hurt

Aug. 18 (UPI) — A strike by Russian forces on a rural community in Ukraine‘s northeastern Kharkiv province on Tuesday morning killed at least 10 people and injured eight others, authorities said.

Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said in a post online that a missile hit a residential area of the small town of Pechenihy, 30 miles southeast of Kharkiv.

“This morning, the Russians brutally struck a crowded intersection in Pechenihy, where the post office and shops are located, and around where there are only residential buildings.

“Many people are injured, they are being provided with all necessary medical assistance. Rescuers have already extinguished the fire, all emergency and operational services continue to work at the scene. All the circumstances of this tragedy are being clarified,” wrote Syniehubov.

Syniehubov said 10 private houses, a cafe, a post office, a shop and at least seven cars were also damaged in the attack.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continued to send swarms of attack drones into Russia overnight for a third straight day, hitting and damaging a warehouse outside of Moscow belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries and setting ablaze an aluminum plant in Filimonovo, 40 miles northwest of Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 620 Ukrainian drones approached Moscow and the Moscow Region between Monday evening and 5 a.m. local time on Tuesday, of which 180 were downed by air defenses, causing some indirect damage on the ground.

“Emergency services are working at the sites where debris fell,” said Sobyanin.

The state-run TASS news agency said that by its calculations the attack was the largest in two year, eclipsing an attack overnight Saturday that saw 600 drones bear down on the Russian capital, of which 201 were destroyed in the air.

The family were on holiday in Turkey at the time of the incident

Two brothers were left covered in cuts after a steam room door shattered while they were on a package holiday in Turkey. The children were 16 and 11 at the time and were staying with their parents at the five-star Green Nature Diamond Hotel in Marmaris, Dalaman, on a 10-day break.

CCTV footage showed the moment the glass door shattered as the children left the steam room. Both suffered cuts to their feet, legs and arms and were treated by a doctor at the hotel.

Jet2Holidays initially denied liability for the incident but later agreed to pay the family £7,000 in compensation following a legal claim. The boys’ father, from Harrogate, North Yorks, said the family had been in their hotel room when the older boy returned from the spa.

He said: “We were in the hotel room when the eldest burst into the room. “He was limping, and there was blood everywhere. When we got down there, it just looked like carnage. The door had exploded, and there was blood and glass all over the place.

“Luckily, there was a doctor on site, and he managed to patch them up, but I wanted answers, and the manager was nowhere to be seen. There were no apologies, no nothing.

“When I got to see the CCTV when we were still on holiday, the first thing the receptionist did was put the USB stick in her pocket and said I couldn’t have it. I didn’t know what to do. I got hold of the British Embassy in Turkey, and this woman jumped in a taxi and came to get the footage.

“But then the hotel said she couldn’t have it unless she was with the police. But then she came back with a police officer, and they still wouldn’t hand it over. So, I did a bit of research, and I told them it was my data, it was my children, and there was no one else in the footage, so you need to send it to us.

“Eventually it arrived, but it came after 10 months of pushing and pushing and pushing. I’m glad it did, though, because I’m 100% certain that massively helped us in the process.”

He claims the incident continued to affect the family long after they returned home. The dad added: “It was scary, and we didn’t go on a package holiday for four years because of what happened, and the kids are still concerned about going through glass doors.

“You trust your tour operator to keep you safe. Jet2Holidays let us down.”

Hudgell Solicitors launched a damages claim on behalf of the family, with representatives for Jet2Holidays initially denying liability for the accident and the injuries suffered abroad. After the father finally secured the CCTV footage, Jet2Holidays’ legal representatives agreed to a combined compensation package of £7,000.

Anne Thomson, a senior litigation executive at Hudgell Solicitors and an accident abroad legal specialist, said: “The two boys suffered mild injuries, but this must have been a terrifying experience that stayed with them for a long time. The CCTV footage makes for especially uncomfortable viewing and underscores just how fortunate the brothers were to have avoided serious injury.

“We were disappointed with Jet2Holidays’ lackadaisical approach to genuine demand for answers, just as we were with the hotel’s baffling decision to not surrender the footage for so long. Under ‘2018 Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations’, it is implied that Jet2 exercise reasonable care and skill, not least by ensuring the safety and well-being of their customers.

“This did not happen. They eventually made a satisfactory out-of-court settlement, but we hope lessons have been learned to ensure potentially frightful incidents like this are eradicated in hotels with which they are associated.”

The family said the experience also changed their attitude towards holidaying abroad. The father added: “I can’t thank Anne enough. She kept going and going and going and continually kept reassuring me that this wouldn’t be going to court.

“I didn’t have a clue what to do about making a claim with something like this, but Anne made everything very straightforward. What happened to my lads has hopefully helped raise awareness that big companies like Jet2 need to be held accountable when they are in the wrong.

“They might try to delay and get away with it, but the truth always comes out.”

Jet2Holidays said: “We would like to reiterate how sorry we are about this incident.”

The company added that it had reached a settlement in relation to an incident which occurred in 2022.

OLIVIA Dean broke down in tears while singing her song ‘Let Alone The One You Love’ live on stage.

The singer, 27, performed in Boston earlier this week as part of her ‘The Art of Loving’ tour but became overcome with emotion during the poignant track.

The moment was shared on TikTok, with Olivia looking stunning in a gorgeous red dress with a lace detailing.

As she belted out the track, she struggled to keep her emotion in as she began to cry.

She wiped the tears away from her face as the audience cheered loudly for her.

Olivia continued singing as she attempted to hold it together during the performance.

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The song in question was released in September last year as part of her critically acclaimed studio album of the same name as her tour.

The track delves into the painful realisation that a partner is trying to stop your personal growth.

It explores the heavy emotional toll of romantic disappointment, capturing the grief of choosing self-love over a relationship where you feel small or disposable.

The lyrics include: “Though I’ve tried to hold on, and, if you knew me at all, you wouldn’t try to keep me small.

“Who would do that to a friend, let alone the one you love?”

Fans flocked to TikTok to share their thoughts as one asked: “Who hurt her?”

Another person demanded: “OK s**t just got real. Who hurt my baby?”

Somebody else commented: “NAAAH she’s singing it like she’s talking to someone.”

Yet another penned: “It’s okay, I cry during her songs too.”

While a fifth added: “These lyrics are real as f**k and that pain is DEEP!”

It comes after she turned down the chance to headline Glastonbury next year – where Harry Styles is topping the bill.

She was romantically linked to the former One Direction star two years ago, although they always denied they dated.

She is said to be opting to work on new music in 2027 instead and hopes to perform at the music festival in 2028.

An insider told The Sun: “Olivia’s team had conversations with Glastonbury about headlining in 2027 and she was extremely flattered.

“But after some reflection, she said she wants to take some time to work on new music next year, with a rough plan to return when her third album is ready.

“Of course, if she did it next year, her name would be right next to Harry’s and she just wants to move on from that now.

“She’s happy for him to have his moment, but she doesn’t feel like next year is hers.”

The US Senate approved its strongest move against Russia under Trump, advancing sanctions that could impose tariffs on major buyers including India and China.

Minnie Driver’s Paris adventures went awry this week when she was involved in a car accident that she’s describing as a frightening close call.

On Thursday, the actor — who has posted a series of “Paris Update” videos for her fans over the last two months while filming the sixth season of “Emily in Paris” — updated fans with a video posted to Instagram in which she appeared in a neck brace and recounted a harrowing close call. “Paris update is that I am actually back in London,” the video began.

“I got into a really bad car accident a few days ago with my friend Ben, and we somehow walked out of it,” she said. “Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it, but we did get out of it alive.”

Driver said the accident wasn’t their fault, and that they were cruising down a country road in the middle of France when another vehicle failed to stop at an intersection.

“We just T-boned it,” she said. “I’m fine. I’ve got a sprained neck, and I’m really in shock and sort of cry all the time, but I’m going to heal.”

According to Deadline, production on “Emily in Paris” will continue as planned aside from one scene involving Driver that had to be rescheduled. She plans to return to her role as Princess Jane when she recovers.

“The reason that I’m not dead, honestly, is the car that we were driving,” she continued in her update, adding that 360-degree airbags in the “tiny Kia” she was riding in saved their lives. “The fact that the entire car didn’t just concertina and crush us is down to the design of that car, which is frankly astonishing.”

Driver assured her followers that the video wasn’t a car ad — “Can you imagine if that’s what I was doing?” — but the actor appeared grateful and wanted to give due credit, all with her sense of humor still intact.

“I’m a mini driver, pun intended. I need to celebrate the car that saved us, because we’ve got families and people who love us, and I am so grateful to be alive,” she said. “So, Kia, you are a baller car company.”

July 22 (UPI) — Ukrainian drones hit logistics plants of Russian online retailer Wildberries for the third night in four days, injuring 15 workers at two facilities in the southwest of the country, the company’s CEO and regional heads said Wednesday.

Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim said in an online post that warehousing in Krasnodar and the city of Nevinnomyssk in the Stavropol region further to the east came under attack, causing injuries and forcing an emergency evacuation of employees.

“Our people are our priority. I want to thank our team — our heroes — who carried out a swift evacuation. Unfortunately, preliminary reports indicate there are injuries.

“There are no words to describe the emotions stirred by attacks on ordinary people — on our employees, on all of us — who are simply doing their jobs. Yet, these situations highlight the most important thing: we must continue doing what we do for the benefit of the people,” wrote Kim.

Krasnodar Krai regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said 10 people were injured in a strike on a warehousing complex, three of them seriously, as part of what he called “a massive attack” on the region that killed at least one worker in a separate strike on a commercial enterprise in Armavir, 120 miles east of Krasnodar city.

Armavir authorities said an oil depot was also targeted in the attack, setting it on fire.

Two apartment blocks in Krasnodar and two houses in Dinskaya village were damaged by debris from downed drones, according to Kondratyev.

Stavropol Krai Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov said five people were hurt at a logistics facility on the outskirts of Nevinnomyssk, but only required treatment as outpatients.

Footage circulating online of the two Wildberries facilities that the BBC said it had verified shows explosions at the complex in Nevinnomyssk and major blazes raging at both sites.

Saying a tanker and four cargo ships from Russia’s shadow fleet were also hit in the Black and Asov seas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the strikes on warehouse complexes, saying they were part of the Russian military’s supply chain.

“Ukraine‘s long-range sanctions successfully struck important targets in Russia’s Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, logistics hubs involved in supplying the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment, and other gear,” he wrote on X.

“We are, quite justly, bringing the war back home — to Russia,” said Zelensky.

The attacks overnight follow attacks on Wildberries south of Moscow in the early hours of Monday in which drones struck a fulfilment center in Kolyedino and warehouses in Belye Stolby were destroyed and strikes early Saturday that killed at least eight people and injured more than 60 at a Wildberries distribution facility at Kotovsk in Tambov region and a second facility in Elektrostal in the Moscow region.

Before Devlin had even departed, there was a new head coach in charge. The process to appoint Vrancken was quick and initial signs were promising.

Here was a man who had been named Belgian coach of the year, had taken Racing Genk to within minutes of the title, and had been linked with Anderlecht and Burnley.

As well as a glowing CV, his previous style of play in Belgium was highlighted. It was not quite labelled all-out attack, but it was certainly going to be the style of football fans want to see.

Explaining his tactics in an early supporter forum, the man himself said he wanted “chaos within a structure”.

In his first match in charge it was mostly chaos, not so much structure.

However, the 4-0 scoreline does not feel truly reflective of the game itself. The attacking stats showed Hearts did not lag behind their Austrian hosts by any means.

They created two chances in the first half that should have been buried, but Pierre Landry Kabore shot straight at the keeper and Alexandros Kyziridis nudged his effort wide when one-on-one.

By the time it came to creating any more, they were already 4-0 down. Inefficient in attack, torn apart at the back. It was a nightmare beginning.

“Early impressions are that Hearts have got a really good head coach,” said Hearts Standard editor Joel Sked on a recent Scottish Football Podcast. “At the same time, just with everything that’s happened, there will have to be some patience.”

Patience is in short supply in football these days. For every Ange Postecolgou, there’s a Wilfried Nancy. For every Jens Berthel Askou, a Russell Martin.

It is too soon to tell in which camp Vrancken will fall, but for the most part, Hearts fans remain cautiously optimistic.

They’ve been through it all in the past two months, nothing can surprise them. Not even this.

July 10 (UPI) — A huge wildfire raging in southern Spain killed at least 11 people with another 19 unaccounted for, authorities said Friday as more than 700 firefighters and troops, nearly 200 firetrucks and 16 aircraft battled the flames.

The Andalusian government said in a post on X that all indications pointed to the main blaze, which had already burned through more than 3,000 acres near Los Gallardos in Almeria province, being sparked by a fallen power pole before spreading to woods nearby.

Warning casualty numbers could increase substantially, Andalusian President Juanma Moreno said eight people were injured, four of them seriously.

“I’m on my way to Almeria. The consequences of Los Gallardos are devastating. Right now, all efforts are focused on controlling the fire and preventing further loss of human life,” he said in an update online.

The fatalities occurred in and around Bedar village, just northwest of Los Gallardos, with Andalusia’s health minister saying he believed four of those killed whose bodies were found in a car were likely Britons.

Health and Emergencies Minister Antonio Sanz said he had reason to believe they were British because the vehicle was right-hand drive whereas European cars are all left-hand drive — with the exception of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta.

The Spanish armed forces’ Military Emergencies Unit said in a post on X that it had 220 soldiers and 70 fire vehicles on the scene “attacking the frontline of the wildfire head-on to contain its advance.”

The provincial government said around 600 area residents remained evacuated.

More than 200 miles away in western Malaga Province, 1,000 people were evacuated from two residential complexes in the mountain village of Benahavis as a precautionary measure due to an “urban wildfire” that broke out on Thursday afternoon, the government said in a statement.

Authorities said more than 230 firefighters and other emergency personnel and 10 firetrucks were continuing to work to bring the fire under control and that the region’s Wildfire Prevention and Suppression Plan had been activated.

Residents forced to leave their homes were accommodated in a sports center, by the Red Cross and with family and friends or in local hotels.

Weeks of unseasonably hot weather across western and southern Europe, including three heatwaves with temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius, has triggered a series of wildfires that have burnt at least 49,000 acres across Spain, Portugal, Greece and France.

June 27 (UPI) — The local authorities acknowledged the plane crash that hit Beijing’s tallest building Friday, saying the pilot died and 13 people were injured.

A short statement on WeChat from the local Chaoyang District government said only the pilot was on the plane and was killed in the crash. The statement said 13 people in the building and on the ground were injured. They didn’t identify the pilot or a motive.

The statement said, a “single-engine double-seat light sports aircraft collided with a high-rise building in flight.” It said the incident is being investigated. It didn’t name the building and only called it a skyscraper near the East Third Ring Road.

All references to the crash, video and images were scrubbed from social media in China. The state media, whose headquarters is across the street from the 109-story Citic Tower, hasn’t reported anything about the crash.

It’s not known if the crash was intentional.

Beijing airspace is tightly controlled, and even drones are mostly banned within the city. It’s not clear how the pilot got around the tight controls.

FL360Aero.com, an aviation news site, posted images and video on X from the scene, showing a plane’s tail lying on the sidewalk. The post estimated that it hit around the 65th floor of the building.

Flightradar24 posted on X flight data that appeared to show a deviated flight path for the plane after it took off from Shifosi airport in Beijing’s eastern Pinggu district.

England’s late wobble, in which Kemp was run out for two, comes with the caveat of the confusion caused by Sciver-Brunt’s retirement.

Earlier, faced with a low total, Wyatt-Hodge and Jones continued to attack but chipped catches to the ring for 16 and nine respectively. Capsey was bowled by a fine yorker by Orla Prendergast for five.

Afterwards, Sciver-Brunt and Knight’s composed partnership steered England to the brink of victory, until Knight was pinned lbw by Prendergast for 26.

The only England player who had a real off day was seamer Lauren Bell. She conceded a boundary with the first delivery of Ireland’s innings and was hit for four fours by Louise Little in a final over that cost 17 and boosted Ireland’s score.

In between, Ireland were unable to counter as England mixed spin with seam through the middle. Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets and Dani Gibson and Dean two apiece, as England dominated much of Ireland’s innings of 118-9.

Dean bowled accurately and found turn to induce false shots with 36% of her deliveries.

Ecclestone mixed her pace to have Rebecca Stokell stumped with a quicker ball and Arlene Kelly and Cara Murray gave looping catches and Gibson, who took 2-10 in two overs, had Ireland’s Prendergast bowled via an inside edge for 25.

Ireland, who limped on from 57-5, have now lost 19 T20 World Cup matches from 19, but this performance was more encouraging than Saturday’s defeat by Scotland.

They were good with the ball, but did not have enough runs to defend.

May 28 (UPI) — At least 16 students were killed and 74 were injured after fire tore through a girls’ boarding school in Kenya in the early hours of Thursday.

The blaze broke out as students were sleeping, engulfing the dorm block at the school in Gilgil, 77 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi, police and the Kenya Red Cross said.

A rescue and recovery operation was still underway amid efforts to account for all the students who were in the accommodation building — thought to be about 220.

“It is a sad and distressing situation. As we speak, our officers are combing the area because some students fled in shock and fear during the night,” said police commander Masoud Mwinyi.

Mwinyi said the police department had launched an investigation and that criminal investigators and forensics officers had been dispatched to the scene.

A parent told Kenya’s NTV News that most of the students in the hospital had been injured as they tried to escape by jumping from the upper level of the dorm block because one of the doors was closed.

President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto extended their condolences to the victims’ families and friends, as well as teachers and staff at the school.

“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters in the tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil. No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope, and dreams for the future. As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” Ruto wrote on X.

Education Secretary Julius Ogamba ordered the immediate closure of the school but urged the public and media to refrain from speculating on the cause of the fire until the investigation was complete.

Ogamba said the Education Ministry was in the midst of a health and safety code audit of schools that had already seen the shuttering of almost 350 boarding schools that did not meet government standards.

The crackdown was launched 18 months ago in the wake of the deaths of 21 people in a blaze in a dorm of the Hillside Endarasha Academy, a boarding school in Nyeri, 100 miles north of Nairobi, in September 2024.

The country’s boarding schools have a poor safety record with a series of deadly blazes blamed on overcrowding and breaches of basic safety measures such as keeping exits clear and windows and exits unlocked.

Some have been deliberately set, with the finger pointed at students disaffected by tough discipline regimes and living conditions.

Responding to a parliamentary committee’s request in 2021 for school arson data, the Ministry of Education reported 126 arson attacks in the first 11 months of 2020 alone.

May 24 (UPI) — Nineteen people were injured Sunday during a stampede that broke out during a popular motorcycle rally in Atlantic Beach, S.C., local officials said.

Three of those hurt in the stampede were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries while the others were treated for minor injuries and released in what Horry County Fire Rescue officials called a “mass casualty event.”

Crews were dispatched to South Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Beach at 1:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday during the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, hailed as the largest African American motorcycle rally in the United States and held annually on Memorial Day weekend in the small South Carolina coastal town.

In a statement issued to media outlets, Interim Town Manager Titus Leaks said South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and state Department of Natural Resources personnel quickly took control of the situation, which they assessed was triggered by individuals who “had simply started running.”

“While any incident is unfortunate, it is also important to recognize that this isolated moment does not reflect the overall success of the event,” the statement said. “The Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival has been held for over 40 years and continues to attract visitors from across the country because of the positive experience it provides.”

Leaks characterized the incident as “a brief crowd reaction that was quickly identified and managed by law enforcement who were already in position.

“We planned ahead, we responded quickly, and we will continue to build on that to ensure the safety of everyone who visits Atlantic Beach.”

We’re really almost there.

There is just over one week remaining before the June 2 primary for Los Angeles mayor, city attorney, city controller and eight of the 15 City Council seats.

As of Friday morning, 333,000 mail-in ballots had been cast in the race, up from 321,000 at the same time in 2022, according to the L.A. County Registrar/Recorder.

The Trump card

Spencer Pratt’s foes in the Los Angeles mayor’s race like to say that the former reality television star lacks the experience needed to run a big city.

But Pratt might have an even bigger liability — any sense that he may be aligned with President Trump.

Cygnal, a national polling group that has worked for Republican candidates, found that tying Pratt to Trump and the MAGA movement is a bigger turnoff to Democrats than his reality television past.

According to its poll of 500 likely Los Angeles voters, Pratt’s reality TV resume made 59% of overall Democrats less likely to vote for him. By comparison, tying Pratt to MAGA and Trump made 65% of Democrats less likely to vote for him, Cygnal said.

Pratt is a registered Republican and on Wednesday, Trump signaled support for Pratt in the mayoral race. On Thursday, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon said the president didn’t formally endorse Pratt out of fears it would hurt Pratt’s chances in Democrat-dominant Los Angeles.

Spencer Pratt at a recent campaign block party in South Los Angeles.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Overall, including Democrats and Republicans, 24% of voters said tying Pratt to Trump made them more likely to vote for him while 50% of voters were less likely to vote for him because of it.

“Karen Bass is a fairly reserved individual, but you have to believe that backstage she was doing a happy dance after she heard Donald Trump’s comments,” said Dan Schnur, a professor of politics at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine University.

The strongest pro-Pratt argument is a public safety argument that Pratt will reject “defund the police” policies and hold repeat offenders accountable.

The poll showed Bass at 25% support, Pratt at 22% and Councilmember Nithya Raman at 18%.

Big money for Blumenfield seat

It hasn’t had the same sizzle as the mayor’s race, or been as pricey as the acrimonious campaign for city controller. But the battle to replace City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield in the west San Fernando Valley is turning into yet another high-stakes, big-money contest.

In that three-way race, a handful of special interests have now put more than $1 million into various efforts to elect businessman Tim Gaspar.

The Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group, has spent the most so far, pouring more than $400,000 into mail pieces, web videos and other campaign expenses, according to Ethics Commission filings. Most of its money has been coming from Airbnb, which is looking to loosen the city’s rules on homesharing platforms, by allowing second homes to be used as short-term rentals in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games.

Political aide Barri Worth Girvan, who is running to replace Blumenfield, criticized Gaspar over the influx of money, saying the “West Valley is not for sale.”

“Airbnb has destroyed countless neighborhoods around Los Angeles, and they clearly believe that my opponent will allow them to do that in the San Fernando Valley,” said Worth Girvan, who works for county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “Let me be clear — I will not allow that in our neighborhoods.”

Gaspar, in a statement, said he’s proud of the coalition supporting him.

“Like so many Angelenos, they are ready for change and new ideas that will actually get something done. Barri is offering nothing but the same tired excuses, empty promises, and failed ideas,” he said.

Under the city’s campaign finance rules, donors cannot give more than $1,000 to the campaign of a council candidate. However, independent expenditure groups can spend unlimited amounts, as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns of their favored candidate.

Some of the other Gaspar backers who are spending large sums include the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses, which represents McDonald’s franchisees, the California Apartment Assn. and Working Californians, a committee sponsored by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 18, which represents employees of the Department of Water and Power.

That committee is also partly funded by Airbnb, according to the Ethics Commission website.

Ethical supes

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to establish its first ethics commission.

The creation of the new body aimed at preventing and eliminating corruption in county government was mandated by Measure G, which voters approved about 18 months ago.

That measure overhauled the county charter to create an elected county executive position and increase the number of supervisors from five to nine.

It also stipulated the establishment of an ethics commission and an office of ethics compliance, helmed by an ethics compliance officer.

Polling shows the effort has broad public support, according to Sara Sadhwani, a political science professor at Pomona College who served on a task force that made recommendations to the supervisors.

But there was still controversy before the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to support to approve the plan.

Supervisor Janice Hahn said the ethics commission was intended to be an independent body whose members were not directly selected and appointed by elected officials.

She proposed an amendment that would have made it so commissioners were chosen from a list of qualified and interested people via a lottery system.

Hahn lost that battle and the county approved the plan without the change. The county assessor, the chair of the Board of Supervisors and starting in 2028, the newly minted county executive, will each appoint one ethics commissioner.

Those three commissioners will then select the other four members of the commission, who are subject to the approval of the supervisors.

State of play

— “THE HILLS” ARE ALIVE: The Times dived deep on Spencer Pratt’s history as well as his campaign, showing how he rose from reality television villain on “The Hills” to become a leading contender for L.A. mayor.

— TRUMP BUMP?: President Trump signaled support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt on Wednesday, wading into the local election less than two weeks before the primary.

— FRESH PRINCE: Spencer Pratt’s campaign for Los Angeles mayor has paid the Hotel Bel-Air more than $15,000 since April 7, according to Pratt’s latest campaign finance filings.

— PROGRESSIVE BLOCK: Three members of the L.A. City Council’s progressive bloc endorsed Mayor Bass for reelection, snubbing fellow progressive Nithya Raman in the June 2 primary. The endorsements from Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martínez underscore fractures on L.A.’s left. All three are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, as is Raman.

— HOLLYWOOD HOPEFULS: In campaign ads, interviews and the recent televised debate, the top three contenders: incumbent Mayor Bass, former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt and Raman, have made the ongoing production slump a pivotal topic, highlighting their plans to revitalize the industry while deploying the issue to undercut one another.

— WHITHER LATINOS?: Latinos make up nearly 37% of the L.A. electorate, making their votes crucial for anyone with mayoral ambitions. That has campaigns putting out ads and social media posts in Spanish, hitting the ground in Latino majority neighborhoods and rallying for key endorsements.

— HUNGRY FOR MORE: It’s the biggest slate of democratic socialists Los Angeles has ever seen. The L.A. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America is looking to push City Hall further left by backing candidates for city attorney and four City Council seats in the June 2 primary.

— OH, AND A BUDGET: The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $15-billion budget for 2026-27 on Thursday, preserving Mayor Karen Bass’ police hiring plan while socking away more money for potential emergencies.

— AIRPORT DELAYS?: A $30 minimum wage for hotel and airport workers will be delayed after Los Angeles elected officials persuaded a group of business leaders to drop a ballot measure that would have devastated the city budget.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program moved 69 people indoors near Chinatown this week in Jurado and Hernandez’s council districts.
• On the docket next week: The City Council will vote to approve a formal letter to remove the gross tax repeal from the November ballot.

Stay in touch

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