SoCal

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
CIF SOCAL REGIONALS
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
First Round

DIVISION I
#1 Harvard-Westlake d. #16 Francis Parker, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19
#8 San Juan Hills d. #9 Newport Harbor, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19
#5 Murrieta Valley d. #12 Corona Centennial, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 15-12
#4 Redondo Union d. #13 Corona del Mar, 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23
#14 Coronado d. #3 Long Beach Poly, 19-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 15-11
#11 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame d. #6 Frontier, 15-25, 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13
#7 San Luis Obispo d. #10 Orange Lutheran, 21-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-12
#15 Bishop’s d. #2 Marymount, 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13

DIVISION II
#16 Mission College Prep d. #1 Bakersfield Centennial, 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11
#8 Bakersfield Liberty d. #9 Cerritos Valley Christian, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23
#5 Santa Fe Christian d. #12 Arroyo Grande, 25-18, 20-25, 25-17, 26-28, 17-15
#13 Vista Murrieta d. #4 La Jolla Country Day, 25-17, 12-25, 25-18, 25-30
#14 Glendora d. #3 San Dieguito Academy, 19-20, 27-25, 25-14, 20-25, 19-17
#6 Newbury Park d. #11 Mission Vista, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22
#10 Westview d. #7 Crescenta Valley, 25-23, 25-15, 25-23
#2 North County San Marcos d. #15 Portola, 25-13, 25-18, 25-23

DIVISION III
#1 Santa Barbara d. #16 Villa Park, 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 25-15
#9 Steele Canyon d. #8 Venice, 25-15, 25-22, 14-25, 23-25, 15-5
#5 Woodland Hills Taft d. #12 Oceanside, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11
#4 Helix d. #13 Palisades, 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-23
#3 Sage Creek d. #14 La Serna, 25-11, 25-21, 25-23
#6 Cleveland d. #11 El Toro, 19-25, 25-12, 28-26, 25-19
#10 Westridge d. #7 Atascadero, 27-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-13
#2 Point Loma d. #15 Winchester Liberty, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21

DIVISION IV
#1 El Camino Real, bye
#8 Placentia Valencia d. #9 Sherman Oaks CES, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21
#5 Chatsworth d. #12 Tri-City Christian, 26-24, 25-14, 25-15
#4 Granada Hills d. #13 Tustin, 28-26, 23-25, 16-25, 25-14, 15-11
#3 Castaic d. #14 San Pedro, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20
#11 Fullerton d. #5 Eagle Rock, 3-1
#7 Capistrano Valley d. #10 Granada Hills Kennedy, 25-10, 25-16, 20-25, 25-19
#2 Lakewood d. #15 Northview, 26-24, 25-22, 25-14

DIVISION V
#1 Rio Mesa, bye
#8 San Diego Hoover d. #9 Narbonne, 27-25, 25-11, 25-23
#5 Bakersfield North d. #12 San Fernando Arroyo, 3-0
#4 Strathmore d. #13 El Monte Arroyo, 25-15, 25-10, 25-13
#3 Desert Christian Academy d. #14 Tarbut V’ Torah, 25-11, 25-17, 25-15
#6 Maywood CES d. #11 Orange, 3-0
#7 Rancho Mirage d. #10 Huntington Park, 25-15, 25-22, 25-11
#2 San Gabriel Academy d. #15 La Quinta, 25-22, 25-21, 14-25, 25-19

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
First Round

OPEN DIVISION
#8 Los Alamitos at #1 Mater Dei
#5 Mira Costa at #4 San Diego Cathedral
#6 Santa Margarita at #3 Torrey Pines
#7 Oaks Christian at #2 Sierra Canyon

Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions I-V) Nov. 12 at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Nov. 14 at higher seeds; Finals (all divisions) Nov. 17 at higher seeds; State Finals Nov. 20 at Santiago College.

Democratic and independent voters could play the spoiler in a battle between two Republican incumbents vying for a solidly red congressional seat in Orange and Riverside counties.

Thanks to redistricting, Reps. Ken Calvert of Corona and Young Kim of Anaheim are pitted against one another in Congressional District 40, a newly redrawn territory that consolidates Republican voters in an area stretching from Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and Anaheim Hills in Orange County to Woodcrest, Menifee and Murrieta in Riverside County.

Democratic leaders remade the district map as part of an overall effort to boost their party’s numbers in the U.S. House of Representatives after President Trump cajoled Texas into carving out districts more favorable to Republicans.

While considered deep red, District 40 still claims many Democratic and independent voters who could help sway the outcome.

“The question is, who are the Democrats going to support?” said Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party. He expects about half of the Democrats to not vote at all.

Self-identifying conservatives make up 33% of the district compared with liberals’ 27%, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. More independents lean Democratic (36%) than Republican (16%), according to the institute.

Democrats, so far, seem less than enthusiastic about their choices.

“I don’t care who wins in the 40th,” said Orange County Democratic Party Chair Florice Hoffman, who skipped voting in the race. “They’re both two bad choices, so I will not spend any time telling Democrats to go out to vote for either one of them.”

Kim may cast herself as a collaborative politician but if you look at her record, “she’s not any better than Ken Calvert. They both ran as 100% Trump — and really that’s how she votes,” said Hoffman, who lives in Orange.

Calvert topped the June primary, earning 35% to Kim’s 21%. Democrat Esther Kim-Varet came in third with 17%, followed by several Democrats and an independent.

Calvert, 73, retained about half of his constituents in the redrawn district. Kim, 64, kept about a third of hers.

Americans 4 Security PAC, which has spent more than $6 million backing Calvert, sent out fliers highlighting Trump and Kim’s ties, the Orange County Register reported. One mailer quoted Trump thanking Kim, while another announced: “Young Kim 100% pro-Trump.”

Political experts said these mail pieces are intended to dissuade Democrats from backing her.

With polls showing Democrats likely to take back the House, Los Angeles political consultant Jorge Flores said Kim’s reputation for working with others could help her among Democrats and independents deciding between two conservatives.

“Whether she convinces voters that she’s actually the right choice, I think it’s a steeper climb,” said Flores, who worked with the independent candidate in the primary.

The Democratic Party branches in Orange and Riverside counties make no mention of the race in their official endorsement guides.

Kim and Calvert are similar when it comes to backing Republican policies, Fleischman said, noting that both support Trump and have voted together about 95% of the time.

He described Young as someone who tries “to put together coalitions” while Calvert is “set in his ways.”

“Young probably has a better case to make to [Democrats], but it’s just too hard to tell,” said Fleischman.

A general election with two Republicans facing each other in a House seat is highly unusual. It’s a product of the state’s “jungle primary,” which advances the top two candidates, regardless of party, and Proposition 50, the voter-approved ballot measure that allowed the new congressional district lines.

Elected in 1992, Calvert is the longest-serving member of California’s Republican delegation in Congress.

Kim, known as a prolific fundraiser, was elected in 2020. She’s raised $10 million in direct donations, compared with Calvert’s $7 million.

Calvert sits on the House Appropriations Committee, where he chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. The Americans 4 Security PAC attacking Kim counts two executives from Miami-based Palantir, whose software is used by the U.S. military, among its donors.

Before the primary, Kim stripped her campaign website of “America first” branding and references to Trump.

Chris Pack, a Kim spokesperson, said last month that she was “proud of her work with President Trump to deliver results for Southern California,” arguing the campaign’s messaging is focused on Calvert’s record.

In a social media post this week, Kim hammered Calvert as a career politician. She supports legislation banning members of Congress from trading stocks, wants to enact term limits and portrays herself as a pragmatist.

“What kind of Republican do you want representing you?” Kim said in a recent NBC4 interview.

Calvert’s campaign, meanwhile, labels Kim a RINO, or Republican in name only, a pejorative used to describe a disloyal conservative. She co-sponsored legislation to censure Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, although Democrats widely viewed the move as a slap on the wrist.

Calvert’s campaign has pointed to Kim’s 2021 vote with Democrats to repeal a Trump-era rule that rolled back methane-emissions regulations.

Calvert, who appeared this week at a rally in Murrieta alongside Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), labels himself a consistent conservative.

“People know exactly where I’m at,” he recently told Spectrum News. “I haven’t changed a bit in the 30 years, and so I’ll continue to give people the kind of common sense governance that they deserve.”

Devin Elle Kurtz makes her opinion on generative AI known. For the last few years, the 29-year-old Pasadena artist says she’s been frustrated when strangers tell her that her art style looks AI-generated.

They have it backward, she insists. Kurtz, who has been sharing her art on the internet since she was a teenager, suspects that her viral art may have been used to train AI models. Her Instagram bio reads, “NO AI,” alongside a circle-backslash emoji.

Her feelings on the subject made what she discovered Thursday morning all the more painful, the artist said. Kurtz woke up to multiple emails from fans telling her that the Trump administration’s Department of Education had posted a meme on X that looked eerily similar to one of her works — fan art inspired by one of her favorite scenes from the animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” In the work, Aang and Zuko are shown practicing fire-bending moves as two dragons move around them.

The Department of Education’s post includes an image of the two characters in seemingly identical stances, outfits and color scheme. “There’s magic in learning,” reads text added over the image. “Make education great again.”

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

Kurtz soon took to social media to condemn the Trump administration. She wrote on the platform: “I did not and would never consent to this administration running my fanart through AI and posting it. Can’t even believe I’m saying these words.” Her response had 150,000 likes as of late Thursday night.

“It definitely made me angry,” Kurtz told The Times on Thursday. “Seeing something that I made appropriated with a Make America Great Again-adjacent slogan on it made me quite upset. I knew I wanted to make it really clear that this was not something that I co-signed.”

Kurtz said she made the artwork in 2023 to share her love of the series with its creators and with other fans.

“Fandom at its core is supposed to be humans loving something together,” Kurtz said. “I want to live in a world where the things that I see around me are made by people. That is what being a human being is all about. Not just output for the sake of output.”

Kurtz said several tells led her to conclude that AI was likely used to alter her work. In the version shared by the Trump administration, the dragons have been removed, and the platform the duo is standing on has oddly sized bricks.

Since her fan art is based on existing intellectual property, she doesn’t intend to pursue legal action.

“It would be fantastic if the government didn’t take artists’ work and run it through AI and post it,” Kurtz said.

Kurtz joins a laundry list of artists who have accused the Trump administration of using their work without their knowledge, including singer Olivia Rodrigo and Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai.

In December, singer Sabrina Carpenter was angered when her song “Juno” was used in the soundtrack for a Department of Homeland Security promotional video featuring clips of officers tackling and handcuffing people.

“[T]his video is evil and disgusting,” Carpenter replied. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.” The Department of Homeland Security has since deleted that video.

TeamLab, the Japan-born, tech-heavy immersive art collective, is plotting its first permanent U.S. exhibition in Anaheim. The group, stylized as teamLab, is moving into a 110,000-square-foot space at OCVibe, the 100-acre mixed-use entertainment district currently in development near the Honda Center.

Details are scant, as the TeamLab spot is not estimated to open until 2030, but a press release specifies this will be a new exhibition and not a recreation of one of the collective’s popular international exhibits. TeamLab got its start in Tokyo in 2001, but over the years grew from exhibiting in galleries to building its own museum-like spaces, today having permanent locales in Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.

A TeamLab installation is something of an immersive playground, inviting guests to sometimes take off their shoes to interact with floor-to-ceiling walk-through attractions that split the difference between art and play. One of its showcase facilities, Tokyo’s TeamLab Planets, welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors in 2024, a Guinness world record for the most visited art museum by a single group.

An artist’s rendering of the Anaheim location, estimated to open in 2030.

(OCVibe)

“For teamLab, through art, we seek to explore what perception is and what existence is,” said Toshiyuki Inoko, a founder of TeamLab, in a release announcing the exhibit.

“The artworks change with the presence of people, making them an integral part of the art itself. People immerse themselves with their entire bodies, transcending the boundaries between themselves, the artworks, and the world around them, becoming part of a borderless continuity.”

TeamLab’s Anaheim location is just three miles from Disneyland, which draws more than 17 million people to the area. TeamLab is just one of many immersive art destinations coming to SoCal, as Meow Wolf will be opening a permanent exhibition in the coming months, and firms such as Hopscotch and the Museum of Ice Cream also have area exhibitions on the horizon.

“Anaheim has always been a place where people come to experience something they can’t find anywhere else, and teamLab will expand our appeal to new audiences from around the world. Experiences like this inspire longer stays, repeat visits,” stated Mike Waterman, president and chief executive of the tourism-focused Visit Anaheim.

The deal between TeamLab and OCVibe backers is worth more than $100 million, Bloomberg reported. OCVibe is the vision of Henry and Susan Samueli, owners of the Anaheim Ducks, and it will open in phases. A 5,000 capacity concert hall is set to open next year, followed by a food hall.

The TeamLab building will be visible from the freeway, and is being designed by Smith-Clementi, OCVibe’s master planners. Based on concept art shown, expect a shimmering, scale-like pattern designed to evoke movement.

“This building feels different depending on the direction or pace of your approach,” said Julie Smith-Clementi . “The time of day, or movement of clouds participates in rendering its iridescent cloak, enriching what you think you see. We want the design to leave room for imagination and discovery and, like in nature, to offer something new with each visit.”

OCVibe will also offer office space, residences and two hotels. It’s estimated to be completed by 2033.