thursday

Bradley Beal is returning to the Clippers after missing most of last season because of a left hip injury.

The 33-year-old guard signed a new deal, the team said Thursday. No terms were announced. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported it’s two years for $13.2 million.

In his first season with the Clippers, Beal averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 assists and 20.2 minutes in six starts before sustaining the season-ending injury on Nov. 8.

The three-time All-Star has averaged 21.4 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds during his 14-year NBA career, including stints with Washington and Phoenix.

California regulators have approved the sale of Cox Communications to cable giant Charter Communications — the final hurdle in a marathon review to clear the $34.5-billion cable consolidation.

With Thursday’s sign-off by the California Public Utilities Commission, the mammoth merger is expected to close next week.

The deal will make Charter’s Spectrum the dominant broadband internet and cable television service in Southern California, with millions of customers scattered throughout Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Palos Verdes Estates, Newport Beach, Irvine, Riverside and San Diego.

Charter’s acquisition of Cox, unveiled 15 months ago, will solidify Charter’s status as the nation’s largest cable company, eclipsing Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., which serves San Francisco and other Northern California communities.

“This transformative deal will benefit millions of consumers who will soon have access to greater value and opportunities to save, including our fully converged mobile-broadband bundle savings guarantee, combined with our industry-leading Customer Commitment and the 100% U.S.-based sales and service employees Spectrum is known for,” Charter said in a statement.

After weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the CPUC voted unanimously to approve two settlement agreements with Charter that allow the merger to move forward. The agency attached conditions that it hopes will protect consumers and expand broadband access.

“This decision secures significant commitments that will benefit Californians through expanded affordable broadband options, major infrastructure investments, improved customer protections, and meaningful support for digital inclusion,” Commissioner Matthew Baker, who helped negotiate the agreements, said in a statement.

Federal regulators approved the deal months ago, as had other state regulators.

“This proceeding was a heavy lift for everyone,” Commissioner Darcie L. Houck acknowledged during Thursday’s hearing, which was held in San Francisco.

Through the settlements, Houck said she hoped Charter would address a disparity in which low-income residents are often stuck with higher phone and internet bills than residents in more affluent areas. Higher-income neighborhoods often benefit from increased competition as multiple providers jockey for business.

“There are many areas of the state that do have low-income communities that are paying higher costs for telecommunication services,” Houck said. “I’m hopeful that the provisions in this settlement agreement will help ensure more equity in pricing.”

Atlanta-based Cox has long been viewed as a lucrative prize. In addition to serving coastal communities in Southern California, it also has customers in growing population hubs such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.

To win CPUC approval, the Stamford, Conn.-based cable giant agreed to offer more affordable packages for low-income residents, including several tiers of the California LifeLine service, for up to five years.

Advocates had pushed for a longer commitment.

Charter promised to invest $30 million in education and awareness initiatives in California, including community outreach and digital literacy training. In addition, Charter agreed to spend at least $275 million on upgrades to its equipment in its existing Spectrum service area — including completing a 1-gigabit service buildout — within three years.

The company also must provide free broadband and Wi-Fi service for dozens of eligible community centers, including schools and libraries.

Spectrum will be required to provide automatic bill credits for customers for qualifying service outages that last at least two hours. And the company must honor eligible “price for life” service agreements held by some residential subscribers.

Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey has told investors that his firm was aiming to close the merger this month. Several commissioners noted the looming deadline as they opted for the settlement that Baker helped negotiate.

Regulators said the two companies generate more than $10 billion in revenue from their California customers. In addition to serving more than 5 million homes, they also provide telephone service to 1.5 million subscribers in the state.

California regulators have approved Charter’s $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications.

(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

After the deal closes, Cox customers will be switched to Spectrum service, most likely by mid-September. They should also get SportsNet LA — the Dodgers’ television channel — as part oftheir lineups.

For more than a decade, Cox has refused to carry the channel, owned by the Dodgers organization, due to its high license fee — leading to one of the television industry’s longest blackouts.

HOUSTON — Amar Johnson saw a flicker of playing time at running back for the Chargers last season.

Thursday, he made a case for a bit more.

Johnson scored two touchdowns in the preseason opener at Houston and turned a short pass into a 55-yard gain.

It’s easy to put too much stock in a preseason performance, seeing as most starters are watching from the sidelines, but Johnson made the most of his opportunity in a 27-7 victory over the Texans.

Chargers running back Amar Johnson runs past Houston Texans cornerback Brandon Codrington after a catch during a preseason game on Thursday.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

He scored on a seven-yard run in the first half and from a yard out in the second. The short touchdown was set up by his quick catch and dash down the sideline, when he was caught from behind just before he could cross the goal line.

The Chargers, who used a first-round pick on running back Omarion Hampton last year, have not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Melvin Gordon in 2017.

Hampton, who like most starters didn’t play Thursday, showed flashes of promise last season but also battled injuries.

Running backs Jaret Patterson and Greg Desrosiers Jr. also turned in solid performances for the Chargers.

Passing grades

Chargers quarterback Trey Lance passes against the Texans on Thursday.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

There’s some jostling over the job of backing up quarterback Justin Herbert, featuring a replay of last summer’s competition between Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei.

“Both have really acquitted themselves well, and the next piece is in the games and how they play,” coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters this week. “That’s something we’ll all see. I imagine, from what I’ve seen in practice, it’s going to be pretty close. They’re both good.”

Lance got the start and played deep into the third quarter, completing 12 of 20 passes for 164 yards with an interception. He ran for 27 yards in three carries.

Uiagalelei, who played at St. John Bosco High, entered with three minutes to play in the third quarter and completed six of nine passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Front and center

Around this time last year, the Chargers were reeling along the offensive line, having lost left tackle Rashawn Slater to a season-ending knee injury. Early in the season, they also lost bookend tackle Joe Alt. In short, the offensive line was a mess.

Now those players are back, and it’s all about making smaller tweaks along a solid line. The question mark is at left guard, with five candidates in the mix: Kayode Awosika, Branson Taylor, Jake Slaughter, Trey Pipkins III and Trevor Penning.

Slaughter, a rookie second-round pick, started at center Thursday and moved to left guard and appeared to play well. That he can play center in addition to guard is particularly valuable, as he can provide reliable depth behind starting center Tyler Biadasz.

Drop-portunity

Chargers wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith had four catches in the first half Thursday but couldn’t pull in this pass against Texans cornerback Collin Wright.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

KeAndre Lambert-Smith had four of the Chargers’ nine receptions in the first half, but a fifth would have been really impressive.

He got a two-step lead on rookie corner Collin Wright on a long pass from Lance, yet couldn’t cash in. Wright mistimed his jump, and the ball hit Lambert-Smith square in the hands before falling to the turf. The top three receiver spots are locked down by Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and Tre’ Harris, but there’s room for another wideout and maybe two. A rookie to watch is the speedy Brenen Thompson, who doubles as a returner.

Double vanilla

Teams are always circumspect about doing anything too exotic during the preseason, lest they give regular-season opponents something to study. That goes double for the Chargers, seeing as all three of their preseason opponents — Houston, San Francisco and the Rams — will face them again. It’s a bit of a balancing act, though, because it’s got to be tempting to get a look at the offense of coordinator Mike McDaniel outside the structure of a practice.

Regardless, look for the Chargers to be bland, bland, bland as they evaluate the back end of their roster and decide who to keep and who to cut.

SACRAMENTO — Proposed legislation to protect animals from “Frankenstein”-like medical experimentation died in the state Senate on Thursday, and supporters blame election year politics for its demise.

Assembly Bill 1382 by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Home Gardens) would have banned the sale of genetically modified animals in California, such as glow-in-the-dark rabbits and horned “unicorn” horses.

While the business of cosmetically modified, futuristic-looking pets remains in its infancy, animal rights groups worry that eventually the creatures will be created, sold and later discarded in crowded municipal shelters.

Castillo’s bill passed unanimously in the Assembly earlier this year and sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee in June with bipartisan support.

On Thursday, the legislation died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The chair of that powerful committee is Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) whose sister, Clarissa Cervantes, is challenging Castillo in the Nov. 3 election.

Cervantes never brought up the bill during Thursday’s hearing, which effectively kills it. Cervantes’ office didn’t respond to requests about why the legislation died.

Judie Mancuso, the founder of Social Compassion in Legislation, the bill’s sponsor, called the outcome “ludicrous.”

“When you’ve worked in the Capitol as long as I have, you understand that good bills can become political assets or political liabilities during an election cycle,” said Mancuso.

Castillo pledged Thursday to continue her focus on animals and cosmetic genetic engineering.

“This bill was never about politics — it was about protecting animals from being turned into novelty products,” Castillo said in a statement. “I’m disappointed AB 1382 did not move forward, but I am not done fighting for these animals. The technology that makes ‘designer pets’ possible isn’t going away, and neither am I.”

A 2025 Wired article entitled “Your Next Pet Could Be a Glowing Rabbit” profiled a Texas company seeking to create gene-edited pets. Josie Zayner, the founder of the company, told the Times in July that she opposed Castillo’s bill.

Castillo, at a hearing earlier this year, said she understands the concept of gene-editing animals for health reasons, but doesn’t want to see the alterations for cosmetic reasons.

Glow-in-the dark fish were exempt from her bill, which proposed civil penalties of at least $5,000.

Though the Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body for the courts, reviewed the legislation and didn’t have any fiscal concerns about it, the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis warned of “potentially significant workload cost pressures to the state funded trial court system” to resolve any civil cases related to the bill.

“The fiscal impact of this bill to the courts will depend on many unknowns, including the number of cases filed and the factors unique to each case,” the analysis stated.

The Democratic-controlled legislature uses appropriations committees to cull through hundreds of bills placed on what is referred to as the “suspense file.”

Officially, the suspense file is a tool for legislative leaders to evaluate costly bills by weighing them against one another and deciding what to advance to a vote by the Senate and Assembly. Unofficially, it’s used as a way for Democrats who control the Legislature to kill controversial bills out of the public eye.

California Democrats are making an aggressive push to unseat Castillo from the Assembly in the November election, Politico reported.

Castillo defeated Clarissa Cervantes in 2024 by nearly 600 votes to represent parts of Riverside County and San Bernardino County. Castillo lost to then-Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes in 2022.

After the bill was moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year, animal advocates reached out to state Senate Pro Tempore Monique Limón’s office to question the move.

“It’s my belief that there is some kind of political game going on,” Michelle Kelly, chief executive of the nonprofit welfare organization Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation, told the Times last month.

“Why would anyone not want to move forward with this bill?” Kelly said.

A representative for Limón declined to comment.

Grammy winner Jon Batiste placed his summer performing duties on hold as he “navigate[s] some personal circumstances.”

The Connecticut festival Westville Music Bowl on Wednesday published a statement from the composer-singer-multi-instrumentalist and former “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” bandleader announcing that he has canceled “a portion of my upcoming performance dates.” That includes his appearance at the New Haven fest on Thursday, according to the social media statement. The notice did not specify the additional cancellations but included mention of Batiste’s new releases including his piano-centric albums “Monk Meditations” and “Monk Movements.”

“My team and I are finding new ways and opportunities to share live music with you,” Batiste continued in the statement. “There’s so much more to come, and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”

People reported that Batiste’s shows in Pennsylvania and New York have also been canceled and ticket refunds will be available for the three canceled shows. A representative for the Grammy-winning musician did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for more information on Thursday.

Batiste, who will also release the album “Black Mozart” on Friday, is still scheduled to play several of his remaining tour stops including those in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Atlanta and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. He is set to close off his tour at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Oct. 3.

“Thank you for your understanding and continued support,” Batiste said in the statement published by Westville Music Bowl. “I truly can’t wait to come back and perform for you soon.”

Batiste, 39, will share his trio of new albums four years after he won the coveted prize for album of the year at the 2022 Grammy Awards for his 2021 release “We Are.” Batiste, in addition to his late-night TV work, is also known for composing original works for the soundtrack of Disney’s 2020 animated film “Soul.”

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.

He pitched sideways, practically clearing the first set of steps and landing on the second flight. Freeman braced himself on his right side, which took the brunt of the impact. But thanks to the angle of the steps, he never hit his head, he said.

“Kneecaps are sore, shoulder is sore, hand is sore, wrist is sore,” Freeman said. “I mean, I fell. But I’m in good spirits. I’ve already cold tubbed. I’ve done everything I needed to do to put myself in a position to be able to hopefully play [Thursday].”

Manager Dave Roberts described Freeman’s status as “day to day” and noted that he’d already planned to give him a day off Friday, the second game of a four-game series against the Brewers. The Dodgers will monitor how Freeman is feeling Thursday morning.

“I think that we really dodged the bullet,” Roberts said. Freeman did not undergo any imaging on his various aches and pains, although he said head athletic trainer Thomas Albert asked if he felt like he needed any.

“I said, ‘Do you want to do a whole-body X-ray?’” Freeman recounted. “And he was like, ‘We can.’ But no, I’m OK.”

Freeman was sore immediately after the fall but finished that half inning in the field. He said after the adrenaline wore off, he motioned to the dugout that he might need a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of the eighth. He was due up first.

Utility player Tommy Edman took the at-bat for him, and Kiké Hernández replaced him at first in the top of the ninth.

It wasn’t the first time Freeman has taken a tumble chasing after a foul ball, but he estimated the last time was about a decade ago, with the Braves in Arizona before they extended the netting.

“Actually went down probably like 10 feet,” Freeman said. “I hit seats and everything. So not my first time.

“I didn’t catch that one either.”

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+).

Left guard battle

Chargers offensive lineman Trey Pipkins (79) works out with his teammates during drills in June.

(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)

Who will line up to the left of center Tyler Biadasz remains to be determined.

A competition has been brewing all summer between rookie Jake Slaughter, Trey Pipkins, Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning and Branson Taylor.

Slaughter appears to be in the lead, with Awosika and Taylor behind.

“Jake Slaughter had a great weekend,” Harbaugh said Tuesday. “If we were right up to the minute right now, [I] really liked [Slaughter’s] tape from the weekend — and his confidence. Like, he’s getting it.”

It’s a given that Biadasz will start at center, Cole Strange at right guard, Joe Alt at right tackle and Rashawn Slater at left tackle.

But the Chargers need someone to seize control of the left guard spot sooner rather than later.

“No one has eliminated themselves from the tournament,” offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said.

The list might be narrowed by Friday morning.

Tight end trio?

Chargers tight end Charlie Kolar takes part in drills at minicamp in June.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Unlike the left guard competition, the Chargers believe they have a three-headed monster at tight end with Charlie Kolar, David Njoku and Oronde Gadsden.

“They’re all great dudes,” Njoku said of the tight end room. “Everyone has their own thing … I think we complement each other and push each other to strive for greatness.”

Each has seen a good amount of reps in various packages throughout training camp, and all should see the field quite a bit during the regular season.

Perhaps the Chargers’ first preseason game — and who plays first, most or not at all during it — will indicate a pecking order.

Third safety

Chargers safety Genesis Smith goes through drills during rookie minicamp in May.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Derwin James Jr. and Elijah Molden have their starting safety spots locked up. However, James is a Swiss Army Knife who often plays nickel, meaning the Chargers need a solidified third safety.

Who will be that guy?

“The standard is the standard,” James said of the defensive backs. “I feel like everyone’s going out there competing. We got a lot of depth. We got a lot of guys who can make a lot of plays. When their numbers [are] called, guys are stepping up. So, it’s good to see.”

It appears to be a three-way race between rookie Genesis Smith, Tony Jefferson and RJ Mickens.

Cutting corners

Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) and cornerback Rodney Shelley run a drill during training camp on Aug. 1.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Tarheeb Still is the Chargers’ No. 1 outside cornerback with Donte Jackson and Cam Hart following.

“I feel very comfortable and very confident,” Still said. “I think that’s just a credit to my coaches [and] my teammates. … I feel really good about where I’m at personally, and where the team and the defense is.”

But after that trio is a deep mix of options competing for spots on the 53-man roster.

Avery Smith and Rodney Shelley have impressed as undrafted rookies like Nikko Reed and Eric Rogers did in 2025. And Deane Leonard is probably a lock to stay in L.A. as a special-teamer.

So Thursday’s game will be pivotal, as teams rarely keep eight-plus cornerbacks; the Chargers kept seven last season.

“We always encourage each other,” Jackson said of the room. “No selfish demeanors on this team.”

Herbert insurance

Chargers quarterback Trey Lance throws during offseason workouts in May.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Harbaugh said backup signal-callers DJ Uiagalelei and Trey Lance will each play one half against the Texans as they battle to be Justin Herbert’s primary replacement.

“Both have really acquitted themselves well,” Harbaugh said. “From what I’ve seen in practice, it’s going to be pretty close. They’re both good.”

Uiagalelei and Lance, once a pair of big-named prospects, have had their share of highs and lows throughout training camp. Each could use a good, live outing.

The last time I ate at McDonald’s was also the first time I tried a McGriddle.

Why am I thinking about a breakfast sandwich? Well, it’s morning, for starters. And my old friend Laurie Ochoa, who runs all things food at The Times, just had her own first encounter with a McGriddle, inspired by the item’s mention in the most recent season of “The Bear.”

Should McDonald’s have a Michelin star? “The Bear’s” pastry chef Luca thinks so. Laurie is a fan too. Me? Honestly, I ordered it by accident, hangry and delusional after driving too many miles on a road trip home. To this day, whenever my son, Sean, passes that Lost Hills McDonald’s, he snaps a picture and sends it to me, captioning it: “McGriddle?”

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Does Rhea Seehorn dig McGriddles? She loves bread, so maybe the whole pancake-bun thing would put her off.

Cover story: Rhea Seehorn

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

If you love great television, you know Seehorn from “Better Call Saul” and the new Apple TV series “Pluribus,” where she plays Carol, a sad woman forced to save the world from happiness and the hive mind.

But other than those two classics and a guest turn on the final season of “Veep,” I have not Seehorn in anything else. Which wasn’t for a lack of trying on her part, as I learned from talking with her for a recent Envelope cover story.

Seehorn moved to Los Angeles in 2003 after landing a lead role on the ABC sitcom “I’m With Her.” Seehorn played … well, I’ll let her describe the character.

“I was the naysaying, coattail-riding, bitchy, alcoholic little sister of Teri Polo’s character,” Seehorn says, laughing. “It was so much fun.”

The comedy ran for 23 episodes and was then summarily canceled, despite the season finale drawing about 11 million viewers. (“Can you imagine?” Seehorn says of the ratings. “You’d be a juggernaut now.”)

When she arrived in L.A., ABC put her up at the massive Oakwood apartment complex on Barham Boulevard, an (in)famous landing place for child actors, musicians and newcomers like Seehorn getting their start in Hollywood. On her way to work each day — she walked to the Warner Bros. lot because she didn’t have a car — Seehorn would pass older men wearing short bathrobes at 7 in the morning and “momagers” hustling their kids to an audition.

Says Seehorn: “It’s weird because you’ve landed a great job and you’re working, so, ‘Yay!’ But also, you’re staying in a one-room apartment that has a kitchenette and a Murphy bed that folds into the wall. When the bed’s folded down, it touches the couch and you can’t walk around. But when the bed is up, it’s a mirror, so you watch yourself have no friends, sitting there watching TV, eating a TV dinner. Then you’re like, is it less depressing to just sit in a bed all day, or should I watch myself sitting here?”

Needless to say, Seehorn moved as soon possible, landing in a fourplex apartment across from the Warner Bros. lot near the Taco Bell and Don Cuco on Riverside Drive. It was heaven. It had a second bedroom. And a window!

She lived there until the second season of “Better Call Saul.”

“The good news is, when you move to L.A. from New York, everything seems like a mansion,” Seehorn says, laughing.

Sitting on that Murphy bed at the Oakwood, was there ever a time when Seehorn wondered, “What am I doing?”

“I had come from supposedly being the receptionist at a construction office in Brooklyn, but what I was really doing was cleaning their bathrooms with like nine pairs of rubber gloves on because it was so disgusting,” Seehorn says. “That was my day job, and then I was working at Playwrights Horizons, a wonderful theater that I’d always wanted to work at, so I was thrilled. But theater doesn’t pay enough to live on. So life was always cobbling something together to pursue my passion, my dream.”

Read more of our ‘Pluribus’ coverage

Haynes King is an NFL star.

That is, the Carolina Panthers undrafted rookie quarterback is an NFL star in early August after exactly one preseason game.

Sure, Thursday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame game between the Panthers and Arizona Cardinals was nothing more than a meaningless exhibition in which few, if any, actual starters played.

But NFL fans have been starving for any kind of action for almost six months, and King provided plenty of that during Carolina’s thrilling 33-30 victory in Canton, Ohio — especially on the final play of the game.

Even if his NFL career ends up going nowhere (more on that in a minute), the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year out of Georgia Tech will always have this spectacular, game-winning run for his highlight reel:

After former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis connected with receiver Bryson Green for a one-yard touchdown pass to give Arizona a 30-27 lead, King had 1 minute, 55 seconds remaining in regulation to lead the Panthers to a comeback win.

He completed four passes for 24 yards and also scrambled for 26 yards to help Carolina get to the Arizona five-yard line with two seconds left on the clock. Haynes took the shotgun snap at the 10 and dropped back to the 14 before shooting up the middle, pump faking around the seven and diving into the end zone for the game-winning score.

A massive end zone celebration ensued.

“I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t breathe,” King said afterward. “But it was amazing, just going out there and being able to celebrate with the guys that you’ve been OTAs, all training camp with, and busting your butt, and to finally go out there and celebrate with them and just showcase your talent is very fun.”

Franchise quarterback Bryce Young did not play. Veteran backup Kenny Pickett started the game and played three series before King took over. The 25-year-old rookie completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 39 yards with one touchdown on three carries.

“Haynes did a fantastic job,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said after the game, “just keeping the play alive, doing whatever he had to do, run it, throw it.”

After playing sparingly for three years at Texas A&M, King established himself as a dual threat at Georgia Tech over the last three seasons. During that time, King completed 67.6% of his passes for 7,907 yards with 55 touchdowns and 24 interceptions (including 16 during his first season with the Yellow Jackets). He also rushed for 2,277 yards and 36 touchdowns.

King performed well at the NFL scouting combine earlier this year, running the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.46 seconds. Questions about his age and passing ability may have led teams to skip King during the draft in April, but the Panthers snatched him up in free agency immediately afterward.

Kurt Warner and Warren Moon were undrafted quarterbacks who eventually landed in the Hall of Fame. Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia did pretty well for themselves as well. Will King be able to beat the odds like those guys?

His chances of making Carolina’s 53-man roster improved greatly last month when veteran backup quarterback Will Grier announced his retirement, which bumped King up to No. 3 on the depth chart.

More performances like he had Thursday night certainly won’t hurt King’s cause either. Take a look at his run during the final drive:

Again, it’s only preseason … but, man, he was awesome.

For San Francisco fans of Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire, the party at Chase Center ended before it even started.

Earth, Wind & Fire abruptly called off its concert at the NorCal venue on Thursday, notifying fans in a social media statement that the cancellation was “due to a medical emergency involving a member of our band.” A spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department confirmed to The Times that personnel were dispatched at 5:30 p.m. to respond to a medical emergency at Chase Center. One person was transported to a hospital via private ambulance, but the individual’s identity was not disclosed. TMZ reported that the Fire Department responded to a “cardiac incident.”

A representative for Earth, Wind & Fire did not provide additional details. The band said in its post that it has rescheduled Thursday’s show for a later date to be announced soon and that tickets will be valid for the new date. “We sincerely apologize for the unexpected change and appreciate everyone’s understanding,” the band said.

Live Nation announced Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire’s joint Sing a Song All Night Long tour in January. The tour kicked off in June but quickly hit a snag when Richie also suffered an unspecified health issue while on the road. Richie, 77, postponed a stop at Chicago’s United Center and another show at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, after he brought his first tour stop to an abrupt end.

The Grammy-winning hitmaker of “Hello” and “Say You, Say Me” unexpectedly stopped the concert at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn., after taking a seat on stage multiple times during his performance of “Dancing on the Ceiling” and telling his audience he felt “dizzy,” according to videos shared on social media.

“When you are feeling dizzy, sit your a— down,” he joked, according to video a fan posted to TikTok. “When you are feeling strange about yourself, sit your a— down.”

TMZ reported at the time that the singer-songwriter was hospitalized after the health scare. Paramedics reportedly met the artist backstage and transported him to a nearby hospital out of precaution. In a statement following the incident, Richie thanked fans for their support and informed them, “I’m doing well, and I’m grateful for all of you.”

The Sing a Song All Night Long tour is slated to continue Saturday at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire are scheduled to play the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Sunday. The tour ends Aug. 14 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

Perez Hilton’s family has revealed that his children were home when his mental health crisis began to unfold, and now they’re asking the media for space so the family can safely return home.

In a statement published on the celebrity blogger’s website on Thursday, Hilton’s family said the events of the last several days had been “nearly unbearable.”

“Just minutes before the public livestream incident, Perez’s children, niece, and sister were inside the home,” the statement read. “When it became clear that Perez was experiencing a severe mental health crisis and harming himself, they immediately fled to protect the children from witnessing any further trauma.”

On Tuesday night, Miami police responded to an influx of calls after a disturbing video was livestreamed on TikTok in which a bloodied Hilton harmed himself repeatedly with a box cutter and knife. Frightened fans and moderators from the social platform were among those who called authorities.

After surrounding Hilton’s Miami residence, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said around 9 p.m. that he had been “safely recovered and transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to a local hospital, where he is receiving medical attention.”

In the family’s statement on Thursday, they said that their highest priority right now was helping Hilton’s three children and niece “begin to heal from what they experienced.”

“An important part of that process is allowing them to safely return home and begin rebuilding a sense of security and normalcy,” the statement continued. “For the children’s safety, privacy, and well-being, we respectfully ask members of the media, paparazzi, content creators, and the public to leave the area surrounding the family’s home and not return. Please allow his children the privacy and space they need during this unimaginably difficult time.”

Hilton’s family also shared that, although very little information on Perez’s condition has been provided to them, they had been able to confirm that he “is able to communicate,” which they say has given them hope during “this heartbreaking time.”

Earlier Thursday, conservative political commentator Sean Hannity released an episode featuring Hilton that was recorded in recent weeks. During the “Hang Out” podcast episode, Hilton expressed regret over disparaging attacks he made on the celebrities he covered over the course of his career.

“I have a lot of regrets,” he told Hannity. “Attention is like a drug, and I was definitely an attention addict back then. I mean, I still am, but I think now I do a better job of keeping it in check. And when you’re an addict, you don’t care if you’re hurting people.”

The “OG influencer” said that he attempted to make amends with some of the celebrities he targeted, including Britney Spears and Khloé Kardashian, whom he said were receptive to his apologies. He also privately approached Neil Patrick Harris to apologize for aggressively trying to out him as a gay man in 2006, before the actor had spoken about his sexuality publicly. Harris also accepted the mea culpa.

Hilton said that he had changed his ways. “I realized what I was doing was wrong — that I could still be fun — but I don’t have to be so cheap, and I don’t have to be so cruel. It was cruel, and it’s something that I carry with me.

“It’s like my scarlet letter, and it’s very heavy baggage.”

In March, Hilton was hospitalized for severe sepsis for 21 days. During the ordeal, he said that God presented himself to him. Perez claimed that he’d changed dramatically since the health scare. In recent months, he’s posted about the Bible, launched a religious merch line and spoken about his religious awakening on the podcast circuit.

A federal judge blasted KTLA-TV Channel 5’s owner, the Texas-based Nexstar Media Group, on Thursday for violating a court order and for failing to disclose key information.

U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley found that Nexstar’s actions violated terms of an April preliminary injunction that was designed to prevent the media company from moving forward with its $6.2-billion takeover of rival TV station group Tegna Inc. and meddling with its management.

The judge called Nexstar’s actions “brazen.” He demanded the company begin submitting monthly reports and said a special master would be appointed to help manage the antitrust case and monitor Nexstar for compliance.

And Tegna’s recently constituted board — filled with high-level Nexstar officials — must be dissolved.

A Nexstar spokesman wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Nexstar unveiled its Tegna takeover a year ago. At the time, TV stations were lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to relax station ownership rules, a move that occurred Thursday in a split decision.

Last spring, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and seven other state attorneys general challenged Nexstar’s proposed acquisition, alleging the roll-up of more than 250 local TV stations would violate a U.S. antitrust law intended to protect consumers and competitive markets.

Bonta and other plaintiff states argued the consolidation would lead to local newsrooms shuttering, particularly in smaller markets, such as Sacramento and Indianapolis, where Nexstar would own multiple network affiliates.

Despite Bonta’s lawsuit, Nexstar hurried the next day to finalize its purchase of Virginia-based Tegna and swallow the operation. Tegna disbanded, its shareholders were paid and top Tegna executives exited.

Nunley, who is based in Sacramento, is overseeing the case. He initially issued a restraining order, followed by a more lengthy preliminary injunction that ordered Nexstar to halt its integration while the court case was pending.

Tegna should continue to operate as a separate business unit — free from the influence of Nexstar, the judge ruled.

But on the day that Nunley issued the restraining order, Nexstar formed a new Tegna board filled with Nexstar officers, including Chief Executive Perry Sook, Chief Financial Officer Lee Ann Gliha, and later Mike Biard, a former Fox executive who joined Nexstar in 2023 as chief operating officer.

Nexstar countered that while Nunley’s order said Nexstar employees were restricted from serving as “officers,” it didn’t expressly say they couldn’t serve on Tegna‘s board as “directors.”

“Defendants cannot convincingly argue that having Nexstar executives serve on TEGNA’s Board complies with the preliminary injunction,” Nunley wrote in Thursday’s order, adding that Nexstar’s position was “entirely disingenuous.”

Nexstar now must dissolve the board.

“It is shocking that Defendants think installing a Board of Directors comprised primarily of Nexstar executives would not create influence over Tegna management,” Nunley wrote.

He also admonished Nexstar for not providing that information in any of the hearings or in its filings with the court. “Defendants have a duty of candor to the Court under California Rule of Professional Conduct,” Nunley wrote.

His order was designed “to preserve Tegna as a separate and distinct, independently managed business unit from Nexstar,” Nunley wrote. “Nexstar’s control of the Tegna Board will undoubtedly allow it to influence Tegna’s management and obtain access to Tegna’s confidential information.”

Bonta, in a statement, said: “We thank the court for its attention to this matter and look forward to arguing our case and blocking this merger.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump is trying again to limit the number of people born in the country who can become American citizens, in a sign that even after his first attempt at limiting birthright citizenship was rejected by the Supreme Court, he’s ready to renew his efforts.

The president said he was signing two executive actions on immigration, including one limiting the number of people eligible for citizenship after being born in the United States. The written executive order released Thursday was narrower in scope than the previous one shot down by the Supreme Court and appeared to focus on restricting automatic citizenship to specific categories of people, including children born to adults with connections to foreign embassies or organizations as well as anyone considered an “alien enemy” of the United States.

It also aimed to restrict birthright citizenship to anyone whose parents “engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship.”

A second order seeks to curb what Trump called “birth tourism” by increasing restrictions on visitors to the U.S. who want to obtain visas to give birth while in the country.

Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional.

“I thought we were going to win it at the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, we had a bad decision, very unfair decision. Our country suffers because of it and we’re ending it a different way,” Trump said.

In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily aren’t American citizens, and upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship.

On the first day of Trump’s second term, he signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, which allows anyone born in the United States to automatically become an American citizen.

Trump’s administration immediately was sued by opponents who said the executive order went against the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, which makes anyone born in the country a citizen, with very limited exceptions.

The executive order was blocked by several lower courts and never took effect.

In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s order by a 6-3 vote. But the vote was too close for many immigration advocates and legal observers who felt the legal question of birthright citizenship was a long-settled issue.

Weissert and Santana write for the Associated Press.

Do we still call it a “heat wave” if it never ends?

Maybe my Texas and Arizona friends can help me out here on proper nomenclature because, while everybody loves the sunshine, I’m starting to dream of the time when autumn leaves start to fall.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. My birthday’s still a few months away. Is it OK if I have a slice of this cake, anyway? Maybe the Television Academy can send it to the Emmy nominees who are no longer invited to the ceremony this year.

Read on for more …

Awards show adaptation or mere party foul?

What if you were invited to a party and then nine days later that invitation is rescinded? A party in your honor, no less, or at least one where you are among the honorees. How would you feel? Would you be tempted to take that birthday cake I just mentioned and smash it into the face of your host?

Maybe I’ve watched the pie fight in “Blazing Saddles” one too many times. (Happy 100th birthday, Mel Brooks!) Still, if I were among the Emmy nominees in the five categories that the Television Academy shuttled off the Primetime Emmy Awards to the untelevised Creative Arts Emmy Awards, I might be reaching for some baked goods and taking aim.

The five categories excised from the show include four from the limited series/movie group — supporting actor and actress, writing and directing. (Variety series writing was also cut.) When I wrote a few weeks ago that the limited series boom had gone bust, it wasn’t my intention that the TV Academy remove more than half of the categories from the show. It could have just been a down year, people! Television was pretty meh across the board the last 12 months. Why pick on one division?

In doing so, the Television Academy effectively disenfranchised HBO’s “DTF St. Louis,” the best limited series of the season, from the ceremony. Steven Conrad’s dark comedy about suburban loneliness earned 13 nominations, including supporting acting nods for each member of its stellar ensemble — Jason Bateman, David Harbour, Linda Cardellini, Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday. Conrad was nominated for three — writing, directing and producing the series.

But now only Harbour, Bateman and Conrad will receive tickets to the show as executive producers of the nominated series. The other actors can attend the Creative Arts Emmys, held the weekend before the Primetime Emmys. And of course, HBO will be happy to buy them tickets if they want to go to the televised ceremony too.

The question is: Will they and other nominees, which include the likes of Nick Offerman (“Death by Lightning”), Charles Melton (“Beef”) and Dakota Fanning (“All Her Fault”), want to get dressed up two weekends in a row? (First-world problems, I know.)

“It really did manifest as a disinvite for all these people,” says one awards consultant who, like other sources for this story, requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the move. “Had the Television Academy done it before nominations came out, then at least people’s expectations would have been managed. But now it’s sort of like you got invited to the party and now you can’t come. It’s not a very nice feeling.”

“Beef” star Charles Melton’s category, supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie, will be presented at the untelevised Creative Arts Emmys the weekend before the Primetime Emmys ceremony.

(Netflix)

Why did the TV Academy wait to shift the categories until after the nominations were announced? Why focus on limited series and not, say, spread the cuts across drama and comedy categories too? Are these changes permanent?

I asked these questions to the Television Academy and the answers were, basically: We announced as soon as possible. We’re going to sidestep that second query. And we’ll see how it goes!

What this comes down to is a desire to create a show that, in the words of a TV Academy spokesperson, is “driven by the need to innovate while delivering a three-hour broadcast, keeping audience expectations and the creative structure of the ceremony in mind.”

Translation: fewer awards, fewer speeches, more throwback segments that have a chance to go viral and get people talking.

The Oscars tried this in 2022, moving eight categories off the telecast, handing them out before the broadcast began. Members hated the idea and order was restored the following year with all 23 awards being presented during the live telecast. (In 2019, when the motion picture academy announced a similar move, saying that four categories would be handed out during commercial breaks, the blowback was so fierce that the decision was almost immediately reversed.)

Emmy ratings were up 8% last year, the highest since 2021. An average of 7.42 million viewers watched. Not NFL numbers, but a continued indication that the audience level for major awards ceremonies has stabilized after steep declines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, there is a feeling among some that awards shows need to adapt and pick up the pace in a time when viewers’ attention spans have shortened. Is there an appetite for a three-hour ceremony when you can simply watch the highlights the next day on social media platforms?

“If people don’t want to see actors winning awards, then the days of televised awards shows should just be over,” gripes another Emmy consultant.

One thing that might be over — or at least greatly diminished — will be submissions for the supporting acting categories for limited series/movie next year if the academy makes this revision permanent.

“I think everyone will be going lead,” one network executive joked, “even if they have just five minutes an episode.”

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt another blow to the Trump administration’s mass deportation project Thursday, ruling alongside the 7th Circuit that most immigrants cannot be held without bond while fighting to remain in the U.S.

The rulings will apply to jurisdictions that stretch across much of the southern border, affecting states where large numbers of immigrant detainees are held in federal custody. Unless immigrants are caught while crossing the border or soon after, they will now be entitled to a bond hearing, where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to justify their indefinite detention.

The twin decisions come little more than a year after the Department of Homeland Security ordered “mandatory detention” for all immigrants picked up by its agents — a policy that had previously only applied to those caught at the border.

The policy shift sowed chaos in federal courts, as thousands of immigrants began suing for bond hearings that had long been automatic. California’s district judges were overrun with emergency petitions for writs of habeas corpus, a legal maneuver rarely used outside death row appeals.

“Versions of this case have played out in federal courts across the country,” Judge Daniel A. Bress wrote for the 9th Circuit on Thursday. “The vast majority of the district courts to confront the issue have concluded that [mandatory detention] is limited to the border.”

Those district court battles have grown increasingly heated as caseloads have swelled.

This spring, Eastern District of California Chief Judge Troy Nunley took the rare step of sanctioning a government lawyer over failing to tell the court if and when a man he’d ordered released had actually gone free.

The attorney told Nunley he was drowning in nearly identical cases and had fallen behind with the paperwork. In an interview, Nunley said he and other judges were “up all night” ruling on emergency petitions and ensuring those orders were followed.

The sanction was later transferred from the lawyer to the U.S. attorney’s office, though Nunley warned that he would issue more if he didn’t see proof immigrants had been set free as ordered.

“A pattern of unchecked and unaddressed mistakes in complying with court orders will be viewed as a deliberate and strategic choice,” he wrote in his order.

The majority of appellate courts have now also sided against the administration. As of Thursday, two circuits have affirmed the government’s position and six opposed it, teeing up what experts call an inevitable Supreme Court challenge.

Both of Thursday’s decisions invoked the high court’s future stake in the case. The 9th Circuit wagered that only two justices were likely to side with the administration, while the 7th merely implored the high court to weigh in.

“At this point, only the Supreme Court can bring uniformity and settle this question once and for all. I anticipate that it will do so soon,” Judge Diane S. Sykes wrote in her dissent.

“We share the dissent’s hope that the Supreme Court will settle this matter,” Judge Joshua P. Kolar wrote for the majority.

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have earned at least $11 million since he took office, with most of their income coming from wineries, restaurants and other investments, according to tax returns from 2019 through their most recent filings for 2024.

The tax records show the couple has earned between $1.4 million and $3.5 million per year, putting them in the upper echelon of Americans when it comes to annual income.

Newsom allowed reporters on Thursday to view four years of the couple’s jointly filed tax returns after receiving criticism for not disclosing his filings since he last released the information for the tax year 2020.

The release of the tax records comes just weeks after Newsom accused the Department of Justice of launching — at President Trump’s request — a baseless and politically motivated investigation into him and his wife, including her business interests and charity work. The governor said the probes, which federal officials have not confirmed, were a personal vendetta launched because he’s considering a run for president in 2028.

Siebel Newsom leads the Representation Project, a nonprofit that advocates for gender equity through film and education programs, and Girls Club Entertainment, a for-profit production company she owns that holds the copyrights to her documentaries. The nonprofit has faced criticism for accepting donations from companies that lobby the governor, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and AT&T.

The tax records released Thursday showed that her salary from the Representation Project was $145,000 to $150,000 annually from 2021 though 2024, similar to prior years. While Girls Club paid her $100,000 in 2021, and $11,700 in 2022, she did not report any income from the production company in the two years that followed.

The governor’s office, in a summary of the tax returns provided to reporters, stated that financial documents contradict “the FALSE right-wing claims that the Newsoms ‘enriched themselves’ through new ventures and nonprofit organizations.”

The memo stated that their income has declined since Newsom became governor. The tax records also show that Girls Club Entertainment has been losing money in recent years.

The governor signed a law during his first year in office to require presidential and gubernatorial candidates to release five years of tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. Democrats passed the law in response to Trump’s refusal to make the information public.

Less than six months later, the California Supreme Court struck down the portion that required presidential candidates to comply with the law. Gubernatorial candidates are still required to disclose their tax filings during election season.

Though tax returns became a flash point in the California vs. Trump political saga, Democrats have for decades demanded that candidates for governor and president release their income tax filings.

Presidential candidates dating back to the Nixon administration routinely shared their filings, with only President Ford and Trump refusing to do so. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and his Republican opponents also declined to share their tax returns before the 2010 and 2014 California gubernatorial elections.

Newsom released his tax returns during his campaigns for governor in 2018 and 2022, again in 2020 and before he beat a recall election in 2021. California candidates, elected officials, judges and some public employees also file annual economic interest statements.

“In the interest of transparency, he’s now voluntarily making all remaining filed tax returns available — going beyond what the law requires — as part of his longstanding commitment to transparency,” said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor, in a statement.

The governor and his wife put their investments in a blind trust when he took office. Their earnings, which have totaled more than $1 million per year since at least 2011, stem from investments in wineries, restaurants, bars, hotels and hospitality management companies based in San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Lake Tahoe, according to economic interest disclosures filed with the state.

The latest batch of tax returns covers 2021 through 2024. Reporters were allowed to view, but not copy, more than 700 pages of tax records at the governor’s office in Sacramento on Thursday. Their 2025 tax returns were not available because, as he has done most years, the governor filed for an extension with the Internal Revenue Service and he doesn’t expect to file until October.

The couple’s reported income was the highest in 2021, when they sold their home in Kentfield, a wealthy enclave in Marin County, for $5.9 million. The Newsoms reported receiving more than $55,000 in rent for leasing out the home that same year, but declared an overall loss for tax purposes of $70,000 due to their mortgage payments, taxes, legal fees and depreciation.

The family previously moved to a mansion in Fair Oaks that they purchased for $3.7 million in 2019 following a brief residence at the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Sacramento.

The family kept the Fair Oaks home and purchased another $9.1-million estate in Marin County in 2024, where they primarily live and their four children attend school. Newsom and his wife also spend time in Fair Oaks while working at the state Capitol.

During those four years, Newsom and Siebel Newsom paid a high of $1,253,187 in federal income taxes in 2021, and a low of $488,821 in 2023. Their state tax income bill ranged from $34,307 to $213,331 during that time. The annual property tax bills hovered between $48,000 and $64,300 over that span.

The governor’s income included his government salary, which ranged from $167,647 in 2021 to $192,087 in 2024.

Newsom also was paid more than $150,000 during that period as an author. In recent years, Newsom has published a book for children with dyslexia and a memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.”

The tax returns showed the family paid from $154,000 to almost $200,000 each year for household employees from 2021 through 2024. The returns showed that they paid for Social Security coverage, Medicare and the state’s unemployment benefits fund as part of those expenses.

The governor and his family donated more than $200,000 to charity from 2021 to 2024. While most of those donations were in cash, they also gave $4,900 in “Armani Business Wear” to the Oakland nonprofit organization Restorative Justice, and toys, furniture, appliances, books and other goods to Goodwill in Sacramento.

Among their listed expenses in 2021 was $3,542 in storage costs for silver and platinum holdings. Previously, the couple made nearly a half-million dollars trading silver bars in 2011 alone.

Long-term experiments demand resources, which is why the Dodgers’ lab is perfect for the Roki Sasaki project.

Funding is no issue. Time is no object. Pressure is a privilege and so is patience.

And when the Dodgers set out to prove a hypothesis — Roki Sasaki can be a “Cy Young-caliber” starting pitcher, as general manager Brandon Gomes has suggested — they did it with the luxury of seeing the project all the way through, until they’ve been proved right.

And most everyone else, wrong.

No, Sasaki didn’t need to be moved to the bullpen.

No, Sasaki didn’t need to be sent back down to the minor leagues.

No, Sasaki wasn’t going to be a bust.

Yes, the Dodgers knew exactly what they were doing by continuing to trot out the 24-year-old right-hander, providing him with the big league education they promised.

Thursday’s test ran 5⅓ innings, and Sasaki — with his bigger glove and harder splitter — held the Seattle Mariners at bay until the sixth inning, when they scored their only two runs in a game the Dodgers won 6-2.

For the fourth straight start, Sasaki performed like the pitcher who was promised when he picked the Dodgers 18 months ago, trusting them to develop him into a starting star.

Tack on another win to three consecutive he’d previously recorded, against the Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees and New York Mets.

In his past four starts, Sasaki (5-5) has struck out 26 batters, walked seven and has a 2.25 ERA and 3.44 FIP in 24 innings.

Man alive, the Dodgers have done it! “The Monster of the Reiwa Era” is breaking out. And the rest of baseball should probably be terrified.

Teammates congratulate Roki Sasaki as he’s pulled from the game by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in the sixth inning Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“This is a tough league,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “You have to have confidence and if you don’t have confidence, it’s hard to be successful. I think that’s all it was. He lacked a little bit of confidence early on. And as soon as he had that runway to kind of allow himself to be himself, you’ve seen the best out of him.”

Progress isn’t linear. But it’s been undeniable.

As a much-hyped rookie last season, Sasaki didn’t step right in as a permanent part of the Dodgers’ starting rotation. He had health issues and crises of confidence. And he had to acclimate to a culture far from his home in Japan, and to do it with his baseball-mad country following along closely.

All while playing under the Dodgers’ high-powered microscope. (Ask Kyle Tucker, a 29-year-old, English-speaking American, how challenging it’s been.)

Then, in the postseason, Sasaki became a not-so-secret secret weapon out of the bullpen in the Dodgers’ successful World Series defense. A step forward in relief, and then, as a sophomore starter, several steps back.

This spring training, Sasaki posted a 15.58 ERA and allowed 15 walks in 8⅔ innings. He looked lost — like, I thought, someone whose too-often dejected body language told us the glare of Dodger Stadium’s bright lights would do more damage than help.

I felt bad for the young man, felt he should get to fix his issues in the minors. I doubted his fortitude.

To start the regular season, Sasaki was shaky. He struggled with command. Failed to get out of the fifth inning in his first three starts. And the appeals began for the Dodgers to sign Sasaki up for duty in the ‘pen.

But the Dodgers (69-40) didn’t seem to consider it.

Why would they? They’re incentivized to see this trial all the way through, because of what it says about them as a developmental destination. As the club that pushes the right buttons. That can figure out how to help top talent figure it out.

A lower-half mechanical change over the All-Star break helped the 6-foot-2 Sasaki’s retooled splitter regain its movement and his fastball its heat; he hit or eclipsed 100 mph six times Thursday.

Also, a noticeably larger glove seems to have helped him curb his habit as an overly generous tipper. They thought he might have been inadvertently cluing in opponents with his movements on the mound — now they’ve found a way to better hide them, though neither Sasaki nor manager Dave Roberts want to credit the leather for this recent breakthrough.

“It’s not the glove,” Roberts said. “I think it’s just more of even the second half, when he came out that first start, you just saw that I think he just kind of decided that it’s time to go and finish strong. It’s a new half, it’s a new beginning. And you’ve seen a different player, you know, to be quite honest.

“There’s a lot more confidence … I use that word ‘conviction’ a lot, and there’s a lot of conviction.”

Because it’s not the size of a glove on a man, right? It’s his heart.

BUENOS AIRES — After a bruising World Cup defeat gave way to what many Argentines saw as a sweeping wave of hatred against their country, Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday signed an emergency decree empowering the government to deny entry to or expel foreigners who incite discrimination or violence against Argentines because of their nationality.

The measure adds new grounds to Argentina’s immigration law, allowing authorities to bar, deport and revoke visas of people found to have promoted hatred against Argentines in spoken or written statements or who have desecrated national symbols.

“In light of recent displays of hostility toward the Argentine Republic and Argentines, the national government reaffirms that the defense of the nation, its citizens and its symbols is non-negotiable,” the president’s office said. “Anyone who attacks the Argentine Republic is not welcome in our country.”

The move marks a sharp shift for a country that has long prided itself on welcoming immigrants. Argentina’s Constitution explicitly encourages immigration, and for decades the country has offered foreigners broad civil rights and relatively easy access to legal residency, public education and healthcare.

Milei’s office cast the decree as a response to weeks of criticism from celebrities, opposing fans and social media users after controversial refereeing decisions fueled speculation that FIFA had tilted the tournament in favor of the reigning champions and superstar Lionel Messi.

Condemnations of occasionally aggressive Argentine fans and the team’s roughhousing on the pitch soon broadened into attacks on Argentine society as a whole, amplifying long-standing criticism that Argentines view themselves as culturally and economically superior to their Latin American neighbors. Online petitions to expel Argentina from the World Cup drew hundreds of thousands of signatures.

The backlash intensified when Argentina players and staff became involved in a post-match brawl with Spanish opponents after the World Cup final.

FIFA, global soccer’s governing body, on Wednesday opened disciplinary proceedings against the Argentine Football Assn. over the scuffle, as well as over alleged racist abuse and fan misconduct. Players also faced a FIFA investigation into their parading of a banner that asserted Argentina’s claim to the British-controlled Falkland Islands after the team’s semifinal victory over England.

Milei, a close ally of President Trump’s, has described the torrent of criticism as an “anti-Argentina campaign.” He alleged without evidence last week that the left-wing governments of Brazil and Mexico and the U.S. Democratic Party had financed the effort to stigmatize Argentina to discredit his libertarian government.

His accusations and insults triggered a diplomatic crisis with neighbor Brazil, which recalled its ambassador to Argentina last weekend.

Thursday’s decree says the punishments don’t apply to ideological disagreement or political, academic or civic criticism protected under Argentina’s Constitution.

But it leaves unanswered how officials will distinguish protected speech from prohibited hate speech, whether immigration authorities will review foreigners’ social media activity and how aggressively the new powers will be enforced against tourists and longtime residents.

Debre writes for the Associated Press.

A section of Sunset Boulevard remained closed on Sunday because of last week’s destructive water main break, with officials saying they didn’t know when repairs to the 110-year-old pipe would be completed or the street reopened.

“While there is no set completion date yet, our crews remain dedicated to finishing the repairs as quickly and safely as possible,” the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said in a Sunday release.

Some West Hollywood residents remained displaced Sunday from apartments where underground garages were flooded by Thursday’s water main rupture. And some businesses near the scene remained indefinitely closed.

An aerial view of workers viewing a broken water main at Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive in West Hollywood that sent water gushing down many streets, closing several of them Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Vanessa Lopez, an LADWP spokeswoman, said that two other water pipe ruptures on Saturday — one in Venice and another in Hollywood — had been repaired.

The city received a report of yet another break on an 8-inch water main at 1501 Lincoln Blvd. on Sunday morning, she said, which crews were still working to repair.

Lopez said those breaks were not related to each other or to Thursday’s fracture of the far bigger pipe in West Hollywood, which was constructed in 1916.

Officials said Sunday that Sunset Boulevard remains closed between Sherbourne Drive and San Vicente Boulevard, with limited local access on nearby streets including Cynthia and San Vicente.

City officials urged the public to avoid the area.

LADWP said tap water in West Hollywood remains safe to drink, but officials encouraged residents to conserve.

With the 36-inch water transmission line undergoing repairs, West Hollywood is currently being served by an 8-inch distribution pipe. Residents may notice low water pressure, especially those living in upper-floor apartments, officials said.

Book Soup, a popular bookstore on Sunset Blvd, was one of the shops and restaurants forced to close after streets were flooded.

“For the safety of staff and the community, we’re keeping the store closed for the time being,” an employee said in a recording on its answering machine Sunday.

“We want to reassure everyone that the store is completely fine and our books are safe and dry,” she added.

Thursday’s fracture was on a steel pipe that forms the major arteries for water delivery from reservoirs and tanks to smaller distribution lines across Los Angeles. That section of the Sunset Trunk Line had been slated for replacement in 2031, according to the utility.

In 2019, LADWP said roughly 29% of the city’s pipes were over 80 years old, nearing their typical 100-year lifespan.

When the trunk line ruptured early Thursday morning, millions of gallons of water gushed down Holloway Drive, inundating businesses and flooding underground parking garages.

Repairs to a water main on Sunset Boulevard Saturday in West Hollywood.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman estimated that between 150 and 200 cars were damaged or destroyed in the flood.

The leak was stopped after a few hours, leaving a giant sinkhole in the middle of Sunset Boulevard.

On Saturday, city crews replaced a 25-foot section of the line. Workers have refilled the pipe with water and are now working to repressurize it, officials said Sunday.

The workers must then disinfect the pipe with chlorine and test the water’s quality for safety. The hole in Sunset Blvd. will then be filled and the street repaired, officials said.

Residents and businesses who lost property and suffered damages can find information about filing claims at www.LADWP.com/Claims.

Netflix on Thursday reported higher revenues and profit in the second quarter as it sought to assure investors about its growth prospects.

The streaming giant reported revenue of $12.6 billion in the second quarter, up 13% from a year ago. Net income during the period rose 9% to $3.4 billion.

Netflix said it expects revenue to grow 12% in the third quarter, but lowered its 2026 revenue forecast to $51 billion from $51.4 billion.

The results were roughly in line with what analysts had predicted and were driven by recent price increase and growth in advertising revenue. The latter is expected to reach $3 billion this year, the company said.

In a presentation with analysts, Netflix executives touted global expansion plans.

“We’re entertaining an audience approaching a billion people with still lots of room to grow into our addressable market on every measure,” said Spencer Neumann, Netflix’s chief financial officer, in the earnings presentation. “We believe we’ve got lots and lots of runway for solid growth ahead of us.”

Those comments appeared intended to assuage investors who’ve grown concerned that people could be spending less time on the streaming service as rivals like YouTube gain market share.

Netflix’s share of TV viewing time in the U.S. has steadily declined in recent months as rivals have gained market share, according to Nielsen data.

The streamer represented 7.8% of all TV viewing in the U.S. in April — the lowest percentage since May 2025. It was 7.5% in April 2025, Nielsen said.

By comparison, YouTube has seen its share of the streaming audience grow. YouTube’s TV viewing share in April rose to 13.4%, up from 12.4% a year earlier, Nielsen said.

Some investors fear that if viewership is down, subscribers could cancel the service, which would negatively affect the platform’s growing advertising business. It could also undercut Netflix’s ability to raise prices in the U.S. and other countries.

Those worries have caused Netflix’s stock price to plummet 41% in the last year. The stock closed on Thursday at $74.35 a share, up 1%. In after hours trading, the stock fell 8%.

“The engagement elephant continues to rear its head and investors are on edge that an earlier price hike in a seasonally tough period and lighter content slate could have driven more churn than usual,” wrote Morgan Stanley Research analysts in a research note.

On Thursday, Netflix said in a letter to shareholders it has a sophisticated understanding of its consumers and “we know not all hours are equal” and that engagement on its platform is “healthy.”

“The entertainment industry remains dynamic and competitive,” Netflix told shareholders. “We aim to stay ahead by executing against our three areas of focus: delivering more entertainment value, leveraging technology to improve every aspect of our service, and improving monetization.”

The Los Gatos-based company said it plans to allocate more than 5% of its content spend on live programming this year. Live content has been a key driver for subscriptions, accounting for six of the top 10 new member sign-up days over the last five years, the company said.

In the first half of 2026, Netflix said members watched more than 97 billion hours, up 2% from a year ago. Among the most popular shows: the crime thriller “I Will Find You,” which had 87 million views; and the romantic comedy film “Voicemails for Isabelle,” which garnered 71 million views.

Netflix has been adding new types of content to its platform, including video podcasts to help increase engagement with subscribers during the day.

As part of the diversification efforts, the platform has expanded its portfolio of live programming over the years, including adding NFL games and streaming Major League Baseball’s opening day game.

In 2022, Netflix had also faced investor pressure when it reported declining subscribers for the first time in more than a decade. That pushed the company to delve into other areas including advertising, gaming and cracking down on password sharing.

WASHINGTON — President Trump used a rare prime-time address Thursday night to renew his attacks on the security of U.S. elections, telling Americans that the nation’s voting system is “so broken” that “no one can possibly defend it,” an unprecedented effort by a sitting president to undermine public confidence in domestic elections.

Many of the claims he made, which echo those he made after he lost the 2020 election, have been debunked by investigations, audits and court proceedings. Trump did not claim that vote counts were changed or election systems were hacked, and his warnings that the nation’s elections could be vulnerable to foreign influence have long been made by members of both parties.

But the president amplified those claims and others in an effort to cast fresh doubt over what he said was a “stolen” and “rigged” election and renew calls to pass a federal voting law ahead of the November election.

“Addressing this crisis of elections security demands that Congress will pass the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “How easy is that to do? Unless you want to cheat.”

Trump said he directed the White House to release a tranche of heavily redacted documents that purport to show “vulnerabilities” in the nation’s voting system, with the goal of “correcting them very, very quickly.”

The 26-minute address to the nation — a platform traditionally reserved for rare moments of national importance — was the latest effort by Trump to attempt to assert more federal control over state elections.

Major broadcast networks declined to air Trump’s speech in full, instead reporting on it. Trump complained about NBC and ABC as he spoke, saying they should lose their broadcasting licenses. He falsely claimed that “they and others in the media are part of a plot” to “continue this fraud.”

In his remarks, Trump alleged China carried out what is believed to be the “largest compromise of election data history” starting during the 2020 election cycle and claimed that “members of the deep state” in the American intelligence community covered it up.

He directed the FBI, the director of national intelligence and other agencies led by some of his loyalists to investigate and prosecute the people responsible for the cover up.

Democrats swiftly condemned Trump’s claims as baseless and rehashed ideas that have little to do with actual election administration.

“Donald Trump is releasing unverified, meaningless documents to appease his own delusions about an election he lost resoundingly, all while continuing to withhold 3 million pages of the Epstein files,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X.

Multiple reviews of the 2020 election have concluded that Democrat Joe Biden won legitimately, and election experts say there is no evidence that widespread fraud affected the outcome of the election.

“It’s been more than half a decade, with numerous audits, recounts, and more than 60 court cases, each finding no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “Clearly, this is no longer about an election Donald Trump lost six years ago. It’s about him laying the groundwork to try to ‘take over the voting’ in the upcoming midterm elections.”

Ahead of the speech, elections and democracy experts had cautioned that the president may attempt to sow doubt in the security of the nation’s election system or bolster debunked fraud claims.

Trump has taken a series of steps since retaking office aimed at exerting control over elections. Some experts said Thursday’s address could be interpreted as a sign that Trump is running out of moves in the lead up to the midterm elections, where Republican control of the House is at stake.

“The fact that they’re throwing everything up on the walls at this point demonstrates panic,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research. “They are not operating from strength right now. They are operating from weakness.”

Trump delivered the address with his approval rating stagnating at 37%, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll released Thursday, with weakening enthusiasm among Republicans.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

LONDON — The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s team after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands.

Argentina beat England 2-1 in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta.

During post-match celebrations, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans in the stands, reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Malvinas are Argentine.”

Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina’s then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain.

“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday. “Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”

Starmer supported calls for FIFA to investigate, the spokesperson said, after U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely inappropriate.”

FIFA can prosecute Argentina’s players and soccer federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any “message that is not appropriate for a sports event” including those of “a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature.”

The FIFA fines for political messaging are $5,000 to $20,000.

FIFA was approached for comment Thursday.

A FIFA disciplinary case under previous leadership banned a South Korea player for two 2014 World Cup qualifying games because he held up a similar banner about a territorial claim against Japan at the 2012 London Olympics. Park Jong-woo took a fan banner with the slogan “Dokdo is our territory” after South Korea beat Japan in the men’s bronze medal game.

On Wednesday, Argentina player Lisandro Martínez was asked if the banner could have stirred deep emotions and tears for a veteran of the Malvinas conflict.

“We couldn’t let the Argentine people down” said Martínez, who has played in England for the past four years with Manchester United.

Argentina-England soccer rivalry

The sporting rivalry between the two countries is heightened by political tensions over the South Atlantic archipelago. It is a British overseas territory with a population of around 3,500 people located about 8,000 miles from the U.K. and 300 miles from Argentina.

Argentina argues that the islands were illegally taken from it in 1833. Britain, which says its territorial claim dates to 1765, sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine forces who sought to establish sovereignty over the territory.

The war in 1982 killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel and three islanders.

That conflict ended during the 1982 World Cup in Spain where Argentina, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played. British television networks declined to broadcast Argentina playing in the tournament’s opening game, when the defending champion lost to Belgium.

“Sadly, it is a sad part of our history,” Argentina player Leandro Paredes said in Atlanta about the banner, “for everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them, too.”

Politics in soccer

British government minister Kyle told the BBC “politics needs to be separate from football.”

“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football,” he said. “That is now a matter for FIFA.”

FIFA’s statutory political neutrality has been questioned at this World Cup after its president, Gianni Infantino, and disciplinary process — which could now judge Argentina — seemed to cave to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump in allowing United States forward Folarin Balogun to play Belgium in the round of 16.

Balogun was shown a red card in the previous round and FIFA disciplinary rules mandated he should be banned from his team’s next game. FIFA deferred that suspension for one year of probation, provoking an all-time controversy in modern World Cup history. Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Infantino is expected to sit with Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei, who are political allies, at the World Cup final Sunday. Argentina plays Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Previous cases

Argentina players showed the same “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” slogan at a warmup game in June 2014 in Buenos Aires for the World Cup that started days later in Brazil.

FIFA’s disciplinary panel ruling in that case was published after the tournament finished and fined the Argentina federation $37,000.

In the 2012 London Olympics case, FIFA’s ruling said the conduct of the South Korea player “cannot be tolerated.”

At the 2022 World Cup, FIFA fined the Serbia federation 20,000 Swiss francs ($24,800) for hanging a political banner about neighboring independent state Kosovo in the locker room before playing Brazil.

It showed a map of Serbia that included the territory of Kosovo, which has been an independent state since 2008, and the slogan “No Surrender.”

Lawless and Dunbar write for the Associated Press. Dunbar contributed to this report from Geneva.