Records

If you’ve watched UCLA softball this year, chances are you’ve seen a little bit of history.

This Bruins squad has hit 173 home runs, the most by a UCLA team and tied with No. 1 Oklahoma for most in the nation, led by the duo of Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery. Grant recently broke the program’s single-season record with her 34th and closed the regular season with 35, while Woolery is the fifth NCAA player with 100 or more RBIs in a season, racking up 106.

UCLA is 44-7 and ranks No. 7 in the nation. It’s possible Grant could be part of two national championship teams to finish her career at UCLA.

Behind it all are Woolery and Grant, combining for a legendary final season.

“The way that Jordan and Megan go about hitting is so focused and so professional that it’s really bleeding into the other players,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “They just come through big and they train with a serious focus. And we have a very young team of Bruins, a lot of them haven’t even played college ball. So when you get to play alongside two professionals, there is a calm.”

In early April, Grant flew from her game at UCLA to Phoenix to get a moment to celebrate with the national championship basketball team after she played 14 games with them this winter. She scored six points with four rebounds in 33 minutes.

But her true stardom is on the diamond, and alongside Woolery they make up one of the best middle-of-the-order duos in the country.

“I always say Jordan makes my life a lot easier,” Grant said. “She’s such a great hitter and having her behind me kind of frees me up as well. We really just bounce off of each other in that way.”

Woolery and Grant, both finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, are the first UCLA duo to each hit 30-plus home runs in a season, and with the entire postseason to go, they’re just getting started.

Woolery is on pace to become the Division I player to have 30-plus home runs, 100-plus RBIs and a batting average over .500. She is fourth in the nation, hitting .510, and third in the country with 33 home runs.

“Just seeing better pitches makes it easier for power when you’re making better choices,” Woolery said. “But I think over the last four years, I’ve been really developing my eye and honing in on sitting at good pitches early in the count versus trying to hit a pitcher’s pitch. So I think just honing in on that more so these last two years has helped me a lot too.”

Grant’s 35 home runs, meanwhile, trail only Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells’ 36. Grant leads the country in slugging percentage (1.315).

The duo and ace Taylor Tinsley were honored on April 18, earning three of the coveted 17 Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s golden tickets. UCLA is the only school to have three players selected by the AUSL this season.

“It made it even better to have Megan and Taylor to have that experience with me too,” Woolery said. “I think just us being here for the last four years together and then being able to continue our careers together too, just makes it even more exciting and even more to look forward to.”

The AUSL is announcing its drafted players by going across the country and hand-delivering golden tickets to players who were selected by the league’s six teams ahead of the next season in June. The UCLA players were awarded their tickets after a doubleheader sweep of California at Easton Stadium.

Grant received her ticket from Netflix sports anchor Elle Duncan, then UCLA softball legend and AUSL adviser Natasha Watley emerged through the center-field gate and presented the second ticket to Woolery. Then, UCLA softball alumna Jen Schroeder ran through the left-field gate to give a ticket to Tinsley.

UCLA dropped its final weekend series to No. 11 Oregon, but an 11-3 win Sunday capped a sweet Senior Day celebration. Grant, Woolery and Tinsley are the only seniors for the Bruins, who are the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will open play Thursday at 4 p.m. PDT in College Park, Md.

Grant and Woolery have one final goal: bringing an NCAA softball title back to UCLA for the first time since 2019. The pair will continue to blend their varying leadership styles as they try to extend UCLA women’s teams’ recent surge in championships.

“Megan is very focused and serious, and Jordan, you know, has a smile on her face and is very loose with how she plays,” Inouye-Perez said. “They’re very different, but their maturity from their freshman year has come together, and it’s been special.”

‘We’re back, baby!’

UCLA coach Bob Chesney pats running back Anthony Woods on the helmet during the Bruins’ spring game Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

New UCLA football coach Bob Chesney tried to stoke his team’s pride, competitive fire and joy while winning over fans during the Bruins’ spring game Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

You can read an extended recap of the day here, but the coach summarized the energized vibes well.

“We’re back, baby,” Chesney said to fans right before the fourth quarter. “We’re back.”

Spring games naturally remain a strong recruiting showcase. And of all the areas Chesney and his staff have worked to improve, recruiting clearly made the biggest immediate jump. The Bruins rank No. 4 in the 247Sports.com composite national recruiting rankings with 16 commitments for the class of 2027.

UCLA added a legacy pledge Sunday, with class of 2027 running back Duece Jones-Drew, son of former UCLA and NFL star Maurice Jones-Drew, telling Rivals he committed to the Bruins. Duece shared the Rivals report on his Instagram account with the message “Westwood I’m home 🐻!!!”

Make that 127 national championships

UCLA beach volleyball players celebrate after defeating Stanford to win the NCAA title Sunday in Gulf Shores, Ala.

(Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

The UCLA beach volleyball team added No. 127 to the Bruins’ collection of national titles Sunday.

Sally Perez and Maggie Boyd won the championship-clinching match as No. 3 UCLA swept No. 1 Stanford 3-0 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Perez and Boyd defeated the Cardinal’s Kelly Belardi and Avery Jackson 21-11, 21-19. Kaley Mathews and Ensley Alden opened the title showdown with a 21-16, 21-11 victory over Brooke Rockwell and Ruby Sorra. And Ava Williamson and Jesse Dueck edged Indigo Clarke and Clara Stowell 21-17, 25-23.

It was UCLA coach Jenny Johnson Jordan’s first national title after taking over in 2023 and the third for the program. Johnson Jordan, the daughter of UCLA legend Rafer Johnson, earned her 100th career win when the Bruins beat No. 2 Texas 3-2 in their semifinal Saturday.

The Bruins honored an NCAA beach volleyball tradition of celebrating their title by running into the ocean.

More UCLA hardware

The UCLA baseball and golf teams added to the Bruins’ haul of Big Ten titles Sunday.

The No. 1 baseball team erased an eight-run deficit — a remarkable but possibly problematic pattern for the Bruins this season — to beat Michigan State 13-11 and earn a series sweep. The victory clinched back-to-back Big Ten titles for UCLA (43-4, 24-0).

The UCLA men’s golf team won the team title at the Big Ten championships for the second consecutive season, and freshman Josh Kim won the individual Big Ten title in North Plains, Ore.

In case you missed it

UCLA sweeps Stanford to win third beach volleyball championship

‘We’re back, baby!’ UCLA coach Bob Chesney restores Bruins’ festive spring game experience

Swanson: Nico Iamaleava was labeled selfish. Now the loyal UCLA QB is poised for a Heisman run

Playmakers emerge as UCLA coach Bob Chesney dials up pressure during spring practice

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors on Monday charged 31-year-old Torrance resident Cole Tomas Allen with attempting to assassinate President Trump after rushing past security at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner in Washington on Saturday.

The domestic terrorism charge, announced during a brief arraignment hearing in federal court in Washington and detailed in a subsequent charging document, carries a potential sentence of life in prison for the Caltech graduate and high school tutor.

Prosecutors also charged Allen with transporting firearms across state lines while traveling by train from California to Washington and with discharging a firearm during the incident at the Washington Hilton, where officials said a federal agent was shot in his ballistic vest.

In the charging document, prosecutors also detailed an email Allen allegedly sent to family members just as he was preparing to breach the event perimeter, in which he allegedly wrote that top Trump administration officials were his target but that he was willing to “go through” others at the event to reach them.

Allen was instead taken down by agents shortly after rushing past them and before descending stairs and entering a ballroom where Trump and other top administration officials were seated. No officials were injured during the incident, which the White House described as the latest in a string of attempts on Trump’s life.

Federal public defenders assigned to represent Allen did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Allen could not be reached for comment. A person previously reached at the Allen family home in Torrance — which was searched by the FBI over the weekend — declined to comment.

At the morning hearing, Asst. U.S. Atty. Jocelyn Ballantine said Allen “traveled across multiple state lines with a firearm” and “attempted to assassinate the president with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.”

Top administration officials — including acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel — echoed those claims at a subsequent news briefing. Blanche described Allen as a serious threat, while also downplaying his proximity to the president and the likelihood that he ever could have caused harm to administration officials.

“Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do,” Blanche said. He said Allen had either fallen or was tackled to the ground while under fire from law enforcement.

Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Allen was charged with attempting to assassinate the president because of his writings — which Trump and others in the administration have referred to as a “manifesto.”

Blanche said officials have seized devices from Allen’s hotel room and his home in Torrance, which could add additional context to his motivations, but officials were not prepared to discuss what may have been found on those devices. Pirro said additional charges were pending.

Blanche emphasized that the investigation into the incident is in its early stages. It still isn’t clear, for example, who fired the shot that struck the Secret Service agent.

“We’re still looking at that,” Blanche said.

In the charging document, prosecutors included the text of the manifesto — an emailed document they allege Allen had scheduled to automatically send to family members around the time he entered the secured area at the hotel, in which he declared that Trump administration officials were his targets.

In the emailed document, titled by the writer as an “Apology and Explanation,” Allen allegedly wrote that Trump administration officials would be “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest” in terms of how he targeted them.

“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he wrote, according to the charging document.

Allen allegedly wrote that Secret Service agents were “targets only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible”; that police, hotel employees and hotel guests were not his targets; and that he would be using buckshot to “minimize casualties,” according to the document.

“I don’t expect forgiveness, but if I could have seen any other way to get this close, I would have taken it,” he wrote, according to the documents. Allen, a tutor in Torrance, also apologized to his family, colleagues and students, but said he felt he had to act as a U.S. citizen represented by the Trump administration.

“What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” he allegedly wrote.

The charging document also described the initial moments when Allen entered the secured area and a Secret Service agent was allegedly shot in his ballistic vest.

Prosecutors wrote that federal agents “heard a loud gunshot” as Allen rushed through a metal detector holding a long gun, that a Secret Service officer identified only by the initials “V.G.” was “shot once in the chest” in a ballistic vest, and that he “drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot.”

Allen was found in possession of a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol, the document alleged.

Prosecutors requested Allen be held in detention. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh, who presided over the hearing, set a second hearing for Thursday morning to determine whether Allen will be held in custody.

Federal public defenders assigned to Allen after he submitted a financial affidavit to the court requesting representation noted that Allen has no prior criminal record, a factor in determining a criminal suspect’s handling before trial.

Those attorneys — Tezira Abe and Eugene Ohm — did not respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

Allen, clad in a royal blue jumpsuit, showed no visible injuries and said little at the hearing, aside from identifying himself and acknowledging that he understood the legal proceedings.

Allen had allegedly outlined his disdain for and intent to kill Trump administration officials in the manifesto written before the correspondents’ dinner. According to the New York Post, Allen in that document described himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” who wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of the more than 2,600 people in attendance to reach officials.

Those at the event included hundreds of journalists and many Trump administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance and First Lady Melania Trump.

Allen had booked a room at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner took place.

Trump in a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday said he “wasn’t worried” at the sound of gunshots. “We live in a crazy world,” he said.

Trump, who has been dogged by questions about his relationship with the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein throughout his second term, bristled at the shooter’s reference to a “pedophile” and “rapist” in the manifesto.

“I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody,” Trump said in the interview with CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell. “I’m not a pedophile.”

He also railed against O’Donnell for quoting that portion of the manifesto, saying it was inappropriate to do so.

During an earlier news conference Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House was considering whether to revise Secret Service protocols for large events attended by the president, despite his satisfaction with the agency’s performance at Saturday’s event.

Leavitt said the Secret Service successfully neutralized the suspect and cleared the president, first lady and vice president from the room within minutes.

Still, with major celebrations planned around the nation’s 250th anniversary, the World Cup and the Olympics, discussions on potential updates to Secret Service plans will begin this week, led by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Leavitt said. For security reasons, the results of those discussions will likely be kept a secret, she added.

“If adjustments need to be made to protect the president, they will be made,” she said.

Leavitt also called on Congress to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Secret Service, after a political impasse has led to an historic 73-day lapse in such funding.

Leavitt also suggested anti-Trump rhetoric from the president’s detractors played a role in him being targeted and needed to be toned down.

“It is inspiring these crazy people across the country to target not just the president, but those who work for him and those who support him,” Leavitt said.

“Nobody is recent years has faced more bullets and violence than President Trump,” she added. “This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators — yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party, and even some in the media.”

Blanche echoed that argument — pointing blame at the media, many of whom had been in the ballroom with Trump.

“When you have reporters, when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, without proof, it shouldn’t surprise us that this type of rhetoric takes place,” he said.

A trove of sensitive Los Angeles police records, including officer personnel files and documents from Internal Affairs investigations, are among the materials seized by hackers in a breach last month involving the L.A. city attorney’s office.

The leak involves 337,000 files, including some of the LAPD’s most closely guarded records. The documents posted online include the disciplinary histories of officers and investigations into complaints against them, materials that are typically sealed from public view under state law.

The massive hack sent shudders through the department. Officials have sought to downplay the extent of the disclosure, but activists who have long pushed for more transparency around acts of officer misconduct quickly put a spotlight on sensitive files they were able to access.

After The Times published a story Tuesday about the hack, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement that said “unauthorized individuals had gained access to a digital storage system,” enabling them to obtain “discovery documents from previously adjudicated or settled LAPD civil litigation cases.”

The department noted that it was a compromise of the Los Angeles city attorney’s office computers and that the “breach does not involve any LAPD systems or networks.”

“We take this incident very seriously and are working with the L.A. City Attorney’s Office to gain access to the impacted files to understand the full scope of the data breach,” the department’s statement said.

Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said in a statement that the office first became aware March 20 of “unauthorized access to a third-party tool used by the City Attorney’s Office to transfer discovery to opposing counsel and litigants.”

Pine said the office “took immediate steps to secure the tool and investigate what information was accessed,” including contacting law enforcement.

“The City Attorney’s Office has confirmed that no other City applications or systems were involved in this incident,” Pine said. “The information was self contained in this application without any links or access to any department records or systems. Our investigation is continuing to determine what information was present in the tool and we will take appropriate action to notify any affected parties based on the results of this review.”

The Los Angeles Police Protective League — the union that represents the department’s rank-and-file officers — issued a statement Wednesday afternoon that criticized the city attorney’s office for its handling of the breach.

The union’s board of directors said City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto “should have picked up the phone and informed us about this egregious data breach when she claims she learned of it several weeks ago.”

“We first learned of the breach by reading the Times and the City Attorney has still not provided the union with an honest assessment of the breach’s magnitude, who was impacted, what was disclosed and how this could have happened,” the union’s statement said. “To say we are disappointed by the lack of urgency and forthrightness from the City Attorney’s office is an understatement. We will keep asking the tough questions and once we receive answers we will take appropriate action.”

Within the Police Department, there has been virtually no acknowledgment from senior leaders about the breach or its implications, according to LAPD sources who requested anonymity in order to discuss the confidential matter.

According to one of the department sources, there was a vague reference to LAPD employees needing to change their passwords more frequently at a regular meeting Monday of command staff — but no mention of the breach itself or what files had become public.

The data were obtained by a well-known hacking group known for conducting ransomware attacks on large entities and demanding payment, threatening to make the confidential data public on the web. City and LAPD officials did not comment on whether the hackers requested a ransom in return for not releasing the information and whether the city paid one.

A spokesperson for the FBI’s office in Los Angeles said the agency “is aware of the incident, is actively assisting the City’s Attorney’s Office, and is coordinating with partners.”

At least one hacking group on March 20 claimed to have access to the city of Los Angeles files. Cybercrime investigators from both the federal government and the LAPD have been pursuing the hack since last month, according to police sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the open case.

Some of the records have surfaced on social media platforms, including X. Among the first to share a file from the hack was the account @WhosThatCop, which regularly posts about information related to police accountability.

The account’s administrator said a security researcher first disclosed the breach. A link to the files apparently had been taken down by Tuesday afternoon.

The disclosure represents a stunning breach of police data. Some files circulating from the hack included personal health information of officers, witness interviews from criminal investigations and internal probes conducted by the department. Only rarely do Internal Affairs documents surface in civil lawsuits and criminal cases, and even then they are often heavily redacted.

In all, according to posts about the data breach, 7.7 terabytes of information was available for download.

The disclosure of confidential LAPD records could unleash a new round of costly lawsuits by officers. About 900 officers are currently suing the department related to a 2023 release of mugshot-style images — along with names, races and other demographic details of police officers — in response to a public records request.

The LAPD statement described the files in the recent hack as coming from closed cases. But the X account @WhosThatCop published a redacted internal affairs report from an apparently ongoing case. The case involves a lawsuit by a woman who alleges that she was sexually assaulted by an LAPD officer days after the officer took her into custody in 2022.

In a statement to The Times, the account’s anonymous operator applauded the hack.

“Sadly, having the public resort to transparency by relying on 340,000 City Attorney files being published at the hands of criminals is emblematic of the stonewalling and incompetence by City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, Mayor Bass, and LAPD Chief McDonnell,” the operator said.

According to court filings, the city reached a conditional settlement with the woman on March 20 — the same day the data theft was revealed by hackers. The matter had been set to go to trial next week.

The lawsuit alleged that the officer, Gabriel Anthony Espadas, detained the woman on a mental health hold after responding to a call for service in the San Fernando Valley. The woman’s lawsuit contends that the officer “engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity” with her after her release.

The city defended itself in the lawsuit, saying the “two sexual encounters” involved an “off-duty, probationary officer” who was “not acting within the course and scope of his employment.”

The disclosure is the latest of several cybersecurity incursions targeting public agencies in Los Angeles. Last month, the city’s metro system shut down parts of its network after its security team detected hacking activity. Law enforcement and cybersecurity specialists are continuing to investigate who was behind the attack, authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court was hit by a ransomware attack in 2024 that infected its computer system with damaging software, forcing it to shut down for two days.

Times staff writers Clara Harter and Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this report.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week after rolling his SUV.

Prosecutors are seeking Tiger Woods ‘ prescription drug records from a pharmacy, a week after his vehicle crashed in Florida and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Prosecutors in Florida on Tuesday said they planned to issue a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Florida, from the start of the year through the end of last month.

Prosecutors in Martin County, Florida, want the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them, according to documents in an online court docket.

Any objections to the subpoena must be filed with the State Attorney’s Office within 10 days. Neither Lewis Pharmacy nor Woods’ attorney, Doug Duncan, immediately responded to emails seeking comment.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week, hours after a sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a trailer and rolled over on its side.

Woods was travelling at high speeds on a beachside, residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30-mile per hour (nearly 50km per hour) speed limit when the accident occurred, authorities said. The truck had $5,000 in damage, according to an incident report. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said.

Woods said last week that he is stepping away to seek treatment.

It’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, after his SUV ploughed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando, he took a leave of absence to work on being a better person. That lasted four months, and he returned at the Masters.

He was also in a 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation.

A recent California appellate court ruling will give civilian oversight groups the authority to subpoena the law enforcement agencies they are tasked with monitoring, a decision hailed by local advocates as a step toward greater transparency by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

In a unanimous opinion issued Thursday, justices from the state’s first appellate district found that an oversight body in Sonoma County is legally authorized to subpoena the county sheriff’s office while probing whistleblower inquiries. The justices also directed the law enforcement agency to comply with the watchdog’s requests for records.

The Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach sued the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office in 2024 over refusals to comply with a whistleblower complaint subpoena. A lower court initially ruled in favor of the Sheriff’s Office, but the appellate judges reversed that decision.

Hans Johnson, chair of the Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission, called the ruling a “big win” for law enforcement transparency.

“This is one of the most significant court rulings in recent CA history about oversight,” he said in a message to The Times. “It strengthens the powers of Civilian Oversight boards and Inspectors General and upholds our subpoena authority while also showcasing the strong public interest in robust, effective oversight of sheriffs, their departments, and their operations.”

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it is “discussing with County Counsel to determine the appropriate path for implementing any lawful authority granted to the Civilian Oversight Commission.”

Angelenos who have long sought records related to alleged misconduct by sheriff’s deputies also cheered the court’s decision.

Vanessa Perez’s son Joseph was badly beaten by deputies in the San Gabriel Valley six years ago. She has been fighting ever since for more clarity about what happened.

Perez said she hopes Thursday’s ruling will result in “some type of justice, some type of fairness” for her son and others who have been stymied by the Sheriff’s Department in efforts to obtain information.

“Hopefully we’ll have effective oversight at the end of this, someone other than LASD looking at Joseph’s case,” Perez said in a phone interview Monday. “Not one deputy, not one sheriff, nobody has ever brought to light what they did to Joseph.”

She has been vocal in her criticism of the agency and the fact that it has only released redacted versions of its “use of force” report from the July 2020 incident involving her son.

Perez’s case is one of several in which the Civilian Oversight Commission has tried unsuccessfully to pry records out of the Sheriff’s Department. Two other cases involved Emmett Brock, a trans man beaten by a deputy in a convenience store parking lot in 2023, and Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old fatally shot in 2020.

The commission subpoenaed unredacted files in the cases in Feburary 2025, but the county counsel’s office has argued they should remain confidential.

“L.A. County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure R in March 2020 to grant the Commission subpoena powers,” the Civilian Oversight Commission wrote in a statement. “However, six years later, it is not yet fully in effect.”

The county counsel’s office said in a statement that it “does not question the Civilian Oversight Commission’s power to issue subpoenas.”

But, it said, court decisions, the county’s Employee Relations Commission and the law “require that the County … meet and confer with labor partners about the impacts before documents are shared. Those discussions are underway.”

Hilda Eke, executive director of the L.A.-based advocacy organization Dignity and Power Now, said in a statement that the ruling is a positive development in the ongoing battle for more transparency.

“It affirms what our communities have always known: You cannot investigate injustice without the power to uncover the truth,” Eke said.

Led by James’s 125th regular-season triple-double, the LA Lakers destroyed the Washington Wizards for their 49th regular season victory.

LeBron James had 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, Austin Reaves added 19 points and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 120-101 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

It was James’s 1,228th career victory, including the playoffs, to tie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most in NBA history.

With star guard Luka Doncic serving a one-game suspension after getting called for his 16th technical foul of the season against Brooklyn on Friday, an energised James led the Lakers to their 12th win in the past 13 games, attacking the rim from the start, including throwing down two emphatic two-handed dunks set up by Reaves in the first quarter.

Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes each had 19 points off the bench, Deandre Ayton chipped in with 12, and the Lakers improved to 7-6 without Doncic in the lineup this season.

Los Angeles would have clinched a playoff berth and the Pacific Division title with the win and a Phoenix loss, but the Suns’ 131-105 victory over Memphis delayed the formality of securing a fourth straight trip to the postseason.

Will Riley led the Wizards with 20 points, and Justin Champagnie had 18 as they lost for the 19th time in 20 games.

Washington was actually ahead by one point after the first quarter, but Hayes had the final five in an 11-0 flurry early that gave Los Angeles a lead they would not relinquish again. The Lakers closed the half on a 38-13 run and took a 21-point lead back to the locker room.

James helped quiet the Wizards for good after they cut the deficit to 10 late in the third, finishing with his third triple-double of the season and 125th in the regular season of his 23-year career.

The popular Canary Islands holiday destination recorded 84 earthquakes over the weekend near Mount Teide, with officials starting work on a contingency plan in case of an eruption

Tenerife experienced 84 earthquakes over the weekend, prompting officials to initiate a “plan for disaster”. The National Geographic Institute (IGN) reported that the tremors were detected in the western part of Las Canadas on the island.

Approximately 59 of these seismic events were accurately located, which they claim occurred around Mount Teide. The most notable activity consisted of two low-frequency pulses around the Canary Island.

One happened between 1.30am and 5.30am on Saturday, with the second recorded between 7.30am and 10.30am on Sunday. It’s believed they both occurred at depths of roughly eight and 21km below Las Canadas, each registering low magnitudes.

However, the IGN has stated that these figures are provisional and could potentially rise. It stresses that this type of activity does not indicate an increased risk of a volcanic eruption in the forthcoming weeks or months, according to Canarias7.

This follows reports that the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Council has begun preparations on a contingency plan in the event of an eruption. Mount Teide, Spain’s tallest peak, last erupted in 1909, reports the Express.

A specialised technical department has now been set up to devise an action plan should it erupt again. The plan aims to bolster the city’s readiness and ensure it can provide shelter and essential services.

It’s believed the city could presently manage a “moderate emergency” but there are concerns a major eruption could pose more significant challenges. Santa Cruz Mayor Jose Manuel Bermudez stated: “We don’t know how it will happen, how it will develop, or when it might occur.

“But scientists have indicated that current volcanic developments on the island are not something normal.”

The IGN monitors seismic activity in Spain through a network of over 100 stations, equipment and sampling points which are deployed throughout Tenerife. This enables continuous surveillance.

Scientists can therefore conduct real-time monitoring to detect potential changes in seismic activity, ground deformations, or geochemistry. Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, is encircled by volcanic activity.

Whilst the mayor has expressed concerns about preparedness to handle an eruption, the president of the island’s governing council, the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Davila, has previously dismissed speculation.

Teide’s 1909 eruption resulted in “minor damage” on the island. Yet an earlier eruption in 1706 is reported to have destroyed a town along with Tenerife’s main port of Garachico.

“A month and a half ago this activity would not have attracted much attention,” a spokesperson for the local National Geographic Institute said. “However, given the current context we will continue to monitor the situation closely in case anything changes.”

SANTA FE, N.M. — Democratic-led states alarmed by the prospect of federal immigration officers patrolling the polls during this year’s midterm elections are taking steps to counter what they see as a potential tactic to intimidate voters.

New Mexico this week became the first state to bar armed agents from polling locations in response to President Trump’s immigration crackdown, a step being considered in at least half a dozen other Democratic-led states.

The moves highlight a deep distrust toward the Trump administration from blue states, which have been the target of his aggressive immigration tactics while threatened with military deployments and deep cuts in federal funding. Their concerns were heightened after the president suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, even though the Constitution says it’s the states that run elections.

The Trump administration said it has no plans to deploy immigration agents to polling locations. Last month, the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol told a congressional committee “No, sir” when asked if they had any plans to guard polling places. The Department of Homeland Security’s deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, Heather Honey, recently told secretaries of state it “is simply not true” that immigration agents will be at the polls this year.

But a group of eight secretaries of state wants that in writing from the nominee to succeed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. In a letter Monday to Trump’s new pick to lead the agency, Markwayne Mullin, the group pressed for assurances “that ICE will not have a presence at polling locations during the 2026 election cycle.”

Federal law already prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States,” but Democratic lawmakers, election officials and governors remain concerned.

“The fear is that the Trump administration will attempt to evoke a national emergency or execute some other deployment of federal agents or military troops in order to interfere with elections and intimidate voters,” said Connecticut Democratic state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, co-author of a state bill to establish a 250-foot buffer from federal agents at local polls and other restrictions on federal intervention. “And we’re not going to let that happen.”

A potential clash between states and the federal government

Other bills seeking to ban immigration agents at the polls are pending in Democratic-led states, large and small, from California to Rhode Island.

In Virginia, lawmakers are weighing legislation that could prevent federal civil immigration officials from making arrests within 40 feet of any polling place or courthouse. But the provision on polling sites remains under negotiation, and it’s unclear whether it will be in the final bill.

The newly signed law in New Mexico prohibits orders that put any armed person in the “civil, military or naval service of the United States” at local polling locations and related parking areas, or within 50 feet of a monitored ballot box, from the start of early voting.

Under New Mexico’s new law, which takes effect in May and will be in place for the state’s June 2 primary, people who experience intimidation or obstruction at the polls from federal agents or military personnel can file a civil lawsuit seeking relief in state courts. State prosecutors and local and state election officials also can sue, and the courts can apply fines of up to $50,000 per violation.

It also prohibits changes to voting qualifications and election rules and procedures that conflict with New Mexico law, as Trump prods the U.S. Senate to approve a bill to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements in elections nationwide.

Any state measures intended to counter federal election law will face legal hurdles because of the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law supersedes state law.

“It could set up a direct clash between state governments and the federal government. We don’t know exactly how that’s going to go,” said Richard Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law. “Given the supremacy clause, there’s only so much states can do.”

‘We will hold free and fair elections’

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said her own distrust of the Trump administration in election oversight stems from ongoing Department of Justice efforts to get detailed state voter data without explaining why and Trump’s continuing false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

“Do I believe the federal government and people in the White House? No,” said Lujan Grisham, who terms out of office at the end of 2026.

“We are sending a message to everyone: We will hold free and fair elections, and New Mexicans will be safe in every ballot location and that’s our responsibility,” the Democrat said Tuesday during a news conference. “The Constitution says the states run their elections, and that bill makes that painfully re-clear to the federal government.”

Federal seizure of ballots and election records is a growing concern

New Mexico Republicans, who are in the minority in the legislature, voted in unison against the bill.

“I would question strongly why we have to do this other than just to have to poke the president in the eye,” state GOP Sen. Bill Sharer of Farmington said during floor debate.

State Sen. Katy Duhigg, an Albuquerque Democrat who was a co-sponsor of the legislation, said it’s “better safe than sorry with democracy.” She said she wanted to “make sure that there was some sort of tool that our local law enforcement would have at their disposal if something does happen, if the federal government does in some manner try to interfere with our elections.”

Connecticut’s bill, scheduled for a hearing later this week, also takes aim at federal attempts to seize ballots or other election material. It would require that state officials receive notification of such a move.

Blumenthal said state lawmakers can’t prevent seizures such as the January search by the FBI on an election center in Fulton County, Ga., a Democratic stronghold that includes Atlanta. But he said, “there might be an opportunity for our state attorney general’s office or the secretary of the state’s office to challenge that.”

Lee and Haigh write for the Associated Press. Haigh reported from Hartford, Conn. AP writer Oliva Diaz in Richmond, Va., and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.