LIDOS are experiencing a resurgence of popularity across the UK and this one has been open since the 1800s.
For locals it’s been a peaceful spot for a morning swim, or a Full Moon dip, but now there’s talk of it becoming more like the busy resort town of Benidorm.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
Havre des Pas is a tidal pool on the edge of St Helier in JerseyCredit: Visit JerseyWith a change of operator, it could become a lot different in the coming yearsCredit: Alamy
The historic pool is tidal, meaning it fills with seawater at high tide and empties at low tide.
Currently, the lido also has a waterside beach kiosk and bar along with a rooftop bar, but it could all be about to change.
From 2026 First Point will take over as the lido’s operator, and one Constable Marcus Troy, senior partner at First Point, revealed he wants to make the bathing pool and surrounding area “a resort like Benidorm.”
Talking to the BBC, he said: “So, we are going to be talking to all the catering and hospitality businesses in the area and creating our own map as if it’s a destination in its own right, like West Park and St Brelades. A resort like you would call Benidorm, for example.
“We aren’t the size of Benidorm, but we want more activity in general – whatever it is – volleyball, swimming competitions, galas, night time events, family amusements; we might like to put bouncy castles in the pool.”
First Point will take on the lease for nine years.
Plans to open the lido in St Helier began in 1860s when The Jersey Swimming Club was established and the group sought a safe swimming space on the British Isle.
Years later and the lido at Havre De Pas opened in May 1895 with a large pool and a circular tower, which had the changing rooms and club room.
It was very popular, especially between the 1920s and 30s which is why it saw lots more improvements and additions in the years that followed.
Havre Des Pas also has a bar, Kiosk cafe and rooftop areaCredit: AlamyThe pretty lido is on the edge of Jersey’s capitalCredit: Alamy
29 new cabins were built on the tower, and there was an extension to the club built called the Blue Terrace.
Now, inside the tower is a bar with an open kitchen, dance floor and stage as well as a balcony that overlooks the pool.
There’s a dining area too which has indoor tables or the choice to eat al fresco, plus there’s the rooftop which has live music and is an ideal location for a cocktail.
The venue at the lido can stay open until 1AM and has dubbed itself the ‘ultimate Private Party Island’.
Through the summer months, the Kiosk is open with lots of light bites, as well as pizzas, burgers, tacos, fish and chips and full English breakfast offerings.
The lido is just on the coast outside of the island’s capital of St Helier – and it’s a popular spot for locals and visitors too.
One visitor wrote in Tripadvisor: “What a fabulous place The Lido Havre de Pas is! Beautiful views over the bay and to watch the people swimming in the gorgeous Lido.
“Will definitely return when I go back on holiday there next year. Can’t recommend enough.”
Another simply branded it as a “good old fashioned historic Lido”.
Not everyone is happy after the announcement of the new operator.
After the news, LidoJersey took to social media to voice concerns about it and stated that the pool could and end up being a ‘bare shell‘
It said: “Unless this new entity wishes to negotiate with us, which hasn’t been done to date, the site will revert to a bare shell, just as it was when we took it over in 2015.”
It added that this would mean there would be no licence for alcohol, entertainment, marriage of infrastructure like the kiosk, commercial kitchen and bar area.
Cleveland Pools in Bath, which was built in 1815 and is the country’s oldest, may never reopen to the public again.
It was open for just four months in 2023 after receiving £9.3 million for a revamp. But it hasn’t reopened since, and it might never do so.
The trustees of the restored lido revealed in a report that it “might not be possible” to reopen the pool, according to the BBC.
The report stated: “The risk that the cost to repair the pools and the plantroom will be substantial and beyond the resources available to the trust.
“There is therefore a risk that the pools cannot be repaired and reopened.
“To mitigate against this risk the trust is exploring all potential avenues that would allow the pools to be repaired and reopened, including but not limited to legal recourse and external funding.”
Cleveland Pools is a Grade II listed lido, and is considered the oldest outdoor swimming pool in the UK.
It opened in the early 1800s and closed in 1984. It then took a huge campaign by the public, and almost £10million to reopen the lido in September 2023.
Havre Des Pas Lido first opened in the 1800sCredit: Alamy
Nov. 4 (UPI) — Bomb threats have shut down polling stations throughout New Jersey Tuesday, and officials have moved several to new election sites.
Officials have said the threats, which were sent via email, were not credible.
“Early this morning, law enforcement responded to threats that were received by email involving certain polling places in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Passaic counties,” the state Office of the Attorney General said in a statement Tuesday, NJ.com reported. “Law enforcement officers have responded at each affected polling place, and they have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter. Some of these polling locations have already re-opened to the public. At others, voters will be directed to a nearby polling location to cast their ballot.”
The threats appear to have come from out of the country, said Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, PIX11 reported.
“We are doing everything in our power to protect voters and poll workers and coordinate closely with state, local and federal partners to ensure a smooth and safe election,” said Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who also serves as the New Jersey secretary of state.
The election Tuesday focuses on the New Jersey governor’s race. PIX11 New York said Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli and Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill are tied in polling.
“Voters should continue to have confidence that they can cast their ballot without fear of intimidation, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a free, fair, and secure election,” said State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — If there’s agreement on anything in the two states with governor’s races this year, it’s that utility bills are a growing concern among voters.
One Virginia voter, Kim Wilson, lamented at a town hall recently that her electricity bill seems to go up every month, no matter how much she tries to mitigate the costs. She was drawn to the event in part by its title: “The energy bills are too damn high.”
“It’s way too high,” Wilson readily agreed.
In New Jersey, Herb Michitsch of Kenilworth said his electric bill has climbed to nearly $400 a month, or more than four times what it was when he and his wife moved into their home half a century ago.
“Something really has to be done,” Michitsch said.
That something must be done is pretty much where the agreement ends. It’s what must be done that splits politicians back into rival camps.
Democratic candidates in the two states are far more likely to embrace clean energy options like wind and solar than their Republican opponents. The two states’ Republican nominees are more closely aligned with the policies of President Trump, who has called climate change a “con job” and promotes more traditional energy sources like gas and coal. New Jersey Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli has acknowledged that human-caused climate change is occurring, but he says Democrats have driven up costs with their clean energy push.
Which side voters land on in the off-year elections will give both parties plenty to consider in what feels destined to be an emerging economic issue heading into next year’s midterm elections.
At a recent rally in New Jersey, Democratic state Sen. Vin Gopal made clear that he stood with Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill in support of her plans to lower costs. But Gopal acknowledged that the outcome could signal whether voters are ready to embrace the president’s approach or have simply grown weary of national politics.
“The whole country is watching what happens,” he said.
Technology drives up costs
The debate comes as people in the two states grapple with double-digit percentage increases in monthly electricity bills. The exploding costs are driven by soaring demand, particularly from data centers, and by the rapid onset of energy-intensive artificial intelligence technology. Virginia’s largest energy utility also has linked potential future rate increases to inflation and other costs.
In Virginia’s open race to succeed a term-limited GOP incumbent, Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears are at odds over the development of renewable energy sources.
Spanberger has laid out a plan to expand solar and wind production in underused locations, praising a wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach. In a debate against her opponent, she also said she would “ensure that data centers pay their fair share” as costs rise. The state is home to the world’s largest data center market,
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears wasn’t having it.
“That’s all she wants, is solar and wind,” Earle-Sears said of Spanberger at the debate. “Well, if you look outside, the sun isn’t shining and the breeze isn’t blowing, and then what, Abigail, what will you do?”
In New Jersey, where Ciattarelli’s endorsement by Trump included recent social media posts praising his energy affordability plans, the GOP nominee blames rising costs on eight years of Democratic control of state government.
Ciattarelli says he would pull New Jersey out of a regional greenhouse gas trading bloc, which Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy reentered when he first took office in 2018.
“It’s been a failure,” Ciattarelli said at the final debate of the campaign. “Electricity is at an all-time high.”
He’s also come out as a strident opponent of wind energy off the state’s coast, an effort Democrats spearheaded under Murphy. A major offshore wind project ground to a halt when the Danish company overseeing it scrapped projects, citing supply chain problems and high interest rates.
At the center of Sherrill’s campaign promise on the issue is an executive order to freeze rates and build cheaper and cleaner power generation.
“I know my opponent laughs at it,” Sherrill said recently.
A growing concern among voters
The candidates’ focus on affordability and utility rates reflects an unease among voters. A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36% of U.S. adults, at a time when data center development for AI could further strain the power grid.
Perhaps that’s why the statewide races have become something of an energy proxy battle in Virginia. Clean Virginia, a clean energy advocacy group that targets utility corruption, has backed all three Democratic candidates for statewide office in Virginia — a first for the organization. GOP statewide candidates, meanwhile, have accepted money from Dominion Energy, the largest electric utility in Virginia.
To further complicate an already complex issue: Virginia has passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which calls for utilities to sunset carbon energy production methods by 2045.
Republican House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, who represents the southwest edge of Virginia, had failed to alter part of the state’s Clean Economy Act earlier this year. Kilgore, whose top donor is Dominion Energy, said in February: “If their bills go any higher, there are folks in my region that are not able to pay them now, they’re definitely not going to be able to pay them in the future.”
Evan Vaughn, executive director of MAREC Action, a group of Mid-Atlantic renewable energy developers, said candidates from both parties are in a tough spot because bringing down prices quickly will be difficult given broader market dynamics.
“Voters should look to which candidate they think can do the best to stabilize prices by bringing more generation online,” he said. “That’s really going to be the key to affordability.”
Michitsch, who’s backing Sherrill in the governor’s race and said he would campaign for her, said her proposal shows she’s willing to do something to address spiraling costs.
“We need to change,” he said. “And I think she is here to change things.”
Mention Aaron Donald and nearly everyone thinks Rams, the team he spent his entire 10-year NFL career with and led to a Super Bowl championship in 2022. Donald was a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, nine-time All-Pro and is regarded as one of the greatest defensive tackles of all time.
But before Los Angeles there was Pittsburgh, where Donald grew up and where he went to college. And it is the University of Pittsburgh where Donald became an unstoppable force from 2010 to 2013, setting an NCAA record with tackles for loss by an interior lineman before the Rams plucked him as their first-round draft pick.
So it is Pitt that will retire Donald’s No. 97 on Nov. 15 during a home game against Notre Dame, Panthers athletic director Allen Greene announced Monday. Donald also will be enshrined in the Pitt Hall of Fame this weekend, joining other iconic alumni names Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka and Larry Fitzgerald.
“Born and raised in Pittsburgh, I’m grateful to the University of Pittsburgh for taking a chance on me when so many others wouldn’t,” Donald said in a statement. “I accomplished more in my career than I ever dreamed of, and for that I’m truly blessed.
“To soon see my number hanging alongside other Pitt greats is an honor beyond measure. I will always love this University. Hail to Pitt!”
Donald starred at Penn Hills High, east of Pittsburgh. As a Pitt senior in 2013, Donald led the nation with 28.5 tackles for loss and added 11 sacks and four forced fumbles. He was a unanimous first-team All-American and won every award that exists for a lineman: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award.
“Aaron Donald is a proud Pittsburgher who embodies the very best of what it means to be a Pitt Panther,” Greene said. “His humility, determination, and work ethic reflect the character of this community. Retiring his jersey honors not only an extraordinary athlete, but a leader whose relentless pursuit of excellence has defined his legacy.”
The first floor of Pitt’s Duratz Athletic Complex was renamed the Aaron Donald Football Performance Center in 2019, after Donald made a seven-figure gift to the program. He also set a high bar for workouts, as Rams teammate Jared Verse learned when he joined Donald for a punishing series of full-body circuit training in July — months after Donald retired.
“His wife came in laughing at me — I told her to call the police,” Verse joked, adding, “I tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let her in. He told me to give my keys to his management or assistant and that they would go let my mom in. So I wasn’t leaving.
“Finished the workout. I’m dead tired, I’m exhausted. I had a plan to go jump in the sauna afterwards, didn’t happen. I had plans to watch film, didn’t happen. Went home and I didn’t work out for another day and a half because I couldn’t move my body.”
Donald also founded the AD99 Solutions Foundation, which provides Pittsburgh’s underprivileged youth access to education, nutrition and community involvement.
Accolades for his Rams career will be forthcoming. Donald will be eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame in 2029 and is considered a lock for first-ballot induction. The Rams have retired eight players’ jersey numbers and Donald’s No. 99 likely will be the ninth.
“I had the privilege — and sometimes the misfortune — of facing Aaron 14 times in his first seven years, and every snap was a reminder of his complete domination,” said Fitzgerald, an NFL Hall of Famer who spent 17 years with the Arizona Cardinals. “As a Pitt man, I was filled with pride watching him redefine what it meant to play defense, but as an [NFL] opponent, I knew he was carving his name into history at our expense.
“He wasn’t just disruptive. He was destructive, bending entire offenses to his will and still making plays no one else could make. Retiring his number is the perfect tribute because there will never be another Aaron Donald, and there will never again be another 97 at Pitt.”
A bloodied female and her male companion were escorted out of SoFi Stadium during the fourth quarter of the Rams season opener Sunday along with two other spectators who had engaged in the same violent altercation.
The woman and her companion were wearing jerseys of the Houston Texans, who the Rams defeated 14-9. Video clips on social media showed her face covered with blood when security guards led her from Section 428 high above the end zone.
The incident appeared to begin with words and shoving between the woman in the No. 99 jersey of retired Texans legend JJ Watt and a woman wearing a Rams jersey. The altercation escalated, with the man wearing the No. 7 jersey of Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud pouring a cup of beer on the head of the woman in the Rams jersey.
Two men in Rams jerseys one row above the brawl stood and began shoving and grabbing the two Texans fans until security personnel arrived about two minutes into the incident.
The two men from the row above removed their jerseys — one of former Rams great Aaron Donald and the other of Rams receiver Puka Nacua — but additional security personnel arrived, handcuffed both men and escorted them away.
SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, has been plagued by brawls. Oakland chef Daniel Luna was in a medically induced coma for weeks after Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics discovered him lying on the ground in the stadium’s Lot L during the NFC Championship Game between the Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
It took three days and an inquiry from The Times before Inglewood authorities acknowledged the incident. Bryan Alexis Cifuentes, 33, was charged with one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury after video showed that he dropped Luna with one punch. Cifuentes pleaded not guilty and investigators determined that Luna started the altercation when he shoved Cifuentes.
Luna sued the Rams and L.A. County, claiming that because he was drunk deputies should have put him in a form of protective custody after he was denied entrance to the stadium because he didn’t have a ticket.
The suit was dismissed by Inglewood Superior Court Judge Ronald F. Frank, who wrote that “the Sheriff’s Department did not create the peril in which plaintiff found himself. [Luna] alleges that he was already inebriated when he was detained initially. The sheriffs took no affirmative action which contributed to, increased, or changed the risk which would have otherwise existed.”
At least four fights have broken out at Chargers games at SoFi Stadium. The most recent was a brawl in a game against the Raiders in September 2024. A video provided to KTLA shows showed a group of Chargers fans fighting a shirtless man.
Several fights broke out off the field during the game, including one on a concourse exit that involved a dozen or more fans. No fans were arrested, according to the Inglewood Police Department.
After a game between the Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs in November 2022, a man was thrown over a railing. A person who recorded a video of the incident told KABC-TV Channel 7 that the fight began after one man bumped into another. A third man tried to intervene and was thrown over the railing onto the concrete steps below.
A 2022 poll of more than 3,000 fans by Sportsbook Review concluded that many NFL stadiums are more violent than SoFi Stadium and that fans generally feel safe attending games at the venue.
Crimes in and around stadiums occur all too often, with 39.2% of poll respondents reporting having witnessed or fallen victim to at least one crime in or outside a stadium. Only 5.4% of fans had witnessed a crime at SoFi, and only one of those polled said they had been a victim of a crime while attending a Rams or Chargers home game.
Sportsbook Review updated its rankings last week, with SoFi moving up from the 15th to the 11th most dangerous NFL stadium. M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, is ranked as the most dangerous; Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, is ranked as the safest.
Kansas City Chiefs fans sure are excited about the upcoming season.
Fanatics, the official online sportswear retailer for the NFL, reports that sales of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce jerseys jumped a whopping 200% on Tuesday.
Clearly, fans were doing some early packing for the team’s season opener against the Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 5. Those fans simultaneously realized they didn’t have enough gear to properly represent the reigning AFC champions at Corinthians Arena.
What other possible explanation could there have been?
Haha, wrong — at least, it would seem that way, based on the typical behavioral patterns of Swifties.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce kisses pop superstar Taylor Swift after the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
Kelce and Swift’s romance can be traced back to July 2023, when Kelce was able to pass along a friendship bracelet with his phone number to Swift’s camp at an Eras tour concert in Kansas City. They officially became an item that fall.
Swift attended her first Chiefs game on Sept. 24, 2023. Fanatics reported at the time that sales of No. 87 Chiefs jerseys experienced a 400% boost over the previous day, placing Kelce among the top five NFL players in jersey sales for that day.
On Aug. 13, Swift made her first-ever podcast appearance on “New Heights,” which is hosted by Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center. A total of 1.3 million people tuned in simultaneously after the episode dropped, setting a Guinness World Record for most concurrent views for a podcast on YouTube.
Kelce and Swift’s joint Instagram post regarding their upcoming nuptials has received more than 33.4 million likes. Billboard reported Wednesday that it has been reposted more than any other in the site’s history, passing the 1-million mark in its first six hours.
Share via
So, yeah, it would seem pretty on-brand for Swifties to celebrate by purchasing large volumes of Travis gear.
By the way, if you think those numbers are impressive, just imagine what the jersey sales will be like if the couple decides to hyphenate their names after saying “I do.” What self-respecting Swiftie would want to be without a “Kelce-Swift” (“Swift-Kelce”?) jersey as part of their wardrobe?
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Trump’s former lawyer, Alina Habba, has been unlawfully serving as the the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey.
The court, saying the administration used “a novel series of legal and personnel moves,” held that Habba’s term as the interim U.S. attorney ended in July, and the Trump administration’s maneuvers to keep her in the role without getting confirmation from the U.S. Senate didn’t follow procedures required by federal law.
“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann wrote.
The opinion says that Habba’s actions since July “may be declared void.”
Brann, a President Obama appointee, said he’s putting his order on hold pending an appeal. It wasn’t immediately clear if that meant Habba would remain in charge of the U.S. attorney’s office.
A message seeking comment was sent to Habba’s office Thursday. The Justice Department said it intends to appeal the ruling.
Brann’s decision comes in response to a filing on behalf of New Jersey defendants challenging Habba’s tenure and the charges she was prosecuting against them. They sought to block the charges against them, arguing that Habba didn’t have the authority to prosecute the case after her 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired in July.
The defendants’ motion to block Habba, a onetime White House advisor to President Trump and his former personal defense attorney, is another high-profile chapter in her short tenure.
She made headlines when Trump named her U.S. attorney for New Jersey in March. She said the state could “turn red,” a rare, overt political expression from a prosecutor, and said she planned to investigate the state’s Democratic governor and attorney general.
She then brought a trespassing charge, which was eventually dropped, against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka stemming from his visit to a federal immigration detention center. Habba later charged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault stemming from the same incident, a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress other than for corruption. She denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Volatility over her tenure unfolded in late July when the four-month temporary appointment was coming to a close and it became clear that she would not get support from home state Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats, effectively torpedoing her chances of Senate approval.
The president withdrew her nomination. Around the same time, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their power under the law to replace Habba with a career prosecutor when Habba’s temporary appointment lapsed, but Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi fired that prosecutor and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney.
In his opinion, Brann questioned the legal moves the administration conducted to keep Habba in place.
“Taken to the extreme, the President could use this method to staff the United States Attorney’s office with individuals of his personal choice for an entire term without seeking the Senate’s advice and consent,” he wrote.
The Justice Department has said in filings that the judges acted prematurely and that the executive has the authority to appoint his preferred candidate to enforce federal laws in the state.
Trump had formally nominated Habba as his pick for U.S. attorney on July 1, but Booker and Kim’s opposition meant that under long-standing Senate practice known as senatorial courtesy, the nomination would stall out.
A handful of other Trump picks for U.S. attorney are facing a similar circumstance.
Aug. 21 (UPI) — Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba lacks legal authority to continue prosecuting federal cases in New Jersey, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Court for Middle Pennsylvania Matthew Branns said Habba, 41, is unqualified for the position and should be disqualified from ongoing cases in New Jersey, The New York Times reported.
“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” Brann ruled following a hearing last week.
Habba formerly was President Donald Trump‘s personal attorney and a campaign spokeswoman before the president appointed her interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey in March.
That appointment ended July 1, but Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi relied on federal loopholes to declare Habba the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey instead of its interim federal prosecutor, Fox News reported.
Brann said the semantics move by Trump and Bondi is not lawful, and Habba has lacked legal standing to continue serving as New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney since July 1.
Two defendants in federal cases before the U.S. District Court of New Jersey filed challenges to Habba’s authority based on the actions taken by the president and the attorney general.
Former President Barack Obama nominated Brann to the Middle Pennsylvania District Court in 2012, and the judge paused his decision to enable the Trump administration to appeal his ruling.
The Justice Department has said it will challenge Brann’s decision, which also might affect similarly appointed U.S. attorneys in other federal districts, according to CNN.
Whether his decision stands or is overturned, Brann said a federal appellate court must make a determination quickly to avoid disruption to federal cases.
A panel of federal judges in July refused to extend Habba’s position and appointed federal prosecutor Desiree Grace to replace her.
Bondi then fired Grace and named Habba the district’s acting U.S. attorney, which triggered the two challenges to her authority and has slowed the rate at which federal cases are argued in New Jersey.
The FBI told us on Thursday that the investigation is still ongoing, but declined to offer any details about whether any suspects were uncovered or any drones recovered.
So what were these things?
TFRs over sensitive energy sites (small red circles) were issued in December 2024 during the height of the drone scare. (1800WXBRIEF.COM)
We asked one expert who worked at the highest levels of government for some answers.
For nearly a decade, starting in 2011, Brett Feddersen, a retired Army officer, served in a wide range of executive roles under the Obama and first Trump administrations. He was National Security Liaison / Senior Intelligence Officer for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Deputy Chief of Intelligence for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Senior Advisor for Strategy, Plans, and Policy for The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), worked in the Executive Office of the President, was Director for Transportation and Border Security at the National Security Council (NSC), Principal Deputy Director the the JCS Transregional Threats Coordination Cell and an Executive Director at the FAA. He was also a member of the Navy’s UAP [Unidentified Aerial Phenomena] Task Force, created in 2020 to investigate what used to be known as UFOs.
Feddersen is currently chairman of the Security Industry Association‘s Counter-UAS Working Group and is vice president of strategy and governmental affairs for D-Fend Solutions, which supplies counter-drone equipment to the U.S. military, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and other clients.
Brett Feddersen (LinkedIn)
In the second part of our hour-long interview with Feddersen, we asked him to offer some insights about the Jersey Drone craze. In many ways, he concurred with our analysis that there is no evidence of large-scale drone incursions over New Jersey, with a chronic issue of people reporting normal aircraft as mysterious drones being glaringly apparent. You can catch up with the first part of the interview here.
Some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: So what were these objects? Where did they come from, and who operated them?
A: That’s a great question and there is a mix of answers, which I think added to a lot of the confusion. There were a lot of manned aircraft that were operating within the normal standards in the same area that were being misidentified as drones. I’ve seen quite a few of those videos and pictures, and coming from an aviator’s perspective, they’re easy to identify because I’m familiar with aircraft that operate at night. As a matter of fact, some of the aircraft that were called drones were aircraft I flew – helicopters.
Large drones have been hovering in formation over northern New Jersey, officials say, leading to “unnerved” residents wondering what’s behind these bright, unidentified flying objects appearing almost every night in the sky. https://t.co/0mErYUt8Ib
There were also government operations and different things that had already gotten approval through the FAA. And you have commercial operations, those that are making deliveries or test bed situations that also had approval with the FAA, so those are the ones that are flying around. I highly doubt that there weren’t, in that big mix of drones, some foreign adversary that was taking advantage and trying to find information or video, we see probing regularly from foreign adversaries over sensitive sites like bases. So there was a true mixture of all that. And I think what caused a lot of the – for lack of a better term – hysteria was a poor response by the government to address the public’s fear and considerations. Poor communication between inter-agencies. The FAA, talking to the government to explain which aircraft were authorized or not authorized.
Q: How should those breakdowns have been addressed?
A: Coming out right up front and saying, ‘Hey, we have a problem. We have these issues. And here’s where we’re at with it.’ That I think would have taken care of a lot of things at the beginning.
Q: You mentioned that a lot of the so-called Jersey drone sightings were government drones. Can you talk about that? What operations were being conducted by the government?
A: The government is constantly improving on drones or training on drones. So those activities are coordinated with the FAA. They’re authorized. That means that they’re flying training routes or training flights in the vicinity of certain areas to build proficiency in flying the aircraft so that you can continue to make it safer and more active. Then you also have those commercial drones that we’re talking about that are doing deliveries that also do the same thing. They coordinate with the FAA, they get approval for the routes or their runs, and then they execute in that manner. So both of those were what contributed to the Jersey drone craze.
Q: During the early days of the second Trump administration, officials said these drones were not a danger, and they were approved and known by the FAA. What were those?.
A: The majority of the flights were known and approved by the FAA. So what they’re referring to there is that these were standard operations that were going on. There was nothing classified that was going on. There was nothing that would have triggered any type of conspiracy concepts to it. They were just flying around as normal. The response of the public being heightened to the issue kind of created that craze. Now we do know that there are always flights that are flying around that are not reporting to the FAA and doing those things at this point, you know, in New Jersey, particularly, we don’t know whether those were foreign adversaries or U.S. citizens that just did not know how to operate their aircraft.
Q: What classification of drones were being tested by the government or trained on by the government? Were they nano, micro, small, medium or large?
A: In the vicinity of New Jersey, they are really the medium and small ones that are being used. Often…drones used by the Army for reconnaissance in other areas. If they’re testing new payloads or sensors or cameras on systems, they’re flying around in their set training areas and their patterns to make sure that all the flight characteristics of that payload on the drone is doing what it’s supposed to do. So that’s what that does. Every flight that you take in a drone, especially a military drone, gives the operator, that drone or the camera operator, a chance to become more proficient at what they’re doing, and that’s what was occurring in conjunction with all the other flights that were happening during those days.
Q: One theory floated at the time was that the government was testing counter-drone capabilities. Did that really happen?
A: It’s highly unlikely, and here’s why. In New Jersey and Atlantic City, there is the FAA Technical Center, and they do counter-drone testing and drone testing at that airport. Butt is in a very controlled manner where they are. They are either flying or aware of what is being flown and the system’s capabilities that are being used at that time. At nighttime, very little operations happen because you can’t get the same type of spectrum data as during the daytime. So it is highly unlikely that there was activity there at the tech center that was going on.
Anything else that would have been tested outside of that area, even by the military, is coordinated with the FAA, and they would have been aware of that type of activity too. And there are other places to do that type of testing. You don’t do it right there in the urban environment where there’s a lot of other aircraft flying.
The FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey. (FAA)
Q: So, where did these drones that were being tested come from that caused people to report them as being these mystery drones? And if military drones are being mistaken as mystery drones where did they come from?
A: The Army and, well, actually, all the branches have quite a few bases or smaller facilities around the area there, between New Jersey, New York and and Pennsylvania, right? That whole tri-state area has quite a few facilities that are always looking at some research or testing or doing more things. You also have units that are there, including reserve units or National Guard units that are flying and operating drones throughout that area as well. So it again, it’s really a combination of what I would consider the majority of them being legitimate operations. There were a few that would be criminal in nature, either because of ignorance or because of nefarious activity behind it.
Staff Sgt. Luis Andujar, left, prepares to catch a drone piloted by Sgt. 1st Class Richard Hutnik, right, Nov. 15, 2024, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. (Pennsylvania National Guard photo by Brad Rhen) Brad Rhen
Q: Do you know anything about the FBI investigation?
A: I do not. I have no insight into the FBI’s investigation.
Q: Let’s switch gears and talk about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or what used to be known as UFOs. You were part of the UAP Task Force, created in August 2020 to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security. It was ultimately replaced by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Can you talk about how UAPs fit into the craze over drones?
A: UAPs are a real thing that we can’t identify. Across the globe. It’s not just in the United States. So not to be conflated with drones, we just don’t know what those are. And there’s often a confusion with those as well that are flying in the airspace. I don’t recall any true UAPs being seen in the New Jersey incident, but it’s just one of those things that the government should also take seriously.
Q: We’ve reported a lot about how some of these so-called UAPs were actually adversary drones, flying over Navy vessels, etc. Do you think that’s a big part of these UAP sightings?
A: I think it is. Remember that UAPs are, by nature, unidentified, right? And so they can be man-made structures. Some of the UAPs and their capabilities are so extreme that we are finding it hard to believe that they’re man-made. We are more concerned if they are an adversary man-made object. Then, obviously, those capabilities have gone much farther than we’re familiar with, which you know scares us in a national security sense altogether.
A slide contained in a set of documents TWZ obtained from the U.S. Navy via the Freedom of Information Act about a series of enigmatic drone swarm events, initially considered to be UFOs, that occurred in the waters off Southern California in 2019. (Via FOIA)
Q: Do you believe that UAPs are advanced adversary technologies, or is it possible that these are created by non-human intelligence?
A: Anything’s possible. Because they’re unidentified, we don’t know the origin of where they came from. We don’t know who built it. I would say that I think the adversarial view is probably the most accepted view, for obvious reasons. But you know, some of these defy our current aviation capabilities and aerial capabilities, and they defy the abilities that we believe that our adversaries have, so we’re having a hard time figuring out what it is.
Q: Are these created by non-human intelligence?
A: I don’t want to comment.
Q: What is your realistic worst-case nightmare scenario about drones that’s going to happen?
A: A drone that can dispense some type of aerosol or powder over a large crowd. That one is top of mind for everybody. Weaponized drones, or drones being used kinetically by itself. I mean, they can reach some high speeds – 50-60 miles per hour and flying into a individual is going to cause a lot of damage. Even flying into the window of a vehicle is going to create a lot of damage that will threaten the life, limbs or eyesight of individuals. These are things that we know are being proliferated across the internet for people to do. We know that there are people inside the U.S who have weaponized drones or have done these things, going back to the guy who dropped dye packs in the pools over in New Jersey. There’s a lot of agricultural drones that bring so much benefit, but they also have this risk factor.
The image is iconic — Kobe Bryant letting out a roar while tugging on his gold Lakers jersey after scoring 49 points during a playoff win over the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008.
It has been used in numerous murals around Southern California, including one that is being painted in larger-than-life form on the side of a future Eat Fantastic restaurant on the 700 block of North Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.
This particular painting, however, is a little different from the others, and from the original image itself. Bryant’s intensity is still there. His pose is exactly the same. He is still wearing a No. 24 jersey.
But in this version, that jersey is not gold with “Lakers” spelled across the chest in purple letters.
It’s white, with “Dodgers” across the chest in blue letters.
Gustavo Zermeño Jr. altered an iconic image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for a Dodgers mural he is painting in Redondo Beach.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The altered version of the iconic image is just one portion of a sprawling mural paying tribute to the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series championship. It’s on the north-facing side of a former Carl’s Jr. building that will open later this year as part of the growing Eat Fantastic chain in the Los Angeles area.
The mural was conceived by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. and Eat Fantastic owner Efthemios Alexander Tsiboukas. It features some of the key figures from the Dodgers’ title run — players Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani (with his beloved dog Decoy) and rapper Ice Cube, who is shown riding in a classic Dodger blue convertible as he did when he performed before Game 3 of the World Series.
And then there’s the late Lakers legend Bryant, whose inclusion in the piece was a must, Zermeño said.
“Each [Eat Fantastic] location has a Kobe mural, at least the ones that have a good wall,” said Zermeño, who is a huge fan of both the Dodgers and Bryant. “And for this location, [Tsiboukas] wanted to create something for the Dodgers’ championship team. That’s why Kobe has the Dodger jersey on, you know, staying on theme with the locations having a Kobe mural.”
Zermeño said the original idea was to paint Bryant wearing a Dodgers baseball jersey, as he did while attending the team’s games over the years before his shocking death in January 2020.
Lakers’ Kobe Bryant celebrates a three–pointer against the Denver Nuggets on April 23, 2008, at Staples Center.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
“So we looked up a bunch of images,” Zermeño said. “A lot of them are obviously cool images, but either they were very pixelated, or just didn’t have what we wanted, that really aggressive Mamba-mentality feel.
“So we found this image. And you know, this image has been done before in several murals. But with the Dodger jersey, we wanted to throw a twist on it.”
Tsiboukas said: “That’s my favorite picture of him. I have the exact same one [painted at the restaurant location] in Arcadia. He’s wearing the real jersey, though, the yellow one. So I wanted a replica of that same one I did in Arcadia, and do it in a Dodger jersey, because of the Dodger dynasty right now.”
The purple and gold may have been removed from the jersey, but Zermeño said he purposefully incorporated them into the sunset depicted behind Bryant as a nod to the Lakers.
Zermeño started working on the mural Aug. 7 and expects to have it completed next week, ahead of Bryant’s Aug. 23 birthday. The portion featuring Bryant is already done — and it has garnered mixed reactions.
“For the most part, I’ve gotten a pretty positive reaction over it,” Zermeño said. “You know, a lot of Laker fans are also Dodger fans, so I think that overlap is pretty consistent throughout L.A. But yeah, man, you’re always going to have some haters. I think a lot of it is more like playful taunting. …
“A couple of people driving by — I think they’re just trying to be funny, making a joke, like yelling ‘He didn’t play for the Dodgers!’ or like, ‘He was a Laker!’ And then some people are just curious why I made that change. I think the people that are curious are older, some of the older crowd that, I guess, doesn’t understand why I would switch it, you know?”
Tsiboukas said he has seen a lot of online discussion about it, including on the popular kobemural Instagram page.
“Maybe 70% love it, and 30% are like, ‘That looks like a Clipper jersey,’” Tsiboukas said. “It’s causing a lot of friction back and forth, but it’s good topic. It’s raising awareness. It’s keeping Kobe’s legacy alive.”
Gustavo Zermeño Jr. hand paints part of Mookie Betts’ mouth onto his Dodgers mural outside the future Eat Fantastic restaurant in Redondo Beach.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy, holding a Dodger Dog toy in his mouth, are depicted in a new mural by Gustavo Zermeño Jr.
(Chuck Schilken / Los Angeles Times)
Zermeño said he doesn’t mind the discourse over his artwork.
“It just, it sparks that conversation,” he said. “So regardless of whether people like it or not, I think it kind of breaks the ice for people to come up and ask questions and learn more about why we created it, and the process of putting it together. …
“It’s art, you know, and art’s meant to kind of create some type of conversation. And if we were to put him with a regular jersey, people would have been like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, but it’s been done X amount of times,’ you know? I’ve seen that photo in at least five different murals. So, yeah, I think switching it up definitely — I don’t want to say it elevated the piece, but it definitely created more conversation than there would be if we just kept the original jersey.”
Passengers fled a smoke-filled carriage after a fire broke out beneath a train at Newport Station in Jersey City, US. Thirteen people were treated for smoke inhalation, nine of whom were sent to the hospital. The PATH commuter trains connect New Jersey with New York City.
Lorena Wiebes (left) has won five stages of the Tour de France Femmes during her career
Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport journalist
Marianne Vos lost out in a second successive sprint battle to Lorena Wiebes but retained the yellow jersey after stage four of the Tour de France Femmes.
In a repeat of Monday’s third stage, Dutch rider Wiebes pipped compatriot Vos to the line in Poitiers.
Wiebes climbs to second in the general classification and trails Vos by 12 seconds with five stages remaining.
Ireland’s Lara Gillespie achieved her best performance on a Tour de France Femmes stage by finishing third.
Demi Vollering, who won the 2023 edition, suffered a heavy crash on Monday but was cleared to ride after the team doctor “ruled out the risk of concussion”, external – and finished in the same time as Wiebes.
After back-to-back flat stages, riders will compete over a hilly 165.8km route between Chasseneuil-du-Poitou Futuroscope and Gueret on Wednesday.
Nine months after his death, Fernando Valenzuela stands immortalized in a new mural on the loge‑level wall at Dodger Stadium — a vibrant fusion of art and legacy unveiled Saturday.
Painted by Mexican American artist Robert Vargas, the mural shows Valenzuela tipping his cap to the sky in a Dodgers Mexican‑heritage jersey — featuring a green sleeve, red sleeve, white center — alongside two striking images of Valenzuela in his pitching stance. Vargas said the mural is meant to symbolize unity within the Latino community.
“I felt it very important to show that the Latino community has a place within these walls and has had a place within these walls,” Vargas said.
He wanted to reflect Valenzuela’s spirit that still lives in the hearts of many fans and feature the man behind the player.
For 34.
Prior to tonight’s game, the Dodgers unveiled a mural dedicated to Fernando Valenzuela in the Left Field Loge Terrace. His family and former teammates also joined the unveiling. pic.twitter.com/Kn4W1yze9L
“What he did in the community, is what resonates so much more for me than just the player — but the man, the person that he was,” Vargas said.
Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990. He grew up in Etchohuaquila, a small town in Mexico, and took Major League Baseball by storm in 1981, earning rookie of the year and Cy Young honors. Latino fans who previously felt little connection to the Dodgers were thrilled to see one of their own winning, sparking Fernandomania. Valenzuela wore No. 34 and it remains a popular jersey worn by fans at Dodger Stadium.
Claudio Campo choked up as he gazed at the tribute. Traveling from Phoenix with his son to celebrate the boy’s 11th birthday, Campo shared memories of a player whose greatness felt deeply personal. Valenzuela’s nickname, “El Toro,” are inked on Campo’s left arm.
“He was a staple for the people that didn’t have anything and then where he came from showed that anything is possible if you go ahead and revive what you are,” Claudio said.
Fans holding Valenzuela bobbleheads given away by the Dodgers took their pictures in front of the new mural Saturday night.
Longtime fan Dulce Gonzalez held back emotion as she showed off her shirt with the name “Valenzuela” written across it, describing the reason she started watching baseball.
“He was the first Latino player I could truly connect with and be proud of,” she said.
For Gonzalez, Valenzuela’s story resonated because he came from the same roots, offering representation she had longed for.
“We are a melting pot of races here, people love baseball from all races, but because I am Latina, I feel a little bit more connected,” she said.
Her son, Nicolas, dressed in a red and green Dodgers Mexican-heritage jersey, said Valenzuela helped heal some wounds after Mexican American families were displaced from their homes in Chavez Ravine shortly before Dodger Stadium was built on the same land.
“He really opened the city up to the Dodgers after a long difficult entry and he really represented triumph over adversity,” Nicolas said.
July 17 (UPI) — One person is dead and 13 others are injured following a lightning strike Wednesday night at an outdoor New Jersey archery range, according to authorities and officials.
Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kuz told NJ.com that a 61-year-old man died from his injuries while 13 others were receiving treatment. The injuries included burns, he said, adding that one person had momentarily lost consciousness.
Police said they received a call about multiple people struck by lightning shortly before 7 p.m. The incident occurred at the Black Knight Bowbenders archery range in Jackson Township, according to reports.
All victims were transported to nearby hospitals, with one person, who sustained more serious injuries, taken to the Livingston Burn Center.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he has been briefed on the incident.
“At this time, we have at least one fatality and multiple injuries,” he said on social media. “All injured have been transported by first responders. Please pray for everyone involved in this tragic incident.”
Two teens ages 18 and 19 were killed by a lightning strike while fishing in Waresboro, Ga., on July 10. And a 28-year-old golfer in Hardyston, N.J., died from a lightning strike on July 8.
Authorities say heavy rains caused flooding throughout the region, swamping infrastructure in New York City and beyond.
Two people have been killed in New Jersey following flash flooding in the northeastern United States that caused travel chaos, authorities said, as the region braced for more heavy rain.
Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday noted the deaths occurred in the northern New Jersey city of Plainfield, where there were two storm-related deaths on July 3. A third person was killed in North Plainfield during that previous storm.
“We’re not unique, but we’re in one of these sort of high humidity, high temperature, high storm intensity patterns right now,” Murphy told reporters after touring storm damage in Berkeley Heights. “Everybody needs to stay alert.”
The names of the two latest victims were not immediately released Tuesday.
Flood warnings in states such as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania began to expire on Tuesday morning as a torrential storm moved on, but some areas remain inundated with floodwater.
“A moisture-rich Summer-time airmass over much of the eastern/central US will continue to lead to areas of scattered to widespread thunderstorms capable of heavy downpours and flash flooding,” the National Weather Service said.
Videos show subway stations in New York City filling with fetid floodwater. Buses and cars in New Jersey were also stranded by flooding, and the state’s Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency on Monday, warning residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
A man cleans a garage affected by heavy flooding in the Elmsford area of Westchester, New York, US, on July 15, 2025 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]
Emergency workers save trapped residents in New York floods
Rescue workers in New York’s Westchester County helped recover people stuck in their vehicles amid rising waters.
“At this time, residents are still strongly advised to avoid all travel unless fleeing an area that is subject to flooding, or under an evacuation order,” said Carolyn Fortino, a spokesperson for the county executive.
Emergency workers also rescued people from flooded basements and carried out 16 water rescues after severe flash flooding in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“Intense rainfall dropped over 7 inches of rain in less than five hours,” the fire department for the county’s Mount Joy Borough said in a social media post.
The storms come amid growing debate about US disaster preparedness and predictive capacity following deadly floods in Texas that killed at least 131 people earlier this month, including dozens of children at a summer camp.
Critics have argued that sweeping cuts to numerous government agencies, including weather prediction and meteorological services, will hinder the country’s ability to anticipate and respond to incidents of extreme weather, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, stated in a social media post that the flooding underscores the challenges that extreme weather driven by climate change will pose for existing and outdated infrastructure.
“We must upgrade our infrastructure for this new climate reality,” he said.
While rainfall is expected to diminish, weather services said that possible showers and thunderstorms could continue through the evening. They also warned that the region will face high temperatures in the coming days.
“After yesterday’s rainfall, today should be mainly dry. However, a few isolated showers or a thunderstorm is possible this afternoon/evening,” National Weather Service New York said in a social media post.
“Expect warm temperatures too, with highs in the 80s. Some spots in NYC, NE NJ, west CT, and Low Hud could reach a heat index of 95.”
According to rankings released Friday based on sales of Nike jerseys from the Fanatics network, fans have purchased Ohtani’s No. 17 Dodgers jersey more than that of any other player during the first half of the 2025 season.
It’s not Ohtani’s first time at the top of the jersey sales rankings. The two-way superstar from Japan was No. 1 for the 2023 regular season, his last with the Angels, and the 2024 regular season, his first with the Dodgers. His jersey was also the top seller during the most recent offseason, after he was named the 2024 National League MVP and won his first World Series championship.
According to MLB, Ohtani’s jerseys have sold more than any other player in the U.S., Japan and worldwide since 2023.
New York Yankees superstar and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is No. 2 on the 2025 list, followed by Freeman at No. 3 and Betts at No. 4. Freeman and Betts also joined Ohtani in the top four in sales during the offseason, with Freeman at No. 2 and Betts at No. 4.
For the 2024 regular season, Betts ranked at No. 4, while Freeman came in at No. 18. Freeman has been riding a wave of popularity since the World Series, during which he hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 and eventually was named the series MVP.
New York Mets star Francisco Lindor has the No. 5 jersey of 2025 so far, followed by Mets teammate Juan Soto, Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, in his 18th MLB season, has the No. 20 bestselling jersey.
When Candace Parker was on the court, the Sparks were dominant. On the afternoon her jersey was retired, they had a chance to channel that energy — but the Sparks were anything but overpowering.
In a matchup between the two franchises Parker led to WNBA titles — the Sparks and Chicago Sky — her hometown team played spoiler, earning a 92-85 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Angel Reese, the self-proclaimed queen of “Mebounds,” proved too much for L.A. to handle — for the second time in five days.
Reese finished with 16 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Her impact extended beyond the boards, with Reese adding 24 points and seven assists.
Entering the game, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts praised Reese as “elite,” underscoring her high motor and physicality, adding that the Sparks would need to be the aggressors to slow her down.
But they were out-hustled and out-muscled down the final stretch of the game.
“We just got to be tougher,” Roberts said. “Sustain runs, handle adversity, performance issues, bad calls — whatever.”
For the Sparks, it was a must-win game — not only to build on their recent 85–75 win over the Indiana Fever, but also to avoid spoiling Parker’s retirement celebration.
“We would have loved [to have won],” Roberts added. “I think we all wanted that win for her, so it’s disappointing — it’s kind of extra disappointing.”
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum (10) draws a foul while driving in front of Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese Sunday at Crytpo.com Arena.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
While the Sparks (5-12) struggled against Reese for most of the game, forward Emma Cannon gave L.A. a surge off the bench. Undersized Cannon made life difficult for Reese during key stretches, drawing a technical foul during a tense third-quarter exchange in the post.
Cannon’s second-half performance briefly turned the tide. With the Sparks trailing by 12 — their largest deficit of the game — Cannon helped fuel a 24–5 run that put L.A. ahead 60–53. She finished with a season-high 15 points in four minutes.
But the Sky didn’t go away. By the end of the third, the Sparks led just 62–61 — and in the fourth, Chicago closed strong. Behind Reese, the Sky ballooned the lead back to double digits — 82–72 — too much for the Sparks to overcome.
“We have to learn how to finish games, and it’s not necessarily what the other team does,” Cannon said. “It’s just about us actually digging in and buying in and finishing it.”
A rally in the final minutes, led by Kelsey Plum, Azurá Stevens and Dearica Hamby, fell short.
Plum (22 points), Stevens (17 points) and Hamby (20 points) accounted for the bulk of the Sparks’ offense, combining for 59 of the team’s 85 points.
“It’s a choice when you’re hit with adversity or you lose, when you don’t perform the way you want to,” Roberts said on learning lessons from losses. “It’s a choice as to how you approach it, and there is no magic formula.”
Parker honored
The game was a tribute to Parker. At the arena entrance, fans were greeted by a purple and gold floral arrangement shaped like the No. 3. Video messages from Lakers legends, including Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper, played throughout the festivities.
Before Parker received a thunderous ovation as her No. 3 jersey was revealed in the rafters, she addressed the fans.
“They say athletes have two deaths — one being when your career ends — but I look at it as two lives,” Parker said during her halftime speech. “It’s never easy to put the ball down and move from your first love. That’s something I learned throughout my career here through basketball, and I’m going to carry it into the next phase of life.”
Former Sparks star Candace Parker waves while standing beside her family during her jersey retirement ceremony Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
Before the game, she also reflected on the full-circle moment — standing in the same arena where she won her first WNBA championship, fittingly against her hometown team, the Chicago Sky. She won a title with the Sky in 2021 and will see her jersey retired by the franchise this August.
“Seeing the No. 3 in the rafters where I first picked up the ball, and where is home now, is incredible,” Parker said. “It’s about dreams and opportunity. … So I hope that that inspires those little girls out there.”
Her jersey is just the third retired in Sparks history, joining former teammate Leslie’s No. 9 and longtime general manager Penny Toler’s No. 11.
“When it was time for me to say goodbye, I knew when I handed the keys to Candace Parker,” said Leslie, who introduced Parker during the halftime jersey retirement ceremony. “She not only took the key to the building — but she ran with it.”
One of the two detainees still missing after escaping from a New Jersey federal immigration detention center has been arrested, the FBI said Tuesday.
Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes, from Honduras, has been taken into custody, FBI spokesperson Amy Thoreson said in an email. Andres Felipe Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, is still missing from Thursday night’s escape, the bureau said.
Bautista-Reyes and Pineda-Mogollon and two other men busted out of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark during reports of disorder there by breaking through a wall and escaping from a parking lot, according to U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, and Homeland Security officials.
All four men were in the country illegally and had been charged by local police in New Jersey and New York City, federal officials said.
Bautista-Reyes was charged in May with aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats and a weapon crime. Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, was charged with minor larceny and burglary crimes.
The details surrounding Bautista-Reyes’ capture were not immediately clear. Messages seeking information were sent to the FBI and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The FBI on Monday had increased the reward for information leading to their arrest to $25,000 from $10,000.
Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, one of the other fugitives, was taken into custody in Passaic, N.J., on Friday, the day after the escape in nearby Newark. Then, on Sunday, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada surrendered to federal authorities in Milleville, N.J. Sandoval-Lopez, from Honduras, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun in October and aggravated assault in February, officials said. Castaneda-Lozada, from Colombia, was charged with burglary, theft and conspiracy, authorities said.
A message seeking comment on behalf of the men was left Tuesday with the New Jersey public defender’s office. It’s unclear who may be representing the men.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who’s been critical of President Trump’s immigration crackdown, cited reports of a possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the facility Thursday night and protesters outside the center locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates. Much is still unclear about what unfolded there.
But GEO Group, the company that owns and operates the detention facility for the federal government, said in a statement that there was “no widespread unrest” at the facility.
Delaney Hall has been the site of clashes this year between Democratic officials who say the facility needs more oversight and the Trump administration and those who run the facility.
Baraka was arrested May 9, handcuffed and charged with trespassing. The charge was later dropped and U.S. Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was later charged with assaulting federal officers, stemming from a skirmish that happened outside the facility. She has denied the charges.
June 16 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a Christian-based pregnancy center’s request, challenging New Jersey over its claim the pro-life group misled women about offering abortion services.
The Supreme Court will decide later this year whether First Choice Women’s Resource Centers can use federal courts to block the state’s attorney general from investigating its donor, advertising and medical personnel records.
First Choice, which provides parenting classes and free ultrasounds to women facing unplanned pregnancies, claims a 2023 subpoena violated its free speech rights.
Attorney General Matthew Platkin “has made no secret of his hostility towards pregnancy centers,” the pro-life group wrote in its petition to the Supreme Court, as it called Platkin’s subpoena “invasive” for demanding access to records.
“State attorneys general on both sides of the political aisle have been accused of misusing this authority to issue demands against their ideological and political opponents,” lawyers for First Choice wrote. “Even if these accusations turn out to be false, it is important that a federal forum exists for suits challenging those investigative demands.”
Platkin argues that the subpoena he issued has yet to be enforced in state court. He also said the donor information he sought was from two websites, which he claimed may have misled people into thinking First Choice provided abortions.
“Nonprofits, including crisis pregnancy centers, may not deceive or defraud residents in our state, and we may exercise our traditional investigative authority to ensure that they are not doing so — as we do to protect New Jerseyans from a range of harms,” Platkin wrote in a statement.
The Supreme Court will focus on whether First Choice sued prematurely, not whether New Jersey’s subpoena was valid, according to Platkin.
“First Choice is looking for a special exception from the usual procedural rules as it tries to avoid complying with an entirely lawful state subpoena,” Platkin added. “No industry is entitled to that type of special treatment — period.”
Lawyers for First Choice said the group is not seeking special treatment and believes their free speech rights are being targeted.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice simply because of its pro-life views,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erin Hawley said in a statement. “The Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands to disclose their identities, and First Choice is entitled to vindicate those rights in federal court.”
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for October.
“We are looking forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court and urging it to hold that First Choice has the same right to federal court as any other civil rights plaintiff,” Hawley added.
“The First Amendment protects First Choice’s right to freely speak about its beliefs, exercise its faith, associate with like-minded individuals and organizations, and continue to provide its free services in a caring and compassionate environment to people facing unplanned pregnancies.”
