los angeles times

Nexstar Media Group will host a California gubernatorial candidate debate next week that will air across the company’s TV stations in the state.

“Debate Night in California: The Race for Governor,” will air April 22 starting at 7 p.m. Pacific, the company announced Monday. The event will originate from TV station KRON in San Francisco and be carried on KTLA in Los Angeles, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KGET in Bakersfield and KSEE in Fresno.

The debate will be moderated by Nikki Laurenzo, news anchor at KTXL and host of its public affairs program “Inside California Politics,” and Frank Buckley, veteran morning news anchor at KTLA.

The debate will include candidates who reached a minimum of 5% support in Nexstar’s March statewide poll conducted in March. Those candidates — Sheriff Chad Bianco, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and philanthropist Tom Steyer — have all agreed to participate in the event.

The debate will also air nationally on Nexstar’s cable news outlet NewsNation and be livestreamed over its political website The Hill. The network will also provide coverage leading up to the event with anchors Chris Cuomo and Leland Vittert, whose show will air live from San Francisco. Katie Pavlich will host post-debate coverage.

CNN previously announced it will bring the gubernatorial candidates together for a debate in Los Angeles that will air May 5 on the network and its subscription streaming platform. The debate will be moderated by Elex Michaelson and Kaitlan Collins.

Lakers to face a physical Rockets team

From Broderick Turner: They know the playoff opponent and how difficult that assignment will be for this group of Lakers when they open the postseason against the physical and rugged Houston Rockets.

They know they will be without two of their main cogs in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves when Game 1 kicks off Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena and they know this group of Lakers will have to dig deeper than any time this season in this best-of-seven series.

They finished the 82-game regular season on a three-game winning streak that gave the Lakers the fourth seed in the Western Conference after their 131-107 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday at home.

And it gave the Lakers a date with the fifth-seeded Rockets.

“Again, we have tried for the last six weeks to build towards the playoffs, both in our mentality, with our habits, all that stuff,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We knew the reality, whether we got 3, 4, 5, 6, whatever it was, there’s no easy matchup. All those teams slotted there are tough teams, whether it was going to end up being Denver, Minnesota or Houston.

“Houston’s obviously a really, really good basketball team, and we’re going to prepare, and we’re going to fight and we’re going to go try to win a series….Going into today, we told the team, it’s not about the opponent, it’s about us, and now it is about the opponent. And we’re going to do everything we can to get our guys in a great frame of mind, in a great physical shape over the next four or five days and be ready to play.”

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Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers beat Warriors

Bennedict Mathurin had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists off the bench, and the Clippers defeated the Golden State Warriors 115-110 on Sunday in a play-in tournament preview.

The Clippers settled for the No. 9 seed and will host the 10th-seeded Warriors on Wednesday after Portland beat Sacramento 122-110 to claim the eighth seed. The Clippers and Trail Blazers finished with identical 42-40 records, but Portland won the tiebreaker based on its better Western Conference record.

The Clippers began the season 6-21 and rallied to extend their franchise-record streak of 15 seasons with a winning record, the longest active run in the NBA and fourth-longest in league history.

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Clippers box score

NBA standings

Dodgers lose to Rangers

From Maddie Lee: As Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz prepared to play catch on the field before the series finale Sunday against the Texas Rangers, he hoped to be available in a save situation.

“I’m really happy with how I’m feeling today,” he said before the Dodgers’ 5-2 loss Sunday, emphasizing that he wasn’t dealing with any physical ailments.

He’d been unavailable the night before during the Dodgers’ 6-3 win. So manager Dave Roberts went to right-hander Blake Treinen to begin the ninth, and then, after a walk and an error by third baseman Max Muncy, had left-hander Alex Vesia come in to get the last out.

On Friday, Díaz had blown a save opportunity for the first time in his early Dodgers tenure. But Muncy’s walk-off homer secured the win.

Díaz’s velocity has been down this season and Friday, his fastball velocity sat at 95.5 mph and slider at 87.8, according to Statcast, 1.7 mph and 1.3 mph down from last season, respectively.

“Two miles an hour, that’s pretty significant,” Roberts said Sunday. “So I think that’s why we sort of flagged it. We wanted to have him down [Saturday] and kind of see what we get. Because a couple days ago there were a lot of throws in there too. So just trying to also, like we’ve done many times, play the long game with our guys.”

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It’s time for Roki Sasaki to take next step

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels defeat the Reds

José Soriano struck out 10 over seven shutout innings to become the major leagues’ first four-game winner, and the Angels beat the Reds 9-6 Sunday for their first series victory at Cincinnati since 2007.

Soriano (4-0) gave up two hits and three walks, throwing 106 pitches and lowering his big league-best ERA to 0.33. He became the first Angels pitcher to win his first four games since Jered Weaver won six straight in 2011.

The Angels opened a 9-0 lead in the eighth inning and took two of three for its first series win at Cincinnati since winning two of three from June 12-14, 2007.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Rory McIlroy wins the Masters

From Sam Farmer: The night before making history at the Masters, Rory McIlroy was a solitary figure on the illuminated driving range at Augusta National, fine-tuning his shots after a frustrating third round.

Sunday evening, McIlroy stood alone again, this time in glory as the first to win back-to-back green jackets since Tiger Woods in 2002.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the grand slam,” McIlroy said. “And then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters.”

In doing so, he became the fourth man to win twice in a row, joining Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus. It was the sixth major championship for McIlroy, who grew up in Northern Ireland, tying him with Faldo for the most majors by a European player in the modern era.

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How the Masters protects its green jackets and other tales from golf’s exclusive club

Masters leaderboard

Ducks still one point short of playoffs

From Kevin Baxter: The Ducks held their annual fan appreciation day Sunday, handing out thousands of gifts, from a new car to team jerseys and gift cards. But the one prize the Ducks’ long-suffering fans really wanted, a playoff berth, remained just out of reach.

Needing a win to clinch a postseason berth for the first time since 2018, the Ducks lost a sloppy 4-3 overtime decision to the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL’s worst team, leaving them a point shy of the playoffs with two games to play. The loss was the seventh in eight games for the Ducks, who have tumbled from first to third in the Pacific Division standings and may now have to settle for a wild-card berth.

So they’ll hit the road Monday for their final two games of the regular season needing one point from games in Minnesota and Nashville. The Ducks could also back into the playoffs if Nashville losses either of its final two games.

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Ducks summary

NHL standings

Rogie Vachon is happy in retirement

From Kevin Baxter: The black-and-white photo is as dated as it is iconic.

It shows Rogie Vachon, left hand tucked into a pocket of his bell-bottom jeans and a cigar wedged between two fingers of his right hand, which rests on the hood of a new Mercedes in an empty parking lot outside the Forum. His open V-neck shirt has huge lapels, his hair hangs down to his shoulders and a bushy mustache creases his smiling face, leaving Vachon looking more like the bassist for Spinal Tap than an NHL goaltender.

And that was the point.

Hockey was a bruising, inelegant sport played in the frozen tundra of Canada and the upper Midwest when Vachon was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Kings in the winter of 1971. The NHL had expanded to California four seasons earlier, yet even taken together the Kings and California Seals weren’t drawing enough fans to merit the word “crowd.”

“We were the punchline of a bad joke for a lot of years,” said Mike Murphy, who played with Vachon on those early Kings teams.

Hockey was wilting in the sun. If the sport was going to survive in the desert it needed stars, it needed personalities and it needed a cultural makeover — especially in Los Angeles, where the box-office draw was everything.

That’s where Vachon, a small-town farm boy from French-speaking Quebec, came in.

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This day in sports history

1927 — Stanley Cup Final, Ottawa Senators beat Boston Bruins, 3-1 for a 2-0-2 series win.

1933 — Stanley Cup Final, New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-0 in OT for a 3-1 series win; first best-of-4 Finals series.

1940 — The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.

1940 — Dutch Warmerdam becomes the first man to clear 15 feet in the pole vault in a small track meet at Cal Berkeley. Warmerdam, the last to set records with a bamboo pole, will have 43 vaults over 15 feet at a time when no other vaulter in the world clears 15 feet.

1942 — 9th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Byron Nelson wins an 18-hole playoff by 1 stroke over runner-up Ben Hogan.

1944 — Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 in overtime for a 4-0 series sweep.

1949 — Basketball Association of America Finals: Minneapolis Lakers beat Washington Capitols, 77-56 to take series, 4 games to 2.

1957 — The Boston Celtics capture their first NBA championship as rookie Tommy Heinsohn scores 37 points and grabs 23 rebounds in a 125-123 double overtime victory over the St. Louis Hawks in Game 7. Rookie Bill Russell scores 19 points and pulls down a game-high 32 rebounds. Russell wins a NCAA title, an Olympic gold medal and an NBA championship in 13 months.

1963 — 33rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: George Archer wins his only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Billy Casper, George Knudson, and Tom Weiskopf.

1970 — Billy Casper wins the Masters with a five-stroke playoff victory over Gene Littler.

1975 — 39th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Jack Nicklaus wins his 5th Masters title.

1976 — 1st NBA playoff game for Cleveland Cavaliers.

1980 — Seve Ballesteros, 23, becomes the youngest to win the Masters, with a four-stroke victory.

1980 — U.S. and its allies boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

1986 — Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters for a record sixth time and at 46 becomes the oldest to win the event.

1986 — The Celtics end the 1985-86 season with a 135-107 win over the New Jersey Nets at Boston Garden and finish with an NBA-record 40-1 at home.

1991 — Pete Weber wins four games to become the second player in PBA history to win the BPAA U.S. Open twice, this time with a 289-184 victory over Mark Thayer.

1992 — Lou Carnesecca retires as head-coach of St John’s men’s basketball team.

1997 — Tiger Woods wins the Masters by a record 12 strokes at Augusta National. Closing with a 69, Woods finished at 18-under 270, the lowest score in the Masters and matching the most under par by anyone in any of the four Grand Slam events.

1997 — Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mario Lemieux’s last NHL regular season game.

2003 — Mike Weir becomes the first Canadian to win the Masters after the first sudden-death playoff in 13 years.

2008 — Trevor Immelman handles the wind and pressure of Augusta National far better than anyone chasing him to win the Masters, the first South African in a green jacket in 30 years.

2012 — Martin Brodeur stops 24 shots for his 100th postseason win, and a three-goal first period is enough to help the New Jersey Devils spoil the Florida Panthers’ long-awaited return to the Stanley Cup playoffs in a 3-2 victory. Brodeur also picks up an assist for his 10th postseason point, while becoming the second goalie in NHL history to reach triple-figures in playoff wins. Only Patrick Roy has more, with 151.

2014 — 78th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bubba Watson wins his 2nd Masters, three shots ahead of runners-up Jonas Blixt and Jordan Spieth.

2014 — Manny Pacquiao defeats Timothy Bradley to regain his WBO welterweight boxing title.

2019 — San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich surpasses Lenny Wilkens to became the all-time winningest coach in NBA history with his 1,413th win.

2025 — Rory McIlroy wins his first Masters Tournament and completes a career Grand Slam.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1914 — The first Federal League game was played in Baltimore and the Terrapins defeated Buffalo, 3-2, behind Jack Quinn. A crowd estimated at 27,000 stood 15 rows deep in the outfield to witness the return of major league baseball to Baltimore.

1921 — With new U.S. President Warren G. Harding, former president Woodrow Wilson, and VP Calvin Coolidge watching, the Washington Senators lose their home opener, 6-3, to the Boston Red Sox.

1933 — Sammy West of St. Louis went 6-for-6 in an 11-inning win over the Chicago White Sox. He had five singles and a double off Ted Lyons.

1953 — For the first time in half a century, a new city was represented in the American or National leagues. The Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee and opened in Cincinnati, where Max Surkont set down the Reds, 2-0.

1954 — Henry Aaron made his major league debut in left field for the Milwaukee Braves and went 0-for-5 in a 9-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati’s Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first major league game.

963 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds tripled off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend for his first major league hit.

1972 — The first player strike in baseball history ended.

1984 — Montreal’s Pete Rose got his 4,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia pitcher Jerry Koosman. The hit came exactly 21 years after his first hit. Rose would score on Tim Raines’ one-out single, sliding into home to give Montreal a 4-1 lead in their eventual 5-1 victory.

1987 — The San Diego Padres set a major league record when the first three batters in the bottom of the first inning hit homers off San Francisco starter Roger Mason in their home opener. The Padres, trailing 2-0, got homers from Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk.

1993 — Lee Smith became the all-time saves leader as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dodgers 9-7. Smith got his 358th save, surpassing Jeff Reardon of the Cincinnati Reds.

1998 — Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Seattle Mariners hits his 300th home run to become the second-youngest player to reach the milestone.

1999 — Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez drove in nine runs in the Rangers’ 15-6 victory at Seattle.

2004 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball’s career list.

2009 — Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle as the Dodgers beat Randy Johnson and San Francisco 11-1.

2009 — Jody Gerut christened the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, with a leadoff homer in San Diego’s 6-5 win over New York. Gerut’s shot off Mike Pelfrey marked the first time in history that the first batter homered in a regular-season opener at a major league ballpark.

2011 — A federal jury convicted Barry Bonds of a single charge of obstruction of justice, but failed to reach a verdict on the three counts at the heart of allegations that he knowingly used steroids and human growth hormone and lied to a grand jury about it.

2018 — Houston’s Gerrit Cole struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings to lead the Astros to a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers. Cole joined Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers in major league history to strike out at least 11 in three consecutive starts to start a season. Cole also set an major league record with 36 strikeouts in his first three starts with a new team, surpassing Randy Johnson in 1999 with Arizona (34).

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s midseason in high school baseball, so let’s take a look at players producing results.

The producers

Sophomore Tyler George of Santa Margarita is 7-0 with an 0.85 ERA.

(Greg Townsend)

The mad rush to earn an automatic playoff berth in the Southern Section and earn the No. 1 seed in the City Section has begun in high school baseball. At midseason, Orange Lutheran is No. 1 in the Southern Section. El Camino Real or Bell are trending toward No. 1 in the City Section.

As far as players, sophomore Tyler George of Santa Margarita has had a dream season pitching. He’s 7-0 with an 0.85 ERA and just two walks in 41 1/3 innings.

Catcher Brady Murrietta has been like a superhero for Orange Lutheran behind the plate, leading, grinding and delivering.

Pitcher Dustin Dunwoody of Royal has an 0.18 ERA.

Here’s a list of players delivering big results at midseason.

Baseball

Orange Lutheran’s Ricardo Hurtado (left) and Blake Killinger were the offensive and defensive MVP of the Boras Classic.

(Nick Koza)

Orange Lutheran, which won the National High School Invitational in North Carolina, added the Boras Classic South to its resume, beating Norco 4-1 in the championship game. Here’s the report.

Orange Lutheran is No. 1 and Norco No. 1 in the new top 25 rankings by The Times.

Agoura freshman pitcher Zach Partee threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Calabasas, which came back to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Chargers 10-9 on Friday.

Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame play a three-game series this week that could decide the Mission League title.

Orange Lutheran will play St. Mary’s on Saturday at Santa Clara University for the Boras Classic title.

South Gate had the biggest upset of the week, handing Bell a rare defeat in the Eastern League 7-3.

El Camino Real has a one-game lead over Birmingham in the West Valley League. The Valley Mission League has Poly and Sylmar tied with 6-1 records and North Hollywood at 5-2. Poly and North Hollywood have a two-game series this week.

Carson is atop the Marine League at 5-0.

Softball

Norco’s Leighton Gray (left), Peyton May and Saddie Burroughs.

(Nick Koza)

Norco (17-2) got its revenge, beating Fullerton and JSerra, the two teams that have wins over the Cougars. Peyton May and Coral Williams continue to be solid pitchers for Norco.

Murrieta Mesa is rolling along with an 18-0 record. Sophomore Tatum Wolff leads the team with a .552 batting average, including 32 hits, 20 RBIs and five home runs.

Orange Lutheran won a tournament championship over Thousand Oaks 6-1. It was quite a week pitching and hitting for Rylee Silva. The Lancers resume Trinity League with a challenging two-game week facing Santa Margarita and Mater Dei. Coach Steve Miklos earned victory No. 600.

Granada Hills opened West Valley League play with an important 7-3 win over El Camino Real. The Highlanders are 7-8 overall after facing Southern Section teams.

Carson is 2-0 in the Marine League and has games against Narbonne, Banning and Long Beach Poly this week.

Here’s the top 20 Southland softball rankings.

Track

Olympian Quincy Wilson (center) cruises to victory in the 400-meter dash in a meet record 45.48 seconds.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

The chance to see Olympian Quincy Wilson run in the 400 on Saturday night helped draw a record crowd of more than 14,000 for two days of the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High.

Wilson broke Michael Norman’s meet record, running 45.48 seconds.

Servite’s 4×100 relay team put on quite a show, breaking its own state record with a time of 39.70.

It’s pretty amazing because the relay team is made up of three sophomores and a junior. Kudos goes to coach Brandon Thomas. Benjamin Harris won the 100 meters in 10.32 seconds.

Thomas also helps coach the sister school, Rosary, whose girls’ 4×100 relay team also went beyond fast.

Here’s the report from the Arcadia Invitational.

Golf

Junior Jake Norr of Palisades made a hole-in-one at Woodley Lakes earlier this week while going 6-under par in nine holes.

(Palisades High)

The week could not have gone better for Palisades golfer Jake Norr, who recorded two holes in one on different courses.

Here’s the report on his memorable week.

Santa Margarita is looking strong in the Southern Section after winning a tournament in Palm Springs. Brayden Jones of Mater Dei was the individual champion.

St. Francis sophomore golfer Jaden Soong is taking this week off from playing with his high school team to travel to Dallas to play in the U.S. vs. Sweden junior golf competition. Soong won the CIF state title as a freshman.

Lacrosse

Loyola’s lacrosse team took a trip to the University of Notre Dame to play several matches. The Cubs lost to Salesianum from Delaware 14-6. They defeated Seton Hall Prep 15-10. They return home to face Foothill on Wednesday.

Loyola continues to top the boys lacrosse rankings in the Southern Section with St. Margaret’s No. 2.

In the girls’ rankings, Santa Margarita and Mira Costa rank No. 1 and No. 2.

Volleyball

Mateo Fuerbringer of Mira Costa is a 6-foot-5 junior volleyball player committed to UCLA.

(Steve Galluzzo)

The No. 1 volleyball prospect in the nation from the class of 2027 is Mateo Fuerbringer of Mira Costa. Here’s a profile of the UCLA commit who comes from a volleyball family.

Mira Costa (28-2) traveled to Hawaii and won the Clash of the Titans tournament at Punahou, including a win over Southern California rival Huntington Beach.

Notes . . .

Former Pasadena High and Laker Michael Cooper is the new basketball coach at Cal State Los Angeles….

Bonita softball standout Koa Puppe has committed to Cal State Fullerton…

It looks like a strike threat in the Los Angeles Unified School District starting Tuesday will be resolved. UTLA reached a tentative agreement Sunday, one of the three unions seeking new contracts. A strike would have halted LAUSD sporting events. Some have been moved to Monday in case the strike begins….

Los Alamitos is scheduled to announce its new football coach this week….

Zafar Sarajzada is the new basketball coach at St. Genevieve. He’s been an assistant at Sierra Canyon….

The All-CIF boys basketball team is headed by Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon. The All-CIF girls basketball team is led by Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian and Jerzy Robinson of Sierra Canyon….

Redondo Union guard Devin Wright has committed to Fairleigh Dickinson….

Redondo Union guard Chace Holley has committed to San Diego….

Defensive lineman Montana Toilolo of Mater Dei has committed to UCLA….

Receiver Charles Davis of Westlake has committed to Cal….

Former Narbonne basketball star Marcus Adams has committed to Hawaii. He’s played at CSUN and Arizona State….

Pole Moala, who was a standout defensive back at Leuzinger this past season, has committed to UCLA. He has since transferred to Santa Margarita….

Chris Paul will become an assistant coach at Campbell Hall, where his son plays.

From the archives: Gabriela Jaquez

Gabriela Jaquez in 2021.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Former Camarillo standout Gabriela Jaquez celebrated a dream come true winning an NCAA women’s basketball championship for UCLA and starring in the championship game against South Carolina with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Jaquez was a two-sport standout at Camarillo, also playing softball. She became a McDonald’s All-American and always wanted to follow brother Jaime to UCLA.

But UCLA didn’t offer Gabriela a scholarship until late in the recruiting process. Here’s a story from the 2022 that explains her late development and how dreams come true the hard way.

Recommendations

From Operations Sports, a look at the boycott by public schools in Nevada about playing Bishop Gorman’s football team.

From the Seattle Times, a story on Minnesota being sued for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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AUSTIN, Texas — Defender Maya Yoshida scored a first-half goal, Erik Thommy tallied in the second and the Galaxy beat Austin FC 2-1 on Saturday.

Yoshida took a pass from Marco Reus in the 34th minute and scored for the first time this season to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead. Yoshida has six goals in 80 appearances for the Galaxy. Reus has three assists this season and 15 in 34 career appearances.

Thommy gave the Galaxy a two-goal lead in the 78th minute with his first goal for the club. Thommy had 19 goals in 101 appearances over four seasons with Sporting Kansas City. Defender Emiro Garces subbed into the match in the 66th minute before notching his first assist this season and his third in 36 appearances. Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski also snagged an assist.

Austin cut it to 2-1 in the 85th minute on Myrto Uzuni’s second goal of the season and his eighth in 34 career matches. Defender Guilherme Biro earned his first assist after collecting one through his first 67 appearances and Facundo Torres grabbed his fourth in his first season with Austin after tallying 16 in three seasons with Orlando City. All four of Torres’ assists have come off set pieces.

The Galaxy’s Erik Thommy points to the sky after scoring against Austin FC on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)

Marcinkowski turned away five shots for the Galaxy (2-3-2) in his third start this season.

Brad Stuver totaled five saves for Austin (1-3-3).

The Galaxy picked up their first road win of the season while handing Austin its first loss at home.

Austin swept the Galaxy last season — 1-0 at home and 2-1 on the road.

Up next

Galaxy: Visit FC Dallas on Saturday.

Coachella’s got you all in your head? Think you’d rather watch Bieber while you’re in your bed?

Then you’re in luck! Hot off the success of both “Swag” albums and a (literally) stripped down Grammys performance, Beliebers will be able to watch Justin Bieber’s day 2 headlining set at 11:25 p.m. on the Coachella YouTube livestream.

Before Bieber takes the Main Stage, viewers at home will be able to catch The Strokes, Labrinth and David Byrne at the Outdoor Theatre, PinkPantheress at the Mojave and more.

And check out Coachella’s livestream app on iOS and Android.

Here’s who you can watch on Saturday’s livestream feeds (times presented in PDT):

Main Stage

5:30 p.m. Addison Rae; 7 p.m. Giveon; 9 p.m. The Strokes; 11:25 p.m. Justin Bieber

Outdoor Theatre

4 p.m. Los Hermanos Flores; 5:10 p.m. Alex G; 6:10 p.m. Blondshell; 7:05 p.m. Sombr; 8:30 p.m. Labrinth; 10:20 p.m. David Byrne

Sahara

4:00 p.m. Zulan; 5 p.m. Hamdi; 6:15 p.m. Yousuke Yukimatsu; 7:15 p.m. Teed; 8 p.m. Nine Inch Noize; 9:10 p.m. Rezz; 10:30 p.m. Adriatique; 11:55 p.m. Worship

Mojave

4 p.m. Jack White; 4:50 p.m. Fujii Kaze; 5:50 p.m. Royel Otis; 7:30 p.m. Taemin; 8:55 p.m. PinkPantheress; 10:15 p.m. Interpol

Gobi

4:05 p.m. Whatmore; 5:10 p.m. Luisa Sonza; 6:15 p.m. Geese; 7:05 p.m. Noga Erez; 7:50 p.m. Davido; 9 p.m. Bia; 10:10 p.m. Morat

Sonora

4:20 p.m. Ecca Vandal; 5:30 p.m. Ceremony; 6:40 p.m. Rusowsky; 7:50 p.m. 54 Ultra; 8:45 p.m. Die Spitz; 9:45 p.m. Mind Enterprises; 10:45 p.m. Freak Slug

Quasar

5 p.m. Joezi; 7 p.m. Afrojack x Shimza

There’s been a delay on the livestream during previous festivals, so don’t worry if Bieber, The Strokes or another one of your favorite artists starts a little later than their posted time.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Alene Tchekmedyian, with an assist from Rebecca Ellis, giving you the latest on all things local government.

Last summer, the Los Angeles Fire Department enlisted a public relations firm to help shape the narrative around its response to the Palisades fire as it geared up to release its long-awaited after-action report.

The optics around the devastating fire hadn’t been good.

A Times investigation revealed that top LAFD officials failed to pre-deploy engines in Pacific Palisades, despite forecasts of dangerously high winds. Mayor Karen Bass ousted the fire chief. The thousands of residents who lost their homes were growing increasingly angry. City and LAFD officials were concerned about how the report, which was intended to examine what mistakes the department made and how to avoid repeating them, would land.

“While we have a section that deals with press inquiries, media, and interview requests, they are not equipped to deal with what I call a ‘Crisis,’” LAFD Deputy Chief Kairi Brown wrote to the Lede Company in July.

The Times obtained the email and other materials this week through the California Public Records Act. Brown wrote in the email that his brother, Jay Brown, who co-founded the entertainment company Roc Nation with Jay-Z, recommended the firm.

At the time, LAFD’s public information director position was vacant, but a staff roster shows that two captains and four firefighters were assigned to the Community Liaison Office. The captains, Erik Scott and Adam Van Gerpen, each made more than $200,000 in overtime alone last year, on top of their roughly $200,000 base salaries, payroll data show.

Scott and Van Gerpen did not immediately respond to a question about what the overtime was for.

Fire officials also met with and considered another PR firm called Cielo Strategic Communications, but ultimately selected Lede for the job. Lede bills itself as a “full-service strategy, communications and social impact consulting firm,” with high-profile celebrity clients like Kerry Washington and Emma Stone, according to its website.

The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, which calls itself “the official nonprofit arm of the LAFD” that provides “vital equipment and funds critical programs to help the LAFD save lives,” took care of the $65,000 bill.

The Times has described efforts by Bass and others to water down the after-action report. Lede’s role, according to internal documents, was to shield the LAFD and the mayor’s office from “reputational harm” associated with the report’s release.

Bass also was involved in media spin, with Scott writing in an Oct. 9 email that “any additional interviews with the Fire Chief would likely depend on the Mayor’s guidance.”

The documents obtained by The Times this week reveal that Lede embarked on “Media 101” training for interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, including basic tips such as: “While reporters aren’t always out to get you, they’re not your friends either.”

“Tricks” that reporters use to get people talking, according to a Lede slideshow, include: “Speculate,” “Stir the pot,” “The long pause/silence” and “Act like your friend.”

Other advice from Lede: “Stay on message and don’t volunteer information that is not asked.” Don’t “offer information to fill the silence (this is a reporter tactic).”

The Lede Company previously declined to comment on its work for the LAFD, citing client confidentiality. An LAFD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Other records previously released show that Lede also analyzed news articles before and after the Palisades fire — the goal was to get a sort of vibe check of LAFD from the public — and found criticism of department leadership as well as support for the rank and file.

And a communications plan developed in the event that the after-action report was leaked to reporters involved convening an “emergency briefing between LAFD, Lede, and the Mayor’s Office within 60 minutes of discovery,” as well as embargoed briefings within a day “to control the narrative and reinforce lessons learned and key actions coming out of the LAFD.”

Lede worked with the LAFD until about mid-November, when Jaime Moore took over as fire chief. A couple of months later, the agency hired a public information director, Stephanie Bishop, to lead the Community Liaison Office.

State of play

— SB CANDIDATE: Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt acknowledged this week that he’s living in Santa Barbara County after the Palisades fire destroyed his home. He’s allowed to use his Palisades address to vote and run for office, as long as he intends to return, election officials said.

— BASS BUCKS: Bass and City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado say they want to allot more than $360 million to developers and nonprofits creating affordable housing. The money, which comes largely from the “mansion tax,” would fund 80 projects.

— REVOLVING DOOR: A Times analysis found the longer the mayor’s signature program to battle homelessness exists, the worse its metrics are. As Inside Safe finished its third year in December, roughly 40% of the people who had gone indoors were back on the street.

— CHANGE AGENT: Everyone running for L.A. mayor wants to be a champion of change. As her first term comes to an end, Bass is campaigning on change, vowing to tackle decades-old problems. So is City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who says her decision to run was based on “a sense of urgency that things needed to change.”

—FIGHT FLOP: More than a year after California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta charged 30 probation officers with facilitating so-called “gladiator fights” among youths inside the county’s juvenile halls, almost half of the criminal cases are falling apart. State prosecutors dismissed charges against one-third of the officers, and four more entered into plea deals Tuesday that will end with their cases dropped.

— BADGE BREACH: Sensitive police records, including personnel files, were seized by hackers in a breach involving the L.A. city attorney’s office. A group known for conducting ransomware attacks on large entities took credit for the hack, which involves 337,000 files.

— OLYMPIC OOPS: Los Angeles officials are worried that taxpayers could be on the hook for budget-busting costs to support the 2028 Olympic Games, if the profit promised by LA28 doesn’t materialize. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez both want a contract pledging that LA28 cover any future costs incurred by the city.

— VANISHING BLUES: Up for reelection and facing a budget deficit, Bass says she’s shifting from her original plan to grow the L.A. Police Department to the 9,500-officer force it once was. Her new goal: making sure the department doesn’t shrink from its current total of 8,677 officers, which is the lowest in nearly a quarter-century.

— PRICEY PROTESTS: A well-known LAPD critic and two attorneys are suing the LAPD after officers allegedly fired less-lethal rounds at them during a protest last summer. Activist Jason Reedy says he was shot in the groin after confronting an officer outside LAPD headquarters.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature homelessness program monitored 126 encampment sites across the city and visited an interim housing site.
• On the docket next week: L.A. County officials will unveil their budget for the upcoming fiscal year Monday, with the supervisors weighing in at their Tuesday board meeting.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Olympian Quincy Wilson from Bullis High in Maryland is ready to unleash his speed in two relay races and the 400 at Saturday’s Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High. The night portion begins at 5 p.m.

Servite’s 4×100-meter relay team set a state record last week, becoming the first to break 40 seconds in the event. The Friars will be strong contenders in both events.

Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel is among the best all time to compete in the girls’ shot put and discus, and she always likes to perform well at Arcadia.

Defending state champion high jumper JJ Harel from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will compete even though he only recently returned to full-time practice.

There should be lots of outstanding performances in the boys’ and girls’ 100 meters.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

SACRAMENTO — An attorney for Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, on Thursday sent a cease and desist letter to an unknown individual demanding that they stop accusing the congressman of sexual assault.

Swalwell’s attorney Elias Dabaie of the law firm Dabaie Kelley, in Los Angeles, confirmed Friday that he sent the cease and desist letter, which tells the recipient that they could be sued for defamation. A copy of the letter was posted online by a social media influencer on Friday, and Dabaie confirmed it was authentic.

Swalwell (D-Dublin) and his representatives earlier this week denied allegations made by social media influencers and repeated by political insiders in recent weeks that he behaved inappropriately toward young staffers and others.

Dabaie’s letter sent Thursday states that it “has come to our attention that you have made false statements accusing Mr. Swalwell of sexual assault and non-consensual sexual encounters…”

“We write to demand that you immediately and permanently cease and desist from continuing your wrongful conduct, including by stopping any further publication of such information or allowing it to be disseminated in any form, whether oral, written, electronic or otherwise,” the letter stated.

Dabaie confirmed to The Times that he sent the letter via text. He declined to say whether other cease and desist letters had been sent.

“I can tell you that there have been multiple baseless allegations made against the Congressman and we are attacking them on all fronts,” he said.

A spokesperson for Swalwell’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cheyenne Hunt, a Laguna Hills attorney and executive director of a progressive advocacy group who has said she is helping organize a group of women who allege inappropriate behavior toward Swalwell, posted a screenshot of Dabaie’s letter online on Friday.

“This is the first page of the cease and desist letter from Swalwell’s team — it has has been shared with permission from the recipient,” she wrote on social media.

The name of the individual who received the letter was redacted.

Hunt told The Times on Friday that she was aware of two individuals who received cease and desist letters from Swalwell’s team.

Swalwell earlier in the week denied any inappropriate behavior, including allegations that his office required interns to sign nondisclosure agreements. “It’s false,” he told reporters.

Swalwell said he never behaved inappropriately with female staff members or had a sexual relationship with a staff member or an intern.

It was Max Muncy’s night.

His third home run — a no-doubt-about-it 401-foot walk-off to right-center field, gave the Dodgers an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

They improved to 10-3, winning despite closer Edwin Díaz’s first blown save as a Dodger.

Muncy’s first home runs, in the second and fourth innings, gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead and then pulled them within a run, 3-2.

Those homers — Nos. 2, 3 and 4 this season — gave him 213 for his Dodgers’ tenure, tying and then surpassing Steve Garvey for third-most in the franchise’s Los Angeles history.

Muncy is only the second player in Dodgers history to have a walk-off homer as part of a three-home run game, joining Don Demeter, who accomplished the feat on April 21, 1959, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Max Muncy hits a walk-off home run to cap his three-home run night in an 8-7 win over Texas.

It marked the second three-homer game of Muncy’s career and his 20th multi-homer game.

And they kept the Dodgers in a game that went back and forth, up and down, bobblehead style.

Andy Pages went three for three with four RBIs and had a go-ahead two-run double and a two-run home run to provide crucial insurance that kept his club in the game.

His double in the sixth — he smacked Robert Garcia’s 84-mph slider into right field to bring home Muncy and Teoscar Hernández — gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

And Pages’ two-run home run to center field off Luis Curvelo in the eighth brought home Muncy, who had singled. It also brought his MLB-leading batting average to .449 — and wasn’t just icing on the cake but fortification against the Rangers’ hitters who wouldn’t quit.

After Dodgers’ starter Tyler Glasnow exited after pitching six innings and giving up four runs on five hits — including two home runs — while striking out seven, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott both pitched a scoreless inning before closer Díaz entered in the ninth.

The Dodgers’ closer gave up a single to former Dodger Joc Pedersen and then a two-run home run to Evan Carter that cut the lead to 7-6. Then Ezequiel Duran singled in Sam Haggerty to tie the score.

The Dodgers made it interesting by playing from behind for the ninth time in 13 games: The Rangers quickly responded to Muncy’s first homer, taking a 3-1 lead in the third inning when former Dodger Corey Seager teed off for a 409-foot, three-run home run to center field.

Max Muncy hits a walk-off home run to lift the Dodgers to an 8-7 win over the Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

(Back on June 12, 2024, in his only other game at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Rangers, Seager hit a three-run home run. That one was a go-ahead blast off Walker Buehler that gave Texas a 3-2 victory.)

In the fifth inning Friday, Wyatt Langford deposited a Glasnow curveball into the Dodgers’ bullpen; his first home run this season pushed Texas’ advantage to 4-2.

Shohei Ohtani then singled to right to move Freeland to third — and, notably, to extend his on-base streak to 44 games, the most ever for a Japanese-born player and the fourth-longest such streak in Dodgers history.

Ohtani has also reached base on all seven of his bobblehead nights.

This season, the Dodgers determined that they needed two games — Friday and July 8 — to honor Ohtani’s “Greatest Game” with the bobblehead treatment.

Max Muncy runs the bases after hitting his walk-off home run in the ninth inning against Texas on Friday night.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

On Friday, all 53,675 fans went home with a bobbling figurine of Ohtani at the plate, a memento honoring his performance in Game 4 of the NLCS last October. He not only pitched six shutout innings and struck out 10 in that 5-1 NLCS-clinching victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, but he also hit three home runs that traveled a combined 1,342 feet.

The Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas won’t take bereavement leave or travel back to his native Venezuela following the sudden death of his father, Miguel Rojas Sr., manager Dave Roberts said before the game.

“There’s a lot going on in Venezuela,” the Dodgers manager said. “And a lot of his family is kind of dispersed around the world, essentially. He just feels they’ve got a handle on it down there, so he’s going to stay with us.”

No. 1-ranked UCLA, known for its powerful batting order from one to nine, turned to its pitching staff on Friday in New Jersey to pull out a 4-1 victory over Rutgers in 14 innings. It was UCLA’s 25th consecutive win. The Bruins are 31-2 and 16-0 in the Big Ten.

Starting pitcher Logan Reddemann tied a UCLA record with 18 strikeouts in eight innings. Four UCLA pitchers combined to strike out 30 batters, one shy of an NCAA record. Zach Strickland came through with three innings of scoreless relief, striking out seven. Easton Hawk got the save by striking out the side in the bottom of the 14th.

UCLA had left 16 runners on base until finally breaking through in the top of the 14th. The Bruins loaded the bases with one out, then broke the 1-1 tie on a fielder’s choice. Aidan Espinoza followed with a two-run pinch-hit single.

Living outside the community they want to represent can be a handicap for political candidates, but it’s not likely to be a problem for Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt, who until recently was living in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County, analysts say.

That’s because Pratt’s home burned in the January 2025 Palisades fire, making him a sympathetic figure among many voters — especially those living in his Westside base, they say.

“I don’t think this is going to be electorally consequential,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Los Angeles County supervisor and L.A. City Council member who now runs the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “He’s a victim of the Palisades fire that doesn’t have a home to live in because it burned down.”

Pratt filed to run for mayor in February and was in second place behind Mayor Karen Bass in a recent poll by the Luskin school. He was certified by the Los Angeles city clerk on March 2 as one of 14 candidates in the June 2 primary election.

While some observers have raised questions about his eligibility, a state memorandum following the fires said that voters who were temporarily displaced from their homes can use their prior address as their permanent residence as long as they “intend to return” in the future.

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt currently resides in a private community in Carpinteria, Calif.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Sanchez, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, said this also applies to candidates.

“In situations where a candidate has been temporarily displaced (such as the 2025 wildfires), their eligibility to run for office is not impacted, provided they maintain domicile in their district,” Sanchez said in a statement.

He explained that domicile is determined by a person’s primary residence and their intent to return to that residence. “Temporary relocation during rebuilding or recovery does not, by itself, change a person’s domicile.”

The Times asked the L.A. city clerk’s office last week about Pratt’s residency and eligibility.

“We cannot comment on the specifics of a candidate’s address due to confidentiality. Any matter concerning a candidate’s eligibility or residency, such as this situation, can be formally challenged through the court,” said Josue Marcus, a spokesperson for the city clerk’s office.

Any potential challenge to Pratt’s eligibility based on residency would turn on the question of whether he had intent to return, said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University law professor. “Those are tricky inquiries because it depends on someone’s state of mind,” she said.

Pratt and his campaign aides didn’t respond to requests for comment. Pratt released a video Monday, following inquiries from The Times, defending his decision to move to Carpinteria but saying he now intends to live in a trailer placed on his burned-out lot in Pacific Palisades.

The city of Los Angeles sprawls across roughly 500 square miles, creating logistical hurdles if nothing else for a candidate seeking citywide office from a remote location, noted Democratic political consultant Mike Trujillo.

“Anyone that has done the drive from San Pedro to Sylmar knows that L.A. is a big place,” said Trujillo, who isn’t affiliated with any of the candidates in the June 2 mayoral primary. “To add another hour and a half to the drive is not advantageous if you’re trying to campaign in every corner of the city.”

Pratt, a former reality TV star, has millions of followers on social media, but Trujillo said that Pratt will need to show a strong presence in the community to wage a successful campaign.

Pratt is a Republican running in a Democrat-majority city. Developer Geoffrey H. Palmer, a major campaign donor to President Trump, plans to host a reception for Pratt at his Beverly Hills home April 28, according to a document the Pratt campaign filed with the city Ethics Commission.

The event is being organized by Trey Kozacik, who also organized a Trump fundraiser in Los Angeles in 2019.

The UCLA Luskin poll released this month showed Pratt with the support of 11% of likely voters, behind Bass with 25% and ahead of City Council member Nithya Raman with 9%.

Mayoral candidate Adam Miller, who polled at 3% in the survey, said Pratt’s party affiliation is his biggest hurdle to winning the mayoral race.

“I sympathize with Spencer for losing his home and feeling outrage toward the city, but he is not a viable candidate. It doesn’t matter where he lives, a Republican hasn’t been elected mayor in 30 years in this city, and he isn’t going to change that now,” said Miller, a tech executive.

Others say party affiliation is less of an issue.

“This is a nonpartisan race,” said Roxanne Hoge, the chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party. “There’s no letter accompanying anyone’s name. … I personally support him because he’s an intelligent alternative.”

Some think Pratt will also hold appeal for some Democratic voters.

“There are people I speak to who I know to be Democrats who really, really like him,” said Maryam Zar, who heads the Palisades Recovery Coalition. “To the extent that people are disappointed in this recovery, they pin their hopes on Spencer. That’s not a bad place for him to be.”

This week saw the publication of The Times’ tremendous package on the imminent opening of Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries. The nearly $724-million new building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, which opens to members on April 19, with general admission beginning May 3, has been a lightning rod for split opinions for nearly two decades — and it seems not much has changed.

We ran five stories: architecture critic Sam Lubell’s review of the building; art critic Leah Ollman’s roundup of 17 must-see artworks currently installed in the galleries; my report on how, exactly, the $724 million was spent; and an up-close look at the reinstallation of Alexander Calder’s fountain sculpture, “Three Quintains (Hello Girls),” which was among the museum’s very first commissions when it opened in 1965. We also included a handy map to the new campus.

Each article attracted its fair share of reader comments — for and against — the new building. I’m rounding up nine that best reflect reader consensus. (Note: Comments don’t have formal names attached.)

1. “Ugh. I hate that building. It does nothing to activate the street itself and Wilshire should be an active urban street with thousands of people walking. The design is a puddle of oil seeping high above and across the boulevard that conflicts with its surroundings. For all of that gross amount of money spent it should be universally positively recognized. But it’s not and most of the citizens that have commented about it don’t appear to be too happy with a building its creators expect to exist for hundreds of years. What a blotch.”

2. “One will always wonder: what would Frank have done if he had ended up with the commission for replacing LACMA’s core campus. Did he ever venture to tell anyone what approach he might have pursued?”

A high priest of design has given Los Angeles a plebian concrete maze (period) which demands that visitors ascend one story above the ground plane for the sake of art. Rather than the prospect of random wandering, this respondent wonders whether Mister Gehry may have otherwise had no fear of paying homage to the classical idea of hierarchy, would have elevated our better angels and given us a singular or particular reason (aspiration) to go upwards at a far greater extent, first off, then return to the ground plane mixing formal and random paths.

With Disney Hall he became an emotional hierarch of the city and his discountment from this project will always remain a great tragedy. He understood us.”

3. “I love LACMA’s collection and have been going several times a year for a long time. Very excited to check out the new galleries. Contrary to a lot of other commenters, I find the architecture of the new building fresh and exciting, and I appreciate how it hangs over Wilshire in a manner that incorporates the museum directly into the city.”

4. “I loved the old museum. I really hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid the new one will be disappointing. Less display space, chaotic organization and galleries that on paper look like warehouse spaces make me wonder how successful the new museum will be. I look forward to visiting and finding out for myself.”

5. “I’m amazed that it is almost 11:00 AM and I am posting the first comment here. Does nobody reading the L.A. Times care about this very expensive reimagining of our County Art Museum, $125 million of which was funded by our taxpayers? What I want to know now is whether any these 17 pieces are adjacently-placed in some idiosyncratic curatorial thematic scheme that will elude both common sense and intuition of most museum visitors? How is this reduced gallery capacity with ever-changing displays providing access to art to the people that helped to fund it?”

6. “I look forward to visiting this museum and experiencing its uniqueness.”

7. “It’s one of the worst decisions in art-world history. Destroy perfectly functional galleries and spend hundreds of millions on smaller galleries. And they are ugly. It’s a mockery of art to place a beautiful painting on those concrete walls.”

8. “I knew there would be a bunch of negative Nellies in the comment section lol. I LOVE the new building and interior spaces (as pictured) I can’t wait to see and experience the unique curatorial displays!”

9. “How exciting for Los Angeles! I can’t wait to see it and love that we now have such a world class forward thinking art museum in L.A. Money well spent.”

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, getting the conversation started. Here’s your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY
Blue Kiss
An SAT tutoring session takes unexpected twists and turns when a teacher learns his student is not who she claims to be in this drama by playwright Stephen Fife. Directed by Mike Reilly.
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 17. Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. ruskingrouptheatre.com

Camerata Pacifica
Principal pianist Gilles Vonsattel performs his second solo recital of the season featuring three piano sonatas by Beethoven.
7 p.m. Friday. Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara; 8 p.m. Sunday. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. cameratapacifica.org

Danish String Quartet and Danish National Girls’ Choir
Two of Denmark’s cultural treasures team up for an evening that includes a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang.
7 p.m. Friday. Granada Theatre, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. artsandlectures.ucsb.edu; 8 p.m. Saturday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. philharmonicsociety.org

Lise Davidsen and Freddie De Tommaso
The celebrated opera singers return backed by an all-star orchestra of classical musicians.
7:30 p.m. BroadStage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. broadstage.org

History of the Tango
Violinist Martin Chalifour, in musical dialogue with guitarist Mak Grgic, reveals the evolution of Argentina’s iconic style.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org

Installation view, “Instant Theatre: Rachel Rosenthal and King Moody,” 2026. Roberts Projects, Los Angeles.

(Paul Salveson/Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects)

Instant Theatre: Rachel Rosenthal and King Moody
Archival material and design elements set the scene for this exhibition exploring the experimental theatre movement founded by Rosenthal in 1955 and continued with her husband into the 1960s, an antecedent to the performance art of the 1960s and 1970s.
Through May 23. Roberts Projects, 442 S. La Brea Ave. robertsprojectsla.com

Spectacular Brooding
Writer, dancer and experimental filmmaker Harmony Holiday explores Black grief in this multimedia exhibition involving the preparation of a solo dance piece. On Wednesdays at noon, Holiday will take Katherine Dunham Technique classes with choreographer Bernard Brown in the gallery.
Noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; Through July 5. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org

Turangalîla
Australian conductor Simone Young leads the L.A. Phil, featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet on piano and Cynthia Millar on the theremin-like 1920s instrument ondes martenot, in Olivier Messiaen’s symphony inspired by the tragic romance of Tristan and Isolde.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Featuring the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist, pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan, this modern jazz ensemble riffs on original compositions and breathes new life into the American Songbook.
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

SATURDAY
The Baptist Witches of Shelbyville
Mamie Gummer and Gigi Bermingham star in a new Southern Gothic comedy written by Julie Shavers and directed by Daniel O’Brien.
8 p.m. Saturday; April 17-18, April 25, May 1. Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks. whitefire.stagey.net

The Ifugao people of the Philippines leaving a harvest, from the immersive exhibition, “Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines.”

(Fowler Museum)

Mountain Spirits: Rice and Indigeneity in the Northern Luzon Highlands, Philippines
An immersion into the world of the Ifugao, an Indigenous Filipino group known for high-altitude farming, via this exhibition’s carved guardians, ritual bowls, woven blankets, farming tools, soundscapes and video installations.
Opening, 6-9 p.m. Saturday; Walkthrough, 1 p.m. Sunday; “Decolonizing Philippine History” talk, 6-8 p.m. Wednesday. Fowler Museum at UCLA, 308 Charles E. Young Drive North. fowler.ucla.edu

Mutate
L.A. Dance Project presents this selection of multi-medium performances curated by Masha Cherezova, whose relationship to dance changed dramatically when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The evening includes performances from Skylar Campbell, former principal dancer of Canada National Ballet, and dancer Jaclyn Oakley, USC BFA student Garris Munez in a world premiere choreographed by Cherezova, and comedian and breast cancer survivor Julia Johns, plus film screenings from various artists. All profits will be donated to Blood Cancer United.
8 p.m. 2245 E. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. ladanceproject.org

OperaFest LA
The diverse festival returns to celebrate the city’s rich opera community. Participating companies and venues include Beth Morrison Projects, LA Opera, Long Beach Opera, Overtone Industries, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater, Synchromy, the Industry, the Wallis, and USC Thornton School of Music. The opening week features selected performances from various groups and a panel discussion at the Wallis; Long Beach Opera commemorates the release of the first commercial recording of Anthony Davis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning opera “The Central Park Five,” which was commissioned and premiered by LBO in 2019 and remounted in 2022; and the Industry presents composer Veronika Krausas and Her Rogue’s Gallery performing selections from her work, including “Hopscotch,” “Ghost Opera,” “The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth.”
Kickoff Panel & Performance, 4 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. 6 p.m. Saturday. “Celebrating the Central Park Five Opera,” 440 Elm, 440 Elm, Long Beach. Veronika Krausas, 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Monk Space, 4414 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles. OperaFest LA continues through May 30. operafestla.org

Temporal Echoes
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and music director Jaime Martín are joined by violinist Anne Akiko Meyers for the West Coast premiere of Eric Whitacre’s “The Pacific Has No Memory” and Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending.” a timeless ode to lyricism and light. Music Director Jaime Martín unveils Juhi Bansal’s celebratory new work for Sound Investment’s 25th anniversary, followed by the searing intensity of Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony and the sparkling brilliance of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony. A program of passion, poetry, power, and unforgettable resonance.
7:30 p.m. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laco.org

A Weekend with Bong Joon Ho
The Oscar-winning filmmaker hosts screenings of the 2007 thriller “Zodiac,” with special guest, director David Fincher, and his own 2025 sci-fi satire “Mickey 17.”
“Zodiac,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday; “Mickey 17,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

SUNDAY
Chamber On The Mountain
The duo Dyad — violinist Niv Ashkenazi and bassoonist Leah Kohn — performs their own arrangements of selections from Ernest Bloch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Niccolo Paganini, Irving Berlin, Bruce Babcock, Johann Sebastian Bach, Camille Saint-Saëns and George Gershwin.
3 p.m. Logan House at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, Ojai. chamberonthemountain.com

Eat Me
The world premiere of a play, written by Talene Monahon and directed by Caitlin Sullivan, about a group of foodies in search of fulfillment; part of SCR’s annual Pacific Playwrights Festival.
Previews, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; Opening night, 7:30 p.m. April 17; continues through May 3. South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scr.org

Poetry in the Garden: Scores
National Poetry Month and Earth Month find a natural juncture at this free, daylong event, co-presented with Dublab, featuring live poetry and music inspired by “The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry and Dance 1950-1975 .” The project is shaped by midcentury experimental artists like Yvonne Rainer, John Cage and Benjamin Patterson. Performers include contemporary DJs. musicians and poets.
11:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu

MONDAY

Ruben Ochoa, “Class: C.” The Ochoa family’s former tortilla delivery van transformed into a mobile art gallery.

(Ruben Ochoa)

Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure
Part 1 of this two-part exhibition probing the ecological cost of L.A.’s human-made landscape presents the photography of Ruben Ochoa alongside works by Carlos Almaraz and Pat Gomez. Part 2 is “Class: C,” a pop-up gallery created by Ochoa, who transformed his family’s Chevy van into a mobile studio and exhibition space while a student at UC Irvine, and now repurposes it to present work by the school’s current students and alumni. An artist talk with Ochoa is scheduled for April 18.
“Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure,” 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays–Saturdays, through May 16. UC Irvine Langson Museum Interim Gallery, 18881 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. “Class: C” pop-up gallery, Monday-April 18 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre Plaza, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine; Artist Talk with Ochoa, 2 p.m. April 18. UC Irvine Langson Museum, 3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa. imca.uci.edu

TUESDAY

John Waters

(The Luckman)

Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80th Birthday Celebration
The boundary-pushing cult filmmaker and raconteur holds court with behind-the-scenes tales and commentary on the brink of his becoming an octogenarian (April 22).
8 p.m. The Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State LA, 5151 State University Drive. theluckman.org

THURSDAY

An image from Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, U.S.A.’

(American Cinematheque)

This Is Not A Fiction
The American Cinematheque’s celebration of documentary filmmaking kicks off with the 50th anniversary premiere of a 4k restoration of Barbara Kopple’s L.A.”Harlan County, USA” and a Q&A with the filmmaker. The festival continues with screenings and appearances by Ross McElwee (“Sherman’s March,” “Photographic Memory”) and Gianfranco Rossi (“Notturno”), plus anniversary screenings of “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” and “Jackass Number Two” and more.
7:30 p.m. Thursday. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. The festival runs through April 24 at the Aero; Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.; Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 N. Vermont Ave. americancinematheque.com

Arts Everywhere

New and recent releases of arts-related media.

Alice Neel: I Am the Century
The catalog for the American artist’s first major retrospective in Italy, presented by the gallery Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin through May 4, provides an artistic and biographical profile of the Pennsylvania-born painter (1900-1984). Neel defied the abstract expressionism of her contemporaries with a distinctive style of portraiture that exposed the psychological truth of her subjects. The bilingual text (English and Italian) features contributions from curators, scholars and artists, alongside 60 of Neel’s works and archival documents. Mousse Publishing: 272 pp. $50.

Daniel Radcliffe, left, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez in the movie “Merrily We Roll Along.”

(Sony Pictures Classics)

Merrily We Roll Along
Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez star in Maria Friedman’s film of her acclaimed 2025 revival staging of the Stephen Sondheim musical that originally flopped in 1981. “Captured at the Hudson Theatre last year during its Tony-winning Broadway run, this ‘Merrily’ is stirring evidence of a hit production,” wrote Robert Abele in his December review for The Times when the film had a theatrical run. Its story, of a “tight-knit trio of New York creatives whose friendship, depicted backward across decades, feels like a shattered vase being reassembled so that we appreciate the cracks and cohesion.” Netflix, streaming.

Tyshawn Sorey

(John Rogers / Fully Altered Media)

The Susceptible Now
Can’t get a ticket to the Tyshawn Sorey Trio’s gig at the Nimoy tonight? No problem. Check out their latest album from 2024, which features covers of some of Sorey’s favorite music. The four tracks, which range from 15 to 22 minutes in length, include “Peresina,” the McCoy Tyner classic from the album “Expansions”; Joni Mitchell and Charles Mingus’ collaboration, “A Chair in the Sky,” from her album “Mingus”; “Bealtine” from the Brad Mehldau Trio; and contemporary soul group Vividry’s “Your Good Lies.” Pi Recordings: Available on vinyl ($35), CD ($14) or digital download ($13).

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Compton artist Fulton Leroy Washington — known as Mr. Wash — at his studio.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Painter Fulton Leroy Washington — known as Mr. Wash — recently opened a new exhibit, “The City of Compton: Then & Now,” which serves as a fundraiser for a $15-million community arts center that Mr. Wash plans to build on his property. “The Art by Wash Studio & Community Center … is being designed to provide housing, studio space and support for formerly incarcerated artists with artistic talent,” writes contributor Jane Horowitz about the Morphosis Architects-designed complex.

Gallery 1988, which opened in 2004 and proclaimed itself “the first pop culture-focused art gallery in the world,” is closing at the end of April, writes contributor Marah Eakin. The beloved gallery often attracted lines around the block for its openings featuring “art-focused campaigns around properties such as ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ while also launching solo shows from artists like Scott C, Luke Chueh and Tom Whalen.” Some fans believe that AI is to blame for the closure.

Times classical music critic Mark Swed got the scoop on the latest Los Angeles Philharmonic appointment. “With Gustavo Dudamel’s final season as music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic reaching its homestretch, the orchestra has announced the appointment of its latest not music director. Anna Handler, a former Dudamel fellow and rapidly rising young conductor, will be given the new title of conductor-in-residence for the next three seasons,” Swed writes.

On a recent trip to New York City Swed noticed how much the Big Apple owes to L.A. for its current cultural offerings. L.A. artists are reshaping New York’s major institutions, Swed writes, noting that Gustavo Dudamel is revitalizing the New York Philharmonic and Yuval Sharon of the Industry is directing the Met’s “Tristan und Isolde.”

Director Knud Adams is photographed at the Wallis in Beverly Hills.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Times theater critic Charles McNulty sat down for an interview with theater director Knud Adams, who has staged world premieres of back-to-back Pulitzer Prize-winning plays — both of which are heading to Los Angeles. “English” opened Thursday at the Wallis Annenberg Center, and “Primary Trust” will land at the Mark Taper Forum on May 20. “He has become one of the most prized directors of new work in the country, and now Los Angeles will get a sample of his textually nuanced, scenically surprising excellence,” McNulty writes of Adams.

Finally, Malia Mendez wrote a piece about the upcoming two-year closure of the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. Your last day, to visit is July 6. “Prior to closing, the Tar Pits will host a free public KCRW Summer Nights event June 12 and a members-only, disco-themed dance party June 27,” Mendez writes, noting that the closure will facilitate the “first significant overhaul in [the museum’s] 50-year history.”

CineVita near SoFi Stadium is staging “Teen Beat Live,” an immersive concert experience, through May 17.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Remember CineVita — the 15,000-square-foot Spiegeltent at Hollywood Park next to SoFi Stadium? It’s staging a glitzy tribute to the upbeat, universally loved (or at least known) music of 1980s cinema, running through May 17. Called, “Teen Beat Live,” the immersive concert experience is sure to have you racing to find your old VHS copies of John Hughes films.

Did I tell you about the golden toilet installation on the promenade near the Lincoln Memorial? It was placed there by the satirical arts group Secret Handshake as a criticism of President Trump’s White House renovations. “This toilet, spray-painted gold and set on a faux-marble pedestal, is the latest in a series of protest artworks and installations taking aim at President Donald Trump and his administration. A plaque on each side of the structure reads: a Throne Fit for a King,” writes the Washington Post.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

This headline about the Artemis II journey fills me with longing.

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Fans from New Zealand and Australia held signs toward the camera proclaiming they had traveled thousands of miles to watch Warriors star Stephen Curry play.

On one sign, “play” was crossed out and replaced with a frowning face.

LeBron James instead gave fans a glimpse at a generational star, leading the Lakers to a 119-103 win over the Warriors on Thursday with 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

After missing the Lakers’ last game, the 21-time All-NBA player returned as the guiding force amid a season threatening to fall off the rails. The Lakers (51-29) ended a three-game losing streak and kept pace with the Houston Rockets in a tight race for home-court advantage in the Western Conference.

“We just had a sour taste in our mouths, obviously, for last week,” James said, referencing injuries to stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and the recent skid. “… And just none of us wants to continue to lose, and then we hurt for our two main guns. So, just a mindset of just trying to figure out how we can be great as a team, how we can figure out how to play well on the road and try to get a win.”

Trying to avoid their longest losing streak of the season, the Lakers relied on James to steady the ship. After the Lakers gave up a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, he hit a contested three out of a timeout to get them back on track. He fed the ball to Deandre Ayton, keeping the big man engaged for 21 points on nine-of-11 shooting with five rebounds.

Luke Kennard had 14 points and eight assists. The sharp-shooting guard has 28 assists in the last three games, adapting into the team’s emergency point guard to compensate for the loss of Doncic and Reaves.

“Talking as a group this morning like this is what we have right now, and we gotta figure it out,” Kennard said. “We’re trying to win games. Worked this hard to get where we are, to be in the position that we’re in right now, and we don’t want to just throw it away.”

Continue reading here

Lakers-Warriors box score

NBA scores

NBA standings

L.A. officials raise alarm over Olympic costs

An aerial view of the Coliseum, which will host track and field events during the 2028 L.A. Olympic Games.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

From James Rainey: Los Angeles officials are expressing growing fears that taxpayers and the city treasury could be hit with a round of crippling costs to support the 2028 Olympic Games if the city doesn’t ink a rigorous deal to assure a “zero-cost” Games.

Some city officials have long been concerned that taxpayers could be left with massive bills if the Olympics don’t generate the income organizers have promised. Delays in finalizing a deal between City Hall and the Olympics committee have heightened those tensions.

The exact costs to L.A. and other local governments remain unknown, as officials wait to hear from LA28 and federal security agencies about exactly what services they will need. Recent controversy over the ties between Casey Wasserman, the head of the L.A. Olympics, and Jeffrey Epstein have added to the uncertainty over the finances in the minds of some city leaders.

City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez both issued letters demanding a contract pledging that LA28 cover any of the city’s future costs that arise as the city plays host to hundreds of thousands of athletes and fans.

Continue reading here

UCLA women’s basketball lands first transfer since title

UCLA coach Cori Close addresses fans during an NCAA national title celebration at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

From Marisa Ingemi: The UCLA women’s basketball program made its first move of the transfer portal season with the addition of Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas, who averaged nearly a double-double in her first season in the SEC.

The 5-foot-9 combo guard averaged 10.2 points and nine rebounds last season with the Razorbacks along with 1.5 steals per game. The Australian will have three years of eligibility remaining and could be in the Bruins’ starting lineup next season.

Coach Cori Close said before the team’s NCAA tournament championship win that she expected to bring in at least five transfers to replace the six senior and graduate students who exhausted their eligibility, including the full starting lineup.

Continue reading here

Rory McIlroy off to strong start at Masters

Rory McIlroy hits from the 16th tee during the first round of the Masters on Thursday.

(Andrew Redington / Getty Images)

From Sam Farmer: After the career grand slam, a grand entrance.

Rory McIlroy, who last year became the sixth man to win all four major championships, got off to a spectacular start at the Masters on Thursday to claim a share of the lead with a five-under-par 67.

In one sense, the pressure is off. No more wondering about winning a green jacket. Yet he was relieved to feel those familiar butterflies on the first tee.

“Look, we’re playing the first major of the year, it’s the Masters,” he said, having overcome a slightly wobbly start to collect five birdies in his final 11 holes. “If I felt absolutely nothing on that first tee, that’s not a good sign.

“So it was nice to feel my hand shaking a little bit when the tee went into the ground, and struggle to put the ball on top of the tee. So I knew I was feeling it. That’s a good thing. That’s why we want to be here. We want to be able to play our best golf when we’re feeling like that.”

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Masters leaderboard

Kings defeat Canucks, move back into playoff spot

Kings forward Adrian Kempe celebrates with teammates on the bench after scoring in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

From the Associated Press: Adrian Kempe had two goals, and the Kings moved into a playoff spot with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena

Joel Armia and Trevor Moore also scored, Anton Forsberg made 24 saves, and the Kings’ third straight win put them one point ahead of the Nashville Predators for the second Western Conference wild card with a game in hand.

The Kings came into the night already controlling its path to the postseason, and Nashville’s 4-1 loss at Utah on Thursday created breathing room.

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Kings-Canucks box score

NHL scores

NHL standings

John Carlson scores hat trick as Ducks end losing streak

Ducks defenseman John Carlson celebrates after scoring to complete a hat trick in the third period of a 6-1 win over the San José Sharks at Honda Center on Thursday night.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

From the Associated Press: John Carlson scored three goals for the first hat trick of his 17-year NHL career, and the Ducks ended their six-game losing streak with an emphatic 6-1 victory over the San José Sharks on Thursday night at Honda Center.

Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano also scored and Beckett Sennecke had two assists for the Ducks, who jumped to a 4-0 lead and dominated their Pacific Division rivals for their first win since March 26.

Carlson scored two power-play goals in the third period, connecting with 5:57 left to secure the first hat trick of his 1,156-game career. The veteran defenseman has been exactly what the Ducks needed when they acquired him at the trade deadline, scoring 12 points in 13 games while steadying the back end for one of the NHL’s worst defensive teams.

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Ducks-Sharks box score

Dept. of Justice sets sights on NFL

(Chris Delmas / AFP / Getty Images)

From Stephen Battaglio: The Department of Justice is investigating the NFL’s media deals with streaming companies as more of its games go behind subscription pay walls.

The investigation first reported by the Wall Street Journal centers on the financial impact of live sports streaming on consumers and whether the league’s traditional broadcast partners are getting fair treatment.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. A government official told NBC News the department’s investigation into the NFL is “about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers.”

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Shohei Ohtani continues to excel

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

(Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)

From Maddie Lee: Shohei Ohtani acknowledged he wasn’t feeling his best Wednesday.

In the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, it took him 22 pitches to navigate a scoreless first inning. But he escaped unscathed.

“Made some adjustments and finished strong at the end,” Ohtani said through Japanese interpreter Will Ireton, after pitching six innings and not giving up an earned run.

Regardless of the unearned run Toronto scored in the third inning, Ohtani holds the longest active streak of innings pitched (26⅔) without allowing an earned run in the majors, according to MLB.com and Elias Sports Bureau.

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MLB scores

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1934 — The Chicago Black Hawks edge the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 in overtime to win the Stanley Cup in 4 of the best-of-5 series. Charlie Gardiner gets the shutout and Mush March scores the winning goal at 30:05 of overtime. It’s the final NHL game for Gardiner, who dies of a brain hemorrhage two months later.

1947 — Jackie Robinson becomes first black player of the 20th century to sign an MLB contract.

1949 — Sam Snead wins the Masters, beating Lloyd Mangrum and Johnny Bulla by three strokes.

1953 — NBA Championship Finals, Minneapolis Auditorium, Minnesota, MN: Minneapolis Lakers beat NY Knicks, 91-84 for a 4-1 series victory; Lakers’ 5th title in 6 years.

1955 — Cary Middlecoff beats Ben Hogan by seven strokes to win the Masters.

1955 — 9th NBA Championship: Syracuse Nats beat Fort Wayne Pistons, 4 games to 3.

1956 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 to win the Stanley Cup in five games.

1960 — 24th U.S. Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: 1958 champion Arnold Palmer birdies the final 2 holes to win by 1 stroke over runner-up Ken Venturi.

1961 — South Africa’s Gary Player becomes the first foreign player to win the Masters, edging Arnold Palmer and Charley Coe by one stroke.

1977 — Tom Watson pulls away in the final four holes to beat Jack Nicklaus by two strokes in the Masters.

1983 — Baltimore’s Eddie Murray hits his 1,000 career hit.

1988 — Scotland’s Sandy Lyle sinks a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory in the Masters, becoming the first British player to win the tournament.

1990 — Dave Taylor, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato score three goals apiece as the Los Angeles Kings pound the Calgary Flames 12-4, marking the first time in NHL playoff history that three hat tricks are recorded in one game.

1991 — LA King Wayne Gretzky scores NHL record 93rd playoff goal.

1993 — Manon Rheaume, pro hockey’s only female goaltender, allows six goals in her first International Hockey League start for the Atlanta Knights, an 8-6 loss to Cincinnati.

1994 — Jose Maria Olazabal wins the Masters by two strokes over Tom Lehman. It’s the sixth time in seven years a non-American has prevailed.

1996 — Norm Duke sets a Professional Bowlers Association record with three consecutive 300s. Duke, who finished the first round with consecutive 300s, opens the second round with his third perfect game of the day.

2005 — Tiger Woods wins the Masters with a spectacular finish of birdies and bogeys. Woods turns back a surprising challenge Chris DiMarco with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to capture his fourth green jacket.

2010 — The Boston Bruins clinch a playoff berth after scoring three short-handed goals in 64 seconds on the same penalty during a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s the first time in NHL history that a team accomplishes the feat as Daniel Paille, Blake Wheeler and Steve Begin score the goals in the second period to make it 3-0.

2011 — 75th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Charl Schwartzel of South Africa birdies the final 4 holes to win his first major title, 2 strokes ahead of Australian pair Adam Scott and Jason Day.

2016 — Danny Willett wins the Masters after a stunning collapse by Jordan Spieth. Willett shoots a closing 67 for a 5-under 283 is assured his first major title when Spieth bogies the 17th hole. Spieth, nine holes away from another wire-to-wire victory, throws it away with a collapse around Amen Corner that is shocking even by Augusta National standards. Spieth was five shots ahead on the 10th tee and three shots behind when he walked to the 13th tee.

2016 — Chicago’s Patrick Kane wins the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. He is the first American-born player in NHL history to capture the Ross since it has been awarded, dating back to 1947-48. Kane wins the scoring title with 106 points, which includes 46 goals and 60 assists, both of which were career highs.

2022 — 86th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: World #1 golfer Scottie Scheffler wins first career major title; beats Irishman Rory McIlroy by 3 strokes.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Sabrina Carpenter famously works late, so it might come as a surprise to some that “Espresso” songstress’ headlining set at Coachella 2026 is comparatively early in the night at 9 p.m.

But that shouldn’t be an issue to music festival fans enjoying the festivities from home on Coachella’s YouTube livestream.

“Couchella,” as it’s affectionately called, is back this year to beam some of the biggest performances, including Sabrina Carpenter and Anyma on the Main Stage, Dijon, Turnstile and Disclosure at the Outdoor Theatre, and Bini, Devo and Blood Orange at the Mojave.

You can also watch via Coachella’s livestream app on iOS and Android.

Here’s who you can watch on Friday’s livestream feeds (times presented in PDT):

Main Stage

5:30 p.m. Teddy Swims; 7 p.m. The xx; 9:05 p.m. Sabrina Carpenter; 12:00 a.m. Anyma

Outdoor Theatre

4 p.m. Dabeulll; 5:20 p.m. Lykke Li; 6:40 p.m. Dijon; 8:05 p.m. Turnstile; 10:35 p.m. Disclosure; 11:55 p.m. “Bonus Set from Do LaB”

Sahara

4:00 p.m. Youna; 4:50 p.m. Hugel; 6:15 p.m. Marion Hofstadt; 8 p.m. Katseye; 9:15 p.m. Levity; 10:50 p.m. Swae Lee; 12:05 a.m. Sexyy Redd

Mojave

4:15 p.m. Bini; 5:30 p.m. Central Cee; 6:45 p.m. Devo; 8:10 p.m. Moby; 9:20 p.m. Slayyyter; 10:35 p.m. Ethel Cain; 11:55 p.m. Blood Orange

Gobi

4 p.m. Bob Baker Marionettes; 4:45 p.m. NewDad; 5:30 p.m. Joyce Manor; 6:15 p.m. CMAT; 7:20 p.m. Fakemink; 8:25 p.m. Holly Humberstone; 9:50 p.m. Joost; 11:05 p.m. Creepy Nuts

Sonora

4 p.m. Wednesday; 4:50 p.m. Fleshwater; 6 p.m. The Two Lips; 7:10 p.m. Ninajirachi; 8:25 p.m. Cachirula & Loojan; 9:15 p.m. February; 10:00 p.m. Hot Mulligan; 10:55 p.m. Carolina Durante; 11:50 p.m. Not For Radio

Quasar

5 p.m. Tiga; 7 p.m. Deep Dish; 9 p.m. Pawsa; 11 p.m. Disco Lines

Note that there have been livestream delays in past years, so don’t worry if your favorite artist is a few minutes late.

Los Angeles officials are expressing growing fears that taxpayers and the city treasury could be hit with a round of crippling costs to support the 2028 Olympic Games if the city doesn’t ink a rigorous deal to assure a “zero–cost” Games.

Some city officials have long been concerned that taxpayers could be left with massive bills if the Olympics don’t generate the income organizers have promised. Delays in finalizing a deal between City Hall and the Olympics committee have heightened those tensions.

The exact costs to L.A. and other local governments remain unknown, as officials wait to hear from LA28 and federal security agencies about exactly what services they will need. Recent controversy over the ties between Casey Wasserman, the head of the L.A. Olympics, and Jeffrey Epstein have added to the uncertainty over the finances in the minds of some city leaders.

City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez both issued letters demanding a contract pledging that LA28 cover any of the city’s future costs that arise as the city plays host to hundreds of thousands of athletes and fans.

The contract, more than six months overdue, is needed “to foreclose any scenario in which funds might go back to the wealthy backers and investors of the LA 28 organization without reimbursing taxpayer funded extraordinary costs,” the city attorney wrote to council members.

Rodriguez agreed in a separate letter this week that the city needs a contract that assures that the Olympics organization will pay any excess costs for policing, transportation, trash pickup and more, so that taxpayers are not burdened or “core city services” slashed.

That should take priority over the private nonprofit LA28 building a “Legacy Fund” to bankroll future youth sports programs, public sports facilities and the like, argued the city officials, who are both up for reelection this year.

“Bankruptcy cannot be the legacy of these Games,” Rodriguez wrote, without elaborating on what she meant, though L.A.’s top budget official recently projected a deficit, unconnected to the Olympics, of “several hundred million” dollars.

LA28 officials responded with a statement they issued previously, saying, in part, that “LA28 remains committed to delivering the safest, most secure, and fiscally responsible Games that will benefit Angelenos for decades to come,” adding, “We remain engaged in good faith negotiations and look forward to our continued partnership with the City of Los Angeles.”

LA28 Chief Executive Reynold Hoover said at a press event Wednesday that ticket sales were one vehicle for the host committee to assure that taxpayers didn’t get stuck with a big bill down the road.

The stakes remain high for both sides. The private LA28 group needs the city’s police, fire, sanitation, streets and transportation services to deliver a successful event. The city wants the sports extravaganza to succeed, not only to burnish its image on an international stage, but also to assure there is enough money to pay for all the extra tasks city workers will perform.

The LA28 leaders project the Games will cost more than $7.1 billion. They say that money will come from a variety of sources: nearly $1 billion from the International Olympic Committee, $437 million from international marketing rights, $2.5 billion from corporate sponsors in the U.S., $2.5 billion from ticket sales and hospitality packages, $344 million from licensing and merchandise and $405 million in other revenue.

LA28 reports being ahead of schedule on the revenue front. But city officials worry that unforeseen events — including an economic downturn or natural disaster — could blow up the income model, with one of many wild cards being the willingness of President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress to follow through with a funding pledge to the Democratic-controlled city.

L.A. officials have long expressed concern that Trump and Congress might belatedly yank away $1 billion already set aside to reimburse state and local governments for security, planning and other Olympics-related costs.

While the two elected officials and some others, including an attorney representing city employees, raised alarms, an individual with knowledge of the talks between the city and LA28 said that a tentative agreement would likely be before the City Council “within two or three weeks.”

The knowledgeable individual, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the discussion, said negotiators on both sides must bear in mind how a third party, the federal government under Trump, is integral to the financing model.

The source tracking the negotiations said that both sides needed to make sure the pact creates a path to “maximize federal resources, which were dedicated by Congress for the Games,” adding: “The contract needs to avoid saying that LA28 is going to pay, for example, for all of the LAPD’s extra costs in such a way that the federal government says, ‘Fine, then you don’t get any of the federal money.’ We can’t afford to leave a billion dollars on the table.“

City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, one of those bargaining for the city, struck a positive note.

“We are invested in a successful Olympics. The organizing committee knows that it needs the city and city services to have a successful Games,” said Szabo. “It’s in both the city’s and the organizing committee’s best interest to have a successful Games. We’re joined at the hip and we’ll succeed together, or not.”

The 2028 Games have been designated a National Special Security Event, placing it in the same category as major party political conventions and Super Bowls. The U.S. Secret Service sets the security plan for those events.

Officials in L.A. have said they are still waiting to learn from the Secret Service how broad the security “blast area” should be around each athletic venue. The federal agency will then dictate how many police and federal agents will flood those zones, which include the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park and Crypto.com Arena.

Attorney Connie Rice, who represents L.A. city employees concerned about how the city will pay for the Games, said that her clients still had questions. Rice, whose past litigation helped force LAPD reforms, said that employees helping to plan for security said they had estimated that the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, alone, would need at least $1 billion to pay for extra security during the Games.

The current federal allocation would not get the city and county of Los Angeles $1 billion since many other jurisdictions, including Long Beach, Oklahoma City and the state of California also will be competing for U.S. funding. And the federal government has not yet released its “notice of funding opportunity” — laying out the parameters for claiming a part of the $1 billion.

Rice argued that the city gave up its best leverage when it signed an earlier agreement to host the Games. “Who is going to pay the bill, or who are they even going to send the invoices to, when the Games are over and LA28 is dissolved?” Rice asked. “LA28 has no obligation to raise money once the event is over.”

Los Angeles city officials expect to have requests by October from LA28 for the services the Games organization needs at each venue. The Games organizing group has agreed to pay any costs that exceed the city’s typical expenditures. But there is not a clear understanding of what constitutes a customary level of service. The massive event is expected to require an array of services, including trash pickup, bus service, street closures, park maintenance, drinking water stations and building inspections of temporary Olympic structures.

In her letter late last month to City Council members, the city attorney raised a slew of questions about the fiscal contract with LA28. Feldstein Soto contended the Games had a “heightened risk exposure … given the recent claims against LA 28 Chairman Casey Wasserman.”

Wasserman’s name appeared in the files about convicted sexual predator Epstein, with records showing the then-28-year-old sports marketer had gone on a two-week tour of Africa sponsored by Epstein and later exchanged risque emails with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Though some activists demanded Wasserman leave his post as LA28 chair and called for a Games boycott, there has been no apparent reduction in sponsorships or ticket sales because of the furor.

As city attorney, Feldstein Soto is advising the city officials negotiating the Olympic contract. Her letter says she will insist that “transparent audit rights and procedures” be put into place to assure the city treasury does not take a hit in supporting the Games.

The letter raises the possibility that natural disasters or other emergencies could cut into LA28’s bottom line. It also asks: “What happens if the federal government does not pay the assume $1 billion [or] … [w]hat happens if the city’s actual expenses exceed $1 billion?” Feldstein Soto’s answer: “In either situation, this office believes that all surplus funds must reimburse the city and its taxpayers first, as promised, before any surplus funds are available for a [LA28] legacy or tribute fund.”

Over the last year, activists have organized droves of people across the United States to protest and petition Congress over concerns that the Trump administration will sell off our most beloved outdoor spaces.

We’ve worried about general threats to public lands, such as whether the 700,000-acre Angeles National Forest or the 150,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area will remain pristine protected landscapes. We’ve also seen specific examples of what activists have cautioned could happen: a large mining operation that could open just outside Joshua Tree National Park and a large housing development proposed at the border of Yosemite National Park.

And although that attention is more than warranted, for those of us living around Los Angeles, it’s crucial that we not miss a similar, quieter battle being fought locally by nonprofits and public agencies. Here in L.A., our wildlands are often protected parcel by parcel.

A bear meanders through the Rubio Canyon Preserve.

(Johanna Turner)

It’s a time-consuming, expensive and rewarding job that the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy has been performing for, as of Friday, when the group celebrates its anniversary, 25 years.

I spoke with conservancy leaders about their vision to create an expansive corridor for wildlife moving among our mountain ranges. This would help combat climate change locally, make hillsides more fire resistant and ensure biodiversity among our local animals.

The Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy started with four neighbors — Altadena residents Nancy Steele, Astrid Ellersieck, Diane Walters and Lori Paul — who organized against a housing development that ultimately was constructed.

“They were unsuccessful in preventing the project, but they realized that working together, they could be powerful,” said Barbara Goto, the conservancy’s director of operations.

The group first launched the Altadena Foothills Conservancy with the hyperlocal focus of protecting the neighboring hillsides and canyons from development. Over the next seven years, the organization’s vision expanded to include the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and it started operating under its current name.

The organization has saved more than 140 acres from development since its founding. To identify ideal properties, they’ve used wildlife cameras, mapping software and other available data.

A Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris cadaverina) male, calling with extended throat, at Rubio Canyon.

(Althea Edwards)

The process to purchase those properties is often long and arduous. Conservancy staff must persuade a property owner to sell at fair-market price — a stipulation when the conservancy uses state funding to buy property. The owner must also be patient enough to wait for the conservancy to cobble together grants to buy the land.

After buying the land, the conservancy establishes a “friends” group — like Friends of Rubio — comprised of volunteers who yank invasive plants, reestablish trails (if applicable) and rebuild or restore passageways to make the property as appealing to animals as possible.

And it works.

The 41-acre Rubio Canyon Preserve, which sits about four miles northwest of Eaton Canyon, is regularly frequented by bears, mountain lions and deer passing to and from Angeles National Forest and the foothill landscape.

Two gray foxes appear to play together in Millard Canyon.

(Denis Callet)

At the conservancy’s Rosemont Preserve, volunteers have essentially removed all invasive castor bean, arundo (which clogs streams) and tree tobacco, which crowd out native plants and harm the landscape. It’s no surprise that the conservancy has documented 10 different mountain lions over the last nine years there (even though the preserve is surrounded on multiple sides by neighborhoods).

When the conservancy staff invited me to visit one of their preserves, I was eager and skeptical. I grew up in rural America, where my family’s 300-acre goat ranch was considered small. I’ve met ranchers who own essentially entire counties of land, especially around the Oklahoma-Texas Panhandle.

I had a bias going into this story. I assumed you needed big swaths of property to really make a difference. I realized how wrong I was when I visited the conservancy’s Cottonwood Canyon in Pasadena.

It is only 11 acres, but it is one of the most significant properties the conservancy has acquired. But that wasn’t immediately obvious.

A coyote trudges through the Rosemont Preserve.

(Denis Callet)

As John Howell, the conservancy’s chief executive, and Tim Martinez, the organization’s land manager, led me through the preserve, shaded by massive oak trees, they explained that a local educator had reached out to let the organization know that the property, which had been owned by the same family since 1885, would be up for sale.

The organization soon realized a few key details about the land. For one, it has a small-but-mighty spring that flows year-round into the Arroyo Seco. It is one of only two known year-round water sources for wildlife in the region, they said, a significant resource given how drought can dry up much of the nearby rivers and creeks.

But Cottonwood’s importance grew much larger when a staffer at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife pointed out during a visit to the property, Goto said, that the land could serve as a vital piece in a wildlife corridor puzzle. The land sits between the Hahamongna Watershed Park in La Cañada Flintridge to its east and the San Rafael Hills and Verdugo Mountains to its west.

“They’re like, ‘These are natural open spaces that need to be connected — these natural open spaces are large enough to support wildlife populations,’” Goto said. “So that is when our mission changed.”

A lesser goldfinch sings a little tune at Sycamore Canyon Preserve.

(TJ Hastings)

The organization has since pushed for the creation of the Hahamongna to Tujunga Wildlife Corridor, a 20-mile stretch that would link the San Gabriel Mountains at Hahamongna Watershed Park to the San Gabriels at Big Tujunga Wash for wildlife passage through the San Rafael Hills and the Verdugo Mountains. (For a great visual, visit arroyosfoothills.org.)

This type of effort helps ensure that, for example, mountain lions don’t end up like the famous Griffith Park mountain lion P-22, surrounded by roadways and unable to safely look for a mate, or worse.

“P-41 was the resident cougar in the Verdugos and was there for 10 years with Nikita, and they sired two sets of two cubs,” Howell said. “And [with] the first set, one died on the 134 [Freeway] and the second one died on the 210 [Freeway]. And the second set were found emaciated under a car in Burbank, and they had to be saved.”

A mountain lion crosses through Millard Canyon.

(Johanna Turner)

One challenge the conservancy faces in building out the Hahamongna to Tujunga Wildlife Corridor, Goto said, is how state funding is allocated. It is coincidentally similar to my own bias going into this piece.

Goto said that, as incredible as California’s “30×30” goal is — to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 — “it makes it very difficult to get funding for small parcels.”

Much of the money to buy public lands comes from bond measures, and although L.A. County arguably has one of the biggest voting blocks that passed those measures, a substantial amount of bond money goes to buy property in Northern California, where large plots are more ample, Goto said.

“It’s when we’re working on these wildlife corridors that don’t necessarily have water and are much smaller, that’s where it really gets difficult,” Goto said.

And sometimes all that’s needed is a parcel of land.

A curious deer at Cottonwood Canyon Preserve.

(Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy)

3 things to do

The L.A. River bike trail near Griffith Park.

(Los Angeles Times)

1. Mosey on down the river in Elysian Valley, a.k.a. Frogtown
L.A. Climate Week has organized an L.A. River Crawl from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday in Frogtown. Several local organizations and businesses will be open along the route, offering live music, poetry, food pop-ups and family-friendly activities about climate change and ecology. To learn more, visit laclimateweek.com.

2. Gaze at the stars in San Diego
San Diego County Parks will host the Festival of the Night Sky and Nocturnal Creatures from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Los Peñasquitos Ranch House (12122 Canyonside Park Drive) in San Diego. This free all-ages event will include birdwatching, stargazing via telescopes and a night hike where participants will try to spot scorpions, crickets and bats. Visitors are encouraged to bring binoculars, flashlights, jackets, drinks and snacks. Learn more at the agency’s Instagram page.

3. Journal with genuine curiosity in L.A.
The L.A. City Department of Recreation and Parks will host a guided walk with nature journaling from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday at Griffith Park. A guide will take hikers on a short walk before the group pauses to capture what they’ve noticed in journals. Some materials will be provided, but guests are encouraged to bring what supplies they have. Register at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

A professional guide with Times reporter Jack Dolan, right, set off near Donner Pass trailhead on a route taken by a backcountry ski group struck by an avalanche north of Tahoe on Feb. 17.

(Danny Kern / For The Times)

After hearing news of the deadliest avalanche in California history, many of us wondered how such a thing could happen given our access to weather data even in the most remote places. Times staff writer Jack Dolan retraced the steps of a guided backcountry ski trip where 13 people, including nine who died, were buried in snow during an intense blizzard. “Deep in a wooded ravine, bathed in warm sunlight, we knelt behind the makeshift memorial of flowers and looked up the slope that sent tons of snow barreling down,” Dolan wrote. “All we could see was a slight rise and a healthy forest of full-grown pine trees.”

There are no right words to say to capture the magnitude of heartache around this tragedy. The search for answers is one step in a long grieving process.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Valentine continues her quest for love, folks! The wolf who made history earlier this year when she entered Los Angeles County in search of a mate has made history for a second time. “The 3-year-old female with black fur entered Inyo County around 7 a.m. Sunday about 20 miles south of Mt. Whitney,” Times staff writer Lila Seidman wrote. “She became the first documented wolf to set paws in the Eastern Sierra county in more than a century, according to state wildlife officials.” It’s only been two months, meaning Valentine and her future mate could still qualify for a canine version of “90 Day Fiancé”!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits is closing down this summer in preparation for its first significant overhaul in its 50-year history.

The closure comes as its neighbor LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries finally open to the public after a two-decade campus transformation, and L.A. institutions make a concerted effort to bolster the city’s cultural scene in advance of the 2028 Olympic Games.

“We’re excited about bringing the entire campus together, and our part of it is really important to making it feel like you can easily move from LACMA over into the Tar Pits,” said Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, which oversees the Tar Pits. “So we worked closely with LACMA on that interface, and we’ll continue to do so.”

The last day to visit the Page Museum is July 6. Prior to closing, the Tar Pits will host a free public KCRW Summer Nights event June 12 and a members-only, disco-themed dance party June 27.

The museum renovation, like the recently announced Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research, is part of the NHM’s broader Reimagine project — a yearslong site revamp led by architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi that will make the 13-acre Tar Pits campus more accessible and emphasize its function as the only active paleontological research hub located in a major urban area. For the Page Museum, that means a new and improved northwest entrance, expanded visible research labs and collections displays, an immersive theater and a rooftop terrace overlooking Hancock Park.

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“We’re going to have this more accessible, state-of-the-art museum that really tells the story of Ice Age Los Angeles and its relevance today in a way that it currently doesn’t,” Bettison-Varga said.

Bettison-Varga added that the revamped Page Museum will demonstrate “why this place is a worldwide treasure, and that it’s telling us about ecological and climate change that happened in the recent past and what we can learn from it.”

“All of this is about placing it in the context of relevance for today, not just a window into the past,” she said.

To date, the Reimagine project has secured more than $131 million, just over half of its $240 million fundraising goal.

Guests can still observe active excavation during the two-year museum closure — albeit from different vantage points — as researchers continue their work on site. Hancock Park will stay partially open, with new walking paths and outdoor features set to be phased in coordination with construction.

“[The renovation] is really going to position that museum with respect to the landscape and the fossils that are right from this site, while still preserving all the wonderful things that the community loves about the site: the frieze and the lake pit, the mammoth family, the visible excavations and, of course, the hills that everyone likes to roll down,” Bettison-Varga said.

Plus, with the Geffen Galleries opening, “it’s actually a good reminder for everyone to come see the vintage, iconic La Brea Tar Pits before the Page Museum closes,” Bettison-Varga quipped.

While the Page Museum is under construction, the grant-funded La Brea Tar Pits Mobile Museums will continue visiting schools and other public places throughout L.A. County.

The Page Museum opened in 1977 and currently houses more than 2 million specimens in its collection.

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas learned about 40 minutes before the Dodgers’ game against Blue Jays on Tuesday that his father, Miguel “Micky” Rojas, was being rushed to the hospital.

Just that afternoon, the elder Rojas had sent his son a photo of himself lying down in bed, ready to watch the game. He was excited to see him play, Micky wrote.

Then, as Rojas prepared to play, he started getting calls and texts from family members.

“There’s nothing I could do being this far,” Rojas said before Wednesday’s 4-3 series-finale loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. “Just support my family, and trying to understand a little bit of what’s going on. I found out that my dad, on the way to the hospital, passed away. He couldn’t live through the heart attack that he had. So it was suddenly that he passed away; he was feeling good. Really hard to understand. I’m still trying to process the whole thing.”

Micky Rojas’ funeral was scheduled for Wednesday. But being in Toronto complicated travel options back to Venezuela. Rojas would have had to fly back through the United States, on an extremely tight timeline.

“That’s how they do things in Venezuela,” Rojas said of the timing of the funeral. “It happens quick because they have to. They don’t have many places to hold these funerals.”

Rojas planned on returning to Los Angeles with the team, and then he might travel to Venezuela to be with his family.

“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Rojas said. “But the most important part for me today was showing up and playing, and then after that, I’ll be a family man on the off day and see what’s the best way to do things after that.”

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Dodgers-Blue Jays box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA women celebrate national title

UCLA women’s basketball players (from left) Lauren Betts, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez dance during the Bruins’ national championship victory celebration Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

From the Associated Press: Lauren Betts and her UCLA teammates celebrated the Bruins’ first NCAA women’s basketball championship with their fans at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night.

Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker capped the party by hitting the court to perform their TikTok dance with the championship trophy in the background. Angela Dugalic made a snow angel in the blue-and-gold confetti littering the court.

“This group is so special,” Jaquez told the crowd that filled half the arena. “We’re all best friends.”

Jaquez led a spirited eight-clap, the band blared the school fight song, and mascots Joe Bruin and Josie Bruin danced.

It’s been a whirlwind for the Bruins since their 79-51 rout of South Carolina in the title game in Phoenix on Sunday. The game averaged 9.9 million viewers, the third most-viewed women’s championship game since 1996.

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Dodgers great Davey Lopes dies at age 80

Davey Lopes acknowledges the cheers of the crowd after hitting his second home run of the game against the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 1978 World Series at Dodger Stadium.

(Associated Press)

From Steve Henson: Davey Lopes, the no-nonsense, base-swiping second baseman of a Dodgers infield that played together for an MLB-record 8½ seasons, died Wednesday at age 80, the team announced.

The first 10 years of Lopes’ 16-year major league career were spent with the Dodgers, and he returned to the organization in 2010 to serve as first-base coach for five years. Lopes was a four-time All-Star who won two stolen base titles and one Gold Glove and helped the Dodgers to four World Series, including the championship in 1981.

Taken in the second round of a 1968 Dodgers draft haul considered by many the most talented in baseball history, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Lopes rose from a rough-and-tumble Rhode Island upbringing to become the team’s everyday second baseman and leadoff batter.

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Olympic ticket sticker shot hits L.A.

The LA28 logo at Venice Beach.

(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for LA28)

From Suhauna Hussain and Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Andie Pangan did not even conceive of the possibility she would fail to snag tickets for tennis or climbing events at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

She has been watching tennis since she was young and desperately wanted tickets for a chance to see Filipina breakout star Alex Eala, who she hopes will qualify and be a trailblazer for the Philippines in the Olympics.

But when she logged on the website at 10 a.m. Monday, the start of her ticket-buying time slot, all the events she had even remotely wanted had sold out, were unavailable or were well out of her price range, more than $1,000.

“I was shocked. Even climbing was all gone,” said Pangan, who lives 10 minutes from the Carson Stadium, which will serve as an Olympic venue. “I never really thought I would come out of this presale without getting anything.”

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Lakers great Michael Cooper coaching at Cal State L.A.

Lakers great Michael Cooper speaks during a news conference at Cal State L.A. on Wednesday after being introduced as the university’s men’s basketball coach.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

From Kara Carrell: Michael Cooper’s return to Cal State Los Angeles is more than just another coaching stop — it’s a homecoming.

The Lakers legend was introduced Wednesday as the program’s 14th men’s basketball head coach, bringing with him decades of experience and a clear vision: return the Golden Eagles to championship form.

The goal for Cooper is to reestablish what the men’s basketball program achieved two years ago, winning a championship.

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How a dependence on painkillers took down Tiger Woods

In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, golfer Tiger Woods is taken into custody following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., on March 27.

(Associated Press)

From Steve Henson: Reaction to Tiger Woods’ car crash and driving under the influence arrest last month ranged from sadness to dismay to exasperation. Few observers, however, expressed surprise.

Although widely recognized as perhaps the greatest golfer of all time, Woods, 50, has been in a downward spiral personally and professionally for years.

His struggles with prescription drugs became public in 2017 when police found him asleep at the wheel of his car with the engine running near his Jupiter, Fla., home. Multiple painkillers, sleep aids and THC were detected in his system. Woods checked into rehab shortly after that incident, saying his efforts to manage insomnia and pain from his staggering number of surgeries on his own was a mistake.

Now, though, he’s again in rehab, likely in Switzerland after his private jet landed in Zurich on Friday, according to reports. The latest crash is the fourth major incident involving Woods behind the wheel since 2009.

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Clippers can’t keep up with NBA-best Thunder

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores over Clippers guard Jordan Miller in the first half Wednesday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

From the Associated Press: Chet Holmgren had 30 points and 14 rebounds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and 11 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the NBA’s best record with a 128-110 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Jalen Williams scored 18 points for the NBA champion Thunder (64-16), who will have home-court advantage throughout the postseason in their title defense after holding off San Antonio (61-19), which is on an 18-2 run since February. Oklahoma City has won seven straight and 19 of 20 to earn the West’s No. 1 seed for the third straight season.

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Clippers-Thunder box score

NBA scores

NBA standings

Reid Detmers runs into trouble early in Angels’ loss

Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers delivers against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

From the Associated Press: Matt Olson homered, Grant Holmes pitched into the seventh inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Angels 8-2 on Wednesday.

Atlanta broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning on Olson’s third homer of the season — a two-out, two-run shot to center field against Reid Detmers (0-1). Austin Riley followed with a double and scored on shortstop Zach Neto’s throwing error to make it 5-2.

Holmes (1-1) left with two on and two outs in the seventh and Mike Trout due up. Joel Payamps struck out Trout on a full-count fastball. Trout was 0 for 4 and just one for nine in the series, his hit a pop fly misplayed for a single, and is hitting .190.

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Angels-Braves box score

This day in sports history

1912 — First exhibition baseball game at Fenway Park.

1946 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 6-3 to win the Stanley Cup in five games.

1947 — Leo Durocher, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is suspended for one year by Commissioner A.B. “Happy” Chandler for “conduct detrimental to baseball.” Durocher is linked to gambling interests.

1950 — Jimmy Demaret wins his third Masters, by two strokes over Jim Ferrier.

1959 — Thirteenth NBA Championship: Boston Celtics sweep Minnesota Lakers in 4 games.

1960 — The Boston Celtics beat the St. Louis Hawks 122-103 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals for their third NBA title in the last four years. Frank Ramsey leads the Celtics with 24 points and Bill Russell scores 22 points and grabs 35 rebounds.

1962 — Arnold Palmer wins a three-way playoff, beating Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald in the Masters.

1966 — Anaheim Stadium for California Angels opens.

1972 — 36th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Jack Nicklaus leads wire-to-wire to win the 4th of his 6 Masters titles.

1978 — Gary Player shoots a final-round 64 to win his third Masters, edging Hubert Green, Rod Funseth and defending champion Tom Watson by a shot.

1978 — Denver’s David Thompson, battling San Antonio’s George Gervin for the NBA season scoring title, scores 73 points against the Detroit Pistons. It’s the third-highest output ever in an NBA game. Gervin, not to be outdone, later scores 63 against the New Orleans Jazz. It’s just enough to give Gervin the scoring crown, 27.22 points per game to Thompson’s 27.15, the tightest one-two finish ever.

1981 — Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela’s first start.

1987 — For 3rd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in a Stanley Cup game and passes Jean Béliveau as all time playoff scoring champ.

1989 — Britain’s Nick Faldo makes a 25-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Masters. Runner-up Scott Hoch missed a 2-foot putt for par on the first hole of the playoff that would have given him the title.

1995 — 59th Masters tournament, Augusta National GC: Ben Crenshaw wins his second Masters title.

1997 — Major League Soccer announces Miami & Chicago as expansion teams.

2000 — Fiji native Vijay Singh meets every challenge to win the Masters, closing with a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Ernie Els.

2001 — Australia sets a record for the most one-sided international win in FIFA history, beating Tonga 22-0 in an Oceania Group One qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup.

2005 — The United States beats Canada 3-1 in a penalty shootout after a scoreless regulation and 20-minute overtime to win the Women’s World Hockey Championship. The win ends the defending champions’ run of eight straight titles.

2006 — 70th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Phil Mickelson wins his 2nd green jacket.

2013 — 32nd NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Louisville, 93-60.

2016 — Manny Pacquiao returns from the biggest loss of his career with a bang, knocking down Timothy Bradley twice on his way to a unanimous 12-round decision in their welterweight showdown in Las Vegas.

2017 — Sergio Garcia overcomes a two-shot deficit with six holes to play and beats Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff at the Masters for his first major after nearly two decades of heartache. No one ever played more majors as a pro — 70 — before winning a major for the first time.

2017 — Russell Westbrook breaks Oscar Robertson’s 56-year-old record with his 42nd triple-double of the season, then he breaks the Denver Nuggets’ hearts with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 106-105 victory. Westbrook has 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in breaking Robertson’s record of 41 triple-doubles that stood since the 1961-62 season. With his triple-double in the books, Westbrook scores his team’s final 15 points, including a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounds after a timeout with 2.9 seconds left.

2021 — San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove no-hits the Texas Rangers.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Chet Holmgren had 30 points and 14 rebounds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and 11 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the NBA’s best regular-season record with a 128-110 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Jalen Williams scored 18 points for the NBA champion Thunder (64-16), who will have home-court advantage throughout the postseason in their title defense after holding off San Antonio (61-19), which is on an 18-2 run since February. Oklahoma City has won seven straight and 19 of 20 to earn the West’s No. 1 seed for the third straight season.

Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and Brook Lopez added 16 for the eighth-place Clippers, who had won seven of nine. The Clippers are 35-18 since shortly before Christmas, but still must win one of its final two games to extend this once-moribund franchise’s streak to 15 consecutive winning seasons.

The Clippers head to Portland on Friday for a crucial game. The winner almost certainly will finish eighth in the Western Conference, while the losers will slip to ninth, where they’ll need two wins in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.

While Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 20 points in his record 141st consecutive game despite sitting out the fourth quarter, Leonard scored at least 20 in his 56th straight game. Leonard also remained on track to play in at least 65 games this season — his second-most in seven years with the Clippers, and enough to qualify for All-NBA consideration.

Holmgren scored 24 points in the first half and propelled the Thunder to an early 25-point lead. Oklahoma City hit 58.1% of its shots and thoroughly stifled the Clippers’ offense, allowing no fast-break field goals.

Darius Garland sat out for the Clippers to manage his toe injury. He hasn’t played in back-to-back games since Los Angeles acquired him from Cleveland in a trade for James Harden.

Up next for the Clippers: At Portland on Friday.

Pastry chef, baker and champion of whole grains Roxana Jullapat opened Friends & Family in East Hollywood nine years ago, a forerunner among a new wave of artisanal bakeries in Los Angeles. Her first book, “Mother Grains,” served as an introduction to baking with freshly milled ancient grains such as rye, barley, buckwheat, corn, oat, rice, sorghum and local wheat. Her follow-up cookbook, “Morning Baker,” centers the same whole grains with an emphasis on incorporating them into easy, everyday bakes and weekend projects, from muffins and scones to viennoiserie and naturally leavened and yeasted breads, along with French toast, pancakes, waffles, doughnuts and quiche. With the first book, “I didn’t anticipate that people were so ready and hungry for cooking and baking with grains,” she said recently. “They were ingredients they already had in their kitchen.” The follow-up book is also a snapshot of Friends & Family’s morning bake, the daily production of several dozen kinds of pastries that fill the pastry case to overflowing. There are recipes that are easy to jump into, and there is a chapter devoted to whole-grain croissants, made with spelt and whole wheat. A primer on her favorite flours and recommended millers is a vital resource.

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Jordan Ayala, a standout sophomore pitcher and hitter at Norco High, is the latest baseball player to reclassify and become a member of the class of 2027 next season, he confirmed on Tuesday during the first round of the Boras Classic.

Another player who has reclassified from the same tournament is Huntington Beach pitcher Jared Grindlinger, who will join the class of 2026, making himself available for this summer’s MLB amateur draft.

All this is happening with uncertainty about a possible MLB lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement runs out and not knowing what changes might happen to the draft.

Ayala, 16, said he’s moving his graduation date up to preserve his arm and take a look at becoming a professional after high school.

Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure said reclassifying is not for everyone.

“It takes a special person,” he said. “You’re putting yourself out there.”

Don’t be surprised to see more top players joining the reclassification movement next year.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

To laugh or to cry? It’s a question that feels a little too familiar of late — one confronted often while watching “Maddie’s Secret,” the debut as writer-director from comedian and performer John Early.

Playing the title role with an unnerving sincerity and startling sense of vulnerability, Early stars as Maddie Ralph, a young woman climbing the ranks as a Los Angeles food influencer while secretly hiding her struggle with bulimia.

Early’s performance is a truly remarkable highwire act, all the more so for the wig, padding and prosthetics he wears to play the character. Made in the earnest style of a disease-of-the-week television movie without ever tipping over into winking irony, the film is both funny and tender.

“That, to me, is Maddie’s true secret,” says Early, 38, on a recent video interview from the apartment he is renting in New York City while appearing onstage in Wallace Shawn’s new off-Broadway play “What We Did Before Our Moth Days.”

“The secret of the movie — the real twist of the movie — is not any kind of trope-y reveal,” Early says. “The twist is actually a tonal twist. What I hope is then that becomes funny: the sheer commitment to the stakes of it.

“At any given moment, you can experience it as totally sincere, you can absorb it genuinely and be moved by it,” Early continues, “or you can take a little break and step out of it and find it uproariously funny that we’re even doing this to begin with.”

John Early, front, and Eric Rahill in the movie “Maddie’s Secret.”

(Magnolia Pictures)

Early’s skillfully wrought psychodrama, which had its world premiere at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival, is now the opening-night selection for this year’s Los Angeles Festival of Movies, playing Thursday at Eagle Rock’s Vidiots with members of the cast present for a Q&A, and then again on Friday at 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown.

“Maddie’s Secret,” which opens in theaters June 12, makes for a fitting kickoff for this year’s event. Though the programming includes movies from all over the world, organizers ended up leaning heavily into films made in Los Angeles.

“This year it really does feel like a homegrown festival,” said Sarah Winshall, LAFM’s co-founder and festival director. “What it ended up doing is making us think about L.A. as a small town as a result.”

“I think the movie is an incredible accomplishment,” said Micah Gottlieb, LAFM co-founder and artistic director. “It’s made by somebody who’s not just a great comedian but also is a cinephile, knows the history of cinema, is trying to make something that fits within that lineage, while also just making an all-out entertaining movie.”

“Maddie’s Secret” was shot in the same workaday, creative-class neighborhoods where LAFM unspools. (Maddie’s house in the movie is Early’s own home.) The actor and filmmaker describes it as a “very Echo Park, Silver Lake, Eagle Rock, Frogtown, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Los Feliz movie.”

The story is also rooted in Early’s own complicated feelings about the L.A. food scene.

“It’s completely born out of my time in L.A. and my initial shock when I was confronted with a burgeoning restaurant scene,” says Early, who grew up in Nashville and moved to L.A. from New York in 2016.

“Not to always be talking about millennials, but it seemed very much of my generation,” he says, “specifically these kinds of restaurants where the food is really expensive but you’re sitting on a milk crate, eating lots of Middle Eastern food made by white people. There was just something very funny about all of it to me, even though I completely also sincerely loved it and still do.”

The film’s supporting cast is drawn largely from Early’s own circle of friends, including his most frequent collaborator, the comedian and writer Kate Berlant, along with Conner O’Malley, Claudia O’Doherty, Eric Rahill and Vanessa Bayer. The film’s production designer Gordon Landenberger is his ex-boyfriend and Early is excited that a number of other key collaborators, including costume designers Kimme Aaberg and Izzy Heller and cinematographer Max Lakner, are working on a feature for the first time, just as he is as writer-director.

“I think I wanted to force myself at gunpoint into a place of innocence and naivete,” says Early. “I think this movie is a strange mutation of the camp tradition.”

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

Berlant plays Maddie’s best friend in the film. She and Early have worked together on shorts, live performances and their 2022 Peacock special “Would It Kill You to Laugh?” The two always share what they are developing and so Berlant first heard about “Maddie’s Secret” when it was just percolating as an idea.

“It was a very wild proposition,” she recalls with a laugh while driving down L.A.’s Beverly Boulevard. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to play a woman who’s struggling with bulimia.’ I was like, ‘Good luck.’ I was astonished that he totally pulled it off and he’s such a true filmmaker. It was kind of miraculous.”

Berlant describes their shared sensibility, the ability to simultaneously play comedy and pathos, as a kind of freedom. “Just the underlying absurdity or joke really gives you the ability to go to these really intense emotional places,” she says. “It gives you the permission to go to places that otherwise would be too unbearably saccharin.”

For Early it was also a chance to fulfill his longtime desire to play an old-school ingénue.

“I think I wanted to force myself at gunpoint into a place of innocence and naivete,” says Early. “I think this movie is a strange mutation of the camp tradition.”

“I was astonished that he totally pulled it off and he’s such a true filmmaker,” says Kate Berlant, Early’s longtime collaborator. “It was kind of miraculous.”

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

He references Susan Sontag’s famous essay “Notes on Camp” to say there are two kinds of camp humor, one that is unknowing and another that is knowing. It is near impossible now to genuinely create the first kind, but the process of making “Maddie’s Secret” was in a sense about being the second and striving for the first.

“In the age of the internet and in the kind of crumbling, depressing world we live in, it’s almost impossible to be the first kind of camp,” says Early, “to feel innocent and naive and to twirl. But obviously there is a part of me, there’s a part of all of us, that is very childlike and innocent and has hope. So I think this movie, it knows itself to be camp but it’s aching to be more like the first kind of camp. It’s aching to be pure and naive.”

Though it may be easy to place what Early is doing in the tradition of drag performers such as Divine’s work with filmmaker John Waters, to Early his performance in “Maddie’s Secret” sits outside of it.

“Drag is often obviously about a certain kind of extravagance and fabulousness and Maddie is very humble,” he says. “And so I don’t really see it as drag. It didn’t feel like drag doing it, whatever that means. It honestly just felt like acting to me.”

In dealing with the serious topic of bulimia, Early was careful never to make the eating disorder the joke. He points to a trio of TV movies — 1986’s “Kate’s Secret,” starring Meredith Baxter Birney; 1997’s “Perfect Body,” starring Amy Jo Johnson; and 1981’s “The Best Little Girl in the World,” starring Jennifer Jason Leigh — along with Lauren Greenfield’s 2006 documentary “Thin” as key influences on how he approached the film’s depiction of the illness. (Other non-bulimia influences include Alfred Hitchcock’s “Marnie,” Paul Verhoeven’s trashy “Showgirls” and Adrian Lyne’s “Flashdance.”)

“I don’t find bulimia itself funny,” says Early. “The genre of these movies — that’s what’s funny. It’s the emotional pitch of those movies and the way that they’re made and the acting style and the kind of moralistic quality while being totally pervy. All that was funny to me. And then also putting contemporary life — young, gentrified L.A. food-content influencer culture — putting all that through a melodrama-style filter, that was funny to me.”

While writing the screenplay, Early says he often found himself weeping, overtaken by the emotions of what he was creating. “I guess I’m not above the genre at all,” he admits.

But playing the part was another matter, having sold everyone involved in the production on a very specific tone and conception of what they would do together.

“I was like, ‘I am so stupid, I can’t believe I have put myself in this position,’” Early says, laughing at the memory. “I had set myself up to do the thing that I really had no proof that I could do, which is to play an almost Juliet kind of character who’s going through these extreme things. And I was the one that promised everyone that we would take it seriously. And then suddenly I was like ‘OK, well you have to do it. You actually have to do it.’”

Even if Early was uncertain in the moment, the result is undeniable: a dizzying, disarming blend of humor and emotion — and one of the year’s boldest performances.