moves

Fifth seed Mark Williams, who won this tournament in 1999 and 2002, claimed a 6-4 victory over David Gilbert in the evening session to join Robertson in the last 16.

The 50-year-old lost a lengthy opening frame, levelled at 1-1, but a fine break of 102 gave Gilbert the advantage again.

But Williams then recorded breaks of 51, 89, 73 and 55 to move 5-2 ahead and go one frame from victory. World number 24 Gilbert responded with a 100 break for his second century and then a 50 to pull it back to 5-4.

However, it did not matter as Williams did enough to get the victory to set up a match against either China’s 12th seed Xiao Guodong or compatriot Pang Junxu.

Robertson got back into the top 16 in September 2024, ensuring automatic qualification for the major tournaments, by beating China’s Wu Yize 9-7 in the final of the English Open.

The pair will face each other in the last 16 in York later this week after Wu held off a fightback from England’s Michael Holt to secure a 6-4 victory.

Wu, 22, moved into a 5-0 lead, thanks to breaks of 55, 78, 82 and 81, which included 11 reds and 10 blacks before any hope of a 147 ended with a miss on the 11th black.

But 47-year-old Holt, a quarter-finalist last year, staged a recovery with runs of 59, 82 and 60 to pull within one frame, before Wu sealed the success in the 10th frame.

Twelve players from China were among the 32 in York and Wu became the second of those to reach the last 16 after Si Jiahui’s 6-0 triumph over Ryan Day on Saturday.

California voters, it appears, have tired of peace and freedom–well, of Peace & Freedom, anyway–forcing the one and only Jan B. Tucker to take his leftist politics elsewhere.

Tucker, a Toluca Lake-based private eye and activist for every leftist cause under the sun, was the last hope for the state’s Peace & Freedom Party, which formed in California amid the political upheaval of 1968.

His campaign for state treasurer last year, “Tucker for Treasurer: Politics as Unusual,” represented the best chance for Peace & Freedom to maintain its spot on the state ballot. Tucker had run for governor and president on the Peace & Freedom ticket in previous years, and has a politician’s gift for self-promotion.

But Tucker’s third-party candidacy–which espoused such unorthodox fiscal views as using the power of the state stock portfolio to help break the glass ceiling for women and minorities–failed to ignite the liberal crowd.

He gathered less than 2% of the vote, the amount required for a party to stay on the ballot, and Secretary of State Bill Jones has since announced that Peace & Freedom has gone the way of Nehru jackets and the Age of Aquarius.

Peace & Freedom loyalists could get back on the ballot by increasing the number of voters registered to the party. There is little indication that is going to happen. But Tucker–who is active in the local chapters of the National Organization for Women, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, a local newspaper guild and an animal-rights organization–isn’t about to give up the fight just yet. He plans to do what any crafty politician would do under the circumstances: adapt.

Tucker is going to team up with another minor party on the left, the Green Party, which, not coincidentally, has been gaining in popularity at the same time Peace & Freedom has been losing it. He believes the leadership of his new party is more grounded in reality.

“The Greens don’t have the ideological baggage and weirdo reputation that the Peace & Freedom Party has,” Tucker said. “It’s hard to be taken seriously when the party leaders stand up at conventions and say, ‘We are the new Bolsheviks.’ I tried to take some new recruits there, and they said, ‘This is “Alice in Wonderland.” ’ “

His next candidacy, he said, will be for U.S. Senate. In the meantime, Tucker says he will urge that his new party try to deal with what he sees as its biggest weakness: lack of minority representation.

“It’s a marriage whose time has come,” he said of his conversion to Green. “I’d like to help the Greens to diversify their ranks, because they need it. Their heart’s in the right place.”

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NO REST: As if Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) didn’t have enough liberals angry at him. Now he is being accused of getting in the way of world peace.

Rogan, fresh off his controversial role as prosecutor in President Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial, was awarded straight Fs on the latest political report card of California Peace Action, a group that fights the proliferation of nuclear weapons and arms sales to recognized dictatorships. The Peace Action claims to be the state’s largest “peace” organization, with a statewide membership of 33,000.

“While Rep. Rogan’s role in the impeachment process has received a great deal of attention, we don’t want people to overlook his terrible record on nuclear weapons, human rights and wasteful military spending,” said Danielle Babineau, the group’s southern California political director. “You can’t do worse than an F.”

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EAR TO THE RAIL: When City Council candidates went door to door recently trying to qualify for the April 13 ballot, residents asked about one issue more than any other.

Should the San Fernando Valley break away from Los Angeles and form its own city?

“That was the most consistent question that people asked me about,” said David R. Guzman Sr., one of four candidates challenging Councilman Hal Bernson in the northwest Valley’s 12th District.

Guzman said most residents doubted that the Valley would be better off after a breakaway from Los Angeles, a skepticism he and many other candidates share.

“They are afraid of it because they fear it may add to the red tape and cost the Valley more,” said Guzman, who isn’t convinced secession is a good idea.

Secession has divided candidates vying for four Valley seats on the City Council, an informal survey found. Most said the issue of Valley cityhood will be a major point of discussion in their campaigns.

Bernson supported a study of cityhood, but has declined to take a position on secession, citing his service on the county commission that is examining the financial issues involved, said Ali Sar, a spokesman.

Among other 12th District candidates, newsletter publisher Marilyn Stout said she does not believe secession is the answer, while attorney Charles Rubel said the Valley would be better off as a separate city.

“I’m definitely for it, if it’s feasible,” Rubel said, adding he believes it will bring government closer to Valley residents.

Stout said she would prefer to see charter reform bring city residents together.

“It [cityhood] would worsen the quality of life throughout the city,” Stout said.

In the race for the 2nd District seat in the East Valley, Councilman Joel Wachs was one of the first to sign a petition calling for a study of cityhood, but has said he wants to see the study results before taking a position on secession.

Second District challenger Kathy Anthony, who runs a Sunland tailoring business, said the Valley has been shortchanged by the rest of Los Angeles.

“Unfortunately, I don’t feel we have an option” but to secede, Anthony said. “We have to do something to get attention and dollars back to the Valley.”

John Spishak, another 2nd District candidate, also believes secession will improve the quality of life for Valley residents.

“I’m definitely for it,” he said. “People are so tired of what they are not getting from City Hall.”

In the 7th Council District, covering the northeast Valley, front-runner candidates Corinne Sanchez and Alex Padilla have not yet taken positions on secession, but Ollie McCaulley supports it. Barbara Perkins is not sure it’s a good idea.

“It’s long overdue,” McCaulley said. “The San Fernando Valley should be its own city. We are such a large part of the tax base, but we’re not getting the services in return.”

McCaulley said 90% of the voters he spoke with asked him about his stand on secession, but unlike Guzman’s experience, the vast majority were in favor, he said.

Perkins resigned as a board member of Valley VOTE because she believed the group was promoting Valley cityhood, not just a study of the issue.

“I don’t see any indication that we’re going to be better off if we [secede],” Perkins said. “I support going ahead with the study, but I can’t be supportive of secession at this time.”

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ANOTHER BREAKUP: In filing for divorce from state Sen. Richard Alarcon, Corina Alarcon enlisted the help of an attorney who knows what it is like to oppose a powerful spouse.

She has retained attorney Manley Freid, who has represented a who’s-who of spouses breaking from powerful people, including one of Mayor Richard Riordan’s former wives.

Freid said he has also represented Tom Arnold against Roseanne Barr, Loni Anderson against Burt Reynolds and Lee Iacocca’s former wife in her divorce from the ex-Chrysler chairman.

Corina Alarcon said she has received a lot of backing from community leaders, including a vigil last week attended by about 30 supporters who are upset at Richard Alarcon’s decision to separate from his wife right after he was elected to the Senate.

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DEMOCRATS’ DARTBOARD

Rep. James Rogan of Glendale has become a key target for Democrats. A3

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency says strict air quality standards were introduced without sufficient review.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to roll back tougher limits on deadly soot pollution, prompting condemnation from environmental groups.

The Trump administration’s latest bid to weaken environmental standards comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a court motion arguing that former President Joe Biden’s administration exceeded its authority when it tightened air quality standards in 2024.

In a motion filed on Monday, lawyers for Trump’s EPA asked a Washington, DC, appeals court to throw out the tougher standard, arguing it was introduced without the “rigorous, stepwise process” required under the 1963 Clean Air Act.

The EPA initially defended the tougher standard amid a flurry of legal challenges from Republican-led states and business groups, which argued the rule would raise costs, before reversing course under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin.

“EPA has concluded that the position it advanced earlier is erroneous,” lawyers for the EPA said in the filing, arguing that the agency should complete a “thorough review of the underlying criteria and corresponding standards” before revising the limit.

Under Biden appointee Michael S Regan, the EPA last year substantially lowered acceptable soot levels, from 12 micrograms per cubic metre of air to 9 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

The agency said at the time that the tougher standard would prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays by 2032.

Upon taking office earlier this year, Zeldin, a former Republican lawmaker, pledged to roll back dozens of environmental regulations as part of what he dubbed the “largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States”.

Patrice Simms, an environmental lawyer at the nonprofit organisation Earthjustice, said lowering air quality standards would harm public health.

“Trump has made it clear that his agenda is all about saving corporations money, and this administration’s EPA has nothing to do with protecting people’s health, saving lives, or serving children, families or communities,” Simms said in a statement.

“We will continue to defend this life-saving standard.”

Patrick Drupp, the director of climate policy at the Sierra Club, also condemned the EPA’s move, calling it “reckless” and “a complete betrayal” of the agency’s mission.

“While this administration continues to strip away access to affordable healthcare, they are simultaneously allowing fossil fuel companies to cut corners and make Americans sicker,” Drupp said.

Nov. 25 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to cut ties with Scouting America for attacking what he called “boy-friendly spaces,” according to leaked documents made public Tuesday.

In the documents, first reported by NPR, Hegseth criticizes Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts, for straying far from what he characterized as its original mission and promoting “gender confusion.”

Since taking office, Hegseth has opened a new front in the culture war as he’s tried to weed out initiatives he’s argued have prioritized political correctness at the expense of military readiness. Now, Hegseth appears to be coming for the military’s century-old relationship with the organizations.

“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth reportedly wrote.

The documents are draft memos to Congress arguing the Pentagon should ban Scout troops from meeting at military bases while severing congressionally mandated support to the National Jamboree, an event that attracts as many as 20,000 scouts to a location in West Virginia, according to NPR.

Scouting America responded with a statement expressing surprise and sadness over the documents, saying that scouts still “swear a duty to God and country.”

The organization noted that “an enormous percentage of those in our military academies” come from scouting programs and many go on to serve in the armed forces. It also pushed back on Hegseth’s assertion that Scouting America is “no longer a meritocracy,” saying that badges and ranks are earned.

“Scouting will never turn its back on the children of our military families,” the organization said in the statement. “Just as we always have, Scouts will continue to put duty to country above duty to self and will remain focused on serving all American families in the U.S. and abroad.”

Scouting America has seen significant changes since it was first founded in 1910 with the aim of instilling good citizenship in boys with outdoor-oriented activities and community service projects. In 2013, it allowed gay members, followed by allowing girls to join years later and adopting its gender neutral name last year.

The Pentagon declined to comment to NPR on the memos, describing them as “leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.”

Nov. 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has directed his departments of Treasury and State to consider designating chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations as he seeks to sanction the transnational Sunni Islamist group.

The executive order, signed by Trump on Monday, gives Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio 30 days to submit a joint report evaluating whether any chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and as a specially designated global terrorist entity.

The chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt were specifically named in the order.

“The order’s ultimate aim is to eliminate the designated chapters’ capabilities and operatives, deprive them of resources and end any threat such chapters pose to U.S. nationals and the national security of the United States,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in the 1920s, renounced violence in the 1970s and now provides a mixture of religious teaching with political activism and social support, such as operating pharmacies, hospitals and schools, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Trump administration has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of fueling terrorism in the Middle East, highlighting actions by alleged members following Hamas‘ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

It said members in Lebanon launched rockets at Israel alongside Hezbollah. A leader of the group in Egypt “encouraged violence against U.S. partners and equities in the Middle East.” And the order cites reports that state leaders in Jordan “have long provided material support to the military wing of Hamas.”

If designated as both a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorists, the Muslim Brotherhood would be subjected to significant financial penalties, including sanctions, blocking them from the U.S. financial system and barring U.S. persons from doing business with them.

The Trump administration has used repeatedly taken action against individuals and organizations, both foreign and domestic, that have criticized Israel over its war in Gaza, including revoking visas from students studying in the United States and fining universities over alleged failures to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestine protests that erupted on their campuses.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he supported Trump’s executive order, saying “this battle has been over a decade in the making.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood and its branches encourage, facilitate and provide resources for conducting jihadist terrorism across the world,” he said in a statement.

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican and a Trump ally, designated the Muslim Brotherhood, along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations, banning them from purchasing or acquiring land in the Lone Star State.

“HUGE step,” Abbott said in a statement late Monday in response to Trump’s executive order.

“Pres. Trump is right to make this federal designation.”

Los Angeles County prosecutors moved to drop manslaughter charges Friday against two Torrance police officers who shot and killed a Black man in 2018, attempting to end a seven-year saga that saw the case rejected and then reexamined by three different district attorneys.

Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez were indicted in 2023 for the shooting death of Christopher Deandre Mitchell, a 23-year-old car theft suspect who was in possession of an air rifle at the time he was killed.

Michael Gennaco, a special prosecutor hired earlier this year by Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman to review the case, filed a motion to dismiss charges late Thursday, saying he did not believe prosecutors could prove voluntary manslaughter at trial. Attorneys for the officers filed a joint motion in agreement, they said in court Friday.

But in a surprising move, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta declined to rule on the motion Friday, because the case is currently under the jurisdiction of the California Supreme Court. Concannon’s attorneys had previously filed a writ of habeas corpus after Ohta rejected a motion to dismiss the charges.

“I am not going to rule on this because it would be inappropriate for me to do that at this point. The Supreme Court has to tell us its decision,” Ohta said.

One of Concannon’s attorneys, Matthew Murphy, said he felt Ohta was punishing the defendants for exercising their right to challenge Ohta’s prior ruling. Ohta slapped that argument down, pointing out it was the defense team who put the case before the California Supreme Court.

Ohta signaled he wouldn’t decide the motion until the case was withdrawn from the Supreme Court, and even then, he would need time to review the filings.

Ohta said he was “surprised” that the motion was filed at 3 p.m. on Thursday, giving him little time to digest it ahead of Friday’s 8:30 a.m. appearance.

“It’s going to be a lot of work. I’m not just going to orally say yes go ahead and dismiss the case, case dismissed,” the judge said.

Murphy said he would move to withdraw the habeas filing.

Chavez and Concannon were among those investigated in 2021 when the district attorney’s office uncovered a thread of racist text messages sent by members of the Torrance Police Department. The Times has never seen evidence that either of the two officers sent racist messages, but the scandal infuriated community activists, who have long called for them to face justice for killing Mitchell.

Jeff Lewis, a civil attorney for Concannon, said his client “never sent or replied to any racist messages.”

The shooting incident occurred when officers approached Mitchell while he was seated in the car in a Ralph’s parking lot. They said they spotted what was later revealed to be a “break barrel air rifle” between his legs.

Concannon told authorities he saw Mitchell reaching for what he believed to be a real firearm and opened fire, according to the district attorney’s office. Chavez fired two rounds immediately after. The two officers then retreated and waited for backup.

Nearly 30 minutes elapsed before anyone checked on Mitchell, who was then pronounced dead of gunshot wounds, according to court records.

Concannon and Chavez were initially cleared of all wrongdoing by then-Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey. But when George Gascón swept into office on a police accountability platform and ousted Lacey in 2020, he hired a special prosecutor to reexamine several cases Lacey declined to prosecute, including Mitchell’s death.

But Lawrence Middleton, the special prosecutor brought on by Gascón, did not obtain an indictment in the case until 2023, more than two years after he had been hired to reconsider charges in shootings by police.

The statute of limitations for involuntary manslaughter, an easier case to prove than the voluntary manslaughter charges that Middleton brought, expired in late 2021. Concerns about the timeline Middleton would face to pursue the cases Gascón targeted were raised almost immediately after he joined the D.A.’s office.

Middleton appeared in the courtroom Friday morning and sat beside Mitchell’s mother and a number of activists who have long monitored the trial. All declined to comment.

Middleton previously argued the officers “created the jeopardy that led to the shooting,” by needlessly confronting Mitchell when he was not a threat and had no means of escaping arrest as the car was parked facing a wall, according to grand jury transcripts. But Ohta disallowed that evidence after a hearing in late 2023. The shooting happened in 2018, two years before a change in California law modified the threshold by which fatal uses of force are judged.

Hochman fired Middleton shortly after ousting Gascón in the 2024 election cycle, a move which drew praise from one of Concannon’s attorneys at the time. Gennaco was hired a short time later. He also declined to comment on Ohta’s refusal to rule on the dismissal motion.

In an interview, Hochman said that while he did not believe the officers were “innocent” he also did not think prosecutors could meet the legal bar needed to prove voluntary manslaughter. He said Gascón and Middleton bungled the case.

Hochman questioned Middleton’s attempt to argue that the officers executed the arrest of Mitchell so poorly that they caused the situation that required the use of deadly force.

That evidence of so-called “officer-created jeopardy” was deemed inadmissible by Ohta last year.

The evidence might have been admissible under a change in California law passed in 2020, which lowered the standard for charging officers in fatal use-of-force cases, but it did not apply retroactively, Hochman said.

“These are difficult cases. The fact that they’re difficult doesn’t mean we won’t bring them when they are appropriate,” Hochman said. “I’d say we probably spent hundreds of hours on the 12 seconds that were involved in the case.”

Hochman would not say directly if he believed the officers should have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

“What we’re saying is this would have been a potential charge for the grand jury to consider. I can’t tell you how the grand jury would have come out on it,” he said. “It certainly would have been something that was up for consideration.”

Chavez is no longer employed by the Torrance Police Department. Concannon remains on administrative leave. An agency spokesman declined to comment.

In the 2021 scandal, The Times uncovered messages that were replete with racial slurs and descriptions of violence against Black men and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In one string of messages, officers used the N-word to describe Mitchell’s relatives and joked about what would happen after Concannon and Chavez’s names were made public.

“Gun cleaning Party at my house when they release my name??” one officer asked, according to a summary of the text messages made public in a 2022 court filing, which redacted the names of the officers sending the messages.

“Yes absolutely let’s all just post in your yard with lawn chairs in a [firing] squad,” another replied.

Lewis said in a letter to The Times that Concannon was “never a part of any text thread where an N-word was used to describe Mitchell’s family.”

Concannon and Chavez are the last officers connected to the scandal with pending cases.

Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic — whose criminal case led to the exposure of the scandal — struck a plea deal earlier this year to vandalism charges for spray painting a swastika on a car towed from a crime scene.

David Chandler, another officer investigated as part of the scandal, pleaded no contest earlier this month to assault charges for shooting a Black suspect in the back. Chandler will eventually see his case dismissed under the terms of the agreement.

All three officers had to give up their rights to be peace officers in California under the terms of their plea deals.

The Torrance Police Department and the California Attorney General’s office entered into an “enforceable” agreement to reform earlier this year.