In the evening, Nike has flown in a custom-made outdoor volleyball court so Sherman Oaks Notre Dame can host Harvard-Westlake in a 7 p.m. girls’ volleyball match played on the Notre Dame baseball field. There will be food trucks, music and other surprises.
Girls Volleyball: Pools Are Set For “The Classic” 39th Annual Venice Invitational Tournament. 20 @CIFLACS Teams Will Compete Across 3-Sites… Venice, Le Lycée & University. Action Begins Friday At 3:00PM With Several Intriguing Opening-Day Matchups. #RepTheCitypic.twitter.com/2zgrqTKrmK
There’s also the Venice girls volleyball tournament taking place at Venice High and the Woodbridge Classic cross-country meet at the Great Park in Irvine.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
SAN DIEGO — As dusk approached San Diego’s seaside enclave of Ocean Beach, its Sunset Cliffs bustled on a recent Friday evening.
Two engaged couples posed for wedding photos in between joggers, dog walkers and sightseers who clamored around Osprey Street to enjoy the day’s majestic sunset.
It was a deceptively idyllic setting for what authorities say is continued lawbreaking and peril, which authorities just can’t seem to quash.
Share via
The lawbreakers were gathered this day on a cliff and a nearby arch, a crowd of around 50 young people — 14- to 20-year-olds, mostly males. Buoyed by a youthful sense of invincibility, they dared one another to leap, waiting for another to move, like emperor penguin chicks before a first arctic plunge.
After a few minutes, there was a dive off the arch, followed by a cannonball from the next person, a backflip from a third and then other more spectacular and daring stunts from the flock.
No one was injured that day, but that hasn’t always been the case.
People jump into the water at Sunset Cliffs. San Diego officials urge visitors to avoid jumping, but that doesn’t stop tourists and thrill-seekers.
At least three individuals were rescued after suffering injuries this summer at Sunset Cliffs, leading police to ramp up enforcement as locals debate the need for safety versus the merits of youthful rites of passage.
California dreaming
Back home in Iowa, Marcus English said he’d probably be hosting bonfires or hitting up local pools in mid- to late August. Instead, the 17-year-old was at the cliffs enjoying his last few days off before beginning his senior year of high school.
“There are some places to jump, some lakes in Iowa,” he said, “but nothing like this.”
English wangled a stop during a weeklong family trip to California that included national park visits to stop by Sunset Cliffs, which he saw on social media.
The vistas and cool breezes represented quintessential California to the Midwesterner, equal parts “what I saw on Instagram and a movie.”
English spread out his arms, squatted and then leaped before taking a roughly 15-foot plunge from the arch into the shallow waters. He jumped multiple times on consecutive days.
“It’s just so freeing,” he said of his leaps. “There’s nothing like it.”
‘Hopefully I can walk again’
Jumping happens at several places throughout the cliffs.
The most common launch point is from the arch, with drops ranging from 15 to 20 feet depending on the water level, said a San Diego Police Department spokesperson.
The more exotic and dangerous plunges happen from the adjacent cliffs, with youngsters jumping from 20 to 40 feet, and some as much as 50 feet.
What makes the latter leap more treacherous is a rock ledge that juts out about 10 to 15 feet from the cliffs. Jumpers have little room to run and gain momentum (unlike at the arch) and must clear that formation before hitting the water.
This summer’s safety debate reached a fever pitch in late July. A 17-year-old jumper, according to social media footage, struck the ledge with his backside and crashed into the water.
For his part, the unnamed 17-year-old said in a since-deleted social media post that he suffered six fractured vertebrae and a badly bruised tailbone and needed nine stitches in his foot. The Times could not independently reach him.
Spectators watch people jump into the water from the arch at Sunset Cliffs.
“For everyone who wants to tell me I’m an idiot for doing that, trust me, I’m aware,” he said. “Hopefully I can walk again, but I’m just trying to take it slow.”
Sunset Cliffs have attracted visitors and tragedies
Injuries and deaths from jumping at the cliffs date to the 19th century, San Diego Reader noted earlier this year.
A schoolboy named Waldham slipped off the cliffs after a scrum with friends and broke his arm in 1881. One of the earliest deaths came in 1926, when a 3-year-old wandered from his home on Narragansett Avenue and fell to his demise.
Police and lifeguards were unsure as to the most recent jumping fatality, with one official pointing to the 2019 death of 15-year-old Anthony Womack, a National City resident.
Brook Hjelm, the mother of 23-year-old Brian Wilson, who died swimming at Sunset Cliffs in 2015, told the local CBS station she would like to see photos of those who had died posted along with danger signs in the area. “Put signs up of our young men and women that we lost,” Hjelm said. “Let them see the face of something that associates them with what truly is at stake.”
Tracking the action
Attention surrounding Sunset Cliffs injuries ebbs and flows much like the current, according to Frank Gormlie, a longtime San Diego County resident who tracked incidents more than a decade ago.
Gormlie, the founder and editor of Ocean Beach’s online newspaper, OB Rag, scoured media archives and spoke with residents.
“It had gotten so bad that I wanted to chronicle what was going on,” Gormlie said.
His research documented 11 deaths and dozens of injuries during that time span. Those statistics came from jumps, along with vehicular, climbing and health incidents.
Some incidents had little to do with jumping, such a surfer smashing into the rocks. But a 43-year-old woman slipped and fell to her death in 2015, while two jumpers needed crane-assisted rescues after suffering serious injuries, according to Gormlie.
The Sunset Cliffs siren’s song
“People have been visiting the Sunset Cliffs for years because it has a beauty that shocks,” Gormlie said. “But I think social media has found its way to the next generation of adventure seekers who don’t know about the dangers.”
The Sunset Cliffs area is Instagram-ready, and social media has drawn some visitors looking to brave the leap.
Gormlie said swimming and diving are local rites of passage. He noted that Ocean Beach residents commonly “shoot the OB pier” — surfing under that the town’s pier — a risky stunt that Gormlie did as an 18-year-old before shipping off for college.
Gormlie jumped from the cliffs in 2014, shortly after turning 65.
He wrote about his experience through an anonymous post, saying he “did it for all those guys and women my age who drive by every day and secretly wish they could jump off too.”
All rescues involved San Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguards and personnel. The department shares jurisdiction of Sunset Cliffs with the San Diego Police Department and rangers with the city Department of Parks and Recreation, said Candace Hadley, Fire-Rescue public information officer.
Hadley wanted to remind potential jumpers that the act of leaping from the cliffs violates a San Diego municipal code and could result in fines of $100 or more. Frequent fliers could be smacked with $1,000 fines.
“Cliff jumping isn’t just illegal in San Diego, it’s extremely dangerous,” Hadley said. “One misstep could lead to a life-altering injury or worse.”
Her office tends to offer education on the dangers of jumping, she said, while San Diego police dealout penalties.
The problem of jumpers at Sunset Cliffs has been part of achallenging summer for the lifeguards, who have made 5,480 rescues across the 17 miles of San Diego coastline they patrol from June 1 to Sept. 1. Extreme heat has driven more people to the beach, and high surf fueled by Pacific tropical storms has added to the dangers.
The rescues have mostly been of swimmers not properly judging the strong currents. In a normal year, Hadley said, the lifeguards make about 7,500 to 8,000 rescues.
Sgt. Saum Poorsaleh, San Diego police public information officer, said his department had issued more than 50 citations at Sunset Cliffs and dispensed about 350 warnings, written and oral, since mid-June.
But he said the department is short-handed, and increasing enforcement permanently is not feasible.
“There are warning signs all over the cliffs noting the dangers, but people still jump,” Poorsaleh said. “Mix in social media — which is drawing in tourists from all over the country — and a young person’s feeling of invincibility and there’s a chance for trouble.”
Visitors have been jumping at the Ocean Beach location for decades. One local said he jumped after turning 65, calling it “irresistible.”
San Diego City Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who represents Ocean Beach, recently issued a statement reminding visitors “to prioritize safety and not jump from the cliffs.”
“The cliffs can be unpredictable,” she said, “and changing tides, strong currents, rough surf, and hidden rocks can quickly create life-threatening conditions.”
A longtime local tradition
Lyne Miller has lived all her life in Ocean Beach, where saltwater runs in locals’ veins and it’s not uncommon to see residents toting surfboard as they ride a bike or golf cart to the beach.
From a young age, Miller, 80, said she promised her mom that she “would never jump.”
Miller says the number of teens arriving at the beach, likely driven by social media, “is more than ever.”
But she acknowledged that locals had been jumping at Sunset Cliffs since at least the 1950s in surf-centric Ocean Beach.
“This is a playground for those who love the water, who love the ocean,” she said. “I hope if there’s a crackdown on jumping, it’s not harsh.
“I don’t necessarily feel negative about the jumpers,” she added. “I just wish they would be smarter and jump from safer spots at better times.”
An aspiring Los Angeles-area rapper was arrested on Wednesday and charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar check-cashing scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Ada William Obayuwana of Quartz Hill, who goes by “ColdheartedAC” and “AC,” and two others were charged in a 25-count federal grand jury indictment alleging that they illegally possessed more than 50 stolen U.S. Treasury checks and hundreds of other checks belonging to individuals and businesses worth more than $8.1 million, then cashed or attempted to cash them at lenders throughout Southern California.
Albert Tai Vu, of Westminster, and Cassandra Marie Murrillo, of San Diego, are the other two defendants charged in the case.
According to the indictment, between April 2022 and December 2023, the trio obtained the stolen checks, some containing tax refunds and veterans’ and Social Security Administration benefits, then forged endorsements or modified names and addresses to steal the money.
The trio is accused of opening bank accounts to receive the money. They also used business documents to impersonate the identities of the victims connected to the stolen checks and deposited the money into bank and credit union accounts across Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, the indictment says.
During this period, Obayuwana allegedly tried to cash at least three Treasury tax refund checks worth $382,109 and was successful in cashing one, withdrawing $229,109, federal authorities allege.
In December 2023, Obayuwana “possessed in his car in Oceanside more than 100 stolen or fraudulent checks, cumulatively worth more than $6.1 million,” states the indictment. Among the checks were 48 stolen Treasury checks worth some $2,555,417 in tax refunds, veterans’ benefits,and Social Security benefits.
Obayuwana was able to cash eight of them worth about $1.7 million, according to federal investigators.
Vu tried to cash at least six Treasury checks totaling $2.15 million and successfully cashed two tax fund refunds worth $772,159, the indictment says. He also allegedly cashed a pair of cashier’s checks, each valued at $250,000, at an Anaheim bank and used money from one to buy a Range Rover and the second to pay Murillo.
Murillo is accused of trying to cash at least two checks worth $60,193, successfully cashing one for $31,405.
Following his arrest, Obayuwana remains in federal custody. He is charged with nine counts of bank fraud and faces three counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Vu, who was arrested Thursday, is charged with five counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks, four counts of money laundering and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Murillo, who is expected to surrender to federal authorities in Los Angeles on Monday, is charged with an additional count of delivering stolen Treasury checks.
In June of last year, 66-year-old Walter and one of his holding companies, TWG Global, purchased a controlling interest in the Lakers for $10 billion, only to sell the franchise to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion this month.
Since then, questions have swirled about whether Walter will put other assets on the market in his fundraising bid, including the Dodgers, which he purchased as chief executive of Chicago investment firm Guggenheim Partners for $2.15 billion in 2012. Sources close to Walter say he’s not likely to sell.
To better understand this tangled story, we spoke with Times sports reporter Steve Henson about why he thinks Walter won’t put the Dodgers up for sale.
You’re reading the Essential California newsletter
Sign up to start every day with California’s most important stories.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
These dealings are “between entities with business or personal ties, including loans, sales and other transactions that can have legitimate reasons but pose potential conflicts of interest and typically require extra scrutiny,” Darmiento wrote.
More than $1 billion in financing to buy the Dodgers in 2012 came from insurance companies managed by Guggenheim Partners. The purchase was later vetted by state insurance regulators.
More on the related-party transactions
Investigators are checking whether billions of dollars’ worth of similar loans made by Walter’s companies were properly disclosed and that insurance companies were not over-leveraged.
Approximately $21 billion in loans not disclosed to state insurance regulators were made by two Delaware insurers Walter owns, according to ratings agency Fitch. The loans reportedly were made to companies with ties to Walter or his TWG Global holdings company.
The issue with these loans is they raise suspicions, according to Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant who spoke with Darmiento. Dubinsky worked on the Enron and Madoff cases.
Dubinsky said that from an audit standpoint, these types of transactions “are always more suspect to fraud” and manipulation since repayments can be delayed indefinitely.
The insurance industry’s tight regulations for money collected from premiums exists so that money is available for future claims. Regulators believe related-party transaction are a threat to that guarantee.
Henson reported that Walter owns a broad series of sports interests: English soccer Premier League team Chelsea, the Los Angeles Sparks WNBA team, the Cadillac Formula 1 racing team; a premier women’s tennis competition, the Billie Jean King Cup, and the entire Professional Women’s Hockey League.
He already sold the Lakers and Henson noted that there have been reports he’s putting his shares of Chelsea on the market.
So, why keep the Dodgers?
“No MLB team has ever been run as boldly as this team,” Henson said. “And the revenue from the Dodgers is relentless, from ticket sales, to international merchandise and including friendly [player] salary deferments that help keep money in-house.”
Since Walter and Co.’s takeover, the Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles after he and partners rescued the franchise from bankruptcy.
Walter noted that a sale of the Lakers, a franchise he’d barely owned for more than a year, was easier than one he’s already helmed for nearly 15 years.
“His identity is totally wrapped up with the Dodgers and this success saga,” Henson said. “It’s dear to his heart and having them to sell them would just tear him up.”
Amid all of this speculation, the boys in blue are attempting to become the first National League team (and third overall) to win three consecutive World Series titles this year.
The week’s biggest stories
(Carolyn Cole/Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
Trump administration policies and pushback
Artist and concert news
A final tribute
Television, advertising entertainment news
More news
Editor’s pick
More picks
Things to do
(Melody Xu/Los Angeles Times)
Today’s recipe
The San Juan Islands off Washington state has a much-loved clam chowder served at La Conner Brewing Co. in the tiny picturesque town of La Conner, Wash. The dish is spicy enough and not so thick with cream or flour and is a standout in the clam chowder world, according to Times reader Mary Ann Mollenkamp.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Out on a wooden platform extending over San Diego’s Mission Bay, young women sway from side to side, riding an imaginary wave to the beats. Steps away, a man does the “Crank Dat” dance as a young child bounces on his shoulders in gleeful entrancement. Vendors weave through the packed crowd hawking cans of beer, hard seltzer and jalapeño-tequila and cherry vodka Jell-O shots, served in plastic syringes.
“Take a sip of water now,” Soulja Boy tells the crowd after performing his booty-shaking anthem “Donk.” He still has an hour to go.
Share via
Much of the audience looks like clones of the star rapper, dressed in extremely oversized white tees, baggy denim, thick gold chains, tilted snapbacks and white-framed sunglasses with words written across the lenses. As the sun dips below the horizon, a fleet of onlookers on jet skis and boats idle on the water to catch a peek of the vivacious scene.
The concert has all of the energy of a 2000s MTV “Spring Break” or BET Spring Bling special. Except here, parents can bring their kids along for the festivities and check out a penguin exhibit or ride a roller coaster all in the same night.
“Usually I just come here for the rides and watching animals, but the concert is time for the parents to have fun,” says Ricky Roman of San Diego.
It’s all part of SeaWorld San Diego’s Summer Spectacular, an annual concert series that just wrapped up at the park’s Bayside Amphitheater. The lineup was packed with beloved hip-hop and R&B throwback artists like Too $hort, Ginuwine, Ashanti, Warren G and E-40. What began as a way to reintroduce locals and entice newcomers to the 62-year-old marine park, which is known for its shows and programming focusing on aquatic life, has turned into a multigenerational phenomenon and one of the season’s most anticipated events.
Paul Wall co-headlined a July concert with Soulja Boy at SeaWorld San Diego’s summer concert series.
“The people watching is crazy,” says Bootleg Kev, a hip-hop radio personality who hosted the recent Soulja Boy concert, which was co-headlined by Houston rapper Paul Wall.
He describes the vibe of the event. “It’s in the middle of the water, Shamu is like feet away. There’s a lot of parents in here getting twisted. There’s hella babies.” (It should be noted that Summer Spectacular does not feature killer whales or any live animals.)
Though SeaWorld has hosted the event since 2019, it’s taken years to find the right formula and the concert series has only recently taken off.
“There were certain acts that just filled the house and certain ones that didn’t,” says the park’s president, Tyler Carter, adding that early performances swung drastically from hip-hop to Christian rock entertainers. But after hosting a successful show with rappers and teen sensations Bow Wow and Soulja Boy (who’ve performed at SeaWorld multiple times), Carter and his team wondered, “How do we lean into the nostalgia that Southern California millennials love?” he says. The answer was hip-hop, R&B and pop acts from the late 1990s and early aughts.
Their hypothesis was confirmed when footage of a Ying Yang Twins performance went viral in 2025. Executives had found an unexpected pairing that works: Inviting people to the theme park — a place many associate with childhood and simpler times — to experience the music they grew up listening to.
SeaWorld has faced a number of challenges since the 2010s, many stemming from the intense public criticism over its captive orca breeding program, which the company ended in 2016. SeaWorld’s parent company, United Parks & Resorts, has reported a general decline in attendance, revenue and earnings across its parks, most recently in the 2025 fiscal year. Park officials say the concert series, which also takes place at SeaWorld’s Orlando and San Antonio locations, has helped boost ticket sales and brand awareness.
What helps make the event effective is its lower barrier of entry. While tickets to throwback concerts or festivals can easily cost upward of $100 a ticket, SeaWorld’s shows are included with a regular park ticket (starts at $99.99) or an annual pass. Seating is first come, first served, but guests can purchase a reserved spot to guarantee a prime spot. Given that the shows happen every week throughout the summer, many annual pass holders attend each one.
“It’s lowkey a free concert,” says pass holder Juanita Jones, a San Diego resident who was wearing a custom graphic tee with her and Soulja Boy’s faces imprinted on it. She and her friends get a personalized shirt made for every show.
Although SeaWorld has been hosting the summer shows since 2019, they have only recently taken off.
Ricky Roman grew up going to SeaWorld and now takes his two children to the park on a weekly basis. But on this day, which was also his 29th birthday, he decided to leave his kids at home.
“Usually I just come here for the rides and watching animals, but the concert is time for the parents to have fun,” he says.
Jackson flew in from Washington, D.C., with a group of college friends to celebrate a 40th birthday at the show, after seeing several unfiltered videos from the past shows — most notably a clip of a mother twerking on a bleacher seat with a baby strapped to her chest in a carrier during a Ying Yang Twins performance in June.
SeaWorld executives encourage attendees to come early or stay after the concert to check out the many animal exhibits at the marine park.
“We’re millennials and we’ve been seeing this on TikTok. We were like, ‘It’s starting to look like it’s getting out of hand. Let’s go before this gets out of control,’” she says, laughing.
While some people go solely for the concerts, others come early or stay late to explore the park, which stays open roughly two to three hours after the show. Even the headliners check out the marine life, Carter says.
“When the Ying Yang Twins were here, I was riding rollercoasters with them,” he says. “I ended up taking Baby Bash’s kids around during sound check and we rode Shipwreck Rapids three times in a row and were soaking wet, having a blast.”
While the concerts have been mostly welcomed by locals, outside protests still occasionally find their way to the amphitheater. During Ashanti’s July performance, PETA activists sailed a 49-foot yacht displaying a “SeaWorld Kills” banner in protest of animal welfare at the park and Miami rapper Trina received letters regarding her performance last year.
SeaWorld officials, however, encourage critics to check it out for themselves.
“Our animal care team does an incredible job caring for these animals,” says Carter, noting that the park performs “significant amounts of rescues” per year.
Carter and Jackie Plaza, the park’s vice president of marketing, are already planning for next season’s lineup that will be announced in January. In the meantime, SeaWorld fans can check out its other music programming including the Bayside Bands, Brew & BBQ concerts, which feature performances from Uncle Kracker on Aug. 22 and Skillet on Aug. 29.
As attendees make their way out of the venue, excitement lingers through the air. Groups of friends are still singing the words to their favorite Soulja Boy songs and parents are strapping their antsy toddlers into strollers. A lengthy line begins to form in front of the amphitheater where an orca show will happen.
“That was wild,” one guest says.
A friend agrees. “Now, let’s go see some animals.”
Audience members are splashed during an “Orca Encounter” live presentation at SeaWorld San Diego.
