los angeles times

“Karen Bass decisively won the debate.”

She was “an assassin,” a “very skilled politician” who “made mincemeat of Nithya throughout the debate, both stylistically and substantively.”

If you think that assessment came from a Bass supporter, think again.

The words come from none other than Spencer Pratt, the erstwhile mayoral candidate, a Republican who routinely referred to Bass as Basura (that’s trash in Spanish) during the primary campaign.

There was no mention of Basura in Pratt’s Substack recap of Wednesday night’s debate before the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. To be sure, his post was titled “Surviving the Dumb and Dumber Debate,” but even so Pratt praised the mayor’s performance against Councilmember Nithya Raman.

Not that he was thrilled by the prospect of four more years with Mayor Bass, however.

“A Karen Bass Mayorship is depressing,” he wrote. “A Nithya Raman Mayorship is terrifying.”

Pratt suggested Bass was borrowing from his own playbook, citing her comments saying street vendors shouldn’t be on the sidewalk outside restaurants and her call for the long-term involuntary hospitalization of people on the street who pose a threat to themselves. Bass herself said that backing involuntary hospitalization was a “controversial thing to say.”

Pratt didn’t respond to a text from The Times about whether he was considering endorsing the mayor in the runoff.

Bass is likely to welcome conservative voters during the Nov. 3 general election as she faces off with Raman, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

And it’s not just Pratt who seems to be leaning toward Bass from the right.

Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in 2022, referred to her as a “very good partner” when he recently celebrated the reopening of his Palisades Village shopping center. He didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In The Heights

Raman traveled to Boyle Heights Monday to join activists calling for Lineage to leave the neighborhood after the devastating fire at the company’s warehouse in June.

It wasn’t Raman’s first visit to Boyle Heights since the blaze, but it was her first public appearance and news conference.

“Lineage shouldn’t be permitted to open this warehouse again,” Raman said to cheers from the crowd.

Bass followed suit Thursday, after Lineage blew past its own self-imposed deadline for cleanup.

They “do not deserve to rebuild,” Bass said in a statement, while also calling on city lawyers to pursue litigation, a lien and other legal options for cost recovery against Lineage. Bass had already ordered the company’s building permits delayed at the end of July.

Raman was joined at the news conference by Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment — a group that has endorsed her — to call for the closure of the facility.

Raman also called for Lineage to pay for Boyle Heights residents’ healthcare, for environmental testing, cleaning and relocation assistance, lost wages and more.

“Families and taxpayers should not be left with the bill when a corporation runs up the tab,” she said.

Raman’s news conference appeared to draw the ire of at least one council colleague, Ysabel Jurado — who represents Boyle Heights.

Jurado didn’t mention Raman by name, but after winning council support for a motion Wednesday continuing the state of emergency in Boyle Heights, she thanked her colleagues who called and texted before they “did a press conference about the issue.”

Jurado spokesperson Mason Santa Maria declined to say whether the remark was directed at Raman. Raman spokesperson Liz Garcia said Raman was invited to the presser.

Jurado, who has endorsed Bass, did not attend.

No shows at H&H

Raman has been outspoken about her removal from the chairmanship of the council’s housing and homelessness committee, suggesting she is being punished by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson for challenging Bass.

Harris-Dawson rejects that narrative, saying the committee needed a chair who can focus undivided attention on the crisis.

Raman doesn’t officially lose that post until the end of the month. So on Wednesday, she was still listed as chair of the committee’s 2 p.m. meeting. But she wasn’t there, and neither were two of her colleagues.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield took the gavel instead, delaying the session until 3 p.m. in the hope that a third member would show up to join him and Councilmember Tim McOsker, giving the committee a quorum.

An hour later, Blumenfield came back.

“This meeting is going to have to be canceled for today,” he told the audience. “So I apologize for making you wait.”

Raman spokesperson Stella Stahl, in an email, said her boss already had other plans, with the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. debate happening later that same day.

“At the time, Nithya was near Sherman Oaks and had pre-planned campaign activities in advance of the mayoral debate,” Stahl said.

Stahl said the committee had a “last-minute cancellation from a council member who was expected to attend,” but didn’t provide a name.

Jurado, who takes over as chair of the newly renamed homelessness and health committee next month, also wasn’t there. Her spokesperson said Raman’s team was told the previous week that Jurado had a personal matter and couldn’t attend.

Devyn Bakewell, a spokesperson for Councilmember Heather Hutt, said her boss let Raman know Wednesday morning that she would not make it to committee due to a family issue.

The committee won’t meet again until next month. Raman will remain on the panel.

State of play

— SHAM SURVEY: The Times broke the story of the faked poll in the Los Angeles mayor’s race that purported to show Bass leading Raman by around 12 percentage points. The poll was faked as a “social experiment,” according to Median Strategies Polling, the group behind the fake survey. The creator of the fake poll revealed himself to the Guardian on Thursday as 21-year-old Rahil Prakash.

— FLIP IT AND REVERSE IT: The Los Angeles City Council has rescinded camping bans on a dozen locations in Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake at the urging of the area’s council member, Hugo Soto-Martínez, who called the bans ineffective in addressing homelessness.

— THE RUMBLE IN THE VALLEY: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman slammed each other Wednesday over their handling of homelessness, public safety and many other issues during the first face-to-face debate of the Nov. 3 election campaign.

— THE BEST LANE PLANS: A long-running dispute between cemeteries and bike-lane and safe streets advocates in the San Fernando Valley has escalated to become a campaign issue in the Los Angeles mayoral race.

— LIGHTS, CAMERA, INACTION: Despite improvements to the state’s tax incentive program, Los Angeles and California continue to struggle to keep movies, television series and even game shows from fleeing elsewhere. Production levels have failed to bounce back since the pandemic and the labor strikes by writers and actors, and they remain at historic lows.

— HEALTH WOES: Hundreds of Boyle Heights residents suffered health problems after a fire at a cold storage facility burned stubbornly for days, including respiratory infections, eye disorders and persistent cough, according to a new study.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? This week the mayor’s signature program was in Eunisses Hernandez’s district in Westlake, where it moved 37 people indoors from Ocean View Avenue and Lake Street.
• On the docket next week: After a Saturday meeting, the Democratic Socialists of America will vote next week on whether to endorse Raman for mayor.

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.

I can’t help but recognize the irony that Edwin Díaz is on the IL with neck inflammation. It was very likely caused by the whiplash he’s endured by tracking all of those line drives whizzing past his ear.

Ron Yukelson
San Luis Obispo

Regardless of whether Edwin Díaz ever excels again in his closer role, I wonder if anyone else feels like I do about the trumpets and light show hoopla announcing his entrance from the bullpen? I think not only does it add fuel to an already fired-up visiting team, it also is a slap in the face of the other Dodger relievers, who by the way, all currently have performed far better.

Gary Sohl
Fountain Valley

Edwin Díaz is auditioning for a spot on the postseason roster and the audition is not going well.

Richard Sherman
Margate, Fla.

Kyle Tucker’s sub-.240 batting average and the oft-injured Edwin Díaz cost the Dodgers $83 million this year — more than the entire payrolls of the Marlins and Guardians. No wonder so many fans believe the Dodgers are ruining MLB.

Barry P. Resnick
Orange

If Dodgers’ ownership is found to have circumvented the rules, there should be serious consequences. Voiding the fat contracts of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz — and making them immediate free agents — would send a strong message from the commissioner’s office that such conduct will not be tolerated.

Steve Ross
Carmel

As online speculation swirls around Brian Hickerson — an on-again, off-again boyfriend of Hayden Panettiere who was present when she was found in cardiac arrest — his brother is speaking out to tell their side of the story.

Zach Hickerson spoke with TMZ on Friday, almost a week after Panettiere died of an apparent overdose, and following days of increasing scrutiny over Brian’s involvement in her life.

“The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation,” Zach Hickerson said in a statement to the outlet. “And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth.”

Internet would-be sleuths have popped up in Zach’s comments on social media this week, probing Brian’s behavior and previous conduct.

On Wednesday, Panettiere’s former West Hollywood neighbor Mia Terrazas told “Inside Edition” that she was “terrified” of Brian, and that the apartment complex at one point had signs posted warning passersby to call the police if anyone spotted him. On Thursday, Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, pointed blame for the actor’s death toward Brian.

But on Friday, Zach said that it was Brian who gave Panettiere a dose of Narcan — a medication that can quickly reverse or reduce the effects of an opioid overdose — after the brothers discovered she was unconscious at the Greenville, S.C., Airbnb where they were staying.

“I want to clarify my involvement in an effort to keep the focus on the fact that we lost one of the most precious individuals on this earth and to allow those that cared about her to mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public,” he told TMZ.

Zach told the outlet that he made plans to get lunch and play indoor golf with his brother and the actor after church on Sunday morning. When he attempted unsuccessfully to reach them, he drove to the rental home and “knocked loudly, which apparently woke Brian up from a nap they were both taking on the pull-out couch bed in the living room.”

When they realized Panettiere was unconscious, “I immediately called 911 and Brian gave her Narcan. We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived. At that point we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.”

According to a report from Greenville, S.C., police, Zach was “very emotional” as paramedics attempted to revive Panettiere, and Brian “did not become emotional” until paramedics declared that she was dead.

Over the course of Brian’s volatile relationship with the actor, he was arrested multiple times on suspicion of domestic violence against Panettiere. Those include in May 2019 in Los Angeles (charges were later dismissed when prosecutors couldn’t secure a material witness) and again on Valentine’s Day 2020 in Wyoming (misdemeanor battery charges were eventually dropped). Following an eight-count criminal indictment in July 2020 that covered multiple violent incidents between May 2019 and January 2020, Brian pleaded no contest in April 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend.

He was sentenced to 45 days in jail (but served 13 days due to credit for time served) along with four years of formal probation, mandatory domestic violence classes, and a five-year protective order.

Three days before Panettiere’s death, Brian attempted to expunge and reduce his past felony charges but was denied by a Los Angeles judge. He made the same request in July 2025, which was also denied.

“Hayden was one of my dearest and closest friends that I loved and cared about for the last 8 years,” Zach said in his statement to TMZ. “Out of respect for her loved ones, the speculation and sensationalism of her death needs to end until the facts can be released from the investigation.”

Mark Walter is not selling the Dodgers, his people say. Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ president, said it again Friday. The team, as a Los Angeles Times headline put it, is the “crown jewel” of Walter’s sporting empire.

Walter was not selling the Lakers, either, until he suddenly did last week. And, amid a cash crunch triggered by a federal investigation into insurance firms his companies control, potential bidders for the Dodgers are monitoring the situation closely.

If Walter were to sell the Dodgers, a long line of interested parties could include the runner-up when he bought the team in 2012: Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times.

On Friday, Soon-Shiong said through a representative that he would be interested in leading an investment group should Walter decide to sell the team.

“We respect Mr. Walter, and we want to make it clear we have not spoken with him,” said Chuck Kenworthy, the family attorney for Soon-Shiong. “If at some point he would like to discuss the Dodgers, we would be very open to talking.”

Walter’s TWG Global did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Dodgers could command between $10 billion and $13 billion — at the higher end, three times as much as the record sale price for a major league team — a high-ranking industry source told The Times on the condition of anonymity.

In 2012, Soon-Shiong joined hedge-fund titan Steve Cohen in trying to buy the Dodgers, with Cohen as the controlling partner. Walter and his partners won the bidding at $2.15 billion, well above the $1.6 billion runner-up bid of Soon-Shiong and Cohen.

In 2020, Cohen bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion. The record price tag for a major league team: $3.9 billion for the San Diego Padres, officially sold this week to an investment group led by a married couple: Jose E. Feliciano, the founder of Clearlake Capital in Santa Monica, and Kwanza Jones, an artist and enterpreneur.

The record price tag for any North American sports team: $12.5 billion, the valuation of the Lakers in the deal announced last week in which Walter agreed to sell to a group fronted by former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner.

Insurance regulators and federal investigators are looking into whether certain financial transactions between various entities controlled by Walter were properly disclosed to investors and compiled with regulations designed to protect them.

The cash — from the sale of the Lakers and other assets — can help pay off loans under scrutiny by regulators. It is uncertain whether that would satisfy the federal agencies probing potential wrongdoing. No charges have been filed and investigations often conclude without charges.

Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire, bought The Times in 2018. He bought Magic Johnson’s 4% stake in the Lakers in 2010. Kenworthy told The Times on Thursday Soon-Shiong does not intend to sell his stake in the team.

In 2012, Soon-Shiong explored buying AEG, the sports and entertainment company that owns the Kings, the Galaxy and Crypto.com Arena. AEG owner Phil Anschutz ultimately decided not to sell.

Soon-Shiong considered buying the Angels in 2022, in the window between owner Arte Moreno announcing he would explore selling the team and deciding the following year that he would not sell.

Soon-Shiong is bringing the Global Esports Games to Los Angeles in December. He also has bought a Major League Volleyball expansion franchise that is scheduled to start play in Los Angeles next year.

Nico Iamaleava discusses career

From Connor Dullinger: Nico Iamaleava became a household name among college football fans.

Not because of his five-star, blue-chip status, leaving Warren High as the second-ranked prospect in the 2023 class and top-ranked recruit out of California.

Not for leading Tennessee to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and a 10-3 record — tying for the Volunteers’ second-best finish since 2001.

Instead, Iamaleava is remembered for his tumultuous exit from Knoxville, a parting characterized by head coach Josh Heupel that the program would move on without its starting signal-caller, leading the Long Beach product to UCLA.

More than one year removed after his departure, Iamaleava reflected at preseason media day on his time with the Volunteers, the effect last season had on his mental health and his mindset heading into 2026.

“In Tennessee, I was in a rough mental state as far as being far from home, but that’s what came with me growing and maturing,” Iamaleava said Wednesday. “So coming back home has been a great transition, and I can’t wait to play this year.”

Continue reading here

Can Mark Walter keep the Dodgers?

When the news broke last week that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers just one year after buying the storied basketball franchise, executives working for another crown jewel in his sports empire — the Dodgers — were quick to say the billionaire had no plans to sell the team.

The Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles since an ownership group led by Walter bought the then-bankrupt team in 2012, and the Dodgers now are considered the most successful — and lucrative — franchise in Major League Baseball.

Yet, amid Walter’s financial difficulties, including a federal inquiry into his insurance empire regarding $16 billion to $21 billion in undisclosed loans to his own companies, questions remain over whether the blowback will hit the Dodgers.

Walter has denied wrongdoing, and sports business experts say it’s far too soon to know whether the Dodgers will be in play. No charges have been filed against Walter or anyone associated with his businesses.

“If you’re judging on that — winning and revenue created — he’s been at the helm of all of that. … He does truly look like a white knight as it relates to his ownership of the Dodgers,” said Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Still, “we don’t know what the issues are, and we don’t know the severity and the magnitude.”

Continue reading here

Cox customers can finally watch the Dodgers on SportsNet LA

Rams hope for some Aaron Donald answers soon

From Gary Klein: The Aaron Donald watch continues.

On Thursday, coach Sean McVay was asked if Donald, a three-tine NFL defensive player of the year, would do more workouts before deciding whether or not he will come out of retirement to join the Super Bowl-favorite Rams.

Donald worked out at Loyola Marymount when the Rams were in training camp, and last week at the Rams facility in Woodland Hills.

“We’ll see,” McVay said. “I would love to be able to have all this stuff figured out but … I know he’s feeling good, and I think he will continue to work out, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have some answers on that sooner than later.”

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Angels rout the Astros

Zach Neto was five for six with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and the Angels scored their most runs in three years to rout the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night.

The Angels (51-77) had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.

Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Takeaways from Chargers’ preseason loss to 49ers

From Sam Farmer: Jake Slaughter could be the first Chargers player to touch the ball on every offensive snap. He has never done so in an NFL game that counts.

Slaughter, the rookie second-round pick from the University of Florida, is the leading candidate to start at center after Tyler Biadasz went down with a knee injury at practice this week. There is no timetable for the return of Biadasz, who signed a three-year, $30-million contract in March.

Although Slaughter played some guard in college, center is his natural position. He played just nine snaps Thursday in a 41-17 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.

It’s understandable that the Chargers (1-1) only wanted light duty from him, considering they slogged through a brutal 2025 season when they lost their two outstanding tackles and endured a revolving door along the offensive line throughout the season.

As is common throughout the NFL, lots of Chargers starters were merely spectators for the second of three preseason games.

Here are some more observations from the Chargers’ preseason loss to the 49ers:

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Sparks are eliminated from playoff contention

From Jordan Puente: After 15 years in the WNBA, the Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike is content with her decision to call this her final season.

“I think that ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Ogwumike said of returning to the Sparks during the offseason. “Once training camp hit, I realized, you know what? I think what I have left is one more season, and I was OK with that.”

The Sparks opened a three-game homestand and the first since Ogwumike’s retirement announcement with a crushing 124-88 loss to the Atlanta Dream.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before tipoff she wanted her team to get off to a better start, but the team could not deliver Thursday and extended its losing streak to six games. The defeat officially eliminated the spiraling Sparks (12-24) from playoff contention.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1901 — William Larned wins the first of seven men’s singles titles in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championship.

1914 — Walter Hagen captures the U.S. Open golf title by edging Chick Evans.

1920 — Jock Hutchinson wins the PGA golf tournament with a 1-up victory over J. Douglass Edgar.

1932 — Helen Hull Jacobs beats Carolyn Babcock to win the women’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn.

1982 — Mystic Park becomes the first 3-year-old trotter to win the American Trotting Championship.

1985 — Mary Decker sets the world record in the mile run with a time of 4:16.71 in Zurich.

2003 — Paul Hamm puts together a near-perfect routine on the high bar to become the first American man to win the all-around gold medal at World Gymnastics Championships. Needing a 9.712 or better to beat China’s Yang Wei, Hamm strings together four straight release moves during his 60-second routine — one of the toughest feats in gymnastics — for a 9.975 and the gold.

2004 — American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his sixth gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn’t swim the final of men’s 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68.

2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Yukiko Ueno pitches 28 innings in two days, including seven to shut down the U.S. softball team, 3-1, and give Japan the gold medal. It was the first loss for the Americans since Sept. 21, 2000 — 22 straight games. LaShawn Merritt upsets defending champion Jeremy Wariner to lead a U.S. sweep of the 400 meters track event. David Neville gets the bronze. The U.S. men and women both drop the baton in the Olympic 400-meter relays and fail to advance out of the first round. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown easily wins the 200 meters to cap the first sweep of all four men’s and women’s Olympic sprints in 20 years.

2010 — Kyle Busch makes NASCAR history with an unprecedented sweep of three national races in one week, completing the trifecta with a victory in the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the Nationwide race a day earlier and the Trucks race on Aug. 18, becomes the first driver to complete the sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995.

2011 — The Sparks run off 16 straight points to overcome a 15-point, second-half deficit and hand the Tulsa Shock their WNBA-record 18th consecutive loss with a 73-67 victory. The Atlanta Dream lost 17 in a row in their inaugural season of 2008.

2016 — Kevin Durant scores 30 points and helps the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal. That caps an Olympics in which the U.S. dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121). The 51-total-medal margin over second-place China is the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century.

2018 — Liu Xiang of China sets a world record time of 26.98 seconds to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke gold medal at the Asian Games. Liu becomes the first woman to swim under 27 seconds in the event, breaking the mark of 27.06 set by fellow Chinese swimmer Zhao Jing at the 2009 world championships in Rome.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1926 — Ted Lyons of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 6-0 victory was achieved in 1 hour, 7 minutes.

1930 — Chick Hafey of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in a 16-6 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.

1931 — Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 11-7.

1947 — The first Little League World Series was at Williamsport, Pa.

1972 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia had his 15-game winning streak snapped when Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 2-1 in 11 innings.

1975 — Pitching brothers Rick and Paul Reuschel of the Chicago Cubs combined to throw a 7-0 shutout against the Dodgers. Rick went 6 1-3 innings and Paul finished the shutout for the first ever by two brothers.

1982 — Milwaukee pitcher Rollie Fingers became the first player to achieve 300 saves as the Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2.

1986 — Spike Owen had four hits and became the first major league player in 40 years to score six runs in a game as the Boston Red Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 24-5 with a 24-hit attack.

2007 — Garret Anderson of the Angels drove in a team-record 10 runs in an 18-9 rout of the New York Yankees. Anderson hit a grand slam, a three-run homer, a two-run double and an RBI double to become the 12th player in major league history to have 10 RBIs in a game.

2007 — Arizona’s Mark Reynolds tied the major league record for consecutive strikeouts by a non-pitcher when he fanned in his ninth straight plate appearance in a 7-4 loss to Milwaukee. Reynolds struck out in his first two at-bats against Dave Bush to match the record. Bush hit Reynolds with a pitch in the sixth, ending the streak.

2011 — Johnny Damon lost a grand slam to a video review in the seventh inning, then hit a game-ending home run in the ninth that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays over the Seattle Mariners 8-7. Damon connected for a leadoff shot in the ninth on the first pitch from Dan Cortes. The Rays trailed 5-4 in the seventh when Damon launched a drive to right-center field. First ruled a home run, the umpires changed the call to a three-run double after a video review.

2015 — Mike Fiers pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers. Having never thrown a complete game in his five-year career, Fiers was dominant. He struck out 10 and walked three, retiring the final 21 batters. Fiers struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it.

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.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Granada Hills Kennedy 47, SOCES 0

North Hollywood 18, New Designs University Park 0

Sun Valley Magnet 13, New Designs University Park 12

Sun Valley Magnet 6, North Hollywood 0

Southern Section

Aquinas 13, La Sierra 0

Ayala 44, Paramount 0

Beckman 41, San Juan Hills 20

Bishop Amat 6, California 0

Compton Early College 27, Animo Leadership 0

Costa Mesa 31, Pioneer 12

Covina 26, South El Monte 0

Culver City d. Dominguez, forfeit

Desert Hot Springs 28, Long Beach Wilson 0

Downey 47, Santa Monica 12

Eastvale Roosevelt 30, Don Lugo 0

El Dorado 18, Marina 6

Elsinore 33, Lakeside 0

Estancia 7, Tustin 0

Foothill 12, Northwood 8

Fountain Valley 20, San Clemente 19

Gabrielino 41, San Gabriel 0

Garden Grove 26, Bolsa Grande 0

Garden Grove Santiago 18, Valley View 13

Glendora 25, Westminster La Quinta 0

Godinez 13, Santa Ana Valley 6

Hart 9, Santa Paula 6

Indio 19, Cathedral City 13

Irvine 18, Los Osos 0

La Canada 27, Long Beach Jordan 6

Laguna Hills 19, Laguna Beach 13

Lakewood d. St. Anthony, forfeit

Lakewood St. Joseph 33, Mira Costa 0

La Palma Kennedy 12, Garden Grove Pacifica 0

La Serna 15, Upland 6

Los Alamitos 31, Millikan 26

Montclair 33, Bloomington 0

Mountain View 37, Whitney 0

Murrieta Mesa 13, Temescal Canyon 6

Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 36, Oxford Academy 6

Oaks Christian 39, Rio Mesa 12

Ocean View 6, Los Amigos 0

Pomona 6, Bell Gardens 6

Quartz Hill 12, Vasquez 6

Rialto 19, San Dimas 14

South Torrance 7, Bishop Montgomery 0

St. Paul 22, Whittier 6

Sunny Hills 26, Santa Fe 0

Tesoro 41, Segerstrom 0

United Christian Academy 20, San Jacinto Valley Academy 0

Villa Park 12, Placentia Valencia 6

Warren 27, Long Beach Poly 14

West Covina 9, Sierra Vista 6

Western Christian 19, South Hills 18

Westridge 18, Ramona Convent 0

Whittier 22, St. Paul 6

Yorba Linda 13, La Habra 6

Intersectional

Cerritos 38, Garfield 6

Montebello 7, Maywood CES 6

Panorama 2, Alemany 0

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Eagle Rock 33, Granada Hills Kennedy 6

Los Angeles Roosevelt 13, Sotomayor 0

Narbonne 35, Legacy 0

Franklin 31, San Fernando 8

Franklin 32, Los Angeles Hamilton 6

Los Angeles Hamilton 14, San Fernando 0

Van Nuys 39, Magnolia Science Academy Reseda 0

Southern Section

Adelanto 18, Eastside 0

Agoura 50, Simi Valley 14

Burbank Burroughs 13, Saugus 0

Camarillo 19, Thousand Oaks 0

Corona del Mar 14, Anaheim Canyon 12

Dos Pueblos 37, Lompoc 0

Gahr 18, Inglewood 12

Harvard-Westlake 25, Calabasas 6

JSerra 41, Edison 6

Knight 19, PACS 12

Mayfair 6, Cerritos Valley Christian 0

Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 25, Orange 12

Oak Park 18, Chaminade 13

Orange Lutheran 14, La Serna 0

Oxnard 32, Newbury Park 0

Palmdale 32, Rosamond 6

Redondo Union 69, West Torrance 0

Rio Mesa 20, Fillmore 14

Santa Barbara 39, Lompoc Cabrillo 0

San Marcos 25, Hart 0

St. Margaret’s 12, Capistrano Valley 0

Torrance 40, Lakewood 0

Trabuco Hills 13, Santa Margarita 7

Ventura 34, Channel Islands 0

Village Christian 39, Immaculate Heart 0

Westlake 39, Royal 6

Woodbridge 27, San Clemente 0

Intersectional

Canyon Country Canyon 57, Monroe 0

Compton 47, Port of Los Angeles 6

Van Nuys 7, Golden Valley 6

José Alberto Suárez, a Telemundo executive, died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday in Kenya.

The 55-year-old — who was president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49 and Telemundo Ft. Myers-Naples — was among the seven deceased following an aircraft incident at Mt. Ololokwe, that took place at about 9:13 AM.

The Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority shared on X that the group left Loisaba to travel to Ewasonyiro on a Eurocopter, EC130 B4, operated by the charter service company Lady Lori Helicopters. Guests on board were said to be part of a luxury safari tour by travel agency andBeyond.

In a statement by NBCU News Group Chairman Cesar Conde, NBCU Local Chairman Valari Staab and Telemundo Station Group President Jose Cancela, they shared that Suárez was a “deeply respected leader” and “beloved friend and colleague.”

“The suddenness and circumstances of José’s passing make this loss especially difficult to comprehend,” read a statement to The Times. “Our hearts are with his loved ones, and with all of José’s colleagues and friends across NBCUniversal who are grieving this terrible loss.”

Over the course of his 20-plus years with NBCU Local and NBCU News Group, Suárez led stations in San Antonio, Sacramento, Fresno, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Earlier in his career — inspired by Cuban American journalist Jose Diaz-Balart — he served in programming, digital and creative leadership for Telemundo Station Group, NBC6 and Telemundo 51 in Miami.

“José was an exceptional colleague and mentor to many. He cared deeply about his teams, the communities they served and the essential role our stations play in people’s lives,” continued the statement. “He brought energy, humor, warmth and a strong sense of purpose to his work, and his impact was felt far beyond the stations he led.”

Some of Suárez’s colleagues took to social media to pay homage to the storyteller, including Elizabeth Chavolla, a bilingual multiplatform producer for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles, who uploaded a picture of the two on Instagram.

“I will always remember your kindness, professionalism, sense of humor and words of encouragement,” said Chavolla in an Instagram post. “You always knew how to make people smile, lift their spirits and remind them that everything was going to be okay.”

Brian Lozano, a news anchor for Telemundo 33 in Sacramento, wrote “part of me is leaving with him,” in a heartfelt Instagram post.

“He had his own way of being there for others, helping, accompanying and of leaving a deep imprint on every person who was lucky enough to cross his path,” Lozano wrote.

In a video tribute released by Telemundo 60 San Antonio, they describe Suárez as a meteorology fanatic who helped elevate the station into a robust weather reporting, while become a fan of Texan western wear and food.

“We appreciate you to the heavens for everything you did for the team, especially your joy, passion and journalistic commitment, but above all the lessons that you instilled as the great human that you’ve always been,” the video stated.

NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas also paid homage to the news executive at the end of his Wednesday program, describing him as a “loving and funny guy in a tough and unforgiving business.”

“José was not only a mentor to me but also a good friend,” said Llamas. “I, and we, will miss him so much but we know his legacy will live on in all those newsrooms, big and small, that he touched.”

Following the Wednesday tragedy, more clarity on who was on the aircraft has also come to light.

Among the deceased were Roger Duarte, a 42-year-old Miami restaurateur and seafood businessman, as well as pilot Josh Outram, a fourth-generation Kenyan and wildlife conservationist.

Two couples were also onboard, including Michele Sensi-Contugi, a 44-year-old Ecuadorian intelligence chief, who died alongside his wife, Stephany Hollihan, a 42-year-old Ecuadorian fashion designer. Husbands Henry Parra, a 55-year-old aviation software executive and Adam Hlavaty, a 42-year-old real estate developer, also died.

HOUSTON — Zach Neto was five for six with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and the Angels scored their most runs in three years to rout the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night.

The Angels (51-77) had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.

Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.

Peter Lambert (8-7) entered as Houston’s most consistent starter but had his worst outing of the season, giving up eight hits and nine runs in 3⅔ innings.

Houston slipped to 64-64 and saw its two-game lead in the AL West drop to one as Texas beat Washington.

In a scary moment in the fifth, Angels left fielder Wade Meckler was hit in the head by a 90-mph sinker from reliever Bryan King. The pitch appeared to hit Meckler on the helmet over his right ear. He was on the ground near home plate for a few minutes and was attended by medical staff before walking to the dugout and exiting the game.

Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel left in the sixth with right side soreness.

Up next: Angels LHP Reid Detmers (4-8, 3.78 ERA) was set to start against Rangers LHP MacKenzie Gore (7-9, 4.45) in Texas on Friday night. Astros RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 5.16) was set to open a home series against Athletics RHP J.T. Ginn (8-7, 3.53).

Hayden Panettiere was candid in her memoir and book tour interviews about the extensive abuse by on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson. Now he’s under the microscope as new details surrounding her death and their relationship emerge.

On Thursday, Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, whom the “Nashville” actor had a strained relationship with, pointed blame for the actor’s death toward an unnamed individual, but earlier this week she outright named Hickerson.

“Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love,” she said in a statement to “Entertainment Tonight.” “It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death.”⁠

⁠”It leads me to believe there are still questions surrounding what happened,” she said. “And I think we are all looking for answers.”⁠

And earlier this week, she told NBC, “This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson.”

Hickerson broke his silence for the first time since Panettiere died Sunday of an apparent overdose as his attorney Sloan Ellis made a statement on his behalf. “Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Ellis told TMZ. “As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play.”

“Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”

Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were present when emergency responders found Panettiere in cardiac arrest on Sunday. According to a report from Greenville, S.C., police, Zach was “very emotional” as paramedics attempted to revive Panettiere, and Brian “did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased.”

According to TMZ, Narcan — a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose — was found at the scene, but it’s unclear whether it was used on Panettiere.

Brian and Zach Hickerson did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

In the actor’s memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which she published in May, she wrote that she and Hickerson met in 2018 at a West Hollywood bar. They fell fast into a whirlwind romance that soured after alcohol-fueled fights turned violent. “It was easy. The easiest happiness that I had come by in a long time,” she wrote in the memoir. “Then, one day, when we were on our second bottle of wine — the bottle that suffocates all the magic and obliterates your defenses — everything changed.”

Hickerson was arrested multiple times on suspicion of domestic violence against Panettiere, beginning in May 2019 in Los Angeles (the charges were later dismissed when prosecutors couldn’t secure a material witness) and again on Valentine’s Day in 2020 in Wyoming (misdemeanor battery charges were eventually dropped). Following an eight-count criminal indictment in July 2020 that covered multiple violent incidents between May 2019 and January 2020, Hickerson pleaded no contest in April 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He was sentenced to 45 days in county jail (but served 13 days due to credit for time served) along with four years of formal probation, mandatory domestic violence classes, and a five-year protective order.

After his 2019 arrest was covered in the press, Panettiere wrote that she and Brian “shut ourselves inside” to avoid paparazzi and that she screened calls from friends and family who phoned and texted “constantly,” worried that she was in a “dangerous situation with Brian.”

“What I never told them was that the abuse I’d endured didn’t feel as bad as the thought of being alone,” she wrote.

In “This Is Me,” she graphically detailed the abuse. She claimed that, during one attack, he punched her in the face repeatedly and secretly recorded himself saying, “Why did you hit yourself?” and “You’re all bruised, why did you do that to yourself?” When he was subsequently booked on charges of felony domestic assault, he pleaded not guilty and claimed that Panettiere had done it to herself.

“I didn’t know the person Brian turned into when he started raging,” she wrote. “This other Brian seemed to be dissociating, like the rational Dr. Jekyll part of his brain shut off while the violent Mr. Hyde took over. I was sure he must have a serious mental illness, like bipolar or borderline personality disorder, that could make him change so quickly.”

She continued: “On July 16, 2020, authorities in LA arrested Brian again, charging him with four domestic assault felonies, one misdemeanor count of battery; two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon (in particular, our garage floor and the stairs, both of which he’d once smashed my body into); and one felony count of dissuading a witness from prosecuting a crime.

“That witness was me. After we’d come back from Wyoming, Brian had called and tried to talk me out of pressing charges against him. As my heart broke into a million pieces, I told him it was too late, and then I told the police.”

Three days before Panettiere’s death, Hickerson attempted to expunge and reduce his past felony charges but was denied by a Los Angeles judge. He made the same request last July, which was denied.

During the press tour for “This Is Me,” Panettiere told podcaster Jay Shetty that she had cut ties with Hickerson but that, historically, he’d always found a way to reconnect just as she thought she was finally free of him. Reportedly, the two reconnected just weeks before her death.

“I thought I had gotten out of it and gotten away from it. … Abusers weave themselves like weeds into your life, and there’s always something that they left behind,” she told Shetty. “There’s always something that they have to come back for. There was always something that they find to keep that connection, keep you on the hook, keep that connection with you, no matter where you you go.”

In May, after Panettiere’s interview with Shetty went live, Hickerson spoke with TMZ and appeared intoxicated and slurred as he spoke about the actor. “Hayden Panettiere is the sweetest thing in the world,” he said. “It’s not about who you spend Saturday night with, it’s who you spend all day Sunday with, and Hayden Panettiere is a Sunday girl.”

“I would be an idiot not to walk away from her and let her flourish in her career,” he continued. “So we probably wouldn’t be good together. I’d like to see what she’s gonna do with the next like 30 years of her career, she’ll always hold a special place in my heart … we’re good buddies.”

A lawsuit filed in Northern California federal court by former high school football player Dominik Calhoun against the California Interscholastic Federation was dismissed for a second time on Thursday after a hearing held by Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, who granted an 84 motion.

The judge will allow the plaintiff to file an amended complaint by Sept. 10. There’s also the chance to appeal.

Calhoun has been challenging CIF rules on high school transfers and NIL.

The CIF had stopped considering possible changes in several policies, including transfers, while the lawsuit played out.

The question is whether discussions will resume about possible transfer reforms that were discussed in April of 2025.

Video obtained by The Times shows Royal High football coach Adam Brubaker kicking a football toward a student and hitting him in the groin area, which has resulted in the school beginning an investigation on the eve of the team opening its season on Friday.

Brubaker is no longer coaching the team, with the existing coaching staff taking over and the team still planning to play Monroe on Friday, according to a Simi Valley Unified School District official.

Brubaker, a former Panorama coach, took over as head coach at Royal in the middle of the 2025 season.

As the Buss siblings battle each other for the right to sell their minority stake in the Lakers, at least one of the other minority shareholder is sticking with the team.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, is not selling his stake in the Lakers.

Soon-Shiong bought a 4% stake in the team from Magic Johnson in 2010. His family attorney, Chuck Kenworthy, said that Soon-Shiong has no interest in selling his stake amid a high-stakes ownership transition.

“We love the Lakers,” Kenworthy told The Times. “We believe in the Lakers. We believe in the future of the Lakers and the championship years they are going to have. And we believe they are still undervalued.”

A group led by former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner agreed last week to buy controlling interest in the Lakers from Mark Walter at a $12.5-billion valuation — a record price for an American sports team. The sale is still pending approval by the NBA board of governors. Walter, who owns a majority stake in the Dodgers, is the subject of multiple federal investigations.

Jeanie Buss, whom Walter had agreed could remain as the Lakers’ governor for five years, is challenging her siblings’ decision to sell the family’s 17.8% stake in the team.

Real estate developer Edward P. Roski, one of the Lakers’ other known minority owners, has not disclosed whether he intends to sell his 3% stake in the team. He has owned a stake in the team since 1998. Todd Boehly purchased a minority stake in the Lakers in 2021, but it’s unclear whether all his shares folded into business partner Walter’s majority stake.

A wonderful Oval Office perk is what Thomas Jefferson dubbed “The President’s Own.” At the president’s beck and call is the United States Marine Band, created by an act of Congress in 1798.

But for an acquisitive current occupant of the White House, the oldest continuously active musical organization hasn’t seemed enough. In his appropriating the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, also created and officially named by Congress, the president obtained the National Symphony Orchestra. Unlike its “President’s Own” sibling, which is supported by the Defense Department annual allotment of some $400 million for military bands, the NSO is administered, funded (between a third and half of its $35-million budget) and lately threatened by what are now the whims of the Kennedy Center.

The NSO appeared at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, however, with a collective sigh of relief. A week earlier the Kennedy Center Board, without congressional input or legal approval, approved an imminent, two-year closure of the venue for repairs and remodeling, with little word about the homeless or economic future of its artist affiliate. By early August, no new NSO season, which would begin in September, had been announced.

But Tuesday morning, the NSO, in fact, did lay out a full and musically substantial season, the 10th for its music director, Gianandrea Noseda. Not taking a chance on the courts preventing a Kennedy Center closure, the NSO will become next season a peripatetic ensemble performing in various venues in and around D.C., as well undertake a national tour in the spring. Uncertainty remains, but for now all is as well as can be expected.

The NSO, however, offered little of what to expect. I can only find one program next season as unimaginative as Tuesday’s at the Bowl. The orchestra looks forward to several premieres of new works by lively composers and a variety of significant guest conductors, including the venturesome Teddy Abrams (who will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s season-opening gala) and eclectic former NSO music director Leonard Slatkin (who is also the former L.A. Phil principal guest conductor for the Hollywood Bowl). Noseda’s only other bland program will be the one he brings on tour to The Soraya in April.

Hearing the NSO at the Bowl, moreover, is an act of guess work. With the new immersive sound system, orchestra impact becomes a matter of technology, giving individual instruments paranormal prominence and turning full orchestra glory into a sensual sound bath. Still, with its smooth strings, creamy brass, pungent winds and friendly percussion, Noseda’s NSO came across as a gracious orchestra meant to please, and, consequently, a seemingly marvelous anomaly in an otherwise divisive present-day D.C.

But that offered few favors for Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” or Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” where the Bowl has regularly hosted far more idiomatic, swinging performances. Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” in the second half was, on the other hand, satisfyingly full-bodied. While Noseda sometimes practices likability to a fault, his sense of drama is ever sure, and it is hard to get enough of the lyrical sweetness he conveys. As an encore, Noseda led the overture to Bernstein’s “Candide” with real flair.

But why commonplace “Candide” and “West Side Story,” when Bernstein wrote “Slava! A Political Overture,” for the NSO as tribute in 1977 to its Russian music director, Mstislav Rostropovich? Might not the NSO make a point with “Three Mediations” from “MASS,” Bernstein’s multimedia masterpiece that controversially opened Kennedy Center in 1974. Bernstein also wrote a major late work for the NSO, “Songfest.” Bernstein, himself, conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the West Coast premiere at the Bowl in 1983, which had special significance because his collaborator on “Songfest,” Tom Cothran, who happened to have grown up in Pasadena.

For his part, Noseda has done an exceptional job in championing major Black composers at home and on record. Carlos Simon has been the NSO’s composer in residence for the last five years, and Noseda has revived and recorded an essential album of works by George Walker. In October, Noseda and the NSO will release a recording of two symphonies by William Grant Still, who lived in L.A. Deeply evocative of a post-Dvorak new world, they are beautifully played on the new recording and would have been ideal for the Bowl.

The NSO has given up on the Kennedy Center, but must we? There are many questions that have not been considered. The current plan for infrastructure improvements and slapdash redecorating at the cost of $250 million. In fact, the facility’s playhouse, opera theater and concert hall are due for major renovations. But that requires significant planning, the hiring of a major architecture firm with concert hall experience, a first-rate acoustician and, ideally, four times the allotted budget.

This is clearly a long-term job for Congress and consultants who would do well to study the approach of the Salzburg Festival. It has been planning for several years to rehabilitate its large concert hall (which is of similar vintage to the Kennedy Center), which will require five years and a cost of around $600 million. It is also carefully examining alternate performance sites to be used during construction.

The Kennedy Center is a memorial, and before another new idea is allowed out, let the Kennedy Center board visit Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for a moment of reflection on how and why to bring the NSO, America’s Own, back home. In the background, the U.S. Marine Band could offer its kin moral support by playing in the background Ives’ mysteriously transcendental “Unanswered Question.”

I spent my 10-year-old niece’s last week of summer freedom with her, jumping into and swimming in our family’s lake and overall being feral in nature.

She told me after our trip that she was dreading her return to school, communicating her Gen Alpha feelings via a simple broken heart emoji. It felt too soon for me too.

That energy is what inspired this week’s edition of The Wild, our weekly outdoors newsletter. Below I outline three great hikes around Los Angeles that are kid-friendly and great options to decompress after your family’s first week back to school (including if you’re a kid-free household with a tired educator). I hope you find these trails as rejuvenating as I did!

Before we dive in, a few quick reminders:

• You will not have cellphone reception for at least two of these hikes. Download trail maps ahead of time on your hiking navigation app, and also download an offline map of your driving route on your phone’s GPS navigation app.
• Pack extra water, especially if traveling to the San Gabriel Mountains, as mountain weather can be hard to predict, and it can be hotter than you anticipate.
• Take your time on twisting mountain roads; use paved vehicle turnouts to let faster traffic pass you, and watch out for cyclists; turn on your headlights when entering Angeles National Forest, regardless of the time of day.
• Let someone know where you’re going, including what time you’ll be back. Place a completed version of this form (or something like it) on your vehicle’s dashboard — just in case!
• And practice Leave No Trace principles, including not feeding any wildlife, picking up after yourself (including toilet paper) and not playing any loud music, as it bothers grumpy hikers like me and also the wildlife (the latter being more important than the former).

OK, now that you’re prepared to be safe and good to nature, let’s talk about those hikes!

The view of the L.A. area and our local mountains from Bee Rock in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Old Zoo — Bee Rock Loop (Griffith Park Explorer Segment 7)

Distance: 5 miles
Elevation gained: 930 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: Atwater Village
Accessible alternative: Rio de Los Angeles Park loop

The Old Zoo — Bee Rock Loop is a 5-mile hike that takes you up to Bee Rock, an epic lookout point in Griffith Park. The route is part of Friends of Griffith Park’s Griffith Park Explorer, which organizes official trails into 15 hikeable segments (rather than you getting lost or ending your hike far from where you parked — not that I’ve ever experienced that).

I have passed Bee Rock at least a dozen times and each time told my hiking companion, “I really need to hike up there sometime!” I finally did last week, and I am already itching to return.

After leaving, I wanted to know how this local monolith got its name. I went to The Times’ archives, where I couldn’t find a precise answer.

Bee Rock as seen from the Bill Eckert Trail in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

“Bee Rock acquired its name from the millions of bees which store their honey in its tiny caves which honeycomb it,” a March 1940 Times story read. Seems reasonable.

Retired ranger Bill Eckert told hikers per a 1985 story that Bee Rock got its name “because bees were attracted to the sweets at the old zoo’s refreshment stands and made their homes in the rock’s crevices.”

Eckert has a trail named after him, so I did feel inclined to believe his story.

As I searched for a clear answer, I felt better when I discovered that even experts like Gerry Hans, president of nonprofit Friends of Griffith Park, aren’t sure.

“There are theories and legends,” Hans wrote in a blog post in 2022. “The first is that the outcrop simply looks like a beehive. Another tale describes maintenance workers at the Old Zoo dumping spoiled soda syrup off the cliff, which lured swarms of bees. A third theory suggests that bees naturally take up residence in the holes and pocks on the cliff side overlooking Spring Canyon.”

Hans wrote that he had seen bees in the rock’s small caverns, but to do so, you must have good binoculars.

Armed with those facts and maybe some binocs, you can head out on the trail.

To begin your hike, you’ll park at Merry Go Round Lot One and head to the Lower Beacon Trail just past the southeast corner of the parking lot. Take good care in selecting where to start, as there are about five different paths you could take here.

You will head west on the Lower Beacon Trail, briefly walk southwest along the Fern Canyon Trail before taking the Upper Zoo Trail for much of the way. You’ll reach the Bee Rock Trail at 1 mile into your hike.

Views from the Bee Rock Trail around golden hour in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You will follow the Bee Rock trail northwest for a short jag before you come to what might feel like a dead end.

The Bee Rock Trail narrows and heads south. You will take a few switchbacks up, wondering how you suddenly became surrounded in tree canopy. Hopefully the sky is helicopter-free and you can hear the local chatter of acorn woodpeckers and California scrub jays.

You’ll arrive at a chain-link fence where you can take a narrow dirt path to the rocky outcropping atop Bee Rock. If hiking with children, it’d be good for the adults to go first, as there are a few spots where the fence has been cut, and the allure of venturing farther than one should out onto boulders is high.

The view is stunning, and on a Thursday evening, I had it all to myself as the sun lowered near the horizon. It was a clear day, and I could see a large swath of Glendale and nearby Mt. Thom and Tongva Peak in the Verdugos and farther away Josephine Peak, Strawberry Peak and several other summits in the San Gabriel Mountains.

From here, you can turn around and head back to your car, especially if the smaller hikers among you are tired, or continue onward to complete the loop. The rest of the trail is not challenging, as you’re either walking on a flat trail or headed downhill. And it’s generally not crowded. If you’re hiking with a teenager, the rest of the trail offers a quiet few miles to talk together about the school day.

One of the pools along Soldier Creek.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

2. Lewis Falls

Distance: About a mile out and back
Elevation gained: About 300 feet
Difficulty: Easy, but requires proper footwear
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: North of Azusa
Accessible alternative: West Fork National Scenic Bikeway

The 1-mile out-and-back trek to Lewis Falls offers hikers a gorgeous journey along Soldier Creek, lined with California bay laurels, oak trees and hulking old conifers. The trail runs mostly parallel to the creek until you reach its end, where you must cross the creek, rocks and logs to reach Lewis Falls.

You will start by finding parking, its own adventure, as there is no lot. Rather, you will need to find a spot along Highway 39 near the trailhead. I didn’t have any trouble on a weekday, but on a weekend, it might be more challenging. That is essentially the only real downside of this trail.

A large old conifer provides shade along Soldier Creek.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You will hike slightly northeast for about half a mile before reaching the falls. Along the way, you’ll have ample opportunity to take a dip in Soldier Creek, as multiple pools remain, even this late in our summer.

If you find yourself saying, “Wow, this trail is really steep,” you are likely on the wrong path. You will spot multiple spur trails, likely created by either an impatient human or dexterous deer. You can identify them mostly by looking them over and realizing they offer a quicker, more dangerous option than the trail before you.

Soldier Creek features several shorter waterfalls as well as nearby Lewis Falls.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Although it is generally called Lewis Falls by hikers, the cascade historically had a different name.

“Longtime San Gabriel Mountains visitors and old maps refer to Soldier Creek Falls as ‘Lewis Falls,’ in honor of forest ranger Anselmo Lewis, who once patrolled these parts,” former Times outdoors writer John McKinney wrote in a 1998 article.

Although this trail is short, it does require a bit of technical expertise but nothing too tricky. You will find yourself navigating boulders and, at one point, using a root to step down onto the rest of the trail. It requires just a little patience and looking ahead of yourself to determine the safest route.

I was greeted by small blue dragonflies as I hiked along the creek. Instead of racing back to my car, I lay down on a log and listened to the sounds of rushing water and chirping birds. Soldier Creek provides any hiker willing to slow down with an opportunity to reset, regardless of whether you have homework waiting for you at home.

And if you aren’t ready to go home, consider heading five miles north on Highway 39 to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area, where further adventure — and a snack at the Crystal Lake Cafe — awaits.

Once you reach Mt. Hillyer, you’ll be greeted by large rocks that are fun to scramble along.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. Mt. Hillyer via Silver Moccasin Trail

Distance: 5.8-mile lollipop loop
Elevation gained: About 1,100 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: About 45 minutes northeast of La Cañada Flintridge
Accessible alternative: Paved paths through Chilao Campground

This 6-mile jaunt along the Silver Moccasin Trail, which is just over 50 miles when fully open, takes you through high desert and pine trees.

Shaped like a lollipop, the trailhead sits about half a mile northwest of the Chilao Visitor Center, which is typically open on the weekend. You will head north for a mile before turning left (or west) off the Silver Moccasin Trail.

You will follow Horse Flats Road to the Rosenita Saddle trailhead, where you’ll take the trail southwest to Mt. Hillyer.

Views of the San Gabriel Mountains from the trail to Mt. Hillyer.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Keep an eye out for Jeffrey pines, which will have deeply furrowed bark and round prickly cones. Their bark smells like butterscotch or vanilla, which I always love pausing to sniff.

The trail also features Coulter pines that produce massive cones nicknamed widowmakers because of their size. The Coulter pine cones can weigh up to 11 pounds. If you’re in the area when it’s windy, please watch your head.

To reach Mt. Hillyer, you’ll follow a short spur trail about half a mile southwest from the Rosenita Saddle trailhead. Mt. Hillyer features several large boulders, perfect for kids to scramble and play on. It’ll also offer you sweeping views of the San Gabriel Mountains.

A hiker takes the path to Mt. Hillyer in the winter in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You can make the trail a loop by continuing south until it jags back east, meeting back up with the paved road you previously took.

And for the ultimate weekend adventure, grab a first-come, first-served campsite at Chilao Campground, and then you can hike and check out the Chilao Visitor Center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday through November. As a bonus, there’s a short, flat nature trail at the east end of the nature center parking lot where you can typically find massive Coulter pine cones to inspect. A seasonal creek flows through this area too.

Regardless of which option you choose, I hope you make great memories in our local public lands.

3 things to do

The Milky Way is seen in the western night sky near Mt. Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest.

(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)

1. Ponder astrophysics in Pasadena
Caltech will host a stargazing lecture from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (1216 E. California Blvd. in Pasadena). Philosophy professor Charles “Chip” T. Sebens will lecture about basic questions that remain regarding atoms. A Q&A and then guided stargazing will follow. The event is free, and no registration is required. Learn more at events.caltech.edu.

2. Improve insect habitat near Altadena
The Invertebrate Club of Southern California needs volunteers from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Eaton Canyon. Participants will yank invasive plants to help restore the canyon. Volunteers must be 14 years or older. Registration is required. Sign up at signupgenius.com.

3. Peek at sandpipers in Pacoima
The San Fernando Valley Audubon Society will host a bird walk from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday. Guests will meet at the ranger station (10965 Dronfield Ave. in Pacoima) before heading out on a 1- to 3-mile walk through riparian areas, grassy lawns and unique rock formations. Birders can expect to see 30 to 50 species. Learn more at the group’s Instagram page.

The must-read

Johnson’s Beach, along the Russian River, is one of the most popular spots along the lower Russian River.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The lower Russian River and the small communities along the watercourse in Sonoma County offer visitors every kind of adventure, whether you want to stay in a tent and simply float or you want a high-end outdoors experience. That’s what I gleaned from reading Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds’ article about how to get the most out of a visit to the Northern California sylvan paradise. “On summer weekends, thousands show up in Guerneville with kayaks, canoes, inner tubes — just about anything that will float, preferably with a cooler attached,” Reynolds writes. “Then they spend hours gliding downstream past scenery that might as well be a Northern California highlight reel: vineyards, redwood forests and eventually a beach scene full of driftwood and sea stacks.”

After finishing the piece, I immediately searched online for how far away L.A. is from Guerneville. It’s a long drive, but my colleague makes it sure feel worth it.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Everyone should feel safe to recreate and work in outdoor spaces. To better ensure Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks feel supported wherever you recreate or volunteer, consider taking CorpsTHAT‘s upcoming “ASL for the Outdoors” virtual classes. Classes run from September to November and range from beginner to advanced. The fee is $250 per student. You can learn more, including how to register, at the organization’s website.

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.

A federal investigation into former Rep. Eric Swalwell appeared to gain steam this week after agents seized his electronic devices and raided his Washington home over the weekend, even briefly holding the former lawmaker at San Francisco International Airport, a person familiar with the inquiry told The Times.

Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race and resigned from Congress in April after allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and acted inappropriately with other young women, which he denied at the time. Before dropping out of the race, polls indicated that Swalwell was the front-runner.

The source said Swalwell was held on Saturday at SFO and released the same day he was detained for search purposes. Federal prosecutors are using civil rights law to pursue a probe of his conduct as a member of Congress. Authorities in New York and Los Angeles County are conducting separate investigations.

His home was searched on Sunday by federal agents, the source added, based on a search warrant in connection with a civil rights investigation concerning the sexual assault allegations.

Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing, but the accusations upended the California governor’s race and shook Capitol Hill, where both parties reckoned with a culture of secrecy and silence around sexual impropriety.

Another accuser, Lonna Drewes, said at a news conference that she was drugged and raped by the one-time politician in 2018 in Beverly Hills. Drewes said she met Swalwell three times as she was growing her fashion software company and toying with the idea of a political career.

On the third occasion, Drewes said she believes that Swalwell drugged her glass of wine. She said they were supposed to go to a political event and stopped by his hotel room to retrieve some paperwork.

She said she found herself incapacitated despite having had only one drink.

“He raped me and he choked me and while he was choking me I lost consciousness and I thought I died,” she said. “I did not consent to any sexual activity.”

Sara Azari, an attorney for Swalwell, denied Drewes’ characterization of the incident at the time. “Two adults consenting, which is our position, is not against the law,” she said.

The former staffer for Swalwell told the San Francisco Chronicle that Swalwell began sending her nude pictures on Snapchat and messages after she was hired by his office in 2019. She was 21 at the time.

In September of that year, she said she had drinks with the congressman, blacked out and woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed, according to the Chronicle.

In 2024, when she no longer worked for Swalwell, she said she attended a charity event honoring the congressman and met him for drinks afterward. She was intoxicated but recalled Swalwell forcing himself upon her, and pushing him away and saying, “No,” according to the Chronicle.

Azari said in April that he denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and assault and would pursue “every legal remedy” against those making the claims.

“These accusations are false, fabricated and deeply offensive — a calculated and transparent political hit job designed to destroy the reputation of a man who has spent twenty years in public service,” Azari said.

Winton reported from Los Angeles, Smith from Sacramento and Wilner from Washington.

History of the Buss family drama

Jerry Buss put together what was then thought to be a wild business deal to purchase the Lakers and related assets for $67.5 million in 1979.

Buss had a degree in chemistry, but his money came from real estate holdings and loans that moved between third parties to help him obtain the Lakers, Kings and the Forum from Jack Kent Cooke, who was going through a costly divorce.

Buss’ vision was to infuse Hollywood glamour into an NBA team few in Los Angeles seemed to care about, win championships and share that glory with his family.

Buss realized his Hollywood dream in more ways than he ever could have imagined, with his death in 2013 from complications from cancer touching off battles among his six children over control of the Lakers.

At least two siblings have tried to oust another from a leadership role. One sibling reportedly said two others never should have been born. And one sibling managed to fire the five others from jobs with the team.

The rifts mirror the HBO hit show “Succession.” Buss’ tenure and the family drama has been direct inspiration for two television shows and was chronicled in a docuseries the Lakers produced.

The latest daggers were delivered this week, with attorneys representing Buss’ daughter, Jeanie, admonishing her five siblings — Janie, Johnny, Jim, Joey and Jesse — for announcing the Buss Family Trust was selling its 17.8% ownership of the Lakers to new buyers Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner.

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Dodgers sweep the Rockies

From Maddie Lee: As Teoscar Hernández popped up from his slide across home plate, Mookie Betts retreated to first applauding.

While the long ball had been the key to the Dodgers’ earlier offensive success Wednesday, keeping it simple unlocked their 10th-inning push. And in the Dodgers’ 6-4 victory Wednesday, it was Betts’ third hit of the night, a low line drive through the middle of the infield, that widened the Dodgers’ lead to two runs.

“It was huge,” Betts said of completing the three-game sweep in Colorado. “Winning every ball game is important, especially now with the playoff race. Every game is important.”

The trip to hitter-friendly Mile High City, and a matchup against the last-place team in the NL West, came at the perfect time for the Dodgers, ending a collective slump. They’d just dropped three of four to the Brewers at Dodger Stadium, in what had already been a rough start to August.

“Obviously, we haven’t played our best baseball lately,” utility player Kiké Hernández said. “And as a good team, as a team that’s leading the division, … the teams at the bottom of the standings, you need to beat those guys.”

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to Astros

Ethan Pecko struck out four in his major-league debut, five Houston relievers pitched shutout ball for five-plus innings and Christian Vázquez homered as the Astros beat the Angels 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Pecko, a 2023 sixth-round selection by Houston, was ranked ninth in the Astros’ system by MLB Pipeline. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, two runs and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. He was the 17th starter used by the Astros this season, tying a franchise record set in 1965.

Vázquez’s solo homer, his seventh of the year, put the Astros ahead in the third inning.

Denzer Guzman put the Angels ahead in the fourth with what initially appeared to be a three-run homer. But, the call was changed to a two-run double due to fan interference.

Walbert Ureña (8-9) worked five innings for the Angels, giving up three runs and three hits with seven strikeouts.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike to retire

From Marisa Ingemi: Nneka Ogwumike’s return to the Sparks this season, it turned out, was a goodbye tour.

The 15-year WNBA veteran announced on Wednesday morning that this would be her last WNBA season.

She made the announcement in an interview with Taylor Rooks at Boardroom Talks.

“I feel very fulfilled with the 15 years that I’ve been able to play and compete at such a high level and I am proud to say that I’m retiring from the WNBA,” Ogwumike said.

Drafted first overall in 2012, Ogwumike was the WNBA rookie of the year and went on to have one of the best careers in. league history. She was the league’s MVP in 2016, when she led the Sparks to their most recent WNBA title. She is also a four-time first-team All-Defensive player.

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Chargers-49ers: Five things to watch for

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Chargers had a pleasant start to preseason play with a 27-7 road win over the Houston Texans last week.

Now, after a physical joint practice with the 49ers on Tuesday in El Segundo, the Chargers will host San Francisco on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.

Here are five things to watch for during the Chargers’ second preseason game.

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Galaxy defeat the Earthquake

Joseph Paintsil scored a short-handed goal in the 79th minute to lead the Galaxy to a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night.

Paintsil used assists from rookie defender Harbor Miller and Marco Reus to find the net for the fifth time this season. Miller’s helper was his second, while Reus collected his seventh.

The Galaxy (6-8-7) were forced to play a man down from the 45th minute on after midfielder Lucas Sanabria was tagged with a pair of yellow cards in the final nine minutes of the first half.

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Galaxy summary

MLS standings

LAFC falls to Colorado

Nico Hansen finished with one save and had his third consecutive shutout to help the Colorado Rapids beat LAFC 1-0 Wednesday night.

The Rapids (9-10-1) have won three consecutive games, all by shutout, and four of five since the World Cup break.

LAFC (10-7-4) is winless in three straight for the first time this season.

The Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on an own goal by Jeremy Ebobisse. Youssef Maziz played a free kick from the right side into the area that was redirected by Ebobisse off the back post and into the net.

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LAFC summary

MLS standings

This day in sports history

1921 — Molla Bjurstedt Mallory beats Mary Browne, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the U.S. women’s national tennis title at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia.

1931 — Helen Wills Moody beats Eileen Bennett Whitingstall 6-4, 6-1 to capture the women’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship.

1944 — Robert Hamilton upsets Byron Nelson in the final round 1-up to win the PGA Championship.

1960 — Holland’s Hairos II, driven by Willem Geersen, wins the second International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway before a record crowd of 54,861.

1995 — Monica Seles completes a remarkable first week back in tournament tennis, routing Amanda Coetzer 6-0, 6-1 to capture the Canadian Open. Her 74 games sets a tournament record for the fewest played by a champion.

1999 — Seventh Athletics World Championships open at Seville, Spain.

2000 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship in a playoff over Bob May, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year. He’s the first player to repeat as PGA champion since Denny Shute in 1937.

2003 — The U.S. wins the women’s overall team gold medal at the gymnastics world championships. It is the first gold for the Americans — men or women — at the biggest international event outside the Olympics.

2004 — Michael Phelps matches Mark Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals in Olympic swimming by winning the 100-meter butterfly. He edges teammate Ian Crocker to win his fifth gold medal. Shortly after winning his seventh medal of these Olympics, Phelps gives up his spot in the medley relay to Crocker.

2006 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship for a five-shot victory over Shaun Micheel and his 12th career major. He becomes the first player to win the PGA twice on the same course, having done so at Medinah in 1999.

2008 — Usain Bolt of Jamaica breaks the 200-meter world record, winning in 19.30 seconds at the Beijing Games. He is the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 at an Olympics.

2012 — Augusta National invites former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first female members since the club was founded in 1932.

2016 — Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt anchor the 4×400 relay teams, and the U.S. exits the final night of action at Olympic Stadium with 31 medals — its most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1956. The U.S. women’s basketball team beats Spain 101-72 for a sixth straight title.

2018 — Alabama becomes the second team to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for three straight seasons. The preseason AP poll started in 1950 and since then only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started No. 1 in three straight years.

2023 — FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, Stadium Australia, Sydney: Spanish captain Olga Carmona scores the only goal of the game as La Furia Roja score a 1-0 win over England.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Walter Johnson won his American League-record 15th straight game, downing Cleveland 4-2 in the opener of a doubleheader. Washington’s Carl Cashion pitched a six-inning no-hitter to give the Senators a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the second game, which was called to allow Cleveland to catch a train to Boston.

1938 — New York’s Lou Gehrig hit his 23rd and the final grand slam of his career and drove in six runs to lead the Yankees to an 11-3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics.

1945 — Tommy Brown, 17 years, 8 months, 14 days, of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the youngest major league player to hit a home run when he connected in Ebbets Field against Preacher Roe of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1957 — Bob Keegan of the Chicago White Sox pitched a 6-0 no-hit victory over the Washington Senators in the second game of a doubleheader.

1958 — Detroit’s Jim Bunning pitched a no-hitter to lead the Tigers to a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in the opening game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park.

1961 — The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Braves 7-4 in the second game of a doubleheader to end a 23-game losing streak, a modern record.

1965 — Milwaukee’s Eddie Mathews hit his 28th home run, and the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3. With the homer, the duo of Mathews and Hank Aaron passed the Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig total of 772 home runs to become the top home-run tandem in major league history.

1974 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels struck out 19 Tigers in a 1-0, 11-inning loss to Detroit. It was the third time this season that Ryan struck out 19 batters in a game.

1980 — Pittsburgh’s Omar Moreno stole his 70th base of the season in a 5-1 loss to Houston, to become the first player this century with three consecutive 70-steal seasons. The fleet outfielder swiped 71 in 1978, 77 in 1979.

1989 — New York’s Howard Johnson hit his 30th home run of the season in the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Dodgers and joined Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays as the only players to achieve 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in two different seasons.

1995 — Jose Mesa of the Cleveland Indians picked up his 37th save in 37 opportunities to set a major league record, and the Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-5.

2005 — The Kansas City Royals ended baseball’s longest losing streak in 17 years, defeating the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to end a club-record 19-game skid.

2014 — The San Francisco Giants became the first team since 1986 to win a protest. Rain caused a delay during an Aug. 19 game after the grounds crew couldn’t put the tarp down quickly, and the umpires deemed the field unplayable. The Cubs were declared the winners by a 2-0 score after 4 1/2 innings. MLB ruled to resume the rain-shortened game with the Cubs batting in the bottom of the fifth.

2019 — By defeating the Blue Jays, 16-3, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers notches win No. 166 to pass Sandy Koufax for most by a left-hander in franchise history.

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.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Nico Hansen finished with one save and had his third consecutive shutout to help the Colorado Rapids beat LAFC 1-0 Wednesday night.

The Rapids (9-10-1) have won three consecutive games, all by shutout, and four of five since the World Cup break.

LAFC (10-7-4) is winless in three straight for the first time this season.

The Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on an own goal by Jeremy Ebobisse. Youssef Maziz played a free kick from the right side into the area that was redirected by Ebobisse off the back post and into the net.

Cabral Carter made his first start in MLS and finished with three saves.

LAFC and the Rapids played to a 0-0 tie in Los Angeles on April 22.

DENVER — The imaging Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz underwent in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning revealed a “best-case scenario,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series finale against the Rockies.

“There were no findings, so that was good,” Roberts said. “MRI was clean. It doesn’t change the fact that he had this sensation in his neck. But I think to keep working on it, give it some rest as far as throwing the baseball.”

Díaz officially went on the IL for “neck inflammation,” but early theories on the injury, before he went to a specialist on Wednesday, suggested the issue could be related to the area around the trapezius, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Roberts said Wednesday that the results suggested the injury was more muscular, rather than nerve related.

“I think he’d been feeling the tightness in his neck,” Roberts said. “But I think where it went to the other night, he hadn’t felt that sensation. So that’s what really checked him up.”

Roberts said he didn’t know exactly how long Díaz would be shut down from throwing, but he estimated that it probably would be only a couple of days.

The bullpen shuffle continued Wednesday, when the Dodgers activated right-hander Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) from the 15-day IL. In a corresponding move, they designated right-hander Jonathan Hernández for assignment.

Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery could result in 4,500 jobs eliminated in Los Angeles over a three-year period, according to a new report.

Los Angeles County supervisors earlier this year wanted to explore the potential economic impact of David Ellison’s proposed union of two historic Hollywood studios. The report, completed this week by CVL Economics, paints a sobering picture of the potential aftermath of the debt-laden deal, including the prospect of an estimated $1.26 billion in lost wages.

“Los Angeles County’s film and television economy is already undergoing a significant structural contraction,” the report said. “The proposed merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance introduces an additional source of risk into that already changing market.”

California Atty. General Rob Bonta is leading a coalition of 12 states attempting to block the merger on antitrust grounds. A trial has been set for March. Paramount and other groups, including cinema chain owners and some Hollywood unions, have agitated for a settlement to curtail months of uncertainty over whether the deal will go through.

The proposed merger has been controversial in Hollywood due to fears of widespread layoffs. The Writers Guild of America has brought its own lawsuit to thwart the deal.

The goal of the county’s report was to provide “a comprehensive assessment of the merger’s production workforce implications,” amid the ongoing decline of L.A. based film and television production work. Los Angeles has witnessed the elimination of more than 50,000 entertainment jobs since 2022.

The 120-page report, from the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity and Film Office and requested by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, found that more than 15,000 corporate roles would be at risk, including an estimated 2,495 jobs based in Los Angeles County.

The two companies would have an overlapping workforce within its linear cable channel divisions, film and television studios, streaming operations and corporate functions, including marketing, technology and advertising sales.

“Effects on crews, crafts, post-production personnel, vendors, and production-serving small businesses,” could also be substantial, the report said.

Paramount, in a statement, said the report highlighted the industry’s troubles and made a case for the merger.

“LA County’s own economic report underscores what we have been saying all along: our industry is in decline, production is down and jobs are being lost — and lost for good if we don’t act,” Paramount said. “Our plan to invest $30 billion annually in production and release at least 30 films a year.”

That commitment, Paramount said, would lead to “more jobs over time, and ultimately, a stronger, more durable entertainment industry for generations to come.”

Paramount has received clearances from the U.S. Justice Department and 65 other regulators around the globe to complete the merger.

For now, Bonta’s lawsuit is standing in the way.

Paramount has promised investors the deal would lead to at least $6 billion in cost savings through the consolidation of operations. The company has said the merger would ultimately be good for consumers and workers because a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would have greater resources to compete with tech giants that are investing heavily in entertainment.

But the report pointed to the high level of debt that Paramount would have to take on — nearly $82 billion — to buy the stock of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to finalize the takeover.

“If revenues underperform or planned savings prove more difficult to achieve, pressure to identify additional cost reductions could increase,” the report said.

The two companies already are carrying substantial interest costs due to their existing debt structures. “In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, the two companies reported a combined $712 million in operating income and $737 million in net interest expense,” the report said, meaning that the companies were producing less profit than what was needed to support their debt obligations.

Despite Paramount predicting cost savings and reduction in debt over time, “those savings will take several years to fully realize,” the report said.

David Ellison was hoping to wrap up his $111-billion merger with Warner Bros. by September.

(PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Television production in Los Angeles could be especially vulnerable, in large part, because Paramount and Warner Bros. already have moved most of their feature film projects outside of L.A. High levels of TV production continues at Warner Bros. complex in Burbank and Paramount’s and CBS’ soundstages in Hollywood and Santa Clarita.

“The economic impact extends well beyond employment,” with an expected elimination of $547 million in tax revenue, including $78.6 million in local taxes, the report said.

It noted that Warner Bros. and Paramount films were “particularly employment-intensive.”

“Their theatrical releases carry 2.74 times as many screen credits as the average theatrical release, while their streaming films carry twice as many,” the report found.

The document also highlighted a pre-existing pull-back in production at the two studios in recent years — something that Ellison plans to correct.

Paramount was struggling to remain solvent prior to the Ellison family’s purchase of the media company last year. Warner Bros. had scaled back offerings following Discovery’s $43-billion takeover of WarnerMedia in 2022 as it struggled to contain the debt from that deal.

“Between 2019 and 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount accounted for a net reduction of approximately 195 major U.S. releases,” the report said. At the same time, other major distributors combined “added about 67 projects.”

Ellison is looking to finalize his massive Hollywood deal — folding CNN, HBO, TBS, Food Network and the Warner Bros. film and television studios under Paramount — as quickly as possible. He must hold together Paramount’s coalition of financiers and manage rising expenses, primarily legal fees and escalating obligations to Warner shareholders.

The state attorneys general, including from Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and New York have argued that the blockbuster merger — the largest in Hollywood in decades — would violate the century-old Clayton Antitrust Act.

Paramount hoped the trial over Bonta’s lawsuit would begin in November but U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set the trial for March 2.

If the deal goes forward, just four studios — a post-merger Paramount-Warner, Disney, NBCUniversal and Sony Pictures — would control 86% of movies that are widely released (in more than 3,000 movie theaters), according to the attorneys general lawsuit. Paramount has argued that projects from Amazon MGM, Netflix and Apple should be included because they compete with the traditional companies for talent and audiences.

Paramount-Warner Bros. would also own more than 50 cable channels, including HGTV, Animal Planet, BET, MTV and Comedy Central.

HIGH SCHOOL FLAG FOOTBALL
Tuesday’s results

Southern Section
Agoura 46, Rio Mesa 0
Antelope Valley 12, Adelanto 0
Aquinas 32, Jurupa Hills 6
Arlington 20, Riverside North 0
Arrowhead Christian 40, Nuview Bridge 0
Arroyo Valley 31, Citrus Hill 0
Baldwin Park 40, Calvary Baptist 6
Beaumont 62, Rancho Cucamonga 12
Cajon 65, Indian Springs 0
California Military Institute 44, Rancho Mirage 0
Camarillo 34, Buena 0
Canyon Country Canyon 18, Lancaster 6
Cerritos Valley Christian 27, Glenn 12
Channel Islands 21, Newbury Park 7
Colony 8, Los Osos 6
Compton 14, Mayfair 6
Corona del Mar 20, Santa Margarita 14
Esperanza 15, Anaheim 0
Fountain Valley 36, Sunny Hills 12
Gahr 34, Claremont 0
Great Oak 21, Temecula Prep 0
Harvard-Westlake 20, Village Christian 0
Highland 22, Eastvale Roosevelt 14
Hillcrest 6, Norte Vista 0
Hueneme 26, Saugus 7
Fountain Valley 36, Sunny Hills 12
JSerra 40, Woodbridge 21
La Mirada 12, Pioneer 0
Los Alamitos 31, Costa Mesa 6
Knight 50, Rosamond 0
Miller 19, Colton 0
Millikan 32, Palos Verdes 12
Monrovia 20, San Gabriel 12
Northview 41, La Puente 8
Oxnard Pacifica 34, Valencia 12
Ramona 8, Moreno Valley 6
Redondo Union 12, Downey 6
Rim of the World 39, Entrepreneur 0
Rowland 21, Nogales 0
San Gorgonio 45, Bloomington 7
Santa Barbara 27, Simi Valley 12
Santa Monica 26, Windward 0
Schurr 12, San Marino 8
St. Lucy’s 40, Mark Keppel 0
Temescal Canyon 14, Elsinore 7
Torrance 12, El Segundo 0
Trabuco Hills 30, Portola 0
Troy 25, Orange 12
Upland 39, Rialto 26
Ventura 25, Castaic 7
Victor Valley 14, Eastside 0
Vista del Lago 14, Heritage 12
Warren 14, Sonora 6
Westlake 53, Oak Park 20
West Valley 44, San Jacinto 6
Yucaipa 47, La Sierra 18

Intersectional
North County San Marcos 44, Dana Hills

Monday’s results

City Section
AMIT 18, Diego Rivera 0
Eagle Rock 33, Sotomayor 0
Franklin 31, Contreras 0
Franklin 31, King/Drew 14
Granada Hills Kennedy 18, Bishop Alemany 6
King/Drew 40, Contreras 0
Monroe 19, Reseda 0
New Designs University Park 27, West Adams 0
Panorama 6, Sotomayor 0
Panorama 23, Eagle Rock 22 (OT)
San Fernando 32, Reseda 0
San Fernando 24, Monroe 0

Southern Section
Artesia 40, Oxford Academy 6
Ayala 12, Sunny Hills 6
Azusa 33, Alhambra 7
Baldwin Park 32, Workman 6
Bell Gardens 15, Norwalk 7
Bishop Amat d. Sacred Heart of Jesus, forfeit
Cajon 68, San Bernardino 0
California 20, La Habra 0
California Military Institute 31, Nuview Bridge 0
Castaic 6, Santa Paula 0
Cerritos 21, Montebello 6
Chaparral 20, Linfield Christian 18
Chino Hills 12, Northview 0
Colony 20, Montclair 0
Corona Centennial 28, Riverside Poly 26
Covina 29, Sierra Vista 13
Culver City 33, Immaculate Heart 18
Downey 26, Aliso Niguel 7
Eastvale Roosevelt 18, Patriot 13
El Dorado 32, La Palma Kennedy 19
Etiwanda 20, Corona Santiago 12
Foothill 34, Placentia Valencia 7
Fountain Valley 18, Sage Hill 0
Gabrielino 32, Arroyo 7
Godinez 36, Garden Grove Santiago 6
Glendora 39, Alta Loma 18
Hemet 25, Desert Hot Springs 24
Hillcrest 39, Jurupa Valley 0
Jurupa Hills 26, San Jacinto 0
La Canada 20, West Covina 0
Laguna Hills 41, Katella 6
Lakewood 6, Paramount 0
Lakewood St. Joseph 34, Cypress 6
La Serna 28, La Mirada 14
Liberty 24, Vista del Lago 0
Long Beach Wilson 19, Bellflower 6
Los Alamitos 52, Loara 6
Los Altos 24, Rosemead 0
Los Osos 7, Don Lugo 0
Magnolia 14, Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary 6
Millikan 49, Santa Fe 6
Murrieta Mesa 45, Lakeside 0
Murrieta Valley 34, Elsinore 6
Nogales 12, Charter Oak 0
Oaks Christian 30, Oak Park 20
Ontario 21, Hacienda Heights Wilson 6
Ontario Christian 32, Chaffey 0
Orange 6, Irvine 0
PACS 13, Rosamond 12
Palm Desert 18, La Quinta 6
Ramona Convent 21, Rio Hondo Prep 6
Rancho Alamitos 13, Bolsa Grande 6
Rancho Cucamonga 24, Norco 13
Redlands East Valley 13, Riverside King 7
Riverside North 24, Heritage 13
Saddleback 18, Tustin 6
San Dimas 38, Duarte 0
San Gorgonio 18, Ramona 13
San Juan Hills 6, Northwood 0
Santa Ana Valley 26, Bell Gardens 18
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 20, Mayfair 13
St. Margaret’s 34, Crean Lutheran 26
Temecula Prep 47, Rancho Christian 6
Temescal Canyon 20, Paloma Valley 19
Tesoro 19, Portola 14
Valencia 12, Vasquez 0
Villa Park 20, Segerstrom 0
Western Christian 72, United Christian Academy 0
Whittier 20, Western 7
Yorba Linda 40, Garden Grove Pacifica 6

Intersectional
Carson 25, Mater Dei 19
Granada Hills Kennedy 18, Alemany 16
Indio 12, Central 6
Mountain View 25, South East 14
Shadow Hills 13, Brawley 12

Witney Carson will be dancing for two on the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

The professional ballroom dancer revealed her pregnancy Monday on “Good Morning America,” stating that although she’s excited for the experience, it is also “daunting.”

“I’ve never been this far along pregnant and competing on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” said Carson. “I don’t know if it’s ever been done. So you guys will definitely see a big bump.”

The competitive dancer has two boys — 5-year-old Leo and 3-year-old Jet — with husband Carson McAllister. The two have been married since 2016.

The 32-year-old has competed on 15 seasons of the popular reality dance show. Last year, she took home the top prize alongside Australian conservationist Robert Irwin; in 2014, she took home her first Mirrorball Trophy alongside actor Alfonso Ribeiro.

In the coming season, Carson also revealed that she will hit the dance floor with comedian Guillermo Rodriguez, the Mexican talk show personality best known as a sidekick to Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“It wasn’t on my bingo card to compete on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and be four months pregnant, but I think that it’s a beautiful thing,” said Carson on “GMA.” “I want to feel empowered. I want to see what my body can do. And hopefully Guillermo could be right there beside me and we can work as a team.”

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the dancer revealed that she was “extremely sick” in her first trimester and “dropped out of things” that she had been contracted to participate in, but after discussing the matter with her husband as well as executive producer Deena Katz, she decided to continue with the competition.

Carson was first in the spotlight in 2012 during the ninth season of the Fox series “So You Think You Can Dance,” then joined the “Dancing With the Stars” troupe in 2013 for the 16th season. This summer, she made a special appearance as a guest judge on the spinoff series “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro,” where 12 up-and-coming dancers compete for a pro-dancer spot on the popular main series.

Season 35 of “Dancing With the Stars” will premiere with a two-night episode on Sept. 15 and 16.

The Chargers were bitten by the injury bug Tuesday during a joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers in El Segundo.

Center Tyler Biadasz went down hard after 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez fell on his left leg during an 11-on-11 drill. Biadasz, who was unable to put weight on his left leg, was carted off the field and visibly upset.

“Obviously praying for the best,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said. “I don’t know exactly what happened. And I haven’t heard the report back. But hoping for the best for him.”

Biadasz was replaced by rookie offensive lineman Jake Slaughter, who is among the candidates to play left guard.

“Yeah, man, that hurt me,” Slaughter said. “He’s been nothing but a wonderful mentor. He’s been such a good leader in the room, helping me see the big picture better. We’re hoping and praying he’s in a good spot, and it’s nothing serious.”

Outside linebacker Kyle Kennard exited practice with a trainer after limping off the field.

Wide receiver Quentin Johnston limped to the sideline after attempting a leaping catch. It appeared to be a lower-body injury, and trainers worked on him afterward.

The Chargers have consistently endured devastating injuries over the years.

And it seems there’s a good chance they’ll be shorthanded at SoFi Stadium during Week 2 of preseason play against the 49ers.

“I take it as a blessing that I can help the team in any way that I can,” Slaughter said about potentially starting at center if Biadasz is sidelined for an extended period of time.