Dodgers fans filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles early Monday morning, to celebrate the Dodgers becoming baseball’s first back-to-back World Series champion in 25 years.
The celebratory parade is commenced at 11 a.m., with the Dodgers traveling on top of double-decker buses through downtown with a final stop at Dodger Stadium.
The 2025 Dodgers team has been a bright spot for many Angelenos during an otherwise tumultuous year for the region, after historic firestorms devastated thousands of homes in January and then widespread immigration sweeps over the summer by the Trump administration.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Manager Dave Roberts holds the Commissioner’s Trophy during the Dodgers World Championship Parade and Celebration Monday.
(Kayla Bartkowsk/Los Angeles Times)
Ramon Ontivros, left, and Michelle Ruiz, both from Redlands, join fans lining the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
(Kayla Bartkowsk/Los Angeles Times)
From left, Mike Soto, Luis Espino, and Francisco Espino, join fans lining the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Mia Nava, 9, waves a flag. “She’s skipping school today and her teachers know her passion.” Said her mom, Jennie Nava.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
Alex Portugal holds onto a championship belt at Dodger Stadium. Claudia Villar Lee, poses with a model of the World Series trophy around her neck.
(Kayla Bartkowsk/Los Angeles Times)
Young fans line the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the Dodgers World Championship Parade and Celebration.
Sometimes you have to sacrifice having great statistics to lead your team to victory. That’s what 5-foot-8 running back Journee Tonga has done for Leuzinger this season.
A year ago, he rushed for 2,267 yards and 29 touchdowns. This season, to help Leuzinger win the Bay League championship, go 9-1 and earn a Division 2 playoff matchup against unbeaten Crean Lutheran on Friday, Tonga has been doing everything, from playing quarterback to slot.
“He’s been our Swiss Army Knife,” coach Jason Miller said.
A hand injury to starting quarterback Russell Sekona forced Tonga into a wildcat formation to fill in. Sekona will find out this week if he can return.
If that happens, Tonga will be providing help with his running and catching skills.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ thrilling 11-inning Saturday win over the Toronto Blue Jays was the most watched World Series game since 2017, according to Nielsen data.
The Fox telecast of the Game 7 contest giving the Dodgers their second consecutive world championship attracted an average of 25. 5 million viewers on Fox.
Viewers watching the Spanish-language telecast on Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming platforms brought the audience figure to just under 26 million.
The Dodgers’ 5-4 win delivered the largest audience for a World Series game since the Houston Astros’ Game 7 win over the the team in 2017, which had an audience of 28.3 million.
The figure was 10% over the last decisive game seven World Series game in 2019, when the Washington Nationals defeated the Astros.
The battle on Saturday will go down as one of the most memorable games in World Series history, with a number of spectacular plays in the field and a dramatic go-ahead home run by Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto won his third game of the series with his strong relief outing, earning him the Most Valuable Player Award for the series.
The audience level peaked between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. Pacific, with 31.5 million viewers tuned in.
The Dodgers became the first Major League Baseball team to win back-to-back championships in 25 years.
When Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan first stepped up to the podium at the museum’s star-packed 14th annual Art + Film Gala, the Dodgers were down one point to the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighth inning of the final game of the World Series.
There was no giant screen in the massive tent where a decadent dinner was being served Saturday night in celebration of honorees artist Mary Corse and director Ryan Coogler. Instead guests in elaborate gowns and tuxedos discreetly glanced at their phones propped on tables and at the base of flower vases across the star-packed venue. This became apparent when Miguel Rojas hit a game-tying home run at the top of the ninth inning and the whole room erupted in cheers.
Michael Govan, CEO of LACMA, wearing Gucci, speaks onstage during the 2025 LACMA Art+Film Gala.
(Amy Sussman / Getty Images for LACMA)
When Govan returned to the stageto begin the well-deserved tributes to the artist and filmmaker of the hour, the game had been won, the effusive cheering had died down, and the phones had been respectfully put away.
“Go Dodgers!” Govan said, before joking that LACMA had engineered the win for this special evening. The room was juiced.
It made Los Angeles feel like the center of the universe for a few hours and was fitting for an event that famously brings together the city’s twin cultural bedrocks of art and cinema, creating a rarefied space where the two worlds mix and mingle in support of a shared vision of recognizing L.A.’s immeasurable contributions to the global cultural conversation.
“This is a celebration that can only happen in L.A. — where art, film and creativity are deeply intertwined,” Govan said. “I always say this is the most creative place on Earth.”
The event raised a record $6.5 million in support of the museum and its programs. Co-chairs Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow hosted a cocktail party and dinner that drew celebrities including Dustin Hoffman, Cynthia Erivo, Cindy Crawford, Queen Latifah, Angela Bassett, Lorde, Demi Moore, Hannah Einbinder, Charlie Hunnam and Elle Fanning alongside local elected officials and appointees including U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles); L.A. County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Lindsey Horvath; L.A. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky; West Hollywood Councilmember John M. Erickson, and Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Sakoda said she thoroughly enjoyed the festivities “as representative of the incredibly diverse culture of Los Angeles and how that speaks to our entire nation.”
1
2
3
1.George Lucas arrives at the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday.(Jordan Strauss / Invision via Associated Press)2.Elle Fanning arrives at the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday.(Jordan Strauss / Invision via Associated Press)3.Angela Bassett arrives at the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday.(Jordan Strauss / Invision via Associated Press)
A special nod of gratitude went to previous gala honorees in attendance including artists Mark Bradford, James Turrell, Catherine Opie, Betye Saar, Judy Baca, George Lucas and Park Chan-Wook. Leaders from many other local arts institutions also showed up including the Hammer Museum’s director, Zoe Ryan; California African American Museum Director Cameron Shaw; and MOCA’s interim Director Ann Goldstein.
Rising in the background was LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries, the 110,000-square-foot Peter Zumthor-designed building scheduled to open in April as the new home for the museum’s 150,000-object permanent collection.
“Every day I’m in that little building behind installing thousands of artworks,” Govan said to cheers. “I can’t wait for people to rediscover our permanent collection, from old favorites to new acquisitions. It’s a monumental gift to L.A., and in addition to L.A. County and the public, I would like to thank the person whose generosity brought us to this landmark moment, Mr. David Geffen.”
Geffen sat in a sea of black ties and glittering gowns, near Disney CEO Bob Iger and DiCaprio — who had been filmed earlier in the week in attendance at Game 5 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium.
Govan also gave a special acknowledgment to former LACMA board co-chair, Elaine Wynn, who died earlier this year and was one of the museum’s most steadfast champions. Wynn contributed $50 million to the new building — one of the first major gifts in support of the effort. Govan noted that the northern half of the building will be named the Elaine Wynn wing.
Honoree Ryan Coogler, wearing Gucci, speaks onstage during the 2025 LACMA Art+Film Gala.
(Amy Sussman / Getty Images for LACMA)
Left unmentioned was the fact that earlier in the week LACMA’s employees announced they are forming a union, LACMA United, representing more than 300 workers from across all departments, including curators, educators, guest relations associates and others. One worker told The Times there were no plans to demonstrate at the gala, which raises much-needed funds for the museum.
The crowd sat rapt as the night’s guests of honor, Corse and Coogler, humbly spoke of their journeys in their respective art forms, with Govan introducing them as “artists whose brilliant groundbreaking work challenges us to see the world differently.”
The night concluded with an enthusiastic performance by Doja Cat on an outdoor stage in the shadow of the David Geffen Galleries, the lights girding its massive concrete underbelly like stars in the sky.
“It was a beautiful evening of community coming together around something that reminds us of our shared humanity at a time when we need it,” said Yaroslavsky with a smile as the evening wound down.
The newly opened coffee shop-cum-arboretum Creature’s was created to provide a place where one could “be a creature amongst other creatures.” To that effect, the establishment filled with native plants and succulents hosts events that promote compassion for all — there’s been a free clothing swap, local makers fairs, a nature sketching gathering and a presentation in tandem with Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) about peacefully coexisting with L.A.’s native animals.
Owned by Hope Creature, the business sells plants, gifts and garden supplies in one building and organic drinks and pastries in another. A 50-foot greenhouse shelters indoor tropicals, organic edibles, drought-tolerant native plants and small potted succulents, which go for less than $2. The outdoor seating area is outfitted with plants available for purchase.
“A lot went into making this space architecturally stunning as well, with every design detail considered,” Creature says. “The space also serves as a platform for our ongoing community programming, which showcases what the space is all about — bringing people together to explore, learn and connect.”
The queer-owned-and-run cafe offers standard coffee fare including matcha, espresso, cortado, cold brew and drip options from local roaster Unity, as well as a selection of teas and pastries.
Open daily from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., the shop’s enclosed outdoor patio (buttressed on either side by the cafe/general store and greenhouse) offers a peaceful reprieve from the relative hustle and bustle of Eagle Rock Boulevard.
On Monday, in celebration of the Dodgers becoming baseball’s first back-to-back champion in 25 years, Los Angeles will throw another party for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers’ 2025 championship parade starts Monday at 11 a.m. and runs through downtown, followed by a rally at Dodger Stadium. The rally requires a ticket, which can be obtained starting at noon Sunday at dodgers.com/postseason.
For fans with rally tickets, parking lot gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and stadium gates at 9 a.m. The event is expected to start at about 12:15 p.m.
The parade and rally will be aired live on Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 as well as SportsNet LA and AM 570, the team said.
In last year’s rally, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Ice Cube performed next to one another, with Roberts dancing and Ice Cube singing.
At one point, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw took his turn at the microphone and hollered, “Dodger for life!”
In September, Kershaw announced he would retire at the end of the season. In his only World Series appearance, he got a critical out in the Dodgers’ 18-inning victory in Game 3.
He’ll make his final Dodger Stadium appearance as a player as part of a second consecutive championship rally. He’ll be back: The Dodgers will retire his No. 22 — they retire the number of all their Hall of Famers — and he’d certainly be in line to throw ceremonial first pitches in the Dodgers’ future postseason runs.
For now, though: Three-time champion Dodger for life.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a slew of other national and California Democrats on Saturday rallied supporters to stay fired up in seeking passage of a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the midterm elections.
While polling suggests Proposition 50 is likely to pass Tuesday, volunteers must continue knocking on doors, phone banking and motivating voters through Election Day, they said. Newsom told volunteers they ought to follow the model of sprinters, leaving it all on the field.
“We cannot afford to run the 90-yard dash. You Angelenos, you’ve got the Olympics coming in 2028. They do not run the 90-yard dash. They run the 110-yard dash. We have got to be at peak on Election Day,” Newsom told hundreds of supporters at the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. “We cannot take anything for granted.”
Hours earlier, Republican spoke out against the ballot measure at John Wayne Park in Newport Beach, before sending teams into neighborhoods to drum up votes for their side.
“What Proposition 50 will do is disenfranchise, meaning, disregard all Republicans in the state of California,” said state Assembly member Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach). “Ninety percent of 6 million [Californian Republicans] will be disenfranchised.”
Proposition 50 would redraw California’s congressional districts in an attempt to boost the number of Democrats in Congress. The effort was proposed by Newsom and other California Democrats in hope of blunting President Trump’s push in Texas and other GOP-led states to increase the number of Republicans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterm election. But even if voters approve the ballot measure that could flip five California districts currently represented by Republicans, it’s unclear whether that will be enough to shift control of the House unless there is a blue wave in the 2026 election.
The party that wins control of the House will shape Trump’s final two years in the White House — whether he is able to continue enacting his agenda or faces a spate of investigations and possibly another impeachment attempt.
The special election is among the costliest ballot measures in state history. More than $192 million has flowed into various campaign committees since state lawmakers voted in August to put the proposition on the ballot. Supporters of the redistricting effort have raised exponentially more money than opponents, and polling shows the proposition is likely to pass.
As of Friday, more than a quarter of the state’s 23 million registered voters had cast ballots, with Democrats outpacing Republicans.
Newsom was joined Saturday by Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, other Democrats and labor leaders.
Harris, in a surprise appearance at the gathering, argued that the Trump administration is implementing long-sought GOP goals such as voter suppression.
“This fight is not about sitting by and complaining, ‘Oh, they’re cheating,’” the former vice president said. “It’s about recognizing what they are up to. There is an agenda that we are witnessing which feels chaotic, I know, but in fact, we are witnessing a high velocity event that is about the swift implementation of a plan that has been decades in the making.”
Several of the speakers referred to the immigration raids that started in Los Angeles in June and deep cuts to federal safety nets, including the nutrition assistance program for low-income families and a health coverage for seniors and the disabled.
“We know there’s so much on the line this Tuesday. And a reminder, Tuesday is not Election Day — it’s the last day to vote,” Padilla said. “Don’t wait till Tuesday. Get your ballots in folks…. As good as the polls look, we need to run up the score on this because the eyes of the country are going to be on California on Tuesday. And we need to win and we need to win big.”
Padilla, a typically staid legislator, then offered a modified riff of a lyric by rapper Ice Cube, who grew up in South Los Angeles.
“Donald Trump — you better check yourself before you wreck America,” said Padilla, who is considering running for governor next year.
Nearly 50 miles southeast, about 50 Republican canvassers fueled up on coffee and donuts, united over the brisk weather and annoyance about Newsom’s attempt to redraw California’s congressional districts.
Will O’Neill, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, equated this final push against Proposition 50 as the California GOP’s game 7 — a nod to tonight’s World Series battle between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Orange County right now is the only county in Southern California that has a shot of having more Republicans than Democrats voting,” said O’Neill. “We expect that over the next three days, around 70% of everyone who votes is gonna vote ‘no’ on 50. But we need them to vote.”
Ariana Assenmacher, of California Young Republicans, center, organizes during a gathering of Republican Party members pressing to vote no on Proposition 50 in the upcoming California Statewide Special Election at John Wayne Park in Newport Beach on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
O’Neill labeled the measure a “hyper-partisan power grab.” If Proposition 50 passes, it will dilute Republican power in Orange County by splitting communities and roping some residents into districts represented by Los Angeles County politicians.
Dixon also rallied volunteers — which included a handful of college students from across the state: “Be polite. Just say thank you very much. Just like Charlie Kirk would. Don’t [stimulate] an argument. Just be friendly.”
“They’re squeezing out what very little representation Republicans have in the state,” said Kristen Nicole Valle, president of the Orange County Young Republicans.
“We will not be hearing from 40% of Californians if Prop. 50 passes.”
Randall Avila, executive director of the Orange County GOP, said the measure disenfranchises Latino GOP voters like himself.
Nationally, Trump managed to gain 48% of the Latino vote, a Pew Research study showed, which proved crucial to his second presidential victory.
“Obviously our community has kind of shown we’re willing to switch parties and go another direction if that elected official or that party isn’t serving us,” said Avila. “So it’s unfortunate that some of those voices are now gonna be silenced with a predetermined winner in their district.”
Not all hope is lost for Republicans if Proposition 50 is approved, Avila said. A handful of seats could be snagged by Republicans, including the districts held by Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Derek Tran (D-Orange).
“If the lines do change, that doesn’t mean we pack up and go home,” he said. “Just means we reorganize, we reconfigure things, and then we keep fighting.”
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from Libor Jany, giving you the latest on city and county government.
How do you spot a journalist?
The question lies at the center of a legal battle between Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and the Los Angeles Press Club, as well as a political battle between Feldstein Soto and the City Council.
Two weeks ago council members called on her to give up her opposition to a federal judge’s order prohibiting LAPD officers from targeting journalists with crowd control weapons. According to the press club, dozens of journalists were excluded from public areas or attacked by police during chaotic summer protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Despite the slap down by the council, Feldstein Soto hopes to press forward. This week, in a confidential attorney-client memo shared with The Times by a source, she stressed to the council why she still wants to appeal the judge’s preliminary injunction, which she says makes virtually anyone a journalist.
In the injunction, U.S. District Judge Hernán Vera proposes “indicia” for LAPD officers to identify journalists, which include wearing distinctive clothing or carrying professional photographic equipment.
But the City Attorney’s Office, which is representing the city in the case, sees future issues.
“The problem with this vague definition is that anyone can claim they are a Journalist under the court’s definition,” Supervising Assistant City Atty. Shaun Dabby Jacobs wrote in the memo. “All a person needs to do is print out a badge that says ‘Press,’ or carry a camera … and they can go behind police line or into other restricted areas.”
The memo asks what clothing might identify a person as a journalist. “Is it simply that the person is wearing a suit or professional work dress? … It would be very easy for someone who is not a member of the media and is intent on causing trouble or harm to other peaceful protesters or to the LAPD, to pose as a journalist since they have some of these ‘indicia of being a Journalist.’”
Vera’s injunction imposes more onerous conditions on when police can use “less lethal” weapons than state law does, the memo also argued, allowing the “less lethal” force only when “danger has reached the point where deadly force is justified.”
The injunction also creates issues if the LAPD calls on mutual aid organizations, like the sheriff’s department or federal partners, since it applies only to the city’s police, the memo said. “The city could potentially be liable for our law enforcement partners’ actions if they act in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the injunction.”
All in all, the memo said, the judge’s injunction amounts to a “consent decree.”
With the nine-page memo in hand, Feldstein Soto headed to a closed session with the council Tuesday. Tempers flared when she and Chief Deputy City Atty. Denise Mills suggested that the press club’s lawyer, Carol Sobel, took on the case only to make money, according to two City Hall sources. (Feldstein Soto’s spokesperson, Karen Richardson, said the city attorney does not comment on closed session conversations but added that Feldstein Soto “absolutely did not say that.”)
Many council members, including Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, came to Sobel’s defense, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.
“I’m trying to restrain myself right now,” Sobel said when she heard about the claim from Mills and the city attorney. “I’m really outraged. It is a baseless suggestion, and it doesn’t alter the fact that they’re shooting people in the head. Whether I get paid or not, they’re shooting people in the head.”
Sobel said she has taken on pro bono work frequently over her 40-year career and that when she is paid, it is partially to help fund future pro bono work.
Susan Seager, who also represents the press club in the case, took issue with Feldstein Soto’s continued pursuit of an appeal.
“She’s a cop wannabe,” Seager said. “She’s just a fake Democrat doing what [LAPD] Chief Jim McDonnell wants her to do.”
Richardson said Feldstein Soto has been a Democrat since 1976 and never worked with the police before she became the city attorney.
You’re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter
State of play
— FIRE BOMBSHELL: Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters told a battalion chief that parts of a New Year’s Day fire in Pacific Palisades still were smoldering the next day, according to text messages. Firefighters were told to leave anyway, and the blaze reignited on Jan. 7, killing 12 and burning thousands of homes. Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said the Palisades fire was not caused by “failed suppression” of the New Year’s blaze.
The story in The Times led to a tweet from sports critic Bill Simmons (bet you didn’t expect to see his name in bold in this newsletter!) blasting the city’s “indefensibly bad leadership,” which predictably led to a quote tweet from none other than Rick Caruso, who called Simmons’ tweet “spot on.” “The buck stops with Mayor Bass,” he added.
— TRASH ATTACK: Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner attacked Mayor Karen Bass over the rising cost of city services for Angelenos, calling out the City Council’s vote to increase trash collection fees. The mayor’s campaign responded that the hike was long overdue. “Nobody was willing to face the music and request the rate hikes,” said Doug Herman, spokesperson for Bass’ campaign.
— SAYONARA, SANITATION: The city’s top Bureau of Sanitation executive, Barbara Romero, stepped down this week. Romero, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2021, touted the agency’s accomplishments, including increasing sewer fees and championing the construction of a water purification facility expected to recharge the San Fernando Valley groundwater aquifer.
— FREE(WAY) AT LAST: A judge agreed to place 29 protesters who shut down the southbound 110 Freeway in 2023 into a 12-month diversion program, which would require 20 hours of community service each. If the protesters, who were demonstrating against Israel’s war in Gaza, comply and don’t break other laws, they will have their criminal charges dropped.
— PHOTO BLOCK: L.A. County is trying to block a journalist from obtaining photographs of about 8,500 sheriff’s deputies and other sworn personnel in the department. The dispute centers on a public records request filed by journalist Cerise Castle in 2023 asking for the names and official headshots of all deputies not working undercover. An L.A. Superior Court judge ordered the release of the photos, but the county is appealing.
— A DOZEN BUSTED: Federal prosecutors announced charges against 12 people who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers during the chaotic protests this summer against the Trump administration’s immigration raids. Many of the charges stem from demonstrators throwing items at police from a freeway overpass on June 8.
— CANDIDATE ALERT: A new candidate has thrown his hat in the ring to be the city’s next controller. Zach Sokoloff works for Hackman Capital Partners, serving as “Asset Manager of the firm’s Television City Studios and Radford Studio Center.” Sokoloff is running against incumbent Kenneth Mejia as well as veteran politician Isadore Hall.
QUICK HITS
Where is Inside Safe? There were no Inside Safe operations this week. The mayor’s team held a virtual town hall with Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky to engage with residents near nine operations in the West L.A. area, according to the mayor’s office.
On the docket next week: Councilmember Curren Price will be in Los Angeles Superior Court for the preliminary hearing in his criminal case. The hearing is expected to last about five days.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
In Mexico and parts of Central America, Día de los Muertos is regarded as a day to commemorate and celebrate departed family and friends.
For generations, Greater Southern California has joined the tradition with altars, Aztec dances and displays of marigolds in late October to early November. The day to honor the dead also has served as a day of gathering among the living.
However, some celebrations are being reconsidered because of fears that participants may get caught in deportation raids executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
This week the Department of Homeland Security announced it had deported more than half a million undocumented people since the Trump Administration took over in January. More than 2 million people have left the nation overall, the department said.
With raids continuing, some organizers of this weekend’s Día de los Muertos events are moving ahead with celebrations, while others have canceled them.
Times reporters spoke with event organizers to learn what they’re doing differently.
You’re reading the Essential California newsletter
Our reporters guide you through the most important news, features and recommendations of the day.
The event was canceled at the request of City Councilmember Mary Zendejas “out of an abundance of caution,” according to city spokesperson Kevin Lee, because it’s “a large and very public outdoor event.” Officials were not aware of any targeted federal enforcement activity.
“This decision did not come lightly,” Zendejas and the city said in statements. The decision addresses “genuine fears raised by community members, especially those who may face the possibility of sudden and indiscriminate federal enforcement actions that undermine the sense of security necessary to participate fully in public life.”
Roberto Carlos Lemus, a marketer who brought food trucks and other vendors to the festival last year, called the cancellation “very sad.”
“Everyone’s very sad about the situation. Día de los Muertos has been one of the largest celebrations for a very long time, and the city has done a great job putting it on,” Lemus told The Times. “Unfortunately, with Latinos being kidnapped and attacked by ICE and the current administration, I do understand why they made the decision that they made.”
Others are not letting the immigration raids interfere with the celebration.
Last year, tens of thousands of visitors patronized Division 9 Gallery’s Day of the Dead celebration in downtown Riverside. This year’s free two-day event will feature Aztec dancers, a pageant, processions, Lucha Libre wrestlers and altars — the traditional stands along with ofrendras placed inside classic cars — on Saturday and Sunday.
The event, located on Market Street between University Avenue and 14th Street, continues to grow in popularity, organizer Cosmé Cordova said.
Cordova said he’s not sure if there will be 60 altars, as was the case last year, or if 45,000 people will attend Saturday, the most popular of the two days.
“Because of what’s going on, people are afraid,” he said. “But we’re not canceling.”
Cordova said he’s hired security and noted that Riverside police and the mayor will be present.
“We’re working with the city and others to make sure everything is going to be good,” Cordova said. “This is an event that the community comes out for and I’m not concerned about anyone breaking it up.”
The week’s biggest stories
Gladstone’s Malibu, an iconic dining landmark, pictured partially smoking from the Palisades Fire on Jan. 8, 2025.
(Connor Sheets/Los Angeles Times)
Palisades Fire investigation
Dodgers World Series coverage
Trump Administration polices and reactions
Crime, courts and policing
More big stories
This week’s must-read
More great reads
For your weekend
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Going out
Staying in
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff writer Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew J. Campa, reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
My first reaction, when I heard about the proposed $2.3-million fence around MacArthur Park, was skepticism.
Yeah, the park and the immediate neighborhood have long dealt with a nasty web of urban nightmares, including homelessness, crime and a rather astonishing open-air drug scene, all of which I spent a few months looking into not long ago.
But what would a fence accomplish?
Well, after looking into it, maybe it’s not the worst idea.
Skepticism, I should note, is generally a fallback position for me. It’s something of an occupational duty, and how can you not be cynical about promises and plans in Los Angeles, where each time you open the newspaper, you have to scratch your head?
I’m still having trouble understanding how county supervisors approved another $828 million in child sexual abuse payments, on top of an earlier settlement this year of $4 billion, even after Times reporter Rebecca Ellis found nine cases in which people said they were told to fabricate abuse allegations.
The same supes, while wrestling with a budget crisis, agreed to pay $2 million to appease the county’s chief executive officer because she felt wronged by a ballot measure proposing that the job be an elected rather than appointed post. Scratching your head doesn’t help in this case; you’re tempted instead to bang it into a wall.
Drone view of MacArthur Park looking toward downtown Los Angeles.
(Ted Soqui/For The Times)
Or maybe a $2.3-million fence.
The city of L.A. is primarily responsible for taking on the problems of MacArthur Park, although the county has a role too in the areas of housing, public health and addiction services. I made two visits to the area in the last week, and while there are signs of progress and slightly less of a sense of chaos — the children’s playground hit last year by an arsonist has been fully rebuilt — there’s a long way to go.
In a story about the fence by my colleague Nathan Solis, one service provider said it would further criminalize homelessness and another said the money “could be better used by funding … services to the people in the park, rather than just moving them out.”
The vast majority of people who spoke at the Oct. 16 meeting of the Recreation and Parks Commission, which voted unanimously to move forward with the fence, were adamantly opposed despite claims that enclosing the space would be a step toward upgrading and making the park more welcoming.
“Nothing is more unwelcoming than a fence around a public space,” one critic said.
“A fence can not solve homelessness,” another said.
The LAPD underwater dive unit investigates activity in MacArthur Park Lake.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Others argued that locking up the park, which is surrounded by a predominantly immigrant community, recalls the ridiculous stunt that played out in June, when President Trump’s uniformed posse showed up in armored vehicles and on horseback in what looked like an all-out invasion of Westlake.
But another speaker, Raul Claros — who is running against Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez in the 1st District — said he’d spoken to residents and merchants who support the fence, as long as it’s part of a greater effort to address the community’s needs.
Claros said he has three questions: “What’s the plan? What’s the timeline? Who’s in charge?”
Hernandez, by the way, is not opposed to the fence. A staffer told me there’s a fence around nearby Lafayette Park. Other fenced parks in Los Angeles include Robert Burns Park, adjacent to Hancock Park, and the L.A. State Historic Park on the edge of Chinatown, which is locked at sunset.
As for the long-range plan, the Hernandez staffer said the councilwoman has secured and is investing millions of dollars in what she calls a care-first approach that aims to address drug addiction and homelessness in and around the park.
Eduardo Aguirre, who lives a couple of blocks from the park and serves on the West Pico Neighborhood Council, told me he’s OK with the fence but worried about the possible consequences. If the people who use the park at night or sleep there are forced out, he said, where will they go?
“To the streets? To the alleys? You know what’s going to happen. It’s a game,” Aguirre said.
Last fall I walked with Aguirre and his wife as they led their daughter to her elementary school. They often have to step around homeless people and past areas where dealing and drug use, along with violence, are anything but infrequent.
Families and others should be able to feel safe in the park and the neighborhood, said Norm Langer, owner of the iconic Langer’s deli on the edge of the park.
A visitor takes in the view at MacArthur Park.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
“I completely understand why you’re skeptical,” Langer told me, but he said he’s seen improvements in the last year, particularly after fences were installed along Alvarado Street and vendors were shut down. Police say some of the vendors were involved in the drug trade and the resale of stolen merchandise.
“The point isn’t to limit access,” Langer said. “The fence is intended to improve safety and quality of life for the people who live, work, and spend time here. It gives park staff a fighting chance to maintain and restore the place, especially at night, when they can finally clean and repair without the constant chaos that made upkeep nearly impossible before.”
LAPD Capt. Ben Fernandes of the Rampart division told me police are “trying to make it not OK” to buy and use drugs along the Alvarado corridor. Drug users often gather in the northeast corner of the park, Fernandes said, and he thinks putting up a fence and keeping the park off limits at night will help “deflect” some of “the open-air usage.”
The park has a nice soccer field and a lovely bandstand, among other popular attractions, but many parents told me they’re reluctant to visit with their children because of safety concerns. If a fence helps bring back families, many of whom live in apartments and have no yards, that’s a good thing.
But as the city goes to work on design issues, questions about enforcement, opening and closing times and other details, it needs to keep in mind that all of that is the easy part.
It took an unforgivably long time for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other elected officials to acknowledge a social, economic and humanitarian crisis in a place that’s home to thousands of low-income working people.
Over 5 million California residents — including 2 million children — rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that cover essential food such as fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, bread and snacks. Those funds are on hold as the federal shutdown continues, putting economic strain on the 1 in 8 Americans who rely on SNAP benefits, during a time of year when budgets are already tight as many prepare for holiday gatherings and gift giving.
But Angelenos are stepping up for those in need, from neighborhood nonprofits and community centers to local restaurants and chefs, offering grocery delivery, mobile farmers markets, grab-and-go meals and Thanksgiving spreads.
Here are 40 food initiatives happening across Los Angeles County this November, from free chicken rice porridge on Sundays to a communal Thanksgiving feast. Be sure to read details carefully; some events are open to all with no registration required, while others require advance sign up with proof of income and residency.
Times staff writer Kailyn Brown contributed to this report.
If you’re like me, you spent a lot of time over the last few weeks reading about the unbelievably brazen Louvre museum heist. Not only did it provide a welcome respite from obsessing over the destruction of the East Wing, it also supplied an adrenaline boost for the imagination: Who on earth had the nerve to literally cut through a window in broad daylight and leap into the world’s most famous museum in order to grab nearly $102 million worth of crown jewels before escaping on a motor scooter?
My favorite article about the fiasco ran in the Atlantic under the headline “The Louvre Heist is Terrific,” with the subhed, “Here was a dreamy little crime in which no one really got hurt.” The French people beg to differ. In many circles, the crime signaled a glaring national failure. Either way, seven suspects have now been detained by police in connection with the crime, and we will have answers soon enough — even if nobody will ever see the jewels again.
The heist seemed ripped from the script of a Hollywood blockbuster — something along the lines of “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring Vincent Cassel and Omar Sy instead of George Clooney and Matt Damon. As such, it spawned a paroxysm of frenetic, click-sticky activity on social and legacy media alike. Newly-minted CBS news chief Bari Weiss reportedly suggested to staff that they interview “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown about the heist. And an online platform called Action Network that analyzes odds, mostly for betting and sports books, released a new U.S. study called “Top 10 Museums Most Vulnerable to a Heist.”
“The study estimates each museum’s implied probability of a heist, showing how visibility, value, and public access combine into a theoretical ‘heist appeal.’ It reflects exposure, not vulnerability. To be clear: we’re not predicting theft. We’re measuring where culture meets risk,” Action Network explained on its website.
It turns out that in Los Angeles, Getty Center and Los Angeles County Museum of Art have the most “heist-appeal,” according to the study. The former comes in at No. 4 on the list, and the latter at No. 7. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art sits in the top place, followed by Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art.
The study puts the implied probability of a heist at Getty Center at 3.9%, and gives this sunny description of the campus, “A hilltop postcard with galleries. Open vistas, bright courtyards, and art that draws camera phones nonstop, all under movie-worthy security.”
Movie-worthy security has me thinking: I might write a screenplay featuring a gang of criminals who make a daring escape on the Getty tram with Titian’s Venus and Adonis.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, planning my next great adventure. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.
On our radar
Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s opera “Hildegard” will be performed at the Wallis.
(Sarah Kirkland Snider)
Hildegard With her new opera, “Hildegard,” which has its West Coast premiere as part of Los Angeles Opera’s Off-Grand series, Sarah Kirkland Snider joins a broad range of artists enraptured by the earliest remembered composer, Hildegard von Bingen. Her otherworldly sacred vocal music, along with her visionary writing, has made the 12th century mystic philosopher, medical doctor, natural historian and Benedictine abbess a source of late 20th and 21st century fascination. She shows up in texts about gardening, numinous Christianity and the Kabbalah. David Lynch was not the only filmmaker obsessed with the abbess. Her 900th birthday in 1998 was observed by a feminist composer and singer collective, Hildegurls, by inventively staging Hildegard’s luminous “Ordo Virtutum.” Now it is Snider’s turn, assisted by Elkhanah Pulitzer, for a full-scale Hildegard opera. – Mark Swed 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Nov. 8; 2 p.m. Nov. 9. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laopera.org
Janet Leigh in the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic thriller “Psycho.”
(Associated Press)
Psycho The American Cinematheque celebrates the 65th anniversary of the unleashing of Norman Bates on moviegoers. “Alfred Hitchcock’s terrifying 1960 landmark forever upended the audience’s narrative expectations, changed theatrical exhibition models and probably led to reduced water bills nationwide,” wrote former Times film critic Justin Chang in 2016. “Accept no substitutes.” 7:30 p.m. Friday. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. americancinematheque.com
Gail Bean, Biko Eisen-Martin, seated, and Michael Rishawn, standing, star in “Table 17” at Geffen Playhouse.
(Corey Olsen)
Table 17 The West Coast premiere of this rom-com by Douglas Lyons (author of the Broadway comedy “Chicken & Biscuits”) concerns a formerly engaged man and woman who reunite at a restaurant to sift through the past with calm, friendly, objective detachment. What could possibly go wrong? This MCC Theater production, directed by Zhailon Levingston (“Cats: The Jellicle Ball”) features Gail Bean, Biko Eisen-Martin and Michael Rishawn in a play the New York Times described as “comfort food” that “satisfies a genuine craving.” – Charles McNulty Wednesday through Dec. 7. Geffen Playhouse’s Gil Cates Theater, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
You’re reading Essential Arts
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY Halloween What better way to experience “All Hallows’ Eve” than by gorging on John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic and its chillingly insistent piano score with a group of like-minded souls. Jamie Lee Curtis laid the groundwork for the generations of scream queens to follow. 4:15 and 7 p.m. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
SATURDAY Bluebeard’s Castle The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the American debut of this dark musical thriller laced with romance and horror. A hit in Europe and based on a medieval French fairy tale, it was written and directed by Sofia Streisand and features music by Sergey Rubalsky and Artem Petaykin; lyrics by Elena Hanpira; and choreography by Irina Lyahovskaya, with songs adapted for the English production by Nancy Magarill and Terra Naomi. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; through Nov. 23. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
Día de Los Muertos The Wallis delivers its first Family Fest of the season with a free celebration of the holiday featuring story time with Lil’ Libros authors, plus arts, crafts and learning activities; altar-building workshops with Self Help Graphics & Art; face painting by Color Me Face Painting; and a dance workshop and performance by the Pacifico Dance Company, highlighting traditional styles. 11 a.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
The People’s Party Civics Is Sexy and the NAACP bring together artists, activists and community leaders for two days of film, music and comedy featuring Yasmin Elhady, Chris Dowd of Fishbone, Nic Novicki, Peyton Edmonds and many more. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. NAACP Hollywood Bureau, 5757 Wilshire Blvd. peoplesparty.civicsissexy.co
Pony Cam The experimental Australian collective presents “Burnout Paradise,” in which four performers on treadmills attempt to complete a series of increasingly difficult, boundary-testing tasks in a comedic absurdist interpretation of overachievement. 8 p.m. Saturday; 6 p.m. Sunday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
“What we lost in the Ocean,” 2022 (video still) by Ann Le.
(Ann Le)
A Tender Excavation Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions presents a group show of artists working from historical and familial photographic archives to create transformative new stories from Afro-Latinx, African American, Chinese American, Gabrielino/Tongva Nation, Korean American, Iraqi American, Latinx, Mexican, Mexican American, Peruvian American, Thai, Turkish American and Vietnamese American cultures and communities. Opening reception, 2-5 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, through Feb. 21, 2026. Cal State L.A., Luckman Gallery, 5151 State University Drive. theluckman.org
Faye Webster performs Saturday and Sunday at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Faye Webster The Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, backed by the 40-piece Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, performs her indie-folk, alt-country and jazz R&B-infused songs. 8 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
SUNDAY Written On Heaven A musical portrait of Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru, an Ethiopian nun and composer who died in 2023, featuring performances by pianists Thomas Feng and Gloria Cheng. 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. mondayeveningconcerts.org
MONDAY
Actor Jeff Goldblum.
(Scott A Garfitt / AP)
An Evening with Jeff Goldblum A conversation with the popular actor, musician and raconteur is followed by a 4K screening of Robert Altman’s 1976 country and gospel music epic “Nashville.” 7 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
TUESDAY Moulin Rouge! The Musical This Tony-winning jukebox spectacle inspired by the 2001 Baz Luhrmann movie, adapted for the stage by John Logan featuring anachronistic pop hits Elton John, Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna, Katy Perry and more, focuses on the star-crossed romance between a songwriter from a Ohio and the star of the titular nightclub. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 16. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. broadwayinhollywood.com
WEDNESDAY Listening by Moonrise This seasonal series returns for an evening of music, culture and community with performances by Azucar LA, Juan Gabriel impersonator Marco Ortiz and King Dance. 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesday. Los Candiles Night Club, 2100 Cypress Ave., Glassell Park. clockshop.org
Mariology The West Coast premiere of this collaboration between playwright Nancy Keystone and Critical Mass Performance Group explores all things Virgin Mary in a fifth-grade classroom that erupts into fantasy and rebellion. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, through Dec. 7 (check days and times). Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. bostoncourtpasadena.org
THURSDAY Marilyn Minter A solo exhibition of the artist’s work features paintings from four separate but related bodies of work: large-scale portraits (including Nick Cave, Jane Fonda, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman), the “Odalisque” and “After Guston” series, and a selection of Minter’s signature magnified mouths. Opening, 6-8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, through Dec. 20. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. regenprojects.com
Music Restored Violinist Adam Millstein and pianist Dominic Cheli perform works by Martinů, Kaprálová, Smetana and Schulhoff. 7 p.m. Colburn School, Thayer Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
New Original Works (NOW) REDCAT’s annual festival of experimental performance kicks off with a program of works by Maylee Todd, Jacob Wolff, Diana Wyenn and Ammunition Theatre Company. NOW 2025 continues with additional programming Nov. 13-15 and Nov. 20-22. 8 p.m Thursday-Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Alan Edmunds, a psychologist, is the librettist and writer of “Perfect World,” a musical that tells the story of literary child prodigy Barbara Follet, at the El Portal Theatre.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A ‘Perfect’ mystery The little-known story of a child literary prodigy named Barbara Follett — who published her first novel at 12 and disappeared without a trace at 25 — is the subject of a world-premiere musical, “Perfect World,” at El Portal Theatre. I sat down with librettist and co-lyricist Alan Edmunds to talk about his interest in Follett’s story, and how a deep dive into her archives at Columbia University led him to believe it would be a good candidate for the stage.
Pasadena Playhouse classes ramp up A bustling theater school is rising on the century-old campus of the Pasadena Playhouse. More than 400 students per semester are now participating in 14 classes tailored for kids as young as 4 years old, as well as adults in their 80s and everyone in-between. “Education is as core to us as the shows on stage,” producing artistic director Danny Feldman told me in a recent interview.
LACMA unionizes Employees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced earlier this week that they are forming a union, LACMA United, representing more than 300 workers from across all departments, including curators, educators, guest relations associates and others. The move comes just six months before the museum is scheduled to open its new $720-million David Geffen Galleries.
Suntory time for Dudamel Times classical music critic Mark Swed flew to Tokyo to watch Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform two concerts of works by John Adams, Stravinsky and Mahler in Suntory Hall. The stop was part of an Asian tour that also includes Seoul and Taipei.
Manuel Oliver is photographed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. Oliver lost his son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver in the Parkland shooting. Manuel Oliver is now bringing his love of his son and his gun-reform activism to the stage in a one-man show called “Guac.”
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
A father grieves Times theater critic Charles McNulty caught a performance of “Guac” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Manuel Oliver’s powerful one-man show examines the death — and celebrates the life — of his son, 17-year-old Joaquín Oliver, who was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. “The production, written and performed by Oliver, turns a parent’s grief into a theatrical work of activism,” writes McNulty.
Theater hot spot If you know, you know — that’s the verdict on tiny New Theater Hollywood, which has lately taken on an outsize presence on formerly sleepy Theatre Row. “Opening post-pandemic, at a time of rising costs, dwindling audiences and little financial aid, New Theater Hollywood feels like an anomaly. It’s an intricate support system for practitioners to hone their craft in a space dedicated to original theatrical work,” writes Times contributor Emma Madden.
The girl is still having fun A new musical adaptation of the 1988 film “Working Girl” is premiering at La Jolla Playhouse with score by ‘80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper. Ashley Lee has the scoop.
Wine meets art The Donum Estate is home to 60 monumental sculptures by artists including Jaume Plensa, Louise Bourgeois, Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, Doug Aitken, Robert Indiana and Anselm Kiefer, making it quite possibly “the largest private sculpture collection of any winery in the world,” writes Times contributor Sam Lubell in a story about the unique vineyard in California’s Carneros wine region.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
La Jolla, launchpad of musicals La Jolla Playhouse announced its 2026/2027 season, featuring three world-premiere musicals: The Playhouse-commissioned “The Family Album” (book by Sam Chanse and music and lyrics by MILCK, a.k.a. Connie Lim); “GRIM” (book by Joey Orton and Brad Silnutzer, music and lyrics by Petro AP, Scott Hoying, Joey Orton and Brad Silnutzer): and David Henry Hwang’s “Particle Fever,” with music and lyrics by Bear McCreary and Zoe Sarnak, directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman.
D.C. arts purge continues The White House fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts earlier this week, according to an exclusive in the Washington Post. That independent federal agency would have reviewed a number of President Trump’s construction projects, “including his planned triumphal arch and White House ballroom.”
Nobel laureate stripped of visa The first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature has been stripped of his U.S. visa by the Trump administration. The Nigerian author and playwright, Wole Soyinka, received notice of the decision from a U.S. consulate in Lagos on Oct. 23, calling it a “rather curious love letter.”
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Happy Halloween! Looking for something truly scary to watch? Try Game 6 of the World Series, which takes place in Toronto tonight.
From Jack Harris: It was a miserably cold, rainy and gray afternoon outside Rogers Centre on Thursday.
Inside the stadium, however, the Dodgers found some rays of emotional sunshine.
No, this is not where the team wanted to be, facing a 3-2 deficit in the World Series entering Game 6 on Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And no, there was not much to feel good about after a disastrous 48 hours in Games 4 and 5 of this Fall Classic, in which the Dodgers relinquished control of the series and allowed their title-defense campaign to be put on life support.
But during an off-day workout, the club tried to rebound from that disappointment and reframe the downtrodden mindset that permeated the clubhouse after Game 5.
Every player showed up to the ballpark, even though attendance was optional after a long night of travel. “That was pretty exciting for me, and just speaks to where these guys are at,” manager Dave Roberts said. “They realize that the job’s not done.”
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this … and I could dive into my thoughts,” Roberts said of the team’s offensive struggles, which he noted could include another lineup alteration for Game 6.
“But I think at the end of the day,” Roberts continued, “they just have to compete and fight in the batter’s box. It’s one-on-one, the hitter versus the pitcher, and that’s it. Really. I mean, I think that that sort of mindset is all I’ll be looking for. And I expect good things to happen from that.”
Dodgers vs. Toronto at Toronto 11, Dodgers 4 (box score) Dodgers 5, at Toronto 1 (box score) at Dodgers 6, Toronto 5 (18) (box score) Toronto 6, at Dodgers 2 (box score) Toronto 6, at Dodgers 1 (box score)
Friday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio
*Saturday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio
The Rams’ star receiver, who sat out the last game because of an ankle injury, said Thursday that he was “feeling great” and planned to play on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium.
“That’s the plan,” he said after practice. “I’m feeling fantastic. Feel ready to go.”
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The NBA board of governors unanimously approved Mark Walter’s bid to buy a majority stake in the Lakers on Thursday, the league announced, marking a major shift for one of L.A.’s most significant sports teams.
The Lakers had been a family-run team since Dr. Jerry Buss bought the franchise in 1979. When he died in 2013, control went into a family trust with daughter Jeanie Buss acting as the team’s governor. The Buss family built the team into one of the most recognizable brands in sports, eventually attracting a record-breaking $10-billion valuation. While the sale was finalized, Jeanie Buss will be the team’s governor for at least five years after the transaction officially closes, the league announcement stated.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports, defined by a history of excellence and the relentless pursuit of greatness,” Walter said in a statement released by the team. “Few teams carry the legacy and global influence of the Lakers, and it’s a privilege to work alongside Jeanie Buss as we maintain that excellence and set the standard for success in this new era, both on and off the court.”
Lucas Raymond scored in the shootout and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Kings 4-3 on Thursday night.
Marco Kasper scored two goals, and Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist for Detroit. Cam Talbot stopped 35 shots through overtime and denied all three attempts in the tiebreaker as the Red Wings got their third straight win and eighth in the last 10 games.
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, and Alex Laferriere and Corey Perry also scored for the Kings, who had a modest two-game win streak and a six-game point streak (4-0-2). Darcy Kuemper had 24 saves.
1948 — Sammy Baugh of Washington passes for 446 yards and four touchdowns and Dan Sandifer has four interceptions including two for touchdowns as the Redskins beat the Boston Yanks 56-21.
1950 — Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols becomes the first Black man to play in an NBA game. Washington loses 78-70 on the road to the Rochester Royals.
1964 — Kelso, running in what is billed as his final race in New York, wins his fifth consecutive Jockey Club Gold Cup, surpassing Round Table as the all-time money-winning thoroughbred. Kelso runs the 2-mile distance in 3:19 1/5, breaking the world record he set as a 3-year-old, four years earlier, by 1/5 of a second.
1969 — Lenny Wilkens, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach, gets his first coaching victory as the Seattle SuperSonics beats Cincinnati Royals 129-121.
1981 — Florida State freshman Greg Allen rushes for 322 yards in a 56-31 victory over Western Carolina.
1987 — Eric Dickerson, the NFL’s single-season rushing champion, signs a three-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts to complete a three-way trade that nets the Rams two running backs and six top draft choices over the next two years. The third part of the deal sends linebacker Cornelius Bennett to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for three of the draft picks that went to the Rams.
1987 — Jockey Chris Antley becomes the first rider to win nine races in a single day. He has four winners in six mounts at Aqueduct and five winners from eight tries during The Meadowlands’ evening program.
1988 — The first Monday Night NFL game was played in Indianapolis; Colts beat the Broncos 55-23.
1998 — Tee Martin of Tennessee, sets NCAA records with 23 straight completions and 24 over two games in the No. 3 Volunteers’ 49-14 victory over South Carolina. Martin is 23-for-24, with a record completion percentage of 95.8, for 315 yards and four touchdowns.
1999 — Tim Couch completes a desperation 56-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson with no time on the clock to give the expansion Cleveland Browns their first victory, a 21-16 win over New Orleans.
2004 — The New England Patriots lose for the first time in more than a year, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-20. The Patriots had won 21 straight games, including the playoffs, and a league-record 18 in a row in the regular season.
2006 — Miami’s season-opening 108-66 loss to Chicago is the worst loss in NBA history for a defending champion on opening night.
2008 — The North Carolina Tar Heels are No. 1 in The Associated Press’ preseason Top 25, the first unanimous No. 1 since the preseason poll began in 1981-82.
2012 — Jamal Crawford scores 29 points in 30 minutes in his first official game with his new team, and the Clippers convert 21 turnovers into 29 points in a 101-92 victory that extends the Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA-record streak of opening-night losses to 12. The Grizzlies are 0-12 on opening night since the franchise shifted from Vancouver to Memphis in 2001.
2015 — Triple Crown champion American Pharoah wins the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by 6 1/2 lengths in his final race before retirement.
2020 — Endland beats Italy 34-5 in Rome to win the 29th Six-Nations Rugby Championship.
Compiled by the Associated Press
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1972 — Gaylord Perry wins the AL Cy Young Award.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
On an overcast morning in September, Hector Alessandro Negrete left his beloved Los Angeles — the city he was brought to at 3 months old — and headed down Interstate 5 to Mexico, the only country where he held a passport.
It was a place that, to him, had “always felt like both a wound and a possibility.”
Negrete, 43, sat in the passenger seat as a friend steered the car south and two more friends in another car followed. He had condensed his life to three full suitcases and his dachshund mix, Lorca.
They pulled over at the beach in San Clemente. Angel Martinez, his soon-to-be former roommate, is deeply spiritual, and his favorite prayer spot is the ocean, so he prayed that Negrete would be blessed and protected — and Lorca too — as they began a new stage in their lives.
On the near-empty beach, the friends embraced and wiped away tears. Martinez handed Negrete a small watermelon.
As instructed, Negrete walked to the edge of the water, said his own prayer and, as a gift of thanks to the cosmos, plopped it into a crashing wave.
Negrete, holding a drink, embraces his friend Angel Martinez as they visit a drag club in Tijuana after leaving Los Angeles a day earlier.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete doesn’t call it self-deportation.
“Self-repatriation,” he said. “I refuse to use this administration’s language.”
President Trump had been in office just over a month when Negrete decided he would return to Mexico. Methodical by nature, he approached the decision like any other — by researching, organizing and planning.
He registered Lorca as an emotional support animal, paid for a vaccine card and a certificate of good health, and crate-trained her in a TSA-approved carrier.
He announced his decision to leave in June on his Substack newsletter: “If you’re thinking, ‘Alessandro’s giving up,’ look deeper. I am choosing freedom. For the first time, I feel unshackled from the expectations of waiting.”
Negrete walks the streets of Boyle Heights while shopping for moving supplies after deciding he would leave the U.S. on his own terms.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete had grown tired of wishing for immigration reform. He had built his career advocating for immigrants such as himself, including stints as statewide coordinator for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, and as executive director for the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.
He said his work had helped legalize street vending in Los Angeles and he assisted the office of then-California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris in securing the release of a young woman from immigration detention. He was the first openly undocumented and LGBTQ+ person on the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council.
Under previous administrations, Negrete’s political work had felt like a shield against deportation. Even during Trump’s first term, Negrete had marched at rallies denouncing his immigration policies.
But that was before the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrols that tore into Southern California during Trump’s second term. On June 6, as anti-ICE protesters took to the streets, Negrete rushed to downtown Los Angeles when fellow activists told him street medics were needed.
“One of my homies said, ‘Hey fool, what are you doing here?’” he recalled. Seeing Los Angeles police officers advancing on the crowd, he realized that no amount of public support could protect him.
He fled. “Thank God I left.”
Negrete, in red, with his friends and colleagues at a farewell party and yard sale in August.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
In mid-August, Negrete hosted a yard sale and going away party. The flier was tongue-in-cheek: “Everything must go! Including me!”
His red T-shirt stated plainly, “I AM UNDOCUMENTED,” and his aviator sunglasses hid the occasional tears. Tattoos dotted his extremities, including an anchor on his right leg with the words “I refuse to sink.”
“I think it hit me when I started packing my stuff today,” he told a former colleague, Shruti Garg, who had arrived early.
“But the way you’ve invited everyone to join you is so beautiful,” she replied.
One table held American pop-culture knickknacks — sippy cups with Ghostface from the movie “Scream,” collectible Mickey Mouse ears, a Detective Batman purse shaped like a comic book, another purse shaped like the locker from the ‘90s cartoon “Daria.”
Share via
Negrete said the items reminded him of his youth and represented the gothic, quirky aspects of his personality.
“I was born in Mexico, but I don’t know Mexico,” he said. “So I’m leaving the American parts of me that are no longer going to serve me.”
The back yard slowly filled with loved ones from Negrete’s various social circles. There was his mostly queer softball team — the Peacocks — his running group, his chosen family and his blood family.
Negrete’s close friend Joel Menjivar looked solemn.
“I’m scared it’s going to start a movement,” he said. “Undocumented or DACA friends who are talented and integral to the fabric of L.A. might get ideas to leave.”
Another friend, Mario Mariscal, said he took Negrete’s decision the hardest, though at first he didn’t believe Negrete was serious. More than once he asked, “You really want to give up everything you’ve built here for a new start in Mexico?”
Eventually, Negrete had to tell Mariscal that his questions weren’t helpful. During a deeper conversation about his decision, Negrete shared that he was tired of living with the constant fear of getting picked up, herded into an unmarked van and taken away.
“I just kept telling him, ‘That’s not going to happen to you,’” Mariscal said. “But the more this administration keeps doing it, the more it’s in our face, the more we’re seeing every horror story about that, it became clear that, you know what, you do have a point. You do have to do what’s right for you.”
Negrete continues packing for his move to Mexico as roommate Martinez works at their Boyle Heights home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete is cognizant of the privilege that makes his departure different from that of many other immigrants. He is white-passing, fluent in Spanish and English, and moved with $10,000 in savings.
In June, he was hired as executive director of a U.S.-based nonprofit, Old School Hub, that works to combat ageism around the world. The role allowed him to live wherever he wanted.
He decided to settle in Guadalajara, a growing technology hub, with historic buildings featuring Gothic architecture that he found beautiful. It also helped that Guadalajara has one of the country’s most vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes and is a four-hour drive from Puerto Vallarta, a renowned queer resort destination.
As Negrete began his new job while still in L.A., he picked a moving date — Sept. 4 — and booked a two-week Airbnb near the baseball stadium.
That Guadalajara’s team, the Charros de Jalisco, wore Dodger blue felt like a good omen.
On the day he left the United States, Negrete and Martinez hold a prayer at the beach in San Clemente in which Negrete offers thanks to the universe with an offering of a watermelon.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
On the drive toward the border, messages poured into Negrete’s phone.
“I’m sending you all my love Alessandro,” one read. “Cuídate. [Take care.] Know that even though you’re far away from home, you carry us with you.”
“Todo te va a salir bien,” read another. Everything will go well for you, it said. “Spread your wings and flyyyyy.”
Afraid of being stopped and detained at the airport, as has happened to other immigrants attempting to leave the country, Negrete preferred to drive to Tijuana and then fly to Guadalajara.
Negrete’s driver, his friend Jorge Leonardo, turned into a parking lot at the sign reading “LAST USA EXIT.”
Negrete put on his black felt tejana hat and called Iris Rodriguez, who was in the companion car. He asked her to cross on foot with him.
Negrete walks his last few steps on American soil as he enters Mexico en route to Guadalajara, his new home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“I don’t want to go alone,” he said.
“We’re still on American soil,” Leonardo said. “You can still change your mind.”
Negrete ignored him.
“See y’all on the other side,” he said as he hopped out of the car.
He and Rodriguez stopped for photos in front of a sign with an arrow pointing “To Mexico.” Around a corner, the border came into full view — a metal turnstile with layers of concertina wire above it.
The line for Mexicanos was unceremoniously quick. The immigration agent barely glanced at Negrete’s passport before waving him through.
On the other side, a busker sang “Piano Man” by Billy Joel in perfect English.
“Welcome to the motherland,” Rodriguez told him. Negrete let out a deep breath.
Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara, where he now lives.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete’s immediate family members, and almost all of his extended family, live in the U.S.
He was born in Manzanillo, Colima, in 1982. Three months later, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where his parents had two more children.
At 17, Negrete was one of two students in his graduating class at Roosevelt High School to get into UC Berkeley. That’s when he found out he didn’t have papers.
His parents had divorced and his father married a U.S. citizen, obtaining a green card when Negrete was at Roosevelt. They began the legalization process for Negrete in 1999, he said, but two years later he came out to his family as gay.
His father was unsupportive and refused to continue seeking to adjust his immigration status. By the time they mended their relationship, it was too late. Negrete had aged out of the pathway at 21.
In 2008, Negrete said, he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Four years later, President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Negrete failed to qualify because of the DUI.
He said he got his record expunged in 2016, but — again — it was too late.
Negrete waited until his last night in the U.S. to tell his mother, who now lives in Colorado, that he was leaving. He had grown tired of friends and other family members begging him to change his mind.
He had partially hinged his decision on the fact that his mom was in remission from her third bout with cancer and had just obtained legal residency. With life more stable for her, he could finally seek stability for himself.
“You taught me to dream,” Negrete recalled telling her. “This is me dreaming. I want to see the world.”
She cried and scolded him, promising to visit and repeating what she had said when he came out to her all those years before: “I wish you told me sooner.”
At a hotel in Tijuana, Negrete’s emotions finally caught up with him.
The day after Negrete and his three friends left L.A., three more friends surprised him by arriving in Tijuana for a final Friday night out together. One of them presented a gift he had put together with help from Negrete’s entire social circle — a video with loved ones sharing messages of encouragement.
Negrete shares a tearful moment with his friend Joel Menjivar, who gifted him a self-produced video of friends and colleagues offering good wishes.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
In Negrete’s hotel room, as he and his friends watched, the mood grew sentimental.
“You’re basically the one that formed the family friend tree,” one friend said in her clip. “Friendships do not die out in distance.”
Negrete sobbed. “Yes! Friendships don’t have borders,” he said.
“Every single one of you has said this hasn’t hit y’all, like it’s a mini vacation,” he said. “I want to think of it as an extended vacation.”
“This isn’t goodbye, this is we’ll see each other soon,” he continued.
Off his soapbox, Negrete then chided his friends for making him cry before heading to a drag show.
Negrete had a habit of leaving social gatherings abruptly. His friends joked that they would refer to him as “catch me on the 101” because every time he disappeared during a night out, they would open Apple’s Find My app and see him on the freeway heading home.
“We’re not gonna catch him on the 101 no more,” Martinez said.
The last few flights of stairs lead Iris Rodriguez and Negrete to his Airbnb apartment in Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
On the flight to Guadalajara, Negrete’s heart raced and he began to hyperventilate. The anxiety attack caught him off guard.
Negrete had worked hard to show his friends and family that he was happy, because he didn’t want them to think he had doubts — and he had none. But he began to worry about the unknown and to mourn his former dreams of gaining legal status and running for public office.
“It hit me all at once,” he recounted. “I am three hours away from a whole new life that I don’t know. I left everything and I don’t know what’s next.”
Many deep breaths by Negrete later, the plane descended through the clouds, revealing vibrant green fields and a cantaloupe-hued sunset.
Negrete tests the bed at his temporary home in Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Inside the Airbnb, he was surprised to find a clothesline instead of a dryer. Noticing the blue 5-gallon jug of water in the kitchen, he remarked that he would have to remember tap water wasn’t safe to cook with. But alongside the new was something familiar: The view from his 11–story apartment showed off a sprawling metropolis dotted with trees, some of them palms.
The next day started off like any Sunday, with a trip to Walmart and drag brunch.
Negrete marveled at the cost of a large carton of egg whites ($1) and was shocked to see eggs stored at room temperature, liquid laundry detergent in bags and only single-ply toilet paper. He treated himself to a Darth Vader coffee mug and a teapot featuring characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
After brunch, it was time to play tourist. Negrete was accompanied by Rodriguez, who stayed with him for the first two weeks, and a new friend, Alejandro Preciado, whom he had met at Coachella in April and happened to be a Guadajalara local.
Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara. He was drawn to the city, in part, by its Gothic architecture.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Their first stop was the city’s Spanish Renaissance cathedral, where Negrete said a quick prayer to the Virgin Mary at his mother’s request. Negrete treated his friends to an electric carriage ride around the historic buildings, where he excitedly pointed out the Gothic architecture, then they bought aguas frescas and walked through an open-air market, chatting in an English-heavy Spanglish.
“I’m trying to look at how people dress,” Negrete said, suddenly self-conscious about his short shorts. “I’m pretty sure I stand out.”
After dinner, Negrete was booking an Uber back to his Airbnb when a message popped up: “We’ve detected unusual activity.”
The app didn’t know he had moved.
Before he arrived in Guadalajara, Negrete had already joined an intramural baseball team and a running club. Practices began days after his arrival.
Negrete enjoys a view of the sprawling hills of Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Within a month, he moved into an apartment, visited Mexico City and reconnected with aunts in Mexico City and Guadalajara he hadn’t seen in decades.
He reflected on the small joys of greeting neighborhood señoras on morning dog walks, discovering the depths of Mexican cuisine and the peace of mind that came with no longer feeling like a target — though he’ll still freeze at the sight of police lights.
Still, Negrete remained glued to U.S. politics. In late September, the federal government detailed plans to begin processing initial DACA applications for the first time in four years. Had Negrete stayed in the U.S., he would have finally qualified for a reprieve.
He isn’t regretful.
Lorca greets Negrete as he arrives home after touring Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
His new dreams are wide-ranging. He wants to buy a house in Rosarito, where friends and family from L.A. could visit him. He wants to travel the world, starting with a trip to Spain. And he wants to help U.S. organizations build resources for other immigrants who are considering repatriating.
The goal isn’t to encourage people to leave, he said, but to show them they have agency.
“I actually did it,” he said. “I did it, and I’m OK.”
Now, he said, Mexico feels like an estranged relative that he’s getting to know again.
A Nov. 4 statewide ballot measure pushed by California Democrats to help the party’s efforts to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives and stifle President Trump’s agenda has a substantial lead in a new poll released on Thursday.
Notable in an off-year special election about the arcane and complicated process of redistricting, 71% of likely voters said they had heard a significant amount of information about the ballot measure, according to the poll.
“That’s extraordinary,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the IGS poll. “Even though it’s kind of an esoteric topic that doesn’t affect their daily lives, it’s something voters are paying attention to.”
That may be because roughly $158 million has been donated in less than three months to the main campaign committees supporting and opposing the measure, according to campaign fundraising reports filed with the state last week. Voters in the state have been flooded with political ads.
Californians watching Tuesday night’s World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays saw that firsthand.
In the first minutes of the game, former President Obama, Newsom, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other prominent Democrats spoke in favor of Proposition 50 in an ad that probably cost at least $250,000 to air, according to a Democratic media buyer who is not associated with the campaign.
According to the survey, the breakdown among voters was highly partisan, with more than 9 out of 10 Democrats supporting Proposition 50 and a similar proportion of Republicans opposing it. Among voters who belong to other parties, or identify as “no party preference,” 57% favored the ballot measure, while 39% opposed it.
Only 2% of the likely voters surveyed said they were undecided, which DiCamillo said was highly unusual.
Historically, undecided voters, particularly independents, often end up opposing ballot measures they are uncertain about, preferring to stick with the status quo, he said.
“Usually there was always a rule — look at the undecideds in late-breaking polls, and assume most would vote no,” he said. “But this poll shows there are very few of them out there. Voters have a bead on this one.”
In the voter-rich urban areas of Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay area, Proposition 50 led by wide margins, the poll found. Voters in Orange County, the Inland Empire and the Central Valley were pretty evenly divided.
Redistricting battles are underway in states across the nation, but California’s Proposition 50 has received a major share of national attention and donations. The Newsom committee supporting Proposition 50 has raised far more money than the two main committees opposing it, so much so that the governor this week told supporters to stop sending checks.
The U.S. House of Representatives is controlled by the GOP but is narrowly divided. The party that wins control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections will determine whether Trump can continue enacting his agenda or whether he is the subject of investigations and possibly another impeachment effort.
California’s 52 congressional districts — the most of any state — currently are drawn by a voter-approved independent commission once every decade following the U.S. census.
But after Trump urged GOP leaders in Texas this summer to redraw their districts to bolster the number of Republicans in Congress, Newsom and other California Democrats decided in August to ask voters to allow a rare mid-decade partisan redrawing of the state’s district boundaries. If passed, Proposition 50 could potentially add five more Democrats to the state’s congressional delegation.
Supporters of Proposition 50 have painted their effort as a proxy fight against Trump and his policies that have overwhelmingly affected Californians, such as immigration raids and the deployment of the National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles.
Opponents of the proposition have focused on the mechanics of redistricting, arguing the ballot measure subverts the will of California voters who enacted the independent redistricting commission more than a decade ago.
“The results suggest that Democrats have succeeded in framing the debate surrounding the proposition around support or opposition to President Trump and national Republicans, rather than about voters’ more general preference for nonpartisan redistricting,” Eric Schickler, co-director of IGS, said in a statement.
Early voting data suggest the pro-Proposition 50 message has been successful.
As of Tuesday, nearly 5 million Californians — about 21% of the state’s 23 million registered voters — had cast ballots, according to trackers run by Democratic and Republican strategists.
Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans among the state’s registered voters, and they have outpaced them in returning ballots, 52% to 27%. Voters who do not have a party preference or who support other political parties have returned 21% of the ballots.
The Berkeley/L.A. Times poll findings mirrored recent surveys by the Public Policy Institute of California, CBS News/YouGov and Emerson College.
Among voters surveyed by the Berkeley/L.A. Times poll, 67% of Californians who had already voted supported Proposition 50, while 33% said they had weighed in against the ballot measure.
The proposition also had an edge among those who planned to vote but had not yet cast their ballots, with 57% saying they planned to support the effort and 40% saying they planned to oppose it.
However, 70% of voters who plan to cast ballots in person on Nov. 4, election day, said they would vote against Proposition 50, according to the poll. Less than 3 in 10 who said they would vote at their local polling place said they would support the rare mid-decade redistricting.
These numbers highlight a recent shift in how Americans vote. Historically, Republicans voted by mail early, while Democrats cast ballots on election day. But this dynamic was upended in recent years after Trump questioned the security of early voting and mail voting, including just recently when he criticized Proposition 50.
“No mail-in or ‘Early’ Voting, Yes to Voter ID! Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is! Millions of Ballots being ‘shipped,’” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “GET SMART REPUBLICANS, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!”
GOP leaders across the state have pushed back at such messaging without calling out the president. Urging Republicans to vote early, they argue that waiting to cast ballots only gives Democrats a greater advantage in California elections.
Among the arguments promoted by the campaigns, likely voters agreed with every one posited by the supporters of Proposition 50, notably that the ballot measure would help Democrats win control of the House, while standing up to Trump and his attempts to rig the 2026 election, according to the poll. But they also agreed that the ballot measure would further diminish the power of the GOP in California, and that they didn’t trust partisan state lawmakers to draw congressional districts.
The Berkeley IGS/Times poll surveyed 8,141 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from Oct. 20 to 27. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.
The NBA board of governors unanimously approved Mark Walter’s bid to buy a majority stake in the Lakers on Thursday, the league announced, marking a major shift for one of L.A.’s most significant sports teams.
The Lakers had been a family-run team since Dr. Jerry Buss bought the franchise in 1979. When he died in 2013, control went into a family trust with daughter Jeanie Buss acting as the team’s governor. The Buss family built the team into one of the most recognizable brands in sports, eventually attracting a record-breaking $10-billion valuation. While the sale was finalized, Jeanie Buss will be the team’s governor for at least five years after the transaction officially closes, the league announcement stated.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports, defined by a history of excellence and the relentless pursuit of greatness,” Walter said in a statement released by the team. “Few teams carry the legacy and global influence of the Lakers, and it’s a privilege to work alongside Jeanie Buss as we maintain that excellence and set the standard for success in this new era, both on and off the court.”
Walter, who also heads the group that owns the Dodgers and the Sparks, was seated next to Buss at the Lakers’ season opener on Oct. 21. Walter and Todd Boehly have been minority stakeholders in the Lakers since 2021 when they bought 27% of the franchise.
To represent the team as a governor, a minority owner must have at least 15% stake of their team. Buss will continue to oversee day-to-day team operations for the foreseeable future, the Lakers announced.
“Over the past decade, I have come to know Mark well — first as a businessman, then as a friend and now as a colleague,” Buss said in a statement. “He has demonstrated time and time again his commitment to bringing championships to Los Angeles, and, on behalf of Lakers fans everywhere, I am beyond excited about what our future has in store.”
During a recent Lakers game, when the camera panned to Buss and Walter sitting courtside, Buss held one finger up to show off a gaudy Lakers championship ring. In 2020, she became the first female controlling owner to win an NBA championship as the Lakers collected their 17th title.
With 11 championships under the Buss family’s watch, the Lakers became a global sports phenomenon with stars including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant plus the latest wave of LeBron James and Luka Doncic. When Doncic signed a three-year, $165-million contract extension in August, the 26-year-old superstar thanked both Walter and Buss for their belief in his talent.
