Monday

From Chuck Schilken: The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday morning after a 3-14 season. The Atlanta Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris, as well as general manager Terry Fontenot, on Sunday night after a second straight 8-9 finish. The Cleveland Browns fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, the team announced Monday morning following a 5-11 finish this season. The Arizona Cardinals announced Monday morning that they’ve moved on from coach Jonathan Gannon after a 3-14 season.

Two other teams parted ways with their head coaches during the season. The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan in October after a 1-5 start to the season. The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll in November after a 2-8 start.

With NFL’s “Black Monday” already in full swing, other teams are likely to make similar moves. Here’s a look at everything that has happened so far. This list will continue to be updated as more changes occur.

Continue reading here

Quentin Lake could be key for Rams

From Benjamin Royer: Quentin Lake, the Rams’ defensive captain, could be the catalyst that helps mend the Rams’ tattered secondary ahead of their wild-card showdown with the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.

Through the first 11 weeks of the season, the Rams held opponents to 17.2 points per game, just behind the Houston Texans as the NFL’s second-best defense. Over the seven games Lake missed since sustaining a dislocated elbow against the Seahawks in November, the Rams gave up an average of 24.8 points per game.

The 26-year-old safety, who is expected to make his return against Carolina, has proven to be a cornerstone on the Rams’ defense with his leadership skills and personal versatility.

Lake has also endeared himself to his teammates, as evidenced by Kobie Turner‘s widened smile when Lake’s name came up with reporters following the Rams’ 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“Captain Q,” said Turner, who played a role in helping the Rams record six sacks against the Cardinals. “There’s not really words that can explain — you turn on the tape and you see exactly what he is.”

Continue reading here

NFL playoffs schedule

All times Pacific
Wild-card round
NFC
Saturday
No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video

Sunday
No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes

AFC
Sunday
No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+
No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo

Monday
No. 5 Houston at No. 4 Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2

Divisional round
Jan. 17 and 18, TBA

Conference championships
Sunday, Jan. 25, TBA

Super Bowl
Sunday, Feb. 8, NBC, Time TBA

Lakers takeaways

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Call it deja vu.

For the second time in three days, the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, took a close game into the fourth quarter and pulled away late behind the scoring punch of the same three players.

Again fueled by LeBron James (26 points, 10 assists), Luka Doncic (36 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Jake LaRavia (26 points), the Lakers overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to win 120-114 on Sunday against the Grizzlies.

After James and Doncic each scored 30 in Friday’s win that also featured a 20-point performance from LaRavia, the Lakers (22-11) won consecutive games for just the second time in five weeks.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Continue reading here

Clippers win wild game

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Kobe Sanders added 20 points, and the Clippers edged the Golden State Warriors 103-102 on Monday night in a wild game that included Warriors coach Steve Kerr getting ejected and Steph Curry fouling out for the first time since 2021.

Kerr was ejected with 7:57 remaining in the game after becoming irate when the Clippers’ John Collins wasn’t called for goaltending. A shouting Kerr pursued the referees along the sideline and had to be restrained by his assistants before getting tossed.

Curry scored 27 points but was just four for 15 from three-point range and nine for 23 overall before fouling out with 42 seconds remaining in the game. He fouled out for the first time since Dec. 17, 2021, at Boston.

Continue reading here

Clippers box score

NBA standings

USC routed by Michigan State

Coen Carr scored 18 points and Jaxon Kohler added 16 on perfect shooting to lead No. 12 Michigan State to an 80-51 blowout against USC on Monday night.

Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and seven assists for the Spartans (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who took control with a 27-6 run early in the game and led by at least 20 for much of the second half.

Kohler made all six of his field-goal attempts, including a trio of three-pointers, and sank his only free throw. He also grabbed eight rebounds, two short of becoming the first Spartans player since at least 1996-97 to have six straight double-doubles in a season, according to Sportradar.

Ezra Ausar scored 16 points and Jerry Easter added 12 for the Trojans (12-3, 1-3), who lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Continue reading here

USC box score

Big Ten standings

Kings win, but Kopitar is injured

Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist, and the Kings held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Monday night.

Warren Foegele, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe also scored, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots for the Kings, who beat the Wild for the second time in three nights and got just their fourth win in 12 games (4-6-2).

Jared Spurgeon had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota, which snapped a six-game point streak (3-0-3). and Filip Gustavsson had 29 saves.

Kings center Anze Kopitar left the game after playing 4:54 in the first period. The Kings later ruled him out for the rest of the game because of a lower-body injury.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

Bob Pulford dies

Bob Pulford, a Hockey Hall of Fame player who went on to a lengthy career in the NHL as a coach and general manager, has died. He was 89.

A spokesperson for the NHL Alumni Assn. said Monday the organization learned of Pulford’s death from his family. No other details were provided.

A tough, dependable forward, Pulford helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup four times during his 14-year stretch with them from 1956 to 1970. The Newton Robinson, Canada, native was part of the 1967 team that remains the organization’s last to win a championship.

Pulford spent his final two playing seasons with the Kings in the early 1970s before coaching them for the following five years. He then ran the Chicago Blackhawks’ front office as general manager or senior vice president of hockey operations for three decades from 1977 to 2007, going behind the bench to coach four times during that span.

Continue reading here

Ducks lose to Washington

Justin Sourdif scored his first NHL hat trick and added two assists and the Washington Capitals beat the Ducks 7-4 on Monday night.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist, John Carlson also scored and Connor McMichael had four assists for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide. Charlie Lindgren made 41 saves in the win.

Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, Jacob Trouba and Beckett Sennecke scored for the Ducks, who have lost six straight. Petr Mrazek stopped 19 of 24 shots through two periods. He was replaced by Lukas Dostal to start the third. Dostal stopped the three shots he faced.

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1951 — The Indianapolis Olympians beat the Rochester Royals 75-73 in six overtimes, the longest game in NBA history.

1976 — Ted Turner, a millionaire communications executive and internationally known yachtsman, buys the Atlanta Braves for a reported $10-to-12 million.

1980 — The Rams, behind three field goals by Frank Corral, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-0 to win the NFC Championship. This is the first conference championship game in NFL history without a touchdown being scored.

1980 — The Pittsburgh Steelers advance to their fourth Super Bowl appearance since 1974 by eliminating the Houston Oilers for the second consecutive year with a 27-13 triumph in the AFC title game.

1981 — John Tonelli ties a New York Islanders record with five goals in a 6-3 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum. Mike Bossy gets an assist on all six goals to set an Islanders record. Tonelli scores once in the first period, once in the second and three times in the third.

1985 — Dan Marino passes for a record 421 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 45-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game.

1985 — The San Francisco 49ers holds the Chicago Bears to 186 yards and sacks quarterback Steve Fuller nine times to win the NFC Championship 23-0.

1994 — Nancy Kerrigan is attacked after practice at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Shane Stant clubs Kerrigan on the knee and flees the scene. Later that evening, Scott Davis wins the men’s U.S. Figure Skating title.

1995 — Lenny Wilkens becomes the winningest coach in NBA history as the Atlanta Hawks post a 112-90 victory over the Washington Bullets. Wilkens, with his 939th win, surpasses Red Auerbach’s record. Wilkens reaches the record in his 22nd year as an NBA coach, including four as a player-coach.

2005 — For the first time in NBA history, a player leads his team in scoring without making a field goal. Detroit’s Richard Hamilton scores 14 points despite missing all 10 of his field goal attempts in a 101-79 loss to Memphis.

2011 — Miami of Ohio caps a historic season with a 35-21 win over Middle Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The RedHawks (10-4) are the first team in Football Bowl Subdivision history to win 10 games one season after losing 10. Miami finished a dismal 1-11 in 2009.

2014 — Patrick Maher of Division III Grinnell College breaks the NCAA record with 37 assists in a 164-144 victory over College of Faith.

2014 — Jameis Winston throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left and No. 1 Florida State beat No. 2 Auburn 34-31 to win the last BCS national championship game.

2015 — Patrik Elias has a goal and two assists to reach 1,000, NHL points, and the New Jersey Devils beat the struggling Buffalo Sabres 4-1. The goal is the 399th for Elias.

2016 — Ken Griffey Jr. is elected to the baseball Hall of Fame with the highest voting percentage ever, and Mike Piazza makes it in his fourth year on the ballot. Griffey is on 437 of 440 votes in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. His 99.3 percentage tops Tom Seaver’s 98.84 in 1992.

2018 — Jon Gruden returns to the NFL as Oakland Raiders head coach after nearly a decade of broadcasting (ESPN Monday Night Football 2009-17).

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.

If you asked Los Alamitos basketball coach Nate Berger to be honest about early expectations for a team that returned zero starters, he would have said a 1-9 start wouldn’t have been surprising.

But the Griffins, loaded with backups from last season and members of a good junior varsity team, are 8-6 going into an early Sunset League showdown with 16-1 Corona del Mar on Monday.

Tyler Lopez has been leading the way. The senior committed to Jessup University in Northern California is averaging 17 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Isaiah Williamson, younger brother of former Eastvale Roosevelt standout Issac Williamson, has been making major contributions.

Berger has been pleased with his players’ growing experience and confidence after some early season struggles adjusting.

“I was pleasantly surprised how my team responded and some of these young players have jelled,” he said.

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

Comcast has officially spun off its cable channels, including CNBC and MS NOW, into a separate company, Versant Media Group.

The transaction was completed late Friday. On Monday, Versant took a major tumble in its stock market debut — providing a key test of investors’ willingness to hold onto legacy cable channels.

The initial outlook wasn’t pretty, providing awkward moments for CNBC anchors reporting the story.

Versant shares fell about 14% to about $40 a share around mid-day. The stock opened Monday on the Nasdaq at $45.17 per share.

Comcast opted to cast off the still-profitable cable channels, except for the perennially popular Bravo!, as Wall Street has soured on the business, which has been contracting amid a consumer shift to streaming.

Versant’s market performance will be closely watched as Warner Bros. Discovery attempts to separate its cable channels, including CNN, TBS and Food Network, from the Warner Bros. studios and HBO later this year. Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav’s plan, which is scheduled to occur this summer, is being contested by the Ellison family’s Paramount, which has launched a hostile bid for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to sell itself to Netflix in an $82.7-billion deal.

The market’s distaste for cable channels has been playing out in recent years. Paramount found itself on the auction block two years ago, in part, because of the weight of its struggling cable channels, including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV.

Management of the New York-based Versant, including longtime NBCUniversal sports and television executive Mark Lazarus, has been bullish on the company’s balance sheet and its prospects for growth. Versant also includes USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine.

“As a standalone company, we enter the market with the scale, strategy and leadership to grow and evolve our business model,” Lazarus, who is Versant’s Chief Executive, said Monday in a statement.

Through the spinoff, Comcast shareholders received one share of Versant Class A common stock or Versant Class B common stock for every 25 shares of Comcast Class A common stock or Comcast Class B common stock, respectively. The Versant shares were distributed after the close of Comcast trading on Friday.

Comcast gained about 3% on Monday, trading at about $28.50.

Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts maintains Versant’s controlling shares.

Jan. 2 (Asia Today) — South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday during a four-day visit to China aimed at advancing talks on Korean Peninsula peace, economic cooperation and issues including restrictions on Korean cultural content in China, the presidential office said Friday.

National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac told a briefing at the Blue House that Lee will travel to China from Sunday through Wednesday at Xi’s invitation, visiting Beijing and Shanghai.

Wi said the summit on Monday will include talks, a signing ceremony for nearly 10 memorandums of understanding and a state banquet. He said the main agenda will center on peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

“People’s livelihoods and peace cannot be separated,” Wi said, adding that both countries share an interest in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. He said Seoul plans to strengthen strategic communication with Beijing and urge China to play a constructive role in helping address Korean Peninsula issues.

Wi said the two sides will also seek progress on what South Korea calls China’s restrictions on Korean cultural content. He said China’s official position is that no such ban exists but that South Korea sees it differently and will pursue broader consensus on cultural exchanges.

Wi said Lee’s team will also raise concerns about Chinese structures in the West Sea, also known as the Yellow Sea. He said the issue was discussed during a South Korea-China summit in Gyeongju in November and working-level consultations have continued.

A K-pop concert that had been discussed in connection with the trip is unlikely to take place this time, Wi said.

Lee will attend a South Korea-China business forum on Monday, the presidential office said. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to have lunch with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and meet Zhao Leji, the chairman of China’s national legislature.

On Wednesday, Lee plans to visit the former Shanghai headquarters of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Wi said the visit will mark the 150th anniversary of independence activist Kim Gu’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Shanghai provisional government building, and is intended to honor the independence movement and the countries’ shared historical experience.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has indicated that the U.S. has “hit” a facility in South America as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the U.S. offered no other details.

Trump made the comments in what seemed to be an impromptu radio interview Friday.

The president, who called radio host John Catsimatidis during a program on WABC radio, was discussing U.S. strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have killed at least 105 people in 29 known strikes since early September.

“I don’t know if you read or saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from,” Trump said. “Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So, we hit them very hard.”

Trump did not offer any additional details in the interview, including what kind of attack may have occurred. The Pentagon on Monday referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or one of the U.S. military’s social media accounts has in the past typically announced every boat strike in a post on X, but they have not posted any notice of any strike on a facility.

The press office of Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on Trump’s statement.

Trump for months has suggested he may conduct land strikes in South America, in Venezuela or possibly another country, and in recent weeks has been saying the U.S. would move beyond striking boats and would strike on land “soon.”

In October, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The agency did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday.

Along with the strikes, the U.S. has sent warships, built up military forces in the region, seized two oil tankers and pursued a third.

The Trump administration has said it is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and seeking to stop the flow of narcotics into the United States.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from power.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this month that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro ‘cries uncle.’”

Price writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Rams coach Sean McVay worked with Ben Kotwica for three NFL seasons in Washington when McVay was the team’s offensive coordinator and Kotwica was the special teams coordinator.

In the aftermath of McVay’s firing of special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, Kotwica will oversee the unit, McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters.

“I know his capacity, I know the accountability, I know the core belief that he has,” McVay said of Kotwica, who has been a Rams assistant this season after working as the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator the previous two. “This late in the year, you’re not naive to, you’re going to keep a lot of the foundational things.

“But I think there’s some things that we want to have reflected in our style of play, and the way we go about our overall approach that I think will be improved.”

Ben Kotwica will oversee special teams for the Rams moving forward, coach Sean McVay said.

(Associated Press)

Matt Harper, the San Francisco 49ers’ assistant special teams coach from 2021 to 2024, will join the staff to assist Kotwica, McVay said.

Kotwica assumes a leadership role as the Rams (11-4) prepare to play the Atlanta Falcons (6-9) on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Rams have clinched a playoff spot, but their 38-37 overtime defeat by the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday dropped them from the No. 1 seed in the NFC to No. 5.

Blackburn’s departure marked the first time in McVay’s nine seasons with the Rams that he fired a coach during the season.

McVay said he informed Blackburn of his decision Friday morning, the day after Rashid Shaheed of the Seahawks returned a fourth-quarter punt for a touchdown that sparked a comeback from a 16-point deficit and helped send the Rams to defeat.

It was the latest in a series of costly special teams miscues that included several blocked field-goal and extra-point attempts early in the season, which resulted in losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers.

In early November, the Rams signed kicker Harrison Mevis to replace Joshua Karty, who is on the Rams’ practice squad, and signed veteran snapper Jake McQuaide to replace Alex Ward. Mevis made his first eight field-goal attempts — including three against the Seahawks — before missing from 48 yards in Seattle.

McVay said that as head coach he was ultimately responsible for the special teams’ performance. But he made the move to change leadership for that unit.

“There’s been some things that we need to be better at in critical moments,” McVay said. “It was just what we thought was best for the collective. … As simple as it gets.”

After the Rams play the Falcons, they will conclude the regular season at home against the Arizona Cardinals.

“I do think this is an opportunity that gives us a chance to be able to use the last couple of weeks, and then leading into the playoffs, to be able to establish some of the things that we want,” McVay said of special teams.

Etc.

It would be “hard” for offensive lineman Kevin Dotson, who left the game against the Seahawks because of an ankle injury, to be ready for Monday night’s game, McVay said. Receiver Davante Adams (hamstring), who sat out against the Seahawks, is making progress toward returning but he will be monitored this week before determining his status for the game against the Falcons, McVay said. … Tight end Tyler Higbee and offensive lineman Rob Havenstein will remain on injured reserve this week, McVay said. “They’re not quite ready yet,” he said.

The Chargers will be without starting linebacker Denzel Perryman for the remainder of the regular season.

The NFL on Monday suspended Perryman without pay for two games for repeated violations of playing rules designed to protect player health and safety, including an incident during Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

In the second quarter, Perryman was penalized for unnecessary roughness after delivering a forcible blow to the helmet of Ryan Flournoy while the Dallas Cowboys’ receiver was on the ground following a catch. The play violated an NFL rule prohibiting the use of any part of the helmet or facemask to initiate forcible contact to an opponent’s head or neck area.

Perryman will be eligible to return to the Chargers’ active roster on Monday, Jan. 5, following the team’s Week 17 game against the Houston Texans and Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, Perryman may appeal the suspension. Any appeal would be heard and decided by one of three jointly appointed and compensated hearing officers: Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster or Jordy Nelson.

Dec. 21 (UPI) — The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $1.6 billion after no one claimed the winning ticket following Saturday’s drawing.

There have been 45 consecutive drawings with no grand-prize winner.

The new jackpot is the fourth largest in the game’s history, and the fifth biggest among all U.S. lottery jackpots, Powerball said.

Saturday’s was the second consecutive drawing with a jackpot in excess of $1 billion that produced no winner.

The last Powerball winner claimed $1.787 billion in September. There have been 45 consecutive winnerless drawings since.

Powerball winners have the choice between taking an annual payout, or a lump-sum prize. If someone wins Monday’s drawing, they will have the option of receiving a $1.6 billion annuitized payment, or a $735.5 million one-time prize.

There was no grand prize winner Saturday, but 112 ticket holders claimed a $50,000 payout, and 22 claimed $150,000 each.

Tickets sold in California, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and Ohio each won $1 million.

A winner of the Double Play drawing in New Jersey claimed a $500,000 prize, Powerball said.

The odds of winning the grand prize jackpot are one in 292.2 million, according to Powerball, though they are better for smaller prizes, which can range to as low as $4. Tickets are $2 each.

Drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. EST every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Anthony Geary, the Daytime Emmy winner who played half of “General Hospital’s” supercouple Luke Spencer and Laura Baldwin, died Sunday. He was 78.

“The entire #GeneralHospital family is heartbroken over the news of Tony Geary’s passing. Tony was a brilliant actor and set the bar that we continue to strive for,” “GH” executive producer Frank Valentini wrote on Monday in two posts on X. “His legacy, and that of Luke Spencer’s, will live on through the generations of #GH cast members who have followed in his footsteps. We send our sincerest sympathies to his husband, Claudio, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.”

The actor died of complications a few days after having planned surgery in Amsterdam, the city he and spouse Claudio Gama called home, Soap Opera Digest reported.

“It was a shock for me and our families and our friends,” Gama told TV Insider exclusively Monday, saying that for more than three decades Geary had been his friend, companion and — for the past six years — his husband.

Geary notched almost 2,000 episodes on “General Hospital,” where he started as a cast member in 1978. Along the way he took a number of breaks from the show before wrapping up his “GH” career in 2015.

Even with those breaks, Daytime Emmys voters nominated Geary 17 times in the lead actor category. He took home the trophy eight times, in 1982, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2015.

Despite their plot line beginning with Luke drunkenly raping Laura — played by Genie Francis — only to have her fall in love with her rapist, their love story became insanely popular in the early 1980s, appealing to a younger audience and saving the series from cancellation. The characters got married in November 1981. The audience for the wedding, which aired over two days, was around 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated soap opera event in history.

Tony Dean Geary was born on May 29, 1947, in the town of Coalville, Utah, and raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After studying theater at the University of Utah, he began his acting career with roles on shows including “Room 222,” “All in the Family,” “The Partridge Family” and “Mod Squad” in the early 1970s. “General Hospital” cast him in 1978, but not before he added shows including “Barnaby Jones,” “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” to his resume. He racked up dozens more credits in his career, but nothing that brought him the fame that “GH” did.

When Geary left “GH” for good in 2015, some former colleagues talked to The Times about working with him.

Jane Elliot, who played another Spencer love interest, Tracy Quartermaine, recalled in 2015 that she acted with Geary when he first screen-tested for the role that was supposed to be only a 13-week arc.

“It’s always awkward with an actor you don’t know,” she told The Times. “I was walking down this flight of stars, and I pass Tony, who is doodling on a piece of paper. He’s doing tic-tac-toe. I immediately know what kind of actor he is, doing something real in an unreal setting. I went up to him, put an O next to his X, and our relationship was established.”

“Tony’s friendship and guidance has meant the world to me,” said actor Jonathan Jackson, who was only 11 when he started on the soap as Lucky Spencer, Luke’s son. “He was always extremely warm and very present, there was nothing condescending in him. He never treated me like a kid. We clicked right away.”

The “Nashville” actor returned to the show after many years away to help Geary wrap up the Spencers’ story.

”When I found out he was leaving, I knew I had to come back,” Jackson said at the time. “He was great. Having those last scenes with me were everything I hoped it would be.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, co-star Genie Francis, who is still on “GH,” remembered her former on-screen love on social media.

“This morning I woke up and went into my husband’s arms. In my sleep, my life was flashing before me and I was afraid of death.” An hour later, she wrote on Facebook, producer Valentini called to tell her that Geary had died.

“I immediately felt remorse, I hadn’t spoken to him in years, but I felt his life end in my sleep last night, and with it a big part of me, and mine,” Francis continued. “He was a powerhouse as an actor. Shoulder to shoulder with the greats. No star burned brighter than Tony Geary. He was one of a kind. As an artist, he was filled with a passion for the truth, no matter how blunt, or even a little rude it might be, but always hilariously funny. He was the anti-hero, always so irreverent, but even the most conservative had to smile. Working with him was always exciting. You never knew what might happen.

“He spoiled me for leading men for the rest of my life. I am crushed, I will miss him terribly, but I was so lucky to be his partner. Somehow, somewhere, we are connected to each other because I felt him leave last night. Good night sweet prince, good night.”

Spain’s government has fined San Francisco’s Airbnb $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals, officials said Monday.

The move is the latest government action in Spain against short-term rental companies such as Airbnb and Booking.com as the country grapples with a housing affordability problem, particularly in city centers.

The consumer rights ministry said the rentals didn’t include license numbers — a requirement in many regions in Spain — or listed license numbers that didn’t match what authorities had. Others had incorrect information about hosts, it said.

Airbnb said that it plans to challenge the fine in court.

The company said it was working with Spanish authorities to comply with a new national registration system for short-term rentals, and that more than 70,000 listings on the platform had added a registration number since January.

Spain’s leftist government and many Spaniards across the political spectrum see short-term rental companies as bearing responsibility for driving up housing costs.

The nation on the Iberian Peninsula is one of the world’s most visited countries and short-term holiday rentals have cut into many cities’ stretched housing supply.

“There are thousands of families living on the edge because of the housing crisis, while a few enrich themselves with business models that evict people from their homes,” Spain’s consumer rights minister, Pablo Bustinduy, said Monday in a statement.

In May, the consumer rights ministry ordered Airbnb to take down roughly 65,000 listings because of rule violations.

In 2024, Spain’s anti-trust watchdog fined Booking.com $448 million, saying the online travel company had abused its dominant market position in the country during the previous five years.

Local authorities in Barcelona have said they plan to phase out all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028 to safeguard the housing supply for residents.