hes

It was a moment playing golf that anyone and everyone looks forward to celebrating.

Jake Norr, a junior at Palisades High, made a hole in one earlier this week at Woodley Lakes Golf Course. It was part of a nine-hole round that left him six-under-par and stamped himself as the favorite to win the City Section individual title later this spring.

He then aced the fifth hole at Harding Golf Course on Thursday.

“I think he has a good chance,” Palisades coach Dave Suarez said of Norr winning the individual City title.

Norr used a 9-iron for his hole in one on the 159-yard hole at Woodley Lakes.

“It was the first of many to come,” Suarez said on Wednesday.

Then came Norr’s second hole in one on Thursday, making Suarez’s prediction pretty impressive.

“I knew he had it in him,” Suarez said.

Norr has been part of Palisades’ last two teams to win City titles.

“He’s a really hard worker,’ Suarez said.

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

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury says he’s “still got it” as he pledged to focus on the task at hand in his latest return to the ring.

Following a 15-month absence, 37-year-old Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) is up against 36-year-old Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs) in a bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The pair spoke during a pre-fight news conference in London on Thursday, hours after the chief executive of Croke Park said the 80,000-capacity Dublin venue wanted to stage the long-awaited Battle of Britain super-fight between Fury and fellow former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Fury and Joshua have almost fought on several occasions, only for contract disputes, fitness issues and losses elsewhere to derail previous attempts to get them into the same ring.

Their camps had reportedly been close to an agreement before Joshua decided to take time out from boxing following a car crash which led to the deaths of two close friends in December.

The 36-year-old Joshua is now back in training and was at Derek Chisora’s defeat by Deontay Wilder last Saturday.

Fury insisted on Thursday: “I don’t want to mention names when I’ve got a dangerous fighter in front of me. The rest can get a hiding but I need to give Makhmudov a hiding first.”

He added: “Like I said when Daniel Dubois was fighting Anthony Joshua [in 2024], everybody said and all the boxing brains said, ‘AJ will knock him out inside three rounds,’ and they were overlooking him. ‘Are you going to fight Tyson next?’

“And I said you better put some respect on Dubois’ name because he’s going to chin him and that’s what happened. So, I won’t fall down that same hurdle and trap.”

Nevertheless, he did hint at future plans for 2026 when he spoke on Ring’s YouTube channel later on Thursday.

“As far as I am concerned, I will focus on this big Russian fella, then Anthony Joshua and maybe a third fight [with Oleksandr Usyk],” Fury said.

‘Bored of the normal life’

Fury retired after his second successive loss to world champion Usyk at the end of 2024 and went a year without a fight before revealing his latest comeback on January 4.

“People always question retirement for me,” said Fury, who on Thursday reiterated the inspiration for this return was the death of Joshua’s friends because “you have got to live every day like it is your last”.

He added: “I’ve retired five times before and meant it wholeheartedly. I’ve come back four times successfully and we’ll see if it’s five.

“Make no mistake when I retire I have zero intention of returning but I miss the game. However, after a few months I am bored of the normal life. Dropping the kids off at school, taking the dogs for a walk, that kind of stuff. I miss everything that comes with big fights.”

John Fury, Tyson’s father and long a familiar figure in the corner as his son rose through the boxing ranks, said last month that a trio of gruelling fights against Deontay Wilder meant the ‘Gypsy King’ is “past his best”.

“Tyson has been gone since the Deontay Wilder fights, they finished him … Makhmudov is a problem for Tyson, said John Fury.

But Tyson said on Thursday: “I’ve never lost my speed of reactions. I’ve still got it. 100 percent.”

Makhmudov says wrestling a bear once was ‘enough’

The Russian-born fighter, meanwhile, played down suggestions that Fury, “a great boxer”, would be hampered by a recent lack of competitive ring time.

“It’s not a problem for him because of his experience,” said Makhmudov, who briefly grabbed Fury in a playful bear hug.

“Maybe it’s the opposite because he can recover from hard fights in the past.”

Makhmudov has created some buzz ahead of the fight by posting a video that showed him wrestling a 2.9m (9 feet 8 inch), 419kg bear in woods outside of Moscow nearly two years ago – an encounter he says taught him to confront fear.

“It was very terrible. Not just scary, but really crazy terrible,” Makhmudov told the Press Association this week.

“Since I was a kid I have liked a challenge, that’s why I did that just to test myself to see how I would feel in that crazy situation.

“You only understand its strength when you’re close to it. In one second you can become like meat, just meat, just like that.

“It’s not comparable with human stuff. It’s like a natural disaster, I cannot explain it, it’s crazy.

“It is good preparation for boxing because you have to control your emotions and your fear. You have to beat your fear, beat your phobias. For that it was good, but one time is enough!”

SOPHIE Kasaei was feeling emotional as she got to spend Easter Sunday at home with boyfriend Jordan Brook after he has spent the last three weeks in hospital.

The Geordie Shore star, 36, was delighted to have her other half back home after his terrifying meningitis battle, which saw him unable to walk.

After a scary few weeks, pregnant Sophie finally got to enjoy Easter with Jordan, 31, as the couple enjoyed a Sunday roast at home.

Sharing a slew of pictures from the day, Sophie could be seen planting a kiss on Jordan as they cradled her growing baby bump.

She captioned the post: “Watching you walk out of those hospital doors felt like getting my whole world back.

“These past weeks have been the hardest I’ve ever known. But you never stopped fighting, not just for yourself, but for us for your family, for our little boy growing inside me.

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“The goal was to be home for Easter, and you did it!”

Thankful that things are finally getting back to normal, she continued: “Having JB home, hand on my bump, smiling again means more than words will ever be able to say.

“We are blessed, grateful, and whole again.

“Happy Easter from us. Enjoy it with loved ones, sit back soak it up. Life is a precious gift.”

Also taking to her Instagram Stories, Sophie admitted she had been “praying” Jordan would return home in time for Easter.

Jordan was discharged from hospital this week after a 22-day stay, which saw him diagnosed with meningitis.

The harrowing ordeal left Jordan unable to walk, with the Towie star using a wheelchair, and with “acute memory loss” amid a host of other symptoms.

As he revealed he was finally getting to return home earlier this week, Jordan also revealed just how awful his health battle has been.

He told fans: “The top 1% percent of the worst case of viral meningitis and encephilitis that my Dr has ever seen.

“Brain swelling, inflammation. Acute memory loss, the only memories I have are ones I would like to forget forever.”

Jordan went on to thank his family for their unwavering support throughout the illness, and the NHS workers for “saving my life”.

Sophie is set to give birth to hers and Jordan’s baby boy around mid June and the pair are hoping Jordan will make a full recovery before then.

They are welcoming their first child following an emotional two-year fertility battle.

Jordan and Sophie have been together since 2022 and have documented their quest to become parents on Towie and Geordie Shore.

Eugene Mirman appears to be in good spirits after being injured in a fiery car crash.

The comedian and “Bob’s Burgers” actor shared an Instagram update Friday to reassure fans he is “doing relatively alright, all things considered.” Mirman was hospitalized for serious injuries on Tuesday after being pulled out of the window of his Lucid Gravity that had caught fire after crashing into the Bedford Toll Plaza in New Hampshire.

“I am extraordinarily thankful to the heroic people that pulled me from the car and to the warm, kind and talented staff at the hospital that cared for me and got me on the mend!” Mirman wrote in the caption accompanying a photo of himself bandaged up and holding a piece of art that reads “Life is an Adventure.” “I am thankful beyond words to be here and doing relatively alright, all things considered.”

He also thanked everyone who had reached out with “well wishes, love and kind messages.” While Mirman appears a bit banged up in the photo, it did not keep him from including a dash of humor in his update.

“I don’t have my phone, so haven’t been online much,” his post continued. “I do not recommend my method of decreasing screen-time. If you’re a friend who sent a kind, loving message, you should know that it was hard to not respond with, ‘I’d love to be on your podcast.’ I love you all and please take care of yourselves.”

Among those who helped Mirman before first responders arrived were New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and her security detail.

“I want to thank the Trooper on my security detail and the bystanders who stepped up to help at the scene of the crash for their brave lifesaving efforts today,” Ayotte wrote Tuesday in a post on X. “Joe and I are praying for the full recovery of the driver who was injured today.”

Mirman voices middle child Gene Belcher in Fox’s animated comedy “Bob’s Burgers,” which is currently in its 16th season.

STEPS singer Lee Latchford-Evans has confirmed his wife has given birth to their second child.

The couple first revealed they were expecting another baby on Christmas Day last year but Lee has now confirmed their bundle of joy is here.

Taking to Instagram, Lee, 51, tagged his wife, Kerry Lucy, as he shared a snap of himself walking out of the hospital and carrying the newborn in a baby travel seat.

Lee captioned the snap: “Here we go again!”

He added both a blue and purple love heart as to keep his fans guessing over the gender of the newborn.

Kerry later re-shared the post to her own Instagram story.

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The couple were immediately met with well-wishes from fans as one penned: “Oh this is wonderful news!! Congratulations!! X.”

With another writing: “Congratulations on your baby news.”

Lee’s Steps bandmate, Faye Tozer, also commented to say: “Bursting with joy for you all! Can’t wait to meet little one.”

It is the second baby for married couple Lee and Kerry.

Lee and Kerry-Lucy welcomed their first son Leo in July 2021.

The couple, who have been together since 2007, had previously suffered a devastating miscarriage.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Lee opened up on how he and Kerry went through a period of time where they felt “resentment” towards their friends who were expecting or already had babies.

“We’ve wanted a baby for so long. We did start thinking, “Why isn’t this working for us? What’s wrong with us?”

“You doubt each other slightly, but luckily we have a very strong relationship.

“We went through a time where all of our friends were pregnant and people were always walking past us with prams and I guess we hated that and had a bit of resentment towards them, which I know we shouldn’t have.

“It was difficult and frustrating.”

SCOTT Mills’ “work wife” Tina Daheley has revealed the “real reason” she was missing from Radio 2 this week.

It was revealed this week that fan-favourite host Scott had been fired from his Radio 2 Breakfast Show over allegations surrounding his “personal conduct.”

The Sun understands that his contract was terminated within five days of the complaint being made.

It then came to light how Scott’s sacking was linked to a complaint about a 2016 police probe into historic “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy, with the timeline of proceedings showing the BBC took seven years to act.

Scott’s co-presenter Tina took to social media on Wednesday to admit that it’s been an “awful week” after she went “missing”.

She shared a photo of herself in bed with a cup of tea and wrote: “Good morning! Just about recovered from this awful cold/flu.

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“I’ve had for the past week (being parent to a primary school aged child is like having a subscription service to viruses!).”

Tina then revealed when she would be returning to her hosting duties.

“Good news is I’m over the worst of it and looking forward to spending two weeks with my family over the Easter hols from tomorrow after what’s been an incredibly difficult past week,” she said.

“I’ll be back on the radio Tuesday 21st April.”

It comes after Scott’s podcast was pulled by the BBC.

His Mercedes-Benz Vans Under the Bonnet: On the Road podcast has also been taken off Spotify.

The four part series created in 2025 with the Under the Bonnet report, shone the spotlight on varying issues for van drivers including everything from road conditions to mental health.

Scott has previously opened up on his own mental health battles and the podcast saw him reveal how 65 per cent of drivers had also struggled.

Yet when users search for it on Spotify, from a Google link that previously worked, a caption now states: “Couldn’t find that podcast.

“Search for something else?”

The BBC have also removed him from a Race Across The World podcast and pulled scenes he filmed for EastEnders.

Yesterday, we exclusively reported how charity Neuroblastoma UK dropped him as a patron.

Recently, we reported how Scott had been wiped from the BBC’s social media.

It comes after it was confirmed the Scott Mills Bridge at the M3 service station was now set to be re-named.

Additionally, The Sun was first to report how his Eurovision replacement is his fellow BBC Radio 2 DJ, Sara Cox.

Since 2011, he has commentated on the semi-finals, which air on BBC One on Tuesday and Thursday in the week leading up to the grand final.

• Scott Mills has been sensationally sacked by the BBC in a “tense” meeting with bosses
• The sudden axing is understood to be linked to a 2016 police probe into historical sex offences involving a teen boy
• Mills was questioned by police under caution in 2018 but the case was dropped in full due to a lack of evidence it is understood
• The race is now on to find a replacement for Mills, with fellow BBC DJ Gary Davies standing in
• And uncertainty now surrounds his future projects

In recent years, he has been joined by Rylan Clark to commentate on the shows, as well as the final live on Radio 2.

It comes after it transpired the broadcaster was questioned by police under caution in 2018 – when he was in his 40s, the Mirror reports.

The interview was related to alleged offences which took place between 1997 and 2000.

The case was dropped in full due to a lack of evidence.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told The Mirror: “In December 2016, the Met began an investigation following a referral from another police force.

“The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy.”

The spokesperson said a man, who was in his 40s at the time of the interview, was questioned by police under caution in July 2018.

“A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges,” the Met said.

“Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.”

The allegations, which did not result in any charges, were reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000.

Scott began at Radio 1 in 1998 presenting the early morning slot before earning his own breakfast show The Scott Mills Show.

Scott’s pals have also claimed they “can’t reach him” amid the “teen boy sex probe”.

A BBC spokesperson told The Sun: “While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.”

Legendary street artist and activist Shepard Fairey was omnipresent at the High Desert Art Fair, which unfolded in and around Pioneertown over two unseasonably hot days last weekend. Founded more than seven years ago by art dealer Nicholas Fahey and artist manager Candice Lawler, the event has morphed from a few dozen people in Lawler’s living room to a few thousand roaming the dusty, sunny environs of the kitschy Old West town, with ancillary events in Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree.

Fairey, who bought a home in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic, DJ’d a spirited opening night party at the Red Dog Saloon — spinning punk, post-punk and new wave hits by Joy Division, Fugazi and Black Flag to a packed house of art fans wearing paint-splattered DIY couture — and he spoke during the weekend’s most anticipated panel alongside Devo frontman and gallery owner Mark Mothersbaugh in a conversation moderated by singer-songwriter Harper Simon, son of folk icon Paul Simon.

Artist Shepard Fairey DJ’d the opening night party of High Desert Art Fair at the Red Dog Saloon in Pioneertown. The set was heavy of punk, post-punk and new wave.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

Fairey was forthcoming about his opinions on art, politics and technology, drawing applause at one point for saying that using AI in art is not something to be afraid of. His assessment came after he lamented the fact that social media algorithms punish “decency” and reward “flamboyant narcissism and controversy.” He then joked that the “algorithm’s gonna love this. S— is gonna go nuts,” before talking about his recent collaboration with the digital artist known as Beeple who’s notorious in the art world for selling an NFT of his art in 2021 for $69.3 million.

The Red Dog Saloon was packed with art and music fans during the Friday night opening party of the High Desert Art Fair, which drew thousands of people to Pioneertown during the last weekend in March.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

“He’s either the vanguard of a new way of working, and a maverick, a trailblazer, or he’s the worst thing that’s happened to art ever, or in between, or both, or neither,” Fairey said as the crowd laughed. “That’s totally my opinion.”

During a late-March event held in Fairey’s hometown of Charleston, S.C., Beeple Studios presented “Shepard Fairey: Obey and Resist,” which leveraged AI to help guests create their own Fairey-inspired paintings. During the panel, Fairey called the results “almost idiot-proof.”

He then elaborated on his feelings about AI’s encroachment on the art world, saying that if he were part of the “traditional art world thinking” he wouldn’t dare “go over to the dark side of digital art and AI, because that’s cheating.”

“All those same people a few hundred years ago when Da Vinci was using the camera obscura were like, ‘Get your proportions right, just by eye. Don’t use a cheating tool,’” Fairey said before taking the analogy to cave paintings and noting that those same types of naysayers would’ve been unhappy when it was discovered that horse hairs at the end of a stick were useful for distributing pigment and might have said, “That’s not keeping it real, bro. Use bloody elbow like everyone else.”

Fairey called that type of thinking “idiotic.”

“A tool in service of someone with a genuine vision that bends the tool to their will, rather than having themselves bent to the tool — that’s what creativity is about,” Fairey said.

The conversation about AI art started when Mothersbaugh, who was headlining a music set at Pappy & Harriet’s later that night, admitted that he was “fooling around with AI” and “just making myself laugh, like mutating old Devo photos and videos. It cracks me up. … I don’t know what is ever going to happen with it. Maybe they’ll just always live on my phone and eventually get thrown away or lost or something.”

The stage is set for an experimental music show by the General, featuring the stylings of Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

It’s a rock ‘n’ roll art fair

The idea that AI won’t cannibalize artists and their work on a massive scale is refreshingly utopian, but in many ways so was the fair itself. It takes magical thinking to grow anything in the harsh desert environment, which is why artists have been making the trek for decades. There was a youthful, rock ‘n’ roll vibe to the proceedings that was punk in quality but earnest in its quest to be seen.

Mothersbaugh’s gallery, MutMuz, occupied one of 20 rooms reconfigured as show spaces at the Pioneertown Motel, as did Gross!, a Chinatown gallery founded by former Liars drummer Julian Gross and populated with the work of musicians such as Karen O, O’s costume designer Christian Joy and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe.

A work of painted fabric by Karen O‘s costume designer Christian Joy hangs in Gross! Gallery at the Pioneertown Motel during High Desert Art Fair. The gallery is owned by former Liars drummer Julian Gross who features plenty of work by fellow artists.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

Desert pioneers are key to the spirit of the place

The fair featured tours of a number of the most interesting attractions in the area, including the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Art in Joshua Tree and artist Andrea Zittel’s arts outpost and residency program, High Desert Test Sites.

Old computers are stacked at the center of an installation titled “Carousel” (1996) by Noah Purifoy at the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Art in Joshua Tree.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

Purifoy’s fantastical assemblages made of found objects and unloved detritus provided the most fitting example of the creative desert mindset. Outsider art in every sense of the word, and laden with scathing political and social commentary, Purifoy’s installations morph and change in the elements. A nonprofit exists to preserve them, but tour guide Teri Rommelmann said preservation efforts aren’t meant to alter the course of nature and time, but rather to save the work from sinking into the sand.

Noah Purifoy’s 2001 installation “White/Colored” is the most frequently vandalized piece in the outdoor Joshua Tree museum dedicated to his work.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

Another aspect of the preservation work is erasing vandalism, which happened most during the pandemic, and was quite telling in its main target: An installation featuring a water fountain marked “White” next to a toilet affixed with a water fountain mouthpiece and labeled “Colored.”

Noah Purifoy’s sculpture “Ode to Frank Gehry” (2000) stands in the sand as part of the Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Art. The piece was once featured in a show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and transporting it can be quite tricky.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

At High Desert Test Sites, Zittel’s famous A-Z West escape pods are no longer used for camping after the city said the nonprofit would have to attain a commercial camping permit to continue. Nonetheless, the organization’s 80 acres are home to a variety of artist residencies, which use the windswept isolation of the desert to activate dormant ideas. It was just announced that environmental artist Lita Albuquerque will have a residency at the site.

Andrea Zittel’s famous A-Z West escape pods at High Desert Test Sites can no longer be used for camping, but they still dot the nonprofit’s 80 acres of land as an example of the creativity that the desert environment unleashes.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

The tiled kitchen that artist Andrea Zittel designed for the main residence at High Desert Test Sites, which she lived in for nearly 20 years and can now be rented by artists in residence.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

Art is everywhere in the desert — and growing

The success of this year’s High Desert Art Fair bodes well for the future of the area as a cultural destination.

Next year will see the return of Desert X, which for the first time will keep its large-scale, site-specific installations up for six months, timed to coincide with other SoCal cultural happenings including the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Frieze. There are also semi-permanent art installations everywhere in the area, including along driveways and the roadside. This includes a hair salon and museum in Joshua Tree, and the recently opened Reset Hotel in Twentynine Palms features dozens of rooms in retrofitted shipping containers, some with outdoor bathtubs and firepits. The hotel has also carved desert trails in its backyard, with plans to build an art park filled with installations.

The shipping container rooms at the new Reset Hotel in Twentynine Palms feature outdoor living spaces with firepits and bathtubs. Some overlook trails that will lead to a planned art park on the property.

(Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

An influx of artists, collectors and art fans will surely have an impact on an area that is already wary of gentrification and the rising cost of living that accompanies it. But there will be no stopping progress, only a utopian, Fairey-like hope that those who come will be inspired to keep and nurture the magical qualities of the place.

NASHUA, N.H. — The problem for Patrick J. Buchanan, the silver-tongued Republican who would be President, is people like George Anthes.

“It seems that Pat Buchanan has truly caught fire,” says Anthes, the king of talk radio at station WMVU, introducing the candidate to a listening audience of flinty New Englanders. “There seems to be a change brewing.”

And so Buchanan begins his spiel: The national polls–three of five in August–that peg him No. 2 behind Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas in the race for the GOP nomination. His recent endorsement by the Manchester Union Leader, the paper of record for New Hampshire’s hard-core conservatives. A credible showing in the recent Iowa straw poll–in his eyes, No. 3 with a bullet.

“We have crossed the threshold,” said a confident Buchanan, “of credibility and electability.”

Not so fast. Thirty minutes later, with the microphone off and the candidate heading quickly for the door, Anthes gets a little more honest. “I’d love to see Pat as President, but I have my doubts.” A pause. “He is picking up though.”

Well, sort of. Somehow, even when they suffer setbacks or fail to make headway in the polls, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, ex-Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander and California Gov. Pete Wilson get taken seriously as potential nominees. Even when Buchanan is on a roll–like the one that fuels his hopes today–he is rarely accorded the same respect.

The reasons are plentiful. Buchanan rose to prominence as a commentator and author; although he ran for President in 1992, he has never won an elected office. He is an unabashed, uncompromising conservative, and thus a polarizing figure to many. And the disdain he does not hide for some in his own party has cut into his ability to raise money.

Buchanan and his followers are “outsiders, they’re populists,” said political analyst Kevin Phillips. “In terms of the Republican power elite, they’re not Buchananites. He could never be the nominee.”

Striving for Second

Buchanan, 56, is undeterred by such naysayers. And his quest, at least for now, is not to be No. 1, but to come in second in the early primaries and caucuses of 1996–a crucial three weeks, Buchanan contends, that will decide if he can raise the money to continue campaigning.

“I’ve got the resources to go three weeks,” said the candidate, who so far has raised about $3 million and spent an estimated $2.5 million. A bad showing in those crucial contests and contributions will dry up, leaving him at great disadvantage to his cushier competitors who have the money “to sustain the kinds of defeats I can’t.”

Indeed, as of June 30, in the most recent Federal Election Commission statistics available, Dole had raised $13.5 million and had $6.5 million cash on hand; Gramm had raised $16.8 million and had $7.3 million left.

Dole’s and Gramm’s years in public office have given them extensive lists of big-money campaign donors. Buchanan, on the other hand, appeals to ideologically inspired small donors and reports an average contribution of less than $40. “We are appealing to the grass-roots,” said K. B. Forbes, Buchanan’s deputy press secretary.

Buchanan is struggling mightily to claim the crown of true conservative in a crowded field of candidates, to fuse together the disaffected, the religious, the working class, Ross Perot voters, gun owners, the Christian Coalition. He is striving to be second.

“Dole might be ahead of me,” Buchanan contended, “but then the conservatives will say: ‘It’s Buchanan or Dole.’ If they say that, then I can beat Bob Dole.”

Hanging over the upbeat campaign for the past month was the ill health of Buchanan’s mother, Catherine, 83, who was injured in a fall. She died Monday, and Buchanan headed home from a campaign swing in the West.

One recent Sunday morning, he could be found striding into Washington’s National Airport, fresh from a hand-clapping, foot-stomping success at the Christian Coalition’s annual meeting. He was armed with a newspaper and briefcase, garbed in the politician’s standard-issue blue suit. He was headed to New Hampshire for three days of campaigning. No one paid a bit of attention.

This is the conservative made famous by his 1992 declaration of a cultural war “for the soul of America,” a battle that he will likely wage as long as he can breathe–and talk.

“Have you read that U.N. report?” he asked supporters at a Republican town hall meeting in New Hampshire later the same day. “They say there aren’t two sexes, there are five genders.”

He paused for laughter, warmed to his crowd and continued: “They started with heterosexual; I followed them there. They went on to homosexual; I was slowing down. They said transsexual, that’s the third one. I don’t understand the last two. I tell you this: God created man and woman, I don’t care what Bella Abzug says.”

In the circles Buchanan travels, that one always goes over well. So do his stands on affirmative action (against), abortion (vehemently against), the death penalty (oh, yes), the Department of Education (oh, no).

He would bury the North American Free Trade Agreement and erect an ideological wall around the nation to rival the actual wall he would build along the U.S. border with Mexico. No more foreign aid, no more global free trade. In Buchanan’s brand of economic nationalism, “we must stop sacrificing American jobs on the altar of transnational corporations.”

And he would tell the nation about his economic platform, unveiled in a recent Wall Street Journal essay, if only people would tear their attention away from his stand on social issues. His program, he contends, will make America “the enterprise zone for the entire industrialized Western world.”

The highlights: A flat tax on personal income. A flat tax for big corporations. A much lower tax for small ones. No more inheritance tax on family businesses and family farms. He will pay for the plan with a 10% tariff on Japanese imports and a 20% tariff on Chinese goods.

In New Hampshire, with its recent memory of economic privation, of local industries fleeing oversees, the Buchanan plan resonates.

Norma Moreau, 38, stands in front of Martha’s Exchange restaurant and brew pub here in Nashua, waiting for a friend so they can map out the future of her small-business career. Moreau said that she is likely to cast her ballot for Buchanan, even though she disagrees with his rock-solid stand against abortion. Everything else, she says, she likes–particularly the tariffs.

“I think there should be tariffs put on anything from another country,” said the owner of Imprints Ink, a struggling silk-screening firm. “We have to protect our own jobs. All we do is help other countries. Why don’t we take the money and help the United States?”

She has too many friends who have lost their jobs, run out of unemployment assistance, lost their homes. “It’s sad,” she said.

Familiar Territory

Buchanan used this New Hampshire despair, coupled with Republican anger at the 1991 tax increase shepherded by then-President George Bush, to garner an unimaginable 37% of the vote in the 1992 GOP primary here.

He still considers the region his, with its picket fences, clapboard houses, and guys named Charlie who wear shirts and ties when they go to work pumping gas at the local Shell station.

People here still smoke in restaurants; adults are not required to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets. The state motto is, “Live Free or Die.”

At St. Marie Parish in industrial Manchester, where Buchanan took in Sunday Mass, the homily began with a tale about how burdensome laws in New York City required Mother Teresa to install an elevator for the handicapped in her refurbished community center. The result, according to the priest: She left.

“I notice Pat Buchanan is here,” said Father Marc Montminy to great applause. “Welcome in our midst.”

Charles M. Arlinghaus, executive director of New Hampshire’s Republican State Committee, contends that the race here is still wide open and that Buchanan still has a shot. “Anyone could win New Hampshire,” he said, “with a couple of exceptions I won’t name.”

Phillips concedes that Buchanan was underestimated in New Hampshire in 1992.

But the author of the American Political Report figures that a GOP presidential nomination for the conservative commentator and author is “unlikely.” Chances are, Phillips says, Buchanan will not even win 25% of the vote in the upcoming New Hampshire primary.

“I think 25% would be doing very well,” Phillips said. “It would probably put him second place, clearly put him third. He does have a chance of going that high. On the other hand, the chance of Pat lasting with a lot of pep into March is not very good. He doesn’t have the budget.”

But the lengthy race to choose a President is still in its very early stages, as was painfully evident as Buchanan campaigned in Concord Sept. 11.

Performing the mandatory New Hampshire dance of meet and greet the voters, he introduced himself to Bea McGinnis, 76, a loyal Republican, shook her hand and went on his way. And who does McGinnis like in the Republican race? “Well, you got Bill Wilson, running, right? He’s a Republican. And I like John over there,” she said, glancing at Buchanan’s receding back. “That’s his name, right?”

La Ganga reported this story while on assignment in New Hampshire.

When Estuardo Mazariegos was 22, he was pulled over by Los Angeles police officers who found a gun and ammunition in the back seat of his Nissan Sentra.

The gun, he said, was not his. He was holding onto it for a friend, he said, but he got hit with a felony gun possession charge, later pleading it down to a misdemeanor.

Seventeen years later, Mazariegos is running for Los Angeles City Council — and he believes his gun conviction makes him a better candidate.

“I think it’s a strength. It’s not a liability,” said Mazariegos, who was born in Guatemala and grew up in Hollywood and South L.A. “I feel like it creates more of a connection with me and the community, because there’s so many people that are justice-impacted.”

But the gun charge could also be an issue for Mazariegos in his race against five other candidates to represent Council District 9, which covers part of South L.A. He was also convicted of shoplifting when he was 19.

The district is the poorest the city, and the council race is expected to be one of the most competitive city contests this June, with the current council member, Curren Price, terming out.

Mazariegos is head of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Los Angeles, a grassroots advocacy organization. The 40-year-old is backed by the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and supports leftist policies like reducing funding to the LAPD to spend more on other programs.

Jose Ugarte, a District 9 candidate who was a longtime Price staffer, believes his opponent’s criminal history is a red flag.

“Getting arrested and convicted for multiple crimes, including carrying a concealed loaded gun, should disqualify Estuardo in this race,” Ugarte said in a statement. “Instead, the Democratic Socialists of L.A. are propping up his candidacy and hiding his criminal past from voters who deserve to know the truth.”

DSA-LA co-chair Leslie Chang said her group is “proud” to stand with Mazariegos.

Mazariegos’ supporters say he hasn’t hidden his past.

Georgia Flowers-Lee, a vice president with United Teachers Los Angeles, said Mazariegos discussed his gun conviction and the circumstances surrounding it during his interviews with the union, which ended up endorsing him.

“He was up front, honest about the challenges and honest about the gun charge,” she said. “Walked us through what had happened and where it led and how and why he ended up pleading it out,” she said.

Flowers-Lee, who lives in the district, said that young men of color like Mazariegos are overpoliced.

“I do not see this as a disqualifier. And let’s talk about redemption,” she said.

Wednesday night, Mazariegos released a campaign video featuring him discussing gun violence and his conviction with childhood friends. He said it was a turning point in his life.

“That was the moment where I was like, it’s either now or never,” he said. “Either I leave this s— behind, or it’s going to eat me up. I’m never going back to that lifestyle. I’m going to dedicate myself to the people.”

Mazariegos said he never carried a gun, except for that one day, but many of his friends did.

“Guns were a very common thing. It was almost like having a bike,” he said.

Mazariegos said that in 2009, he was driving home from the San Fernando Valley in the early morning, after dropping friends off, when he was pulled over by the LAPD. He said the officers gave no reason for stopping him, but they made him get out of his car and searched it without a warrant, finding the gun.

He was a permanent resident at the time, after moving from Guatemala at a young age, and was advised by his attorney to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, to avoid possible deportation, he said.

He was sentenced to 24 months of probation and one day in jail, court records show.

Growing up in Hollywood and Hyde Park, among other parts of the city, Mazariegos was intimately familiar with gun and gang violence.

His friend, Oscar Michael Morales, was shot to death in 2001 at age 14. He remembers Morales’ mother cleaning the blood off the sidewalk the next day.

His gun conviction helps him connect with residents of Council District 9, Mazariegos said, and he frequently discusses it while door-knocking.

Ugarte, meanwhile, is paying off $25,000 in fines to the city Ethics Commission for failing to disclose years of outside income while he was working for Price.

Price himself has been criminally charged with four counts of voting on matters in which he had a conflict of interest, five counts of embezzlement and three counts of perjury. Prosecutors allege he voted to approve deals with developers or agencies that had done business with his wife.

REDDING — At a Board of Supervisors meeting in rural Shasta County last month, Clint Curtis dropped a bombshell: A sheriff way down in Riverside was going to confiscate all the ballots from a recent election.

Curtis, the county registrar of voters, was the first to announce the planned ballot seizure. Even the sheriff himself, Chad Bianco, had not publicly revealed his intentions.

Later, as Bianco’s move grabbed headlines — he is a leading Republican candidate for governor — Curtis’ behind-the-scenes maneuvering remained largely unknown. The registrar had worked with the Riverside County citizens group whose fraud allegations had sparked Bianco’s investigation, even traveling 600 miles south to speak on their behalf.

Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis poses last month in the new election observation room at the elections office in Redding.

In his short time in Shasta County, Curtis, whose claims about rigged voting machines stretch back to the early 2000s, has solidified his position as a torchbearer of the election denialism movement, vowing to take his message about untrustworthy machines and potential fraud across California and beyond.

Critics here say he has steadily disenfranchised voters. He has eliminated nine of the vast county’s 13 ballot drop boxes, telling The Times he did not trust ballots in the hands of “little old ladies running all over” to collect them. And he has advocated for a local ballot initiative that would limit elections to one day, eliminate most voting by mail and require voter ID as well as a hand count of ballots.

Curtis also has accused his predecessors in the registrar’s office, without evidence, of election fraud and has called for federal authorities to raid the office he now runs.

“Do I think ballots were stuffed? Yes. Have I contacted the DOJ? Yes,” Curtis said at the Feb. 24 Shasta County supervisors’ meeting just before announcing Bianco’s planned ballot seizure.

Curtis, a 67-year-old attorney, was appointed by the Shasta County supervisors last April. He lived in Florida then, had no previous ties to the area and had never run an election.

He got the job based largely on two stated qualifications: He wanted to hand-count votes. And he had worked with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow chief executive and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist.

In his public job interview, Curtis promised to grill local elections staffers to “find out what they know.”

Now Curtis is running for election himself, trying to keep his job in this Northern California county where a majority of the supervisors were so swept up in President Trump’s discredited election fraud claims that they ditched their Dominion voting machines in 2023 and opted to hand-count ballots (quickly prompting a new state law that banned them from doing so).

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Curtis says he is running to make elections more transparent by questioning the status quo and hanging cameras everywhere to capture election workers’ every move.

“Republicans love me,” Curtis told The Times. “The Democrats are pretty good. And then I have these crazy socialist people that just hate me.”

Beliefs aside, Curtis has quickly become a colorful local character.

He took a lie detector test to attest that he didn’t rig the November election. He chose as his number two a heavy metal guitarist from San Francisco — stage name “Turmoil” — who is a progressive Democrat.

And last September, surveillance cameras captured him pushing an antique metal safe through the Shasta County elections office on a Saturday while his wife assisted with a pulling harness. Curtis wore blue jeans — and no shirt.

He said he moved the safe, which contained odds and ends, on a hot day to make more room for election observers.

Curtis first gained national attention for election skepticism in December 2004, in testimony before Congress.

He had been working as a computer programmer in Florida and was brought in as an expert witness by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, who were reeling over President George W. Bush’s defeat of John Kerry a few weeks earlier and furious about an error with an electronic voting machine that gave Bush extra votes in Ohio.

Curtis claimed that he had written “a prototype” of software that would allow cheaters to alter votes using “invisible buttons” on touch-screen balloting machines. His claims were largely dismissed. But he continues to tout his congressional testimony to cast himself as an expert on election malfeasance.

A woman passes by a “Greetings From Redding” mural on Feb. 25.

After testifying, he unsuccessfully ran for office multiple times in Florida. He refused to concede after one loss, alleging the machines were rigged.

In Shasta County, he saw a chance for redemption.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Supervisors gained a hard-right majority supported by anti-vaxxers, secessionists, members of a local militia and pro-Trump election deniers.

In 2022, someone hung a trail camera — the kind hunters use to track wildlife — behind the elections office to monitor the staff. Some observers yelled at staffers and got in the face of Cathy Darling Allen, the longtime registrar, who installed a 7-foot metal fence to keep them at bay.

Joanna Francescut, who worked in the elections office for 17 years, is running to be county registrar.

Darling Allen clashed with the supervisors as they pushed to hand-count votes, a process she argued would be slow, expensive and prone to error. She retired in 2024, citing health reasons.

Her successor resigned after less than a year. The supervisors appointed Curtis in a 3-2 vote, passing over Joanna Francescut, who had worked in the elections office since 2008 and was Darling Allen’s number two.

Days later, Curtis fired Francescut. She is now running against him in the June 2 election.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research and a former senior trial attorney overseeing voting enforcement for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, called Curtis a “nationally known conspiracy theorist.”

“I can’t imagine bringing in someone who is neither an election administrator nor a Californian for a job like that and basically chasing out experienced election officials whose work had withstood scrutiny for decades,” Becker said. “The voters of Shasta County, unfortunately, are paying the price.”

Curtis has accused Francescut and other elections staffers of stuffing ballots to sabotage conservative Republicans.

“I want to laugh because it’s that ridiculous,” Francescut, 43, said of the allegations.

“People that work in this field, they’re doing this work because they care about elections,” she said. “They want the community to be better. They want what both sides want — transparent and accurate elections.”

During her 17-year tenure, the elections office got little public attention. But “once 2020 hit, people went from completely trusting us to, the day after election day, calling and yelling at our staff so much that we couldn’t get the work done to count ballots,” she said.

Curtis was a favorite of then-board chairman Kevin Crye, a hard-right supervisor who enlisted Lindell to support the county’s crusade against Dominion. Crye had survived a 2024 recall effort by just 50 votes.

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1. Carl Bott, co-owner of KCNR 96.5 FM, interviews Joanna Francescut on Feb. 25, 2026, in Redding, Calif. 2. Joanna Francescut’s campaign manager, Mary Williams, wears an orange button that reads “Vote for Jo for County Clerk” as Francescut waits in the offices of talk radio station KCNR.

Citing that close margin, Curtis said he believed recent elections were rigged because Republicans were not winning by large enough margins in a county where registered Republicans greatly outnumber Democrats.

In a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, Curtis said he had learned of lax security and potential ballot stuffing in 2024, the year of the attempted recall against Crye. Curtis sent a copy of the letter to Trump and requested a federal investigation because “the destruction of these ballots is nearing.”

In 2019 and 2024, a Shasta County grand jury investigated local election procedures and found no wrongdoing.

“How does it make me feel? Really angry,” Darling Allen, who is advising Francescut’s campaign, said of Curtis’ allegations. “It calls into question the integrity and character of every single person who worked in the elections department.”

To replace Francescut, Curtis hired Brent Turner, the guitarist from San Francisco. He is a longtime election reform activist who has pushed for nonproprietary open-source voting systems with software code that can be examined by anyone.

Turner described their partnership as: “Republican and Democrat team up to fight outdated software for elections. Oh, my!”

“We have to have the adult conversation in the United States that if the systems are loose enough to allow people — in this case, we’re talking about even people internal to the system — to cheat, they might cheat,” Turner said.

Last October, Secretary of State Shirley Weber wrote to Curtis, asking him to detail planned changes to voting procedures. He responded with a 15-page letter.

Election observers, he wrote, were “treated like invaders … corralled behind spiked fences.” And drivers who picked up ballots from drop boxes sometimes left them in their vehicles. Under his watch, he wrote, “no detours or even bathroom breaks are allowed.”

A woman exits the Cottonwood Post Office in Shasta County.

Curtis told Weber that someone had carved death threats on his vehicle and left “antifa” business cards on his windshield wipers.

Weber’s communications team said in an email that her office “continues to monitor new election processes proposed by Shasta (or any county) County to ensure they do not violate state law.”

In his letter to Weber, Curtis promised to take a lie detector test after each election. Answering pre-written questions he had submitted, Curtis said in a January polygraph test that he did not change the results of the November election and believed a predecessor had rigged previous contests, according to a summary obtained by The Times.

The examiner wrote that he “was likely telling the truth.”

Inside the elections office, Curtis created a large room, decked out with American flags, for citizens to observe the vote-counting process.

More than a dozen large TV monitors display close-up video, also streamed online, of election workers’ hands inserting ballots into machines. On June 2, those workers will sit beneath iPhones hung overhead to record them while observers are positioned on barstools a few inches behind them.

The new public observation room at the Shasta County elections office is decorated with American flags.

Curtis has been traveling across California to tout his methods. He told The Times he has spoken about his video setup in Kern and San Joaquin counties and discussed it with candidates for state office.

And he advised the Riverside County citizens group that claimed to have found an overcount of 45,896 ballots in the November election for Proposition 50, which redrew the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats.

Art Tinoco, the Riverside County registrar of voters, has refuted that number — saying it was based on a misunderstanding of raw data that had not been fully processed.

After Bianco last week announced that his office had seized more than 650,000 ballots, Curtis appeared on the social media broadcast of a right-wing election integrity advocate who called him “the stealth behind the scenes in making that happen.”

Curtis smiled and repeated what he has been espousing since the early 2000s: “You can’t really trust a computer.”

The Repair Shop star Dom Chinea was left stunned during the latest episode of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop

Dom Chinea suffered a massive setback on the most recent instalment of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop as he tackled drift car racing for the first time.

The Repair Shop favourite, his wife Maria and their dog Wendy are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime as they exchange the commuter chaos of Kent for the rugged splendour of West Cornwall. The series chronicles Dom as he forges a new existence in the far west of Cornwall.

During the most recent instalment, Dom constructed a drift car with engineer Sam Lovegrove, where they competed in a drift car race. Dom revealed: “Today, I’m slightly nervous because Sam has emailed me with a link to a Mazda for sale. An MX5 with the title of ‘Let’s Go Drifting’, which fills me with fear.”

He continued: “But you know what? I’ve moved down here, moved down to Cornwall, willing to try new things. Drifting is something I have never done, never tried, and no experience in. But I would actually quite like to give it a go. It’s something I’d quite like to learn. So we’ll have to see.”

Subsequently, the pair went to inspect the Mazda MX5, where they purchased it and restored it. Later in the programme, they entered it into a drift racing competition, reports the Express.

Dom confessed: “This is not my world at all. It just goes to show being into cars is a very broad category, and this is something I’ve never experienced before. I am, to say I’m out of my depth here, is an understatement.

“In drift competitions, it’s not about who crosses the finish line first, but how well the cars perform on the track. Judges give points for how well drivers control their drifts, or skids, going around the corners. They’re looking for speed, and who can do it with style.”

Yet, mere minutes into the race, Dom and Sam’s vehicle swerved off track and collided with the barrier. Dom explained in a VT: “With our modifications, we’re confident our Phoenix is going to fly. The steering, the cornering, the suspension, all working together in perfect harmony. Until it didn’t.”

Exiting the car, Sam joked: “That didn’t go so well!” to which Dom replied: “Seriously? I didn’t even get a go. Are you kidding me? After all that work?” Sam then observed: “I think it’ll fix, but not this afternoon, I don’t think!”

In a VT, Dom quipped: “Well, we wanted our car to make an impact”, before adding: “We started this crazy adventure in the hope we’d meet like-minded petrolheads. I’d say this was mission accomplished.”

Discussing the episode beforehand, Dom revealed about the car race: “Sam showed me a Mazda MX5 for sale that we could fix up to try drift racing – something I’ve never done.”

He continued: “But we had to change the car quite a bit first – we needed a hydraulic handbrake, and the rear wheels needed to be able to spin, we had to lock them together to both spin at the same time. But that wasn’t completely straight forward – the underside was quite rusty.”

Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop can be viewed on U and Channel 4.

When UCLA baseball coach John Savage scouts prospects, he looks at their projections and skill upside. Most important, he wants players dedicated to the culture he’s developed during his 22 years as a coach.

“We want people that fit into our program, that want to be a part of a winning culture,” he said.

Most of his current roster consists of players who came up short in last year’s College World Series. This year, the No. 1 team in the country has its eyes set on winning a national title in Omaha. The Bruins (21-2 overall, 9-0 in the Big Ten) are coming off a three-game weekend home sweep of Maryland.

The Times spoke to Savage about the expectations the Bruins set for themselves and his longevity with UCLA. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Your team entered the year ranked No. 1 nationally and has gotten off to a strong start. How have you managed expectations?

Savage: It’s really about the people you have in the clubhouse. They’ve been born and raised through our program. Now it’s their junior years. They went to Omaha their sophomore year. They had a difficult year their freshman year. It’s been a work in progress, and I think the expectations are probably the heaviest inside our room. Everybody’s held to a very high standard and they believe in one another, they believe in the program. It’s refreshing to coach people that want to be coached, and to have people that love UCLA, and want to stay at UCLA.

After returning a large percentage of last year’s production, what differences have you noticed in this roster compared to previous teams?

UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

Savage: I think the leadership is fantastic. Roch Cholowsky, Cashel Dugger, Michael Barnett, Jack O’Connor — our captains, they do a wonderful job of making sure guys are accountable. Everybody’s a year older. Everybody’s a little stronger. Everybody’s a little faster. A lot of guys that work extremely hard to upgrade their physicality, and then certainly it’s a mental game. We’ve worked really hard on the mental side of things to make sure that we’re combining both phases.

What has allowed your program to retain so much of its core talent year to year?

Savage: I would say loyalty, personal relationships, wanting to be at UCLA, to get a degree from UCLA, coaching staff, facilities, location. But, I would say most importantly, relationships. We didn’t win a national championship last year and these guys seem to be on that sort of mission.

Last season’s run to Omaha ended just short of the championship series. How much has that experience motivated this year’s group early in the season?

Savage: You see where you’re going. People always talk about Omaha, but if you never go, it’s hard to really envision what it looks like. It’s something that if you experience, you want to go back. It’s the mecca of college baseball and the city of Omaha has done a wonderful job of developing this tournament over 75 years. It’s an experience that you go and you definitely want to go back as a player and certainly as a coach.

How has recruiting or roster construction changed, if at all, now that UCLA is competing in the Big Ten instead of the Pac-12?

Savage: It’s still UCLA. I’ve been here 22 years, we’ve produced 30 major leaguers. It’s a place that you certainly could go and enjoy your college life and go play in the major leagues. The Big Ten is getting better in baseball, with the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington. Obviously, it has helped the baseball side of things quite a bit. But there’s a lot of programs that are investing throughout the Big Ten in baseball and it’s only going to get better. Baseball is baseball. You gotta go play any time, anywhere.

With the travel demands that come with a conference like the Big Ten, what adjustments have you made to keep players fresh and focused?

Savage: We don’t charter. We’re all commercial. We fly out of LAX on Wednesday morning and we get back late Sunday night. It’s a challenge and it’s certainly one that it’s a daily and weekly operation. In terms of managing school, they all go to class. Not a lot of remote classes, really, so we love the challenge and the opportunity to grow as a young player and a young person.

You’re now in your 22nd season leading the Bruins. What has kept you motivated to continue evolving as a coach after more than two decades in Westwood?

Savage: I love being at UCLA. I love what it stands for. It’s a combination that I’m really looking for in terms of baseball, schedule, league, school — it’s just an elite combination. You have to make sure you’re grounded. You have to make sure you’re very consistent. You have to make sure that you have true values that are consistent with the university and that equates to winning. Winning is really, really difficult, especially now at the Power 4 level.

When players leave UCLA after their careers — whether they go to pro baseball or move on to other careers — what do you hope they carry with them from their time in your program?

Savage: That they understand how to be a contributor to an organization, to a business, how to lead a family, how to lead a group in work. Just be a person that people like to be around and a person that has a vision, that they want to get better and they want to do well in their lives and they want to have impact on other lives. That’s ultimately what we’re looking for, that they can handle themselves in any phase of life.

UCLA men are out, UCLA women stay strong

UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. tries to get through UCLA’s Trent Perry, from left, Donovan Dent and Eric Dailey Jr. in the first half Monday.

(Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

UCLA coach Mick Cronin never wavered.

If senior forward Tyler Bilodeau felt any pain, he was not playing the NCAA tournament.

The No. 7 seed Bruins could not overcome No. 2 seed UConn’s interior game and suffered a 73-57 loss. The Bruins kept it close early, trailing by just five at halftime.

Cronin will help UCLA cope with the sudden end to its season and then immediately work on sorting out next season’s roster.

While fans questioned Cronin’s aggressive coaching style, the Bruins did play significantly improved defense through the final four weeks of their season and his players never wavered in their support of him.

Now Cronin will start over, working to forge comparable buy-in from the next wave of players.

The UCLA women walk to the bench during a time out against Cal Baptist.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

It’s rare for a No. 1 seed in the women’s NCAA tournament to miss the Sweet 16, but the Bruins (32-1) say they expect a big test when they face No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (24-9) at 7 p.m. Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.

It will be the final game the Bruins’ celebrated senior class will play at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA coach Cori Close provided the following scouting report on Oklahoma State.

“I think that what stands out is their ability to shoot the three, their versatility, their work down the tunnel with the high ball screen,” Close said. “They’re extremely good in transition. It’s going to be so important for us to make them play later into the shot clock, which is going to be easier said than done. But I guess with the exception they don’t have like a really tall big, but they actually remind me in terms of their style and some of the actions that they run of Oklahoma. Their guard play.

“And one of the big things that we talk a lot about is trying to make them play later in the clock than they’re comfortable with. Now we go through all the analytics, and the later you have them play in the shot clock, the less efficient they become. They’re 13th in the country in offensive efficiency. They’re really, really good.

“Defensively I think that we obviously need to really hunt the paint. We’ve got some advantages with our size there. But they’re a really good team.”

Survey says

We asked “How far will the UCLA men advance in the NCAA men’s tournament. After 648 votes, the results:

They lose in the second round, 36.5%
They lose in the Sweet 16, 27.5%
They lose in the Elite Eight, 17.3%
They win it all, 12.6%
They lose in the first round, 3.2%
They lose in the Final Four, 2.5%
They lose in the championship game, 0.4%

In case you missed it

UCLA overcomes slow start to open NCAA tournament title bid with a blowout win

Jordan Chiles goes perfect again as UCLA sweeps Big Ten gymnastics titles

UCLA freshmen draw on their elite gymnastics roots to help Bruins push for championships

Without Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA edges Central Florida to advance at NCAA tournament

How UCLA guard Kiki Rice became the Bruins’ ace and top WNBA draft prospect

UCLA men’s basketball eager to mount deep tournament run

March Madness women’s tournament analysis: Teams and players to watch

UCLA was snubbed by women’s NCAA tournament selection committee

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

FORMER 19 Kids and Counting star Joseph Duggar has been arrested for alleged child sex crimes against a nine-year-old girl.

The 31-year-old from Arkansas allegedly molested the child six years ago on a vacation in Florida.

On Wednesday, the former TLC star was charged with molestation of a victim under 12 years old and with lewd and lascivious behavior of a person 18 years or older, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said.

The girl, now 14 years old, told investigators that the incident took place while she was on family vacation in Panama City in 2020.

Duggar, who was booked into the Washing County jail in Arkansas, is awaiting extradition to Bay County.

It is alleged that Duggar asked the victim to sit on his lap, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said.

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“As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket,” it has been claimed.

“During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals.

“Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”

“The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” the authorities said.

The allegations and arrest come after the victim had a forensic interview due to reports of past sexual abuse.

Her father allegedly confronted Duggar about the allegations and the reality star “allegedly admitted his actions to the father and Tontitown detectives,” and the alleged abuse stopped, per officials.

Duggar is married to his wife Kendra, with whom he shares three young children.

The Duggar family has not issued a statement following the arrest.

Meanwhile, Duggar’s brother Josh, is serving a 12 and a half year sentence after being found guilty in December 2021 of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.

It was also previously reported that Josh, now 38, confessed to molesting several children, including four of his sisters.

The family’s reality television show aired between 2008 and 2015 documenting the lives of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their 19 children.

It was taken off air after the molestation claims against Josh Duggar.

COUNTRY music heartthrob Riley Green furiously kicked a “jealous boyfriend” out of his gig after being hit with a phone that left him with a bloody ear.

Riley needed five stitches to piece his ear back together following the Melbourne show on his Cowboy As It Gets tour.

During the gig, he was struck by a phone pelted from the pit which caused him to stop the performance and take off his guitar.

He then pointed out the offender and directed security to haul him out. Smiling with blood running down his neck, Riley then slung his guitar back on before being cheered by the raucous crowd.

The 37-year-old told them: “Damn, am I bleeding? See how tough I am?”

He then said: “You can get your phones out, and you can turn the flashlight on – but don’t throw them at me.”

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The violent incident certainly did no harm to Riley’s aura. His smitten fans sent messages of support on Instagram.

One said: “My babyyyyyy was bleeding.”

Another wrote: “Brother, don’t hurt my wife’s boyfriend!”

A third said: “He was bleeding but he’s a Bama boy…that’s just a little scratch. He can do anything he wants!”

While on one video, a fan wrote: “PSA to the jealous boyfriends., don’t throw your phones at Riley Green xx.”

Riley had a fun time despite the incident and regretted not being able to play for longer.

He wrote on Instagram: “Ole buddy ’bout ran outta anytime minutes last night… but a hell of a time was had.”

Riley’s become a global phenomenon in recent years.

Heartfelt songs like I Wish Grandpas Never Died, There Was This Girl, and Different ‘Round Here (feat. Luke Combs) have resonated thanks to their honest storytelling and southern drawl.

He supported Morgan Wallen at his BST Hyde Park gig in 2024 but put on a headline-worthy show.

Speaking about his summer in the capital, he told Entertainment Focus: “I wasn’t nervous but I certainly didn’t expect what happened! I thought that there would be, maybe, a handful of folks that knew a couple of my songs but they knew every word to every song.

“To see the size of the crowd……. especially when you go to another country and Canada had been the only other time I had played outside the States….. things are usually gradual in building up a fan base, right? It was shocking to see how passionate people were about country music over here.”

And he returned to these shores last year for some sold out gigs of his own.

ROB Reiner’s friends held back tears at the Oscars as the ceremony honored the late director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, after their tragic deaths.

The couple died in December 2025 after being brutally attacked in their Los Angeles home, and their son, Nick Reiner, is the primary suspect in their murders.

Hollywood was shocked by the loss of Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, and it was expected that there would be a special tribute to them at the 98th Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday.

Rob and Michele were honored Sunday in a speech by Billy Crystal, one of the stars of When Harry Met Sally.

Rob famously rewrote the ending of When Harry Met Sally after meeting his wife, Michele, while shooting the film.

“I first met Rob Reiner in 1975. When I was cast as his best friend in an episode of All in the Family,” Billy’s began in his tribute.

“Rob said, it was fun playing your best friend, why don’t we keep it going. And it was a thrill to see him evolve from a great comic actor to a master storyteller.

“His first film was This Is Spinal Tap. You could stop right there … The comedy was turned up to an 11.”

Billy went on to discuss Rob’s other iconic films, including Stand By Me.

“Audiences then lined up to see his funny, charming films, so he gave them misery!” Billy continued.

“My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes. Because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be, far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier, far more human.”

“And when Michele Singer entered his life, they were unstoppable. A gifted photographer, she not only produced films with Rob, but it was her energy that had them working tirelessly to fight social injustice in the country that they both loved.

“Rob and Michele Reiner became the driving force in the landmark decision for marriage equality across the United States. And their loss is immeasurable.”

He said Rob told him several times that “it meant everything to him that his work meant something to you.”

“And for us, who had the privilege of working with and knowing him and loving him, all we can say is, ‘Buddy, what fun we had storming the castle.”

Billy’s speech concluded with several actors joining him on stage, including Kathy Bates, Demi Moore and Mandy Patinkin.

More late stars honored at the Oscars

Diane Keaton was also honored at the Oscars’ In Memoriam tribute.

Rachel McAdams, who starred alongside the late actress in The Family Stone, took the stage to honor Diane.

“For over 50 years, luminous on screen and indelible in life, believe me when I say there isn’t an actress of my generation who is not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity,” she said.

“She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively, actress, artist, author, activist, but no hat more important to her than being a mother to her two children.

“She meant so much to so many of us. I remember she used to sing this old Girl Scout song on set, which is just so her: ‘Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long I’ll be your friend.’

“And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life in silver and gold, a legend with no end.”

Diane, a four-time Academy Award nominee, died in October 2025 of bacterial pneumonia.

Other stars were honored during the In memoriam segment, including Robert Duvall, known for his roles in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, Robert Redford, known for All the President’s Men and The Sting and Catherine O’Hara, known for her role in Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek.

“She made us laugh until we cried,” Rachel said of Catherine at the Oscars.

The death of Rob Reiner

Corey Feldman, who portrayed Teddy Duchamp in Stand by Me, was reportedly not asked to participate in the tribute to Rob, despite being one of the main characters alongside Jerry and Wil.

A source recently told the Daily Mail that Corey was “devastated” by the apparent snub and “wanted nothing more than to honor Rob.”

In January, Rob was subtly recognized at the Golden Globes by host Nikki Glaser, who ended the show wearing a Spinal Tap cap, a reference to the filmmaker’s 1984 film, This Is Spinal Tap.

The comedian also closed the ceremony, saying, “This one went to 11. Thank you, guys, for an amazing night,” a reference to the movie’s famous moments between Rob and co-star Christopher Guest.

Rob and Michele allegedly had their throats slit while lying in bed, and Nick, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was battling a drug addiction, has been charged with their murders.

The incident occurred hours after the trio attended Conan O’Brien’s holiday party, where Rob and Nick had an explosive fight about Nick’s behavior.

Last month, Conan O’Brien, host of the 98th Academy Awards, broke his silence about the tragedy during a sit-down with The New Yorker.

“I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot,” the talk show host said.

“My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people.

Most Awarded Oscar Winners of All Time

Best Director:

John Ford — 4 wins

• The Informer (1935)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941)
• The Quiet Man (1952)

Frank Capra — 3 wins

• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
• You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

William Wyler — 3 wins

• Mrs. Miniver (1942)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• Ben-Hur (1959)

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Daniel Day‑Lewis — 3 wins (most in history)

• My Left Foot (1989)
• There Will Be Blood (2007)
• Lincoln (2012)

A slew of actors are tied in second place having won 2 Oscars, including: Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, and more.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Katharine Hepburn — 4 wins

• Morning Glory (1933)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• On Golden Pond (1981)

Frances McDormand — 3 wins

• Fargo (1996)
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
• Nomadland (2020)

Meryl Streep — 3 wins (two lead, one supporting)

• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) — Supporting Actress
• Sophie’s Choice (1982) — Lead Actress
• The Iron Lady (2011) — Lead Actress

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Walter Brennan — 3 wins

• Come and Get It (1936)
• Kentucky (1938)
• The Westerner (1940)

Many actors are tied for the second place honor with 2 nominations, including: Michael Caine, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Christoph Waltz, and Mahershala Ali.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Dianne Wiest — 2 wins

• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Shelley Winters — 2 wins

• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
• A Patch of Blue (1965)

Maggie Smith — 2 wins

• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) — Lead Actress
• California Suite (1978) — Supporting Actress

“And to have that experience of saying goodnight to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone. … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it. It’s just very — it’s so awful. It’s just so awful.”

Conan also admitted that it was still “hard for me to comprehend” what happened to his friends.

The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed that Nick could inherit his family’s $196million fortune even if he’s found guilty of his parents’ deaths.

This would be the case if Nick is found legally insane, which, by California law, would still entitle him to the inheritance.

Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Harry Styles is no stranger to “Saturday Night Live,” having performed multiple times with his former boy band One Direction and more recently as a solo artist. But this isn’t his first time as host either.

This week, the pop star returned to the Studio 8H to host for a second time, more than six years after his debut. That’s a long time in between, during which Styles has starred in a couple of films, “Don’t Worry Darling” and “My Policeman,” and released a trio of albums, including his latest, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.,” which he was there to promote.

Styles has a knack for radiating charm, honed after years in the spotlight as a musician, and now with some notable acting roles under his belt, he’s more than primed for the stage. And the timing is perfect, considering many actors are in Hollywood this weekend for the Oscars.

He delivered again with a variety sketches, including one about a prosecutor distracted by the famous comedian/lawyer appointed to defend an alleged thief, a pretaped sketch that riffed on HBO Max’s hit medical drama “The Pitt,” and a closing sketch where he played himself promoting a line of clothing modeled after some of his most famous outfits for Target.

He also excelled in parts where he could show off his vocals and dancing, like in “Sparkle of the Sea,” an infomercial about a German cruise line, and another pretaped sketch, “She’s an Irish Dancer,” where guys find out just how Irish their dates are in a nod to St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday. Flatter, though, were sketches about a pair of Best Buy workers, and one where Styles played a drive-thru worker at a White Castle, but that’s because Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska stole the skit as a pair of nerdy girls trying to ask him out to the school dance.

Styles performed his new single, “Dance No More,” after last week’s host Ryan Gosling introduced him, a fitting appearance since Styles crashed his monologue. And Paul Simon also stopped by to introduce Styles before his second song, “Coming Up Roses.”

This week’s cold open touched on the ongoing war in Iran. The patriarch (Mikey Day) of a family at a gas station says he needs to fill up their car. As a piano begins to play, his wife (Ashley Padilla) says, “Fill up? Not all the way, right?” “We have to,” Day replies emphatically. “But it’s $5 dollars,” she says before turning to her two children (Marcello Hernández and Sarah Sherman) to say they have to leave one of them behind because gas is too expensive. Why? “The Epstein files,” exclaims President Trump (James Austin Johnson), who jumps into the scene. “It’s called butterfly effect. Epstein was the first domino,” he says, miming dominoes falling. Trump goes on to introduce himself by saying we might remember him from campaign promises such as “lower gas prices” and “no more wars” (“Psych!”). “We love to make promises because a promise is a lie that just hasn’t happened yet.” As for the stock market, he puts it in a way that Harry Styles fans might understand — it’s going in one direction, garnering loud cheers and applause. He jokes about Iran’s age, saying it is old and nobody likes them, “Iran is like ballet and opera and weird Timothée Chalamet,” referring to the actor’s comments that have caused an uproar.

But Trump says he has everything under control, meeting with top minds including influencer and boxer Jake Paul, who he says was booed “very badly” at his fight against Mike Tyson. “Did someone say booze?” Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) says as he emerges from the family’s car and dozens of cans fall to the ground. (“It was just a couple of road sodas, chill.”) He then thanks Trump for the “beautiful, size 16 Florsheim shoes,” a reference to the Wall Street Journal report that they are the president’s gift of choice to close friends and advisors. Hegseth goes on to say that they are “hashtag winning” the war with Iran, and as for the Strait of Hormuz, he advises that the tankers moving oil should just do what he does at a DUI checkpoint: “Close your eyes and gun it.”

In his monologue, Styles, dressed in a grey pinstripe suit and bright blue tie, said he couldn’t resist hosting when he heard they booked his favorite-ever musical guest. After his tour ended in 2023, he took a lot of time off, realizing he’d spent much of his life on the road and “making songs about fruit that people think were about sex.” He just really likes fruit — and sex. He also said a lot of people pay attention to the clothes he wears (true, see above), with some people accusing him of “queerbaiting,” to which he responded, “Maybe you don’t know everything about me, dad.” But as far as what he did in his time off, he took up boring things, like jogging (his sub-three hour marathon in Berlin was the buzz of the running world). It’s better than the alternative, he says, as the screen flashed to an image of the former Prince Andrew. But now he’s promoting his new album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.”, because what’s better than kissing? He actually doesn’t want to kiss all the time, leading to a brief appearance and disappearance of cast members Chloe Fineman and Sherman, unless its Ben Marshall. He complimented Marshall’s backside, and gave him a smooch on the lips: “Now that’s queerbaiting.”

Best sketch of the night: I don’t know if your dad did this, but my dad used to pop it twice

The first sketch of the night took us into a courtroom, where a New Jersey prosecutor (Styles) rose to present his case against the defendant, Mr. Donovan (Tommy Brennan), who didn’t have an attorney. So the judge (Kenan Thompson) appointed one: comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (Hernández). It’s the second time Hernández has played the comedian, whose caricature of Maniscalco in a red blazer and black turtleneck is at turns spot on, exaggerated and completely hilarious. He chimed with retorts as the prosecutor explained the charges of stealing $5,000 in merchandise, including a belt. “Let me tell you something about a belt. When I was a kid, the belt wasn’t to keep the pants up, it was to keep the volume down,” Maniscalco says, motioning to his waist and explaining how his dad would use it. Maniscalco’s manic energy was too much for the courtroom sketch artist, though, who complains to the judge about having to draw him, showing a sketch of a blurred, multi-limbed man. Kudos to Styles who managed to mostly keep his composure as Hernández glided around him. But Styles had the last laugh with his own impression of Maniscalco, before a final sketch of him was revealed. Put it in the Lourve!

Also good: Why get real healthcare when you’ve got ‘Mahaspital’

“The Pitt,” one of the buzziest TV shows in America, has been lauded for its realistic portrayal of emergency rooms and the stresses that medical workers endure on a regular basis. So when the opening scenes of this pretape began playing, the crowd went wild. But this isn’t “The Pitt,” it’s “Mahaspital,” brought to you by producer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the team behind Make America Healthy Again. Styles channels Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby, marching toward an incoming patient on a gurney as she’s pushed through the ER hallway. “What she needs is a steak,” he says. “Give me beef tallow and six raw eggs, too.” The sketch touches on many of the hallmarks of the MAHA movement: healing crystals, vaccine skepticism, raw milk and lots and lots of protein. And we can’t forget that Central Park bear.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Battle of the heart (emojis)

“Update” anchors Michael Che and Jost focused most of their attention on the Iran war this week, but they also touched on another event happening this weekend: the Oscars. They brought in Tucker Carlson (Jeremy Culhane) to talk about the best picture nominees. Culhane’s impression of the conservative pundit was pretty impressive, capturing his cadence and habit of using rhetorical questions — I hope we see it again.

But it was Day and Hernández who stole the segment as emojis aerial tramway and heart, respectively, who joined to comment on Apple’s addition of eight new emojis. Heart emoji on the new additions: “All I know is they’re all going to be more popular than this loser,” pointing to Day. “I’m No. 1 because I’m useful. People use me for everything.” But you can’t put an aerial tramway down, who tried to explain other ways to use the emoji somewhat unsuccessfully. At least he has a solid crew of bangers: orange square, division sign, snorkel and “my boy, the goat” building with a horn on it. Day was dedicated to the bit, making Hernandez crack with muffled laughter. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more of aerial tramway (and his girlfriend, on with two arrows) in your texts.

In remarks that are likely to stoke concerns through the corridors of CNN, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Friday he is looking forward to Paramount’s ownership of the network.

“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network the better,” Hegseth said during a morning briefing.

Hegseth’s invoking the name of the Paramount Skydance chief executive — whose company will take control of CNN once its deal to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery is finalized — amplified the fear many have that the cable news channel will seek to appease the Trump administration.

The typically combative Hegseth made the remarks after blasting CNN’s reporting on the U.S. military action in Iran. CNN said the Trump administration underestimated the impact its attack would have on the Strait of Hormuz, echoing the claims of other media outlets. Oil tankers have been unable to get through the passage due to attacks by Iranian drones, escalating gas prices as a result.

“CNN doesn’t think we thought of that,” Hegseth said. “It’s a fundamentally unserious report.”

Paramount declined to comment on the remarks by Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has a lot of experience in bashing the mainstream media. A CNN representative said the network stands by its reporting.

Trump has a friendship with Ellison’s father, Larry, and the two have reportedly discussed changes to CNN once Paramount takes ownership. But it’s the rare time such expectations have been offered up publicly by a top member of the administration.

Trump, who has long expressed disdain for CNN, expressed his preference for Paramount to prevail over Netfilx in its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery so that CNN would be in the hands of the Ellisons.

In his last public statement about CNN, David Ellison said he wants to be in the “truth business” and insisted there would be no corporate interference in the network’s coverage.

“CNN is an incredible brand with an incredible team, and we absolutely believe in the independence that needs to be maintained, obviously, for those incredible journalists, and we want to support that going forward,” Ellison told CNBC on March 5.

Paramount has been forced to battle the perception of that its news organizations will tilt to the right under its stewardship. One of David Ellison’s first moves after his company Skydance Media took over CBS was installing Bari Weiss as editor in chief of the network’s news division despite having no experience in TV news. Ellison acquired Weiss’s the Free Press, a centrist digital news site that often targets excesses of the political left and is staunchly pro-Israel.

The acquisition and the appointment of Weiss were seen as a way to help smooth the regulatory approval of Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount last year. CBS News has been under intense scrutiny for signs that is shifting its coverage to please the administration.

A number of CBS News journalists unhappy over the division’s direction under Weiss have already departed. Scott MacFarlane, the Justice Department correspondent who announced his exit Monday, was said to be particularly unhappy over the network’s handling of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who wanted to overturn the 2020 election results.

Anderson Cooper also passed on signing a new deal with “60 Minutes,” where he has been a correspondent since 2007. But with the merger, the CNN anchor will still be a part of the company.

Weiss’ has had some early missteps. The Jan. 6 story was among several highly criticized segments during the first week of “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil.” She delayed a “60 Minutes” segment on the government’s use of an El Salvador prison to detain undocumented migrants for more reporting, only to have it air with minor changes. The delay prompted charges that Weiss was trying to placate the White House, which CBS denied.

Notwithstanding the controversy, some insiders contend there has
not been a significant shift in how CBS News is covering most stories.

The network was among the first to report that the severity of injuries to U.S. service members from an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait were far more serious than the government initially said.

CBS News is also moving ahead with the hiring of Jeremy Adler, once a top advisor to former congresswoman and outspoken Trump nemesis Liz Cheney, to handle communications for Weiss, according to people familiar with the plan who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Axios — citing unnamed sources — reported that White House officials are angry about Adler joining the network, as Cheney was vice chairman of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the most conservative members of Congress during her time, supported Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris in the 2020 election.

Adler was Cheney’s deputy chief of staff and senior communications advisor from 2019 to 2023. He also served as a regional press secretary on now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign.

ACTOR Warwick Davis’s mystery lover is a woman named Yvette who he has been dating for a year.

The star, whose wife Samantha died in 2024, ­affectionately referred to his new partner as “Sponge” in a speech last year.

Pals said American-born Yvette, who Warwick said had helped him “to laugh and to love again”, was his ­formal date when he received his OBE from Prince William at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

The Sun can reveal she also attended the Bafta Film Awards with the Harry Potter star, 56, at London’s Royal Festival Hall last month.

And they were also seen backstage together at a Madness concert in Cornwall last July.

A source told The Sun: ­“Warwick has been with Yvette for over a year now and they couldn’t be happier.

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“She has no interest in being a public figure and — although she has accompanied Warwick to events — Yvette does not court the limelight.

“Yvette is so proud of Warwick and loves to be by his side at events, but she will stand back and allow him to be in the ­spotlight.

“Yvette is close with his children and they have a lovely life together.

“All anyone wanted was to see Warwick happy and he has that with Yvette.”

Warwick revealed he had started dating again at the Bafta Film Awards in February last year.

After accepting the Bafta ­Fellowship on stage, he said: “Above all I’d like to dedicate and thank my wonderful wife Sammy, who died almost a year ago.

“Since then life has been pretty tough for me, but thanks to the support of our wonderful children Annabelle and Harrison, I’ve been able to continue working and engaging in life.

“A special mention too should go to Sponge, you know who you are.

“Thank you for showing me that life can still have meaning and helping me to laugh and to love again.”

This week at his investiture, Yvette was spotted in the background with his children while her partner spoke to William.

Warwick, who was born with a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia ­congenita, was named in King Charles’ New Year Honours list.

He was praised for his work supporting people with dwarfism, co-founding the charity Little People UK in 2012 with Samantha.

Meanwhile, the Star Wars actor is to reprise his role as Professor Filius Flitwick in the upcoming Harry Potter TV spin-off.

KATIE Price has warned that her son Harvey “will die of a heart attack” as she begs the NHS to put him of fat jabs.

The former glamour model, 47, revealed her worst fears for her 23-year-old son, who has a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome, which causes insatiable hunger, alongside autism, septo-optic dysplasia.

Last April Katie told fans that she was worried for her son’s life as he weighed nearly 30 stone.

And now the TV personality has shared another serious health update on the latest episode of her podcast.

A worried Katie said: “I’ve been on the case to doctors about putting him on the Monjaro.

“I’m actually going to put some up on Instagram to say, is there any private doctors out there because the NHS are so – I’m not slagging the NHS off, but they know he’s in the obese category.

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“When he sleeps, I worry because he’s snoring and wheezing.

“Then sometimes he holds his breath and I’m like, he’s massive, Sophie.

“He’s just getting bigger and he’ll end up dying of a heart attack.

“They’ve already told me years ago that if you don’t lose weight, he’s prone to a heart attack.”

She added: “I just feel so bad, so I’m going to have to do something.

“I mean, I’m not going to inject him myself because that’s not medically right to do for him. But something needs to be done.

“He’s just huge. So that’s that. But I’ve enjoyed having him.”

In January, Katie said Harvey was set to start fab jabs soon.

Katie confessed: “Things are definitely going to change for Harvey when we move because although he’s moving to adult residential, he’s also going to be starting Mounjaro.”

She explained she would be keeping an eye on him while he takes the medication, adding: “So, he’ll be losing weight.”

Harvey has several complex medical conditions, including Prader-Willi Syndrome, which causes an excessive appetite and weight gain, and autism.

Back in November, Katie spoke out in one of her podcast episodes, saying: “He’s not started fat jabs,” after speculation he had already started the weight loss injections.

She went on to say: “There are talks of fat jabs – of Mounjaro – for him.

“But when he was there, they’ve actually got a new weight loss drug coming out, and it’s new.

“They’ve clinically tested it on people and they’ve got a few people they’re putting it on first.”

Katie then said: “And if it works, then Harvey can go on it in the new year.

“But they want him to start the Mounjaro.

“Because if he goes on Mounjaro first and then goes onto this new one, it will work a lot quicker.

“The reason he hasn’t started Mounjaro yet is because they were trying to get him to lose weight through his diet, to try all avenues,” she explained.

Despite not being on fat jabs yet, Harvey has still lost a substantial amount of weight

Back in October, Katie opened up about how much weight he had lost.

“Last I heard, he lost 22lbs, is he still going?” Katie’s sister asked on their podcast last month.

Katie then revealed: “He’s lost a stone and a half. I can notice it on his chest, but not the belly yet.”