III

March 31 (UPI) — Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the author of the law that forced the government to release the Epstein files, wrote King Charles III requesting he meet with survivors of the late convicted sex offender during his upcoming state visit in April.

In his letter Monday, Khanna told the king he wanted him to meet with the women because of Epstein’s “significant” links to Britain via his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and his connections with high-profile political and establishment figures.

He stressed that survivors also “want this meeting.”

“I respectfully ask that you privately meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein‘s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s abuse, so they may speak to you directly about the ways powerful individuals and institutions failed them.

“I make this request in light of recent developments in the United Kingdom, including renewed scrutiny of individuals and institutions with ties to Epstein and his network. These developments have raised serious questions about conduct, access, and whether positions of public trust were misused or whether public institutions helped shield wrongdoing,” wrote Khanna.

“Your call for a ‘full, fair and proper’ investigation, and for the law to take its course, recognizes the seriousness of these concerns,” he added, referring to the king’s response to the arrest in February of his brother, the former Prince Andrew, on suspicion of passing confidential information to Epstein when he was Britain’s trade envoy.

Former U.K. Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is also under investigation on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he passed confidential government information to Epstein when he was business secretary in 2009.

Following their arrests on Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, both men were released “under investigation” by British police. Neither has been charged.

Mandelson was fired from his ambassadorship in September for allegedly concealing the extent, depth and duration of his friendship with Epstein from Prime Minister Keir Starmer when he was considering him for the role.

Buckingham Palace has previously stressed that the king’s “sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”

Buckingham Palace did not immediately comment on Khanna’s letter.

However, Khanna’s suggestion the meeting might yield “additional information that British institutions and individuals may be able to share and open a dialogue about whether there will be a full accounting of how Epstein’s and Maxwell’s network operated” in Britain as well as ensuring the matter was addressed with “transparency, seriousness, and accountability,” could prove very tricky for the king.

The king is head of state but his role is mostly ceremonial. He acts on the advice of government ministers, not the other way around, while the constitution places him above politics, if not the law.

The monarch’s legal and political powers are constitutionally limited to approving bills before they become law, dissolving parliament prior to elections and inviting the winning party to form a government — all rubber-stamp conventions over which they have no say.

He or she is not even allowed to publicly express their political views.

As such, the king is not in a position to grant any assurances or make anything happen regarding Britain’s handling of the Epstein scandal.

The visit by Charles and Queen Camilla, in reciprocation of President Donald Trump‘s unprecedented second state visit to Britain in September, has yet to be confirmed by Buckingham Palace and the White House, but U.S. Ambassador to Britain Warren Stephens said last week that he was confident it would go ahead.

The trip in the last week in April will see the royal couple welcomed to the White House complete with a Guard of Honor and a state banquet.

Charles was also expected to address both houses of congress. The last time that happened was in 1991 when Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II was in Washington as a guest of the late President George H W Bush.

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

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

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

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

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

(Greg Stein)

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

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

When Birmingham High’s Tekeio Phillips and X’Zavion McKay were asked if they are surprised that the Patriots are playing for a Division III state boys’ basketball championship on Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento after losing in the first round of the City Section Open Division playoffs, the answer was unanimous: Yes.

The Patriots (22-7) have won four consecutive state playoff games to earn a spot against Antioch Cornerstone Christian (28-8) in a 4 p.m. final. Fellow City Section member Sylmar (24-12) is playing San Marin (21-13) for the Division V title at noon. On Saturday, Palisades’ girls’ team plays Faith Christian at 10 a.m.

Birmingham lost to Fairfax 66-58 on Feb. 11 in the City playoffs and didn’t play another game until March 3. How do you get your team motivated for state playoffs after three weeks off?

“We didn’t do anything the rest of the week and took the next week off,” Halic said. “We rested our bodies and emotionally refreshed.”

Most importantly, Patriot players decided they wanted to win in the state playoffs.

“It definitely helped us offensively connect better,” Halic said. “We’re playing a better game these last four games. When you lose you’re disappointed and sometimes going into state, people don’t care. It’s such a great opportunity for us.”

Phillips is averaging 22.8 points. McKay is averaging 12.6 points and 10.5 rebounds. Phillips has twice played at Golden 1 Center when he was a member of the Alijah Arenas-led Chatsworth team.

“It’s just a bigger gym,” Phillips said. “I feel comfortable.”

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

PHOENIX — When he was selected with the 13th pick of the 2024 MLB draft, outfielder James Tibbs III envisioned himself roaming the outfield of Oracle Park in a San Francisco Giants uniform for many years.

He could never have foreseen that a year and a half later, he’d be playing for a longtime Giants rival, already at the third stop of his young career.

The Giants packaged Tibbs along with Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello in a trade to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for three-time All-Star Rafael Devers last June.

A month and a half later, Tibbs’ life was uprooted yet again, as the Red Sox moved him and Zach Ehrhard to the Dodgers in a trade for Dustin May.

MLB Pipeline prospect analyst Jim Callis has covered the draft for over 30 years, and can’t recall a situation quite like it.

“Tibbs is the only player I can think of who was taken in the top half of the first round and then traded twice during his first full pro season,” Callis said. “He really took off after joining the Dodgers, and I bet we see more consistency out of him when he’s not bouncing between [organizations] in 2026.”

Tibbs seems to have found a comfortable landing spot with the Dodgers. He posted seven home runs, 32 RBI and a .269/.407/.900 slash line over his 36 games in the Dodgers organization, rounding out his season at double-A Tulsa. And during his first camp with the Dodgers, Tibbs has turned heads. Through 15 Cactus League games, he’s hit two home runs, batting .281, with a .351 on-base percentage and .914 OPS.

He likely won’t open the season on the Dodgers’ big-league roster, but manager Dave Roberts sees his potential.

“I like James Tibbs,” Roberts said. “I like him a lot. He loves baseball, he is obsessed with getting better at the game and he just fits who I am as a baseball coach, and the players that we want, so he’s going to play in the big leagues. He’s a championship-type player.”

Tibbs was thrown for a loop by both trades, and taught him a lesson about facing adversity.

“Honestly, I might be one of the first first-round draft picks to be traded twice in their first year,” Tibbs said. “For me it was hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; it was hard. And really, mentally draining. [I] felt like I got punched in the face a bunch of times, and really had to learn how to get back up, and keep competing, and figure out how to be true to myself, and true to what I do well.”

Tibbs said that joining the Dodgers helped him to rediscover himself and return to his form from his time at Florida State.

“[When I joined the Dodgers, they] were like, ‘Hey, you know, we just want you to be yourself,” Tibbs said. “We want you to do what you need to do to be successful. Like, we believe in you, we believe in what you did in college. We want you to get that back and be able to be successful with how you swing the bat and how you play defense, and like, we don’t want to take that away from you.’ So obviously, there was tweaks being made, and there was things we needed to change a little bit to get to that spot, but I think for the most part, they just allowed me to be me and work within those boundaries to help figure out how to continue to make that better and better and better.

“And with that being said, I just felt a lot of relief from that.”

Tibbs clubbed 28 home runs in his junior year at Florida State, powering the Seminoles to their first College World Series trip since 2019. He received ACC Player of the Year and consensus First-Team All-American honors.

“Tibbs was one of the best offensive prospects in a loaded 2024 college class,” Callis said. “He makes good swing decisions and hits balls hard, giving him the ingredients to hit for average and power. Most of his value will come from his bat, but it’s a potentially potent bat.”

For now, Tibbs is content to be fulfilling his potential with one organization.

“Props to the Dodgers, they did everything they could to help me transition to that smoothly and make that a better process,” Tibbs said. “And it’s been a lot easier for me to go out and play every night, with the way that they’ve encouraged me and believed in me. It’s just been a blessing to be here.”