trump EPA is committed to ensuring life-saving medical devices remain available for the critical care of America’s children, elderly, and all patients without unnecessary exposure to communities,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.

An estimated 50% of sterile medical devices in the U.S. are treated with ethylene oxide, or EtO, particularly those that can’t be cleaned using steam or radiation. The colorless gas is also used to make chemicals found in products such as antifreeze, detergents, plastics and adhesives.

But EtO poses health risks. Short-term exposure by inhalation can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue respiratory irritation and other adverse health effects, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Longer-term exposure increases the risk of cancers of the white blood cells, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as well as breast cancer. A now-deleted page from the EPA’s website stated, “EtO is a human carcinogen. It causes cancer in humans.”

Friday’s proposal specifically targets updated rules for EtO emissions that were passed by the Biden administration in 2024 following pressure from environmental justice groups, particularly those in Louisiana’s heavily industrialized “Cancer Alley.” The change sought to reduce the amount of EtO released from commercial sterilizers by 90% and lessen the hazards for nearby communities.

The tighter rules were in part based on EPA’s own scientific study that found it to be 60 times more carcinogenic than previously thought, which the agency now says should be reassessed.

If finalized, the plan would give facilities the choice between installing continuous real-time monitoring systems for EtO emissions or complying with modified pollution control requirements at facilities that emit more than 10 tons a year, the EPA said.

The proposal follows other moves by the Trump administration to rescind regulations that it says are burdensome and costly for industries, such as those governing emissions from coal power plants. Last month, the EPA repealed the endangerment finding, which affirmed the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions and underpinned the agency’s ability to regulate those emissions from vehicles.

The action around ethylene oxide would affect about 90 commercial sterilization facilities owned and operated by approximately 50 companies. Three California companies applied for and received presidential exemptions for their EtO emissions in July.

The Sterigenics facility, center, in Vernon is pictured in 2022.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

They are located in Ontario and Vernon and operated by the company Sterigenics, which provides industrial sterilization technology for medical devices and other commercial products.

In January, a coalition of environmental and community groups challenged the EtO exemptions in federal court. The lawsuit from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Natural Resources Defense Council argues that technology exists for facilities to comply with the tighter Biden-era standards without raising costs, and many facilities are already using it.

“EPA’s 2024 rule was an important and overdue step to reduce toxic ethylene oxide pollution and protect communities,” said Irena Como, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a statement Friday. “Repealing this rule that is proven to significantly lower pollution exposure and cancer risks will subject even more people who work, live, and send their children to schools located near these facilities to harm that is entirely preventable.”

Sterilization and chemical industry groups support the plan.

“The EPA rule concerning ethylene oxide use in commercial sterilizers threatens to severely restrict access to vital medical products nationwide,” the American Chemistry Council said in a statement. “We commend the EPA for their commitment to reevaluating these policies.”

The EPA will hold a 45-day comment period about the proposal after it is published in the federal register. A final decision is expected sometime this year.

WASHINGTON — Six American airmen deployed to operations against Iran were killed after their refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, U.S. Central Command said Friday, bringing the U.S. death toll in the war to 13, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the heaviest day of strikes yet.

The crash involved two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” the Pentagon said, adding that the other plane landed safely. The downed KC-135 refueling tanker is the fourth U.S. aircraft to crash during the war against Iran.

“American heroes, all of them,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon on Friday. “We will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission.”

Central Command said the incident is under investigation but was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”

During the briefing, Hegseth described the Iranian leaders as “desperate” and “cowering” underground like rats. He said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei “is wounded and likely disfigured,” but gave no intelligence to support the claim.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since he rose to leadership, but issued his first public statement Thursday vowing retaliation against U.S. and Israeli attacks, promising that Tehran will continue to choke off the world’s most crucial oil route — the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our revenge will be never ending, not only for the late supreme leader, but also for the blood of all of our martyrs,” he said.

The defense secretary said Friday would see Iran hammered with the heaviest round of air strikes yet seen in the two-week U.S.-Israeli operation that has razed buildings, complexes and factory lines all across Iran, killing at least 1,348 civilians, according to Iranian officials.

“No quarter, no mercy for our enemies,” Hegseth said.

And while Hegseth insisted that fighting will cease when the U.S. defeats Iran’s naval, missile, and nuclear weapons capabilities, President Trump’s public statements continue to sow doubt that the White House and Pentagon are aligned on the objectives of the mission.

Asked Friday by Fox News when the war might end, Trump said, “When I feel it — feel it in my bones.”

Iran’s blockade of the strait remains Tehran’s foremost leverage against its Western adversaries, and a serious political bane for Trump. The International Energy Agency warned Thursday that conflict has created “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” which has sent oil prices surging 40% to $95 a barrel since Feb. 28.

Some 1,000 ships remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, many of them energy tankers that have been unable to carry oil and gas shipments from the Middle East to importers across the globe. Vessels that have attempted to traverse the embattled channel have been destroyed in Iranian attacks. Hegseth described Tehran’s strategy as “an act of desperation.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations on Friday reported 20 incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman in March.

Drone and missile attacks continue to assail gulf states, threatening to draw more players into the conflict. Thick black smoke was seen rising over Dubai’s skyline Friday after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone strike caused a fire and minor damage to a building within the Dubai International Financial Centre, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Europe has become increasingly involved, too. U.S. long-range bombers have begun flying offensive missions from British airbases, even as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer explicitly permitted U.S. forces to use the bases “for defensive purposes only.” Starmer initially refused to cooperate in American hostilities in any capacity, but changed his approach after he drew criticism from Trump, who said, “He’s no Winston Churchill.”

The U.K., France, and Italy each deployed naval assets to the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, situated just 125 miles from Lebanon, after Iranian drone strikes hit U.K. bases. The island has emerged as a strategic — and exposed — nerve center in the U.S. offensive against Iran.

Meanwhile, Israel said Friday its strikes are “continuing and intensifying” in Lebanon and Iran. The Israel Defense Forces issued new evacuation orders in southern Lebanon on Thursday after overnight airstrikes in Beirut triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Eight civilians were killed and nine others were wounded in attacks on the Lebanese city of Sidon on Friday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. More than 100 children have been killed in the Israeli assault, the ministry said.

MEXICO CITY — Cuba has begun direct talks with the United States in an effort to solve “bilateral differences” between the two countries, Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel said Friday.

The comments, broadcast nationwide in Cuba, are the first confirmation of bilateral talks between two governments that have been fierce adversaries for almost 70 years, since Fidel Castro’s revolution toppled the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

What exactly the talks are about remains unclear, but the Trump administration—which has choked off oil supplies to the island, triggering a severe energy crisis—has been insisting that Cuba’s communist government must change.

In a statement released on social media, Díaz Canel said, “The primary purpose of this conversation is, firstly, to identify the bilateral problems that require a solution—based on their severity and impact—and, secondly, to find solutions for these identified problems.”

Rumors of direct talks between the two nations have been circulating for months, but neither Washington or Havana had confirmed the talks until now.

On Tuesday, the Cuban ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera, told The Times that the Cuban government was “ready to engage with the U.S. on the issues that are important for the bilateral relations, and to talk about those in which we have differences.”

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, have been insistent that the current government must change.

“It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover,” Trump told Latin American leaders gathered in Florida on Saturday.

“It wouldn’t matter because they’re down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble,” Trump said.

Trump responded to the Cuban leader’s willingness to negotiate on Friday morning by amplifying a news article with the headline:”Cuba confirms talks with Trump officials, raising hopes for US deal.” He posted that on his Truth Social account.

Rolling blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, a lack of gasoline and other shortfalls have become everyday occurrences on the island, home to 10 million. Images of uncollected garbage rotting on Havana’s streets have been broadcast across the globe. A lack of jet fuel has bludgeoned the critical tourism sector.

“The status quo is unsustainable,” Rubio said last month. “Cuba needs to change…And it doesn’t have to be change all at once. It doesn’t have to change from one day to the next.”

The Cuban announcement comes 13 days after the U.S. attacked Iran and two months after U.S. forces, deployed by Trump, deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime Cuban ally, and brought him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Eagle Rock 11, Fairfax 4

El Camino Real 5, Narbonne 2

Fremont 8, Gardena 4

Huntington Park 9, Jefferson 4

LA Hamilton 4, Franklin 3

Maywood CES 15, King/Drew 3

North Hollywood 8, Chavez 4

Port of Los Angeles 2, Bravo 0

Reseda 12, Bert Corona 3

Triumph Charter 6, Fulton 5

VAAS 17, Valley Oaks CES 2

SOUTHERN SECTION

Bellflower 9, Mayfair 1

Brea Olinda 4, Cajon 1

Burbank Providence 16, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 0

Citrus Valley 2, Rancho Cucamonga 1

Compton 11, Lennox Academy 3

Crossroads Christian 15, Sherman Indian 2

Desert 15, Immanuel Christian 0

Faith Baptist 17, Valley Torah 4

Garden Grove Santiago 6, Westminster La Quinta 5

Gladstone 10, Immanuel Christian 0

Grace 2, Oak Park 1

Great Oak 4, Etiwanda 3

Hillcrest 8, La Sierra 3

La Canada 11, Chino Hills 9

Los Altos 7, West Covina 0

Monrovia 4, Covina 3

NSLA 17, Packinghouse Christian Academy 12

Oak Hills 11, Don Lugo 4

Oakwood 11, YULA 0

Pasadena Poly 5, Sage Hill 3

Perris 3, San Jacinto 1

Rancho Christian 9, Arrowhead Christian 4

Rancho Verde 5, Nuview Bridge 4

Riverside King 8, Jurupa Hills 4

Rowland 7, Rosemead 0

Rubidoux 10, Temecula Prep 0

Santa Clarita Christian 10, PACS 8

Santa Maria St. Joseph 4, Oaks Christian 3

Santa Ynez 6, Channel Islands 2

St. Anthony 6, Cerritos 2

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 14, Workman 4

Thousand Oaks 5, St. Bonaventure 1

Troy 7, Arroyo 3

Western Christian 8, Apple Valley 7

Whitney 12, Westminster 5

Windward 7, New Roads 6

Wiseburn-Da Vinci 4, El Rancho 2

INTERSECTIONAL

Canyon Country Canyon 21, Van Nuys 2

Elsinore 3, Carlsbad 1

LACES 6, Crossroads 1

Salesian 21, Locke 0

Taft 4, St. Bernard 3

WISH Academy 10, Shalhevet 4

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Bell 12, Fremont 7

Eagle Rock 7, Garfield 5

Harbor Teacher 26, Santee 1

LA Roosevelt 10, Lincoln 0

North Hollywood 11, Rancho Dominguez 3

South East 18, Mendez 1

Sylmar 13, Arleta 9

USC-MAE 21, Diego Rivera 9

Verdugo Hills 10, Cleveland 8

West Adams 23, Hawkins 21

Wilmington Banning 14, Port of Los Angeles 3

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 23, NSLA 1

Anaheim 11, Ocean View 1

Arcadia 7, Chino 0

Arroyo 20, Edgewood 4

Baldwin Park 16, Bassett 1

Cajon 3, Ontario Christian 2

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 8, Nogales 6

Chaparral 17, San Jacinto 16

Colony 17, Patriot 12

Colton 10, Jurupa Hills 3

Corona 10, Redlands East Valley 0

Dos Pueblos 17, Santa Clara 4

Edison 6, Sunny Hills 4

Gahr 8, Cypress 5

Ganesha 14, Claremont 1

Garden Grove 16, Oxford Academy 0

Glendale d. Lynwood, forfeit

Heritage Christian 12, Burbank 9

Hesperia Christian 20, ACE 0

Hillcrest 6, Lakeside 3

Indio 4, Aquinas 2

Linfield Christian 7, Temecula Valley 2

Los Altos 5, Sonora 2

Los Amigos 19, Bolsa Grande 2

Mission Viejo 14, Northwood 2

Moorpark 8, Thousand Oaks 4

Newbury Park 6, Sierra Canyon 1

Oxnard Pacifica 11, Fillmore 0

Paraclete 4, Bishop Amat 2

Rancho Mirage 8, Banning 7

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 12, Granada Hills Kennedy 2

South El Monte 16, Sierra Vista 10

Temecula Prep 18 Rubidoux 6

Temescal Canyon 3, Riverside Poly 2

Torrance 16, Maranatha 2

Western Christian 8, Kaiser 4

West Ranch 14, Royal 3

Workman 17, Rosemead 6

INTERSECTIONAL

Chatsworth 20, Golden Valley 1

LA Hamilton 11, Brentwood 6

Pasadena Marshall 9, Monroe 18

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 12, Granada Hills Kenedy 2

Triumph Charter 31, Fulton 18

Valencia 3, El Camino Real 2

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Bell 11, Granada Hills Kennedy 0

Chavez 10, Sun Valley Magnet 3

San Pedro 15, Verdugo Hills 8

Sylmar 3, LA Roosevelt 2

SOUTHERN SECTION

Aliso Niguel 2, Citrus Valley 0

Aquinas 8, Oaks Christian 4

Baldwin Park 6, Edgewood 5

Barstow 7, Apple Valley 4

Bosco Tech 10, Mountain View 2

Canyon Country Canyon 2, Nordhoff 1

Carter 16, Norte Vista 2

Cerritos Valley Christian 15, Campbell Hall 7

Chadwick 4, Indian Springs 3

Colony 6, Oxford Academy 1

Compton 7, Whitney 6

Corona del Mar 4, Irvine University 3

Culver City 2, El Segundo 1

Dos Pueblos 9, Foothill Tech 7

El Dorado 13, Yorba Linda 2

Elsinore 6, Sage Creek 4

Fontana 15, Silverado 14

Ganesha 6, Woodbridge 3

Golden Valley 5, Eastside 1

Granite Hills 15, Pasadena Poly 1

Hemet 15, Lakeside 3

Hueneme 28, Santa Clara 3

Irvine 4, Costa Mesa 3

Jurupa Hills 12, Eisenhower 3

Lennox Academy 7, Hawthorne 1

Linfield Christian 2, Walnut 0

Loara 7, Flintridge Prep 6

Los Altos 13, Glendora 8

Los Osos 3, Great Oak 2

Maranatha Christian 3, Murrieta Mesa 1

Mary Star of the Sea 9, Estancia 6

Mira Costa 10, Wiseburn-Da Vinci 6

Mission Hills 3, Hart 1

Mission Viejo 7, Marina 3

Monrovia 15, Pasadena Marshall 3

North Torrance 10, Whittier Christian 3

Ocean View 10, Westminster La Quinta 6

Orange Vista 12, Arroyo Valley 2

Palm Desert 3, Cajon 0

Palm Springs 10, Pioneer 0

Quartz Hill 10, Adelanto 5

Redlands 3, Ramona 1

Royal 16, St. Margaret’s 1

San Jacinto 11, Big Bear 10

Santa Ana 4, Garden Grove Santiago 1

Santa Ana Foothill 2, Servite 0

Santa Monica 10, Capistrano Valley Christian 5

Santa Paula 1, Oxnard Pacifica 0

St. Anthony 6, Ontario Christian 5

Temescal Canyon 7, Woodcrest Christian 6

Thousand Oaks 22, Buena 2

Torrance 9, Lakewood 3

Trabuco Hills 7, La Habra 5

Trinity Classical Academy 12, Fillmore 0

Tustin 10, Magnolia 6

Victor Valley 2, Hesperia 1

Villanova Prep 17, SLOCA 16

West Ranch 7, Bakersfield Centennial 1

West Valley 16, Xavier Prep 5

INTERSECTIONAL

El Rancho 8, South Gate 4

Gardena 11, Environmental Charter 7

Gladstone 10, Big Pine 2

JSerra 7, Buchanan 4

LA University 15, Animo Leadership 2

Orange Lutheran 8, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 5

Palos Verdes 10, Narbonne 7

Rancho Bernardo 4, Hart 0

South El Monte 4, LA Marshall 3

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Birmingham 4, Granada Hills Kennedy 2

SOUTHERN SECTION

Anaheim Canyon 12, Saugus 2

Arcadia 15, Montebello 0

Artesia 14, Ocean View 1

Arroyo 11, Flintridge Prep 8

Artesia 14, Avalon 3

Bishop Amat 12, Lakewood 7

Bonita 8, Whittier Christian 5

Brea Olinda 11, Aliso Niguel

Buena 8, Jurupa Hills 7

Burbank Burroughs 5, Royal 0

Burbank Burroughs 10, Oxnard 2

Camarillo 9, Hart 5

Capistrano Valley 5, La Palma Kennedy

Charter Oak 6, La Salle 4

Chino Hills 7, Bonita 3

Corona del Mar 7, Capistrano Valley Christian 4

Diamond Bar 10, Diamond Ranch 1

Don Lugo 5, Los Osos 1

Downey 3, Corona Santiago 1

Downey 5, Capistrano Valley 0

El Segundo 8, Rosary Academy 5

Flintridge Prep 8, Irvine 2

Fullerton 3, Norco 2

Garey 23, Yucca Valley 19

Glendora 7, Riverside North 1

Glendora 2, Santa Fe 2

Highland 10, Royal 2

Irvine University 13, Corona del Mar 1

JSerra 5, La Mirada 2

Jurupa Hills 9, Santa Paula 5

Lakewood St. Joseph 11, Lakeside 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 20, Lakeside 5

La Habra 7, Los Alamitos 6

La Mirada 8, Garden Grove Pacifica 5

La Palma Kennedy 5, Corona Santiago 2

Los Alamitos 8, Cypress 6

Maranatha 20, Laguna Hills 9

Maranatha 4, Fountain Valley 2

Marina 7, Villa Park 0

Murrieta Mesa 7, Garden Grove Pacifica 2

Murrieta Mesa 2, JSerra 1

Newport Harbor 6, Long Beach Wilson 4

Norco 2, Agoura 0

Northview 11, Flintridge Sacred Heart 0

Ontario Christian 16, West Covina 6

Oxnard 11, Highland 6

Paloma Valley 12, Chaparral 1

Paraclete 3, Quartz Hill 0

Paramount 3, Mira Costa 1

Paramount 11, Lompoc Cabrillo 0

Pasadena Poly 12, Duarte 8

Placentia Valencia 14, Capistrano Valley Christian 4

Redlands East Valley 6, Riverside Prep 3

Redlands East Valley 7, Don Lugo 0

Righetti 19, Westminster 0

San Clemente 12, Trabuco Hills 2

San Dimas 15, Norwalk 1

Santa Fe 2, Yucaipa 0

St. Genevieve 21, Bishop Diego 4

Westlake 8, South Torrance 0

Whittier 5, Kaiser 2

Yucaipa 6, Riverside North 2

INTERSECTIONAL

Brea Olinda 6, Campo Verde 3

Chavez 14, Canyon Country Canyon 3

Chino Hills 5, Perry (AZ) 1

El Segundo 11, San Leandro 2

Firebaugh 20, Fremont 1

Glendale 16, Van Nuys 6

Hemet 21, Bayfront Charter 1

Laguna Hills d. Clark (NV), forfeit

Legacy 7, Irvine 3

O’Connor 14, Saugus 6

Rio Rancho (NM) 15, Schurr 8

Westlake 5, Las Vegas Centennial 1

West Ranch 9, El Camino Real 3

West Torrance 22, Rio Rancho 10

Whittier Christian 15, Prairie Grove (AR) 8

The Lakers 128-117 winwon, Luka Doncic dominated and then the conversation moved forward, because even though a 128-117 win over the slumping Indiana Pacers on Friday counts all the same in the tight Western Conference standings, it doesn’t say as much about the Lakers as what comes next.

Buoyed by four recent wins over struggling teams, the Lakers are still searching for a statement victory to announce themselves as legitimate contenders in the crowded Western Conference. The Lakers (38-25) are comfortably in sixth place in the West, but just 3-11 against teams that are .600 or better.

Two of the wins came in the first two weeks of the season. The losses have been ugly: an average margin of 19.9 points per defeat.

Now with five of their next six games against teams that are .600 or better — starting with Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. contest against the New York Knicks — the Lakers get a chance to prove their potential to make a playoff run.

Lakers guard Austin Reaves drives to the basket as he’s chased by Indiana Pacers guards Quenton Jackson and Aaron Nesmith Friday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“You play teams that are playing winning basketball and [have] winning records, it definitely can build some confidence in the group,” guard Luke Kennard said Friday. “But I know even some of the close games we’ve lost just recently, I know we’ve done some really good things. … We know what we have in the locker room and in this group.”

Even a day and a win later, the Lakers were still ruing Thursday’s road loss in Denver. With a chance to jump to fifth place in the standings, they let the Nuggets (39-25) open the game on an 11-point run. Denver opened up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

But unlike many of their other losses to playoff-contending teams, the Lakers answered Denver’s run. They cut it to one with 2:05 left before the Nuggets held on for the victory.

“That was a game that we’ve broken throughout the year, in games like that,” coach JJ Redick said. “And they made a number of runs that went to double digits and we just kept playing and had a chance. … I’m confident we’re going to find it. How we’re going to find it, that’s where it’s —”

Redick cut off his own thought as he searched for the words.

“You got to figure it out on a daily basis sometimes,” the coach concluded with a tight smile.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes scores at the rim in front of Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard Friday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The Lakers figured it out Friday behind a dazzling 44-point performance from Doncic, who leads the NBA with 10 40-point games this season. The NBA’s leading scorer didn’t even play during the fourth quarter of the blowout.

Doncic’s brilliance was more than enough against the bottom-feeding Pacers, who, at 15-48, are playing more for lottery position than postseason hopes. But the Knicks (41-23) have won four of their last five games, including convincing wins over San Antonio and Denver. The only recent loss was a three-point defeat to Oklahoma City.

Lakers forward LeBron James is expected to be available for Sunday’s marquee game after injuring his elbow late in the loss to the Nuggets and missing Friday’s game. Centers Deandre Ayton (left knee soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) are day-to-day.

Led by Jalen Brunson’s 26.2 points and 6.5 assists per game, the Knicks have the NBA’s third-best offense. Conversely, the Lakers are 21st in defensive rating.

The Lakers emphasized the importance of team defense all season, but Marcus Smart is “the only one that consistently is just doing what he’s supposed to do” on defense, Redick said Friday. Sometimes the former defensive player of the year is forced to overcompensate for his teammates’ mistakes.

Doncic’s defensive lapses are magnified, especially with the team’s recent inconsistencies. But Doncic’s oft-criticized defense has provided some bright spots, Redick said.

When he switches onto the ball, Doncic gives up the lowest number of points per possession among the Lakers’ perimeter players, Redick said. He led the Lakers in rebounding Friday with nine boards, all defensive. Doncic had both of the team’s blocks against the Pacers.

“He’s shown that he can contain the basketball,” Redick said of Doncic’s defense. “He’s obviously one of the best wing defensive rebounders in the NBA. He’s able to generate steals and deflections. And, with some prodding, he’s taking charges as well.”

Doncic has drawn 11 charges this season, the most for a single year in his NBA career.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with an assist from Howard Blume and Noah Goldberg, giving you the latest on city and county government.

She’s blunt. She’s combative. She doesn’t go along to get along.

And now, Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez is almost certainly getting four more years in office.

On Wednesday, with the deadline past, no one filed a petition to challenge Rodriguez in the June 2 primary election. That makes her the only official at City Hall to be in that coveted position this year.

One caveat: Someone could still run as a write-in, waging a long-shot campaign. But realistically, Rodriguez has a free ride to continue representing her northeast San Fernando Valley district.

Rodriguez, who lives in Mission Hills, said she had been prepping for “another fight,” raising money and giving endorsement interviews. Now, she’s started talking about what her third and final term could look like.

“Giddyup. Everyone better buckle up,” she said, cackling.

For an elected official, nothing can bolster one’s confidence like a reelection victory or two. Newly elected council members tend to keep a low profile their first few years. The longer they stay, the more outspoken they become.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, has been willing to speak her mind for quite some time.

She’s been a longstanding critic of Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people indoors. She has pushed, without success, for the city to yank its money from the embattled Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA. Last fall, she told a mayoral aide that Bass’ team “botched” the Palisades fire recovery in the first few months.

Rodriguez frequently expresses her views in vivid terms, and in ways that can annoy her colleagues.

Last year, she warned a proposal to hike the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 per hour would trigger job losses, leaving the city with “the best paid unemployed workforce in America.”

She denounced the city’s plan to upgrade the Convention Center, saying the council was continuing to “fund failure.” She regularly drops the phrase “merry go round from hell” — shorthand for her struggle to get her colleagues to pull out of LAHSA, the city-county homeless agency that’s been the subject of blistering audits.

With the election approaching, the zingers have only gotten zingier.

Six weeks ago, City Councilmember Nithya Raman launched a last-minute bid to rewrite Measure ULA, the city’s tax on high-end property sales, saying it had chilled development of much-needed apartments. Raman wanted her proposal to go on the June ballot but failed to garner support from her colleagues, who said it hadn’t been vetted.

Rodriguez, in a screed delivered on the council floor, compared Raman to “the arsonist that comes showing up as a firefighter.”

That was a not-so-veiled reference to the fact that Raman promoted Measure ULA in 2022 — and downplayed concerns that it would affect housing production.

“Ms. Raman, you supported and endorsed the false notion to voters that [Measure ULA] was going to be the panacea — without study, without any of the verified proof,” she said. “We knew that these were the implications.”

Raman, in a statement on Friday, said she endorsed Measure ULA after reading through research suggesting that the tax, which generates money for housing programs, would not affect housing production. Newer analysis, she said, found that the measure “indeed resulted in less investment in multi-family housing.”

“That is a huge concern to me and should be to everyone in L.A., a City that is still very much facing a housing shortage,” said Raman, who is now running for mayor. “I am willing to take some heat to get the best outcomes for the City and to secure support for these crucial revenues.”

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., a San Fernando Valley-based business group, said he appreciates Rodriguez’s direct approach, even when he disagrees with her.

“A lot of councilmembers, if they don’t agree with you, they won’t even meet with you,” he said. “There are council members who say they’ll listen and take [an issue] under advisement, even though they’ve made up their mind. They just don’t want to tell someone to their face that they disagree.”

Rodriguez’s approach doesn’t always reap political dividends.

Last year, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson removed her from a number of high-profile committees, including those that oversee homeless programs, public safety and the city budget.

Despite her warnings, the council hiked the minimum wage for tourism workers and approved the $2.6-billion Convention Center project. She championed the creation of a new youth development department, only for it to wind up on the chopping block in last year’s budget.

Rodriguez, 52, grew up in Arleta, the daughter of a U.S. Marine veteran who served in Vietnam while holding a green card, and later became one of the city’s earliest Latino firefighters in the wake of a federal consent decree on hiring. She graduated from San Fernando High School in 1992, one year after Assemblymember Luz Rivas and two years after U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla.

She worked for former Mayor Richard Riordan and former Councilmember Mike Hernandez and later ran unsuccessfully against former Councilmember Richard Alarcon. She joined the Board of Public Works in 2013, running for council a second time four years later.

With a third term looming, Rodriguez wants to take a program she launched in her district — moving homeless people out of RVs and into housing — and take it citywide. She’s excited about expanding a program for fixing sidewalks that also teaches job skills to young people.

Rodriguez acknowledged that her stances, and her remarks, can rub people the wrong way, noting that it’s “more comfortable to walk in a group than to walk alone.” Nevertheless, she doesn’t intend to change her approach.

“I know what I’m here to do, and I’m just going to continue,” she said.

State of play

— SCRAMBLE FOR SIGNATURES: The deadline for candidates for city office to turn in petitions arrived on Wednesday, and the signatures are still being counted. By Friday, 12 mayoral candidates had qualified to run against Bass, including Raman, reality television star Spencer Pratt and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller. The City Clerk’s office is still reviewing the petitions of several other mayoral hopefuls, all of them political unknowns.

— ANOTHER FREE RIDE: L.A. Unified School board member Kelly Gonez is also running unopposed in the June 2 election. On Wednesday, her one potential opponent, JP Perron, announced he was dropping out. Like Rodriguez, Gonez represents part of the San Fernando Valley.

— A HELPING HAND: For a hot minute, things were touch and go for Sylvia Robledo, a former council aide looking to unseat Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. After filing her petitions, Robledo learned Tuesday that she was short 14 voter signatures. Raul Claros, one of her rivals in the race, stepped in to help close the gap, gathering some signatures himself. “People want options,” he said later on Instagram. “People want anybody but Eunisses Hernandez.”

Two of Robledo’s other opponents — entrepreneur Nelson Grande and nonprofit executive Maria Lou Calanche — added their own names to her petition. On Wednesday, she qualified for the ballot.

“We may have a different vision or path, but we all want new leadership,” Robledo said.

— JANISSE JETS OFF: The top executive at the Department of Water and Power, Janisse Quiñones, announced this week that she has taken a job as CEO of a privately owned electrical company in her native Puerto Rico. Quiñones, who was hired at $750,000 a year, faced criticism over the DWP’s decision to drain a reservoir shortly before the Palisades fire broke out. Her first day in the new job is March 30.

— TRUMP ON LINE 1: Bass spoke on the phone this week with President Trump to request FEMA reimbursements for the Palisades fire, KNX News reported. Bass told the station that the president was “very receptive.”

“I was reluctant to call because there are a few other things going on, like what’s happening overseas, and I didn’t think, given all that was happening internationally, that he would actually return my call,” she told the station.

— OVERDUE BILLS: The county Board of Supervisors voted this week to fund a financial review of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, after finding that the agency owes tens of millions of dollars to nonprofits that oversee interim housing for the region’s homeless population. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said her phone was “ringing off the hook” from groups needing to get paid by LAHSA.

— TIT FOR TAT: Meanwhile, the long-running feud between Bass and Horvath continued to boil over, with the two taking digs at each other over the future of the region’s homeless programs. Bass, in a statement, said pulling out of LAHSA too quickly would bring “unintended consequences” and leave “more Angelenos to die on our streets.”

“When the County created their new Department of Homeless Services and Housing, they also created a $300 million gap, which they had to close by prioritizing bureaucracy rather than services,” Bass said.

Horvath shot back, saying she is already conferring with council members on a strategy to have the city pay the county to provide homeless services.

“I’m ready to work with the City Council and show the Mayor what locking arms actually looks like,” she said, swiping one of Bass’ signature phrases.

— PALISADES BOWL IN PERIL: The owners of a mobile home park destroyed last year in the Palisades fire are marketing the site as a potential “mixed use” project — housing plus commercial space, which would result in permanent displacement of residents. City Councilmember Traci Park said any developer looking to take the sellers up on their offer should “pound sand.”

“What we are interested in doing is restoring this property as a mobile home park for the people who were there and remain displaced,” she said.

— PURSUING POT PROCEEDS: L.A. cannabis companies owe the city more than $400 million in business taxes, late fees and interest. Hoping to recoup $30 million of that total, the council voted this week to set up an amnesty program for those pot businesses that still owe money and haven’t already shuttered.

— JAIL DEATHS: Ten people have died in L.A. County jails so far this year, putting the county on track for another record-setting year of in-custody deaths. Now, county supervisors want the Sheriff’s Department to reverse that trend by beefing up safety checks, more closely monitoring cameras and increasing access to the overdose reversal drug Naloxone.

— FOR FLOCK’S SAKE: The Police Commission wants to know how data captured by the controversial license plate reader Flock Safety are being stored and shared. Commissioner Jeff Skobin asked for the information following reports that federal agencies had repeatedly accessed Flock’s surveillance data as part of Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to fight homelessness went to a stretch of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood, underneath the 170 Freeway. About three dozen people went inside, according to Bass’ team.
• On the docket next week: The council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee meets Tuesday to take up a proposal to hike the penalties for putting up illegal billboards and other unpermitted signs.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Diego Rivera 14, Animo Venice 2

East Valley 13, Reseda 3

El Camino Real 1, San Fernando 0

Fremont 10, Fairfax 1

Granada Hills Kennedy 13, South East 10

Hollywood 12, Roybal 4

Northridge Academy 3, Fulton 2

RFK Community 25, Contreras 7

SOCES 18, AMIT 2

Sun Valley Magnet 11, Grant 9

Sylmar 7, Legacy 1

Westchester 14, Gardena 13

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alhambra 18, San Gabriel 0

Aliso Niguel 9, Irvine 4

Antelope Valley 1, Desert 0

Apple Valley 4, Palmdale 1

Arcadia 24, Glendale 1

Ayala 7, San Dimas 1

Azusa 4, Nogales 1

Baldwin Park 9, Duarte 3

Barstow 5, Hesperia Christian 3

Bishop Amat 13, Gardena Serra 2

Bishop Union 6, Desert Christian 1

Bloomington 3, Fontana 1

Bonita 9, Los Osos 8

Burbank 6, Hoover 4

Burbank Burroughs 10, Pasadena 3

California City 18, Eastside 5

Camarillo 5, Fillmore 0

Canyon Springs 24, San Bernardino 2

Castaic 11, Heritage Christian 0

Century 2, El Toro 0

Claremont 3, Western Christian 2

Cornerstone Christian 21, Grove School 0

Corona Centennial 19, Eastvale Roosevelt 3

Corona Santiago 5, Crean Lutheran 4

Crespi 3, Saugus 2

Diamond Ranch 17, Pomona 2

Dos Pueblos 9, Ventura 5

Downey Calvary Chapel 8, Whitney 7

Dunn 19, Coastal Christian 6

El Modena 10, Garden Grove Pacifica 1

El Rancho 9, California 2

Entrepreneur 16, Packinghouse Christian 10

Firebaugh 10, Lynwood 2

Fullerton 1, Chaparral 0

Gabrielino 11, Long Beach Jordan 5

Gladstone 16, Bloomington Christian 4

Gladstone 18, Morningside 8

Godinez 6, Santa Ana Valley 0

Hemet 10, Beaumont 2

Heritage 10, Perris 0

Hillcrest 6, Savanna 3

Jurupa Hills 2, Liberty 0

Jurupa Valley 18, Bassett 0

Katella 5, Long Beach Poly 2

Laguna Beach 5, Downey 0

Laguna Hills 10, Portola 5

La Quinta 1, Beckman 0

La Salle 17, Temple City 0

La Serna 7, Santa Fe 3

Linfield Christian 3, Summit 1

Lone Pine 15, Silver Valley 2

Long Beach Cabrillo 5, La Sierra 0

Magnolia 11, Glenn 5

Mayfair 1, Norwalk 0

Montclair 19, Hacienda Heights Wilson 2

Montebello 10, Bell Gardens 0

North Torrance 7, Wiseburn-Da Vinci 5

Northview 12, Rancho Cucamonga 0

Orange County Pacifica Christian 3, Sage Hill 2

Palos Verdes 8, West Torrance 0

Paraclete 2, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 0

Paramount 12, Dominguez 0

Patriot 11, Riverside North 5

Placentia Valencia 7, Garden Grove 1

Righetti 14, Pasadena Marshall 5

Rio Mesa 15, Oxnard 3

Riverside King 14, Paloma Valley 8

Rubidoux 11, Pacific 1

San Jacinto 17, Cathedral City 0

San Marcos 1, Buena 0

San Marino 4, Glendora 3

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 4, Northwood 3

Santa Margarita 1, Damien 0

Schurr 10, Mark Keppel 0

Serrano 6, PACS 0

Servite 6, Anaheim Canyon 1

Sierra Canyon 12, West Ranch 1

Sierra Vista 7, Garey 5

Simi Valley 8, Newbury Park 5

Sonora 21, La Palma Kennedy 1

South Torrance 4, El Segundo 3

St. Bonaventure 21, Channel Islands 2

St. John Bosco 1, Gahr 0

Sultana 11, Rialto 0

Sunny Hills 7, Charter Oak 7

Temescal Canyon 12, Citrus Hill 2

Torrance 4, Redondo Union 3

University Prep 14, ACE 2

Valley View 7, Big Bear 0

Villa Park 6, Capistrano Valley 4

Vista del Lago 10, Twentynine Palms 5

Vista Murrieta 24, Moreno Valley 1

Walnut 7, Whittier Christian 3

Warren 3, Millikan 1

West Covina 13, La Canada 7

Westminster 8, Santa Ana 2

Whittier 5, Rosemead 4

Xavier Prep 3, Anza Hamilton 2

Yucaipa 10, Kaiser 6

INTERSECTIONAL

Basic (NV) 4, Orange Lutheran 2

Burbank Providence 18, Collins Family 2

Dana Hills 10, Buchanan 3

El Dorado 10, Granada Hills 4

Flintridge Prep 12, Maywood CES 2

King/Drew 15, Compton Early College 11

Loyola 14, Venice 1

Mater Dei 15, Rockwall (TX) 1

Murrieta Mesa 4, Carlsbad 1

Taft 10, Oak Park 0

Valencia 12, Chatsworth 0

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Huntington Park 19, Maywood CES 17

LA Roosevelt 20, Narbonne 6

Reseda 22, Fulton 9

SOCES 27, Fairfax 2

Taft 10, North Hollywood 0

Torres 12, Jefferson 9

VAAS 27, Valley Oaks CES 6

SOUTHERN SECTION

ACE 9, CIMSA 6

Agoura 2, Saugus 0

Alhambra 7, Sacred Heart of Jesus 6

Alta Loma 16, Claremont 6

Anza Hamilton 20, Xavier Prep 8

Apple Valley 15, Laguna Hills 2

Bishop Montgomery 10, Chadwick 0

Brea Olinda 6, Lakewood 4

Brentwood 12, Westridge 1

Capistrano Valley Christian 16, Artesia 5

Canyon Springs 13, San Bernardino 2

Citrus Hill 9, West Valley 8

Colton 19, Banning 8

Corona del Mar 14, Westminster La Quinta 1

Cypress 8, Brea Olinda 0

Don Lugo 11, West Covina 6

Dos Pueblos 7, Ventura 4

Eastvale Roosevelt 6, Colony 2

Eisenhower 11, Moreno Valley 10

Eastside 10, California City 8

Elsinore 11, Orange Vista 1

Fontana 16, Miller 6

Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Anaheim Canyon 2

Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Orange Lutheran 2

JSerra 4, Bonita 1

JSerra 2, Norco 0

La Mirada 14, Whittier Christian 0

Liberty 5, Hemet 1

Lone Pine 26, Silver Valley 15

Los Alamitos 7, Marina 0

Los Amigos 9, Bolsa Grande 4

Monrovia 18, Mayfield 5

Murrieta Mesa 3, Chino Hills 2

Murrieta Mesa 6, Agoura 1

Ontario 16, Nogales 6

Ontario Christian 3, Los Osos 0

Orange 12, Long Beach Cabrillo 0

Placentia Valencia 12, Ocean View 5

Portola 20, Oxford Academy 11

Ramona 7, Arlington 4

Redlands 13, Palm Springs 6

Redlands East Valley 3, Diamond Ranch 0

Redondo Union 9, Santa Monica 5

Righetti 10, Newbury Park 0

Riverside Poly 7, Rancho Cucamonga 2

Riverside Prep 5, Diamond Bar 0

San Marcos 13, Buena 11

Santa Margarita 8, Maranatha 5

Saugus 5, Chino Hills 0

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 15, Culver City 0

South Pasadena 3, Rio Hondo Prep 1

University Prep 4, Serrano 2

Valley View 13, Kaiser 2

Villa Park 9, Lakewood 2

Walnut 5, Sierra Vista 3

Westminster 12, St. Pius X-St, Matthias Academy 11

INTERSECTIONAL

Arizona Charter Academy 11, Whittier Christian 1

Castaic 8, Chatsworth 0

La Habra 3, Cibola (AZ) 1

Los Alamitos 3, Las Vegas (NV) Mountain View Christian 2

Orange Lutheran 7, Perry (AZ) 1

Schurr 11, Cibola (AZ) 3

South Torrance 8, Las Vegas (NV) Arbor View 4

Tehachapi 10, Bishop Union 0

Valley Christian 17, San Leandro 2

Vasquez 17, Castle Park 2

Westlake 6, Las Vegas (NV) Arbor View 3

Westlake 11, River Valley (AZ) 1

March 6 (UPI) — The Department of Justice released new FBI documents Thursday that describe several interviews with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a young teen.

The pages had been withheld from the other documents from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Officials said they were held back because they mistakenly believed they were duplicates.

The 16 pages of notes describe three interviews that the FBI conducted in 2019 with the woman, who said she was sexually abused by Epstein and Trump when she was between the ages of 13 years and 15 years in the 1980s.

There are also two pages from an intake form that document the initial call to the FBI from a friend who reported the woman’s claims.

Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019.

The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, which are legally required to be released to the public.

The Justice Department posted on X that it identified about a dozen other documents that were “incorrectly coded as duplicative.”

Federal prosecutors in Florida also determined that five prosecution memos that had been labeled privileged could be redacted and released.

NPR reported that it conducted an investigation that found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public release database.

There are still 37 pages missing, NPR said, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said in a statement that they applauded the release of the interviews but still criticized the department for its handling.

“But let’s be clear — this White House cover-up is ongoing. Millions of pages still remain concealed from the public and our committee,” said Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for Oversight Democrats.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to NPR Friday that Trump has been “totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein files.”

“These are completely baseless accusations, backed by zero credible evidence, from a sadly disturbed woman who has an extensive criminal history,” Leavitt wrote to NPR.

“The total baselessness of these accusations is also supported by the obvious fact that Joe Biden‘s department of justice knew about them for four years and did nothing with them — because they knew President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. As we have said countless times, President Trump has been totally exonerated by the release of the Epstein Files,” she wrote.

Coming into her senior year, Ciena Alipio wanted to be as present as humanly possible and learn how to trust herself going into every competition.

She set forth goals for herself and a bigger one for the UCLA gymnastics team. With the first box checked after clinching their second consecutive Big Ten title, the work toward meeting each of her standards is just beginning.

“You’re seeing the result of every hard practice that we’re having,” Alipio said after Friday’s victory over Maryland. “We’re putting in work and we’re doing what we absolutely have to every single day in the gym and I think it’s just putting it all together on the same day.”

After an unbeaten conference season, Alipio has not only transformed herself into a three-event staple in the lineup, she was among the 45 nominees for the 2026 AAI Award along with her teammate Jordan Chiles — an NCAA honor that is given to the most outstanding senior female gymnast of the season.

“She’s just one of those athletes that’s really willing to do whatever it takes to be at her best for the team, and she’s an incredibly hard worker,” coach Janelle McDonald said. “She puts her heart into everything she does and she really has a growth mentality that she takes into every aspect of her life.”

During the first three years of her college career, Alipio was known as a balance beam expert. That fact hasn’t changed, except now she added success on the uneven bars and the floor exercise.

She’s currently ranked No. 4 in the nation on beam and leads the team with six individual titles in the event. Against Nebraska in January, Alipio led the meet in the floor exercise. On her way to another Big Ten title, she has shown consistency by hitting all 23 of her routines without a fall.

Alipio is averaging a mark above 9.800 on beam, bars and floor exercise. The two-time first-team All-American on beam has been named Big Ten event specialist of the week three times this season for her high performances on multiple apparatuses.

McDonald describes the Big Ten balance beam champion as a steady leader who leads by example, someone who’s willing to put her head down and go through the grind to get better — a valuable asset to any team.

“To see somebody always trying to show up and get better with that growth mindset is so great,” she said. “Ciena really has leveled up in her leadership in that she’s somebody that continually checks in on people.”

When Alipio notices someone needs a little pick-me-up, she’s there to support them, McDonald added.

“She’s also just become a really great messenger of our team culture and just [continues] to build and tighten our culture where it’s needed and to step up in those moments when the team needs a leader.”

UCLA gymnast Ciena Alipio celebrates with teammate Jordan Chiles after completing a balance beam routine.

(Jesus Ramirez / UCLA Athletics)

With two meets left in the regular season — against Stanford on Saturday and Utah on March 14, senior night at Pauley Pavilion — Alipio is just going to have fun competing.

“Coming in as a freshman I was like, ‘Oh, I have so much time,’ and now it has gone by in a blink of an eye,” she said. “… But I’m really, really trying to just stay present for the next few weeks and just enjoy every single moment with this team.”

Rosen update

McDonald and the coaching staff will take a conservative approach to dealing with Katelyn Rosen’s foot injury from Friday’s meet. Resting her and making sure she is 100% to go for the Big Ten championships is the priority. Replacing her at the top of rotations is an ongoing conversation.

“We really look for that lead-off to be very steady,” she said. “Somebody that doesn’t kind of go with the ups and downs of their emotions. They can show up, be really steady, kick off the event really aggressively, confidently and so those things we’re gonna be looking for this weekend [against Stanford].”

Andrew Gunn, a film producer on live-action Disney favorites including “Freaky Friday” and “Sky High,” has died. He was 56.

Gunn died Monday at his Toronto home following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, according to an obituary.

“He was a courageous and modest man always doing for others before himself. His love of family, friends, motorcycles and tattoos will long be remembered by those who knew him,” his wife Jane Bellamy Gunn said in a statement to USA Today. She told the outlet that Andrew had been diagnosed with Bulbar-onset ALS, a form of the neurodegenerative disease affecting the neck and face, in September 2025 after experiencing symptoms for more than two years.

The Canadian film producer was best known for his work on family friendly Disney comedies starting in the 2000s. Gunn launched his own production company, Gunn Films, in 2001 and had an exclusive first-look deal with Walt Disney Pictures.

Among his earliest hits was the 2003 body-swap comedy “Freaky Friday,” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mother-daughter duo who wake up one morning in each other’s bodies. The remake was made after Gunn had pitched the movie to then-studio president Nina Jacobson.

Andrew Gunn, center, with director Mark Waters, left, and Jamie Lee Curtis on the set of “Freaky Friday” in 2003.

(Ron Batzdorff / Disney Entertainment)

“Andrew Gunn … was a producer with great passion and emotionality which added so much to what makes those movies special,” Curtis wrote in her tribute posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “His legacy lives on, and he will be missed.”

Gunn was also the producer on the 2005 superhero comedy “Sky High,” as well as films based on iconic Disney theme park attractions, including “The Country Bears” (2002) and “The Haunted Mansion” (2003). His most recent credits include “Cruella” (2021), the fashion-forward origin story of “101 Dalmations” villain Cruella de Vil, as well as the next-gen sequel “Freakier Friday” (2025).

Born July 15, 1969, in Toronto, Gunn moved to L.A. to earn a master’s degree from the Annenberg School at USC, according to Deadline. He began his Hollywood career in the late 1990s, working at John Hughes’ Great Oaks Entertainment where he contributed to the development of films such as “101 Dalmatians” (1996), “102 Dalmatians” (2000) and “Flubber” (1997).

Gunn is also credited with helping establish the Disney Writers Program in 2001, where he championed and mentored up-and-coming writers.

“Andrew Gunn took a chance on a very green 29 year old from nowhere and gave him a screenwriting career and more than that…a family in my adopted city,” said “Clifford the Big Red Dog” writer and Disney Writers Program alum Blaise Hemingway in his Instagram tribute.

“Andrew fostered a fraternity of writers who did EVERYTHING together,” Hemingway added. “Lunches, Friday movies, happy hours at Mo’s, kid’s birthday parties. Alongside Andrew, we rewrote, roundtabled, did triage on productions in crisis…you name it. It was crazy, unhinged, and so [f—] fun. And despite the leather jackets and tattoos, Andrew was a softy who got a kick out of his writers’ knuckle-headed antics. He was a great mentor.”

Gunn is survived by his wife Jane; his children Isabelle and Connor Gunn; mother Anne Gunn; and siblings Hilary Knight, Graeme Gunn and Cameron Gunn.