Las Vegas

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

CITY SECTION

AMIT 69, MSAR 45

El Camino Real 68, Monroe 24

Foshay 82, Larchmont Charter 71

LA Hamilton 84, Bell 32

LA Roosevelt 61, Wilmington Banning 46

LA Wilson 81, View Park 75

Harbor Teacher 53, Rise Kohyang 25

MSCP 82, New West Charter 41

Roybal 68, Santee 54

San Pedro 59, Los Angeles 42

Sun Valley Magnet 56, Lake Balboa College 44

Sylmar 72, Canoga Park 59

Triumph Charter 65, Lincoln 59

USC Hybrid 49, Brio College Prep 24

SOUTHERN SECTION

ACE 54, Lucerne Valley 35

Adelanto 57, Carter 52

Alta Loma 64, Workman 17

Arrowhead Christian 70, Canyon Springs 32

Ayala 49, Glendora 46

Beaumont 76, San Jacinto 36

Brentwood 69, Concord De La Salle 49

California 79, Ocean View 55

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 58, Norwalk 43

Chaffey 58, Miller 22

Chaparral 63, Paloma Valley 45

Corona 70, Buena Park 39

Crespi 77, Rancho Cucamonga 57

Diamond Bar 64, Bonita 62

Don Lugo 56, Covina 44

Dos Pueblos 62, Arroyo Grande 51

Downey 58< Bellflower 35

El Modena 58, Orange 26

Elsinore 82, Temecula Valley 69

Estancia 80, Compton Early College 20

Fairmont Prep 52, Oak Hills 47

Fillmore 64, Nordhoff 32

Foothill Tech 67, Carpinteria 50

Fountain Valley 77, Costa Mesa 43

Godinez 47, Garden Grove Pacifica 39

Great Oak 68, Bishop Amat 63

Kaiser 45, Jurupa Valley 26

Laguna Blanca 59, Downey Calvary Chapel 21

La Habra 47, La Serna 45

Lakeview Leadership 54, Victor Valley Christian 35

Linfield Christian 62, Woodcrest Christian 55

Maricopa 67, Cuyama Valley 15

Millikan 115, Calvary Baptist 56

Montclair 73, Bell Gardens 64

Norte Vista 99, Riverside North 45

Oak Park 48, Simi Valley 46

Oaks Christian 70, Shadow Ridge 55

Orange Lutheran 91, Brea Olinda 39

Oxford Academy 76, Westminster La Quinta 57

Palm Springs 77, Yucaipa 55

Patriot 36, Rim of the World 27

Pioneer 58, Magnolia 34

Portola 60, Troy 54

Rialto 68, Serrano 35

Riverside Notre Dame 74, Bloomington 52

Riverside Prep 67, Hesperia Christian 26

Rubidoux 55, Edgewood 54

Santa Fe 42, Cerritos Valley Christian 41

Santa Ynez 69, Channel Islands 39

Segerstrom 51, Saddleback 34

South Pasadena 85, Hillcrest Christian 39

St. Monica 59, Camarillo 51

Tehachapi 63, Lancaster 58

Temescal Canyon 57, Lakeside 56

University Prep 65, AAE 56

Valley Christian Academy 66, Santa Clarita Christian 62

Village Christian 90, Liberty 48

Yorba Linda 60, Whittier Christian 54

YULA 71, Faith Baptist 56

INTERSECTIONAL

Bishop Montgomery 72, Fresno Bullard 46

Clovis North 69, Maranatha 46

Corona Santiago, Vancouver (Canada) St. George’s 44

Fairfax 65, Oakwood 51

Highland (Colo.) Lone Peak 58, Eastvale Roosevelt 41

JSerra 88, South Jordan (Utah) Bingham 60

Kipp Atlanta Collegiate (Ga.) 68, Narbonne 39

Knight 70, Henderson (Nev.) Basic 47

Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Oasis 59, Dominguez 48

Las Vegas (Nev.) Faith Lutheran 71, St. Paul 57

Marina 64, Montgomery (Ala) Trinity Presbyterian 61

Mater Dei 87, Coeur D’Alene (Idaho) 61

Palisades 61, Miami Mater Lakes Academy 58

Redondo Union 65, Aurora (Colo.) Rangeview 60

San Gabriel Academy 82, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Canarsie 58

Santa Margarita 59, Basha (Ariz.) 58

Saugus 78, Arleta 56

Schurr 74, Aurora (Colo.) Vista PEAK Prep 72

St. Genevieve 49, Sun Valley Poly 38

The Villages Charter (Fla.) 65, St. John Bosco 59

Warren 83, Las Vegas Rancho 58

Washington Prep 85, Silverado 32

West Torrance 81, Las Vegas Cimarron-Memorial 76

GIRLS

CITY SECTION

Crenshaw 76, Fremont 17

New West Charter 48, MSCP 14

Sun Valley Magnet 37, Lake Balboa College 13

USC Hybrid 19, Brio College Prep 16

Westchester 53, Washington Prep 49

SOUTHERN SECTION

Beckman 51, Summit 42

Burbank Providence 39, Mayfield 22

Canyon Springs 59, Magnolia 12

Cerritos Valley Christian 56, Oxford Academy 32

Citrus Valley 59, Orange Vista 43

El Rancho 56, Rosemead 32

Fullerton 48, Workman 19

Gabrielino 42, Temple City 33

Godinez 57, Tesoro 39

Harvard-Westlake 44, Bishop Montgomery 23

JSerra 66, Dos Pueblos 57

La Salle 50, Holy Martyrs Armenian 25

Oak Park 100, Simi Valley 13

Palmdale 37, Palmdale Academy Charter 14

Santa Monica 37, Notre Dame Academy 21

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 52, Spring Valley 17

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 70, Marina 19

Sonora 70, Huntington Beach 57

Springville (UT) 58, Campbell Hall 53

University Prep 63, AAE 25

Victor Valley Christian 48, Lakeview Leadership 8

Western Christian 59, Garden Grove 21

Woodbridge 54, Samueli Academy 30

INTERSECTIONAL

Granada Hills Kennedy 61, San Fernando 26

King/Drew 101, Dorsey 12

North Hollywood 55, Calabasas 49

Venice 51, Culver City 46

L.os Angeles City Councilmember John Lee is facing a steep fine for his notorious 2017 trip to Las Vegas, with the city’s Ethics Commission saying he must pay $138,424 in a case involving pricey meals and expensive nightclub “bottle service.”

On Wednesday, the commission decided 4 to 0 that Lee, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, committed two counts of violating the city’s gift law and three counts of violating a law requiring that such gifts be disclosed to the public.

By a 3-1 vote, the panel found that Lee violated five additional counts of misusing his city position or helping his boss at the time — Councilmember Mitchell Englander — misuse his position. After that, the commission voted unanimously to levy the maximum financial penalty, as recommended by city ethics investigators.

The commission went much further than an administrative law judge, who, after a multiday hearing, concluded that Lee violated five of 10 counts and recommended a fine of nearly $44,000.

Commission President Manjusha Kulkarni argued for the maximum fine, saying it would discourage others from violating ethics laws. She said Lee directly benefited from his decision not to report the gifts — which came from three men who sought business with City Hall — on his economic disclosure forms.

Lee, by failing to report those gifts, gained an unfair advantage during his 2019 and 2020 election campaigns, both of which he won by small margins, Kulkarni said.

“There was a concealment effort made there in order to win those two elections,” she said.

Commissioner Aryeh Cohen voted against the five additional ethics counts, saying he wasn’t convinced that the gift information would have made a difference. Last year, after city investigators accused Lee of violating gift laws, he won reelection handily.

“Voters knew, and he won by a larger margin” than in 2019 or 2020, Cohen said. “So I don’t think that that was a misuse of a position or gaining benefit from it.”

Brian Hildreth, an attorney representing Lee, had argued for a maximum fine of $10,000. Appearing before the commission, he said city investigators incorrectly calculated the value of the gifts and failed to take into account how much Lee had actually consumed at the food and drink venues.

Lee, in a statement, vowed to keep fighting the charges, calling the case “wasteful and political.” An appeal would need to be filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“Today is but one step in the process of fighting these baseless charges,” he said. “I look forward to finally having an opportunity to have this matter adjudicated in a fair and impartial setting.”

The Lee case revolves around gifts — mostly meals and alcohol but also hotel stays, transportation and $1,000 in gambling chips — provided by the three businessmen: Andy Wang, who peddled Italian cabinets, “smart home” technology and facial recognition software; architect and developer Chris Pak; and lobbyist Michael Bai.

Lee, while working as Englander’s chief of staff, flew with his boss and several others — including Wang and Bai — to Las Vegas in 2017. Englander resigned from office the following year, after being contacted by FBI agents about the trip.

In 2020, federal prosecutors accused Englander of accepting $15,000 in cash from Wang, lying to FBI agents and obstructing their investigation. He eventually pleaded guilty to a single count of providing false information to the FBI and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

In 2023, Englander agreed to pay $79,830 to settle an Ethics Commission case focused on his own gift law violations. That same year, the commission filed a case against Lee, saying he violated the gift law not just in Vegas but also at restaurants in downtown L.A. and Koreatown.

Lee repeatedly denied the allegations and argued that the statute of limitations had run out. The commission responded by scheduling a multiday hearing, held in June before Administrative Law Judge Ji-Lan Zang.

During those proceedings, Lee said he made a good faith effort to pay his own way and, in some cases, declined to eat during meals. For example, he testified that he did not remember eating during the meetings at Yxta Cocina Mexicana and Water Grill, both in downtown L.A.

Zang, in her written report to the commission, called those denials “not credible,” saying it “strains credulity” to believe that he would join the group at those restaurants without eating any food.

During the Las Vegas trip, Lee stayed at the Aria hotel, went to Blossom restaurant and spent an evening with the group at Hakkasan Nightclub.

At Blossom, Wang ordered a dinner worth nearly $2,500 that included shark fin soup, Peking duck and Kobe beef. Lee testified over the summer that he arrived at the restaurant in time for a dessert of bird’s nest soup, tasting it and deciding he did not like it.

At Hakkasan Nightclub later that night, Wang purchased three rounds of bottle service for the group for around $8,000 apiece, while Pak purchased a fourth round for $8,418.75.

Lee said he gave Wang $300 in cash as reimbursement for his drinks, withdrawing money from an ATM. Hildreth, his attorney, told the commission that drinks were served to a large number of nightclubgoers.

“The testimony and the evidence suggests that dozens and dozens of people were joining Councilmember Lee and others,” he said.

Kulkarni, before the vote, said she was especially troubled that Lee, after being contacted by FBI agents in 2017, sent Wang a backdated check for $442 to reimburse him for some of the Vegas trip. That act on its own, she said, constituted “a very serious offense.”

“That is not a mistake that one does. That is an affirmative act,” she said.

Hildreth said his client wrote a reimbursement check right away but that it was lost, necessitating a second, backdated check. He also noted that Lee cooperated with federal law enforcement and city ethics investigators.

“He sat for two interviews with the FBI,” Hildreth said. “That’s not something that deserves a punitive penalty.”

For all those in search of pop star-infused festive cheer, Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar opened earlier this month at the Mondrian Hotel’s Skybar.

The pop-up’s Los Angeles debut is steeped with the signature seasonal touch from the Queen of Christmas — neon signs of her lyrics light up the room, massive portraits of the star fill the space and every single song that plays — holiday-themed or not — is from Carey’s discography. (Disclaimer: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” does play every 30 minutes.)

“For as long as I’ve known Christmas, Mariah has always been there. It signals to me that childlike wonder and excitement of Christmas time that kind of harkens back to when I was a kid,” said Cathy Kwon, who was posing for a photo on the decorative sleigh. “The fact that the song itself [‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’] has stayed this popular for this long is remarkable.”

Ever since releasing her holiday album, “Merry Christmas,” in 1994, Carey has established herself as a permanent fixture in the holiday season. Every year, the 56-year-old singer has gift-wrapped a new festivity for her fans.

Last year, she embarked on Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time tour to celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary and this year, she’s doing a Vegas residency called “Christmastime in Las Vegas.” She’s also previously hosted several holiday specials for Apple TV and CBS. And nearly every year, her modern holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” climbs to the top of the charts.

Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar will be open until Dec. 28.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

For her holiday bars, she partnered with the event company Bucket Listers to open four locations across the country, in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami and Las Vegas. The WeHo bar is complete with endless photo ops, including life-size cutouts and large-scale holiday-themed portraiture of the “Obsessed” singer, as well as cocktails featuring her own liqueur company, Black Irish. The bar’s pool is filled with candy cane floaties, twinkling Christmas trees decadently line every walkway and bursts of soapy snow fly through the air (occasionally landing in a cocktail or two).

Bucket Listers founder Andy Lederman says the demand for this experience has “surpassed every expectation” that the company had.

“She’s the queen of Christmas. Outside of Santa Claus and the Grinch, I don’t know if there’s anything more iconic,” Lederman said. “There’s really nothing like her during this time of year. It gives you such a great feeling to be able to celebrate her and to be a part of her wonderland with the people you love.”

Though Carey has since built out her holiday world far beyond its original soundtrack, many of the bar’s patrons came to indulge in the nostalgia provided by the 1994 holiday album. The record is a 10-track collection of reworked classic holiday covers and a handful of originals, offering a diverse selection of love songs, traditional festive tunes and modernized religious hymns.

Shannon Armah was sitting in the bar, catching up with a group of friends. The Miracle Mile resident grew up with the Mariah Carey Christmas album on repeat and describes early memories of listening to its songs in a car seat. To her, it’s the perfect balance of “fun and playful music” and music that is rooted in the religious “reason for the season.”

“We went to a Baptist church growing up, so hearing the gospel influence in the album is reminiscent of our usual Sunday experience,” Armah said. “It was very relatable. It also taps into the ‘90s nostalgia and brings back that feeling of simpler times.”

Maria Castillo takes a picture of Amanda Rico at the pop-up Mariah Carey Holiday Bar at the Mondrian Hotel.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Beyond being played in almost every festive setting, the eternally cheery earworm has tied for yet another record this year. Despite its release 31 years ago, the single currently sits at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is now tied with Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus for most weeks on top. The track is also Carey’s 19th No. 1 on the Hot 100, the most for any solo artist.

Anthony Escalante, a real estate agent and manager of a luxury retail store, came to the Christmas bar dressed in his holiday best — a well-fitted, all-white vest and matching pants. He says he admires Carey’s holiday music for its ability to tell a story beyond the typical seasonal festivities.

“She’s the pioneer of reinventing modern Christmas songs,” said Escalante. “She speaks beyond a generic Christmas. [‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’] is about experiencing a holiday without the love of your life. She sets a tone for something that is more than just another Christmas song.”

People attend the pop-up Mariah Carey Holiday Bar at the Mondrian Hotel.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The track’s ability to amass popularity year after year is what makes it one of the few contemporary holiday classics. Decked out in their Carey holiday apparel, Sara Rushton and Benji Flowers credit the singer as being one of the few pop stars to successfully put a modern twist on Christmas.

“Growing up, everything Christmas was old-fashioned. Christmas movies were really old, and there wasn’t really a new version of Christmas for millennials, or postmillennials,” said Rushton, who received her first Carey record in her stocking as kid. “But Mariah was someone who celebrates Christmas in a different festive way.”

Flowers, who works as a yoga instructor, looks to the pop star as one of the last exciting elements of the season. He proposes that the Mariah Carey bars should stay open all year, as Carey’s discography can lend itself to more than just the holiday season.

“I do think that it could be like a year-round thing, and they could have seasonal changes to it. She has a song for every moment in life. She’s got slow romantic songs and heartbreak. She’s got hip-hop and old disco. I mean, I can go on and on,” Flowers said. “It’s not a bad idea. At night, it could be all about the EDM remixes of her songs.”

Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar will be open until Dec. 28.

Could two members of the Buss family add some green and gold to their purple and gold?

Joey and Jesse Buss, fired last month as Lakers executives, have explored pursuing an ownership stake in baseball’s Athletics, according to two people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to speak publicly about them.

The discussions were described as preliminary, and it is unclear whether they might result in a deal. Jesse Buss did not reply to a message seeking comment.

In September, Joey and Jesse – sons of legendary Lakers owner Jerry Buss – announced the launch of Buss Sports Capital “to pursue high-impact investment opportunities across the global sports ecosystem.” The announcement said Buss Sports Capital would aim “to partner with forward-thinking professionals to unlock new opportunities in professional sports.”

Joey and Jesse Buss retain their stakes of Lakers ownership. In October, Dodgers owner Mark Walter closed his purchase of majority ownership in the Lakers, in a deal that valued the Lakers at $10 billion. Walter tasked Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and former general manager Farhan Zaidi to assess the Lakers’ front office operations.

Last month, Joey Buss was dismissed as vice president of research and development and Jesse Buss as assistant general manager.

The A’s left Oakland after the 2024 season. They plan to move from their temporary Sacramento home to Las Vegas in 2028, and construction there is underway on an enclosed 30,000-seat stadium originally estimated to cost $1.5 billion. In July, team owner John Fisher told the Nevada Independent the cost had risen into “the $2 billion range.”

Fisher obtained $380 million in public funding. He is responsible for the balance of construction costs. In 2023, The Times first reported that Fisher hoped to generate $500 million toward stadium costs by valuing the A’s at $2 billion and selling 25% of the team to minority investors.

Fisher has since used a higher valuation in soliciting investors. CNBC last year estimated the A’s franchise value at $2 billion, Forbes at $1.8 billion, and Sportico at $1.6 billion.

The A’s have posted four consecutive losing seasons. They say they are rebuilding toward their planned 2028 arrival in Las Vegas, and they have an impressive core of position players, including first baseman Nick Kurtz — the American League rookie of the year — shortstop Jacob Wilson, catcher Shea Langeliers, designated hitter Brent Rooker, and outfielders Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom.

Times staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.

There is nowhere on Earth quite like Las Vegas, and when you add in the chaos of 200mph supercars whizzing down the Strip, it takes the mad place to another level

Whoever coined New York ‘the city that never sleeps’ had clearly never been to Las Vegas. Certainly not in Formula 1 week.

When the glitz and glamour of the world’s fastest sport meets the sheer chaos of the world’s craziest city – it takes it to another level. Las Vegas is like nowhere else on the planet. From the moment you touch down in this metropolis of Nevada after a lengthy 10-and-a-half-hour flight from the UK, any thoughts of jet lag are consigned to the back of your mind.

The sights and sounds of Sin City are quite literally designed to keep you awake and, more pertinently, keep you spending. From arriving at the mighty Caesars Palace, where the Nobu hotel provided my base for the stay, I was met with a countless array of gambling machines and tables, which are occupied 24 hours a day.

Numerous casinos on the world-famous Strip even have an artificial blue sky on the ceilings. With no clocks or open windows, gamblers could be forgiven for losing track of time, whether they are winning or losing.

And with an extra 150,000 people in the city for the Grand Prix, Vegas took on a new lease of life. This isn’t like visiting Silverstone or Brands Hatch. There is no purpose-built Formula 1 track. Instead, Las Vegas Boulevard shuts down to regular traffic for the weekend, meaning you need your walking boots to get around the hotels, casinos, bars, and restaurants.

Handily, with the main attractions all in close proximity, that is possible. But even so, I was walking up to 30,000 steps a day in order to experience everything this bustling hub of activity had to offer. I was lucky enough to be given a guided tour of the track two days before the race, ahead of the drivers heading out for their practice session.

It was an opportunity to get up close and personal with the sport’s biggest stars, their cars, and the thousands of staff in the pit lane, while being walked through the unique challenges each corner presents.

I witnessed a practice pit stop and gained a unique insight into the pressures on not only the drivers but also each staff member to execute the perfect race-day strategy.

It was then time to head to F1 Arcade to try my hand behind the wheel in a simulator. Thankfully, unlike those out on the track, I was able to select a setting more suitable to my level of expertise, and crashing the car into the barrier at top speeds meant simply hitting restart and having another go.

At the race itself, the adrenaline rush of seeing these supercars whizz past at speeds of over 200mph genuinely takes your breath away. And nowhere is it more fitting than with an incredible backdrop of the Vegas skyline, including the unmistakable Sphere.

Opening in September 2003 with a residency from Irish rockers U2, the Sphere is one of the world’s craziest and most novel entertainment venues and a must-see on any visit to Vegas. In addition to staging concerts, the venue also serves as a 360-degree, fully immersive cinema. I saw the 1930s classic, The Wizard of Oz, originally shot for a 4:3 movie screen.

To see this vintage piece of cinema being brought into the 21st century, complete with effects including fog, wind, and objects falling from the sky into your lap, is an experience to behold.

Another key pillar of the Las Vegas entertainment circuit is the various Cirque du Soleil shows available at numerous venues on the Strip. One such show is ‘O’ at the Bellagio – so named because ‘eau’ is French for water.

The show provides a spectacular array of aquatic performances through a journey of love, danger, adventure and courage. In addition to acrobats, it features artistic swimmers and divers, some of whom have represented their countries at the Olympic Games.

The supremely agile and flexible performers are joined by a flying pirate ship in a stunning display of gravity-defying artistry.

Vegas boasts a vast array of food and drink options to suit a range of budgets. At the top end, the aptly named High Steaks restaurant pairs incomparable 180-degree views of the Strip with a selection of succulent meats, seafood and show-stopping desserts.

Yardbird in the Venetian Resort is a perfect spot for breakfast with their signature chicken and waffles brilliantly over-the-top in every way. Away from the chaos of the Strip, the Vegas Arts District provides the perfect opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy a more reserved area of this magnificent city.

Packed with quirky shops and idyllic brunch spots, it’s hard to believe you are just a stone’s throw away from the world’s capital of extravagance. But that is the allure of Las Vegas. The most brilliantly bonkers city in the world.