Irvine

HIGH SCHOOL FLAG FOOTBALL

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

New Designs University Park 36, TEACH Tech 0

Verdugo Hills 26, Arleta 6

Verdugo Hills 26, Arleta 13

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alhambra 36, Keppel 8

Antelope Valley 6, Highland 0

Banning 50, Rancho Mirage 33

Bellflower 26, Norwalk 0

Bishop Amat 25, St. Paul 0

Bonita 32, Claremont 15

Burbank Burroughs 33, Providence 0

California 30, Whittier 14

Castaic 21, Golden valley 12

Cerritos 26, Pioneer 0

Costa Mesa 14, Godinez 6

Covina 19, West Covina 13

Crean Lutheran 39, Azusa 0

Desert Hot Springs 22, Cathedral City 6

Hart 32, Canyon Country Canyon 6

Irvine 7, Laguna Beach 0

Irvine University 35, Rosary 13

Knight 13, Lancaster 6

La Canada 40, Rio Hondo Prep 12

Laguna Hills 14, Westminster 7

Montebello 6, San Gabriel 0

Newport Harbor 32, Aliso Niguel 6

Northview 18, Charter Oak 12

Paramount 12, La Mirada 0

Quartz Hill 22, Eastside 0

Rowland 12, Hacienda Heights Wilson 7

San Dimas 20, Alta Loma 6

Santa Fe 19, El Rancho 12

Saugus 14, Vasquez 7

Schurr 33, Bell Gardens 12

Sierra Vista 28, St. Lucy’s 31

South El Monte 34, Arroyo 7

Sunny Hills 6, Santa Ana Foothill 0

Tesoro 18, San Juan Hills 14

Tustin 26, Compton Early College 0

Villa Park 18, Troy 12

Warren 19, Gahr 0

Western Christian 13, Ontario Christian 7

West Ranch 34, Valencia 0

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Birmingham 6, Cleveland 0

Carson 31, LA Marshall 21

Hollywood 25, Collins Family 13

El Camino Real 28, Chatsworth 0

LA Marshall 20, Jefferson 6

Jefferson 13, Carson 12

Maywood Academy 6, Torres 0

Panorama 42, Van Nuys 0

Panorama 48, Reseda 0

Roybal 6, LACES 0

Sotomayor 8, Maywood Academy 0

Sotomayor 40, Torres 0

Van Nuys 21, Granada Hills Kennedy 12

Venice 19, Fairfax 6

With a sixth year of basketball eligibility at UC Irvine, former St. Francis High guard Andre Henry has become so familiar with coach Russell Turner that both consider each other family.

Henry, who was injured last season after nine games, is back healthy, and Turner thinks he’s ready to be a standout on offense and defense this season.

He calls Henry one of the finest recruits he ever signed out of St. Francis in 2020. In 2023-24, he was the Big West Conference defensive player of the year.

“Andre was probably the top-ranked recruit we ever got,” said Turner, in his 16th season. “I watched him elevate his team at St. Francis and he’s still that type of personality. I’m thrilled where is right now and he’s going to have a great season on both sides of the ball. There’s not a limit he can accomplish.”

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UC Irvine men’s basketball coach talks about how Andre Henry has become a standout on the court for the Anteaters.

Turner said he’s grateful for Henry’s loyalty and commitment to the UC Irvine basketball program.

“Andre has become family with me and my staff,” he said. “He’s made great sacrifices to remain in our program. I think he sees we’re committed to him and I certainly see how committed he and his family have been to us. Hopefully, we can write the end to a great story in his sixth year.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

UC Irvine has officially acquired Orange County Museum of Art, bringing the two organizations together under a new name: UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art. I first reported on the possibility of the merger in June when the two entities first signed a nonbinding letter of intent that needed approval by the University of California Board of Regents.

With the legal details now set, UC Irvine is absorbing OCMA’s 53,000-square-foot, $98-million Morphosis-designed building on the eastern edge of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus. According to UC Irvine, no money changed hands in the acquisition, which also finds the university taking over OCMA’s assets, employees and debt.

Just how much debt the Costa Mesa-based museum was in has not been disclosed by either organization, and a rep for UC Irvine declined to comment on that number.

OCMA’s board has been dissolved, and CEO Heidi Zuckerman, who announced her intention to step down in December, vacated her role. She had been planning to stay until her successor was found, but UC Irvine is now that successor and has launched a search for a new leader to take over the merged museums. A rep for the university said it is hoping to announce a candidate by early next year.

UC Irvine had long planned to build a museum for its California art collection, including its celebrated Gerald Buck Collection, but it now intends to move it to OCMA when the lease on its current off-campus space, on Von Karman Avenue, expires in late 2026. The Buck Collection, bequeathed to UC Irvine by Gerald Buck when he died in 2017, is the museum’s crown jewel, consisting of more than 3,200 paintings, sculptures and works on paper by some of the state’s most championed artists, including Joan Brown, Jay DeFeo, Richard Diebenkorn, David Hockney and Ed Ruscha.

OCMA opened to much fanfare in 2022 and its expansive contemporary art collection drew museum-goers from across the country. More than 10,000 visitors arrived in its first 24 hours, and admission was to remain free for the first decade of operation thanks to a grant from Newport Beach’s Lugano Diamonds.

All did not seem well at the new museum, however. Times art critic Christopher Knight and former Times architecture columnist Carolina Miranda wrote that the highly touted building remained oddly unfinished. Murmurs about the museum’s financial problems persisted when Zuckerman announced her departure three years later.

According to a rep for OCMA, the museum had a $7.7-million annual budget and had attracted 600,000 visitors since 2022, which is a healthy number by industry standards. Still, questions circulated among museum insiders about what OCMA’s long-term financial plan was, and how much it might have been struggling toward the end.

A rep for UC Irvine would say only that the museum had done its due diligence before the acquisition.

The museums at both locations remain open as usual, with OCMA in the midst of its 2025 California Biennial: “Desperate, Scared, But Social.”

“UC Irvine is committed to ensuring that the region benefits from a world-class art museum that enriches the cultural fabric of Orange County, advances groundbreaking scholarship, nurtures the next generation of creators and thinkers, and inspires curiosity and connection across diverse audiences,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman in a news release.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, looking to acquire a healthy breakfast in a few minutes. Here’s your arts news for the week.

On our radar

Martha Graham Dance Company performs “Night Journey” and other works Saturday at the Soraya.

(Brigid Pierce)

Martha Graham Dance Company Centennial
The Soraya continues its celebration with Graham’s 1947 ballet “Night Journey,” which is based on the Oedipus myth and has not been widely performed; a 2024 piece titled “We the People,” featuring folk music by Rhiannon Giddens; and the world premiere of “En Masse,” which builds on the Soraya’s exploration of Graham’s collaborations with various composers. The last — a new commission choreographed by Hope Boykin — marks the first time Graham’s work has been paired with the music of Leonard Bernstein. The posthumous partnership was inspired by a musical excerpt that was found in correspondence between the two arts legends. Christopher Rountree’s experimental classical ensemble Wild Up will perform a new arrangement of Bernstein, as well as William Schuman’s score for “Night Journey.”
— Jessica Gelt
8 p.m. Saturday. The Saroya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. thesoraya.org

Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism tour hits town for five shows at the Forum in Inglewood.

(Katja Ogrin / Getty Images)

Dua Lipa
Lipa has found a formidable second life as a public intellectual with her fantastic book club, Service95. (This month’s suggestion: David Szalay’s novel “Flesh.”) But on the heels of last year’s (unfairly!) slept-on “Radical Optimism,” the singer returns to SoCal for five nights at the Forum, where that record’s exquisite catalog of disco-funk effervescence will hopefully get its due on the dance floor.
— August Brown
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday. Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com

Pat O’Neill, “Los Angeles — From Cars and Other Problems,” 1960s, gelatin silver print

(Graham Howe)

Made in L.A. 2025
UCLA Hammer Museum’s seventh biennial survey of mostly recent art from the sprawling region will include 28 artists and collectives — including influential elder statesman Pat O’Neill, 86. The artists work in every imaginable medium, from traditional painting and sculpture to theater and choreography. The always much-discussed result will reflect the diverse artistic interests of the changing curatorial team, which this time is composed of independent curator Essence Harden, Art Institute of Chicago (and former Hammer) curator Paulina Pobocha and Hammer curatorial assistant Jennifer Buonocore-Nedrelow.
— Christopher Knight
Sunday through March 1, 2026. Closed Mondays. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. hammer.ucla.edu

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY
🎭 Family Meal
A famous chef serves his last meal, and you’re invited to this immersive theatrical experience that seats the audience at the dinner table for a round of foodie “Succession.”
7 p.m. Friday-Sunday; Oct. 10-12; Nov. 7-9; 14-16. Rita House, 5971 W. 3rd St. speakeasysociety.com

🎶 🎤 Ledisi: For Dinah
The Grammy-winning singer’s new album pays tribute to Dinah Washington, “The Queen of the Blues.” 
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Untitled, 2025, by Calvin Marcus. Oil on linen, 48 by 72 inches, 49 by 73 inches framed.

(Karma)

🎨 Calvin Marcus
Building on a coat of deep umber, the artist adds layers of lime, Kelly, forest and other shades of green to mimic the growth cycle of his subject in the Grass Paintings. This isn’t the type of nature you can touch, but the vivid compositions of the series may offer their own sense of the sublime to the viewer.
10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday through Nov. 1. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. karmakarma.org

🎹 🎺 🎶Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance presents an evening with the Grammy-winning octet, featuring pianist and composer O’Farrill, son of the late Cuban jazz pioneer Chico O’Farrill.
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

Music director Rafael Payare and the San Diego Symphony open their new season Friday.

(Courtesy of Gary Payne)

🎼 French Fairytales: Ravel and Debussy
San Diego Symphony music director Rafael Payare opens his orchestra’s second season in the brilliantly renovated Jacobs Music Center by staging Ravel’s one-act opera, “The Child and the Magical Spells” (commonly known by its French title, “L’enfant et les sortileges”). A kind of French “Alice Wonderland,” this is the most enchanted work by a composer for whom enchantment was bedazzling second nature. The stellar cast is headed by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and soprano Liv Redpath. The stage director is by the orchestra’s creative consultant, Gerard McBurney, who recently created for Esa-Pekka Salonen a new version of Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina,” which was the hit of this year’s Salzburg Easter Festival. Plus Debussy’s “The Joyful Isle (L’isle joyeuse)” and “The Box of Toys (La boîte à joujoux).” (Mark Swed)
7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Jacobs Music Center, 1245 Seventh Ave, San Diego. sandiegosymphony.org

SATURDAY
🎼 🎤 Current: Reflections in Song
Countertenor John Holiday, pianist Lara Downes and an 18-piece Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra lineup glide through Chris Walde’s arrangements of Gershwin, Ellington, Strayhorn, Korngold, Chaplin and more in a program that unites cinematic romance with the elegance of jazz.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Cicada Restaurant and Lounge
617 S Olive St., downtown L.A. laco.org

🎨 The HWY 62 Open Studio Art Tours
For a 24th year, High Desert artists open their studios and share their work for three weekends of free self-guided tours.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Oct. 11-12 and 18-19. Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms and surrounding areas. hwy62arttours.org

🎭 Public Assembly’s Soirée
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” director Daniel Scheinert, actor Jena Malone and other celebrities gather for this fundraiser for the non-profit theater company featuring staged readings of the group’s earlier works.
6 p.m. VIP-only cocktail party; 7:30 p.m. staged readings. Eagle Rock (location to be sent along with ticket purchase). publicassembly.us

📚Rare Books LA Union Station
This year’s fair features antiquarian books, maps, fine prints and book arts, while celebrates Guillermo Del Toro’s new film adaptation of “Frankenstein,” streaming on Netflix this November. (A Frankenstein Fundraiser, hosted by Netflix in association with Rare Books LA and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, is scheduled Friday night in Hollywood).
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Union Station, 800 N. Alameda Street. rarebooksla.com

🎨 🚘 🎶 Venice Afterburn
This official Burning Man Regional brings art cars, installations, theme camps and music to the beach.
Noon-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Windward Plaza, Venice Beach. veniceafterburn.com

SUNDAY

Jiji performs Sunday at BroadStage.

(BroadStage)

🎼 🎸 Jiji: ‘Classical Goes Electric’
The Korean guitarist and composer who goes by Jiji Guitar and is a member of the L.A. new music collective Wild Up exchanges her acoustic guitar for electric in a solo recital program that ranges across centuries as part of the endearing Sunday morning series at BroadStage (bagels and cream cheese included). Jiji begins with an arrangement of a vocal piece by the mystical 12th century abbess Hildegard von Bingen, who happens to be the subject of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s new opera, “Hildegard,” that L.A. Opera presents Nov. 5-9 at the Wallis. Elsewhere on the program, the guitarist electrifies a neglected Baroque composer, Claudia Sessa (all women Baroque composers suffer obscurity), with Max Richter and new music including neglected electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel. (Mark Swed)
11 a.m. Sunday. Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. broadstage.org

🎼 Two Titans: The Music of Beethoven and Verdi
The Los Angeles Master Chorale performs the epic works “Mass in C” and “Four Sacred Pieces” by Ludwig Van Beethoven and Giusseppe Verdi, respectively.
7 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. lamasterchorale.org

Claude Monet, “The Water Lily Pond (Clouds),” 1903, oil on canvas

(Brad Flowers/Dallas Museum of Art)

🎨 The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse
Is there anyone who doesn’t like Impressionist paintings and sculptures? As the Dallas Museum of Art renovates and expands its building, a selection of 50 Impressionist and early Modern works from its permanent collection, dating from the 1870s to 1925, has embarked on a three-year, five-city tour. Six paintings by Claude Monet and four by Piet Mondrian are featured. (Christopher Knight)
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; Oct. 5 through Jan. 25, 2026. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. sbma.net

TUESDAY
🎨 Glass Sukkah: This Home Is Not a House
Sukkot, an ancient Jewish harvest festival, and its messages of the temporary nature of shelter, the value of welcome and belonging, the importance of honoring ancestors and the preciousness of the natural world are themes of artist Therman Statom’s work, including glass face jugs and paintings.
Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday–Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, ongoing.
Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. skirball.org

🎵 🎭 Les Misérables
Cameron Mackintosh’s evergreen production of Boublil and Schönberg’s Tony Award- winning musical – billed as “the world’s most popular” – arrives for a two-week run.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, through Oct 19. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. broadwayinhollywood.com

🎼 Strauss, Pärt & Glass
Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform 20th century chamber music.
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

THURSDAY
🎼 Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’
The conductor’s “Second Symphony” is performed by Soprano Chen Reiss, mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the L.A. Phil, under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel, for only the second time in the maestro’s tenure.
8 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. Oct. 10; 8 p.m. Oct. 11; 2 p.m. Oct. 12. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

🎭 Paranormal Inside
Playwright Prince Gomolvilas’ latest is a sequel to “The Brothers Paranormal,” which had its Los Angeles premiere at East West Players in 2022. In returning to the ghost-hunting business launched by two Thai American brothers, the author continues his examination of intergenerational trauma through the lens of the occult. Jeff Liu directs what sounds like a wild ride into the Freudian uncanny, where the repressed makes a startling return. (Charles McNulty)
8 p.m. Thursday, through Nov. 2; check days and times. David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 N Judge John Aiso Street, Little Tokyo. eastwestplayers.org

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Francesca Zambello’s staging of “West Side Story.”

(Todd Rosenberg / Lyric Opera of Chicago)

The legendary Broadway musical “West Side Story” is getting the L.A. Opera treatment as it opens the company’s 40th anniversary season at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Times classical music critic Mark Swed caught a show and gives a bit of history in his review — namely that when choreographer Jerome Robbins talked with Leonard Bernstein in 1949 about the idea of updating ‘Romeo and Juliet’ into a contemporary musical, “Robbins didn’t know what it would be, but he knew what it wouldn’t be: An opera!” Nonetheless, the show is operatic, Swed notes, and redoing it as an opera means one important thing: more attention is given to the music.

Gustavo Dudamel is currently straddling two worlds as he kicks off his final season at the Los Angeles Philharmonic while at the same time assuming the role of music director designate at the New York Philharmonic, prior to becoming the orchestra’s artistic director in 2026. The opening concerts for both orchestras were a mere two weeks apart, with New York coming first. Swed invokes Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” to explore the new state of affairs that finds one city losing a beloved figurehead to another. In both cities, however, Dudamel is making superb music.

I spoke with a member of the anonymous “satirical activist” group the Secret Handshake, which recently installed a 12-foot-tall statue of President Trump holding hands with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The statue was removed less than 24 hours later by the National Park Service despite having a permit. The NPS claimed the statue had violated height restrictions, but the Secret Handshake rep said that it should have been given 24 hours to fix the problem before the statue was removed. The following day the group again tried to get a permit to reinstall the statue, and was denied without explanation. On Thursday afternoon, however, the statue was reinstalled for a limited time. Stay tuned.

A mural of Misty Copeland by El Mac.

(Lex Motley)

A brand new mural of ballet star Misty Copeland by the artist El Mac is being unveiled on Oct. 5 in San Pedro. The colorful painting takes up an entire outside wall of San Pedro City Ballet at 13th Street and Pacific Avenue, and was made possible by Arts United San Pedro. The unveiling also includes the renaming of the building in homage to donor Dr. Joseph A. Adan. “I’m incredibly honored to be featured in this stunning mural by El Mac at San Pedro City Ballet, my very first ballet studio and a place that will always feel like home,” Copeland said in a news release. “What he’s captured through my image is so much bigger than me, it represents every young person from this community and beyond who deserves access to the arts. This is such a beautiful tribute to where it all began for me.”

Long Beach Opera has named former L.A. Opera Production Director Michelle Magaldi its new chief executive officer. While at L.A. Opera, Magaldi oversaw the company’s popular Santa Monica Pier simulcasts; helped guide operations for L.A. Opera Off Grand; was responsible for hiring and training various producers and technical staff and also helped spearhead the world-premiere production of Ellen Reid’s “Prism,” which later won a Pulitzer Prize. Magaldi has a long working history with LBO’s Chief Creative Officer and Artistic Director James Darrah. Magaldi succeeds Marjorie Beale, who served as interim managing director since 2024.

Doja Cat will be the musical guest for Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art+Film Gala, the museum announced earlier this week. The always glitzy soiree is set to take place on Saturday, Nov. 1, and will honor artist Mary Corse and filmmaker Ryan Coogler. It’s co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Christine Vendredi has been apponted Palm Springs Art Museum’s new executive director, the board of trustees announced Monday. It’s a role Vendredi has occupied on an interim basis since April 2025. Prior to that she served as chief curator — a role she took on after serving as global director of art, culture and heritage at Louis Vuitton.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Join me in a moment of silence for Jane Goodall. She communicated across species, showing the world that we have more in common with all living creatures than we think. It’s a lesson we would do well to remember in these trying times.

SAN DIEGO — Six Democrats running for governor next year focused on housing affordability, the cost of living and healthcare cuts as the most daunting issues facing Californians at a labor forum on Saturday in San Diego.

Largely in lockstep about these matters, the candidates highlighted their political resumes and life stories to try to create contrasts and curry favor with attendees.

Former state Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, in his first gubernatorial forum since entering the race in late September, leaned into his experience as the first millennial elected to the state legislature.

“I feel like my experience and my passion uniquely positioned me in this race to ride a lane that nobody else can ride, being a millennial and being young and having a different perspective,” said Calderon, 39.

Concerns about his four children’s future as well as the state’s reliance on Washington, D.C., drove his decision to run for governor after choosing not to seek reelection to the legislature in 2020.

“I want [my children] to have opportunity. I want them to have a future. I want life to be better. I want it to be easier,” Calderon, whose family has deep roots in politics. State leaders must focus “on D.C.-proofing California. We cannot continue to depend on D.C. and expect that they’re going to give a s—t about us and what our needs are, because they don’t.”

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who also served as the state’s attorney general after a 24-year stint in Congress, argued that it is critical to elect a governor who has experience.

“Would you let someone who’s never flown a plane tell you, ‘I can fly that plane back to land’ if they’ve never done it before?” Becerra asked. “Do you give the keys to the governor’s office to someone who hasn’t done this before?”

He contrasted himself with other candidates in the race by invoking a barking chihuahua behind a chain-link fence.

“Where’s the bite?” he said, after citing his history, such as suing President Trump 122 times, and leading the sprawling federal health bureaucracy during the pandemic. “You don’t just grow teeth overnight.”

Calderon and Becerra were among six Democratic candidates who spoke at length to about 150 California leaders of multiple chapters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The union has more than 200,000 members in California and is being battered by the federal government shutdown, the state’s budget deficit and impending healthcare strikes. AFSCME is a powerful force in California politics, providing troops to knock on voters’ doors and man phone banks.

The forum came as the gubernatorial field to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom is in flux.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced earlier this summer that she has opted against running for the seat. Former Senate Leader Toni Atkins suspended her gubernatorial campaign in late September.

Rumors continue to swirl about whether billionaire businessman Rick Caruso or Sen. Alex Padilla will join the field.

“I am weighing it. But my focus is first and foremost on encouraging people to vote for Proposition 50,” the congressional redistricting matter on the November ballot, Padilla told the New York Times in an interview published Saturday. “The other decision? That race is not until next year. So that decision will come.”

Wealthy Democratic businessman Stephen J. Cloobeck and Republican Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco declined an invitation to participate in the forum, citing prior commitments.

The union will consider an endorsement at a future conference, said Matthew Maldonado, executive director for District Council 36, which represents 25,000 workers in Southern California.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa leaned into his longtime roots in labor before he ran for office. But he also alluded to tensions with unions after being elected mayor in 2006.

Labeled a “scab” when he crossed picket lines the following year during a major city workers’ strike, Villaraigosa also clashed with unions over furloughs and layoffs during the recession. His relationship with labor hit a low in 2010 when Villaraigosa called the city’s teachers union, where he once worked, “the largest obstacle to creating quality schools.”

“I want you to know something about me. I’m not going to say yes to every darn thing that everybody comes up to me with, including sometimes the unions,” Villaraigosa said. “When I was mayor, they’ll tell you sometimes I had to say no. Why? I wasn’t going to go bankrupt, and I knew I had to protect pensions and the rest of it.”

He pledged to work with labor if elected governor.

Labor leaders asked most of the questions at the forum, with all of the candidates being asked about the same topics, such as if they supported and would campaign for a proposed state constitutional amendment to help UC workers with down-payment loans for houses.

“Hell yes,” said former Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine, who teaches at UC Irvine’s law school and benefited from a program created by state university leaders to allow faculty to buy houses priced below the market rate in costly Orange County because the high cost of housing in the region was an obstacle in recruiting professors.

“I get to benefit from UC Irvine’s investment in their professionals and professors and professional staff housing, but they are not doing it for everyone,” she said, noting workers such as clerks, janitors, and patient-care staff don’t have access to similar benefits.

State Supt. of Instruction Tony Thurmond, who entered the gathering dancing to Dr. Dre and Tupac’s “California Love,” agreed to support the housing loans as well as to walk picket lines with tens of thousands of Kaiser health employees expected to go on strike later this month.

“I will be there,” Thurmond responded, adding that he had just spoken on the phone with Kaiser’s CEO, and urged him to meet labor demands about staffing, pay, retirement and benefits, especially in the aftermath of their work during the pandemic. “Just get it done, damn it, and give them what they’re asking for.”

Former state Controller Betty Yee agreed to both requests as well, arguing that the healthcare employers are focused on profit at the expense of patient care.

“Yes, absolutely,” she said when asked about joining the Kaiser picket line. “Shame on them. You cannot be expected to take care of others if you cannot take care of yourselves.”

AFSCME local leaders listening to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speak at a gubernatorial forum Saturday in San Diego.

(Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times)

The top two returners from last year battled for three miles before Lily Alder of Timpview (Utah) passed La Jolla’s Chiara Dailey in the final yards to win the Bob Day Girls Sweepstakes race on Saturday night in the 44th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at Great Park in Irvine.

Alder won by 1.6 seconds in 15:40 flat after placing third in 2024 in 15:28.9 — seven-tenths of a second behind runner-up Dailey. Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake was third in 15:52 and taking fourth individually in 15:54.1 was Irvine’s Summer Wilson.

“My coach told me I could go 15:39 and I know I’m a lot better than I performed today,” said Wilson, a senior committed to Duke. “I found myself leading in the first two miles but my strength is my kick, so in retrospect it would’ve been smarter to stay back.”

Wilson’s former school JSerra (she transferred before her junior year) won the team title with 196 points.

Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade, now a freshman at Florida State, set the meet record of 15:20.3 last fall. Her former Sharks teammate, Arkansas-bound senior Braelyn Combe, who won the state 1,600-meter title in the spring was seventh Saturday in 16:11.1.

Herriman (Utah) senior Jackson Spencer won the Doug Speck Boys Sweepstakes in 13:42.1, well off the meet record of 13:30.3 set a year ago on the same course by Owen Powell of Mercer Island (Wash.). Spencer, who was sixth in last year’s sweepstakes race, led the Mustangs to their fourth straight team championship.

Oak Park (203) won the Gold Varsity A boys race. Canyon Country Canyon senior Owen Souther was second individually in 14:41.8. Norwalk senior Leo Diaz won the Gold Varsity B race in 14:50.3 and El Toro was second in the team standings with 228 points.

Joaquim Sandoval, a junior from Warren, was first in the Blue Varsity B boys race in 14:28.6. “I’m feeling pretty good,” he said afterward.

Oaks Christian senior Delaney Napierala ran a personal-best 17:01.6 to outlast Jenna Murray of Moorpark (17:03.8) and win the Gold Varsity A girls race. In the Gold Varsity B race, Westlake freshman Sabina Cruz edged Autumn Banks of Tahoe-Truckee by one second in 16:50.7 while pacing the Warriors to the team title.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Annenberg 20, Rise Kohyang 6

Crenshaw 18, Bernstein 13

New Designs University Park 26, Locke 0

Orthopaedic 12, Collins Family 6

South East 34, Maywood Academy 6

South East 33, Marquez 0

South Gate 18, LA Jordan 0

Sotomayor 6, Huntington Park 0

Stern 38, Camino Nuevo 0

Sun Valley Magnet 32, Chatsworth 0

USC Hybrid 22, Simon Tech 0

Verdugo Hills 46, Chavez 0

SOUTHERN SECTION

Antelope Valley 7, Bakersfield Christian 0

Aquinas 14, Ontario Christian 6

Arroyo 33, Mountain View 0

Banning 35, Rancho Mirage 12

Beckman 32, Dana Hills 25

Bonita 27, Glendora 6

California 44, El Rancho 0

Castaic 26, Canyon Country Canyon 13

Channel Islands 31, Santa Paula 18

Compton 32, Lakewood 0

Corona Santiago 20, El Modena 20

Costa Mesa 15, Ocean View 7

Cypress 21, Crean Lutheran 12

Desert Hot Springs 22, Cathedral City 0

Downey 67, La Mirada 0

Eastside 53, Littlerock 7

Eastvale Roosevelt 38, Victor Valley 0

Edison 21, Los Alamitos 20

El Dorado 13, Troy 6

Esperanza 20, Sonora 6

Fairmont Prep 12, Whittier 7

Garden Serra 13, St. Anthony 6

Golden Valley 19, West Ranch 12

Hart 33, Vasquez 8

Huntington Beach 47, Fountain Valley 0

JSerra 26, Corona del Mar 7

Kaiser 7, Rialto 0

Laguna Beach 31, Irvine 14

Laguna Hills 19, La Palma Kennedy 18

La Serna 19, Santa Fe 7

Long Beach Jordan 34, Long Beach Wilson 8

Los Amigos 6, Saddleback 0

Montclair 14, Chaffey 0

Montebello 36, Alhambra 13

Newport Harbor 27, Marina 7

Northview 13, Hacienda Heights Wilson 0

Orange 24, Bolsa Grande 6

Portola 26, Irvine University 20

San Gabriel 30, Bell Gardens 6

Santa Monica 31, Leuzinger 0

Saugus 6, Valencia 0

St. Mary’s Academy 28, Bishop Montgomery 0

Valley View 27, Vista del Lago 8

Warren 20, Dominguez 0

Western 18, Magnolia 8

Westminster 13, Segerstrom 12

Westridge 27, Monrovia 20

Woodbridge 27, Sage Hill 6

Yorba Linda 19, Villa Park 6

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Franklin 45, Elizabeth 0

Jefferson 35, Elizabeth 0

Jefferson 27, Franklin 6

Narbonne 26, El Camino Real 0

Panorama 12, San Fernando 6

Panorama 31, Sylmar 25

San Fernando 27, Sylmar 19

West Adams 6, Stella 0

SOUTHERN SECTION

Agoura 60, Calabasas 0

Aliso Niguel 18, Mission Viejo 12

Antelope Valley 34, Knight 0

Artesia 38, Glenn 6

Beverly Hills 18, Compton Centennial 0

Camarillo 47, Oak Park 14

Chaminade 26, Bishop Alemany 12

Culver City 19, Hawthorne 13

El Toro 26, Trabuco Hills 19

Inglewood 19, Lawndale 6

La Serna 12, St. Paul 0

Los Alamitos 50, Loara 0

Newbury Park 26, Thousand Oaks 7

North Torrance 27, West Torrance 19

Oxnard 41, Buena 12

Palos Verdes 32, Mira Costa 0

Placentia Valencia 20, Bolsa Grande 12

Quartz Hill 19, Highland 14

San Marcos 40, Oxnard Pacifica 0

Schurr 35, Sacred Heart of Jesus 0

Shalhevet 6, Providence 0

Ventura 40, Rio Mesa 13

Westlake 33, Oaks Christian 12

INTERSECTIONAL

Eagle Rock 7, Corona 6

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Bell 13, Franklin 7

Bellflower 47, WISH Academy 13

East Valley 38, Valor Academy 6

Granada Hills Kennedy 27, Arleta 6

Kennedy 33, Arleta 0

Narbonne 43, Sherman Oaks CES 6

Panorama 27, Sherman Oaks CES 6

Panorama 6, Narbonne 0

San Fernando 32, Chatsworth 0

Sun Valley Magnet 32, AMIT 0

Verdugo Hills 18, San Fernando 6

Verdugo Hills 30, Chatsworth 6

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alhambra 19, Ramona Convent 18

Aliso Niguel 34, Corona Santiago 14

Antelope Valley 66, PACS 0

Arroyo 27, Mountain View 12

Baldwin Park 60, Edgewood 0

Bellflower 47, WISH Academy 13

Bell Gardens 25, Hawthorne 0

Bolsa Grande 31, Garden Grove Santiago 6

Brea Olinda 41, Sonora 20

Castaic 13, Valencia 6

Corona Del Mar 21, Marina 8

Costa Mesa 26, Estancia 0

Desert Hot Springs 34, Banning 8

Downey 32, Westminster 0

Fullerton 14, La Palma Kennedy 7

Garey 20, Chaffey 14

Gahr 25, Buena Park 13

Glendora 13, Azusa 0

Hart 26, Golden Valley 0

Highland 32, Fillmore 0

Huntington Beach 14, Edison 12

Inglewood 18, Corona 13

JSerra 27, San Juan Hills 0

Katella 34, Whitney 0

La Habra 14, California 7

Lakewood St. Joseph 20, Bishop Amat 0

Long Beach Jordan 34, Long Beach Cabrillo 0

Mater Dei 33, Beckman 27

Millikan 12, Anaheim 0

Montebello 28, Pioneer 0

Newport Harbor 21, Los Alamitos 0

Norco 31, Chino Hills 0

Northwood 24, Irvine 6

Orange 42, Western 0

Placentia Valencia 13, Laguna Hills 7

Rialto 13, Artesia 0

Rosary 6, Irvine University 0

Saddleback 26, Santa Ana Valley 20

San Clemente 41, Troy 0

San Dimas 19, Bonita 6

Santa Ana Foothill 6, Dana Hills 0

Segerstrom 26, Tustin 0

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 16, Royal 12

Sierra Vista 20, Rowland 13

Simi Valley 31, Santa Paula 19

South El Monte 7, Rosemead 6

St. Anthony 22, Mayfair 13

St. Paul 26, South East 12

Vasquez 7, Canyon Country Canyon 6

Villa Park 44, Paramount 0

Warren 18, La Serna 12

West Ranch 20, Saugus 8

Westridge 24, Duarte 0

Whittier 12, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 7

Windward 38, Compton Early College 12

Woodbridge 10, Portola 12

Xavier Prep 18, Rancho Mirage 6

INTERSECTIONAL

St. Paul 26, South East 12

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Legacy 28, Lincoln 6

Wilson 53, Torres 0

SOUTHERN SECTION

Bolsa Grande 18, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 6

Buena 12, Santa Barbara 6

Cerritos d. Buena Park, forfeit

Channel Islands 44, Knight 21

Dos Pueblos 53, Rio Mesa 0

Edison 19, San Clemente 13

El Toro 33, Millikan 13

Fountain Valley 39, Garden Grove 6

Highland 32, Fillmore 0

Magnolia 33, Glenn 6

Mater Dei 45, Traduco Hills 40

Mira Costa 13, Santa Monica 7

Orange Lutheran 52, Esperanza 6

San Jacinto Valley Academy 13, Hemet 6

San Marcos 33, Oxnard 6

Torrance 27, El Segundo 7

Vasquez 13, Eastside 6

Ventura 46, Oxnard Pacifica 14

Westlake 34, Moorpark 12

With a camera trailing his every move, Nathan Chen glides across the ice at the same training center that fueled his Olympic dreams. Four years after winning Olympic gold, Chen is still the picture of power and artistry as he picks up speed to round a turn and circles an arm around his head.

“Is this a comeback?” Jean-Luc Baker, a 2022 Olympic ice dancer, playfully asks.

The reigning Olympic champion has not skated competitively since Feb. 10, 2022, when Chen landed five clean quadruple jumps to become the seventh U.S. man to win a figure skating singles gold medal.

He doesn’t intend to change that soon.

Six months before the Milano Cortina Olympics, Chen confirmed he will not defend his Olympic title. The two-time Olympic gold medalist hasn’t officially retired, but is ready to embark on a new career in medicine.

“I just want to open doors to kind of see what’s the best sort of approach for me,” Chen told The Times. “And frankly, at this point in time in my life, I’ve already accomplished enough in skating that I’m quite satisfied with my career.”

A six-time national champion and three-time world champion, Chen put an exclamation point on his career with a dominant performance in Beijing. He set the world record in the short program. He conquered demons from a 2018 disaster in which he finished fifth to win his first individual Olympic medal. He became the first singles skater in Olympic history with two gold medals in the same Games after helping the United States to a victory in the team competition.

Then Chen slipped seamlessly back into life as a student, finishing his bachelor’s degree at Yale, where he started before the Games. He began applying to medical schools while helping launch Your True Step, a series of skating seminars with Baker, who placed 11th in the 2022 Olympic ice dance competition with partner Kaitlin Hawayek, and choreographer Sam Chouinard. After giving instruction on and off the ice to roughly two dozen young athletes, the first question Chen received Friday during a post-camp Q&A was about which medical school he was going to attend.

Whichever one wants him, Chen responded with a chuckle.

Chen, who said taking the medical college admission test was even more nerve-racking than competing at the Olympics, is interested in cardiology or oncology, specifically related to genetics. He’s curious about cardiothoracic surgery, but worried about the potential work-life balance sacrifices.

The concern isn’t that Chen is scared to dedicate himself completely to a particular job. He just wants his next project to be as fulfilling as skating was.

“The basis of being a doctor, I think, is to help people,” Chen said. “I think that’s something that I didn’t necessarily feel as an athlete, that I felt was a little bit lacking, and I get a little bit of that sense doing YTS.”

The skating camps, which began in 2024, have brought Chen and Baker to rinks in Irvine, Boston, Detroit and Seattle. They came up with the idea while attending a pre-Olympic camp in 2022 so the longtime friends could remain close to each other and to the sport. Baker, 31, knew the Beijing Games would likely be his last Olympics. Chen wasn’t sure at the time.

Nathan Chen listens to the national anthem while standing on the top step of the podium after winning gold in men’s figure skating at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Still only 26, Chen could be entering his physical prime. The sport has remained open to older competitors as technique has progressed. But the window of opportunity to realistically win is small, Chen acknowledged, as athletes push the limits toward jumps that were once unimaginable.

Leading up to the 2022 Olympics, Chen dabbled with a quadruple axel during practice, but stopped training it as the Games approached. While he came close to landing it, he was comfortable knowing no one else had the daring jump yet.

Only seven months after those Games, Ilia Malinin landed the world’s first quadruple axel in competition at 17 years old. Now the favorite for Olympic gold in 2026, the 20-year-old American has won consecutive world championships.

While Malinin, who also trains at Irvine’s Great Park Ice with Chen’s former coach Rafael Arutyunyan, landed six quadruple jumps at the 2025 world championships, Chen watched from afar.

The event took place in Boston, where Chen was completing a post-baccalaureate program. Instead of feeling like he was missing out, Chen was relieved he didn’t have to feel the stress of competition.

He’s content to enjoy what could be a golden era of U.S. skating from the sideline. The United States claimed three of four world championships in 2025, the most ever for the country in a single world championship. Alysa Liu made an improbable return from a two-year hiatus to become the first U.S. woman to win the world championship since 2006. Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third consecutive ice dance world title. Malinin, known as “the Quad God,” became the first American man to win back-to-back singles world championships since Chen, who won three.

Chen, the one-time “Quad King,” is happy to pass his crown.

UC Irvine and Orange County Museum of Art have signed a nonbinding letter of intent, which, if approved by the University of California Board of Regents in the fall, would bring the museum under the university’s control, effectively merging it with UC Irvine’s Langson Institute and Museum of California Art.

The news comes two months after OCMA’s CEO, Heidi Zuckerman, announced her intention to step down in December, and a week before the museum launches its 2025 California Biennial, “Desperate, Scared, But Social,” set to run Saturday though Jan. 4.

“This represents a thoughtful next step in OCMA’s evolution,” said OCMA board chair David Emmes in an email. “Partnering with UC Irvine would offer new opportunities to strengthen our mission, expand educational impact, and position the museum as a lasting and dynamic cultural anchor for the region. We look forward to next steps and the possibilities of this collaboration.”

The $93-million, 53,000-square-foot OCMA building, designed by Morphosis, debuted in October 2022 as the crown jewel of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa — a full 35 years after it was announced as an ambitious plan by the small Newport Harbor Art Museum.

Its opening drew more than 10,000 visitors in its first 24 hours, and admission for the first decade of operation was made free thanks to the financial largesse of Newport Beach’s Lugano Diamonds. Cracks soon began to appear, though, as architectural critics and columnists, including The Times’ Carolina Miranda, noted that the pricey building did not seem to be fully finished.

OCMA’s contemporary collection has a broader scope than UC Irvine’s, which focuses on California art, including early 20th century California Impressionism. If the merger happens, UC Irvine would no longer build a planned new museum on its campus and instead fold that effort into OCMA. UC Irvine is in the early stages of searching for a director for its museum, but the parameters of that search are likely to change, too. OCMA has not yet launched its search for Zuckerman’s replacement, so the two efforts would probably be combined. No logistics for how that might work are yet available.

A merger would add the impressive Buck Collection to OCMA’s treasures, which real estate developer Gerald Buck bequeathed to UC Irvine upon his sudden death in 2017. Buck had amassed more than 3,200 paintings, sculptures and works on paper by some of the state’s most important artists, including Joan Brown, Jay DeFeo, Richard Diebenkorn, David Hockney and Ed Ruscha.

“OCMA has long contributed to the cultural vibrancy of our region, and UC Irvine is honored to explore this promising partnership,” said UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman in an email. “As a university committed to discovery, creativity, and public service, we see great potential in combining our strengths to expand access to the arts, deepen engagement with California’s artistic legacy, and support new generations of creators and scholars.”

The Board of Regents will vote on the merger in the fall. In the meantime, both institutions are in the exploratory stages of figuring out how a merger would work.

I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt looking to merge with some vacation time this summer. Here’s this week’s arts roundup.

Best bets: On our radar this week

Actor Peter Weller, left, and author William Burroughs, right, with director David Cronenberg on the set of the 1991 movie “Naked Lunch,” loosely based on Burroughs’ drug-infused novel of the same title.

(Jean-Louis Atlan / Sygma via Getty Images)

Naked Lunch
Vidiots hosts the local premiere of a new 4K remastering of David Cronenberg’s 1991 adaptation of William S. Burrough’s quasi-autobiographical novel. “I’m not trying to do ‘Naked Lunch’ literally,” Cronenberg told The Times upon the film’s release. “I’m doing something else. I’m writing about writing, so in a way I’m writing about the process of writing ‘Naked Lunch.’ ” But even that is motivated by something Burroughs says in the book: “There is only one thing a writer can write about: what is in front of his senses at the moment of writing … I am a recording instrument … I am not an entertainer.” The film’s star, Peter Weller, will be in attendance, signing his new book, “Leon Battista Alberti in Exile.”
7:30 p.m. Monday. Vidiots, Eagle Theater, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org

Chris Shyer, Alison Ewing and the national touring company of “Parade,” opening at the Ahmanson Theatre on June 17.

(Joan Marcus)

Parade
Michael Arden’s triumphant Tony-winning 2023 Broadway revival of Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s musical drama proved that one of more challenging works in the modern musical repertory is an indisputable classic. This breathtakingly ambitious show tells the story of the 1913 trial of Leo Frank, a gross miscarriage of justice that culminated in his antisemitic lynching. While parsing the social and political context, the musical never loses sight of the protagonist and his wife, finding room for the heartbreaking personal side of an American tragedy that reveals the dark side of our collective past.
Tuesday through July 12, Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org

Gay Liberation March on Times Square, 1969. Gelatin silver print.

(Diana Davies/Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations)

Queer Lens
With a provocative title that centers queer imagery within established photographic history since the mid-19th century, this exhibition will examine the ways in which the accessibility and immediacy of camerawork have shaped perceptions of LGBTQ+ people. Organized chronologically, “Queer Lens” spans from “Homosocial Culture and Romantic Friendships, 1810-1868” to “The Future is Queer, 2015-2025,” with sections covering language and identity, the gay liberation movement, the AIDS crisis and more.
Tuesday through Sept. 28. J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu

Culture news

President Trump stands in the presidential box as he tours the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on March 17.

(Associated Press)

President Trump made a grand red carpet appearance at the Kennedy Center premiere of “Les Misérables” on Wednesday. This marked the first time the president has attended a show at the theater since firing its board and installing himself as chairman. With First Lady Melania Trump on his arm, the president took his seat in the president’s box. The Washington Post reported that he was greeted by boos before “cheers and chants of ‘U.S.A.!’ sought to compete.” The following day, the White House Office of Communications issued a press release titled “President Trump, First Lady Met with Standing Ovation at Kennedy Center,” which went on to describe “thunderous applause.” A video in the Post story depicts a different reality.

The SoCal scene

Miami City Ballet’s “Swan Lake.”

(Alexander Iziliaev)

Miami City Ballet is bringing Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Segerstrom Hall for five performances June 20-22. It’s a special version of the classic ballet choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky — the former director of Moscow Bolshoi Ballet who left Russia in in 2008 and later became an artist in residence at both American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet. Ratmansky reimagined “Swan Lake” using historical information and archival documents dating to an 1895 premiere at St. Peterberg’s Mariinsky Theatre, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. That revival, based on an 1877 ballet titled “The Lake of the Swans,” became the favored version going forward, and Ratmansky has used this historical context to anchor his interpretation, with music played live by Pacific Symphony. Tickets are available at scfta.org.

Orange County Museum of Art is throwing a free block party from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, to celebrate the opening of its 2025 California Biennial, ”Desperate, Scared, But Social.” The event will feature a curator-led tour of the exhibit as well of plenty of food trucks and artist-themed snacks at the museum’s cafe Verdant. Guests are also invited to make their own risograph posters and zines and to craft screen printed tote bags and shirts. A concert for the whole family will kick off at 7 p.m. with performances by the Linda Lindas, Seth Bogart & The Punkettes and Brontez Purnell, as well as a reunion by Emily’s Sassy Lime.

“In the Pocket Painting,” Jonas Fisch.

(Jonas Fisch / Saatchi Art )

Saatchi Art, an online gallery with two L.A.-based executives, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. CEO Sarah Meller and Director of Sales and Curation Erin Remington have built the platform into an online marketplace that helps launch careers including that of Jackie Amezquita, who started out with Saatchi and last year won the Audience Award at the Hammer’s Made in LA Biennial.

With curfew exemptions from L.A. City Council, performances resumed Thursday night at the Music Center but audiences were reluctant to return downtown. L.A. Opera said attendance at “Rigoletto” was 554, roughly 1,000 less than its projected attendance. Center Theatre Group said slightly more than 300 ticket holders showed up for “Hamlet” at the Mark Taper Forum, which seats 739 and had been at 85% capacity (about 630 seats filled) prior to the introduction of a curfew. A representative said the company heard no reports of problems getting in or out of downtown.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Times music writer August Brown interviewed Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine about Brian Wilson, who died last week at 82. “I just lost my best friend and mentor. It’s not a good feeling, but I’m going to carry on and continue to play our music and perform with the Pet Sounds Band,” Jardine told Brown.

Twelve years ago, John Savage was the man in Westwood.

Fresh off the Bruins’ first College World Series title in 2013, then-UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero rewarded the coach with a lucrative 12-year contract extension.

It’s been a grueling journey since.

UCLA has tallied numerous No. 1 national rankings, seven NCAA tournament berths, four first-round draft picks and one super regional appearance since then, but not a single return to Omaha. The last two years of Bruins baseball were poor by the program’s standards — missing the postseason in back-to-back years and ending 2024 with a losing record for the first time since 2016.

UCLA pitcher Wylan Moss celebrates after an out against UC Irvine on Sunday night.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Something had to give in 2025, the final year of Savage’s contract, as UCLA tried to build upon a sophomore class that has helped transform it into one of the best offenses in the nation.

UCLA entered the NCAA tournament with reason to be optimistic. With star players such as Roch Cholowsky on the roster, perhaps a return to the College World Series wasn’t out of the question.

On Sunday, the Omaha oracle pointed UCLA’s way, the Bruins inching one step closer to advancing to the College World Series. Bullying second-seeded UC Irvine with its bats like it had against every team in the Los Angeles Regional, first-seeded UCLA won 8-5 to advance to the NCAA super regionals for the first time since 2019. UCLA will host the Los Angeles Super Regional against Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week.

“I’m very proud of our team, very proud of our guys winning 19 games last season and coming back,” Savage said. “It’s just a team — and they’re playing together. … Proud of our program, proud of my coaches.”

UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional.

If UCLA beats UTSA, it’ll advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 2013.

UCLA pitcher Easton Hawk delivers against UC Irvine on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA’s offense was just as ready to explode — like they did versus Fresno State and Arizona State — against a depleted UC Irvine pitching staff (with high-leverage bullpen arms Ricky Ojeda and David Utagawa unavailable after pitching earlier Sunday). Rallying for six hits across the first two innings, the Bruins put together three runs thanks to RBI singles from Roman Martin and Cashel Dugger, and a sacrifice fly from Roch Cholowsky.

UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu helped place the game in blowout territory — an 8-0 lead — when he connected for a three-run home run in a five-run fourth inning. Much like UCLA had done all weekend, the lineup kept on churning.

Levu led all Bruins with three RBIs, while Cholowsky went one for three with two RBIs from sacrifice flies.

“Everyone has a great approach at the plate,” Levu said. “It’s kind of hard for the other team to get past us.”

Freshman Wylan Moss set the tone for UCLA’s combined pitching effort. Moss, who entered the contest with a 2.25 earned-run average and an All-Big-Ten Freshman Team recognition, was as good as advertised to stymie UC Irvine, which came off an 11-run offensive showing earlier in the day.

The 6-foot-3 righty struck out the top of the Anteaters lineup — Will Bermudez, Chase Call and Jacob McCombs — swinging on change ups. Moss, who had yet to pitch in the NCAA Tournament, was lying in wait for a game of magnitude.

He pitched 3 ⅓ innings, giving up two runs and two hits, while walking three and striking out four. From there, a five-pitcher bullpen effort kept Irvine at bay, pitching 5 ⅔ innings of five-run ball the rest of the way to wrap up regional action in Westwood.

UCLA players and coaches celebrate after their Los Angeles Regional victory over UC Irvine on Sunday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Things got more complicated for UCLA in the sixth, when freshman right-hander Cal Randall gave up a solo home run to UC Irvine designated hitter Alonso Reyes to make it a three-run game, but right-hander Jack O’Connor entered to extinguish the threat — and set down UC Irvine outfielder Chase Call on a fielder’s choice to close out the inning.

It wasn’t easy sailing for the Bruins in the late innings.

Graduate student right-hander August Souza bailed UCLA out of a bases-loaded jam by freezing the potential go-ahead run, Blake Penso, on a full-count, 87-mph fastball in the seventh.

When the Bruins needed it the most, Souza struck out two in a scoreless eighth, putting metaphorical champagne on ice in Westwood.

“Just honestly blessed to play this year,” said Souza, who didn’t pitch in 2024 because of injury. “It’s my sixth year. Didn’t think I’d play in college this long, and just happy to get this win with my team and celebrate getting to a super regional.”

Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk tossed a perfect ninth, striking out James Castagnola to end it, prompting the Bruins to run onto the field in celebration. UCLA owned the Los Angeles Regional title.

“I liked everything today,” said UC Irvine coach Ben Orloff, who praised Savage as one of the best coaches in the nation. “Besides the third out.”

What makes the 2025 Bruins different from other UCLA teams? Savage said leadership and teamsmanship could make the Bruins national title contenders.

Cholowsky, with pitchers Cody Delvecchio and Michael Barnett, helped transform the team’s culture as team captains, Savage said. They accomplished this despite having to endure the legal saga that temporarily forced the Bruins out of Jackie Robinson Stadium in the fall.

Now, postseason baseball will remain in Westwood for at least one more weekend.

Highlights from UCLA’s 8-5 win over UC Irvine in the Los Angeles Regional on Sunday.

“We got knocked out of the stadium the first day of school,” Savage said. “It was unfortunate, but they came together, man, and they did a remarkable job of just building this team. I gotta tip my hat to the players. The players did a remarkable job.”

But it’s not time to celebrate just yet. If UCLA wants to go to the College World Series, Savage said, the focus needs to shift to beating UTSA.

“Like I told them, ‘there’s nothing to really celebrate,’” Savage said. “You can enjoy this, but at the same time, we got to get back to work on Tuesday.”

Under threat of elimination, UC Irvine‘s bats emerged once again.

Bringing the power for a second straight game, the Anteaters connected for five home runs Sunday, eliminating Arizona State 11-6 in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Needing to win four straight games to advance to the super regionals after losing to Arizona State on Friday, UC Irvine is halfway to its goal.

Alonso Reyes — who had just one home run in 2025 entering Sunday’s game — ripped a two-run home run off of Sun Devils starter Derek Schaefer in the fourth inning. Later in the inning, after Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist went with Lucas Kelly out of the bullpen, Chase Call cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field for a two-run home run to give the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.

UC Irvine took a 7-2 lead in the sixth when Call launched a changeup over the heart of the plate from Sun Devils closer Cole Carlon beyond the left-field wall and into the neighborhood behind Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Call’s two home runs weren’t the only examples of the Anteaters’ power at the plate.

UC Irvine star center fielder Jacob McCombs connected for a no-doubt home run (423 feet, 106.5 mph) for the second straight day in the third inning, lifting the ball over The Jack and Rhodine Gifford Training Facility in right field. McCombs, an All-Big-West First Team honoree, leaned back in the batter’s box after his home run, taking time to admire his go-ahead blast.

Even when the Sun Devils threatened — scoring three in the sixth to make it a two-run game — James Castagnola replenished the lead with a two-run home run in the seventh. UC Irvine forced Carlon — who entered the game with a 2.73 earned-run average — from the game. He conceded a season-high five runs (four earned) across 1⅓ innings.

Plenty is still up for grabs for the Anteaters, but it will now require more of the same offense — and taking down UCLA twice (once Sunday night and on Monday) to extend their season. Luckily for coach Ben Orloff, he preserved most of his pitching staff thanks to redshirt sophomore left-hander Ryder Brooks’ start.

The brother of former UCLA Friday night starting pitcher Jake Brooks made himself at home at Jackie Robinson Stadium, tossing 5⅓ innings of five-run ball, giving up six hits, walking four and striking out three with low-slot delivery. It was Brooks’ longest start since a complete-game shutout of Hawaii on April 19.

Orloff dipped into his bullpen for just two relief pitchers. Ricky Ojeda, the Big West Pitcher of the Year, tossed 1 ⅓ innings on 34 pitches. Over the last three days, Ojeda has thrown 74 pitches — and would be on just a few hours rest if he pitches Sunday night against UCLA. The Anteaters split their midweek season series against the Bruins earlier this year.

UC Irvine bounced back from an NCAA tournament regional opening loss, rolling to an 8-3 win over Fresno State on Saturday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

James Castagnola led the Anteaters at the plate, delivering a home run and three RBIs. Winning pitcher Riley Kelly tossed 52 strikes, allowing four hits and two runs during four innings.

Eddie Saldivar delivered a home run and scored twice in the season-ending loss for the Bulldogs.

UC Irvine will face the loser of the late UCLA-Arizona State game in another elimination game at 3 p.m. PDT Sunday. If the Anteaters win, they would face the winner of the Bruins-Sun Devils game in another elimination contest. UC Irvine needs to sweep its next three games to win the Los Angeles Regional.

Marina won the Southern Section Division 3 softball championship with an 8-1 win over Westlake in Irvine on Friday.

Aviana Valbuena had three hits and four RBIs. Sister Mia Valbuena struck out 13 with one walk.

Marina improved to 19-13.

Los Alamitos won the Division 2 championship with a 3-0 win over JSerra that took 10 innings. Cienna Kowaleski hit a two-run home run in the 10th to end a great pitching duel.

JSerra’s Liliana Escobar struck out 16. Los Alamitos’ Jaliane Brooks threw all 10 innings, striking out five.

In Division 6, Irvine University defeated Rio Hondo Prep 4-1. In Division 7, Rancho Mirage defeated Culver City 7-3.

UCLA is hosting the Los Angeles Regional that includes UC Irvine, while USC ends its postseason drought with a trip to the Corvallis Regional, the NCAA announced Monday.

The Bruins earned the No. 15 national seed and right to host a regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA will open play against Fresno State on Friday, while UC Irvine will face off with Arizona State to round out the UCLA regional pool. The Anteaters were coming off a strong season but on the bubble entering the selection show.

USC’s postseason fate was in doubt during the final weeks of the season, but the Trojans made the tournament field for the first time since 2015. USC will travel to Corvallis Regional and open play against TCU on Friday. Oregon State and Saint Mary’s round out the regional field.

Only a few months ago, former Irvine Vice Mayor Tammy Kim had aspirations of returning to the City Council she previously served on for four years.

Now her immediate goal is to fight off charges that could put her in prison for several years.

The Orange County district attorney’s office announced Thursday afternoon that Kim was charged with 10 felonies tied to allegedly lying about her residency during her City Council tenure and while campaigning for mayor last fall.

Kim was formally charged with three felony counts of perjury by declaration, three felony counts of filing a false document, and one felony count each of a public official aiding the illegal casting of votes, of filing false nominations papers, of knowing of the registration of someone not entitled to vote and of voter registration fraud. She was also charged with a misdemeanor of making a false statement.

She could spend up to 11 years and two months in state prison and county jail if convicted on all counts.

She is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.

Kim briefly responded to a call from The Times, saying she was advised not to share too much per her attorney, Caroline Hahn.

“We’re entering a not guilty plea,” Kim said.

Hahn added that she and her client “planned to launch a vigorous defense” but did not answer further questions.

Kim is accused of using two fraudulent addresses while running for mayor in the November 2024 election and then in a City Council special election in early 2025, according to the criminal complaint. She owned a condo in the city’s 3rd District, where she had lived since 2015, according to a separate lawsuit filed against Kim to get her thrown off the City Council ballot.

Kim won election to the Irvine City Council in November 2020, receiving nearly 44,000 votes a 14-person, top-three-candidate race.

At that time, city elections in Irvine used an at-large voting system, meaning candidates could live anywhere in the city.

The city moved to district elections in the fall 2024, requiring council members to live in the districts they represent. Only voters from those districts could vote for those candidates.

Kim served until November 2024 when she ran for and ultimately lost a mayoral campaign to Councilmember Larry Agran by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes.

The district attorney’s office believes Kim improperly used an address to run for mayor, no longer claiming to live in the 3rd District condo she had owned for a decade.

To run for mayor, Kim changed her California driver’s license and her voter registration to a home in the 5th District, where she never lived, according to the criminal complaint.

The home belonged to a family Kim met through a Korean teaching class, the complaint alleges. Kim did not inform the family that she was using their address, according to the complaint.

She has been charged with certifying that address as her own under the penalty of perjury.

Kim eventually finished her campaign and voted in November’s mayoral race based out of the 5th Diistrict home.

Shortly after her defeat, Kim declared her candidacy in December to fill the now- vacant 5th District seat, which Agran left after winning the mayoral election.

Kim eventually found a room in another 5th District home on Jan. 10 and changed her California driver’s registration that same day, according to the complaint. She then filed new nomination paperwork with the new 5th District address, according to the complaint.

Later that month, former mayoral candidate Ron Scolesdang sued Kim, claiming that she was fraudulently using an incorrect address. Scolesdang had hired a private investigator to monitor Kim, according to that lawsuit.

Kim eventually dropped out of the race on Feb. 7, the same day a Superior Court judge removed her name from the ballot.

Betty Franco Martinez won the special election.

Mike Gillespie had a premonition about Ben Orloff.

The USC and UC Irvine coaching legend guided Orloff for two years as an Anteater, watching Orloff become the baseball program’s all-time hits leader with his peak bat-to-ball abilities. But it wasn’t Orloff’s eye-popping swing or swift speed on the basepaths that captivated Gillespie the most. It was the future he imagined for his star infielder, the then-Big West Conference player of the year.

“I don’t know how else to say it: His instincts, his clue, his feel for the game, his baseball IQ, is like nothing else,” Gillespie said as Orloff’s collegiate career wrapped up in 2009. “He should be a major league manager. He might be wasted as a major league manager, because they can do so little, in terms of all these little things.”

The American Baseball Coaches Assn. Hall of Famer, who died in 2020, continued: “He probably should be a college coach, a college head coach.”

It’s mid-May and Orloff sits in the office Gillespie once occupied. Orloff is bald with a bright smile. He’s just 38, and yet this is his 12th season on the UC Irvine coaching staff — and his seventh as the Anteaters’ head coach.

Orloff settles down at a table, crosses his legs and is ready to reminisce, talk shop — and praise the mish-mosh ballclub that’s set the Big West aflame for the second consecutive season in which it won its second regular-season conference championship under the coach.

“Not many people get their first job ever in college with no coaching experience [and become a] paid assistant coach at a place like UC Irvine,” Orloff said. “I’m aware that I was given opportunities that a lot of guys work a long time to get. I’m trying not to ruin it.”

UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff walks on the field during a game against USC on Feb. 18.

(Matt Brown / UC Irvine Athletics)

Gillespie eventually gave Orloff the call back in 2013. The former All-American, who had been playing in the minors since 2009, was hitting just below .300 and had a .379 on-base percentage with double-A Corpus Christi when he decided it was time to return to UC Irvine.

Orloff said he always knew he was going to be a college coach. Whether it was after playing Major League Baseball for 15 years or directly after earning his bachelor’s degree, it was a goal he strived to achieve. But there was only one way he would “quit,” as he put it, and hang up his cleats for a new career: coaching at his alma mater for Gillespie.

Hired in 2013, the then-assistant was fully aware that he knew nothing about the ins and outs of coaching. Sure, he could practice the fundamentals — the basics of fielding and throwing strikes that Orloff still preaches — but much of the job was foreign. All he wanted to do, Orloff said, was to live up to his coach’s expectations.

“I was just extremely motivated to not let coach Gillespie down,” Orloff said. “Now being in this seat, to hire a guy for professional baseball that’s never coached at any level before, you don’t do that.”

He had to learn to recruit — he nabbed outfielder Jacob McCombs (.363 batting average/.448 on-base percentage/.627 slugging percentage) out of the transfer portal from San Diego State, signed junior college infielder Colin Yeaman (hitting .352 with 13 home runs) from College of the Canyons, and has developed Southern California talent such as sophomore starting pitcher Trevor Hansen (8-2 with a 3.14 earned-run average) from Royal High. Orloff said he is willing to sign any player from any level, knowing UC Irvine’s reach is different from blue blood programs, such as UCLA or Vanderbilt.

UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff greets outfielder Jacob McCombs during a game.

(Robert Huskey / UC Irvine Athletics)

Orloff remarked that most articles written about the program highlight him. But he is also first to praise his coaching staff, such as pitching coach Daniel Bibona in his 13th year with the Anteaters or hitting coach J.T. Bloodworth, who helped the Anteaters notch their fourth-best batting average in program history a year ago.

“We played together for three years,” he said of Bibona. “Coach Gillespie hired him directly at a pro ball to be the pitching coach. … He does a really good job with these guys.”

“I think we broke every school offensive record last year,” Orloff remarked about Bloodworth’s impact. “This year, the numbers are like the same with a completely brand new group.”

Orloff and his staff brought in 20 new players before the season, restocking a roster that produced a 45-14 record and an NCAA regional appearance in 2024. And the Anteaters haven’t missed a beat. Irvine is ranked 20th in the nation, according to D1Baseball, and is pegged as the top West Coast program in the country — above UCLA — by the National College Baseball Writers Assn., with a No. 11 ranking.

“Winning matters to these guys,” Orloff said of his 39-13 squad. “I think our team has placed what’s best for the team above what’s best for them and I think that’s uncommon, probably in 2025, and so I think it’s why we’ve won.”

Heading into the inaugural Big West Conference tournament, Orloff said UC Irvine can compete with any team in the nation. He points to early-season battles against Nebraska, New Mexico and Vanderbilt — coming up just short of a three-game sweep at the MLB Desert Invitational in February.

When it comes to showing resolve against opponents, Orloff embraces football coach Bill Belichick’s inverse theory of winning — often credited to businessman Charlie Munger’s inversion technique. As Orloff puts it, the technique focuses on how “before you can win, you can’t do the things that make you lose.”

UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff speaks to his players before a game against San Diego on April 1.

(Matt Brown / UC Irvine Athletics)

“You can look and just see how competitive they’ve been and how complete they’ve been,” said UCLA baseball coach John Savage, a disciple of coach Gillespie as a USC assistant and former Irvine head coach from 2002 to 2004.

“He’s clearly, I think, the best up-and-coming young coach in America. I truly believe that.”

With Irvine on the hunt for its first trip to Omaha since 2014 — and Orloff leading the way — the Anteaters might have the right recipe brewing at Cicerone Field.

Gillespie, long before Orloff took the reins, certainly thought so.

“I’m not kidding, he’s a better coach than I am,” Gillespie said in 2009.