last year

Peabo Bryson, a Grammy-winning R&B singer known for his duets from Disney classics “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast,” has died. He was 75.

His family confirmed to The Times that he died Tuesday in Marietta, Ga. The cause was complications from a stroke he suffered over the weekend.

“We are tremendously moved by the outpouring of love, prayers and support from fans, friends, and colleagues around the world,” the family shared. “While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit. His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”

Bryson was a fixture on the R&B scene for decades, scoring with such hits as “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” and “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again.”

Peabo Bryson, pictured performing in Washington, D.C., in 2016, won Grammy Awards in back-to-back years in 1993 and 1994.

(Teresa Kroeger / Getty Images)

In a career peak in 1992, the singer was featured on recordings that topped four separate charts: “A Whole New World,” a duet with Regina Belle from the Disney animated movie “Aladdin,” topped the Pop and Adult Contemporary charts; “The King and I” album, featuring Bryson, was No. 1 on the Classical Crossover charts, and Kenny G’s “Breathless” album, featuring Bryson on “By the Time the Night Is Over,” topped the Contemporary Jazz charts.

He nabbed two Grammy Awards back to back in 1993 and 1994 for his performance of “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion, and his performance of “A Whole New World” with Regina Belle.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do,” Bryson told The Times. “I see myself as a true Renaissance man. I don’t like one-dimensional concepts of myself.”

Robert Peapo Bryson was born on April 13, 1951, in Greenville, S.C. He grew up attending concerts his mother would bring the family to, and by the time he was in high school, he knew he wanted a career in music.

In 1978, he told David Nathan, an editor for Blues & Soul magazine, that his mother wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of him chasing his dreams in the rhythm-and-blues biz and worried he’d get into trouble.

“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been into music,” Bryson said. “It’s all I ever wanted to really deal with. … I had to make that decision, when I was around 14, as to what I was going to get into, career-wise. Well, I’d thought about being a doctor or something like that, but I really felt that music was my thing.”

He cut his teeth as a backing vocalist in various groups, but none of his bandmates could properly pronounce “Peapo,” his French West Indian name, so he changed up the spelling to make it simpler. The stage name Peabo was born. In the late 1960s, he linked up with “My Elusive Dreams” hitmaker Moses Dillard. “I started out just singing, although I progressed into percussion, guitar and, much later, playing piano — that was basically when I started getting into songwriting,” he told Nathan.

In 1967, he signed his first record deal, with Bang Records, and in 1976, he made his solo debut with the single “Underground Music” and his eponymous album, “Peabo.” The next year, he hit it big time and signed with Capitol Records, where he put out back-to-back gold-selling albums: “Reaching for the Sky” in 1977 and “Crosswinds” in 1978.

Peabo Bryson performs at the Centennial Olympic Park’s Fourth of July Celebration in Atlanta.

(Robb D. Cohen / Invision / Associated Press)

By the ’90s, Bryson was at a career high, collected Grammy nominations and became the definitive voice of Disney duets. But the music scene was changing, and Bryson wasn’t keen on the new direction. He told The Times in 1994 that MTV had stopped considering talent as the criteria to be played on the music channel and that he thought mainstream music had taken a hostile and negative turn.

“I guess I [tick] people off because I don’t go away,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m like a tenacious forest fire — you snuff me out over here, and I’m still burning down the back 40 just when you think it’s over. I have a great faith in God, and because of my great faith in God, I have faith in the self.”

Fortunately for legions of fans of the soulful balladeer, Bryson was right and he wasn’t going anywhere for another couple of decades. The Grammy winner continued to grace stages with his flashy blazers and smooth baritone, and recently performed a concert with Jeffrey Osborne at Trilith Live in Fayetteville, Ga.

The event in early May was a standalone performance, apart from the crooner’s Golden Touch tour, which he announced last year, amid his celebration of 50 years in the music industry.

In recent years, Bryson said he had been hitting the gym and prioritizing his health after a scare seven years ago when the artist suffered a heart attack at his Georgia home. He told the Soul Train Cruise 2020 that he flat-lined for nearly 30 minutes, “long enough to make friends on the other side.”

“It turns out that dying is not that hard,” Bryson said. “Didn’t hurt that much. It’s the living afterwards that’s the really difficult part. I mean, why are you still here? You have to ask yourself those hard questions: Are you a good father? Are you a good husband? Are you a good friend? Are you a good brother? Are you a good human being?”

Bryson said he was able to answer yes.

“Then you have to ask yourself the question that makes the answer null and void — can you be better?”

Bryson is survived by his wife, Tanya Boniface Bryson; son Robert Bryson (who goes by Kit); daughter Linda Bryson; and three grandchildren.

Memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date.

Buoyed by a new Congressional map favoring their party, California Democrats were eyeing Tuesday’s primary elections as a critical first step toward flipping a handful of House seats and taking back power in Washington.

Results from California’s massive and slow-moving election process were not immediately clear late Tuesday, as polls closed and mail ballots continued to be processed and counted. Still, Democrats were bullish about their chances of advancing candidates to November’s general election in all five districts that were redrawn in their favor as a result of last year’s Proposition 50 ballot measure.

“The path to winning back the House starts with voting in the June 2nd primary,” the California Democratic Party posted online Monday.

Meanwhile, California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin urged Republican voters to make their own voices heard too.

“Like President Trump said, we need to make it too big to rig,” Rankin said on “The Benny Show.” “We need to swamp the vote.”

One of the most closely watched races was in the redrawn 22nd Congressional District in the Central Valley, where incumbent Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) is facing challenges from moderate Assemblymember Jasmeet Kaur Bains (D-Delano) and progressive college professor Randy Villegas.

Another closely watched race was in the redrawn 48th Congressional District in San Diego and Riverside counties, where Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) decided to retire rather than run for reelection, and where Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond — who is endorsed by Trump — is running against a pack of Democrats.

Prop. 50 — which Californians passed with nearly 65% of the vote a year ago — was California Democrats’ response to Texas Republicans redrawing their state’s Congressional maps in the GOP’s favor, at President Trump’s behest. It was also the only major Democratic counterpunch in the wider mid-decade redistricting brawl that has spread across the country in the last year.

Experts expect the redistricting battle to deliver a net gain of a handful or more House seats to Republicans. But Democrats could gain even more ground given Trump’s lousy approval ratings and the long history of midterm election losses for the president’s party.

Combined, those factors make the battle for control of the House incredibly close, which in turn makes the five seats up for grabs in California pivotal — and potentially decisive.

Tuesday’s primaries won’t determine if any of those five seats will indeed flip parties in November. However, the primaries will define those head-to-head races to come and better inform the odds of Democrats toppling Republican incumbents, experts said.

In addition to flipping the seats currently held by Valadao and Issa, Democrats are hoping to pick up three additional seats.

In the 1st Congressional District — which after Prop. 50 lost rural reaches of northeast California and picked up liberal North Bay communities — various candidates were vying for the seat long held by the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale), who died in January. They include Democratic state Sen. Mike McGuire and Republican Assemblymember James Gallagher, who is endorsed by Trump.

Voters from the existing district are also voting in a special election Tuesday to fill the remainder of LaMalfa’s term.

In the 3rd Congressional District, which lost an eastern rural stretch along Nevada and now holds more tightly to the Sacramento suburbs, Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) — who currently represents a different district — is running to remain in Congress in a new seat.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Congressional District’s incumbent, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Rocklin), is seeking to do the opposite. He quit the Republican Party, became an independent and is now running for Bera’s current seat in Congressional District 6, which includes the city of Sacramento and Placer County suburbs.

In the 41st Congressional District, which became more liberal after Prop. 50 by losing voters in Riverside County and gaining them in Los Angeles County, a slate of candidates — including Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Whittier), who currently represents a different district — are running to replace Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona). Calvert, a 17-term incumbent, decided to run in the neighboring 40th Congressional District instead.

In the 40th Congressional District, which covers a swath of inland Orange County and portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, incumbent Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) is now going head-to-head with Calvert, while also facing several Democratic challengers.

Other districts that were not part of the Prop. 50 shuffle are also attracting attention.

In the 11th Congressional District in San Francisco, several Democratic candidates are vying to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the retiring former House Speaker, including state Sen. Scott Wiener; tech millionaire and Democratic political operative Saikat Chakrabarti; and Connie Chan, a member of the San Francisco board of supervisors who Pelosi endorsed.

Democrats are also closely watching several races where younger Democrats and progressives are challenging older incumbent Democrats, and where newer Democratic incumbents are seeking to hold onto their seats in relatively competitive districts.

R&B singer Peabo Bryson, well known for his duets from beloved Disney classics “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast,” suffered a stroke over the weekend.

A representative for the artist told The Times that the singer is undergoing treatment but provided no details about his condition.

“Two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and balladeer, Peabo Bryson — the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney songs ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘A Whole New World’ — has suffered a stroke and is currently under medical care,” the representative said in an emailed statement. “At this time, the family requests privacy as they navigate this deeply personal moment together. The thoughts, prayers and love of friends and fans are welcomed and deeply appreciated.”

Bryson recently performed a concert with Jeffrey Osborne at Trilith Live in Fayetteville, Ga., in early May. The event was a standalone performance, apart from the crooner’s Golden Touch tour, which he announced last year, amid his celebration of 50 years in the music industry. In April, the Grammy winner turned 75 and posted photos on Instagram from a birthday bash showing him surrounded by friends and family. In early May, he posted a video of his son, Kitt, performing a Michael Jackson dance routine, writing “Super proud Dad moment from last nights Gig in Atlanta.”

Soul and funk band Maze, which was fronted by the late Frankie Beverly, shared some love for Bryson on social media.

“The entire Maze The Music Forever family sends our heartfelt prayers, love, and support to Peabo Bryson during this time of healing,” read the post. “Peabo’s extraordinary voice, timeless artistry, and unwavering contributions to music have touched millions around the world. We pray for God’s healing hand, renewed strength, comfort, and a full recovery.”

Jennifer Cohen has heard her peers this spring lament the precarious state of college football, with the College Football Playoff format in flux, the College Sports Commission under fire and the current model of college athletics hanging by a proverbial thread. As athletic director at USC, Cohen understands the reasons for their doom and gloom.

There’s little clarity about where things stand in college athletics right now, let alone where they’re going. Plus, it has never cost more to run an athletic department — or a football program, with the price tag of rosters exceeding $40 million this season — in part because of name, image and likeness rights.

“There’s no doubt that this last year’s been frustrating, and that’s because we tried to fly a plane and build a plane at the same time,” Cohen told The Times last week. “So it’s certainly not going swimmingly, right?”

Before discussing all that’s wrong with the current college sports landscape, Cohen wants to remind everyone that it hasn’t all been bad.

“It’s important to talk about what are the positives that came from what’s happened,” Cohen said.” And from my perspective, student athletes have benefited now more than ever, you know?”

At USC, Cohen has managed to steer the athletic department through the chaos. As costs have risen exponentially with the advent of revenue sharing, Cohen says department revenue at USC is up almost 60% over a three-year span, sponsorship values have doubled and USC donors have poured money into the Trojan Athletic Fund, which is up 707% since she started.

Jennifer Cohen, left, and university president Carol Folt, right, flash the “V for Victory” hand sign during a news conference in 2023 introducing Cohen as USC’s new athletic director.

(Ringo Chiu / For The Times)

And later this summer, USC will open a $200-million football facility — a rarity in an age when such spending has more often taken a backseat.

None of that is to say USC is immune to the coming financial crunch in college sports.

“We also have to manage expenses, and we’re trying to do that and still support what we think is part of our DNA, which is [keeping all] 23 programs,” Cohen said. “As you look at the financial benefits that football brings to this place, the more you’re gonna take those revenues from football and put it back into football and to football student athletes versus other programs, you’re gonna feel the pinch. And so we’ve tried to mitigate that with new strategies on revenue generation.”

But what about when football rosters costs balloon to $50 million … or $60 million? What about $100 million?

“Hopefully not,” Cohen said. “We’ve gotta match roster spends with revenues and, and, and, and how we run a business.”

“I don’t think there’s one simple answer to this, and I do think that we are at a point where we’ve got to figure out as an industry, how do we do this in a smart way and not just let our competitiveness get the best of us? But that’s hard when football winning is the only way that you pay your bills.”

The Times sat down with Cohen last week to discuss the state of affairs in college football and USC’s athletic department. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

With college football in such an uncertain place, do you feel like there needs to be some form of outside intervention? Or some major governance change that would help solve these problems?

“I think at some point in time we’re gonna have to find something. I mean, obviously we’re a year in. So I think first we all need to look in the mirror — myself included, as a leader — and say, ‘What did we do in this new system that worked? And what have we done in this new system that doesn’t work? And the question becomes, ‘Can you get everybody across the Power Four [conferences] to do that exercise and be honest enough to find some sort of solutions together? Or do you need to start looking at other solutions? I, for one, fully believe in federal support. I understand why it’s needed. I’m somebody that spent a lot of time on that earlier in my career, and, you know, the patchwork situation of laws is not fair from a competitive standpoint. It’s also very confusing to student athletes and to their families and to our coaches. But I am absolutely not holding my breath for that.

Eric Musselman and athletic director Jennifer Cohen hold a jersey with Musselman’s name during his introductory news conference as the Trojans’ basketball coach in 2024.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“The most important place where I’m spending my energy is figuring out how we are going to win in whatever environment that we’re dealt. Because I don’t have as much control in my current role to solve for all of those national issues. I am 24/7 thinking about how USC is going to compete in whatever environment we’re in. And I feel really confident that we will. But as somebody that loves college sports, I also think that we are gonna have to find a different alternative than how we’re operating right now to have a sustainable and durable model.”

USC seems to be in a really strong place with NIL, stronger certainly than when you were hired. How would you say that USC has gotten to that point?

“ When we got here, my mantra was if you’re not ahead, you’re gonna get behind. And so there were a lot of areas that we focused on to just try to improve and get ahead, and NIL was one of them. There’s a natural ability here to be really competitive in NIL — especially in the third-party space with brands. You know, we were just looking at some data the other day just in this new CSC-NIL Go model. Our brand deals are valued 2 1/2 times more than the national average, and I think that really speaks to both USC, the city of L.A., and obviously the quality of the student athletes that we have. And I think it’s just been a strategy of embracing the new era, recognizing that it’s really cool to be able to have student athletes benefit in that new era, and it’s important, and that you have to be competitive in that space.

“And so I think it was just a matter of having intentionality in a plan and getting all of our stakeholders aligned around that plan, and it was an urgent matter to keep trying to get ahead in that space. Because if we weren’t, other people were. That’s how we’ve been tackling it, and so we’re really proud of how robust the program is now. But we’re gonna have to keep getting better at it. We’re gonna have to keep evolving.”

The Big Ten has come out in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams. What are your thoughts on that?

“We’re unified as a league around 24, there’s no doubt about that. And obviously that’s gaining traction in some of the other conferences as well. And so where we’re unified, USC’s gonna support that. I think that there’s merits in the 24 model. I also think there’s plenty of fair questions around that. It has to make sense for everybody. So that’s kind of where we stand on it.

USC athletic direct Jennifer Cohen wears a headset with microphone as she’s interviewed before a football game in 2023.

(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“I think personally speaking, I would have absolutely no problem staying at 12. I think we’ve experienced a lot of change in college sports and in college football. I think we need to understand how that change is impacting not just us, but our fans and others. And so if we end up at 12, I’m confident that we’re gonna find our way in that 12 every single year. And again, uh, that’s where my focus is. I mean, I am nonstop thinking about how USC athletics can compete in whatever model that we’re in, and I feel really good about the plans that we are developing and will continue to develop because we’re gonna have to keep changing to, to make sure that we’re competitive.

Being that it’s now Year 5, is it fair to say that the expectation is that Lincoln [Riley] needs to take USC to the Playoff this year?

“The expectation has always been the same. That’s the thing, that’s the reason why I came here, is that the standard is high. We do expect to make the playoff. We do expect to have a championship run. We do expect to be competing for championships every single year. I think that’s what’s awesome about USC, is that that’s what we all expect of it. And I know that I’m not the only one that expects that. I know our fans expect that. I know that he expects that. And so I really like this team. I really like the kids that we brought in. I love the returners. I love the leadership of this team.

“We’ve got some really outstanding older young men in this program that get it, that have been through a lot and really care about this place and this program. The young guys are awesome. They’re really challenging the older guys. So I feel really good about the talent level of this team, and I feel really good about what Lincoln’s done. I think with this staff, I think we have a highly competitive staff. I think we have a really experienced staff. And then you can’t dismiss what Chad’s accomplished. You know? I think that that’s been the benefit of bringing in not just Chad, but an entire front office staff, taking the pressure off of Lincoln, taking the pressure off of the other coaches so that they can be at their best. I mean, he’s been really energized about that and really focused on taking the strengths that he has. So yeah, the expectation, I mean, we haven’t been shy about that. We expect to win, and I, I feel confident that we’re going to.”

CLOVIS, Calif. — There were many impressive performances at the CIF state track and field championships on Saturday, but the most breathtaking of all was one the fans packed inside Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium did not see — Jaslene Massey’s throw of 196 feet and four inches in the discus — a mark that not only broke the state record but was the farthest throw ever by a girl in a U.S. high school meet.

The discus competition finished before any of the track events started and was held on an auxiliary field, but the Aliso Niguel senior got a standing ovation on the victory stand half an hour after her third throw thrust her into the record books.

“My goal was to for the gold first, then the mark,” said Massey, who will continue throwing at Oregon and may even compete in hammer and javelin. “I always dreamed of this and I wouldn’t be here without my support system.”

Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey competes in discus at the CIF state track and field championships on Saturday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Massey waited several agonizing minutes while the distance was measured, but when the mark flashed on the scoreboard, she leaped in the air and screamed “Let’s go! Three more!”

After all, she still had three throws left.

“I wanted something big and I got something big,” said Massey, who defended her state title and topped the meet record of 186-9 set by Anna Jelmini of Shafter in 2009. “I had good warmups yesterday and today, and I knew I had it in me.”

To prove her historic hurl was no fluke, she came back with a 192-6 effort on her sixth and last throw. Shelbi Vaughan from Mansfield Legacy High in Texas set the American Junior record of 198-9¼ at the USA junior outdoor championships in 2012.

Massey later defended her shot put title with a throw of 52-9. She is the national leader in both events.

Also making history was Sherman Oaks Notre Dame senior JJ Harel, who repeated as boys high jump champion at 7-2. Harel cleared 6-9 on his third attempt to stay alive but still trailed Jay Woodson of American Canyon on misses until the bar was raised to 6-11. Harel cleared it on his first try while Woodson failed on his three attempts to ensure a second straight state title for Harel, who won with a height of 6-9 last year.

“I backed up on my first two attempts at 6-9 and that messed me up,” Harel said. “My heart was sinking and it went through my mind that I might finish second so when I cleared it that gave me adrenaline and muscle memory kicked in. At 6-11 I had such a great clearance, I knew I could get over at 7 and even at 7-2 I didn’t touch it.”

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel competes in the high jump at the CIF state track and field championships on Saturday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Harel cleared 7-2 on his first attempt — a personal best — tying for fourth on the national list this year. The bar was raised to 7-3½, giving Harel a chance to break the state record of 7-3¼ set by Lee Balkin of Glendale in 1979, but he was unsuccessful on three tries.

“I was 17 jumps deep and that took too much out of my legs,” Harel said of his unsuccessful efforts at the last height. “This season was an emotional roller coaster but I know I can get 7-3.”

Rosary won the girls 4×100-meter relay by a full second in 44.87 seconds.

Calabasas junior Malia Rainey won the girls 100 meters in 11.54. Maliyah Collins, who anchored Rosary’s relay, was third in 11.62, followed by Rainey’s teammates Marley Scoggins (11.63) and Olivia Kirk (11.63).

“I love my teammates, but today I had to focus on me — it was all about getting the win,” Rainey said. “Seeing my name up at the top made me so happy.”

Servite won the boys 4×100 in 39.73, shattering Hawthorne’s 38-year-old meet record of 40.24. Jorden Wells ran the first leg and was followed by Benjamin Harris, Kamil Pelovello and Robert Gardner. The Friars have run the seven fastest times in state history.

Servite’s record-setting 4×100-meter relay team (from left): Jorden Wells, Kamil Pelovello, Benjamin Harris and Robert Gardner.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Harris won the boys 100 meters in a wind-aided 10.14 (the wind-legal state record remains 10.20 by Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra in 2023) in a showdown against top qualifier Cy Lugo of Elk Grove, who won the 200 in a wind-aided 20.31 to edge Servite twins Jace (20.69) and Jorden Wells (20.79). Harris was fifth in 20.84.

“That’s the most locked in I’ve ever been in my whole career,” Harris said of his 100 triumph. “My mentality was kill or be killed.”

Arkansas-bound Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago pulled off a distance trifecta, winning the 1,600 in 4:35.59, the 800 in 2:05.13 and anchoring the Sharks’ 4×800 relay, which won with a meet record time of 8:46.16. Afterward, Combe hugged her teammates. She pulled away from Stanford commit Chiara Dailey of La Jolla to repeat as the four-lap champion in the fourth-fastest time in the nation this year.

Long Beach Wilson junior Clara Adams doubled in the 400 (circling the track in 52.28, seven-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Saniah Varnado) and the 200 (clocking 23.40 to beat Amirat Temi Aganju of Pittsburg by 12-hundredths of a second.

Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes, left, celebrates after winning the boys 400 meters at the CIF state championships. Riverside King’s Maximo Zavaleta, right, wins the boys’ 1,600 meters.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Varnado won the 300 hurdles in 39.95 and Wilson won the girls 4×400 relay in 3:36.17.

Wilson won its seventh girls team title and fourth in a row, tying the record set by Moore League rival Long Beach Poly from 2008-11.

Dailey won the 3,200 in 10:01.91. Irvine’s Summer Wilson was sixth in 10:16.89.

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley won the girls triple jump in 42-8¾, won the high jump at 5-10 and was third in the triple jump, won by Ellie McCuskey of St. Ignatius with a leap of 20-3½.

Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes (45.73) clipped Servite’s Jaelen Hunter (46.05) at the wire in the boys 400 meters.

Riverside King senior Maximo Zavaleta won the 1,600 in 4:02.78 and the 3,200 in 8:52.47.

Servite closed the meet by winning the 4×400 relay in a state meet record 3:07.62 — the fastest time in the country this year — to repeat as the boys team champion with a state-record 60 points.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Winning the Champions League was so nice, Paris Saint-Germain had to do it twice.

PSG became back-to-back European champion by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in a dramatic final in Budapest that ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.

“It’s incredible,” captain Marquinhos said. “From the very first day of this season, the coach said it’s hard to win, and winning twice is even more difficult. So we all had to get back to work. That was the mentality.”

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes fired the last of his team’s penalties over the bar to hand PSG the shootout win.

The French giant is only the second team to retain the trophy in the modern era after all-time king of Europe Real Madrid.

Luis Enrique became a three-time winner as a coach and has molded a team that is simply too good even for the best the continent has to offer. That includes an Arsenal team that won the Premier League last week and topped the first stage of the Champions League with a perfect winning record, finishing 10 points and 10 places ahead of PSG.

That mattered little in Puskas Arena as PSG reaffirmed its status as the dominant force in European soccer.

“It’s even more special because we knew before the match how difficult it would be,” Luis Enrique said. “I think it’s deserved over the course of the whole season, even if the final was very closely contested.”

After demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in last year’s final, PSG endured a tougher foe as Arsenal sat deep and relied on the best defense in the competition.

PSG dominated possession but created little after going behind to a Kai Havertz goal in the sixth minute. It took an Ousmane Dembélé penalty in the 65th to level the score and take the final to extra time for the first time in 10 years.

PSG coach in elite company

By going back to back, Luis Enrique achieved what his good friend Pep Guardiola could not after winning Champions Leagues at Barcelona and Manchester City. Luis Enrique joined Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Guardiola in an elite group of coaches with at least three European Cups.

The next target will be to emulate Madrid’s three in a row under Zidane from 2016-18. And with a starting lineup in Budapest with an average age of less than 24, Luis Enrique has built a team that has the potential to dominate for years.

“It’s crazy, it’s crazy. We’re going to enjoy it first, and after we’re going to work and work again because we want more. We are really hungry. We are a young team, and we know we are really ambitious. So next season we have to go again,” Désiré Doué told broadcaster TNT Sports.

Having waited 22 years to get its hands back on the Premier League trophy, Arsenal’s wait in Europe goes on.

This was its 226th game in the European Cup or Champions League without lifting the trophy. No other team has played so many without being champion.

“First of all you have to go through that pain, digest it and then turn it into fuel and improve and reach a different level because it will demand a different level with the quality that is around Europe,” manager Mikel Arteta said.

“I want to congratulate PSG because they are, in my opinion, the best team in the world. What they are able to do with the ball, individual actions, I haven’t seen it (before).”

Robson writes for the Associated Press.

SAN FRANCISCO — There are no immigrants waiting for rulings anymore at San Francisco’s main immigration court, no lawyers making arguments.

The court, which had 21 judges when President Trump was sworn in last year, had only two left when it closed May 1. The rest had been fired, retired or resigned amid a White House purge of federal immigration judges.

The closing is one more reflection of the turmoil that has upended the immigration court system as the administration looks for ways to churn through its massive backlog of 3.8 million asylum cases and deport as many people as possible.

Asylum denial rates have soared as the administration has fired almost 100 judges deemed to be too liberal, and approved using hundreds of military lawyers to replace them. Immigrants have been arrested when they arrive at courthouses or government offices for scheduled appearances.

But amid the nationwide upheaval, San Francisco is the first major city to be left without a primary immigration court, leaving chaos and dysfunction in a region long known for its friendliness to asylum seekers. The two remaining judges will work from another federal building in the city but will be part of an immigration court across the bay.

That reputation, court insiders say, might have led to its downfall.

“It was a vibrant legal scene and so I think if you were looking to target a court you would have to look at what San Francisco stands for,” said Jeremiah Johnson, an immigration judge in the city until he was fired in November. He is now executive vice president of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges.

Most of the court’s 117,000 immigration cases have been moved to a courthouse in Concord, a city about 30 miles away that opened two years ago to help with San Francisco’s backlog of cases. But turmoil has also reached that city. A courthouse that had 11 judges at the start of 2025 is down to five after a series of firings. It had a caseload of 60,000 cases even before the San Francisco cases were shifted over.

San Francisco’s immigration court, which had the third-highest number of asylum cases in the nation, was long considered one of the most favorable to people seeking asylum. From 2019 to 2024, almost 75% of petitioners received some form of relief, compared with 43% nationwide, according to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit data research center based at Syracuse University.

That’s partly because San Francisco, with its vast network of pro-immigrant organizations and pro bono or low-cost legal services, had one of the country’s highest rates of legal representation for immigrants.

The Executive Office of Immigration Review, the Department of Justice branch that oversees immigration courts, announced in March that it would close the San Francisco courthouse in 2027 as a cost-saving measure and move its cases to Concord. But the end came early after nearly all the San Francisco judges left or were fired. The Executive Office provided no detailed explanation for the changes, saying in a statement only that it had decided not to renew its lease for the court, and doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

Tight security in Concord courts

Security is tight at the Concord courthouse, perhaps because of the new influx of cases. Armed security guards ask every person if they are carrying weapons or explosives, and they watch as each person turns off their cellphone. Even coffee is not allowed in. Only water is acceptable, and then only if it’s in a transparent bottle.

Judah Lakin, an immigration attorney based in Oakland who also teaches at UC Berkeley School of Law, said the closure of the San Francisco court has made cases more time-consuming since it’s harder for his clients, who often travel from hours away, to reach Concord on public transportation.

One recent 10-minute hearing in Concord took him more than two hours of travel, he said.

But beyond logistics, Lakin said the chaos in immigration courts under the Trump administration has created a fraught court atmosphere. Mass firings have led to last-minute hearing cancellations, cases have been reset with little notice, and clients are often left in prolonged legal limbo, leaving them vulnerable to deportation.

One of his clients, he said, was provisionally granted asylum by a judge, who was then fired before signing the decision. The case was transferred to a second judge, who was also fired. Now on their third judge, his client is still waiting.

“The ground is constantly shifting underneath your feet, whether it’s judges being fired and hearings getting canceled, whether it’s your clients getting arrested, whether it’s getting denials on things that used to be standard and routine,” Lakin said.

“I think that’s on purpose. That’s by design. It’s part of the strategy,” he added.

‘Heartbreaking’

San Francisco’s immigration court was one of the first in the nation to hire judges with non-prosecutorial backgrounds, with many having previous experience working with immigrants at nonprofits or defending them in court.

To see the court close is “heartbreaking,” said Dana Leigh Marks, a former San Francisco immigration judge who retired in 2021 after 35 years on the bench and who was among the first judges in the nation to be hired from private practice.

She sees the Trump administration’s decision to close the largest immigration court in Northern California as part of an effort to undermine due process and eventually dismantle the path to asylum.

“It’s all a part of big ways and little ways that the Trump administration is trying to get noncitizens out of the country,” she said.

Johnson, the fired San Francisco judge, was appointed during the first Trump administration. He believes he was targeted because he granted asylum in 89% of the cases he heard.

“You don’t fire judges if you disagree with the way they’re handling a case; that’s not how courts work. If you disagree, you appeal that decision,” he said.

Johnson, who is the executive vice president of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges, defended his judicial record, pointing out that over eight years, only about 10 of his cases were appealed by the Department of Homeland Security, and very few were sent back for further hearings by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Unlike federal courts, where there are strict rules of procedure and judges have lifetime tenure, the Justice Department runs immigration courts, and the attorney general can fire the judges with fewer constraints.

There were 754 immigration judges across the country at the start of Trump’s second term. Now, there are about 600, including some temporary judges, according to data collected by the judges’ union. Widespread courthouse arrests of immigrants have caused hundreds of people not to even show up for hearings, leading to deportation orders in absentia.

Nidaa Pervaiz came to the Concord court on a recent day to represent a client from Nepal. She prefers the new courthouse in some ways, since it’s closer to her home.

But, she said, she and her clients are already feeling the impact of the changes. Fewer judges leads to fewer hearings. That means more delays for her clients, whose paperwork can expire even before they can appear before a judge.

“Their whole lives are at stake, and they are coming to make a plea for their future” she said.

Rodriguez writes for the Associated Press.

With little more than a week left until primary voters winnow the candidates for Los Angeles mayor, California governor and Congress, there remains a palpable sense of political uncertainty among the electorate — attributable to a lack of clear front-runners, redrawn political maps, messy party infighting and competing voter frustration with both President Trump and the state’s Democratic establishment.

In a state where Democrats hold a substantial advantage among registered voters and Trump lost in 2024 by more than 20 percentage points, MAGA-aligned Republicans are nonetheless competing on a message of ineptitude from longtime liberal leaders to address the state’s most intractable problems. Even some Democrats have railed against the status quo.

With Trump’s grip on the Republican base intact despite abysmal overall approval ratings, many Republican candidates have courted his approval — and been hammered for it by their Democratic opponents.

But those same Democrats have found it harder to explain why their own party should continue to lead the state despite allowing its affordability, housing and homelessness crises to take root and persist — taking little responsibility while swiping at each other for having failed to find solutions sooner.

All that party infighting — present before every primary, but at a fever pitch now — comes against a backdrop of broader voter unease about the war in Iran, volatile oil and gas prices, and the burgeoning threat of AI to the American workforce.

Republican voters are being warned of a blue wave in November giving Democrats control of Congress and grinding Trump’s agenda to a halt. Democratic voters are being warned of Trump administration efforts to undermine local and state elections, and of control of Congress unfairly slipping from reach thanks to further Republican redistricting following a U.S. Supreme Court decision undermining the Voting Rights Act and its protections for majority-Black districts across the South.

Many California voters — some already shaken or burned by former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropping from the gubernatorial race amid sexual assault and rape allegations last month — appear hesitant to cast ballots early, despite warnings that the Trump administration may try to discount those mailed at the last minute.

“Voters don’t want to make a mistake. They’re not absolutely certain,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant in California. “It’s just not real clear where to land.”

James Adams, a political science professor at UC Davis who studies elections and public opinion, said California Democrats this cycle “have a candidate problem and they have a message problem,” in that they are trying to convince voters to back them “not because they offer exciting ideas or inspiring leadership, but because their Republican opponents are even worse.”

And that message — offered as they gerrymander California in a race to the bottom with Republicans nationally — isn’t cutting it, Adams said.

“People are alienated from our current politics not because Americans are cynical, but because people recognize that they deserve better.”

Outsider shakes up L.A. mayor’s race

Amid entrenched homelessness, affordability concerns and lingering anger over the bungled response to last year’s wildfires, the L.A. mayor’s race was “supposed to be a referendum” on embattled Mayor Karen Bass, Stutzman said.

And yet, Bass remains in the lead, and many voters remain confused about which way to turn away from her — if at all.

Bass has won the endorsement of three council members who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, despite City Councilmember Nithya Raman, an ally who’d previously endorsed Bass and is a member of the DSA herself, entering the race to her left.

Unable to consolidate support from the city’s progressive flank, Raman is now running neck and neck for a second-place finish and a chance to face Bass in the November runoff with former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, who has remained in contention in ultra-liberal L.A. despite pushing a MAGA-aligned message to Bass’ right.

Pratt, who did not respond to a request for comment, lost his Pacific Palisades home in the fires and has won over many frustrated city residents with his anti-establishment message and cheeky AI videos — including one casting him as Batman, taking on a corrupt Democratic bourgeoisie.

Pratt, a registered Republican, has tried to dance around politics in the race, calling his campaign a “nonpartisan” one and comparing himself to President Obama politically. But he is backed by many Republicans, has echoed Trump’s rhetoric around restoring “common sense” and a “Golden Age” to L.A., and recently responded to Trump saying that he’d heard Pratt “is a big MAGA person” — and Raman posting the quote to X — with a meme of himself shrugging.

Fernando Guerra, founding director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said he’s glad city voters have choices this race, because they clearly aren’t happy. He said Angelenos are less optimistic today than ever before and are deeply frustrated with “this same liberal Democratic regime from Bradley to Bass over 50 years” — a reference to former Mayor Tom Bradley, who first took office in 1973.

Voters are clearly tired of that regime, which has succumbed to “policy paralysis” in the name of “inclusion” and trying to please everyone, Guerra said — but not so much that they will consider going MAGA for Pratt.

“People say, ‘Yeah, Democrats have really f—d it up, but there’s no way we’re going to [back] Republicans. Look what they’ve done to the nation.’”

Others aren’t so sure. In its voter guide, the progressive group LA Forward wrote that the “most important thing” in the June 2 primary is to block Pratt — whom it called a “right-wing reality TV buffoon” — from advancing, and the best way to do so is to vote for Raman.

“We would much rather see a Bass/Raman runoff, with no chance of Pratt becoming mayor, than a Pratt/Bass runoff where a Pratt win would be a real possibility — plunging LA into a Trumpian mayoral nightmare,” the group wrote.

An unsettled gubernatorial contest

In the gubernatorial race, none of the many Democratic candidates has been able to consolidate a sizable lead, creating a lingering apprehension that Republicans could somehow eke out a stunning upset in the biggest of blue states.

That’s in part thanks to leading Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general and U.S. Health secretary under President Biden, being dogged by insinuations, including from fellow Democrats, that he was somehow complicit in a scheme by underlings to steal from his campaign coffers, despite prosecutors in the case — which resulted in his former chief of staff pleading guilty — never alleging wrongdoing on his part.

It’s also thanks in part to the fact that the leading progressive, Tom Steyer, is a billionaire who has bought his way into contention with nearly $200 million of his own money — in an election cycle in which progressive voters nationwide are decrying billionaires as the clearest symbol of all that is wrong with the nation’s lopsided economy.

“This kind of weird self-loathing rationale of why he’s the right guy to take on billionaires because he is one? You can’t build a Mamdani movement around that,” said Stutzman, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who shot to power on a democratic socialist platform last year.

The Democrats have also struggled to combat the criticism — leveraged time and again by their Republican competitors — that their party has failed for years to solve California’s most substantial problems, and deserves to be ousted from power.

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra speak during a break in the April 28 gubernatorial debate.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton has hammered that message in ads and on the debate stage, lambasting the Democratic establishment for pushing so much unnecessary regulation that it has chased out business and investment and made everything from gas to housing to groceries more expensive for average residents.

He has blamed Democrats for California’s high rates of poverty and unemployment, its high cost of living and high taxes, its record homelessness and its poor public school results.

In an interview, Hilton said he understands that California voters may not like Trump — who endorsed him — and may have conflicting beliefs about federal and international policy, but that California’s biggest problems have “nothing to do with President Trump.”

“Voters need to decide on what direction they want to take in terms of the policies that affect their daily lives in California,” he said, and those are “devised and enacted within California by our politicians here in Sacramento.”

He also said it’s no surprise that some of his Democratic rivals have also acknowledged that the Democratic establishment has been a failure, because “if you pretend otherwise, you show that you’re just completely out of touch with public opinion.”

Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, said “every campaign is entitled to run the race that they believe matches their story,” even if that means questioning the party’s past performance. But he also said polling hasn’t shown that message to be an effective one, and he’s confident that voters will show their ongoing trust in the party at the polls.

Redistricting, sniping and name-calling

The decision by California voters last November to pass Proposition 50 and allow the state’s Democratic leaders to redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Democratic candidates in a handful of additional districts — part of a wider redistricting war sparked by Trump — has intensified the primary races in those areas.

As an example, longtime incumbent Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) and Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) are now competing to represent the same redrawn swath of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and have bitterly attacked one another. Kim has called Calvert a “swampy,” “sleazy” and “corrupt” politician guilty of “sabotaging President Trump’s agenda.” Calvert has called Kim a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only, and a “Trump-hating liberal.”

Democrats have also sniped at each other, including in the race to replace retiring Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) in his redrawn district in San Diego and Riverside counties — where Trump also holds an outsize presence.

Rep. Young Kim and Rep. Ken Calvert are opponents in a heated race in a newly redrawn congressional district.

(Associated Press)

Stutzman said it will be interesting to see how those primaries play out, but also how Democrats there and in other races perform in November — when Democrats are expected to perform well nationally given Trump’s lousy ratings, but Democrats in California could underperform thanks to statewide frustration with affordability, housing and homelessness here.

“People are like, ‘Eh, you know, yeah, Trump — but there’s some problems here,’” Stutzman said.

Hicks said he expects California voters to not only elect another Democratic governor, but to “push back on a Trump administration and congressional Republicans and Republicans around the country that have sought to rig the game in their favor,” including by “ensuring that we fulfill the promise of Proposition 50 by winning congressional seats and retaking the House of Representatives.”

He said the current political moment “can feel like a pressure cooker,” but Californians will “continue to adapt and overcome and be resilient, just as they always have been.”

In a squeaker race for Cannes’ top prize, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu prevailed on Saturday, taking the Palme d’Or for his tense community drama “Fjord.”

The movie, a widely admired conversation-starter at the festival, stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as religious parents who come into conflict with the child protection services of their tiny Norwegian town where they have relocated with their family.

Mungiu, a previous winner of the Palme for his controversial 2007 abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” now joins an exclusive group of 10 filmmakers who have won the Palme twice — an achievement shared by Francis Ford Coppola (1974’s “The Conversation” and 1979’s “Apocalypse Now”) and Ruben Östlund (2017’s “The Square” and 2022’s “Triangle of Sadness”), among others. No one has ever won a third Palme d’Or.

Another record, maybe even more impressive, was set by distributor Neon, which, with “Fjord,” extends its streak of Palme wins to an unprecedented seven in a row. Those previous six Neon winners, many of which eventually claimed Oscars, are “Parasite,” “Titane,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Anora” and last year’s “It Was Just an Accident.”

Neon will release “Fjord” in the fall, with an extensive awards campaign to follow.

This year’s nine-member main competition jury, led by Korean director Park Chan-wook and studded with notables including “The Substance” star Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård and “Hamnet” director Chloé Zhao, seemed intent on spreading the wealth among as many winners as possible. There were three ties at Saturday’s awards ceremony.

The award for actress was shared by Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, co-stars of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden,” a movie pegged by many to potentially go all the way. Similarly, the prize for actor was bestowed on both Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, co-stars of Lukas Dhont’s World War I romantic drama “Coward.”

The prize for directing went to three people — and two movies — with a joint win for Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (better known as Los Javis) for their century-spanning queer historical drama “The Black Ball,” as well as to director Paweł Pawlikowski for his exquisite post-World War II psychodrama “Fatherland.” (Pawlikowski half-joked at the podium, “This was a disastrous piece of mise-en-scène” after the awkward award presentation had him waiting in the wings.)

Claiming this year’s Grand Prize (essentially second place) was “Minotaur,” the rapturously received comeback film of Andrey Zvyagintsev, a Russian director who had been sidelined with a near-fatal bout of long COVID that put him in a coma. His new movie, about a wealthy Moscow family, is both an erotic thriller and an indictment of amoral oligarchy detached from the war with Ukraine.

The festival’s third-place Jury Prize went to the borderland German drama “The Dreamed Adventure,” directed by Valeska Grisebach.

It was a familiar sight: Caitlin Clark stepped to her left, paused and lofted a right-handed layup.

But looming tall, Cameron Brink smacked it out of bounds, caught on camera yelling a couple of curse words before chest-bumping teammate Erica Wheeler so hard she tumbled backward.

That’s the Brink that the Sparks were hoping for this season, and the version of the third-year center they fully expect to shine.

“That was quite the highlight,” coach Lynne Roberts said last week. “That’s what we see in practice, she’s been like that. I was just smiling. … I’m so proud of her.”

After the first game of the season, a 105-78 loss to Las Vegas, Roberts was asked about Brink playing only eight minutes, when she was a minus-19.

“We need Cam to produce,” Roberts said. “We need Cam to bring that defensive energy. We have so much confidence and belief in her. She’s got to get out on the floor with some confidence and do what she’s capable of doing.”

After the next game, when Brink contributed 11 points with five rebounds in that 87-78 loss to Indiana, Roberts wanted to end “the narrative” that the 24-year-old was off to a slow start. Then she netted 10 points in 16 minutes during a defeat of the Toronto Tempo.

The Sparks are in win-now mode but are yet to prove this version of the team can do that. Brink would be a cornerstone player for almost any team in the league, yet she’s coming off the bench with high expectations for her to be one of the team’s most important players.

“My teammates aren’t gonna trust me if I don’t believe in myself,” said Brink, who is averaging 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. “Coaches, same thing. So, you know, I’ve had a slow start, but I’m putting in the work with the coaches. They work with me every day. We watch film, shoot a little extra.”

The Sparks need Brink this season. In her first two seasons, she had moments. With Dearica Hamby starting and the addition of Nneka Ogwumike, she is coming off the bench again after doing so last year for the first time since her freshman season at Stanford.

Roberts has said she wants at least two of them on the court at all times. Through the first four games, Brink has played 16.2 minutes per game and the Sparks are minus-29 points when she is on the court.

“Coming into the league, it’s interesting because a lot of times people feel like they have to do something different or more,” Ogwumike said. “But I think one thing that she’s done is she’s really leaned into who she is, and that that level of self assurance is something that I think really plays out when she’s on the court as well.”

In 38 career games, she is already 10th all-time in blocks in Sparks history. Brink dealt with a 13-month layoff after tearing her ACL and meniscus just 15 games into her rookie season, and was slowly re-integrated last season in 19 games.

Sparks forward Cameron Brink tries to power her way past a Tempo defender during agame May 15.

(Jeff Lewis / Asociated Press)

What could really separate the Sparks from the rest of the league, though, would be if Brink plays to her full potential as a sixth player. There are few players in that role who can take over a game the way she can.

“I definitely feel like I have an understanding for just the speed of the game, the nuances and what we’re doing,” Brink said. “The playbook this year is much easier because it was the same as last year.”

The Sparks rebuild started last season with the addition of Kelsey Plum, where they gave up the No. 2 pick to Seattle that would become Dominique Malonga. Then, this offseason they added Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Wheeler while trading away their other young star, Rickea Jackson.

The Sparks still gave up 90-plus points in three of their first four games. Brink has the second worst plus-minus rating on the team, but has also made some of their important defensive plays and has 1.8 blocks per game.

“She erases a lot of mistakes out there,” Ogwumike said. “Being able to be out there and know that she has my back, and we’re looking for each other to be in good spots to do well, yeah, I’m just, I’m just happy that we’re rebuilding our chemistry early and fast.”

Brink was a star at Stanford but became known for her fouling habits. As a pro, getting one extra foul to work with, has helped considerably. She’s averaged seven fouls per 36 minutes in her first two seasons.

But the new officiating mandate to allow more freedom of movement is another hurdle. The path to being an elite pro has not been easy for one of the most dynamic college players of the past half-decade, but this season seems essential for Brink and the Sparks to find themselves, together.

Moments like that block of Clark‘s shot are signs the player they need is in there.

“It’s one of those things where you’re in awe,” Ogwumike said. “But also, you know she can do that. I always tell her, go out there and release everything and be yourself. That was very much a Cam Brink play.”

MILWAUKEE — Something about American Family Field in the regular season disagrees with the Dodgers.

They began this road trip with a pair of statement series, sweeping the Angels and edging out the Padres. But their momentum came to a grinding halt when they fell 5-1 to the Brewers on Friday in Milwaukee.

The loss brought back memories of last year, when the Brewers swept the regular-season series, before the Dodgers swept them in the National League Championship Series.

“I don’t think people appreciate how well this team plays baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “There’s not a lot of fanfare as far as name recognition. But the way [Brewers manager] Pat Murphy gets these guys to play, it’s a fun brand of baseball.

“They don’t strike out much. They put the ball in play. They bunt, they hit and run, they steal bases, they can pitch. It’s a good matchup. Last year, during the regular season, we couldn’t beat these guys once, so I expect us to play better baseball this year.”

That brand of baseball was a bit of a nightmare for Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski in the first inning. The Brewers batted around en route to a five-run rally. Five of their six hits were singles. The one exception was William Contreras’ three-run homer.

The next inning, they tacked on another run when Contreras singled and then scored when Andrew Vaughn’s double ricocheted off the wall in the right-field gap.

Wrobleski turned around his outing by blanking the Brewers for the next three innings, but the deficit proved to be too steep for the Dodgers to overcome.

Wrobleski has only given up more than two runs in one other start this season. That one also featured one high-scoring inning and a mid-game adjustment.

The Dodgers’ offense, in contrast to the Brewers’, didn’t record a hit off Brewers starter Logan Henderson until the fourth inning. He faced the minimum through the first three innings — a leadoff walk erased when Shohei Ohtani was caught stealing.

Finally in the fourth, Ohtani worked a 2-2 count and lined a hung change-up into right field. Then Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages drew walks to load the bases with two outs. But the Dodgers failed to capitalize.

The Dodgers again threatened after the Brewers replaced Henderson with left-handed reliever Shane Drohan, drawing a pair of walks to put runners on first and second. But the inning ended with a long flyout from Max Muncy, just a few feet shy of a base hit.

They needed some help from the Brewers’ defense to finally put a run on the board. Third baseman Luis Rengifo mishandled a ground ball to let Teoscar Hernández reach base in the seventh inning. A single from Dalton Rushing and a fly out from Miguel Rojas moved him to third. Ohtani delivered the sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers’ Max Muncy leaves the game after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning against the Brewers at American Family Field on Friday in Milwaukee, Wisc.

(Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

The Dodgers may have to deal with additional repercussions. Muncy exited in the top of the eighth inning after being hit in the hand/wrist by a pitch.

Muncy shouted as soon as the 95.5-mph sinker struck him, and he appeared to cradle his right arm. After consulting with an athletic trainer, he touched first base and was replaced by Santiago Espinal.

The severity of Muncy’s injury was not immediately clear.

Chris Taylor retires

The MiLB transaction log Friday showed that former Dodger Chris Taylor has retired after a 12-year major-league career. He spent a decade with the Dodgers, was named the 2017 NLCS MVP, won two World Series, and was an All-Star in 2021.

The roar erupting from the capacity audience inside the Ed Sullivan Theater when Stephen Colbert stepped on the stage of his “Late Show” for the last time made it clear that they did not want him to say goodbye.

Colbert took his final bow as his beloved late-night show came to an end Thursday. The episode was so crammed with top celebrities who showed up to share a last moment with the comedian that it extended several minutes beyond its usual one-hour run time.

Before the official start, Colbert addressed the audience as he thanked the staff, calling the show “The Joy Machine”: “We call it the Joy Machine because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn’t hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears, and I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other, and how much we mean to each other.”

In his opening monologue, Colbert downplayed the event‘s status, rolling a series of jokes about news stories in New York and New Jersey. But he was repeatedly interrupted by audience members Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows who all became irritated when Colbert informed each of them that they would not be his last guest.

When the show’s supposed scheduled last guest, Pope Leo XIV, refused to leave his dressing room, Paul McCartney popped on stage to a rapturous ovation. The legendary musician presented Colbert with a framed photo of The Beatles when they appeared on Sullivan’s show in 1964.

The only subtle reference to President Trump came when McCartney relayed a story how the Beatles, before their Sullivan appearance, got their faces covered with bright orange makeup. “That’s pretty popular in certain circles these days,” Colbert quipped.

The episode marked the finale of Colbert’s 11-year run on CBS’ late-night show, which he has been counting down since July of last year, when CBS said it was canceling the show because of financial difficulties. “The Late Show” franchise, which Colbert inherited in 2015 from David Letterman, was the top-ranked late-night show, but it faced challenges due to dramatic declines in viewership and a drop in advertising revenue.

However, industry observers also contended the move was tied to Colbert’s relentless criticism of Trump. The decision was announced after Paramount, the parent company of CBS, had settled a lawsuit filed by Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The company agreed to pay $16 million to settle the suit, which came as Paramount was attempting to get regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance Media, which Colbert called “a big fat bribe.” Trump made no secret of his disdain for Colbert and other late-night hosts who have skewered him and his administration over the years.

Colbert, his guests and others continued to blast Trump in this final week. In his introduction Wednesday of his performance of “Streets of Minneapolis,” Bruce Springsteen said: “I’m here in support tonight for Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who has lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke.”

And Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC late-night series said Wednesday, “I will be watching tomorrow night. I hope that those of you who watch will also tune in to CBS for the last time. Don’t ever watch it again.”

In a tribute to Colbert, Kimmel, another target of Trump, and NBC‘s “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon said their respective shows would not air new episodes during Colbert’s finale.

But the overall vibe on “The Late Show” this week has centered on celebration and spotlighting the show’s comedic formula. Several celebrities who have a special connection with the show made appearances, including Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show” and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

In one of the more arguably iconic sequences, David Byrne and his band — all attired in bright blue uniforms — appeared Tuesday to perform the Talking Heads anthem “Burning Down the House.” Colbert joined in at the end, dancing in his matching blue outfit.

The “Late Show” time slot will be occupied starting Friday by Byron Allen and his “Comics Unleashed” syndicated show. CBS executives have said they hope to develop a new original late-night series in the future.

When Lawrence Kensinger stepped into the circle for his last throw of the City Section shot put finals on Thursday afternoon in Lake Balboa, he felt a surge of adrenaline like never before.

Energized by spectators and fellow competitors clapping behind him, the Venice High senior gave them reason to cheer with his Herculean heave of 65 feet, 11 inches, breaking a 53-year-old City record and taking over the state lead in the event.

“Number one baby!” Kensinger screamed as he hugged his dad, Cliff. “When you release it, you don’t even feel it coming out of your hand … it’s like air,” he said. “That’s how you know it’s good. It felt amazing!”

After scratching on his first two attempts by stepping over the board, Kensinger played it safe on his third, then let loose on the fourth to shatter the section record of 64-08.75 set by David Gerasimchuck of Narbonne in 1973. That was the second-longest standing City record behind only the boys pole vault which dates back to 1969.

“I got 62 [feet] on my first attempt so even though it didn’t count I felt pretty good,” said Kensinger, who won with a throw of 55 feet at last year’s City finals after a 55-09 effort at prelims. “It did get in my head a little but the third throw I just wanted to get a mark out there. Then on the last one I was told just go out there and rip it.”

Kensinger played football in ninth and 10th grade but quit to focus on the shot put. His goal at last year’s state meet was to qualify for finals. This time, he wants to be on the top step of the podium.

He works with Nick Garcia, the strength and condition coach at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. “I’ve been throwing since my freshman year and go to his clinics and train with him once a week. He gives me my lifting program. I send him videos and he does technical analysis. Having a good coach is vital. I couldn’t have done this without him.”

Venice senior Lawrence Kensinger puts the shot 65-11 in the City finals Thursday at Birmingham High.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Kensinger bettered the 65-3.5 thrown by Case Jacobson of Mountain View St. Francis at the Arcadia Invitational in April.

“I’ve been eyeing that number … he beat me there,” added Kensinger, whose prior best was 59-08 at the Irvine Invitational earlier this spring.

“I like to say it’s just small steps, but 65 is top tier in the country. I was throwing 60 consistently in practice so I knew I could do it.”

The current national leader is CJ Williams of Frisco Heritage High in Texas with a mark of 72-0.25.

Kensinger wants to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where his father played football, but he has yet to sign with the Mustangs.

“I’m just a shot guy right now, but I’d like to do the shot and hammer throw in college,” Kensinger said. “Hammer’s very technical because you do four spins instead of one.”

Was the record-setting throw the highlight of his career?

“So far,” he said. “But I have plenty more to accomplish.”

Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player, is now under contract with the Rams through the 2027 season.

Stafford signed a contract extension Thursday, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not released but it is a one-year extension worth $55 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been posted.

Stafford, 38, is scheduled to carry a salary-cap number of $48.3 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.

With Stafford, receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and a defense featuring edge rusher Jared Verse and recently acquired All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams are regarded as a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.

Whether Stafford, a 17-year veteran, plays in 2027 remains to be seen.

Last month, the Rams selected former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th pick in the draft. Fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett also is on the roster.

The Rams and Stafford had been working on the framework of an extension ever since Stafford announced during NFL Honors in February that he would return this season to play for a team that advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

The team and the quarterback have been conducting contract talks on a year-to-year basis since 2024, after Stafford delayed his arrival to training camp because of a contract impasse. Last year, Stafford and the team came to an agreement on March 1.

In 2025, Stafford passed for 46 touchdowns, with eight interceptions. He was voted All-Pro and won his first MVP award.

Stafford has been participating in voluntary offseason workouts. The team begins more comprehensive organized-team activities next week.

Training camp opens in July in preparation for the Sept. 10 season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.

Airbnb unveiled a new set of services for guests on Wednesday, adding car rentals, airport pickup and grocery delivery to its online marketplace that connects travelers with local hosts.

Customers can now get groceries delivered to their Airbnb through a partnership with Instacart and have a driver meet them at the airport with Airbnb’s Welcome Pickups. The app is also offering luggage storage in partnership with Bounce and will add in-app car rentals later this summer.

At the same time, Airbnb is ramping up its use of AI by adding AI-powered review summaries and lodging comparisons, the company said.

The company has been expanding beyond lodging since last year, when it introduced Airbnb Experiences & Services, giving guests the option to book private tours and chef-cooked meals through the app.

In an earnings call earlier this month, the company’s chief executive, Brian Chesky, said the company is at “the very, very beginning of how AI is going to change how we all do our jobs.”

The changes are coming in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The company said it is offering exclusive World Cup experiences, such as watch parties and access to stadiums.

“In terms of what we’ve seen in cumulative bookings heading into the event, the World Cup is slated to be the largest event in Airbnb’s history,” the company’s chief financial officer, Ellie Mertz, said on the earnings call.

Airbnb gained popularity for offering travelers unique and homey stays on other people’s property, but it added boutique hotel bookings to its platform late last year. The move had some customers questioning if the app was straying too far from its original purpose.

In its announcement this week, the company said it is partnering with more independent hotels in 20 top destinations, including New York, London and Singapore. On the earnings call, Chesky said hotels on Airbnb could become a multibillion-dollar revenue business.

The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2007 and gave homeowners the opportunity to earn money by renting out their space to travelers seeking something different from a hotel. Airbnb bookings can range from private bedrooms in a shared home to luxury mansions and yachts.

The company’s revenue grew 18% year over year to $2.7 billion in the first quarter, while net income increased slightly to $160 million. Airbnb’s new services and offerings could transform it from a home-sharing platform to a holistic travel marketplace, analysts said.

Shares of the company have increased by 14% over the last six months and fell by less than 1% on Thursday.

SACRAMENTO — Human rights advocates on Tuesday rallied outside the state Capitol to push back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget plan to reduce state-sponsored healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants.

“We are here to demand a budget that protects California’s values,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, executive director of California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. “We are fighting for a budget that rejects Medi-Cal cuts, seeks new revenues and strengthens our safety net reserve to keep families whole.”

Newsom last week unveiled his revised budget proposal, which would further move away from his previous policy to provide free healthcare coverage to all low-income undocumented immigrants.

His proposal would require monthly premiums for undocumented immigrants receiving coverage from Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program. It would also continue to block new adult applications, a cutback imposed last year.

The governor has explained that his original policy was more costly than expected and that difficult decisions must be made as the state could soon face an economic downturn.

Speakers at Tuesday’s rally argued this was unacceptable.

The cuts would force many immigrants to choose between putting food on the table or visiting a doctor, said Savage-Sangwan. She said certain groups, including refugees, older adults and those with disabilities, would be left especially vulnerable.

“These are the kinds of actions we would expect from a federal government that scapegoats immigrants and sends violent ICE forces to terrorize our community,” she said. “Instead, these proposals were made by our own governor in a state that claims to value immigrant communities. We know California is better than this.”

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the rally.

The event drew about 100 attendees, including Anahi Araiza, a policy researcher with Imperial Valley Equity and Justice. She told The Times that many immigrants in their community struggle to afford medical care and subsequently put off doctor visits.

“They wait until it’s an absolute emergency,” she said. “We’ve heard stories where people delay care and then get diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.”

The event was supported by several organizations, including California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Survivors of Torture International, Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action, Health4All Coalition, and Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation and Empowerment.

One man carried a large sign with an image of the Virgin Mary that read “Safety Net For All.” Other marchers donned flowing monarch butterfly wings. The orange-and-black insect became a symbol for the pro-migrant movement years ago because it travels long distances between Mexico and the United States.

Meanwhile, another group gathered outside the Capitol for a news conference to raise awareness about the instability caused by federal healthcare cuts.

Assemblymembers Patrick Ahrens (D-Sunnyvale), Robert Garcia (D-Rancho Cucamonga) and Tina S. McKinnor (D-Hawthorne) joined several doctors and nurses to call for a $500-million state investment into public hospitals.

“Public hospitals are the backbone of our healthcare system,” Ahrens said. “It is estimated that federal cuts will strip over $3 billion a year from the California public hospital system — we cannot balance our budget on the backs of the most vulnerable Californians.”

The Republican-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” signed by President Trump last year shifted federal funding away from safety-net programs and toward tax cuts and immigration enforcement. During a legislative hearing this year, healthcare professionals warned state lawmakers the cuts would harm all patients, including those with private insurance.

If anyone needs the axiom “Tell me who you’re with, and I’ll tell you who you are” whispered to them every morning as a reminder to do better, it’s Spencer Pratt.

Can someone do that ASAP, por favor?

Instead of holding events around Los Angeles to convince skeptics that his mayoral campaign is for everyone, the former reality television bad boy has bunkered himself inside an echo chamber of sycophants, friendly podcasters and milquetoast media outlets.

Instead of offering an on-ramp to join his pissed-off posse, he calls Mayor Karen Bass “Basura” — trash — and her supporters “Bassholes,” insults that his followers share and like on social media by the thousands.

Instead of enlisting surrogates to push an uplifting vision for L.A.’s future, Pratt elevates those who speak of the city as a West Coast Chernobyl.

He’s running on a message of righteous fury as a survivor of the Palisades fire, in an era when many Angelenos feel pessimistic about what’s next. In recent months, he’s raised funds at a faster pace than Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman and delivered a decent debate performance, while holding strong in the polls with two weeks left before the June 2 primary.

Now that Pratt has shown his electoral quest isn’t a farce, it’s time he shows all Angelenos that they can rely on a Republican entertainer with no political experience to head a largely progressive, multicultural metropolis.

Instead, he continues to double down on his doomsday message, exciting the type of people who have been whining that L.A. is a “Lost Cause” since the days of the Watts riots.

They’re the ones depicting Pratt in AI-generated videos as a superhero — Batman, Luke Skywalker and a gladiator, among others — battling Bass, cast as a clown, Darth Vader, the Joker or as herself handing out needles to half-crazed homeless people.

They hound anyone who points out that L.A. is nowhere near as apocalyptic as they make it out to be, when homicides are at their lowest since the 1960s, burglaries are down 30% from last year and unsheltered homelessness has dropped two years in a row. They follow Pratt’s example and call unhoused people with drug problems “zombies” and “bums” while depicting the L.A. of the past as a problem-free playground out of “The Wonderful World of Disney” that derailed once Democrats took over.

Not all of Pratt’s supporters are this obnoxious. But he repeatedly platforms the worst of them and shows no signs of stopping. That nihilism might sell books and gain followers — but it’s no way to prove to Angelenos he’s serious about fixing anything other than his reputation.

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left, poses with a supporter during a campaign event in Sherman Oaks.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Anyone who truly loves the city complains about it even on its best days. They realize L.A. can never be perfect, and that’s what makes it so wonderful. When people try to better their part of paradise, everyone benefits.

But Pratt needs to realize that Angelenos don’t want the city to be torn down, as dissatisfied as they may be. Criticizing the status quo is necessary — but waging a campaign of humiliation, a la Donald Trump, isn’t how to heal L.A. It won’t get large swaths of the city on your side, and it can’t spark the true change City Hall so desperately needs.

Instead, we get people like former Times contributor Meghan Daum — who now calls herself the “official Liberal Elite for Pratt” — gushing in the Atlantic about how her man is the “factory-reset option” to Make L.A. Great Again.

Resetting to when, Meghan? The 2000s of the Great Recession? The 1990s of anti-immigrant policies, the Northridge earthquake and the riots? The 1980s and its out-of-control gangs? The white flight of the 1960s? The 1950s of legal segregation and hideous smog?

Or just to the days when the problems that have long racked L.A. didn’t lap up to the denizens of Prattland — until they did?

These are the people who stayed largely silent as Trump unleashed ICE goons across Los Angeles last summer. They said nothing about housing affordability and violent crime in the years when those issues primarily afflicted South L.A. and the Eastside. They didn’t have a fit about homelessness until encampments spread beyond Skid Row.

Pratt’s loudest fans fundamentally loathe modern-day L.A., and that should chill all other Angelenos. These haters would be his primary constituents and populate his brain trust if he does beat Bass — and if he lets them take over, heaven help the City of Angels.

I’m not discounting Pratt’s chances of winning — he’s too savvy a media pro to fully flop. I knew Bass and Raman would misjudge the anger of Angelenos, fail to capitalize on that rage and find themselves on the defensive against Pratt’s populist push. I also figured he would eschew politeness for the demonizing that has tainted past L.A. elections, from Yorty’s mayoral campaigns of the 1960s to the San Fernando Valley secession movement a generation ago to the continued charges of communism thrown at the democratic socialist wing of the City Council.

I don’t blame Pratt for jumping into the race after his life was upended. And I sure don’t underestimate L.A.’s middle-class malaise, long a reactionary force in city politics with a winning track record that spans decades. But I can’t trust the guy and his crew for just now beginning to say they care about reforming L.A., when all he has fought for is his dark idea of the city.

And if you think L.A. needs a complete makeover, then you probably never really loved it in the first place.

On a recent podcast with Adam Carolla — who has long railed against L.A.’s liberal, multicultural ways and is planning to move to Nevada after his children graduate high school — Pratt huffed that he will “be done with trying to live” in the city if he doesn’t become mayor.

“I’ll go find somewhere that my kids will not have to see naked zombies,” he said, in a comment that was cheered on and seconded by his online army.

Do Angelenos really want to entrust their city to someone who might pick up his ball and quit on a place he professes to love, if he doesn’t get his way?

Anderson Cooper has signed off from “60 Minutes” for the last time.

After two decades as a correspondent on the CBS’ news magazine, he officially ended his run Sunday night.

Cooper, who also hosts a news program on CNN, announced in February his plans to leave CBS, months after an internal shake-up that followed the arrival of editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.

“Things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome, and things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what ’60 Minutes’ is always remains,” Anderson said on-air. “I think the independence of ’60 Minutes’ has been critical.”

Throughout the farewell segment, the 58-year-old journalist, who was hired in 2007, reminisced about some career highlights, like speaking with Holocaust survivors and people battling malnutrition in Niger, as well as interviewing A-listers like Lady Gaga and Prince Harry. He also said he hopes the show continues to be a reliable source of investigative journalism.

“I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of ’60 Minutes.’ When you see a ’60 Minutes’ story, and you’re like, ‘That was a really good story.’ It was a good story because it requires time, it requires patience, it requires money,” he said. “I hope that’s known and honored and valued and continues.”

His departure comes at an uncharted time for CBS, as the company undergoes several leadership changes. Last year, billionaire David Ellison successfully merged his company, Skydance Media, with Paramount, CBS’s parent company. Soon after, Ellison hired Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief.

Two months after taking on the new role, Weiss made the widely panned decision to pull a “60 Minutes” episode that examined the alleged abuse of deportees sent from the U.S. to an El Salvador prison. The decision earned Weiss heavy criticism and accusations that the move was politically motivated, which CBS has denied.

Cooper said that he’s leaving the program to spend more time with his young children. He will remain as an anchor for CNN.

He added, “I hope ’60 Minutes’ is around for when my kids grow up and have kids of their own, and they can watch it with their kids.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns after reports that his administration was poised to create a fund to compensate some of his allies.

The disclosure was made in a filing in federal court in Florida, where the lawsuit was filed last year.

ABC News first reported last week that Trump was prepared to drop his lawsuit as part of a deal that would create a $1.7 billion fund to pay allies of the president who believe they were wrongly investigated and prosecuted.

The court filing did not mention terms of any potential deal.

News that the Trump administration was contemplating a fund to pay Trump allies drew an immediate backlash from Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, who called the idea “unconstitutional.”

“This, of course, is a political grievance fund that Donald Trump can use to pay off his friends,” Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“If these people have a valid cause of action, they should bring it to the court like every other American does, and use the system of due process, and proving things by clear and convincing evidence, or a preponderance of evidence, go and prove it. But the idea that Donald Trump can just pass it out like a pardon is absurd,” he added.

It was not immediately clear who precisely will stand to benefit from the fund but its creation reflects Trump’s long-running claims that the Biden administration Justice Department was weaponized against him.

He has cited as proof the since-dismissed criminal charges he faced between his first and second terms of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost and of retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Several aides of his were also prosecuted, as were hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general during the Biden administration, has repeatedly denied allegations of politicization and has said his decisions followed facts, the evidence and the law. His Justice Department also investigated Biden for his handling of classified information and brought separate tax and gun prosecutions against Biden’s son Hunter.

Nonetheless, Trump’s current Justice Department has actively pursued the president’s retribution campaign and grievances, bringing criminal charges against some of his perceived adversaries and initiating a wide-ranging investigation that aims to establish a years-long conspiracy between law enforcement and intelligence officials to destroy Trump’s political prospects and keep him power.

No charges have been brought in that investigation and it is not clear that any ever will be.

Trump filed a lawsuit earlier this year in a Florida federal court, alleging that a previous leak of his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax records caused “reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs’ public standing.”

The president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are also named plaintiffs in the suit.

Hussein, Tucker and Richer write for the Associated Press.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who has occasionally asserted his independence from President Trump, failed to advance in Saturday’s GOP primary runoff in Louisiana, as a Trump-backed foe and another candidate finished in the top two spots.

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won the most votes, capitalizing on the power of Trump’s endorsement in his latest attempt to purge his party of people he views as disloyal. State Treasurer John Fleming came in second to join her in the next round of voting.

Trump supported Letlow over Cassidy, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial over the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cassidy, a doctor, has also clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy, even though he provided crucial support to help Kennedy get confirmed.

By receiving less than 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming, a former U.S. House member and Trump administration official, were unable to avoid the runoff, which will take place June 27. The winner will almost certainly take the November general election because of the state’s Republican leanings.

The Louisiana primary comes in the middle of a month of campaigns by Trump to exact retribution on politicians he views as having crossed him. On May 5 he helped dislodge five of seven Indiana state senators who rejected his partisan gerrymander plan.

Next Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky will face a Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein, in another Republican primary. Massie angered Trump by opposing his signature tax legislation over concerns about the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran.

The president leveled insults at Cassidy on Saturday morning, calling him “a disloyal disaster” and “a terrible guy” on social media. In the evening he followed up with: “Congratulations to Congresswoman Julia Letlow on a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers.”

Jeanelle Chachere, a 66-year-old nurse, said she considers Cassidy “a phony” and voted for Letlow solely because Trump endorsed her.

“I’m going by what he says, because I like what he does,” she said.

Election changes stir concern

The election was scrambled by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision focused on Louisiana gutting a part of the Voting Rights Act that affects how congressional maps are drawn. Although the Senate primary is moving forward, Louisiana leaders decided to delay House primaries until a future date to allow them to redo district lines ahead of time, a shift that threatened to cause confusion for voters Saturday.

Mary-Patricia Wray, who has consulted for Republican and Democratic candidates in Louisiana, said before the vote that the change could weigh against Cassidy by dampening turnout among voters who are less fervently pro-Trump.

“Suspending the congressional primaries hurts Cassidy,” she said. “Some people believe the Senate primary is canceled.”

Cassidy also complained that a new primary system enacted last year confused voters by requiring them to ask for a partisan ballot instead of the all-party primary previously in place. He said some called his office to say they had been unable to vote for him.

“The process that was set up was destined to be confusing,” Cassidy told reporters Friday.

Dadrius Lanus, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said his team fielded hundreds of calls from voters statewide who said the changes undermined their ability vote as they planned.

“A lot of the information should have gotten to voters well in advance,” Lanus said. “It’s literally been a whirlwind of confusion.”

A costly primary

Cassidy waged an aggressive campaign to convince voters he should not be counted out. Wray was among the political consultants who, as election day neared, gave the senator a chance of pulling off an upset.

The senator’s campaign was expected to have spent roughly $9.6 million on advertising through May 16, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And Louisiana Freedom Fund, a super PAC supporting him, was on track to spend $12.3 million.

By comparison, Letlow’s campaign, which launched Jan. 20, spent roughly $3.9 million, while a super PAC backing her, the Accountability Project, spent about $6 million.

Fleming’s campaign spent about $1.5 million.

Cassidy and Louisiana Freedom Fund ran ads attacking Letlow within days of her entering the race for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which Trump has tried to root out of the federal government.

Letlow, a college administrator before her election to the House, said she supported DEI while interviewing for the position of president of University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2020.

The ads, an attempt to characterize Letlow as a progressive trying to pass as a conservative, were one way Cassidy tried to flip the script in a race where he was on the outs with Trump.

Trump’s campaign

The senator’s vote in favor of convicting Trump after his 2021 impeachment has shadowed Cassidy throughout his second Senate term.

John Martin, a 68-year-old retired engineer in south Louisiana, said he would vote for Letlow because he was still upset by Cassidy’s decision. He waved a flier from Letlow’s campaign showing her standing alongside the president.

“I know a lot more about Cassidy than I do about her,” Martin said. “But if she’s endorsed by Trump, I’m going to believe that.”

Cassidy steered clear of Trump’s ire last year, supporting Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite his public reservations about the nominee’s anti-vaccine views.

Mark Workman, a 75-year-old retired infectious disease physician in the New Orleans suburbs, said he backs Fleming. Had Cassidy “stood up and blocked RFK,” Workman said, he would have supported the senator for taking a strong and courageous stance.

“He had the ability to stop him,” Workman said, “and he was too weak to do that.”

As chair of the Senate Health Committee, Cassidy has been more publicly critical of Kennedy, including over funding cuts for vaccine development.

Trump blamed Cassidy for the failed nomination of his second choice for surgeon general, Casey Means, who raised doubts about vaccinating newborns for hepatitis B, a practice Cassidy supports. Trump withdrew the Means nomination and decried Cassidy.

Challenger waited for Trump’s backing

Letlow considered running last year but only entered the race after Trump announced his endorsement in January.

By that time Fleming, who was elected state treasurer in 2023, was already in the race as a Trump devotee. But Landry was looking for a better-known challenger, and he suggested Letlow to the president.

Letlow had an unconventional and tragic entry into politics.

In 2020, while she was a college administrator, her husband, Luke, was elected to the U.S. House but died of COVID-19 before he could be sworn in. Letlow ran for and won the seat in a March 2021 special election and was reelected in 2022 and 2024.

Beaumont and Brook write for the Associated Press and reported from Des Moines and Baton Rouge, respectively

The Dodgers opened MLB rivalry weekend with a blast — three to be exact — in a 6-0 win over the Angels on Friday at Angel Stadium.

The Dodgers also achieved something last year’s World Series-winning team couldn’t — they beat the Angels. The Angels had won seven consecutive games against the Dodgers, the franchise’s longest winning streak against its crosstown rival.

“Couldn’t beat these guys last year, couldn’t beat the Brewers last year [in the regular season],” manager Dave Roberts said with a large smile. “So it was nice to beat these guys.”

What changed? The Dodgers’ offense took command. They lit up Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz’s fastball. Andy Pages hit a three-run home run and Max Muncy hit his 12th homer of the season on the next at-bat to break a scoreless game in the fourth inning. Both home runs came off four-seamers Kochanowicz left too far over the center of the plate.

Roberts praised Pages’ ability to recover from slumps and not dwell too much on being uncomfortable.

“A young player, when it starts to go south, you can’t stop it,” Roberts said. “The 0-4 turns into a one for 20 pretty quickly. That’s what happened last year at the end of the year. Now, he had a little swoon and found a way to let it be, take walks or get a hit here to there to do some damage control until you get back to swinging long.”

During Pages’ at-bat, a pitch ricocheted off Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe’s left hand. Playing in his first game since returning from the injured list, O’Hoppe stayed in the game despite appearing to be in pain. He left in the sixth because of irritation in his left wrist — the same wrist he fractured on April 25.

In the sixth, Teoscar Hernández tacked on two more runs with an opposite-field home run after an errant sinker from Kochanowicz. The 33-year-old wore a big smile after he crossed home and was showered in sunflower seeds.

“Just getting the confidence back there,” Hernández said. “Getting better pitches to hit, hitting the ball harder, getting on base, taking a lot more walks, just do[ing] the positive things for the team.”

Hernández had gone 23 days without a home run, and had been moved down in the lineup. The left fielder said he wasn’t bothered by the change, though he joked about Pages taking his place as the sunflower seed shower manager.

“It’s getting better,” Hernández laughed. “He’s going to have my job when I’m not here.”

Dodgers pitcher Will Klein delivers during the first inning against the Angels at Angel Stadium on Friday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Shohei Ohtani also put together good at-bats. He walked and had a double, but he also struck out twice.

Freddie Freeman was notably absent. Roberts texted Freeman a couple nights ago and told him he would give him Friday off. Freeman, ever the competitor, tried to get Roberts to reconsider, but the Dodgers manager held firm.

Freeman is expected to return to the lineup Saturday with Kyle Tucker taking the day off.

“Tucker’s been trending for a while, Will’s been consistent, I think Teo’s on the way back too,” Roberts said. “We got a lot of guys that are swinging well, and to get Freddie off his feet tonight, I think it was a good thing in the midst of 13 in a row.”

The Dodgers (27-18) didn’t need Freeman with the way their bullpen was pitching. Will Klein opened after Blake Snell was placed on the injured list because of loose bodies in his left elbow. The Dodgers recalled left-hander Charlie Barnes to take Snell’s place on the active roster.

The quick pivot didn’t affect the Dodgers much. The team relied on eight pitchers — Klein, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Wyatt Mills, Kyle Hurt, Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and Barnes — to hold the Angels to two hits. No one ate up more innings than Klein, who struck out two and surrendered one hit across two innings. They also kept Tanner Scott fresh in case he’s needed Saturday.

“The only guy that went multiples was Klein, but, again, coming out of tonight the offensive run production allowed us to do that and give us a little coverage,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers now have a chance to do something last year’s team couldn’t: win a series against the Angels (16-29).

The former mayor of a conservative Kansas town was taken into custody by immigration authorities after acknowledging last year that he had voted in elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.

Joe Ceballos, who was born in Mexico and is a legal permanent U.S. resident, was detained Wednesday during a meeting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Wichita, Kan., according to his attorney, Jess Hoeme. He said Ceballos now fears he could be deported.

The 55-year-old resigned as mayor of Coldwater in December while facing state charges over voting as a noncitizen. While seeking citizenship in 2025, Ceballos admitted during an interview that he had voted, not knowing that green card holders don’t qualify, Hoeme said.

Ceballos was charged with voting illegally but pleaded guilty in April to misdemeanors in a deal with the Kansas attorney general. His case has drawn attention from the Trump administration and inspired supporters in his community, some of whom held signs reading “We Support Mayor Joe” and “ICE Out” as Ceballos walked into the federal building in Wichita.

“Let Joe go!” the crowd yelled.

“Thinking what could happen — it’s just kind of crazy,” Ceballos told reporters. “Obviously nervous. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know where they’re going to take me and what I can and can’t do inside there.”

An email seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.

Trump and other Republicans have been warning of the dangers of noncitizens voting in elections since the beginning of the 2024 presidential election. Research, even by Republican election officials, show the problem is rare.

This year, Trump has been pushing Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which among other things would require documented proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote.

The administration also has significantly upgraded a program within Homeland Security that checks citizenship. At least 25 states, most of them controlled by Republicans, have used that system to check their voter rolls.

Ceballos was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by family when he was 4 years old. Hoeme said lawyers would next try to get an immigration judge to release him on bond.

He said Ceballos, at age 18, was encouraged to register to vote on the spot during a school field trip to the Comanche County courthouse. Ceballos has previously said in interviews with reporters that he voted for Republicans.

He was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. Ceballos won a new term in November but resigned after state Atty. Gen. Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury.

Kobach’s office, however, reached a deal with Ceballos. He pleaded guilty to disorderly election conduct, which Hoeme described as a misdemeanor similar to disturbing the peace.

“He has not been convicted of any kind of voter fraud. It should not have impacted his immigration status,” Hoeme said. “The Trump administration and ICE have doubled down on nonsense that he is a criminal.”

Ceballos has been a popular figure in Coldwater, where an advertisement in the Western Star newspaper encouraged people to support him.

“He’s kind of got to live the American dream, to come from absolutely nothing and build up — I don’t know about wealth — but to build up a business and have a job and be a productive part of society,” longtime friend Ryan Swayze told Wichita station KAKE-TV.

White writes for the Associated Press.