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The Sports Report: 50 years and still chugging along

Aug 24, 2026 Sports Desk

Fifty years and still going strong

From Bill Plaschke: Fifty years in the shadows, gently nudging Southland kids into the light.

“It’s not my story,” said Eric Sondheimer. “It’s their story.”

Fifty years of covering more than 700 high schools like they were the only school, writing about thousands of athletes as if they stood alone.

“Los Angeles is so big, I try to treat it like a small town,” Sondheimer said. “And I love writing about that town.”

Fifty years on messy sidelines, in crowded bleachers, facing angry coaches, locked in ancient stadiums, juggling impossible deadlines, all for the sake of writing deeply buried stories that might be read by only family and friends.

“But when a parent comes up to me and thanks me for writing about their child, it’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Sondheimer said.

Fifty years of childhood tales about countless young athletes, stories about future Hall of Famers, he was their first interview, stories about anonymous benchwarmers, he was their only interview, stories filling dusty scrapbooks and crooked picture frames in parents’ houses all over the Southland, stories about teenage John Elway and whiz kid Tiger Woods and some anonymous sprinter from Taft.

And, now, finally, a story about him.

50 memorable moments from 50 years covering high school sports in Southern California

Dodgers sweep the Pirates

From Sam Farmer: On a steamy Sunday when everyone in the Dodger Stadium seats was using programs to fan themselves, Blake Snell was fanning Pittsburgh Pirates — six strikeouts in six innings of work — and the bottom of the order played like the top of the lineup, providing ample offensive spark for a 4-0 victory that stretched the Dodgers’ winning streak to six games.

What a weekend for Dodger pitchers — Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed by Tarik Skubal followed by Snell, with Tyler Glasnow on deck and Shohei Ohtani getting healthier by the day and scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series in Atlanta.

“It’s daunting,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, barely suppressing a smile. “As an offense — an opposing offense — to look at the probables you see Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell, [Roki] Sasaki, and then potentially Shohei. It gets daunting.”

The team is coming off back-to-back sweeps of the Colorado Rockies and Pirates (63-69), who mustered two hits Sunday after a combined 14 in the first two games of the series.

For his part, Snell was happy but not thrilled about his performance, which included three walks and one hit batter.

“There were a couple innings there where, you know, get two quick outs and then full-count walk, full-count walk,” he said. “It’s not acceptable. Especially with, I feel good, I know I can command the ball. Honestly, it’s lazy. It’s me trying to get strikeouts instead of, you know, trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up. But I know I’m going to do that, and just continue to get better, and learn, and grow.”

‘I haven’t done my job.’ Edwin Díaz accepts low-leverage role with Dodgers — for now

Angels lose to the Rangers

Ezequiel Durán and Elias Díaz hit solo homers, Cal Quantrill worked six scoreless innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 5-3 on Sunday.

With the win, the Rangers moved into a tie with the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West with records of 65-66.

Durán put Texas on the board early, launching his 14th home run of the year into the left-center seats for a 1-0 lead. Cody Freeman added an RBI triple — his first of the season — before Díaz extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning with a solo homer, his sixth of the season.

Yusei Kikuchi (0-4) gave up five runs on seven hits. He struck out four in five innings.

Angel City draws with Gotham

Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved a penalty kick from Guro Reiten to preserve a scoreless draw against Gotham FC at BMO Stadium on Sunday.

Initially ruled a clean block in the 82nd minute, video review reversed the call and a handball was called on Angel City defender Sarah Gorden. On the ensuing penalty kick attempt, Anderson denied Reiten.

Anderson made four saves for her sixth shutout for Angel City (7-7-5).

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

How Boobie Feaster, 17, became a player to watch at USC

From Ryan Kartje: Long before he arrived at USC, a couple days shy of his 17th birthday, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster had always been in a hurry to grow up.

He was the baby of the Feaster family, seven years younger than his next youngest sibling. But nothing about his behavior, even as a kid, suggested as much. He was always quiet, calm, determined, seemingly from birth, according to his father, Lee. When Lee Feaster encouraged Boobie at age 8 to write down his goals, and “make ‘em plain,” Boobie took the advice literally. He went straight to his bathroom mirror and copied them down. They’re still written on the bathroom mirror, to this day.

When he was 9, Boobie asked his father to buy him a football poster. Lee came in later to find it attached to the ceiling, above his bed. He asked Boobie why.

“I need it to be the first thing I see when I wake up,” Lee recalled him saying, “and the last thing I see when I go to bed.”

This, needless to say, was not exactly normal behavior for a 9-year-old. But nothing about Boobie Feaster has ever been normal. Least of all the relentless drive that would one day have everyone at USC raving and others around the nation whispering about one of the most anticipated freshman in college football.

Court ruling helps James Madison star come to UCLA

From Connor Dullinger: Former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick — who went undrafted in the 2026 NFL draft and participated in rookie minicamps with the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs but never signed with a team — committed to UCLA football Sunday, reuniting with coach Bob Chesney and defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler in Westwood.

Recruiting website On3.com was the first to report his move.

The former JMU linebacker exhausted his eligibility after the conclusion of the 2025 season, but Hendrick, along with 15 other football players, was granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday by a Louisiana judge to play a fifth season of college football and enter the transfer portal.

Hendrick had 106 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles last season at James Madison under Chensey’s direction. His play earned him Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the year honors.

The restraining order follows a Colorado court ruling on July 31 that granted athletes who began their collegiate careers in the 2022-23 season a fifth year of eligibility for the upcoming season. Although the Colorado ruling stated players would not be allowed to enter the transfer portal, a federal appeal court granted the NCAA a temporary stay on the Colorado court order Friday, pausing the nationwide injunction.

This day in sports history

1904 — Holcombe Ward wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. singles title.

1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Bill Squires in the 13th round at Sydney, Australia to retain the world heavyweight title.

1925 — Helen Wills, 19, wins her third straight U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. singles title with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Kathleen McKane. An hour later, Wills teams up with Mary K. Browne to win the doubles title.

1929 — Helen Wills wins her sixth U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. singles title by defeating Phoebe Holcroft Watson, 6-4, 6-2.

1963 — Don Schollander becomes the first swimmer to break the two-minute barrier in the 200-meter freestyle with a 1:58.4 time in a meet at Osaka, Japan.

1963 — John Pennel breaks the 17-foot barrier in the pole vault with a 17-0¾ vault in a meet at Miami.

1988 — Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli is sentenced to one day in jail and fined $1,000 for hitting another player with his stick. Ciccarelli, who was given a match penalty and 10-game suspension by the league for the Jan. 6, 1988 attack on Toronto’s Luke Richardson, is believed to be the first NHL player to receive a jail term for an on-ice attack of another player.

2003 — Jockey Julie Krone becomes the first female rider to win a million-dollar race taking the Pacific Classic at Del Mar aboard Candy Ride.

2004 — Four-time world 1,500 champion Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, a heartbreak loser at the last two Olympics, holds off Bernard Lagat down the stretch to win in 3 minutes, 34.18 seconds. El Guerrouj edges Lagat by .12 seconds for the gold medal. El Guerrouj had lost four races in the last eight years, but two of those defeats came at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

2006 — After signing a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49ers, Jerry Rice officially retires from the NFL.

2007 — The NFL indefinitely suspends Michael Vick without pay just hours after he acknowledged in court papers that he did, indeed, bankroll gambling on dogfighting and helped kill some dogs not worthy of the pit.

2008 — On the final day of the Beijing Games, the United States beats Spain 118-107 and win the gold medal in men’s basketball for the first time since 2000. China has one of the most dominating and diverse performances at an Olympics ever, winning a games-leading 51 golds and an even 100 overall. The United States finishes with 110 medals and trails well behind the Chinese in golds with 36, the first time since 1992 it doesn’t lead the category.

2008 — Danny Lee becomes the U.S. Amateur’s youngest champion, supplanting Tiger Woods by holding off Drew Kittleson 5 and 4. The 18-year, 1-month-old Lee is six months and 29 days younger than Woods when he won the first of his three Amateurs in 1994.

2018 — French Open Tennis bans Serena Williams′ black Nike catsuit from future tournaments citing ‘respect for the game and the place.’

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1905 — The Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies at Philadelphia 2-1 in 20 innings behind the complete game pitching of Ed Reulbach.

1940 — Outfielder Ted Williams pitched the last two innings for the Boston Red Sox against Detroit at Fenway Park. He gave up one run on three hits, but struck out Rudy York on three pitches. The Tigers, behind Tommy Bridges, won 12-1.

1951 — St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck gave over 1,000 fans behind his dugout YES and NO placards, allowing them to have a part in the strategy of the game. The fans flashed the cards when asked by the coaches what the Browns should do and it worked as St. Louis beat the Philadelphia Athletics 5-3.

1963 — The Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. is covered by ABC’s Wide World of Sports for the first time.

1971 — Ernie Banks hit the 512th and final home run of his career as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Banks’ shot came off Jim McGlothin in the first inning.

1975 — Ed Halicki of San Francisco pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the New York Mets to lead the Giants to a sweep of a doubleheader.

1989 — After six months of denial, defense and delay, Cincinnati manager Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for gambling. Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader and holder of 19 major-league records, signed a five-page agreement with Giamatti in which he agreed to a lifetime penalty but did not admit to gambling on baseball.

1996 — Hsieh Chin-hsiung sets a Little League World Series record with his seventh home run as Taiwan wins the title for the 17th time with a 13-3 victory over Cranston, R.I.

2001 — Colorado starting pitcher Jason Jennings went 3-for-5 in his major league debut, including a homer and an RBI single, while giving up five hits and striking out eight in a complete game shut out over the Mets, 10-0. The right-hander became the first pitcher in modern history to throw a shutout and hit a homer in his first game.

2003 — Ramon Hernandez and Miguel Tejada hit grand slams as Oakland routed Toronto 17-2.

2008 — Hawaii’s mini-mashers get a little help from Mexico’s miscues to win a fourth straight Little League World Series title for the United States. Tanner Tokunaga smacks two homers and Iolana Akau adds a solo blast as the boys from Waipahu, Hawaii, defeat Matamoros, Mexico, 12-3.

2008 — Francisco Rodriguez earned his 50th save, striking out two in a scoreless ninth inning to secure the Angels’ 5-3 victory over Minnesota.

2012 — Adrian Beltre of Texas hit for the cycle in an 8-0 win over Minnesota.

2013 — Adam Eaton hit a go-ahead double in the 18th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks outlasted the Philadelphia Phillies 12-7 in a record-setting, marathon game for both clubs. The teams combined to use 20 pitchers in a contest that ended at 2:12 a.m. and took 7 hours, 6 minutes — setting a mark for length of game for both teams.

2013 — Detroit’s Max Scherzer outpitched Matt Harvey, striking out 11 and hitting a stunning RBI double that sent the Tigers to a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets. Scherzer (19-1) joined Rube Marquard in 1912 and Roger Clemens in 2001 as the only major league pitchers to win 19 of their first 20 decisions in a season.

2016 — David Ortiz became the oldest player ever to hit 30 homers in a season, but the Tampa Bay Rays came back from a three-run deficit to beat Boston 4-3 in 11 innings. The 40-year-old designated hitter connected for a two-run home run off starting pitcher Matt Andriese during the first inning.

2022 — George Kirby of the Mariners starts today’s game against the Nationals by throwing 24 consecutive strikes — a record since 1988, when all pitches were tracked for the first time. In the 8th inning. Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez hits his 20th homer to become only the fourth rookie to have a season of 20 homers and 20 steals. But while Mariners players grab the headlines, Washington scores twice in the top of the 9th to win the game, 3-1.

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.

NEWS TODAY

India used pellets, grenades on Gen Z protests: What Amnesty report reveals | Explainer

Aug 24, 2026 News Desk

New Delhi, India – An investigation by human rights group Amnesty International has confirmed that Indian government forces used lethal weapons, including pellet-firing shotguns, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against demonstrators in Gen Z protests that rocked the national capital last month.

On July 20, thousands of protesters had all but shut down New Delhi, blocking off Parliament Street, demanding the resignation of then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following a string of examination scandals involving the leaking of national exam papers and other irregularities.

More than 100 students were injured in the crackdown by police and paramilitary forces that day. Indian newspapers obtained hospital records that showed that doctors had treated pellet wounds in several cases.

India’s opposition, led by Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, has since called on Home Minister Amit Shah, seen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s confidant, to answer questions about the alleged police brutality and has joined protesters in calling for his resignation.

But despite mounting evidence and growing political criticism, the Modi government repeatedly insisted that security forces had been measured in their response to the protests and denied using excessive force.

Now, an Amnesty investigation has found the use of tactics that Indian law enforcement rulebooks themselves warn against using in all but exceptional circumstances.

Cockroach Janta Party supporters in masks hold placards and chant slogans during protests over examination paper leaks, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India, July 22, 2026 [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

What happened on July 20 in New Delhi?

In July, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical, youth-led movement which gathered momentum in response to the national examinations scandal, called on its supporters to march on the Indian Parliament after a monthlong sit-in failed to oust the education minister.

Two days before the march, the police forcibly removed renowned activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been taking part in a hunger strike. That move galvanised public anger, bringing out more protesters in New Delhi.

On the morning of the march day, the police used tear gas as protesters swelled, then attacked them with electric shock batons, as well as shooting at them with pellet guns, Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab has verified from video and photographic evidence alongside witness testimony.

Amnesty also found that government forces had put up barricades and enforced a communications blackout.

“The weapons were deployed in a manner that breached international law and standards and domestic policing guidelines,” Amnesty said in a statement on Monday.

The rights group’s report also noted that the Delhi Police had publicly denied any disproportionate use of force, specifically pellet guns. The police also repeated this before India’s top court during a hearing about the alleged use of excessive force.

Amnesty says the evidence it has gathered “directly contradicts [the police’s] account”.

Four days after the July 20 march, as protests spread across the country, police in Bihar state’s Siwan town opened fire on protesters, injuring at least three youths.

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi gestures as he speaks with the media at a police station in New Delhi, August 21, 2026 [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

Did government forces fire pellets at protesters?

Following the July 20 protest, several videos and photos emerged of protesters with injuries consistent with pellet wounds, which were reflected in their medical records as well.

The Evidence Lab verified two videos showing a paramilitary Rapid Action Force officer firing a shotgun into the crowd at the intersection of Connaught Place and Parliament Street in New Delhi, where protesters had gathered.

At least two protesters had wounds consistent with those caused by birdshot, a hunting round that fires a large number of small metal pellets, the group noted.

“The doctors confirmed that they were pellet injuries. Thankfully, my bones have been saved, but my body has been scarred badly,” one protester told Amnesty.

Amnesty said birdshot ammunition has not been developed for law enforcement purposes due to the widespread dispersion of the metal pellets, which “is inherently inaccurate and presents a high risk of serious injuries to the targeted person and even bystanders”.

Amnesty also said the police did not issue a public warning before firing pellet guns, as recommended by the Indian government’s Bureau for Police Research and Development.

Police and security forces have used metal pellets for more than a decade in Indian-administered Kashmir, leading to the first mass blinding during a 2016 civilian uprising.

Posting on X, Delhi Police called the reports of pellet injuries during the latest protests “fake news”, “completely false and misleading” and warned that “appropriate legal action” would be taken against anyone “spreading rumours”.

A subsequent internal inquiry by India’s paramilitary forces, however, reportedly found that personnel had fired at least seven rounds of ammunition containing metal pellets.

“Instead of facilitating the right to protest, Indian authorities suppressed it first with a communication blackout, barricades and transport disruption. They then attempted to crush it with unnecessary or excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, including children,” said Aakar Patel, chair of the board, Amnesty International India.

“This heavy-handed response was state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control. The continued impunity after a month is a testament to that,” Patel said.

Did police use tear gas grenades and batons?

Government forces did use tear gas grenades to disperse the crowd at several places in New Delhi, as seen by Al Jazeera and verified by Amnesty, not just on July 20 to prevent CHP supporters’ march to Parliament.

“Tear gas grenades releasing an excessive amount of explosive energy are extremely dangerous and should be prohibited for use in public assemblies,” Amnesty said, referring to videos of tear gas shells exploding near students.

The group also noted that witnesses observed that “tear gas grenades were launched directly at protesters instead of at an angled trajectory above the head of protesters, at odds with UN Guidance on the use of Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement”.

Amnesty has also verified claims that the police used lathis, the Indian version of batons, to beat protesters.

The UN special rapporteur on torture considers lathis to be inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading as “they deliver a greater level [of] kinetic force than conventional batons, causing excessive pain and increasing the risk of serious injury” and has called for them to be prohibited, a position that Amnesty supports.

The group also found men in civilian clothing beating protesters “while uniformed officers, who escorted them toward the crowd, stand beside them and make no attempt to intervene”, as visible in videos seen by Al Jazeera. Several officials were not wearing their name tags or badge numbers, as required.

What has been the reaction to the use of excessive force?

A day after the crackdown in New Delhi, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told the crowd, “Every police person who attacked you would be identified and dragged to the courts”.

The group also launched a platform for protesters to upload videos and photos from the crackdown.

The opposition, led by the Congress’s Gandhi, pushed the home minister for a discussion on the issue in Parliament, an issue that plagued the monsoon session with Shah missing.

Gandhi argued that either Shah ordered the usage of lethal weapons, in which case “he is guilty”, or he was unaware of the situation, which makes him “incompetent” for the job.

Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old who lost vision in one eye due to pellet injuries, said the police had been refusing to register his complaint. In response, Gandhi staged a seven-hour sit-in outside the office of the Delhi Police chief, insisting that a case be registered over the use of pellet guns on protesters, alongside Lochab.

After Gandhi’s pressure, the police relented. A student at the University of Delhi, Lochab received multiple pellet injuries on his chest, back, arms and face. Several pellets could not be taken out, he said in his complaint.

“My medical documents show that there are over 200 pellets in my body. Doctors have told me that the possibility of my eyesight coming back is less than 1 percent,” Lochab wrote in his complaint.

MONEY

Venezuela hits roadblock in exporting more oil, as ports can’t keep up with demand – report

Aug 23, 2026 Finance Desk

Chevron Reports $8.3 Billion Loss For Second Quarter — Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News

Venezuela’s aging oil port terminals are essentially imposing export caps on the country’s resurgent crude production, with tankers having to wait up to 30 days to load because of infrastructure in disrepair, power outages, and quality issues, Reuters reported this week, citing shipping data, sources, and documents.

NEWS TODAY

Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv Is Turning Soviet-Era Armor Into Robotic Combat Vehicles

Aug 22, 2026 News Desk

In another effort to advance robotic warfare, Ukraine is working to turn Soviet-era BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles into remotely controlled systems. The move comes as uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) are playing an increasing role on both sides of the conflict as movement along the front lines has been highly contested by the ubiquity of aerial drones.

This is one of the latest efforts by the Central Innovation Activities Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to help provide weaponry that will keep troops out of harm’s way, the head of that unit told the Ukrainian Ukrinform news outlet on Friday. Ukraine is using UGVs mainly for logistics and casualty evacuation, but they are also increasingly engaging in ground combat as well air defense.

Col. Vladyslav Voloshyn said work is currently underway “to enable remote control of the vehicle from a distance of up to 1,000 km. In addition, the BRDM-2 is planned to be fitted with a powerful foreign-made diesel engine, with General Motors and Mercedes engines among those being considered, replacing the Soviet-made GAZ gasoline engine. An automatic transmission is also planned.”

Ukraine is converting Soviet-era BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles into remotely controlled robotic platforms for future frontline use. The modernization is being developed for control at distances up to 1,000 km and includes day and night cameras, protected data links,… pic.twitter.com/84XObDW2QJ

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) August 21, 2026

“The platform will have expanded capabilities for integrating a remotely controlled combat module equipped with an automatic weapon of at least 12.7 mm caliber,” Voloshyn explained. “This is expected to enhance the capabilities of Ukrainian units and their effectiveness in carrying out combat missions while helping preserve the lives of service members.”

The directorate is also installing additional mine protection for the vehicle’s hull bottom, tubeless high-mobility tires, a backup remote-control system inside the hull, and anti-fragmentation protection, the colonel added. Equipped this way, the vehicles would likely be used to assault front line Russian positions where troops can’t go on foot or as a remote option to provide fire control and support Ukraine’s often porous front line defenses. Uncrewed ground vehicles have also been used heavily in medical evacuations and general logistics to the front lines.

Unlike having to build a totally new vehicle, this project aims to take advantage of the large supply of BRDM-2s Ukraine has in storage, Voloshyn added.

Ukrainian BRDM-2 Armored Vehicle Conducts Indirect Fire #warinukraine thumbnail

The vehicles will be equipped with day/night cameras to assist with guidance and will be remotely controlled from beyond line-of-sight. A vehicle this size would be able to more easily accommodate robust satellite links for that kind of operation. Beyond these features, the colonel provided few details about how the vehicles would be operated.

The head of Ukraine’s Brave1 defense technology hub previously provided some insights about how this works for purpose-built UGVs.

“I can tell you that combat UGVs without artificial intelligence do not work at appropriate effectiveness,” Brave1 CEO Andrii Hrytseniuk told us in May in a discussion about Ukraine’s burgeoning UGV industry. “All combat turrets that we are using have elements of artificial intelligence, and it allows them to be as effective as they are.”

The UGVs use machine vision for “object recognition, identification, classification, tracking and providing recommendations for the operator on what to do,” he added.

These systems communicate through Ukraine’s Delta command and control system, the Brave1 CEO noted.

Without the Delta system, “all these advanced technologies on the battlefield will not be working,” Hrytseniuk suggested. “The Delta command and control system, which is number one in the world, is absolutely crucial. And this is for all our drones, multi-domain operations, everything.”

War in Ukraine: An advanced digital map. The Delta system #shorts #warinukraine #united24media thumbnail

The Ukrainian company ArmSpetsTekhnolohiya unveiled the BRDM-2M in June during the Defense Builder Accelerator Demo Day. Now the directorate is preparing this system for deployment to the front lines, Voloshyn stated without providing timelines. If it does turn out to be a viable option, it will join tens of thousands of other Ukrainian UGVs on the battlefield.

The Latest

On the battlefield, both sides are making small advances, however, the front lines are largely static. Here are some key takeaways from the latest Institute for the Study of War analysis.

Sumy: Russian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy Oblast.

Kharkiv: Russian forces continued offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast on August 19 and 20 but did not advance as Ukrainian forces counterattacked. However, Russian forces are reportedly intensifying strikes in the Kupyansk direction, likely in preparation for future ground attacks.

Donetsk: Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area on August 19 and 20 but did not make confirmed advances. Ukrainian forces recently advanced south of Dobropillya while Russian forces recently advanced southwest of Pokrovsk.

Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Hulyaipole direction and western Zaporizhzhia Oblast on August 19 and 20 but did not advance.

Kherson: Neither Russian nor Ukrainian sources reported ground activity in the Kherson direction on August 20.

Rescue workers tend to a building fire in the aftermath of the attack on Kryvyi Rih. (Volodymyr Zelensky)

SPORT

The Sports Report: UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava reflects on a tumultuous career so far

Aug 21, 2026 Sports Desk

Nico Iamaleava discusses career

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can Mark Walter keep the Dodgers?

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

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

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

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

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

Cox customers can finally watch the Dodgers on SportsNet LA

Rams hope for some Aaron Donald answers soon

From Gary Klein: The Aaron Donald watch continues.

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

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

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

Angels rout the Astros

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

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

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

Takeaways from Chargers’ preseason loss to 49ers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sparks are eliminated from playoff contention

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

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

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

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

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

POLITICS

Key takeaways from investigation into Edison’s role in Eaton fire

Aug 20, 2026 Politics Desk

Recently revealed evidence from government investigators and court filings renewed questions about Southern California Edison’s claim that it operated its electrical grid safely before last year’s deadly Eaton fire.

Most records surrounding the fire’s cause have been sealed at the request of Edison and plaintiff attorneys. Yet new details revealed in court show that critical fire prevention equipment needed repair before the blaze and that vegetation under the tower where it ignited hadn’t been trimmed for years.

Los Angeles County and state fire investigators cited eight violations, including three of California’s criminal code, in their report released on Aug. 4. The details were blacked out as the district attorney continues an investigation into the devastating fire.

“We don’t believe there is a basis for criminal liability and we will cooperate with any review,” said Kathleen Dunleavy, an Edison spokeswoman.

The investigators said in the report that the Jan. 7, 2025 inferno, which killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and other structures, was caused by electrical arcing on an out-of-service transmission line in Eaton Canyon, which caused hot metal fragments to fall into the dried vegetation below.

Here are key takeaways from the investigative report and recent court filings by lawyers representing fire victims:

Edison didn’t turn off power on its Eaton Canyon transmission lines, despite emergency conditions.

Before the fire, the National Weather Service predicted a “life-threatening” windstorm, investigators wrote in their report released Aug. 4. Santa Ana wind gusts were forecast to reach speeds of 60 to 80 miles per hour, with peak gusts of 90 miles per hour in the mountains.

Earlier that day, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency because of an out-of-control fire that was burning homes in Pacific Palisades.

Despite those conditions, Edison kept power flowing through its high-voltage transmission lines built in the mountains above Altadena. Investigators noted that wind gusts at a weather station about a half-mile from the Edison tower where the fire started recorded gusts up to 68 miles per hour just before the first flames at 6:11 p.m. By 7, gusts were up to 85 miles per hour.

Dunleavy said the conditions did not meet the company’s internal standards for shutting off the lines.

“SCE was actively monitoring the transmission lines in Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7 and none of these lines met our de-energization criteria,” Dunleavy said.

Safety equipment on the out-of-service line was damaged before the fire but not fixed.

Edison had installed safety equipment at both ends of the out-of-service, unconnected transmission line in Eaton Canyon, including at the pylon known as Tower 208 where the fire ignited. But on the night of the fire, the equipment was broken, according to a June court filing.

The equipment was designed to send any unexpected power on the out-of-service line safely into the earth. The grounding equipment was necessary because the idle Mesa-Sylmar line ran parallel to 12 energized high-voltage lines, creating the danger of induction.

Induction happens when electromagnetic fields cause power on energized lines to jump to nearby idle equipment.

At Tower 208, a component known as a compression paddle was not securely bonded to the pylon, allowing debris to form and creating a dangerous air pocket, the filing said. The paddle was meant to be secured with four bolts, but only one bolt was used.

Government fire investigators also found broken equipment at one of the Mesa-Sylmar towers during a tour of the site with Edison after the fire. According to their report, investigators observed “the center conductor dangling free from the bridge section of the tower; it appeared that the remaining two conductors were not bored down to the tower bridge.”

The investigators said they discussed the equipment “abnormalities” with an Edison lineman and lawyer on the tour. “The Lineman said that they were not new and were like this last year; he was also unsure why they were not corrected when it was inspected,” the investigators wrote.

Asked why the equipment was not fixed, Dunleavy said, “We’re looking into that.”

She said the company strives to have a strong maintenance and inspection program and still was performing post-fire examinations and testing.

Edison kept the century-old, out-of-service Mesa-Sylmar line in place for decades, despite knowing idle lines could reenergize and spark fires.

Utilities have known for decades that unused lines can become energized from nearby electrified equipment through the induction process.

To teach employees about the danger, Edison created a training video featuring a 2007 incident in which a line known as the Kramer-Coolwater circuit was de-energized to allow work by a crew. The line became reenergerized while laying on the ground and started several fires, according to a retelling of the video in a July court filing by lawyers representing victims. Later that day, the crew’s foreman was injured when he touched the line.

Eleven years later, the Kramer-Coolwater circuit was unconnected from the grid, similar to the line in Eaton Canyon. Yet the line was electrified by induction from adjacent lines again in 2018, electrocuting a lineman who touched the conductor, the court filing said.

The company has said it kept the line in place even though it hadn’t carried power since 1971 because executives believed it could be used in the future.

Dunleavy said the induction event in the training video was different from what appears to have happened on Jan. 7 with the Eaton Canyon transmission lines.

“We had never seen an idle, de-energized transmission line cause an ignition,” she said.

Edison failed to clear vegetation below the tower where the fire ignited.

The investigators’ report said the fire ignited when electrical arcing on the idle line caused hot metal particles to fall into “the receptive fuel beds consisting of dry vegetation” below the tower.

The June court filing includes details from Google Earth images showing that the vegetation under Tower 208 had not been trimmed since at least 2021. Leaving the brush to grow violated Edison’s safety standard for “structure brushing,” the filing said.

Edison explained structure brushing in an article last year, describing how it cleared all vegetation around certain equipment, creating a 10-foot barrier to reduce the fire risk.

Asked why Edison let brush grow below the idle line, Dunleavy said, “We inspect and maintain all our equipment according to existing regulations and laws.”

Edison has sued L.A. County and other public entities, saying that their failures, including not clearing brush and delayed evacuation warnings, increased the fire’s destruction.

A fight over accountability

The first jury trial looking at whether Edison acted negligently in igniting the fire is scheduled to begin Jan. 25.

Later, state regulators will evaluate whether the company acted “prudently” in its actions related to the fire’s start.

Under a 2019 law brought by Newsom to protect utilities from bankruptcy, the companies automatically are deemed to have acted prudently if regulators sign off on their wildfire prevention plan.

Newsom’s safety regulators approved Edison’s plan just before the Eaton fire. That means Edison will be fully reimbursed for the billions of dollars in Eaton fire damages by a state fund that Newsom’s legislation created unless outside parties can prove Edison acted imprudently, negligently or worse.

“We continue to believe we will make a good faith showing of prudency,” Dunleavy said.

Newsom is working behind closed doors on legislation to further protect Edison and the state’s two other big for-profit electric utilities from the cost of wildfires caused by their equipment, the Times reported this year.

The three companies’ equipment ignited at least seven of the state’s 20 most destructive wildfires, according to CalFire. The Eaton fire was the state’s second-most destructive fire after the 2018 Camp fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed most of the town of Paradise. That fire, according to investigators, was ignited by an old transmission line owned by Pacific Gas & Electric.

The survivors of Eaton and other fires are fighting Newsom’s plan, saying it would leave California more vulnerable to utility-sparked fires.

“The real danger is what will happen to Californians if we further strip away these corporations’ financial incentives to prevent catastrophic fires,” Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, wrote in an analysis sent to state lawmakers this week.

“These are not innocent companies overtaken by climate change, nor is this an abstract problem of ‘wildfire liability,’” she wrote. “It is a continuing pattern of catastrophic corporate failure.”

SPORT

The Sports Report: A history of the Buss family drama

Aug 20, 2026 Sports Desk

History of the Buss family drama

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers sweep the Rockies

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

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

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

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

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

Angels lose to Astros

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

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

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

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

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

Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike to retire

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

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

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

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

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

Chargers-49ers: Five things to watch for

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

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

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

Galaxy defeat the Earthquake

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

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

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

Galaxy summary

MLS standings

LAFC falls to Colorado

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

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

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

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

LAFC summary

MLS standings

This day in sports history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

SPORT

World Cup 2026: Racism suffered by England players on X amplified by algorithms – new report

Aug 20, 2026 Sports Desk

Hope Not Hate said current attempts to tackle online abuse often focused too heavily on what happens after a racist post had already been seen.

Players can block users, report messages and platforms can suspend accounts, but Hermansson says those measures do not address the way abusive content is amplified.

“X doesn’t take racism seriously enough,” he added. “We’ve seen it for a number of years now. There is no change or improvement.”

He said social media companies already had the tools to alter how their algorithms recommended content, particularly during periods when abuse is surging.

“It’s actually a relatively small number of accounts and originating tweets that then get tons of replies,” he said.

“I think it’s entirely feasible to stop this, or a vast amount of it.”

Hope Not Hate said one option would be to downrank posts attracting large volumes of abuse, meaning they were recommended to fewer people.

Before the new Premier League season the group called on UK’s media regulator Ofcom to use its existing powers under the Online Safety Act more effectively and address predictable spikes in hate.

They want Ofcom to outlaw the algorithms fulling abuse and also to designate major sporting events as “high risk”.

This would require platforms to deploy strict safety-by-design rules, remove abuse proactively and downrank rapidly escalating viral hate through algorithmic adjustments.

In a statement to BBC Sport, Ofcom said: “We’re pushing tech firms hard to make their services safer, and we’ll be holding them to account if they don’t.”

Ofcom also cited a new partnership with police and footballing bodies before the World Cup to tackle online abuse.

POLITICS

LA County warns that Paramount-Warner merger could erase thousands jobs

Aug 20, 2026 Politics Desk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPORT

The Sports Report: A wacky day in Lakers land

Aug 18, 2026 Sports Desk

A wacky day in Lakers land

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: For more than four decades, the Lakers were a family-run business. The sibling rivalries still remain.

Jeanie Buss is fighting back after her siblings reportedly voted to sell the family’s remaining stake in the Lakers on Monday. The team’s governor, Buss sent a letter through her attorney to her brothers’ attorneys stating any votes to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% stake in the team to new majority owners Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner are void because the sale cannot be completed without approval of the other trustees: Jeanie and her younger siblings, Janie and Joey.

ESPN reported Monday that the six Buss family siblings, who took over team ownership after their father, Jerry Buss, died in 2013, are selling their shares of the Lakers to Iger and Kushner following a family vote. Iger, the longtime Disney chief executive, and Kushner, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, agreed last week to buy Mark Walter’s controlling stake of the Lakers for a record valuation of $12.5 billion.

The transactions still need to be approved by the NBA board of governors. Jeanie Buss, who was to remain the Lakers governor for at least five years after Walter’s purchase of the team was approved last October, no longer would be eligible to serve on the board if the Buss family sells its shares. Governors are required to own at least a 15% stake.

“The co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain controlling owner,” the letter from Buss’ attorney reads, citing a 2017 court ruling outlining Jeanie Buss’ role. “Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

Ohtani homers twice, Dodgers win

From Maddie Lee: Shohei Ohtani paused to admire the flight of his no-doubt home run as it sailed to right-center field.

Clearly on a home-run trajectory, it was headed toward the visitor’s bullpen. From among the trees, Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt’s glove shot up and secured the ball.

As Ohtani circled the bases, the bullpen turned into a mosh pit around Hurt.

In what has been a brutal August for the Dodgers, the vibes were undeniably high.

Maybe all the Dodgers needed was a trip to the Mile High City.

En route to an 11-5 win over the Rockies, Ohtani’s two-run blast in the sixth inning — his second homer of the game — widened the Dodgers’ lead to eight runs, a comfortable lead even at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

‘Rare accomplishment’: How Max Muncy went from being cast off to longest-tenured Dodger

Update on NBA probe into Clippers

From Steve Henson: The NBA investigation into whether payments from Clippers team sponsors to star player Kawhi Leonard were a prohibited attempt to circumvent the salary cap has moved to a contentious discussion phase between the team and the league, people with knowledge of the case not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed to The Times on Monday.

ESPN reported that the probe conducted on behalf of the NBA by high-powered New York law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz has found no evidence establishing that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money through Aspiration Partners, Daktronics or other team sponsors to pay Leonard millions of dollars in excess of his player contract.

However, the NBA issued a statement that read: “ESPN’s article regarding the LA Clippers investigation — for which the NBA declined to cooperate — contains numerous and significant inaccuracies. The results in this matter will be made clear once the investigation is concluded.”

MLB approves sale of Padres

Major League Baseball’s team owners unanimously have approved the sale of the San Diego Padres to an investor group led by private equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife and business partner, Kwanza Jones.

The league announced the approval Monday after a vote. Feliciano and Jones reached an agreement in May to buy the Padres from the family of late owner Peter Seidler at an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion. The deal is still contingent on the official closing of the transaction in the coming weeks.

“José and Kwanza understand the unique place the Padres hold in San Diego and the powerful bond between the club and its fans,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to their leadership of the Padres and to working with them to build on the club’s strong foundation in a market that is so important to Major League Baseball.”

This day in sports history

1923 — Helen Mills, 17, ends Molla Bjurstedt Mallory’s domination of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships and starts her own with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

1958 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Roy Harris in the 13th round at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles to retain his world heavyweight title.

1964 — The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from competing in the Summer Olympics because of its apartheid policies.

1994 — South Africa is introduced for the first time in 36 years during the opening ceremonies of the 15th Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, British Columbia. South Africa had been banned from the Games since 1958 because of its apartheid policies.

1995 — Thirteen-year-old Dominique Moceanu becomes the youngest to win the National Gymnastics Championships senior women’s all-around title in New Orleans.

2004 — Paul Hamm wins the men’s gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event. Controversy follows after it was discovered a scoring error that may have cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the men’s all-around title. Yang, who finished with a bronze, is wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars. He finishes third, 0.049 points behind Hamm, who becomes the first American man to win gymnastics’ biggest prize.

2008 — A day after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Rafael Nadal officially unseats Roger Federer to become the world’s No. 1 tennis player when the ATP rankings are released. Federer had been atop the rankings for 235 weeks.

2013 — For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the Europeans leaves America with the trophy. Caroline Hedwall becomes the first player in the 23-year history of the event to win all five matches. She finishes with a 1-up victory over Michelle Wie and gives Europe the 14 points it needed to retain the cup.

2013 — Usain Bolt is perfect again with three gold medals. The Jamaican great becomes the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the world championships. The 4×100-meter relay gold erases the memories of the 100 title he missed out on in South Korea two years ago because of a false start. Bolt, who already won the 100 and 200 meters, gets his second such sprint triple at the world championships, matching the two he achieved at the Olympics.

2016 — Jamaica’s Usain Bolt completes an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100 and 200-meter sprints, elevating his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. He wins the 200-meter race with a time of 19.78 seconds to defeat Andre de Grasse of Canada. American Ashton Eaton defends his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters — the last event in the two-day competition. Helen Maroulis defeats Japan’s Saori Yoshida 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for a United States women’s wrestler.

2018 — Accelerate cruises to a record 12 1/2-length victory in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, becoming just the third horse to sweep all three of Southern California’s major races for older horses in the same year.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1915 — Boston opened Braves Field with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

1931 — New York’s Lou Gehrig played in his 1,000th consecutive game. Gehrig went hitless in the 5-4 loss to Detroit.

1948 — Brooklyn’s Rex Barney pitched a one-hitter for a 1-0 win over Robin Roberts and the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park.

1956 — The Cincinnati Reds hit eight home runs and the Milwaukee Braves added two to set a National League record for home runs by two clubs in a nine-inning night game. Bob Thurman’s three homers and double led the Reds in the 13-4 rout.

1960 — Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves pitched a no-hitter, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0. Burdette faced the minimum 27 batters.

1965 — Hank Aaron of Milwaukee hit Curt Simmons’ pitch on top of the pavilion roof at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis for an apparent home run. However, umpire Chris Pelekoudas called him out for being out of the batter’s box when he connected. Nevertheless, the Braves won the game 5-3.

1967 — Jack Hamilton of the Angels hit Tony Conigliaro on his left cheekbone with a fastball in the fourth inning of a 3-2 loss to Boston. Conigliaro was carried unconscious from the field and missed the remainder of the 1967 season and the entire 1968 season. The 22-year-old already had more than 100 home runs in his career.

1977 — Don Sutton of the Dodgers pitched his fifth one-hitter to tie the National League record. Sutton gave up a two-out single in the eighth inning to San Francisco’s Marc Hill. The Dodgers won 7-0.

1995 — Tom Henke became the seventh pitcher to reach 300 saves, surviving a rally by the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 4-3 victory.

2000 — Darin Erstad of the Angels made a spectacular, game-saving catch in the 10th inning and followed it with a homer in the 11th as the Angels defeated the New York Yankees 9-8.

2006 — Alfonso Soriano became the third player in major league history to have at least four seasons of 30 homers and 30 stolen bases, and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4.

2007 — Micah Owings went 4-for-5, including a pair of mammoth homers, drove in six runs and scored four times while pitching three-hit ball through seven innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 12-6.

2011 — Mike Jacobs became the first player suspended by Major League Baseball for a positive HGH test under the sport’s minor league drug testing procedures. The 30-year-old minor league first baseman, who was in the big leagues from 2005-10, received a 50-game suspension for taking the banned performance-enhancing substance and was subsequently released by the Colorado Rockies.

2017 — Manny Machado capped a three-homer night with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the Angels 9-7 in a game that featured 10 home runs.

2018 — New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom pitched his first complete game of the season and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.71 with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

2019 — Zack Grenke records the 200th win of his career as the Astros defeat the Athletics 4-1.

2021 — Shohei Ohtani continues to do it all by himself on the field. Today, he becomes the first hitter in the majors to reach 40 homers this season, and also improves his record on the mound to 8-1 as he pitches eight innings for the first time of his career. The Angels defeat the Tigers, 3-1.

2021 — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time in his career as they beat the Miami Marlins 11-9.

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.

POLITICS

Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows

Aug 17, 2026 Politics Desk

Wealth, perhaps second only to loyalty, has been a prized attribute for Donald Trump during his second presidency.

The number of people worth at least $100 million whom the Republican president has appointed to his administration is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents, according to a report from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

It’s the numbers for the Trump administration, in the context of previous administrations, that stand out in Public Citizen’s report, published on Monday. In all, 57 Trump officials are worth at least $100 million, including 17 ambassadors and the remaining 40 in senior posts across the executive branch.

Look no further than Trump’s Cabinet. Eight of its 23 members fit the category, notably Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, both billionaires.

The president, himself a billionaire, has described his inclination toward appointing the ultrawealthy as deference to financial success. And yet, Trump, who owes his White House comeback to support from middle-income, working Americans drawn to his pledge to lower everyday costs, now faces a midterm election electorate decidedly less keen on his handling of the economy.

Presidents have long sought counsel from the nation’s wealthiest people and tapped some for high-profile administrative leadership roles. Likewise, presidents routinely reward wealthy and influential supporters with ambassadorships.

Among the most notable examples is Andrew Mellon, the aluminum, oil and banking tycoon who was among the handful of the nation’s wealthiest people in the 1920s and served as treasury secretary for three presidents.

The Trump officials worth at least $100 million include Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who are also billionaires, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and special envoy Steve Witkoff, both worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

By comparison, Republican George W. Bush’s administration and Democrat Joe Biden’s each included five members worth $100 million or more. Democrat Barack Obama’s included three, the report states.

A government populated by so many of the economic elite presents potential problems, the report’s authors said.

“When the people holding the reins of government are drawn overwhelmingly from the ranks of the ultra-rich, it leads to misplaced incentives and corruption, and begs the question, ‘Whose interests they are truly serving?” said Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen’s co-president.

The list does not include Trump, whose net worth Forbes estimates at more than $6 billion. Nor does it include space and social media giant Elon Musk, who advised Trump last year on an effort to reduce the federal government’s size, scope and workforce and is the world’s wealthiest person, with a net worth Forbes estimates at about $860 billion.

Trump’s views are well established: Financial success is evidence of executive mastery and negotiating strength.

“They have great competence, those people. Incredible competence. Some of the smartest business leaders,” Trump said last year in explaining why he put considerable weight on advice from business executives.

He has also pointed to investments by wealthy people as a signal of future economic growth. To encourage billionaires to deliver, Trump, in his first year back in the White House, pursued policies on artificial intelligence and financial regulation that could benefit wealthy people, along with tax cuts and reduced regulatory burdens for large-scale investments.

Still, last month, only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 40% at the beginning of his second term and as his Republican Party faces headwinds in its attempt to hold both majorities in Congress in November.

Beaumont writes for the Associated Press.

READ: El Sisi stresses need to resolve regional crises to preserve stability in meeting with Kushner

NEWS TODAY

Report: Hamas leaders meet Kushner in Egypt for talks on Gaza roadmap – Middle East Monitor

Aug 17, 2026 News Desk

Senior Hamas officials, including the movement’s political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya, held talks with US envoy Jared Kushner in Egypt to discuss disarmament and the future administration of the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas sources cited by Asharq on Sunday.

The sources said the meeting took place in El Alamein with the participation of senior officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have been involved in mediation efforts over Gaza.

According to the report, the Hamas delegation discussed its position on a proposed roadmap for Gaza and expressed its commitment to provisions concerning the inventory and storage of weapons and the transfer of governing authority in the Strip.

The sources also said Hamas expressed readiness to participate in Palestinian elections and operate as a political party within the Palestinian political system.

READ: Kushner accuses Netanyahu of obstructing US Gaza plan

Kushner reportedly stressed that eliminating security threats originating from Gaza and ensuring that the territory is free of weapons were fundamental requirements for advancing the proposed political process.

Hamas, in turn, sought guarantees regarding implementation of the agreement, including a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a comprehensive ceasefire, and assurances that the implementation process would not be delayed or obstructed.

The Hamas delegation also called for the rapid transfer of administrative responsibilities in Gaza to a Palestinian national committee or technocratic government, alongside the start of recovery and reconstruction efforts.

According to the report, mediators had informed Hamas beforehand that Kushner wanted to meet the movement’s leadership before traveling to Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas reportedly viewed the meeting as an opportunity to present its position directly and address outstanding disagreements over implementation of the proposed Gaza roadmap.

MONEY

US draft letter warns allies against joining China's AI framework: report

Aug 17, 2026 Finance Desk

US draft letter warns allies against joining China's AI framework: report

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MONEY

Alibaba to sell Lingxi Games for over $1.5B to Trustar as AI focus grows: report (BABA:NYSE)

Aug 17, 2026 Finance Desk

Millennial-aged man playing E-sports on his computer — Trevor Williams

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is reportedly selling its gaming arm in a deal worth at least $1.5B that will boost the Chinese e-commerce leader’s pivot to AI.
Asian private equity firm Trustar Capital has reached an agreement to acquire

POLITICS

Trump says USS Abraham Lincoln deployment ‘not nearly long enough’

Aug 14, 2026 Politics Desk

Democratic lawmakers and military families are pressing the Pentagon for answers after reports emerged that thousands of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have endured food shortages, plumbing failures and severe fatigue during deployment that has stretched more than 260 days.

The roughly 5,000-person crew, which left San Diego in November and has been stationed in the Middle East to support the U.S. war against Iran, has spent a record amount of uninterrupted time at sea. Now, families of those on board have begun speaking out publicly, describing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the aircraft carrier.

Since those reports — which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth characterized as “completely misrepresented” — the U.S. military announced plans to send the USS George Washington, a Pacific-based aircraft carrier, to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

But when asked Friday for a reaction, Trump downplayed families’ concerns and characterized the length of the deployment as “not nearly long enough.”

The president’s remarks stand in contrast to the concerns raised by lawmakers and military families, including reports by the Military Times and the Stars and Stripes that sailors tried to jump overboard as the deployment kept going.

“The plans in the works to relieve the USS Lincoln are not enough,” Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Diego) wrote in a letter to Hegseth on Thursday. “We need clear and honest information from the Department of Defense about the operational failures that led to the problems aboard the USS Lincoln to ensure this never happens again.”

Morale aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier already is difficult to maintain without a record-breaking stint, said Julie Roland, a retired veteran Navy lieutenant commander who worked briefly on the USS Lincoln.

Between the lack of sun below deck for some nonpilot personnel and rooms packed with triple-bunk beds, the conditions on vessels like the Lincoln can be difficult to bear. Although service members expect such difficulties, the situation on the USS Lincoln raises additional concern among sailors, Roland said.

“I know what months at sea does to a person even when the ship has hot chow and working plumbing,” Roland said. “The warrior ethos shouldn’t have to include bravely facing water contamination. … Even warfighters need basic care.”

Roland added that she was not surprised to hear complaints of poor living conditions from sailors on board, given that their few days of reprieve for port call constantly were being delayed. She said she received videos showing trash being tossed overboard because of broken incinerators, heard stories of a lack of proper medical supplies and kept in touch with one sailor who detailed his mental health deterioration as days dragged on aboard the Lincoln.

“The magnitude of difference between official information from the Department of Defense and firsthand reports from the crew should be troubling, and may have serious implications about what else the Pentagon may be withholding regarding the conflict in Iran,” Roland added.

In his letter to Hegseth, Levin said the Trump administration needs to answer concerns from military families and loves ones about the conditions aboard. He said he heard concerns about moldy showers, broken toilets, lack of hot water, lack of access to fresh produce and supply shortages.

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, also demanded answers from U.S. military leaders on what she called “horrific” reports of the conditions aboard the ship.

Tensions over the situation also prompted military leaders to hold in-person and virtual meetings last week with the families of the sailors and Marines. Both meetings were combative, according to a recording obtained by MS NOW.

During the in-person meeting at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Navy leaders were unable to tell families when their loves ones would be relieved from duty. Spouses, in turn, asked what was being done to address issues of mental health and exhaustion, MS NOW reported.

Concerns about mental health deteriorating on these types of deployments are well-founded.

A study of nearly 1,000 sailors published in the journal Military Medicine in January 2025 found that service members aboard Navy ships suffer the highest rates of “serious psychological distress” compared to other branches of the U.S. military. Among the reasons are “unique stressors, such as poor habitability, noise and demanding scheduled that leave inadequate time for sleep and rest,” the study found.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the USS Abraham Lincoln was not an “isolated case” and demanded an inquiry.

“Recent carrier deployments have repeatedly stretched beyond their original anticipated duration, suggesting that extended deployments may be becoming a feature rather than an exception of the Navy’s force-generation model,” Blumenthal wrote.

Hegseth told reporters on Thursday that “some deployments are longer than others.”

“What they do in those high seas and those austere conditions with less port calls, it’s incredible. And Americans don’t understand what it’s like to do that,” he said, while adding that he wants “folks rotated as quickly as possible.”

In a message to the crew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Hegseth said: “We’re going to do everything we can for you. We are so grateful for the dedication of that crew and others.”

SPORT

The Sports Report: Edwin Díaz fails Dodgers again

Aug 14, 2026 Sports Desk

Dodgers fall to the Brewers

From Maddie Lee: The second pitch Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz threw on Thursday night sailed above the strike zone, at about eye-height on Brewers hitter William Contreras. It was an early sign that Díaz was in for a brutal ninth inning.

By the end of his third blown save in four appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his role would be going forward.

“Now I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”

Manager Dave Roberts, however, as he looked at the state of his bullpen as a whole, wasn’t ready to take the closer title from Díaz.

“Give me another option,” Roberts said. “…To be quite honest, none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”

The series opener Thursday between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top teams in the National League, saw Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki battle command issues to salvage a two-run, six-inning start. It included a record-setting go-ahead home run from Max Muncy, No. 131 at Dodger Stadium, breaking a tie with Eric Karros for the most all-time.

Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of issues since returning from the IL (arthroscopic elbow surgery) a couple weeks ago, took over with a two-run lead. And the game went sideways.

The Dodgers (73-49) fell to two games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a game behind the Braves (73-48).

“A loss is a loss, but there’s certain losses that are more costly,” Roberts said. “And when you use five relievers and you lose a game, that’s costly.”

Angels defeat the Rangers

Walbert Ureña gave up two hits in six innings, Mike Trout and Denzer Guzman led a 15-hit outburst with three singles and an RBI apiece, and the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 7-0 on Thursday night.

Josh Lowe added two hits and two RBIs, and Adam Frazier had two hits and an RBI for the Angels, who extended their win streak to three and had at least 10 hits in a game for the first time since July 8.

Ureña (8-8) struck out five and walked two while lowering his ERA to 2.67. The rookie right-hander has a 2.43 ERA in 18 games since May 1 and has given up no more than one run in 13 of those starts. José Fermin, Tayler Saucedo and Sammy Peralta each threw a scoreless inning to complete the five-hitter.

Q&A about Mark Walter selling Lakers

From Bill Shaikin: The Steinbrenner family has owned the New York Yankees for 53 years. Jerry Jones has owned the Dallas Cowboys for 37 years. The Buss family owned the Lakers for 46 years.

These trophy assets are few and far between. Walter had agreed to sell the Lakers after less than one year of ownership — and not through a comprehensive bidding process, but to an inquiring caller during the weekend?

“This has more red flags than a May Day parade,” an industry insider said, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize his professional relationships.

The deal, which valued the Lakers at $12.5 billion, was motivated by the spiraling price for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. After all, if Iger and Kushner might have to pay $10 billion for a startup team, why not call and see if Walter might accept a bit more for one of the marquee franchises in American sports?

Lakers again have most nationally televised games on their schedule

Chargers preseason Game 1 takeaways

From Sam Farmer: Chargers running back Amar Johnson doesn’t have a ton of NFL experience, but he knows to make every moment count.

“You don’t get the most opportunities at practice, so you’ve got to maximize the opportunities that you do get,” said Johnson, who had two touchdowns and a successful conversion run Thursday in a 27-7 victory over the Houston Texans in a preseason opener.

“Every game you kind of hit the reset button like, yeah, I did something this week, but the next game is a new week.”

Jim Harbaugh said the urgency is palpable, especially for players looking to secure one of the last few roster spots.

“That’s why you play like your football life is at stake,” the Chargers coach said. “Because it kind of is.”

Johnson had a seven-yard touchdown run in the first half, then turned a short reception into a 55-yard gain in the second. He was tackled a yard short of the end zone. He smiled when asked about that, knowing he likely was going to take a ribbing from teammates.

“I had to punch it in one more time,” he said. And he did punch it in, scoring from the one on the following play.

Cameron Brink injured in Sparks’ loss

Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points and the New York Liberty avoided one of the biggest collapses in WNBA history, holding off the Sparks 85-81 on Thursday night.

New York (21-14) led 69-41 early in the fourth quarter and looked poised to cruise to an easy victory when the Sparks scored 21 straight points to get within striking distance.

The Sparks (12-21) only trailed 82-79 with 26.6 seconds left and were in position to match the Chicago Sky for the biggest comeback in league history. The Sky rallied from 28-down to beat Las Vegas in 2022. Rae Burrell got the Sparks within one on a reverse layup with 22 seconds left. Ionescu hit two free throws with 14.8 remaining to restore the three-point advantage.

The Sparks also lost Cameron Brink earlier in the fourth quarter. She helped key the game-changing run, drawing an offensive foul on Breanna Stewart. Brink was down on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room with a towel over her head. She took a shot to the stomach area from Stewart to get the offensive foul called. A few minutes earlier Brink and Burrell banged heads.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said Brink was being evaluated by doctors after a “brutal hit to the ribs”, but didn’t have an update other than that.

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1903 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Jim Corbett in the 10th round to retain his world heavyweight title in San Francisco.

1936 — In Berlin, the U.S. wins the first Olympic basketball gold medal with a 19-8 win over Canada. The game is played outdoors on a dirt court in a driving rain. Joe Fortenberry leads the U.S. with seven points. James Naismith, the inventor of the game, presents the medals.

1959 — The formation of the American Football League is announced in Chicago. Play will begin in 1960 with franchises in six cities with the probability of adding two more teams.

1977 — Lanny Wadkins beats Gene Littler on the third hole of sudden death to take the PGA Championship.

1977 — The Cosmos, led by Pele, play before a Meadowlands crowd of 77,961 in East Rutherford, N.J., the most to see a soccer game in the U.S. The Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in an NASL quarterfinal playoff game.

1994 — Nick Price wins the PGA Championship, finishing at 11-under 269 for 72 holes, six strokes ahead of Corey Pavin. It is the lowest stroke total in an American major championship.

2005 — The U.S. 4×400 relay team, anchored by Jeremy Wariner, races to a record 14th gold medal for the United States at the field world championships.

2011 — Keegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship after trailing by five shots with three holes and then defeating Jason Dufner in a three-hole playoff. Bradley becomes the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.

2016 — South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 400-meter final in Rio de Janeiro. Usain Bolt becomes the first to capture three straight 100-meter titles at the Olympics. He finishes in 9.81 — 0.08 seconds ahead of Justin Gatlin.

2019 — French woman Stephanie Frappart is the first woman to referee a major match in a European men’s tournament. UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea vs. Liverpool in Istanbul.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1919 — Chicago’s Happy Felsch tied the major-league record with four outfield assists in a game. The White Sox still lost to the Boston Red Sox 15-6.

1932 — Brooklyn’s John Quinn, 49, became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. Quinn pitched the last two innings of a 2-1, 10-inning win over the New York Giants.

1933 — Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics hit for the cycle and drove in nine runs in an 11-5 win over the Cleveland Indians. The nine RBIs set an American League record for one game, breaking the 22-year-old mark set by Topsy Hartzell of the New York Highlanders.

1958 — Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians stole home twice, in the eighth and 10th innings, in a 10-9 win over Detroit. He had only three steals all year.

1960 — Bill White of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle in a 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opening game of a doubleheader.

1971 — Bob Gibson of St. Louis pitched a no-hitter, blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0.

1987 — Oakland’s Mark McGwire set a major league rookie record with his 39th homer of the season to help the A’s to a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the Angels.

1998 — Baltimore’s Chris Hoiles became the ninth major leaguer and first catcher to hit two grand slams in one game.

2002 — Trevor Hoffman became the first reliever in major league history to have 30 or more saves in eight straight seasons in San Diego’s 6-2 win over the New York Mets.

2007 — Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was ejected after the fifth inning for arguing a called third strike in the Braves’ 5-4 victory over San Francisco. It was his 132nd ejection, breaking the mark set by Hall of Famer John McGraw.

2009 — Felix Pie became the fourth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle, and Baltimore tied club records for extra-base hits and doubles in a 16-6 rout of the Angels.

2011 — Albert Pujols hit the longest home run at 6-year-old Busch Stadium in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 6-2 win over Colorado. Pujols’ two-run drive in the first inning was estimated at 465 feet.

2013 — Alfonso Soriano homered twice for the second straight night and drove in a career-high seven runs, giving him 13 RBIs in two games while powering the New York Yankees to an 11-3 victory over the Angels.

2015 — Matt Kemp hit a triple in the ninth for the first cycle in the history of the San Diego Padres, who beat the Colorado Rockies 9-5.

2018 — Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr., 20, became the youngest major leaguer to homer in five straight games.

2021 — Arizona Diamondbacks Tyler Gilbert became the fourth pitcher and first in 68 years to throw a no-hitter in his initial big league start, leading Arizona over the San Diego Padres 7-0 with the record-tying eighth no-hitter of the season.

2024 — With a long ball off Chad Kuhl in the 8th inning, Aaron Judge reaches 300 home runs, doing so in fewer games (955) and at-bats (3,431) than anyone before him. The homer follows a rare intentional walk issued to Juan Soto and is part of an emphatic 10-2 win by the Yankees over the White Sox.

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.

POLITICS

SPECIAL REPORT / ELECTION PREVIEW : DECISION ’94 / A Voter’s Guide to State and Local Elections : Governor : A look at the major candidates for governor, their records and excerpts from their stump speeches. On this page: : THE REPUBLICANS : The Candidate: RON UNZ

Aug 14, 2026 Politics Desk

Profile

RON UNZ

* Born: Sept. 20, 1961, Los Angeles

* Residence: Palo Alto

* Current position: Full-time candidate for governor, on leave from managing his small software company.

* Education: Bachelor’s degrees in physics and history, Harvard University. Phi Beta Kappa. Recipient of a Churchill Science Fellowship to Cambridge University in England, where he studied quantum gravitation under Stephen Hawking.

* Career highlights: In the late 1980s, Unz took a leave of absence from Stanford University, where he was enrolled in a Ph.D. program in theoretical physics. He worked as an associate at a New York City mortgage finance company. In 1988, he founded Wall Street Analytics Inc., a financial services software company.

* Family: Unmarried

The Record

Ron Unz has no public record and brings an unusual, if not unique, background to his quest for California’s top public office. He has a strong record of academic and intellectual achievement. His IQ has been estimated at 214–what one expert calls “one in a million”–and as a teen-ager he won first place in the national Westinghouse talent search competition for a paper on black holes. He is a physicist as well as an expert on the Spartan naval empire.

After working for a New York City mortgage finance company, Unz founded his own small firm that sells specialized computer programs to Wall Street firms. The firm has become highly successful during the last six years and has made Unz a wealthy man.

Although he has no political experience, he says he has long had an interest in politics and has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative think tanks and causes.

Unz says his years in the business world have prepared him well to govern California. “In terms of the sectors of the American economy that create wealth, I have more experience than the other four candidates together, times a factor of a few,” he said.

The Speech: In His Own Words

I believe that the Republican Party stands for clear principles and firm ideas–smaller government, lower taxes, fewer regulations and traditional values–and that Pete Wilson stands for nothing except his political ambition.

Over the past three years, Pete Wilson and the Democrats have enacted the largest state tax increase in American history, deepening our recession and destroying jobs. Pete Wilson and the Democrats have led our Golden State to the brink of ruin. A choice between Pete Wilson and the Democrats means no choice at all for the people of California.

Unlike Pete Wilson, I have not abandoned the mainstream of the Republican Party . . . and its basic principles. . . . Under Ronald Reagan, these were the ideas which swept the nation and the world. I am the Republican candidate for governor.

Unlike Pete Wilson, my affiliation with the Republican Party is not hereditary: I come from a family of Democrats. But when that former Democrat Ronald Reagan transformed the Republican Party into the party of the ordinary working people of America, it became my party.

Unlike Pete Wilson, I didn’t attend an elite prep school, but received my education in the public schools of Los Angeles, back when they still provided an outstanding education for all of our children, rich and poor alike. It was this education which provided me with the tools of opportunity I needed to achieve economic success. But today, I am disgusted by the decay of our school system.

Unlike Pete Wilson, I don’t believe we should raise taxes again and again, until our entrepreneurs and small businesses are faced with some of the highest tax rates in America, driving our jobs and prosperity to other states. . . .

Unlike Pete Wilson, who has been on government and political payrolls for almost 30 years as a lifelong career politician, I come from the private business sector, the part of our economy which actually creates the wealth, provides the jobs and pays the taxes. I understand the value of money and the long hours required to earn it. I reject the waste that is routinely accepted by the special interest politicians who don’t understand what it’s like to earn a living in the real world.

Unlike Pete Wilson, who has little or no comprehension of the industries of tomorrow, I come from a scientific and technological background. I know that California’s future prosperity cannot be based merely upon jobs to build and maintain Pete Wilson’s endless array of future prisons.

I know that the high-technology industries of tomorrow such as computers, telecommunications, biotechnology and the entertainment industry can be the foundation of California’s prosperity. I see that the widespread adoption of telecommuting could make our freeway traffic jams a thing of the past. . . .

My grandparents came to California in the 1920s and 1930s as poor European immigrants, willing to work hard to provide a better life for their children.

I am a native-born Californian who remembers the hope and optimism and endless sense of possibility which the California Dream once meant to us. Our state has the finest climate, enormous natural beauty, and tremendous scientific and technological resources unequaled any place in the world.

The primary obstacle on our road to recovery is the deep failure of our own overgrown state government. Join with me in overcoming this one obstacle, and together we can restore the Golden State which we all remember.

SPORT

The Sports Report: Lakers sale doesn’t make any sense

Aug 13, 2026 Sports Desk

Lakers sale makes no sense

From Bill Plaschke: The Lakers are being sold … again?

The Lakers are being sold … by the Dodgers owner who was supposed to save them?

The Lakers are being sold … to one guy who owns an underachieving women’s professional soccer team and another guy who owns a piece of the hated San Francisco Giants?

What in the name of Luka is going on here?

Los Angeles sports fans awoke Wednesday to the news that one of their two crown jewels was being sold for the second time in a year, a transaction valued at $12.5 billion and accompanied by at least that many worries.

This doesn’t feel good. This doesn’t feel right. Something stinks here, and it might just be the future of a franchise that once seemed in such good hands.

On Wednesday it was stunningly and ingloriously fumbled, and for what?

There are two main unknowns here, and both should send shivers through a Laker fan base that could be watching their team become the Portland Trail Blazers.

First, why did Mark Walter sell just 10 months after buying? Yes, he made a $2.5 billion profit, but 10 months? Who owns a major sports franchise for just 10 months?

Second, what sort of owners will Bob Iger and Josh Kushner be? Iger is known for running Disney, and Kushner is known for running with President Trump’s son-in-law, who happens to be Kushner’s brother, Jared.

So crazy. So scary.

Bob Iger, Joshua Kushner to buy Lakers from Mark Walter’s ownership group for $12.5 billion

Swanson: Bob Iger could be the Imagineer to lead the Lakers back to glory

New Lakers co-owner Joshua Kushner is a lifelong Democrat with deep interest in sports

What Bob Iger’s Angel City ownership can illuminate about his impending Lakers acquisition

Lakers begin NBA Cup play at Warriors on Oct. 30

Buying the Lakers cements Bob Iger’s longtime dream of owning major sports franchises

Mark Walter has no plans to sell Dodgers after unloading Lakers

Dodgers sweep the Royals

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer adjusted his cap and glanced into the stands as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.

In the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals, completing a sweep at Dodger Stadium, Lauer held the Royals to two runs (one earned) in 6 ⅓ innings.

“It was really nice,” Lauer said, noting how much more enjoyable it was to pitch well at Dodger Stadium for the home team, instead of the opposition. “It always makes you feel good walking off the mound and having people appreciate what you did out there.”

The Dodgers (73-48) got home runs from Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Hunter Feduccia.

The Dodgers, with a short bullpen after playing extra innings twice in four games, needed Lauer to pitch deep into the game.

That plan seemed to be in jeopardy as he labored through the first three innings, his pitch count climbing to 64. But the next three, he only gave up just one walk.

“Wasn’t getting a ton of swing out of zone,” Lauer said. “So mentally I just had to lock in a little bit more in-zone, make sure I was throwing quality pitches in zone, and not try to be so fine. Give myself more plate to work with and try to get some quick soft contact.”

Freddie Freeman gets a scare

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman tracked Royals hitter Isaac Collins’ fly ball through foul territory to just outside the visiting dugout at Dodger Stadium.

He had a plan. With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Freeman was going to lean over the rail to make the catch.

He shuffled, shifted his weight, and the ground disappeared out from under him.

“Obviously there was no rail,” a sore but apparently not seriously injured Freeman said after the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Royals.

Angels defeat the Rangers

Mike Trout had three hits and two RBIs, Jose Siri keyed a three-run sixth inning with a pinch-hit RBI double, and George Klassen earned his first major league win in the Angels’ 5-2 comeback victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

Klassen (1-1) gave up two runs and five hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one in his fourth career start. Angels reliever Blake Weiman threw a scoreless seventh before giving up two hits and striking out one in the eighth.

Ryan Watson replaced Weiman and escaped the two-on, one-out jam. Ben Joyce, who missed most of the past two seasons because of shoulder injuries, retired the side in order in the ninth for his fifth career save and first since Sept. 1, 2024.

What to watch for in Chargers’ first preseason game

From Joaquin Ruiz: Coach Jim Harbaugh said roughly 15 starters won’t play in the Chargers’ preseason opener against the Houston Texans, and there are several spots on the depth chart that still need to be decided.

“The preseason games will give us a window of insight into where everybody is,” Harbaugh said.

Here are five position groups to monitor when the Chargers face the Texans on Thursday at 5 p.m. PDT (CBS, NFL+).

Derek Carr says Bob Chesney is a winner

From Sam Farmer: His NFL playing career is over, but Derek Carr is far from done with football.

UCLA announced this week that it has hired Carr as a special advisor to football coach Bob Chesney, and that the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback will assist with the Bruins’ offensive staff in game-planning strategy.

“Coach Chesney is a leader of men,” said Carr, who was at Dodger Stadium on Monday evening and was on the field before the game. “So many guys get hired just based on scheme. This is a guy who stands up in front of the room and leads.”

“You can feel his presence,” Carr said of Chesney, hired in December after his rise to coaching prominence at Holy Cross then James Madison. “You can feel the team respond to him. … It wasn’t so much what he said, it was how he said it. He was so demanding of the team, yet so encouraging.

“He can demand, demand, demand, but also love them at the same time, to the point where they’re like, `OK, coach, whatever you want.’”

This day in sports history

1919 — Upset scores a win against Man o’ War in the Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga. The defeat is Big Red’s only loss in 21 starts.

1933 — Gene Sarazen wins the PGA Championship by defeating Willie Goggin 5 and 4 in the final round.

1935 — The first roller derby begins in Chicago by promoter Leo Seltzer.

1987 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee equals the world record in the women’s long jump — 24 feet, 5½ inches — in the Pan American Games at Indianapolis. She matches the mark set in 1986 by Heike Dreschler of East Germany.

1995 — Cuba’s Ana Quirot, severely burned in a 1993 kitchen accident, wins the 800 meters at the world championships at Gothenburg, Sweden.

1995 — Steve Elkington shoots a final-round 64 and birdies the first playoff hole to beat Colin Montgomerie and win the PGA Championship. The 64 is the lowest final round by a PGA Championship winner.

1997 — Wilson Kipketer topples Sebastian Coe’s 16-year-old record in the 800 meters, finishing in 1 minute, 41.24 seconds in Zurich, Switzerland. Haile Gebrselassie also shatters his own 5,000 record with a time of 12 minutes, 41.86 seconds.

2002 — Natalie Coughlin breaks the 100-meter backstroke world record, timed in 59.58 seconds at the U.S. national championships. She is the first American to hold the world record since Catherine Ferguson in 1966.

2008 — Michael Phelps swims into history as the winningest Olympic athlete with his 10th and 11th career gold medals and five world records in five events at the Beijing Games. He wins the 200-meter butterfly and swims leadoff for the U.S. 800 freestyle relay team.

2016 — The U.S. women’s 4×100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel — winners at the Rio Games — delivers the nation’s 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history. Michael Phelps closes the Rio Olympics with a gold medal in the butterfly leg of the 4×100 medley relay. Phelps finishes his career with 28 medals, having won five golds and a silver at these games.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1910 — The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates played to an 8-8 tie. Each team had 38 at-bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, two errors, five strikeouts, three walks, one hit batsman and one passed ball.

1921 — George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns became the first batter in American League history to hit for the cycle twice. Sisler went 5-for-5 and drove in three runs in a 7-5, 10-inning win over the Detroit Tigers.

1921 — John “Mule” Watson of the Boston Braves pitched two complete-game victories over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1931 — Tony Cuccinello of the Cincinnati Reds had six hits in six at-bats in the first game of a doubleheader at Boston. Cuccinello had a triple, two doubles and three singles to knock in five runs as the Reds won 17-3. Cuccinello hit a three-run homer in the eighth of the nightcap to give the Reds a 4-2 win.

1939 — The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics 21-0 to equal the major-league record for lopsided shutouts. Every batter in the Yankees lineup hit safely. Joe DiMaggio and Babe Dahlgren had two home runs apiece, each hitting an inside-the-parker. Pitcher Red Ruffing had four hits and drove in three runs.

1948 — Satchel Paige, 42, pitched his first major league complete game against the Chicago White Sox. Paige gave up five hits en route to 5-0 Cleveland victory.

1957 — Milwaukee pitcher Lew Burdette hit his first two home runs to lead the Braves to a 12-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

1969 — Jim Palmer of the Orioles, plagued by arm trouble the year before, threw an 8-0 no-hitter against the Oakland A’s in Baltimore.

1979 — St. Louis’ Lou Brock reached 3,000 hits with an infield hit off Chicago Cubs pitcher Dennis Lamp. St. Louis won 3-2.

2004 — Kansas City rookies Abraham Nunez and John Buck hit grand slams to lead the Royals past the Oakland Athletics 10-3.

2005 — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera blew his first save since April 6 in a 7-5 win over Texas. Rivera had converted a career-best 31 consecutive saves before allowing Kevin Mench’s two-run tying single in the ninth.

2013 — Paul Goldschmidt hit the first pitch of the 11th inning for a game-ending home run after leading off the ninth with a tying homer, to help Arizona beat Baltimore 4-3 with a winning blast for the second straight night.

2015 — The Toronto Blue Jays won their 11th straight game, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2. The AL East leaders also won 11 in a row in June, becoming the first team with winning streaks of at least 11 since Cleveland in 1954.

2016 — Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge became the first teammates to hit home runs in the first at-bats of their major league debuts in the same game, sparking the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win over Tampa Bay.

2018 — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader for the Atlanta Braves.

2020 — Mookie Betts hits three home runs (the 6th of his career) in an 11-2 win over the Padres. the three home run game ties Betts with Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa for the most all-time although Betts reached the total in 813 games while Mize needed 1,884 and Sosa 2,364.

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.

POLITICS

435 arrests, $12 million in OT: LAPD issues report on ICE protests

Aug 12, 2026 Politics Desk

A new LAPD report released Tuesday blamed poor planning and coordination for issues with the department’s response to protests that erupted on city streets last summer in opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

But apart from identifying those problems, the report concluded that police officers performed well in the face of “unprecedented” unrest that sometimes devolved into violence and vandalism.

Missing from the 62-page report — at least in the view of some longtime department observers — was any reflection about officers’ use of less-lethal weapons that left hundreds of people injured and drew strong condemnations from human rights groups.

The report largely blamed protesters for instigating violence and injuring officers, saying “agitators” intent on taking advantage of the disorder made it impossible to avoid using force.

The report said the LAPD was not prepared to deal with the protective equipment and “improvised weaponry” employed by some protesters, including people with oven mitts who picked up and lobbed tear gas canisters back in the direction of officers and others who used leaf blowers to redirect the gas.

During the department’s presentation of the report, one police commissioner, Jeff Skobin, pointed out that demonstrators and journalists who spoke at the meeting felt as though their perspectives weren’t reflected in the report whatsoever. He suggested that LAPD officials consider reaching out to journalists or press organizations as the department reevaluates its media policy.

Commission President Rasha Gerges Shields said the department could have examined whether reforms that were called for in 2020 had been implemented — and areas where the department still needed to improve.

“I just want to make sure that this isn’t just the end-all, be-all of this conversation,” she said.

In response, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the report had considered past lessons learned, but the “unprecedented” nature of the protests justified the department’s actions.

“The level of violence — I have been doing this for 45 years, I have not seen that here or anywhere else in the country,” he said, noting that nearly 50 officers were injured.

The report said officers were targeted with rocks, bottles, commercial-grade fireworks and Molotov cocktails. Timely communication was a concern at times, the report said, with the department lacking a necessary number of radio wave frequencies.

When less-lethal weapons proved ineffective, the department deployed tear gas on two occasions, June 8 and 14, to disperse “violent groups” and restore order. It was the first time the department had used the measure since at least the 1970s. The decision to use gas “reflected the extreme conditions faced at the height of the unrest,” the report said. The report doesn’t specify who authorized the deployment of the gas.

But the gas also created tactical challenges, since many patrol and Metropolitan Division officers lacked protective masks, increasing their risk of exposure. The report said the chemical agents were “the only viable option to reestablish control.”

In just two weeks of protests, the report said, the department spent $17.47 million in personnel costs, including $12.14 million for overtime. Ultimately, the report concluded, the department “contained the unrest” without any loss of life or “major breaches of critical infrastructure.”

Some critics said the report failed to answer basic questions, such as how many less-lethal rounds were fired or how many officers were disciplined for misconduct.

Like past after-action reports, the review was hyper-focused on the threats faced by officers, critics said. But, they noted, it had little to say about how officers’ use of less-lethal weapons — sometimes in clear violation of the department’s own policies — that were widely documented documented on social media and in news accounts.

“If the department can’t even recognize the possibility that they might have a problem with how they police protests, after last summer, how can anyone expect them to do anything differently next time?” said Peter Bibring, a civil rights attorney who previously served as director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

According to the city attorney’s office, more than 120 claims for damages have been filed against the city in connection to police actions during pro-immigration protests as of April. The city is still facing lawsuits stemming from the 2020 protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The latest spate of civil actions could tie the city up in costly litigation for years to come.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, the 45-minute public comment period was extended to accommodate dozens of speakers, many of whom criticized the report for whitewashing what they described as the department’s heavy-handed response to the protests.

Despite years of costly lawsuits, oversight measures and promises by leaders to rein in indiscriminate use of force during protests, officers were shown on video last year trampling demonstrators on horseback and aiming so-called less-lethal launchers at people’s heads in a violation of department policy, speakers said. None of that, observers said, was mentioned in the report.

Others argued that the report seems to cast members of the media as nuisances to be dealt with, while ignoring instances in which journalists were targeted by law enforcement.

“It’s an insult,” said Nick Stern, a British news photographer who is suing the Los Angeles County after being struck by sheriff’s deputies while covering a protest in Paramount. “Journalists only show up as logistical problems.”

Another speaker noted the inflammatory language used in the report seemed to justify the aggressive tactics by describing protesters as operating in “cells,” likening them to Al-Qaeda.

Lt. Joseph Fransen, the study’s chief author, told the Commission that he took inspiration from the federal government’s 9/11 after-action report, which dissected mistakes leading up to the terrorist attack.

“These aren’t necessarily points of failure, these are just lessons to be learned in the future,” Fransen said of his report.

Officials have promised thorough investigations of all uses of force. The department limited its use of the launchers after a federal judge issued an injunction in January, but has deployed other types of crowd control weapons in subsequent protests. The judge ruled that officers have repeatedly violated previous court orders that allow the weapon to be used only to subdue protesters who pose a threat of violence.

The report found that, on several nights, the LAPD didn’t have enough personnel to process and transport all the people who were arrested. Between June 7-16, 2025, the department made 435 protest-related arrests, including 182 on June 10 alone. Three out of every four arrest was for unlawful assembly, while 16 arrests were made for violent crimes, including assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer or attempted murder of a police officer. Most people were released on citation. Four-fifths of those arrested came from the county, while others traveled from surrounding counties or outside the state.

POLITICS

Trump used elaborate ruse to fly out of Turkey following summit because of Iran threat, report says

Aug 11, 2026 Politics Desk

President Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an alternate military aircraft while the White House made it appear that the president was flying on Air Force One, the Washington Post reported.

The Post said Monday that the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington from the annual gathering of leaders of North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.

The Post cited material reviewed by the newspaper, a U.S. official familiar with the operation and another person with knowledge of the president’s travel. The Associated Press has not independently confirmed the report.

Trump had flown to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.

The president at the time said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some U.S. troops based in eastern England a chance to check out the new Air Force One.

In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.

However, according to the Post report, after boarding the legacy Air Force One jet, he was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies. Trump flew to Mildenhall on that smaller jet.

The White House did not respond directly to questions about the Post report of the secret operation to whisk Trump out of the country on a third aircraft, or the reported elaborate ruse to make it appear he was on the baby blue Air Force One jet flying to Mildenhall.

“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.

The U.S. Secret Service declined to comment. The Air Force, which maintains the fleet of executive travel aircraft, referred questions to the White House.

While Trump was in Turkey, the U.S. military conducted a series of large strikes in Iran in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region.

The New York Times and CBS News reported last month that intelligence officials had raised concerns about a potential attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions and the decision not to use the newly inaugurated aircraft gifted to Trump by Qatar for the first leg of Trump’s trip home from Ankara.

The swap had spurred questions about the security of the Qatar-provided aircraft, and Trump said last month after the trip that it would undergo additional upgrades.

Cheung on Monday maintained that the new, Qatari-gifted plane was “a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff.”

The new Post report on clandestinely putting Trump on a third aircraft and quietly whisking him out of the country adds a fresh layer to just how seriously concerned U.S. security officials were about the threat against Trump during the ongoing war with Iran.

Paul Eckloff, a former special agent with the Secret Service, said such an unusual move could either reflect actionable intelligence or an abundance of caution given volatility in the region with the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

“I would not say unprecedented, but it is an unusual occurrence,” Eckloff told the Associated Press.

The Post reported that to exit that plane without being seen by those uninvolved in the operation, Trump and several aides stepped aboard an airport catering truck, which was elevated planeside using hydraulics and positioned at a door on the opposite side of Air Force One’s entrance.

The small group of reporters who thought they were traveling with Trump were advised to lower their window shades ahead of takeoff.

After arriving at Mildenhall, news photographers captured images of Trump getting off the presidential plane — suggesting he reboarded Air Force One out of sight of the pack of journalists who thought they were traveling with him.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for a congressional briefing on what happened.

“It is unprecedented and it is surreal,” he said Monday on CNN, calling the incident “downright scary.”

After the brief visit to the base at Mildenhall, Trump boarded the new Air Force One aircraft to fly the rest of the way to Washington.

During a gaggle with reporters aboard the aircraft, Trump was asked directly if there were any credible threats against Air Force One by Iran.

“Well, I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list before you,” Trump said. He added to the traveling reporters, “But if I go, you go.”

Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Aamer Madhani and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

SPORT

The Sports Report: Dodgers get back into the win column

Aug 11, 2026 Sports Desk

Dodgers defeat the Royals

From Sam Farmer: Tarik Skubal never located his best stuff Monday, missing the strike zone with his fastball far more frequently than usual.

The Dodgers found their way out of their recent downward spiral, though, and that was enough of a relief for their new ace and back-to-back Cy Young winner. Skubal pitched five innings, giving up four hits and three runs. He struck out six.

“I kind of sprayed the ball a little bit,” Skubal said after a 6-5 win over Kansas City in his Dodger Stadium debut. “That’s kind of unusual for me, especially with my command, but I thought I competed well and gave our team a chance to win.”

That was a welcome change for the down-on-their-luck Dodgers, who entered having lost eight of nine, including sweeps by the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers had lost seven in a row before finally winning Saturday at Arizona, then promptly resumed the slide Sunday with a loss to the Diamondbacks.

So it’s hard to know whether Monday’s win marked a turnaround or simply another tourniquet to pause the bleeding. Tuesday, it’s Blake Snell’s turn. He underwent surgery on his left elbow and hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since May 9.

The Dodgers (71-48) are hoping for an encore performance at the plate, where Monday there were some familiar flickers of life.Freddie Freeman had three of their 10 hits, driving in two runs. Shohei Ohtani had two hits and scored twice. And Max Muncy — on his bobblehead night — had a bases-loaded double that gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead in the sixth and ignited the antsy crowd.

Angels lose to the Rangers

Brandon Nimmo singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 4-1 on Monday night to snap a five-game road losing streak.

Texas (60-59) has won five of its last six overall and is a half-game behind AL West-leading Houston.

Nimmo and Elias Díaz each finished with two hits and an RBI.

Peyton Gray (6-0) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win. Jacob Latz worked a scoreless 10th for his 23rd save.

Mike Trout hit a 418-foot shot for the Angels (45-74), his 20th home run this season, in the first inning. The three-time AL MVP was one for two and walked three times, one intentional.

Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr has joined UCLA’s coaching staff as a special advisor to coach Bob Chesney.

The Bruins announced the hiring Monday of the 35-year-old Carr, who is volunteering in his first major coaching role.

The longtime Raiders starter will help Chesney and the Bruins’ offensive staff with game planning and strategy, and he will work with UCLA‘s quarterbacks.

“His experience, leadership and football knowledge will be an incredible resource for our coaching staff and student-athletes,” Chesney said in a statement. “What stands out most is his passion for the game and his commitment to developing young people. Derek will have a tremendous impact on our players and is a great addition to our program.”

This day in sports history

1919 — Green Bay Packers football club founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau — named after sponsor Indian Packing Company.

1943 — Volo Song, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.

1948 — Demon Hanover, driven by Harrison Hoyt, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.

1974 — Lee Trevino beats Jack Nicklaus by one stroke to capture the PGA Championship.

1979 — Peter Haughton wins his second International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway by driving Doublemint to victory.

1984 — Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens′ 1936 feat, winning his 4th Olympic gold medal as part of the US 4 x 100m relay team; world record (37.83).

1984 — Britain’s Sebastian Coe sets an Olympic record in the 1,500 meter with a 3:32.53 winning time.

1985 — Hubert Green beats defending champion Lee Trevino by two strokes to take the PGA Championship.

1986 — Bob Tway’s bunker shot on the final hole gives him the PGA Championship over Greg Norman.

1991 — John Daly, the last alternate to make the field, wins the 73rd PGA Championship with a 1-under 71 to finish three strokes ahead of Bruce Lietzke.

1995 — Michael Johnson wins the 200 meters in 19.79 seconds in the World Track & Field Championships to become the first runner to capture the 200 and 400 meters in a major championship.

1996 — Mark Brooks makes a 5-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Kenny Perry to win the PGA Championship.

2002 — Karrie Webb’s latest comeback establishes a new standard of excellence on the LPGA Tour: the Super Slam — winning the four tournaments currently regarded as majors as well as the du Maurier, which lost its major status in 2000 after 21 years. Webb shoots a 6-under 66, rallying from three strokes behind to the first three-time winner in the Women’s British Open.

2008 — The US 4 x 100m freestyle replay team of Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones & Jason Lezak beats France by 8 seconds to win gold and smash world record at the Beijing Olympics.

2012 — Usain Bolt is a perfect 3 for 3 at the London Olympics — three events, three victories — just like Beijing four years ago. Almost even with the last U.S. runner when he gets the baton for the anchor leg of the 4×100 meters, Bolt steadily pulls away down the stretch to cap his perfect Summer Games by leading Jamaica to victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds. Allyson Felix wins her third gold medal, giving the United States a 20-meter lead after the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay. DeeDee Trotter, Felix, Francena McCorory and Sanya Richards-Ross bring home the victory for the Americans’ fifth straight Olympic title in the event.

2012 — Candace Parker scores 21 points and the heavily favored U.S. women’s basketball team wins a fifth straight Olympic gold medal with an 86-50 victory over France.

2013 — Ashton Eaton of the United States wins the decathlon world championship title to add to his Olympic gold medal. He completes his collection with a season-leading total of 8,809 points in a 10-event competition.

2013 — Jason Dufner wins his first major title with a two-stroke victory over Jim Furyk at the PGA Championship.

2016 — Michael Phelps wins his fourth gold medal of the Rio Olympics and 22nd overall with a victory in the 200-meter individual medley. It was the 13th individual gold and 26 medals overall.

2016 — Simone Biles soars to the all-around title in women’s gymnastics at the Rio Olympics. Her total of 62.198 is well clear of silver medalist and “Final Five” teammate Aly Raisman and Russian bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina.

2017 — The NFL suspends Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott six games after a yearlong NFL investigation of his domestic violence case in Ohio.

2021 — Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi confirms signing a rich 2-year contract with French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain after leaving FC Barcelona.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1907 — In the second game of a doubleheader, shortened by agreement, Ed Karger of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a seven-inning perfect game, beating the Boston Braves 4-0.

1926 — Tris Speaker of Cleveland hit his 700th career double but the Indians lost to the Chicago White Sox, 7-2. The double came in the third inning off Joe Edwards.

1929 — Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run in the second inning off Willis Hudlin at Cleveland’s League Park. The homer was Ruth’s 30th of the year, but it wasn’t enough as the Indians beat the Yankees 6-5.

1951 — Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Giants 4-0, dropping the Giants 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers.

1961 — Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves scattered six hits to beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, for his 300th career victory.

1970 — Philadelphia’s Jim Bunning beat the Houston Astros 6-5 to become the first pitcher to win 100 games in both leagues since Cy Young.

1980 — Reggie Jackson hits his 400th career home run, off Britt Burns, in the Yankees’ 3-1 victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.

1986 — Cincinnati player-manager Pete Rose, 45, singled four times and doubled to set a NL record with the 10th five-hit game of his career. Rose drove in three runs in a 13-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, to move one ahead of Max Carey for the record.

1987 — Mark McGwire of the Athletics broke Al Rosen’s AL rookie record by hitting his 38th home run in Oakland’s 8-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

2004 — Randy Wolf homered twice and threw seven solid innings to lead Philadelphia to a 15-4 victory over Colorado. Wolf went 3-for-3 and scored three runs.

2007 — Rick Ankiel homered twice and drove in three runs, the latest power display by the former pitcher, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dodgers 6-1.

2010 — Arizona tied a major league record by hitting four consecutive home runs, with Adam LaRoche, Miguel Montero, Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew all connecting in the fourth inning of an 8-2 win over Milwaukee.

2013 — After Mariano Rivera blew a third straight save for the first time in his famed career, Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the ninth inning to give the New York Yankees a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Rivera with a record 643 saves, had never failed three in a row in 936 relief appearances.

2018 — Oakland’s Ramon Laureano pulled off a spectacular double play and the Athletics beat the Angels 7-0. With one out and Eric Young Jr. on first, Laureano raced into the gap in left-center to haul in Justin Upton’s drive. The rookie center fielder then uncorked a 320-foot throw on a fly to first base to complete the double play. Marcus Semien homered twice and Khris Davis also connected for Oakland.

2022 — The Cubs win the second annual Field of Dreams Game, played in a temporary ballpark near Dyersville, IA, next to the site where the eponymous movie was shot, 4-2 over the Reds. Nick Madrigal leads the way, going 3 for 5 as both teams wear retro uniforms for the occasion. Before the game, Ken Griffey Sr. sets the tone by playing a friendly game of catch with his son, Junior, soon joined by a group of kids and then legendary players from both teams in a scene straight out of the iconic movie.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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