Jack Tucker descends from the rafters inside L.A.’s Montalbán Theatre like a kamikaze crash landing into his big moment. He’s flanked by fountain fireworks while a buff guitarist with a blond mullet and glittery spandex shorts wails on guitar to the tune of Lenny Kravitz’s cover of “American Woman.” With the garish gusto of a WWE wrestler, Tucker’s entrance as the ringleader of the show “Stamptown” electrifies the stage.
But the show truly starts when it falls apart with technical mishaps. Everything breaks, guns go off, an illusionist loses his clothes and jumps fully nude into the crowd — all within the first five minutes.
It’s a chaotic comedy world created by classically trained performers, including clowns, who’ve studied the art of physical humor and shredded the rule book. For more than 10 years the Stamptown troupe led by Tucker, the alter ego of comedian Zach Zucker, has created an insane asylum on stage — from Elysian Theater in Echo Park to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. The show’s comedy thrives on failure, interruption and never actually getting to the “script.” This week the madness leaps from the stage to the screen as Stamptown premieres its first Netflix special Tuesday.
“This is a lot of people’s first time being exposed to this,” Zucker said, cracking a mischievous smile while sitting in a red velvet chair inside the empty Elysian Theater where his crew has performed “Stamptown” for years. “I have seen a man light his penis on fire 45 times in my show. I forget that when it comes to comedy, most people are used to seeing a person with one microphone stand still and talk.”
Filmed over the course of three performances during Netflix Is a Joke Fest in May, the spliced together “Stamptown” special directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and edited by show co-creator Dylan Woodley captures the chaos of clowning mixed with a cerebral roast of traditional comedy and plenty of playful danger. The result isn’t a piece of art but rather “a pile of art,” Zucker said.
“Our strength is being a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ type of performance, but if I really had to boil it down, it’s a modern day vaudevillian variety show that features any and all alternative performances … our ethos is, ‘against all odds, this show works,’ ” Zucker said.
Zach Zucker tosses props in the air inside the Elysian Theater.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
On a recent afternoon, the lanky, mustachioed Zucker, wearing a T-shirt, ballcap and small hoop earrings, bears little resemblance to his comic alter ego who sports a tattered suit with gag props stuffed in every pocket. In real life, the New York native is a former baseball and basketball star athlete who went down an extremely different path to become “a bisexual traveling clown.” After enrolling in what he assumed would be an easy acting class during his senior year of high school, Zucker became obsessed with improv and comedy. His teacher advised him to check out the renowned improv troupe Second City. So he flew to Chicago to see the show “Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies” featuring Tim Robinson, Sam Richardson, Timothy Edward Mason and more. “It changed my life,” he said.
After taking up comedy classes and street performances on the East Coast, Zucker quickly transitioned to working in theater and eventually moved to L.A. at 18 to pursue comedy, interning at Upright Citizens Brigade. He scrubbed toilets in exchange for free improv classes. It was at UCB where he first crossed paths with celebrated clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, whose former students include Sacha Baron Cohen, Rachel Weisz and Geoffrey Rush. The wily, frizzy-haired Frenchman with red-framed spectacles taught Zucker everything he knows about clowning.
“Our strength is being a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ type of performance, but if I really had to boil it down, it’s a modern day vaudevillian variety show that features any and all alternative performances … our ethos is, ‘against all odds, this show works,’” Zach Zucker said.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“Philippe is by far my greatest influence,” Zucker said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or that I’m not actively implementing all the lessons he taught me as a man and as an artist.”
One of those lessons became the ethos of “Stamptown”: “If you’re having fun, maybe we like you. If you’re not having fun, for sure we hate you.”
Inspired by his wisdom, Zucker moved to France for two years to study with Gaulier. It was there that he met his future “Stamptown” collaborator Jonny Woolley, a Canadian performer who became the show’s sound tech, adding to the menagerie of aural mayhem through sound effects that punctuate the show’s every move.
“There’s a lot of different ways of approaching clowning, but ultimately, for us, it’s more of a philosophical approach to making art than it is like a rigorous set of rules or styles. It’s just being a lovable idiot,” Woolley said.
The name “Stamptown” is a tribute to the place where they learned their artform: the town of Estampes (which loosely translates to “Stamp”) in France where they studied with Gaulier, who died this year before the special was filmed.
Though he‘s known for his offbeat humor, Zucker’s brain is firing on a perpetual metronome. He’s snapping his fingers incessantly during our interview while describing the comedic timing of each show, which grooves like a jazz band on stage.
”Sometimes there’s a few different rhythms that I’m balancing at once. I can really zone in on what is the most fruitful at the moment while still keeping these other balls in the air,” he said. “Thankfully we’re not always pushing a message. Sometimes it is just about entertaining the crowd at all costs.”
Before “Stamptown,” Zucker was performing with Norwegian friend and fellow clown Viggo Venn as “Zach & Viggo,” a side act in the original variety show Zucker started with his friends in 2017 in Melbourne called “Midnight Madness” that eventually turned into “Stamptown.”
Working with Venn, Woolley and Woodley, Zucker devised the show to include a rotating cast of clowns, and comedic performers from around the world, including L.A. Staples in the local clown community include the slapstick of clown kingpin Chad Damiani playing a janitor, comedic actor Natalie Palamides as a comedy nepo fetus birthed by Riki Lindhome of “Garfunkel and Oates” and the riotously robotic gyrations of Courtney Pauroso as fembot temptress Vanessa 5000.
“‘Stamptown’ is extraordinary; it’s finely calculated nonsense,” said actor Neil Patrick Harris, a longtime friend and supporter of Zucker who appears on the Netflix special, in a statement to The Times. “Each performance is unique — stand-ups colliding with circus artists, and improvisers swapping talents and fluids, even the stagehands’ utter chaos and running gags, a ridiculous fever dream … it’s absurdly genius.”
The international performers who have become part of the “Stamptown” universe run the gamut from jugglers to steel drum players to acrobats to pianists. Trans comedian Jordan Gray is extremely unafraid to bare it all, including her soul, when behind the piano. The physicality of the performances goes beyond regional references and punchlines that might get some laughs in one country but not in others. Venn says it’s clear that at their core people tend to share the same sense of humor.
“It was fascinating to us to see that in Australia and France and England and the U.S., they really laugh at the same things if it’s like a deeply human kind of failure,” Venn said. “That’s the beauty of this show.”
Zach Zucker sits inside the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A tangled web of masterfully timed sound effects has unintentionally become the heartbeat of “Stamptown” . With Woolley now living full time in London, the duties for the U.S. shows were recently passed down to fellow performer Jeremy Elder, who did the sounds for the Netflix special tapings. He says the show is at its best when they throw out the game plan for the night, even while filming for Netflix.
“I think it’s as soon as we went off script, the audience could feel that. In the final product, we planned so much, but once you’re in the room with people it’s a very clown-like sentiment to just roll with what the audience is feeling,” Elder said.
While traditional stand-up is Netflix’s bread and butter for comedy programming, this form of comedy is mostly a target for mockery in “Stamptown” to show how limiting it is compared with the physical comedy of clowning. The one caveat, Zucker says — a clown is by far the most embarrassing brand of comedian you can be.
“It’s not cool, you don’t do this to be cool,” he said, laughing. “The whole point is that with all the love and fantasy and pleasure of your life, you have to step in a bucket of s— over and over and over and enjoy it. ‘Isn’t it awesome how I humiliate myself for you?’ And you embrace it.”
Undaunted by reality, and likely law, Bianco announced he was going to have his deputies recount the votes, even though this kind of interference in the chain of custody of ballots never had occurred anywhere in the United States.
This unprecedented seizure of ballots — something election-denier-in-chief President Trump has been hinting at trying himself for years — quickly became a national news story, and a national concern.
With midterms looming and more than one MAGA sheriff out there, what would stop another conspiracy-minded, badge-wearing maverick from doing something similar this November, potentially throwing our national election into turmoil?
The specter of Bianco setting a precedent for like-minded conspiracists to follow prompted two significant lawsuits — one led by the election experts at the UCLA Voting Rights Project and the other from state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
The state Supreme Court heard arguments in those cases Monday, and while we’ll have to wait for the official rulings, things did not seem to go well for the sheriff.
What surprised me most, or maybe just relieved me, was how thin Bianco’s arguments were to support his actions. In the end, his legal team came with little more than contortions and cartwheels, trying to twist Bianco’s overreach into existing law.
His lawyer, Bradley Hertz, attempted to argue that legislators, when crafting laws protecting ballots, meant different rules to apply to investigations of elections preceding formal prosecutions. If that sounds confusing, it’s because it is.
Hertz seemingly was trying to convince the court that Bianco legally could pull his shenanigans as long as he didn’t actually find criminal wrongdoing, which would trigger a different set of rules.
“That seems bizarre,” Justice Goodwin H. Liu said during a back-and-forth with Hertz.
Indeed.
But it was Justice Joshua Groban who hit at the national implications of what Bianco had done — and what it could mean for the midterms if this court ruled in his favor.
“It seems like under your broad view of the warrant power … the sheriff could could seize ballots even before election day, right?” Groban asked. “Even before they were counted.”
It’s terrible to have ballots seized after they’re counted. It’s devastating if they were to be taken before there was an official tally, because how would anyone trust that there hadn’t been tampering? Simply seizing uncounted ballots, no matter what happens next, would create such paranoia and uncertainty that the election results almost certainly would be called into question — something that could play into the favor of, say, a wannabe authoritarian who fears he’s likely to lose a fair vote count.
Even Hertz seemed to acknowledge such a scenario was bad.
“If search warrants were allowed during the election or preelection, that would obviously wreak havoc,” he said. “There would be, kind of, a cat out of the bag, so to speak. You can’t count ballots if they’re not in the possession of the registrar.”
But then Hertz tried to come up with logic that what Bianco was arguing wouldn’t mean that ballots could be seized anytime, anyhow, and that instead courts could find a way to allow seizing only after the official count. The court did not seem convinced that this was a good idea, or that that is what the law should or did allow.
If that case didn’t go well for Bianco, it was the second case brought by Bonta that really might end up being a hard loss.
For years, decades really, in California and across the country, there has been a group of sheriffs who have argued they are a law onto themselves because they are elected, not hired or appointed. Some of these sheriffs argue that they are literally above federal law.
In California, there has at times been momentum to rein in this line of thinking by creating clear boundaries in law, but the state Legislature always has backed down in the face of opposition from law enforcement.
One potential curb on sheriffs’ power comes from a single line in our state Constitution that seems to say the state attorney general has supervisory power over them. But the meaning and power of this particular clause has long been debated and seldom invoked.
Bonta, however, invoked it against Bianco, claiming the the sheriff had to back off the ballot-seizing because Bonta had authority to order him to stop. Bianco did stop, to his credit. But the standoff was heard by the court Monday and likely will force clarity on an issue that has long lacked it.
Here again, the justices seemed amenable to Bonta’s argument that sheriffs, at least to some extent, answer to him as the state’s chief law enforcement officer. But the justices seemed far more cautious on this issue, and even the state’s attorney conceded that “it’s actually pretty remarkable how little our Constitution says about county sheriffs.”
If Bianco loses on this issue, it would be huge. It would mean that Bianco not only overstepped his power by seizing the ballots, but that he also had forever lessened the power of California sheriffs by clarifying they do answer to the attorney general. I’m sure that will be very popular with other sheriffs.
We’ll see what the justices say, but at least it seems likely that this embarrassing chapter of California election history will end in favor of the law, and democracy.
Maybe Bianco really does believe his conspiracy theories. After all, “there are some people who believe they had breakfast with Elvis on Sunday,” pointed out Chad Dunn, who argued the case for the Voting Rights Project.
“We can’t satisfy them,” Dunn warned.
More importantly, we shouldn’t — even when they wear a badge. Our laws already have robust protections for elections, and rogue sheriffs aren’t one of them.
A prominent Latino group is raising fresh concerns about Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the blockbuster deal would crush Latino workers and small businesses that support Hollywood.
In an open letter to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, the League of United Latin American Citizens urged the state’s top prosecutor to continue his legal fight to block Paramount’s proposed $111-billion takeover of the media company that owns HBO, CNN, HGTV and the Warner Bros. film and television studios.
“No state has more to lose from this disastrous merger … than California,” LULAC National President Roman Palomares and Chief Executive Juan Proaño wrote in the six-page letter sent to Bonta late Sunday.
Thousands of jobs would be lost, and Latino voices could be squelched should the deal go through as it is drawn, the LULAC leaders said.
“The current form of the consolidation would have a devastating and unacceptable impact on Latinos, including those who reside in the Los Angeles community,” they wrote, noting Latinos make up 40% of the state’s population and nearly half of Los Angeles County, where HBO and the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios are based.
Paramount’s proposed merger has carved deep divisions and become increasingly contentious.
In recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra publicly pressured Bonta to settle the lawsuit to avoid a drawn-out court fight.
Politicians have been reacting to Paramount’s threat to move its studio, and potentially Warner Bros., from Hollywood to Tennessee or Texas unless Bonta backs down.
Theater owners and two major Hollywood unions — the Directors Guild of America and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — have joined the parade pleading for a settlement. But the Writers Guild of America and Teamsters have steadfastly opposed the merger, warning about its potential impact on working writers and film crews.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison was set Monday to meet Bonta and others representing the 12 states that sued to block the transaction. But Bonta abruptly canceled the mediation session, accusing Paramount of “playing games,” leaking details and making misrepresentations about the talks despite agreeing to keep them confidential.
Paramount later denied that it was the source of the leaks.
Paramount didn’t immediately comment on the LULAC letter, but previously has touted the merger as a way to build a stronger competitor amid a pullback in local production. The company said it would “invest $30 billion annually in production and release at least 30 films a year,” a commitment that would lead to “more jobs over time, and ultimately, a stronger, more durable entertainment industry for generations to come.”
“To have it thrown in your face that Paramount will leave Los Angeles if they don’t get what they want is really just tantamount to a threat … one that will be devastating to Latinos,” Proaño said in an interview with The Times.
“There is a significant number of small businesses — Latino small businesses — and Latino residents, employees and workers that support this industry,” Proaño said. “We’ve been invisible, we’ve been silent — but we wanted to make sure that LULAC is not silent in this moment.”
In its letter, LULAC pointed to Hollywood’s most recent mergers, including Discovery’s 2022 acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T, saying such tie-ups underscore how media consolidation tramples over Latino voices, particularly when companies resort to job eliminations and other cost cuts to balance the expense of a corporate takeover.
After Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav took the helm, his company plodded through years of turmoil and massive layoffs. The movie “Batgirl,” which was set to feature a young Afro-Latina as lead actor, was shelved to gain tax benefits. Warner also canceled “Gordita Chronicles,” a TV show about an immigrant Dominican family, despite solid viewership.
Latino families make up “a significant portion of the film and television industry audience,” the letter said, adding that Motion Picture Assn. data show Latinos annually attend more movies per person in theaters than any other demographic group.
“Hollywood returns almost nothing for that loyalty,” the letter said. “Latino characters filled only 5 percent of speaking roles across 1,300 top-grossing films.”
“These and other harms are not collateral to the antitrust case,” LULAC’s letter said. “They are consequences of the diminished competition that will result. Every studio absorbed by a rival is one fewer buyer for a script, one fewer employer for a crew and one fewer distributor willing to bet on a story its franchise slate does not need.”
Warner Bros. Discovery nearly drowned in debt that it took on to finance its $43-billion buyout from AT&T in 2022. Ellison’s proposed Warner Bros. takeover also will be heavily leveraged with nearly twice the debt that resulted from Zaslav’s previous deal.
David Ellison has lined up nearly $80 billion in debt financing to buy out Warner investors. The tech scion is relying on a guarantee from his billionaire father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and $24 billion in equity financing from three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, representing the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The deal comes one year after the Ellison family bought Paramount, which had been on the ropes because of significant under-investment over the years.
“Paramount followed the same script: within months of closing its Skydance merger in August 2025, it laid off roughly 2,000 employees, about ten percent of its workforce, just after dismantling its diversity programs earlier that year,” the LULAC letter reads.
“This time, Zaslav’s going to walk away with a billion-dollar parachute and Paramount may end up with these crown jewels assets when it comes to movie-making and television programming,” Proaño said.
When Lane Kiffin dials a number, the person on the other end usually answers and takes the call.
Todd Monken crossed paths with Kiffin many times while both crisscrossed the country for decades, taking this job and that, as head coaches and assistants at top colleges and in the NFL.
Monken became an NFL head coach for the first time in January, taking over the Cleveland Browns. Kiffin is about to begin his first season as the Louisiana State head coach, so Monken didn’t know why Kiffin’s number popped up on his screen over the weekend.
“I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out to me a week ago,” Monken told reporters Sunday. “Now I know. I didn’t call him back. I guess I should have.”
Kiffin called to tell Monken something the rookie NFL coach learned later in the day. Dae’Quan Wright, a tight end the Browns waived Sunday morning, plans to play for LSU if he clears waivers, his agents told ESPN.
Dae’Quan Wright of the Cleveland Browns warms up before a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field on Aug. 22.
(Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Wright, who went undrafted after playing for Kiffin at Mississippi, is believed to be the first player to have an agreement to return to college football after signing with an NFL team. He was with the Browns for fewer than two weeks after the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as an undrafted free agent and placed him on waivers in early August.
Although Wright didn’t play in the Browns’ two preseason games, he suited up Saturday against the Buffalo Bills because injuries to other players created a potential need. He never left the sideline.
Another NFL player being courted by Kiffin, however, saw action. . Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie linebacker Jack Pyburn recorded two sacks in a preseason victory over the New York Jets on Friday.
Pyburn, who also went undrafted after playing three years at Florida and his senior year at LSU, can regain his college eligibility if he terminates his contract with the Bucs and repays earnings. Pyburn’s deal guaranteed him $115,000 and included a $15,000 signing bonus.
LSU could pay him an estimated $1 million for his NIL, exceeding the NFL full-season rookie minimum of $885,000.
“I’m kind of caught in the middle of a whirlwind,” Pyburn told the Athletic, “and I’m just trying to play football.”
Wright and Pyburn are two of about 30 athletes who filed a lawsuit in Louisiana and were granted a temporary restraining order to return to college for one more season.
The lawsuit challenges new NCAA eligibility rules that give athletes a five-year window to compete in college sports. The plaintiffs are 2022 high school graduates whose college eligibility expired last spring under the previous rules. The NCAA did not include them in implementation of age-based eligibility, prompting lawsuits.
Several state courts have ruled in the players’ favor, and they have eligibility in the upcoming school year until appeals are ruled on. Most of the plaintiffs are basketball players, but Wright and Pyburn are two of 16 football players benefiting from the temporary restraining order granted by Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for President Trump to seek new limits on the use of mail ballots, but they are not likely to take effect this year.
Acting by a 6-3 vote, the court’s conservatives granted an emergency appeal from Trump’s lawyers and set aside a judge’s order that blocked new federal regulations on states and their use of mail ballots.
It’s not clear, however, what happens now, since the midterm elections are less than three months away.
About 30% of the nation’s voters — and 80% of Californians — cast their ballots by mail in 2024. Trump, however, has long maintained the voting by mail leads to fraud, including voting by noncitizens.
The court’s order stressed the new regulations do not put new requirements on the states this year.
Trump’s executive order “is internal directive from the President to his subordinates mandating that certain agencies pursue certain policies. It neither requires nor forbids anything of anyone outside the Executive Branch,” the court said.
The Department of Homeland Security will compile state-by-state lists of citizens who are over 18 and eligible to vote.
“States are not required to use the Lists,” the court said, although they could lead to future prosecutions.
The most disputed provision could have authorized the Postal Service to restrict mail ballots to those who are on the Homeland Security lists, but that is a future proposal, not a rule that will take effect this year.
The unsigned order spoke for the six Republican appointees. The three liberals, all Democratic appointees, dissented into two separate opinions.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Trump’s order was unlawful and should have been struck down. “It needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections,” she said.
“Today’s decision does not address whether the President’s attempts to interfere with States’ administration of the November 2026 elections are lawful,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Elena Kagan. “Nor does it suggest that the Executive Branch has any constitutional or statutory authority to implement the President’s directives. Instead, today’s decision merely postpones adjudication of those challenges.”
Trump issued his executive order on March 31 with the aim of “ensuring citizenship verification” in federal elections. California and 22 other Democratic-led states sued a few days later and said Trump sought to use the Postal Service to impose new restrictions on voting by mail. They also argued the Constitution gives states and Congress the power to regulate elections, not the president.
A federal judge in Boston and 1st Circuit Court agreed with the challengers and blocked Trump’s executive order from taking effect for the November elections.
The case on appeal was Trump vs. California because California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta was a leader of the Democratic state attorneys who sued.
OMAHA, Neb. — “Do they still like Trump in Nebraska? I think so,” the president said during a recent event in Washington.
Given that the state easily backed Republican Donald Trump three times and hasn’t supported a Democrat for the White House since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, the answer may seem obvious.
But in Nebraska’s largest city, it’s an open question and could decide one of the country’s most-watched congressional races. Retiring Rep. Don Bacon ’s open seat pits fellow Republican and Omaha City Councilmember Brinker Harding against Democratic activist Denise Powell.
The district encompasses an increasingly Democratic-leaning Omaha metro area of 1 million-plus and its more conservative suburbs — famous for steaks and the Reuben sandwich’s birthplace, though New York disputes that.
It’s one of just eight districts nationwide that elected Republicans in House races while supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over Trump two years ago.
Harding and Powell have been making the rounds at parades and festivals where meat raffles offer oversized sausages as prizes. However, those on-the-ground appeals could be drowned out by Trump who, like most things in politics, has moved to shape November’s midterm elections in his own image.
The president is organizing a Republican midterm convention in Dallas next month that will serve as much a two-day rally for him as a boon to party candidates nationwide. Trump is also frequently visiting tightly contested districts, despite his low approval ratings and the unpopular war in Iran.
While Trump centers himself, Democrats are happy to oblige.
When Powell knocks on doors to talk to voters, she asks, “What’s keeping you up at night?” On a sweaty Saturday afternoon, John Rosseter responded without hesitation. “Well, Trump.”
“I want to see the history books written years from now,” said Rosseter, 67, who owns a carpentry business. “They won’t be pretty.”
The ‘Blue Dot’ hasn’t helped Democratic House candidates
Nebraska splits its presidential electoral votes, and the 2nd Congressional District’s delegate has gone to Democrats three out of five times since 2008, making it a “ blue dot ” in an otherwise Republican red state. But a Democrat has won the House seat just once since 1994.
Harding plays up Trump’s primary endorsement, and House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise campaigned for him. Harding said he has “the full confidence of, not only the White House, but leadership in the Congress.”
He has also tried to appeal to swing voters and says he knows the district better than does Powell, co-founder of Women Who Run Nebraska, which supports female candidates.
Two possible Democratic 2028 presidential candidates — ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rahm Emanuel, an ex-Chicago mayor who was President Barack Obama’s first White House chief of staff — have campaigned with Powell.
She talks about how Medicare cuts have increased anxiety about affordability. Powell also points to Trump and his family’s business dealings as an example of “the choices that they have made while people on the ground are struggling” and she says that resonates with Republicans.
“Even the ones who aren’t necessarily anti-Trump,” Powell said, “understand the need for checks and balances.”
Some Democrats want a ‘Blue Dot Wave’
Jason Brown and his wife, Ruth Huebner-Brown, caused a sensation in 2024 by spray painting about 50 reused lawn signs with blue dots and distributing them around Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood. The couple has since expanded to professionally produce signs promoting a “Blue Dot Wave.”
Brown said the Republican-controlled Congress has capitulated on “every Trump nominee, every Trump policy, all the way down to putting gilding gold on statues.”
Supporters of Harding have countered with red “Brinker Dot” signs.
“We need to make sure that we keep this country on the track to being even better,” Harding said.
Jack Hosking, the 90-year-old retired former head of a title insurance company, organizes a weekly coffee to discuss political and community issues. He estimated that about 70% of attendees are Trump voters and “maybe even more so lately, because of the crap that the New York mayor started,” referring to Zohran Mamdani’s efforts at pushing the Democratic Party to the left.
Both Powell and Harding have addressed Hosking’s group, though, and he predicted that as much as half will support the Democrat.
“She spoke well enough that, my sense is, a lot of them will cross over,” Hosking said, noting that when it came to campaigning, “Brinker’s not doing much.”
The president seen as a base motivator
The Republican National Committee views Trump as a national asset, betting he can prevent complacency in a year without a presidential race, when enthusiasm for the party in power typically wanes.
The committee rebranded its “Young Guns” program for key candidates to “MAGA Majority” in deference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, and many congressional candidates will be at the Dallas convention with Trump.
Others aren’t waiting that long.
Republican Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Tom Barrett of Michigan, whom Democrats are aiming to unseat, both appeared with Trump during his rallies in their districts. When the president visited Macungie, Pennsylvania, in June, he joined Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, saying, “I’m here for him.”
Trump also traveled to the Wisconsin district of Republican Rep. Derreck Van Orden, as have Cabinet members.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, facing a reelection fight, appeared with Trump during an April event in Arizona. Two Iowa Republicans in what could be toss-up reelection contests, Reps Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, both were by Trump’s side when he kicked off his midterm campaign outside Des Moines.
Bacon sometimes defied the White House in his final term. He criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tried to curb Trump’s ability to impose tariffs and was the only House Republican who opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Mary Jane Truemper, who heads the Nebraska Republican Party, said Powell and the state’s Democrats have moved too far to the left. She called Harding “a steady force” and said the nominee is not as fond of picking high-profile fights the way Bacon sometimes was.
“I think he speaks to the moderate Democrats as well as the Republicans,” said Truemper, who managed Bacon’s reelection campaign in 2018 and also worked for an unsuccessful primary challenger to him.
Even Powell said, “Don Bacon was a good representative of this district, and I think that there are a lot of people drawn to a pragmatic style of leadership in a state like ours.” But that may not be enough this year.
“People are worse off than they were before,” Powell said.
A local race may expose a wider party divide among neighbors
In the Elmwood Park neighborhood, Andy Maxwell, a 58-year-old pediatrician, said he likes to find the middle ground in politics and his community. But he recalled that, after putting up a Biden sign in his yard in 2020, his neighbors erected a Trump one.
“We don’t like all the turmoil part of it,” Maxwell said of politics nationally.
Nearby, 80-year-old Jerard Pearson called Democrats “feckless,” but said of Trump’s base supporters, “I’ve always been curious about this one-third level of crazy out there, a third of the population.” He is also no fan of a neighbor’s large “Harding for Congress” sign.
Truemper said Harding appreciates Trump’s endorsement but Nebraskans like to be wooed “person-to-person, rather than a national entity coming in.”
“Is that going to be the deciding factor?” she asked of Trump. “I don’t know.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly moving back across the pond, six years after their dramatic exit from the Royal family stunned Americans and Britons and exposed scandal in Buckingham Palace.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will return to British soil along with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for an extended period starting this month, People reported last week. While the pair’s decision may be unsurprising to some, Prince Harry and Meghan made clear in 2020 that their personal Brexit was because of several factors, ranging from severe scrutiny by the British media to alleged racism and bullying from the royal family.
Meghan, during the couple’s memorable tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, spoke plainly of her experience among the royals: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was very clear and real and frightening.”
King Charles III is aware of the plans for his son and Meghan‘s U.K. return and “welcomes the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity,” People reported. The spouses are also said to retain their property in the affluent Santa Barbara enclave of Montecito, and vacation home in Portugal while also making a “private, non-royal” home in Britain. This retrospective tracks the early years of the highly scrutinized pair’s relationship, the fallout from their royal exit, their media ventures and more.
When Harry met Meghan
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto, Canada.
(Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)
“Personally, I love a great love story.”
That’s what Meghan Markle, formerly of “Suits” fame, told Vanity Fair in October 2017. By then, more than a year of media speculation and rumors surrounded the L.A.-raised actor and activist’s romance with Britain’s Prince Harry, younger brother to Prince William and the second son of Charles and the late Princess Diana, who was killed at age 36 in 1997 after the car she was in crashed while fleeing paparazzi in Paris.
Meghan and Prince Harry kindled a romance in 2016 at that year’s edition of his veteran-centered Invictus Games, held in Orlando. Markle quickly found herself in the beloved “bad boy” Royal’s orbit — including the tireless swarm of tabloids and paparazzi who have captured almost his every move from childhood. The pair was already subject to media frenzy early in their relationship, prompting Harry via Buckingham Palace to plead with reporters to respect his then-girlfriend’s privacy and to condemn the “outright sexism and racism” in online comments. Markle had also remarked early on that she was disheartened that so much coverage of her romance focused on her ethnicity.
News of their engagement in 2017 further raised eyebrows among the public and even more so with established British tabloids, including the Daily Mail, which had once described the pair’s relationship as a “VERY unlikely romance.” In the context of the longstanding (and almost exclusively white) British monarchy, Meghan was an outsider: American, mixed-race (she is half white and half Black), an outspoken public figure and a divorcée (she was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson).
Prince Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and were named Duke and Duchess of Sussex. At the time, Prince Harry was sixth in line to the British throne. During the wedding ceremony, the Rev. Michael Bruce Curry heralded the pair’s union with calls for justice and equality — amid the country’s early steps into leaving the European Union — and made references to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children,” Curry said during the ceremony. “When love is the way, we actually treat each other — well, like we are actually family.”
Between the newlyweds and the British royals, family ties proved only so strong.
Buckingham Palace faces a new era of controversy
As new parents, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex pose with their newborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in England.
(WPA pool / Getty Images)
Marrying into British royalty did not shield Meghan from criticism, speculation and attacks by the press — it appeared to have the opposite effect. Sound familiar?
British tabloids and several media personalities continued taking aim at Meghan, portraying her as a rude “trailer trash” personality amid a rumored riff with Princess Kate and using racist imagery to mock the arrival of her firstborn son, Archie, in 2019. The public ridicule remained ceaseless, but alleged tension was also brewing behind palace walls.
Less than a year after their first heir’s arrival, the Duke and Duchess announced in a shocking personal statement in 2020 that they would step down as senior members of the royal family and would work to become financially independent. They also announced at the time that they would split their time between the U.K. and North America. A year later, the spouses announced they would not return to royal duties. Shortly after, they memorably shed light on their decision in a bombshell CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, unleashing a disturbing look into their life as members of the royal family.
Meghan claimed that while pregnant with Archie, she and her husband were informed their son would not have the title of prince or princess, which she said deviated from longtime protocol, and would not be entitled to security. The actor also implied that during discussions about her son’s title, there were “also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
“They were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem?” Winfrey asked.
“If that’s the assumption you’re making,” Meghan replied, “I think that’s a pretty safe one.” She did not identify the person who made the remarks: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”
Winfrey later clarified that Harry said neither his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II or his grandfather Prince Philip “were a part of those conversations.”
Meghan also spoke about her struggles with her mental health while part of the royal family. She revealed that she was suicidal while pregnant with Archie, citing isolation and helplessness amid ceaseless attacks by the press.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought,” she said, adding that she went to the palace’s corporate institution for help. “I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.” At the time of the interview, Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a baby girl. Lilibet was born June 2021.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement responding to the spouses’ interview. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
Royal fallout
Prince Harry with Meghan, standing behind Prince William and Kate, during the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
(WPA pool / Getty Images)
In addition to Harry and Meghan’s self-demotion, Buckingham Palace faced tragedy and additional criticism in the following years. Prince Philip died in April 2021 and long-reigning Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 at age 96. Prince Harry and Meghan both attended the queen’s funeral, but under close watch by the British media.
Charles ascended to the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death, marginally moving up Harry and his children with Meghan — the children later received their royal titles of prince and princess. — in the line of succession to the British throne.
When 2023 arrived, so did a fresh batch of revelations about the Windsors. Prince Harry published his memoir, “Spare,” providing readers an unflinching look at his family but an even more unforgiving description of the paparazzi. In the book he recalled needing to ask his grandmother’s permission to propose to Meghan, wrote that older brother Prince William had “been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg” and accused queen consort Camilla of making shady deals with the press.
Months after the memoir’s publication, Prince Harry and Meghan were asked to vacate their British home of Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Reportedly, King Charles began the eviction process the day after his son published the memoir.
Meghan, left, and Chrissy Teigen in an episode of Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan.”
(Jake Rosenberg / Netflix)
As Meghan and Harry moved to separate themselves from the royal family and from life in the U.K., they settled down in California in the affluent neighborhood of Montecito and into new business ventures. Among their earliest post-palace endeavors was the creation of multimedia company Archewell Productions, which in September 2020 inked a multiyear deal with Netflix to produce series, docuseries, documentaries and other programming.
For Netflix, the spouses have put forward numerous projects, including documentary series and reality shows “Harry & Meghan,” “Heart of Invictus” and cooking show “With Love, Meghan.” The pair opted last year to maintain its relationship with the streaming giant, signing another multiyear, first-look deal.
Additionally the ex-royals’ Archewell Audio inked a multiyear deal with Spotify to produce podcasts and shows for the platform in a deal that was reportedly worth $20 million. Archewell Audio released a 30-minute holiday special in 2020 and one audio series — “Archetypes” — hosted by Meghan in August 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s podcasting endeavor at Spotify ended in 2023.
Unsurprisingly, Prince Harry and Meghan, who have also busied themselves with various philanthropic causes, faced backlash for their Spotify departure. Meghan was also accused of faking some “Archetypes” interviews.
In addition to big-swing media ventures, Meghan launched a lifestyle and food business that had undergone multiple name changes. She initially launched her brand under the moniker American Riviera Orchard, specializing in artisan jams she notably gifted to celebs, including Kris Jenner, Chrissy Teigen and Mindy Kaling. She later rebranded the line to As Ever, following a minor roadblock with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
“I was figuring it out in real time,” she told People of the naming debacle in 2025. She also said she now sees herself “as an entrepreneur and a female founder.”
According to recent reporting, Meghan can add “actor” back into that description. She is reportedly in talks to join the third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series “The Gentleman.” That would be her first acting gig since the end of “Suits” and marrying into the royal family.
While we might look to other eras, or, you know, epochs (hi, Paleo people) for wellness inspiration, none is quite as dramatic and as “Princess Bride”-esque as LA.’s fencing community. At its center is Swordplay LA. The Burbank-area club is sporty but approachable, leaning into fencing’s cultural impact — and its fantasy — by extending a pointed invitation (see what I did there?) to make friends, be merry and break a sweat.
Alex Blugerman suits up with protective gear before a class at Swordplay LA.
Since the 12th century BC, fencing has been a source of both combat and entertainment. Egyptians in antiquity engaged in sword combat for warfare, but also for competition — Romans utilized swords in gladiator events, rituals and duels. During the Renaissance, Italians refined fencing into its modern form, and soon fencing schools began popping up all over Europe. Fast forward to the 1800s, when fencing’s popularity was so widespread that it became one of the five original games at the 1896 Olympics, where it continues to be a beloved summer event.
And yes, while the Olympics are one point of public familiarity, that’s just one small part of our collective cultural consciousness around the sport.
“Everyone has some kind of relationship to fencing,” said Mary Sola Spohn, the owner of Swordplay LA. “It’s mostly like, my kid saw this movie, or I love this character. It’s the stories around fencing that bring people in.”
Spohn cites “Game of Thrones,”“Lord of the Rings,”“Dungeons & Dragons,”“Star Wars” and even “The Parent Trap” as some of the more popular cultural inspirations for newbies. While clearly rooted in some serious history and tradition, according to Spohn, fencing’s representation in media is its most powerful draw.
Swordplay LA owner Mary Sola Spohn shows off the gym’s fencing gear. Spohn has trained the likes of Academy Award-winning actors and Olympic athletes.
“And ‘Wednesday,’” Spohn adds, of the influx of interest after the Netflix series debuted. “I’m not gonna say that ‘Wednesday,’ you know, saved the day, but, it is very interesting how certain things in pop culture kind of influence the interest level.”
Spohn should know. As a 7-year-old, she was mesmerized by the swordplay in “Hook” and “Peter Pan.” A native Angeleno, she started taking classes at Swordplay LA and soon became a nationally-ranked fencing youth. She participated in the U.S. Olympic trials and was recruited to Northwestern University’s Division 1 fencing team. After college, she worked as a stunt actor, fight choreographer and action designer specializing in European weapons. Spohn was training famous actors, athletes and Olympians (one of her favorite experiences was teaching Charlize Theron rapier for the film “Old Guard 2)” when she was given the opportunity to own the very business where her love of the sport began — and she took it.
Seven years later, Spohn is less interested in high competitive stakes than she is in fostering an all-inclusive, supportive community for her students at Sportsplay L.A. Participants come from all over Los Angeles and range in age from 7 to 85 years old. And she’s succeeded: nearly 170 members and hundreds of classes later, Swordplay LA is now one of the longest established fencing clubs in Los Angeles, with diversified offerings like stunts, pro-wrestling and historical European martial arts (or HEMA, for short) that offer some of the most unique workouts in the city.
Alex Blugerman, left, and Aiden Kelly duel during a class at Swordplay LA.
En garde! Inside the sword-fighting gym
Entering Swordplay LA’s large Burbank headquarters, I was worried I was in over my head. Like many beginners, I had no idea about the reality of fencing: the rigorousness, the gear, the clientele. Would I be the only woman there? Would I injure myself, or someone else? Should I have dressed preppier, like the quick-reflexed, collegiate fencing villains in the movies?
Immediately, my worries were assuaged — there were, in fact, women there. There was also a weapons wall, “Game of Thrones”-style wood accents and a prominently placed map of Middle-earth. While it’s definitely sporty, Spohn has carefully curated Swordplay LA’s atmosphere to be about storytelling — acknowledging the books, TV and films that inspire the club’s clientele.
“I put a lot of thought into the way this place looks and feels. I wanted it to still feel like an athletic facility, but with a creative, artistic side to it. Leaning into what brings people here,” she said.
Everyone was extremely friendly and on the fashion front, no popped collars in sight — only gym clothes and cool-looking fencing gear: mask, chest protector and underarm protector.
Swordplay LA participants Jonathan Proft, left, and Traviss Nguyen strike their weapons.
I did, in fact, feel cool when I put on said gear. I felt even cooler holding my sword, knees bent, feet wide, ready and waiting in my “advance” stance.
While we see lots of depictions of fencing, the rules are, in fact, fairly intuitive: Staying in the narrow playing area, or “piste,” two athletes wield their swords, trying to be the first to make contact with the other while avoiding being hit (and yes, you do get to shout “en garde,” before you advance). Like yoga or dance, the experience is a workout that feels in alignment with the body’s natural movements, at an intensity appropriate to wielding an ancient weapon.
“There are so many natural elements to it,” Spohn assured me during our lesson. “You know, in a very basic sense, how to hold it, what to do with the sword. Everyone has a vision of what that looks and feels like, and people get it.”
At the end of our 30-minute intro class, we actually engaged in combat. Empowered, I leaned in, like a sweaty extra in Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” feeling none of the danger but all of the drama.
Vibe: Boxing gym meets “Game of Thrones.”
Effort: It’s an hourlong full-body workout that, for beginners, can be a bit more intense on the hands and wrists; the gear can be hot and take some getting used to. But the combat happens in short spurts, allowing a fair amount of downtime for recuperation, conversation and enjoyment of the sport.
X factor: It’s uniquely cool to be wielding weapons with so much history, whose use has been perfected over thousands of years. There’s also an immense amount of drama to the sport; leaning into that truly transports the student away from a club experience and into a kind of delicious, LARP-y fugue state.
Swordplay LA
Where: 130 W. Isabel St., Burbank
Cost: $40 for a single drop-in class, memberships range from $50-$450 per month
This is after eight years of operating to the Norwegian airport.
This just leaves Tromso and Harstad-Narvik as easyJet‘s only airports in Norway.
An easyJet spokesperson told Sun Travel: “Following a review of the route, easyJet can confirm that from 23 October it will no longer operate flights between Manchester and Oslo.
“We concentrate our efforts on maintaining and developing routes which prove most popular with customers, focusing on offering routes with the greatest demand, and we continue to serve customers in the UK with flights to Tromso and Harstad-Narvik from airports across the UK including London Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh.”
EasyJet is axing a number of routes across Europe this summerCredit: Alamy
Other airports that easyJet has pulled out of recently is Istanbul Airport back in March, as well as Milan Bergamo and Stockholm Arlanda last year.
It comes just days after easyJet confirmed that they would be pulling out of Leeds Bradford Airport.
After 16 years of flying to the UK airport, all flights will stop from January 5, 2026.
Routes from the airport currently include Barcelona, Majorca and Malaga, along with Paris, Geneva and Belfast.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Our focus is on maintaining and developing routes which prove most popular with customers.”
“It Ends,” a microbudget marvel by 20-something writer-director Alexander Ullom, has a straightforward premise that expands in your imagination.
Four school pals — go-getter James (Phinehas Yoon), drop-out Tyler (Mitchell Cole), anxious Fisher (Noah Toth) and creative Day (Akira Jackson) — pile into a Jeep just after college graduation. The car turns onto a dark road that, to the youngsters’ growing unease, appears to stretch on forever through an infinite forest. There’s no safe place to pull over, no signs pointing toward escape, no assurance that their lives have a destination. Stop moving and a horde of desperate, violent strangers sprint from the woods to try to steal their car. Keep going … forhow long? Is this hell, purgatory or just a cosmic punchline?
“It Ends” premiered at SXSW in the spring of 2025, over a year before audiences stormed Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” yet the two breakout filmmakers share a suspicion that our seemingly ordinary existence hides something very, very wrong. The scale of the peril is hard to comprehend and harder to articulate; they’re more curious to explore the crisis than find a fix. What matters is that humanity feels lost.
Everyone in the car already seems to sense it even before this particular ride goes awry. Yoon’s dour James has impressively (and depressingly) mapped out his next few money-making decades down to his eventual diminished sperm count. To him, the future “seems like it sucks ass.” Weary Tyler has resigned himself to blue-collar work. Fisher and Day can’t even secure jobs, stuck literally and metaphorically frittering away their youth in the back seat.
The first act has a visceral, terrifying sequence with panicky close-ups of extras sprinting pell-mell toward the car. (The credits list as many background actors as crew members.) Matthew Robert Cooper’s unnerving ambient score bleeds into the relentless dink-dink-dink of the Jeep’s strobing hazard lights.
For several minutes afterward, the images are so disorienting that we can’t even make out where anyone in the car is sitting. Then cinematographers Evan Draper and Jazleana Jones along with Ullom, who also edits, take a steadier hand with evocative montages that emphasize the passage of time.
With rare exception, the camera stays tethered to the vehicle. The blur outside becomes enveloping and unfathomable; the universe inside the car evolves as the friends invent tension-defusing rituals to keep from screaming at one another. The mood toggles between cozily habituated and heavy. How long have they been driving now?
Early on, I kept a running tally of the hours until that began to feel naive. The days blend together with no time stamps, although Ullom occasionally reveals how many miles the car has gone. I did some back-of-my-notepad math and realized you can drive massive distances faster than I would have guessed. Then I pictured myself in their seats. Excruciating.
Evading plot holes, “It Ends” paves over the obvious biological needs. The foursome discover they no longer need to eat or drink. Likewise, the car no longer needs gas. The characters check off every idea you want them to try in the small space of the car, plus other brilliant brainstorms. Bursting through the confinements of movie logic, “It Ends” untrains audiences out of their certainty that every crisis has a solution. Does it even matter what they do?
Dread runs through “It Ends,” yet I’m hesitant to frame it as a horror movie. Scares fall by the wayside when it shifts into a more philosophical gear, vibrating with questions about how to live a meaningful life: Should these victims accept their fate or keep struggling? At least one will leave the car, never to be seen again as Ullom shrewdly refuses to reveal whether that choice was right. I think the filmmaker has an answer for himself, but he’d rather ask how we feel about it. Keep an open mind. Your opinion may change more than once.
This car setting taps into our cultural belief that speeding ahead is progress, an opinion shared by films as varied as “The Fast and the Furious,”“Mad Max: Fury Road,”“Two-Lane Blacktop,” and “Thelma & Louise.” Like actual religion, to continue on versus stopping becomes a question of faith. Some find comfort deciding on an answer, any answer. Others are driven by the spiritual quest itself.
The cast of unknowns is fantastic. It’s a major feat to shoulder a movie sitting still. Yoon’s prickly, unlikable James is the character many will align with, to their chagrin. Cole’s Tyler acts practically while collapsing into a black hole of cynicism. You’ve met a dozen guys like him who all claim “So what?” is the only sensible reaction. The jokers Toth and Jackson, bless them, keep things endearing and funny.
I’m bored of studios and indie financiers forcing filmmakers to stick to so-called bankable names. From “Heated Rivalry” to “Obsession,” this has been a phenomenal year for discovering fresh faces. Hopefully Hollywood won’t misunderstand the lesson in those projects’ success. It’s not to add Connor Storrie and Inde Navarrette to that stifling shortlist — it’s how much more talent there is waiting for a shot. (And it’s worth mentioning that Yoon and Cole also direct their own movies.)
Some of Ullom’s richest themes need only a casual mention, like Fisher muttering that he has fewer photos of his family on his phone than stupid memes. The friends are passingly concerned that they’ve outsourced too much of their mental stimulation to the internet. Now that they don’t have Wi-Fi, will they run out of topics to discuss? In these murmurs, Ullom wonders how much modern technology has led us astray. Obeying GPS has trapped them on this road in the first place, and may have done the same to those wretches in the woods, each so individually fixated on carjacking the Jeep that it never occurs to them to team up. A material goal devolves people into savages. At least Ullom has a slight optimism that society can turn things around.
Climbing into my car after “It Ends” felt like a sick joke. Was I really steering straight back to work? When was the last time I pulled over for an ice cream? But I kept on driving until I made it to my desk to start this review. That’s how excited I was to share the news of Ullom’s staggering debut. It’s a thrill to see his generation of filmmakers take the wheel.
It was a television show tailor-made for Los Angeles: a highly anticipated Netflix crime drama about a team of ex-special forces operators who outsource their skills to criminals in the city.
The production was backed by a prominent indie studio and had a critically acclaimed lead actor attached. And with a budget of more than $100 million and a crew of 350, the series seemed like a shoo-in for California’s film tax and TV credit.
But last month, shortly before filming was set to begin, producers were stunned to learn the film didn’t make the cut based on a formula the state uses to rank projects by the number of jobs they produce and their spending levels. After two applications for a tax credit had been rejected, they opted to shoot the series in New Jersey, where it was much easier to qualify for film incentives.
“We were shocked,” said a producer on the project who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. “This is the birthplace of entertainment. It shouldn’t be so hard to shoot here.”
Despite improvements to the state’s tax incentive program, Los Angeles and California continue to struggle to keep movies, television series and even game shows from fleeing elsewhere. Production levels have failed to bounce back since the pandemic and the labor strikes by writers and actors, and they remain at historic lows.
Film activity in the L.A. region plummeted in the second quarter of this year, with shoot days for feature films and TV productions falling 20% and 30%, respectively, compared with already anemic levels from a year ago, according to FilmLA.
The story of how L.A. steadily lost much of its homegrown industry to other locales is a tale of hubris, escalating costs, political inaction and fierce competition from states and countries hungry for a piece of the Hollywood pie. California eventually adopted a very limited film tax credit plan in 2009, but even then production had already gone elsewhere.
Filmmaker Jonathan Nolan, on the set of “Fallout,” has been at the forefront of efforts to keep Hollywood at the center of the entertainment industry.
(Lorenzo Sisti / Prime Video)
This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen producers, studio executives, lawmakers and film industry veterans.
Despite warning signs that runaway production was causing an exodus of talent and jobs, many took for granted that L.A. would remain the epicenter of film and television.
Film activity in Los Angeles has plummeted to historic lows, with devastating consequences for crews and vendors. This series examines how L.A. lost its dominant perch as a film and TV destination and what can be done to bring Hollywood back home.
“I’ve been around long enough … to realize that things kind of die slowly and then they die quickly,” said Jonathan Nolan, a writer, director and producer, whose credits include the HBO series “Westworld” and “Fallout” on Amazon.
Nolan, who championed efforts to get the state to expand its tax incentives, lamented that L.A. once “stood in for everywhere. Now L.A. doesn’t even stand in for itself.”
‘The X-Files’ and the birth of Hollywood North
Like the fall of Rome and the decline of Detroit, Hollywood’s spiral did not happen in a single day, but rather unfolded over decades.
Before World War II, Los Angeles’ production hegemony was uncontested. An abundance of sunny weather and a range of landscapes, along with highly skilled artisans, from set designers to scenic painters, re-created the entire world on Hollywood soundstages and backlots.
That began to change during the late 1940s and early 1950s when studios broke with tradition and filmed abroad, attracted by Europe’s cheap labor and the desire among directors for more realism in movies.
William Wyler’s 1953 classic “Roman Holiday,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of the first, shot entirely overseas on the streets of the Italian capital and at Cinecittà studios.
Still, as productions went on location, often for creative reasons, Hollywood remained the center of entertainment gravity.
“Roman Holiday,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of the first big American studio films to be shot entirely overseas.
(Paramount Pictures)
In 1993, when there were four broadcast networks, cable TV relied on set-top boxes and streamers were, well, party decorations, a relatively unknown television writer named Chris Carter began pre-production on a new supernatural drama series that he had created.
For the pilot’s opening scenes, he needed a forest, one that was dark and moody. There, a terrified teenage girl would be filmed fleeing before she was consumed by a blinding flash of light and then found dead, bearing unexplained marks on her body.
“It became clear that not only were there not great forests in the ‘zone,’” said Carter, referring to the 30-mile-zone (TMZ) around L.A. that producers try to shoot within to avoid mandatory union surcharges. “But there were better forests in Vancouver.”
As it happened, during the 14-day shoot, Carter, who was working with a tight budget, discovered that Vancouver supplied numerous benefits.
The grim weather naturally provided a spooky atmospheric backdrop while the city “beautifully doubled for almost any place in the U.S. without having to pretend too much,” he said.
Carter’s pilot became “The X-Files,” the wildly popular and groundbreaking 1990s TV series that ran for nine seasons (plus two revival seasons), redefined the science fiction genre and spawned two feature films.
The success of “The X-Files” propelled Vancouver’s reputation as “Hollywood North.”
(Associated Press)
“As David Duchovny said, ‘two weeks became five years,’” quipped Carter.
While other productions such as “Wiseguy” had filmed in British Columbia years earlier, “The X-Files” unintentionally cemented Vancouver’s reputation as “Hollywood North,” fueled by Canada’s favorable exchange rates, skilled crews, lower labor costs and, eventually, tax credits.
The show’s colossal success helped create the model still in play 33 years later for outsourcing movie and television production to regions where tax incentives are higher and production costs are lower.
“It was simply a choice I made for the location, not for the financial benefit,” said Carter. “It wasn’t part of my calculus, but it ended up being a fact of life.”
Throughout the 1990s a steady stream of TV shows and movies shot in Canada. The 1994 adaptation of “Little Women” starring Winona Ryder was largely filmed in Vancouver, with a stand-in for Orchard House, Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, Mass., built in a local forest.
But, at the time, few saw what was happening as an existential crisis in the making.
For one thing, L.A. was in the midst of a production boom, prompting the development of the$77-million Manhattan Beach Studios, a 22-acre production facility in 1996. (The studio is now fielding offers by its bank lenders after its owner, the real estate investment firm Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on over $2 billion in mortgages on several studio facilities it had acquired in recent years.)
Losing the ‘golden goose’
Canada’s booming film business inspired other U.S. states to get in on the action. Louisiana became the first to pass a film tax incentive, enhancing it in 2002; New Mexico and Georgia followed with their own programs.
Helping to fuel the film tax credit frenzy was none other than the Motion Picture Assn. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for the major film studios and streamers for years aggressively lobbied lawmakers and even governors in other states to adopt their own film programs.
Eventually, nearly 40 states and some 80 countries and territories were offering film incentives in the form of transferable tax credits, grants or rebates.
“Everybody thought, ‘We are Hollywood. Why do we have to do anything?,’” said Lori Balton, a top location manager, whose list of credits spans nearly 40 years and includes such films as “Heat” and “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood.”
“They always thought that they had the golden goose. And it was going to keep laying eggs and instead, it packed up its bags and moved.”
Earlier this year, while speaking at Burbank City Hall chambers, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) dropped some sobering data: 45% of all U.S. films and scripted television shows were shot abroad in 2025, up from 33% in 2022.
Like most filmmakers, Miles Millar would prefer to work in Los Angeles, where he lives, but he hasn’t done so for 25 years, since he was a co-producer and writer on the CBS action series “Martial Law.”
“It is not financially viable to shoot the kinds of shows we do here,” said Millar, whose work includes “Smallville” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
It was too expensive to film in Los Angeles, so the Netflix hit “Wednesday” shot its first season in Romania before relocating the show to Ireland.
(Netflix)
When Millar and his “Wednesday” co-creator and co-showrunner Alfred Gough began pre-production on the first season of the Netflix hit series about five years ago, L.A. as a location wasn’t even discussed.
They settled on Romania. Tim Burton, “Wednesday’s” executive producer and primary director, “loved the idea,” said Millar, noting that the director was predisposed to its gloomy and gothic wonders, having once visited Dracula’s castle in a Transylvanian mountain village with rocker Alice Cooper.
“We built the whole town of Jericho and six standing sets at a huge scale. There was no way you could even begin to construct the level and scale of sets that we did, in L.A.,” he said. “We’re talking about the difference of tens of millions of dollars.”
Still, the former Eastern Bloc country had its challenges. The crew didn’t speak English and its promised tax rebates never materialized.
When “Wednesday” was picked up for a second season (it is now filming its third), the show moved to Ireland, where it received more than $23 million in tax credits last year, according to the country’s Tax and Customs office.
“The last thing I want to do is shoot thousands of miles away from my family for nine months, year after year,” Millar said. But it has come down to “where do we get the most bang for the buck?”
Outsourcing scores and VFX
Other critical components of filmmaking, including visual effects and musical scoring, have also been outsourced over several years.
L.A. was once home to 18 film scoring stages that could accommodate full symphony orchestras. Today only three remain, driven away partly by high labor costs and cheaper overseas competition.
Similarly, many visual effects studios have moved elsewhere. Vancouver alone has dozens of visual effects studios, including Sony Pictures Imageworks and a major branch of Industrial Light & Magic.
“We’ve allowed that piece of the market to leave,” said Marielle Abaunza, president of the California Post Alliance, an advocacy group backing a state bill offering post-production firms their own tax breaks, similar to what New York offers.
“For 16 years, places like New York have slowly been building up their talent, their facilities, their relationships with filmmakers and their relationships with studios,” Abaunza said.
Even as other states and foreign governments invested in their own film industries and began luring away productions from California, lawmakers in Sacramento were initially skeptical of giving tax breaks to producers. Some critics saw them as little more than a handout that diverted resources from more pressing needs such as healthcare and education.
“If you’re on the outside looking in, there is this false sense that everyone who works in Hollywood has to be rich whether you’re crew or not,” said Amy Baer, a producer and former Sony executive who now runs Artists Equity, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company.
As production losses mounted in L.A., a coalition of labor and industry groups lobbied then governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to take action.
Schwarzenegger, a longtime champion of tax credits, was able to get a program passed as part of an economic stimulus provision of the state’s 2009 budget. It was dubbed “The Ugly Betty” bill, named after the ABC show that had relocated from L.A. to New York.
Though hailed as a significant step, the new film sweeteners had some key limitations. The pool of money was small — capped at $100 million annually over five years. And it couldn’t be applied to offset the cost of actors’ salaries, a key driver of budgets.
In reality, the program was too small and restrictive to compete with a growing crop of rivals that had larger tax breaks and fewer restrictions.
Chief among them was the United Kingdom, which soon began to attract a number of big-budget movies thanks to a hugely popular 25% cash rebate on production expenses, including money spent on actors’ salaries and other above-the-line costs.
In a paradigm-shifting move, Warner Bros. purchased Leavesden Studios outside of London in 2010, investing more than $160 million into the facility. Much of the blockbusters “Wonder Woman” and “Barbie” were filmed there.
Although the California program was tripled to $330 million annually starting in 2014, it did little to halt the continued exodus of film work. Marvel Studios began moving its production operations to Georgia, enticed by the state’s uncapped tax credits that could be used for actors’ salaries. Both “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” were filmed largely at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Ga. Another historic town east of Atlanta attracted so many movies and TV shows it became known as “Hollywood of the South.” (Last year, Marvel shifted most of its operations to the U.K. in search of even bigger cost savings.)
Marvel Studios, which filmed blockbusters such as “Black Panther” in Georgia, has since shifted operations to the U.K.
(Film Frame / Marvel Studios)
While numerous studio facilities lay empty here, streamers and studios have built major production hubs outside of L.A. Though it still shoots dozens of productions in L.A., Netflix has spent billions to operate production hubs abroad while constructing massive facilities in places like New Jersey and New Mexico.
“Everyone kept saying, if we have more tax credits, then at least we’ll be able to bring production back,” said Monica Levinson, a veteran producer who has worked on FX’s “Love Story” and the movie “Zoolander.” “Well, that didn’t happen. And the crews got better and better out of the country.”
Rising costs
As the rest of the world courted Hollywood, L.A. did little to help itself.
Despite recent improvements to streamline and reduce costs, the city’s film approval system remains a maze of multi-layered permitting, fees and complex logistics, location managers say. The Greater L.A. area has more than 100 jurisdictions, many of which have their own rules, regulations and permitting fees for filming.
Filming in L.A. also has become more expensive compared with other film hubs due in part to higher labor costs and mandatory staffing requirements, such as paid on-set fire safety monitors, and traffic and parking controls.
What’s more, unlike New York, the city doesn’t have its own film commissioner who could advocate for the industry.
An L.A. commissioner would be “somebody that is beating the drum 365 days a year that is not aligned with a special interest other than creating more production in California, which makes our state and our people prosperous,” said Scott Budnick, a producer on the wildly successful “The Hangover” franchise who lobbied for the state’s enhanced film tax credits.
For a time, the loss of market share was masked by a surge in local TV shoots as studios spent heavily to supply content to their new streaming platforms.
But the pandemic and back-to-back strikes by actors and writers roiled the industry. Studios laid off thousands, cut back on films slates and slashed TV spending and it never rebounded. Film incentives became even more critical for those deciding where to shoot.
By the time Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan in October 2024 to more than double funding for the film and TV tax credit program, to $750 million annually (closer to New York’s annual allocation of $800 million, although it retained annual caps and doesn’t count actors’ salaries), the industry outlook was bleak.
“I think there was a tipping point between COVID and the strikes that shone a very bright light on the fact that the majority of production had fled the state,” said Baer, the producer.
There are a few bright spots, however.
The critically acclaimed HBO hit medical drama “The Pitt” is filmed almost entirely on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, and has injected tens of millions into the local economy while sustaining nearly 1,000 jobs. Two other Emmy-award winning series, Apple TV’s “The Studio” and HBO’s “Hacks,” which just ended, also shot locally.
At Jonathan Nolan‘s urging, Amazon agreed to relocate his post-apocalyptic series “Fallout” to Los Angeles in 2024 after filming its first season in New York, Utah and Namibia. The show received $67 million in California tax credits for its second and third seasons.
Walton Goggins plays the dual role of Cooper Howard and The Ghoul in Amazon’s post-apocalyptic series “Fallout.”
(Courtesy of Prime Video)
“We want to keep shooting here,” Nolan said. “I don’t want to pack my kids off to the back end of beyond just for the privilege of being able to continue doing what I’m doing.”
To build support for the expanded credits, Nolan last year allowed state lawmakers to visit the sets of “Fallout,” including at the Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita.
“I think they were struck by just how big an endeavor this is,” said Nolan, whose brother Christopher is director of “The Odyssey,” (The epic film was shot across Greece, Sicily and several other countries.) “These are hundreds or thousands of jobs on one production alone, hundreds of millions of dollars being put in the local economy.”
Nolan and others in the industry admit the California program is imperfect.
Mayor Karen Bass, who backed the tax credit program in 2009 when she was speaker of the California Assembly, has touted the success of the expanded incentives, saying they’ve created “thousands of good-paying union jobs … right here in Los Angeles, bringing direct investment to our community.”
Since the expanded program went into effect last July, 179 projects have generated $7.2 billion in direct production spending, bringing nearly 38,000 cast and crew jobs to the state, according to the California Film Commission.
“We remain committed to supporting the entertainment industry here and feel optimistic and energized by the response from the community to the program’s modernization and enhancements,” Colleen Bell, the commission’s executive director, said in a statement.
Bass, who is up for reelection, said she would redouble efforts to remove tax credit caps and further reduce film permitting fees “because this industry is core to the history, culture and economic power of Los Angeles.”
The question, however, is whether L.A. is still core to the film industry.
Earlier this year, writer and director Ryan Coogler, who won an Oscar for his “Sinners” screenplay, began filming the pilot for a reboot of “The X-Files.”
During the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Coogler called the drama “one of the most beautiful American television shows ever made” and assured fans that while he planned to put his own stamp on the seminal series, his version would pay homage to the original.
“We intend on having both monsters of the week and also the overarching conspiracy,” he said.
And like the original series, it was shot in Vancouver.
Final voting for the 78th Emmys is now underway, which means The Envelope is bidding adieu to the TV awards season — and already gearing up for the film one.
This year, I’ll be in Venice while columnist Glenn Whipp heads to Telluride and movies editor Joshua Rothkopf leads our team at the Toronto International Film Festival. You can catch a daily roundup of our TIFF coverage, including exclusive photo and video highlights from our studio activation, right here in the Envelope Sept. 11-14.
Until then, enjoy highlights from this week’s issue below, and Glenn’s last newsletter of Emmy season on Friday.
Digital cover: Dakota Fanning
(David Urbanke / For The Times)
This week’s digital coverline is inspired by Dakota Fanning’s busy, busy schedule — with two Emmy-nominated shows, a film with sister Elle in the can, an Apple TV thriller in production and more — and, among her many credits, the one fans still bring up to her the most: “Man on Fire.”
“When people ask, ‘Do you even remember doing “Man on Fire”?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course I do. What do you mean?’” she tells contributor Kara Warner of Tony Scott’s 2004 thriller, starring Denzel Washington as the bodyguard to Fanning’s 9-year-old kidnapping target. “I think about the memories with Denzel and with Tony, and getting to live in Mexico City for six months when you’re 9 years old is pretty spectacular.”
‘The Comeback’
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
For those of us who’ve been following the peaks and valleys of Valerie Cherish’s career since 2005, the end of “The Comeback” is bittersweet at best: While the series has achieved greatness by adhering to the old showbiz adage “always leave them wanting more,” I’d be happy to visit with the fictional actress for another two decades (or more).
There’s some solace, I suppose, in knowing creators Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King feel the same way. In a moving essay for The Envelope, the pair share how the spirit of Robert Michael Morris, who played Valerie’s friend and hairdresser Mickey in Seasons 1 and 2, aided them during a crucial moment in production on Season 3. RIP, Mickey — and “The Comeback.” You are, and will be, sorely missed.
Viva Las Vegas!
Perhaps even more than Hollywood — and thanks in large part to Hollywood — Las Vegas is subject to cliched depictions in popular culture. But a new wave of Emmy-nominated series are showing a different side of Sin City,” writes contributor Whitney Friedlander.
“The Vegas we wanted to show and explore was Shyanne’s Vegas, which is so specific to her,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” director of photography Tari Segal tells Friedlander, referring to Michelle Pfeiffer’s character. “It would have that more aged, timeless quality of downtown Vegas, [and] it would have the income bracket of a Vegas that she would be comfortable in.”
Some, ahem, “congratulations” are in order for Post Malone and his sweetheart Christy Lee.
The “Sunflower” rapper-turned-country singer is engaged to stylist Lee more than a year after sparking a romance. Lee’s close friend Marina Hollyer announced the engagement news Wednesday on her Instagram stories, captioning a photo of the newly betrothed pair with the caption: “My best friend in the world just got engaged.” Hollyer also shared photos of the couple and friends posing in front of a flower arch and at dinner, seemingly moments after the proposal. Per Hollyer’s Instagram page, Posty popped the question in Utah, where he currently resides.
A representative for the Grammy-nominated “Circles” musician did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ request for more information.
Post Malone, 31, reportedly began dating Lee at the beginning of 2025 after calling off an engagement with his then-longtime girlfriend, with whom he shares a 4-year-old daughter. The exes settled their custody battle in November but details about their agreement were sealed, People reported at the time.
This year has been an exciting one for the singer. In April he headlined the final night of the Stagecoach festival in Indio, and this summer he headlined the FIFA World Cup 2026 closing ceremony in New Jersey, debuting new music and performing the fan favorite hit “Sunflower” with Swae Lee on the global stage.
While he is still yet to wed, Malone is already celebrating a milestone anniversary. His popular 2016 mixtape “August 26” is celebrating its 10th year and will finally be available to stream on — surprise — Aug. 26, he announced last week.
This is my 50th year covering high school sports in Southern California. Here are my most memorable moments since 1976.
Former Crespi quarterback Captain Randy Redell (left) and sportswriter Eric Sondheimer (right) prepare to board an F–16 fighter jet for their 82-minute flight at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., in 1998.
(Freelance)
1: It’s 1998. I’m in Sumter, S.C., invited to fly in an F-16 with former Crespi quarterback Randy Redell, an Air Force graduate, captain and pilot. To get cleared, I have to pass a pre-flight instruction class how to use a parachute and an explanation what to do with the barf bag. Randy, apparently at the egging on by his father, Bill, the football coach at St. Francis, takes the F-16 straight up. The G force is like a roller-coaster ride on steroids. Later he tells me to take control of the plane with the stick as I wear my helmet and oxygen mask and hear his instructions on the radio. Yes, it’s like riding a magic carpet. How can anything top an F-16 ride?
I’m going to have some fun this summer looking back on some memorable moments over nearly 50 years of covering high school sports in Southern California. Here is my most unique experience _ flying in an F-16 flown by former Crespi QB Randy Redell. pic.twitter.com/KZLPZtSSgr
Bret Saberhagen pitched a no-hitter for Cleveland High School during a 13-0 win over Palisades for the City Section championship at Dodger Stadium in 1982.
(Courtesy of Linda Saberhagen)
2: It’s June 14,1982. The City Section championship baseball game is at Dodger Stadium, where Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland High pitches the first and only no-hitter in championship game history. He retired 21 of 22 batters in a 13-0 win over a Palisades team that included an infielder named Steve Kerr. Saberhagen would go on to win two Cy Young Awards.
Associated Press Sports Editors award in 1988 for Eric Sondheimer story on Kentucky basketball recruit.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
3.: The lead story on ESPN’s 11:30 p.m. SportsCenter on April 13, 1988, was a report from the Los Angeles Daily News detailing a package that accidentally opened at an air freight service containing 20 $50 bills addressed to a high school basketball star at Fairfax and sent from the University of Kentucky. It led to NCAA sanctions against Kentucky and lots of resignations. My work gave me a lesson on the impact dedicated local journalism can have with a single story.
In 2001, Marcedes Lewis tries to get past De La Salle defenders.
(David Kawashima)
4: The game of the century that changed high school football forever was Long Beach Poly vs. Concord De La Salle in 2001 before 17,321 fans at Veterans Stadium and a national TV audience. It was 11 days after the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was No. 1 De La Salle, coached by Bob Ladouceur, with a 116-game winning streak and running back Maurice Drew. No. 2 Poly had coach Raul Lara, tight end Marcedes Lewis and many other future college players. De La Salle won 29-15. From that game on, TV games featuring high school football multiplied and schools began to travel around the country for marquee matchups.
Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates miracle win in 2001 City championship game at Coliseum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
5: Never has there been an ending quite like the 2001 City Section football final at the Coliseum. Taft leads Dorsey 14-13 with seven seconds left. A fourth-down punt from the 32-yard line will run out the clock. But Dorsey’s Jesus Jimenez blocks the punt and Henry Badge picks up the bouncing ball in the end zone with no time left for a 19-14 win. “The ending was the craziest I’ve ever had,” Dorsey Hall of Fame coach Paul Knox said.
.The Northridge Little League All-Star team from 1994 was honored with a ticker-tape parade down Disneyland’s Main Street.
(Kari Rene Hall/The Los Angeles Times)
6.: The Earthquake Kids from Northridge Little League made it to the championship game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., after the destructive 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Some of these 11- and 12-year-olds had unbelievable personalities, like a player named Matt Cassel. I got to see what a Northeast thunderstorm was like and see the big hill that kids slide down.
Former Granada Hills quarterback John Elway from the 1979 yearbook.
(Los Angeles Times)
7: It’s a 1977 City Section football playoff game that has gone into overtime. John Elway is the quarterback for Granada Hills. Jay Schroeder is the quarterback for Palisades. Both would become Super Bowl quarterbacks. But on this day, they had to try to deliver victory in a California tiebreaker, with the ball placed on the 50-yard and the team that advanced the ball farthest after alternating plays wins. On the seventh of eight plays, Elway completed a 28-yard pass to Scott Marshall to clinch victory.
Crespi’s Russell White carries the ball during a game against St. John Bosco on Nov. 7, 1986.
(John McCoy / Los Angeles Times)
8: In 1986, a sophomore running back with stunning skills, Russell White, leads Crespi to the San Fernando Valley’s first and only Southern Section Division 1 football championship with a 49-14 win over St. John Bosco. He goes on to star at Cal and gets drafted by the Rams. He becomes the commissioner of the Oakland Section, then football coach at Flintridge Prep. Forty years later, his son, Zachary, was a star basketball player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Five years ago I shot this video of Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon collapsing after his team won City title. He would die of cancer. Beloved coach. pic.twitter.com/JO8eLhUo8j
9: I rarely go to City Section Division III championship basketball games — unless my alma mater, Sun Valley Poly, is involved. It was 2019, and right before the start, I learned that Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon was dying of cancer. As the buzzer sounded and Roybal won, 51-47, O’Fallon collasped onto the gym floor in tears. Players came back to form a huddle around him and comfort him. It’s the most emotional, gut-wrenching scene. I get tears each and every time I watch video of the moment. He’d die a year later in 2020 at the age of 49. Bill Plaschke wrote a heart-warming column.
Anaheim Canyon players celebrate after winning the 2015 Division 2AA championship with a 28-point comeback win over Lawndale.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
10: The 2015 Southern Section Division 2AA championship basketball game at Honda Center produced the greatest comeback I’ve witnessed, with Anaheim Canyon rallying from a 28-point deficit in the third quarter and 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Lawndale 103-98 in double overtime. Nick Anderson scored 37 points. Canyon coach Nate Harrison was exhausted and exhilarated afterward.
Harry Welch, the only football coach to win three state titles at three different schools _ Canyon Country Canyon, Santa Margarita and St. Margaret’s.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
11: When it comes to upsets, few were bigger than Canyon Country Canyon beating the nation’s No. 1-ranked football team, De La Salle, 27-13, in the inaugural CIF Division I state championship bowl game in Carson in 2006. Coach Harry Welch, on his way to a Hall of Fame career, orchestrated everything with a little help and belief from his players.
Brisket, ribs and mac and cheese at Pecan Lodge in Dallas.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
12: I always wanted to see what Texas high school football was like after reading the book, “Friday Night Lights,” and experience Texas barbecue. It happened in 2021 when Mater Dei played Duncanville. I spent two days traveling around, seeing Allen High’s $62-million stadium, watching a game at AT&T Stadium and tasting BBQ. All the reports were true _ Texas is one of a kind.
You know what keeps me coming back year after year: Talking to high school athletes who show resilience and determination and don’t care what people think. It’s inspiring. They plug ahead and keep getting back up off the floor. Never doubt what a teenager can accomplish.
Harvard-Westlake’s twin towers Jarron (left) and Jason Collins in 1994.
(For the Times)
14: In the 1990s, the Collins twins, 7-foot Jason and 6-11 Jarron, arrived at Harvard-Westlake, and the rest is history. They’d win state championships, star at Stanford and play in the NBA. In 1999, while they were at Stanford, I wrote a story about their special bond. Former UCLA coach John Wooden said of their progress, “I think they’ve improved. I’m sorry [UCLA] didn’t get them. It’s nice to get twins who are talented and good students.” Jarron’s two daughters are playing for Harvard-Westlake and a son is in eighth grade. Jason died May 12, 2026, of brain cancer. He was 47.
Masaki Matsumoto coaching at Bernstein High in 2013.
(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)
15: People were telling me in 2013 about an innovative, creative football coach named Masaki Matsumoto at Bernstein High in Hollywood. I found out the coach sent home letters to parents asking them to write a letter to their son and say something positive while expressing their love. Reading the letters myself and seeing players read out loud with tears in their eyes provided a powerful example what can happen when parents express their true feelings. It led to a story that became an ESPN documentary. Matsumoto now coaches at Lincoln High in Tacoma, Wash.
In 2014, Caleb Wilson of Gardena Serra tries to make a catch in a playoff game won by Corona Centennial 68-64.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
16: Trying to keep statistics when Corona Centennial is using its no-huddle offense is challenging, but doing it in a wild 2014 playoff game against another no-huddle offense run by Gardena Serra was mind-boggling. Centennial won 68-64 in a game that had 15 lead changes and 12 touchdown passes.
Birmingham’s Peyton Waters, center, tries to outjump Del Norte defenders for a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds of the Division 3-AA regional bowl game. It went off his hands and was caught by teammate Devyn Taylor with no time left for the win.
(Craig Weston)
17: It’s not every night you get to see a miracle play work. In a 2023 regional playoff game in San Diego, Birmingham trailed Del Norte 28-24. Birmingham had one final play from its 48-yard line. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell avoided the rush and threw the ball down the middle. It went off the hands of Peyton Waters and landed in the hands of Devyn Jackson for a game-winning touchdown.
18: The pandemic was about to shut down high school sports in 2020. The final high school basketball game turned out to be a memorable Open Division regional final between Sierra Canyon and Etiwanda at Cal State Northridge. Sierra Canyon rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to win 63-61 on a shot at the buzzer by future NBA player Ziaire Williams. The state championships were canceled.
Former Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball teammates, from left, LeBron James, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee, appear in their high school gym on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.
(Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)
19: On Jan. 4, 2003, Los Angeles got its first look at a teenage basketball player everyone said was destined for greatness. The hype was so big he sold out Pauley Pavilion. LeBron James scored 21 points to help St. Vincent-St. Mary’s defeat Mater Dei 64-58. I was not impressed with his three-point shooting, but his work ethic changed that. He’d be drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s entering his 24th NBA season and is the all-time NBA scoring leader. But my biggest memory was the family sending someone to get him food from Burger King instead of Lawry’s at a media event that week.
Chino Hills guard LaMelo Ball pulls up for a shot over Mater Dei’s Michael Wang and Matthew Weyand (21).
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
20: In 2017, a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000 showed up at USC’s Galen Center to witness an astounding basketball doubleheader featuring a playoff semifinal matching Chino Hills against Mater Dei and Bishop Montgomery against Sierra Canyon. It was an electric atmosphere and the games lived up to expectations. Mater Dei, led by future NBA player Bol Bol, beat Chino Hills and LaMelo Ball in overtime. Bishop Montgomery upset No. 1-seeded Sierra Canyon and future NBA first-round draft pick Marvin Bagley Jr. Anyone who attended will say it was the best two games of high school playoff basketball they’ve seen.
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver throws to the plate during the second inning of his no-hitter against the Twins in 2012.
(Uncredited/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
21: Major League Baseball beat writers need occasional breaks during the season, so on May 2, 2012, I was recruited to fill in for Mike DiGiovanna to report on the Angels-Twins game from Angel Stadium. I was excited to get to see former Simi Valley pitcher Jered Weaver on the mound. I’m also the good-luck writer. Whenever I cover a pro game, strange things happen. Sure enough, Weaver threw a no-hitter in my only Angel game of the year. Maybe Shohei Ohtani should invite me to his next start for the Dodgers.
: Right–hand pitcher Lucas Giolito (right) and left–hander Max Fried (left) of Harvard–Westlake in 2012.
(Los Angeles Times)
22: I’m sitting in the Harvard-Westlake dugout in January 2012 interviewing Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, two future first-round draft picks. Fried arrived after Montclair Prep canceled its sports program. They’d go on to be major league pitchers after each endured arm surgeries. Somehow, they got placed in the same classes, starting a friendship that will last a lifetime. Here’s video of that moment.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill with his former pupil, Giancarlo Stanton.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
25: I never thought I’d run into a better all-around athlete than John Elway. Then Mike Stanton, now known as Giancarlo Stanton, showed up at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and by his senior year in 2007, he was All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball. As baseball coach Tom Dill said, “He’s a highlight reel every three or four games.” The only thing he couldn’t do was make free throws. He would lose a contest to Shaquille O’Neal.
Jon Garland pitching for Kennedy High.
(Los Angeles Times)
26: The reason I like baseball best among all the sports in Southern California is because it produces the most pro prospects every year, and it’s not even close. There’s so many top pitchers I’ve seen before they were household names. Paul Skenes. Gerrit Cole. Jack McDowell. Bret Saberhagen. Max Fried. It goes on and on. Here’s a story from 2024 looking at the best pitchers through the years.
Hall of Fame basketball player Gail Goodrich returned to Sun Valley Poly High for a ceremony to name the gym after him in 2025.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Anges Times)
Gail Goodrich scored 29 points in 1961 City final for Poly High. He scored 42 points for UCLA in 1965 NCAA final. He led the Lakers in scoring during the NBA championship year of 1971-72. Los Angeles sports legend. 82 years old and humble as ever. pic.twitter.com/zr8ddI3O9e
Nine months after brain surgery for a football injury, Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice ran the anchor leg in the 4×400 relay and helped the Gondoliers finish second at the City Section championships and earn spot in state championships.
(Craig Weston)
29: On the opening night of the 2022 high school football season, 15-year-old sophomore Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice suffered a head injury that resulted in emergency brain surgery to save his life. Thanks to the fast action of medical personnel at the game and at the hospital, he was back running track nine months later. It took months of being patient waiting for people to be willing to talk about the emotional scene to explain how his life was saved. He returned to play football in 2023 and 2024.
Long Beach Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer throws his hands up in an act of exasperation along the sidline.
(Los Angeles Times)
30: The frustration with CIF transfer rules reached an unprecedented moment in a 2013 state basketball playoff game between Long Beach Poly and Mater Dei. Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer chose to put into the game an ineligible player in protest. I watched in horror knowing the consequences. He’d never coach another game for Poly. It was sad that a young, promising coach had made a terrible mistake. He was suspended for a year and then resigned.
End of 3, Sierra Canyon 35, San Marino 14. This game is pretty much done. Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.
31: In 2015, I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t tweet that a game is over until it’s really over. With San Marino down 21 points in the fourth quarter to Sierra Canyon in a state football playoff game I tweeted, “Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.” Well, San Marino rallied for a 36-35 victory. I don’t think Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse will ever forgive me for the jinx.
Servite coach Troy Thomas, in 2009, is congratulated by assistant coach Ken Foersch, now the president of Crespi.
(Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times)
32: I still think Edison had the best football team in 2009. Unfortunately, it rained and rained and Angel Stadium became a soggy field more suitable for ducks. The surfer team couldn’t handle it, with Servite beating the Chargers 16-6 in the Pac-5 championship game. It was Edison’s only loss of the season and the Chargers had beaten Servite in the regular season. I remember walking on the field afterward and ruining my shoes and seeing Servite players love every moment of playing in the rain.
With downtown Los Angeles in the background, Contreras football coach Manuel Guevara prepares for another obstacle this season — ICE raids that strike fear among his players and their parents.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
33: In the summer of 2025, immigration agents, dressed in tactical gear and riding on horses and in armored vehicles, made a show of force through MacArthur Park trying to strike fear into the immigrant community. And they did. More than 20 players skipped football practice at Contreras in downtown Los Angeles. I went there and saw the fear on the faces of players wondering if their parents would even show up to games in the fall. It resulted in an important story how teenagers were being affected by ICE.
34: The Wolf brothers, Jim and Randy, from El Camino Real, were destined to do what they loved best — umpire and pitch, respectively, in the major leagues. Their dreams came true. In 1997, as each was doing the hard preparation work to fulfill their goals, I wrote a story, “Brothers of Summer.” “It’s like trying to get on the Supreme Court,” Randy said of his brother’s umpire journey. “It’s just sticking it out and not giving up,” Jimmy said.
Quarterback Josh Rosen, in a 2013 photo, celebrating St. John Bosco going 16-0.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
35: St. John Bosco finished 16-0 in 2013 with a 20-14 win over De La Salle before a record crowd of 16,791 in Carson to win the Open Division state championship bowl game. The game had drama and excitement but what really stayed in my memory was quarterback Josh Rosen jumping into the stands and getting his photo taken with St. John Bosco fans and students.
In 1992, Eric Sondheimer presents Taft High grad Quincy Watts a gift from winning the 400 meters at the Olympic Games.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
36: It’s 1992, and Taft High graduate Quincy Watts won the 400 meters at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He came home with two gold medals and his alma mater honored him. I got to present him a framed newspaper copy of his achievement. Twenty years later, I wrote a story with the headline: Quincy Watts is a role model for what is possible.
Former Taft standout Steve Smith had his No. 2 jersey number retired in 2023 and brought his three sons, Jordan (left), Theo and Carter.
(Craig Weston)
37: Steve Smith was a prodigy at Taft High in football and basketball. He made amazing receptions and dunked against anybody. He had his football jersey retired in 2023. He joined the City Section Hall of Fame in 2025. He became a standout receiver for USC and a Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants. He and his brother, Malcolm, a linebacker and another Super Bowl winner, were examples of all the good that can happen when raised by parents to be respectful and humble.
Serra High School receiver Robert Woods in 2008.
(Los Angeles Times)
38: In 2008, I met a promising receiver at Gardena Serra, Robert Woods, and learned what his motivation would be for years — make his older sister, Olivia, proud after she had died of cancer in the spring at the age 17. He’d become an All-American at USC and Super Bowl winner with the Rams.
39: Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra was fast. He was so fast that in 2022, I was there at Moorpark High to see him run the fastest wind-legal 100 meters time in state history, 10.14 seconds, as he let out a primal scream.
Windward freshman Juju Watkins could be a trendsetter in women’s basketball. She’s averaging 21 points as a 14-year-old.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
40: First there was Cheryl Miller, then Lisa Leslie. They were the faces of high school girls’ basketball in Southern California. Along came JuJu Watkins, a 14-year-old freshman at Windward who her coach, Vanessa Nygaard, told me in 2020, “Her potential is unknown.” She became The Times’ player of the year as a freshman. Her skills were off the charts, as was her personality. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, was a revered leader in Watts in the 1960s. In the era of NIL, she got an agent, signed a shoe deal, transferred to Sierra Canyon and became the No. 1 player in the country before signing with USC and becoming a national figure.
Jim Toring, then a Harvard-Westlake High School senior, is photographed in the campus pool in Studio City on May 25, 1993.
(Brian Vander Brug/For The Times)
41: It’s May 3, 1998, and I have tears at the celebration of life for Jim Toring, one of America’s greatest athletes in the sport of water polo. I met him when he was a freshman at Harvard-Westlake. His coach, Rich Corso, told me how great he’d become. He led UCLA to two NCAA titles and was destined to be a star for the U.S. Olympic water polo team in 2000. He was killed at the age of 23 in a bus accident in Paris. `
Former Campbell Hall and Northridge Little Leaguer Michael Frost.
(Los Angeles Times)
42: In 2000, Michael Frost was a senior at Campbell Hall and asked to look back at what happened to him as a 12-year-old. He struck out to end Northridge Little League’s 4-3 loss to Venezuela in the 1994 Little League World Series. I wrote: “He was only 12, too young to think his life was ruined but old enough to understand he had gone through a life-changing experience.” Six years later: “It was very hard to get over that. I learned how to deal with it and it became one of the best life experiences I’ve ever had, to come back from a failure and strive to be better.” The power of moving forward. He ended up pitching in college.
Carson coach Elijah Asante addressing players in the locker room in 2010 before 14-10 upset of Mater Dei.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
43: It was the first football game of the 2010 season, and Carson coach Elijah Asante invited me to be a passenger on the bus to and from Santa Ana Stadium for a game against Mater Dei. He wore a microphone in the locker room and allowed me to give readers a behind-the-scenes look. Incredibly, Carson defeated Mater Dei 14-10 and it was my favorite video ever shot.
Riding in a jeep on a muddy road in Kenya, sportswriter Eric Sondheimer and former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller do a podcast in 2018.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
44: Before Zoom, before podcasts became big, I was taping a weekly show for YouTube with former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller entitled, “Sondy and the Coach.” In 2018, one episode was taped in a jeep while driving on a muddy road in Kenya and shaking back and forth. It was safari time.
Brothers, Jrue and Justin Holiday of the Campbell Hall basketball team in 2005.
(Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times)
45: In 2014, Jrue Holiday of Campbell Hall acted like he was a most normal high school student even though everyone predicted NBA stardom was ahead. The lead of a column was: “Standing at the entrance to the gymnasium at North Hollywood Campbell Hall and wearing a Disneyland hat with the name ‘Grumpy’ emblazoned on its front, a smiling and playful Jrue Holiday hardly fit the profile of an All-American high school basketball player who, in a couple of years, could be playing with or against Kobe Bryant.” He was the manager for the girls’ tennis team and did the dishes at home.
Jack McDowell sent a signed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award to Eric Sondheimer, who covered him in 1984 at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
46: Jack McDowell was one of the best and most competitive high school athletes ever. In 1984, he helped pitch Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to a 27-1 record. He became an All-American at Stanford and Cy Young Award winner with the Chicago White Sox. His battle with umpires was legendary. “There were umpires in the Valley who trembled at the thought of being behind home plate with McDowell on the mound,” I wrote. “He might have been only a teenager, but he wasn’t afraid to bark out an expletive if he didn’t like a pitch call.” He sent me a framed and autographed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award. It showed me that a journalist can be fair and critical at the same time and earn an athlete’s respect.
This is still one of my favorite moments. Neil Diamond showing up to sing “Sweet Caroline” for the opening of Notre Dame High’s $3 million baseball field in 2014. https://t.co/f658Y0tsw9
47: Sherman Oaks Notre Dame opened its new $3-million baseball field in 2014, and the highlight besides unveiling the field was Neil Diamond showing up to sing, “Sweet Caroline,” with Larry King and Pete Rose watching.
Pablo Suarez, a former Chaminade athlete, owned 30 thoroughbreds in 2006.
(Myung J Chun / Los Angeles Times)
48: It was one of the strangest stories told in 1986. Chaminade student Pablo Suarez pulled off the charade of the year. His mother refused to sign a permission slip for him to play football. His father agreed to sign, and for nine months they kept the secret he was playing quarterback. One time his mother went to clean his closet. “We had a long hallway, and I sprinted down the hallway and opened the window,” he said. “I think I busted the screen to throw the [football] stuff out.” The secret was discovered when a courtesy phone call was made telling his mom about an injury. “My dad spent a couple days sleeping on the couch,” Suarez said.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, formerly of Harvard-Westlake, is now a star player for the Chicago Cubs.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
49: It’s the spring of 2020. The pandemic has shut down all high school sports. I’m sitting at home frustrated and bored. Then-sports editor Chris Stone suggests doing a video series using the new Zoom technology to interview seniors about how they are dealing with the pandemic. It was entitled, “Season Interrupted.” Suddenly, I’m fired up and interviewing athletes every day. The first was future major leaguer Pete Crow-Armstong. It helped save my sanity and re-charge my enthusiasm while keeping high school sports going at a time of uncertainty.
50: It’s late into the night at Dodger Stadium in the 1985 City Section final. Neither Kennedy nor Banning is budging. It’s the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 9-9. Up comes sophomore Kevin Farlow of Kennedy with two outs. He hits a game-winning home run down the left-field line. It’s bedlam for the fans who stayed. It’s stunning to see a high school kid hit a walk-off home run in a major league park.
Eric Sondheimer interviews Dominic Dent during his days at Corona Centennial.
(/Nick Koza)
It’s been a great run. Thank you to the many photographers, some of them freelancers who worked for no pay, just wanting to be part of the high school sports experience. And thank you to those who still read newspapers. They may one day go away unless community members, young and old, provide support. There’s many more stories to tell. And I’m not retiring anytime soon.
Eric Sondheimer plays golf in the 1990s with Simi Valley and UCLA star Don MacLean and legendary sportswriter Pete Kokon, who gave Eric his first job at $15 a story for the San Fernando Sun.
Long before he arrived at USC, a couple days shy of his 17th birthday, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster had always been in a hurry to grow up.
He was the baby of the Feaster family, seven years younger than his next youngest sibling. But nothing about his behavior, even as a kid, suggested as much. He was always quiet, calm, determined, seemingly from birth, according to his father, Lee. When Lee Feaster encouraged Boobie at age 8 to write down his goals, and “make ‘em plain,” Boobie took the advice literally. He went straight to his bathroom mirror and copied them down. They’re still written on the bathroom mirror, to this day.
When he was 9, Boobie asked his father to buy him a football poster. Lee came in later to find it attached to the ceiling, above his bed. He asked Boobie why.
“I need it to be the first thing I see when I wake up,” Lee recalled him saying, “and the last thing I see when I go to bed.”
This, needless to say, was not exactly normal behavior for a 9-year-old. But nothing about Boobie Feaster has ever been normal. Least of all the relentless drive that would one day have everyone at USC raving and others around the nation whispering about one of the most anticipated freshman in college football.
Neither is it normal exactly for USC’s offensive-minded coach, Lincoln Riley, to enter into a season so unproven at the receiver position.. With the status of No. 1 receiver Tanook Hines still unclear less than a week out from the season opener, USC will almost certainly have to rely on a group of talented freshman receivers to hit the ground running.
That includes Boobie, who at just 17 years and three months, will be the youngest among them by a wide margin. In fact, he may be the youngest ever to suit up at USC. Feaster is the school’s youngest player dating back to when USC started recording player birth dates.
But talk to those who know Boobie best, and they’ll tell you that age, in his case, is merely a number.
“He’s always been an old soul,” said Kerry Sweeney, the receivers coach at DeSoto High in Texas.
Sweeney met Boobie when he was in the seventh grade. He’d heard about the kid’s stellar football IQ, so he tried to stump him. He asked Feaster, then barely 12, to explain the difference between cover-2 and cover-3 defenses.
Boobie Feaster looks across the field during a youth football game. The USC receiver frequently played against older kids.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
“He knew exactly what it was,” Sweeney said.
What Sweeney didn’t know was that when Lee Feaster, a football coach himself, was studying game film, Boobie was right there with him. He knew a lot more than coverage schemes.
Boobie had also been playing up one — or two even — age levels. In the seventh grade, he started working with a personal receivers coach, David Robinson of D-Rob Sports & Fitness Training. A year later, Robinson had Boobie, as an eighth grader, training with former NFL receivers, such as Dez Bryant, or college receivers on their way to the NFL.
“There was no polish or anything,” Robinson said. “But he was just a natural. Natural speed, natural length, naturally tall.”
But it was his mind that continued to mystify coaches most. Even at a young age, he made sure to concern himself with the minor nuances of the playbook and the receiver position. By the time he debuted as a freshman at DeSoto, coaches already trusted him to run choice routes, which gives the receiver multiple different options based on the defensive alignment.
By the state playoffs that season, Sweeney said that Boobie was already the best receiver on a team that would produce three Division 1 wideouts.
“He was dominating,” Sweeney said, “as a freaking freshman. “
It seemed clear to everyone around him, at that point, that Boobie could handle skipping a season of high school football. So after his sophomore season, Boobie reclassified from the Class of 2027, in which he was recognized as a top-five prospect in the nation, to 2026.
His relationship with USC receivers coach Dennis Simmons was solidified by that point. They’d been introduced when Boobie was in the seventh or eighth grade — and just beginning to blow up on social media. Simmons said he was impressed by Boobie’s maturity.
“He recruited Boobie really hard,” Robinson said. “That relationship is what really kind of jump-started USC as a front-runner.”
USC never relinquished that spot. But Feaster had to wait until he enrolled at USC this summer while the other talented pass-catchers in his class got a head start.
That’s not to say he wasn’t trying to get ahead in other ways.
Boobie Feaster reaches out to catch a pass during his youth training before arriving at USC.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
Lee Feaster said that before his son’s arrival at USC, Boobie was obsessing for months over USC’s playbook. He worked flashcards with Robinson and sometimes made his father line up in the street in front of their house just to commit certain plays and alignments to memory.
“Oh, he knew the playbook,” Lee Feaster said. “He knew it before he got there.”
He’s opening eyes at USC practice. During a preseason scrimmage at the Coliseum last week, Boobie burst through a sliver in USC’s defense and took a tunnel screen to the house, reminding in one play exactly why USC’s coaches thought he was ready to contribute at 17.
“He was game-ready,” wideout Terrell Anderson said, “as soon as he came in.”
How quickly he’ll actually influence a game at USC remains to be seen. The Trojans are expected to play several freshmen against San José State on Saturday, and anyone who knows Boobie will tell you it’s only a matter of time before he contributes. After all, after starting in the slot, Feaster took it upon himself to start learning the outside receiver spot.
When Boobie moved to L.A. in May, his father tagged along, just to make sure he got acclimated. His mother came shortly after that.
And they’re reminded sometimes that Feaster is still just a teenager. That he’s still got a lot of growing to do. His goals are still written on his bathroom mirror, to remind him of that every day.
But if the past is any indication, it shouldn’t be long.
“I believe, like three games in, everyone is going to be saying, ‘Who’s this freshman?” Sweeney said. “Who’s this Boobie Feaster?’”
TOPEKA, Kan. — Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor’s daughter who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a spouse into office, has died. She was 94.
Kassebaum Baker died Friday of natural causes, according to her son, Bill Kassebaum.
“She loved Kansas. She loved people from Kansas and representing Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. Senate,” he told the Associated Press. “She was an independent-minded Republican who was willing to stand up for what she thought was right, even if that meant going against the party.”
She was elected to the Senate in 1978 and served three terms. Her modest demeanor endeared her to voters of all political stripes, though she shared the moderate, progressive Republican politics of her father, Gov. Alf Landon, the unsuccessful 1936 GOP nominee for president. Even after leaving the Senate early in 1997, she continued taking on public service roles.
She married former Sen. Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican, in 1996. He died in 2014.
Kassebaum Baker was widely admired among Kansans generally. She could work with Senate colleagues of all political philosophies, and a 1996 health insurance law bore her name, along with that of liberal Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy.
Part of a dwindling GOP bloc
Her election to the Senate brought her immediate national attention. When she announced her retirement, she was among eight women senators and the only one to chair a Senate committee, the Labor and Human Resources panel.
She was also in a dwindling bloc of moderate to liberal Republicans, having supported, for example, a ban on assault weapons championed by President Clinton.
Yet she never polarized Kansas conservatives as some GOP moderates did. She connected with voters because she never seemed caught up in the trappings of power, and when she retired, she acknowledged, “I’d rather cuddle up and do needlepoint all day.”
She was born on July 29, 1932, as her father, an oilman from Independence, was running for the first of his two terms as Kansas governor. She earned a political science degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan in the mid-1950s.
She was a radio station executive, spent a year in the 1970s on the staff of Sen. James Pearson (R-Kan.) and served on the school board in the Wichita suburb of Maize. She had four children with her first husband, Phil Kassebaum, including Bill, who served a term in the Kansas House of Representatives. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.
A moderate who sought sensible solutions
When Kassebaum Baker decided to run for the Senate, she figured that “a woman with a background different from a man might be appealing” to people growing weary of politics. Pundits at the time estimated a Senate race would require the then-huge-for-Kansas sum of $1 million. In the first quarter of 1978, she spent less than $12,000 on her campaign, and saw herself “at the bottom of the totem pole.”
But nine candidates crowded the primary field, including three state senators and a prominent Wichita businessman. Kassebaum Baker won the GOP nomination with less than 31% of the vote.
Running as Nancy Landon Kassebaum, she won almost 54% of the vote that November against former two-term Democratic congressman Bill Roy.
Her moderate politics quickly came to the fore, when only months later, she refused to endorse an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget.
“We should be wary of the seemingly simple solution,” she said.
Her father, who would die at age 100 in 1987, still cast a long political shadow during her first years in office. Though Landon overwhelmingly lost the 1936 presidential race to Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt, he later became an elder statesman for the Republican Party. A lecture series named for him at Kansas State University attracted presidents and foreign leaders.
Kassebaum Baker became even more popular in her time. She won reelection in 1984 with 76% of the vote and in 1990 with 74%.
But she frustrated conservative activists, despite her popularity. She said her vote in favor of the assault weapons ban inspired the angriest mail of her career.
A public servant to the end
She’d contemplated not seeking a third term, but Republican leaders had prevailed upon her to run one more time. In 1996, when she decided not to seek reelection, she said she would return to a ranch and 90-year-old farmhouse in Kansas’ scenic Flint Hills and babysit her grandchildren — she had seven, as well as two great-grandchildren.
When there briefly was talk of naming a new highway in Topeka after her, she said, “Oh, goodness. Absolutely not — no.”
She and Baker kept their romance low-key, and speculation about a possible marriage didn’t emerge until mid-1996, in a Washington Post story. They married that December.
It was the first time a man and a woman who had both served in the Senate had wed. Baker was elected to three terms, serving from 1967 to 1985 before becoming President Reagan’s chief of staff. His first wife, Joy, had died in 1993 after a long battle with cancer.
After the marriage, public service still beckoned, including as a member of a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform under Clinton and on a British commission in Africa in 2004-05.
President George W. Bush named her husband ambassador to Japan in 2001, and she went with him for the four-year posting. Baker said she became an important figure in the Asian nation.
Before she left for Tokyo, she told a reporter she saw her stint in Japan as an adventure, but added, “All I can say is, I will miss the Kansas prairie.”
Not a fan of Trump
Later in life, Kassebaum Baker broke with the Republican Party as it became more conservative, endorsing Democratic candidates for Kansas governor and U.S. senator, including Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly both times — even though Kelly’s 2022 GOP opponent, then-state Atty. Gen. Derek Schmidt, had worked on her Senate staff.
In 2021, she supported the impeachment of President Trump for incitement of insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that sought to keep him in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
She was “an assassin,” a “very skilled politician” who “made mincemeat of Nithya throughout the debate, both stylistically and substantively.”
If you think that assessment came from a Bass supporter, think again.
The words come from none other than Spencer Pratt, the erstwhile mayoral candidate, a Republican who routinely referred to Bass as Basura (that’s trash in Spanish) during the primary campaign.
There was no mention of Basura in Pratt’s Substack recap of Wednesday night’s debate before the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. To be sure, his post was titled “Surviving the Dumb and Dumber Debate,” but even so Pratt praised the mayor’s performance against Councilmember Nithya Raman.
Not that he was thrilled by the prospect of four more years with Mayor Bass, however.
“A Karen Bass Mayorship is depressing,” he wrote. “A Nithya Raman Mayorship is terrifying.”
Pratt suggested Bass was borrowing from his own playbook, citing her comments saying street vendors shouldn’t be on the sidewalk outside restaurants and her call for the long-term involuntary hospitalization of people on the street who pose a threat to themselves. Bass herself said that backing involuntary hospitalization was a “controversial thing to say.”
Pratt didn’t respond to a text from The Times about whether he was considering endorsing the mayor in the runoff.
Bass is likely to welcome conservative voters during the Nov. 3 general election as she faces off with Raman, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
And it’s not just Pratt who seems to be leaning toward Bass from the right.
Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in 2022, referred to her as a “very good partner” when he recently celebrated the reopening of his Palisades Village shopping center. He didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In The Heights
Raman traveled to Boyle Heights Monday to join activists calling for Lineage to leave the neighborhood after the devastating fire at the company’s warehouse in June.
It wasn’t Raman’s first visit to Boyle Heights since the blaze, but it was her first public appearance and news conference.
“Lineage shouldn’t be permitted to open this warehouse again,” Raman said to cheers from the crowd.
Bass followed suit Thursday, after Lineage blew past its own self-imposed deadline for cleanup.
They “do not deserve to rebuild,” Bass said in a statement, while also calling on city lawyers to pursue litigation, a lien and other legal options for cost recovery against Lineage. Bass had already ordered the company’s building permits delayed at the end of July.
Raman was joined at the news conference by Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment — a group that has endorsed her — to call for the closure of the facility.
Raman also called for Lineage to pay for Boyle Heights residents’ healthcare, for environmental testing, cleaning and relocation assistance, lost wages and more.
“Families and taxpayers should not be left with the bill when a corporation runs up the tab,” she said.
Raman’s news conference appeared to draw the ire of at least one council colleague, Ysabel Jurado — who represents Boyle Heights.
Jurado didn’t mention Raman by name, but after winning council support for a motion Wednesday continuing the state of emergency in Boyle Heights, she thanked her colleagues who called and texted before they “did a press conference about the issue.”
Jurado spokesperson Mason Santa Maria declined to say whether the remark was directed at Raman. Raman spokesperson Liz Garcia said Raman was invited to the presser.
Jurado, who has endorsed Bass, did not attend.
No shows at H&H
Raman has been outspoken about her removal from the chairmanship of the council’s housing and homelessness committee, suggesting she is being punished by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson for challenging Bass.
Harris-Dawson rejects that narrative, saying the committee needed a chair who can focus undivided attention on the crisis.
Raman doesn’t officially lose that post until the end of the month. So on Wednesday, she was still listed as chair of the committee’s 2 p.m. meeting. But she wasn’t there, and neither were two of her colleagues.
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield took the gavel instead, delaying the session until 3 p.m. in the hope that a third member would show up to join him and Councilmember Tim McOsker, giving the committee a quorum.
An hour later, Blumenfield came back.
“This meeting is going to have to be canceled for today,” he told the audience. “So I apologize for making you wait.”
Raman spokesperson Stella Stahl, in an email, said her boss already had other plans, with the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. debate happening later that same day.
“At the time, Nithya was near Sherman Oaks and had pre-planned campaign activities in advance of the mayoral debate,” Stahl said.
Stahl said the committee had a “last-minute cancellation from a council member who was expected to attend,” but didn’t provide a name.
Jurado, who takes over as chair of the newly renamed homelessness and health committee next month, also wasn’t there. Her spokesperson said Raman’s team was told the previous week that Jurado had a personal matter and couldn’t attend.
Devyn Bakewell, a spokesperson for Councilmember Heather Hutt, said her boss let Raman know Wednesday morning that she would not make it to committee due to a family issue.
The committee won’t meet again until next month. Raman will remain on the panel.
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State of play
— SHAM SURVEY: The Times broke the story of the faked poll in the Los Angeles mayor’s race that purported to show Bass leading Raman by around 12 percentage points. The poll was faked as a “social experiment,” according to Median Strategies Polling, the group behind the fake survey. The creator of the fake poll revealed himself to the Guardian on Thursday as 21-year-old Rahil Prakash.
— FLIP IT AND REVERSE IT: The Los Angeles City Council has rescinded camping bans on a dozen locations in Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake at the urging of the area’s council member, Hugo Soto-Martínez, who called the bans ineffective in addressing homelessness.
— THE RUMBLE IN THE VALLEY: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Nithya Raman slammed each other Wednesday over their handling of homelessness, public safety and many other issues during the first face-to-face debate of the Nov. 3 election campaign.
— THE BEST LANE PLANS: A long-running dispute between cemeteries and bike-lane and safe streets advocates in the San Fernando Valley has escalated to become a campaign issue in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
— LIGHTS, CAMERA, INACTION: Despite improvements to the state’s tax incentive program, Los Angeles and California continue to struggle to keep movies, television series and even game shows from fleeing elsewhere. Production levels have failed to bounce back since the pandemic and the labor strikes by writers and actors, and they remain at historic lows.
— HEALTH WOES: Hundreds of Boyle Heights residents suffered health problems after a fire at a cold storage facility burned stubbornly for days, including respiratory infections, eye disorders and persistent cough, according to a new study.
QUICK HITS
Where is Inside Safe? This week the mayor’s signature program was in Eunisses Hernandez’s district in Westlake, where it moved 37 people indoors from Ocean View Avenue and Lake Street.
On the docket next week: After a Saturday meeting, the Democratic Socialists of America will vote next week on whether to endorse Raman for mayor.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
To become a powerhouse in a new sport takes good coaching and good players. JSerra has pulled it off in girls’ flag football.
The Lions have won 36 consecutive games dating to last season, when they went 28-0 and won the Southern Section Division 1 championship.
Lots of credit goes to coach Brian Ong, who started the program in 2023.
Despite losing the Division 1 player of the year, Ava Irwin, to Sierra Canyon, the Lions keep rolling with an 8-0 record this season. Quarterback Kate Meier, who was pretty good last season, is even better this season, and so are her receivers.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team stretched its season-opening winning streak to eight straight games with a resounding 41-6 triumph over the Edison Chargers in a nonleague battle on Thursday at JSerra Catholic High School.
THIS weekend will be the last chance for Sun readers to book a £9.50 holiday this year.
There are still plenty of bargains to be booked with The Sun’s £9.50 holidays – and you’ll get first pick if you’re a Sun Club member.
Holiday parks such as Golden Coast will be available to book this weekend with £9.50 HolidaysCredit: golden coast devon
Sign up to Sun Club for £1.99 per month or £12 per year
Traditionally, Sun readers collect codes in the newspaper to enter onto the Hols from £9.50 website to unlock access to booking.
But if you’re a Sun Club member, there’s no need to collect any codes – you’ll get automatic access earlier than those collecting codes
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Sun Club Members can skip collecting codes in the paper and go straight to the booking page to bag a last-minute break at their choice of park.
Members can access the hols from midnight on Sunday, August 23, whereas those collecting codes in the paper will have to wait until the morning to purchase a paper to collect their final codeword.
Once you’re signed up, head to the Sun Club offers hub- or click here.
Gain automatic access to the booking your hols from midnight on Sunday, August 23.
Booking opens on Sunday, August 23 and closes on September 21.
However, you’ll want to be logged on and ready as soon as it opens, so that you can bag the holiday park you want before it sells out.
The Sun’s £9.50 Holiday Agony Aunt Tracy Kennedy recommends using the ‘Midnight Service’ trick to bag your holiday.
This means being logged on and ready with the parks and dates you want in mind from around 11:55pm on Saturday night, so that once it hits midnight you can go straight to booking.
Some popular UK parks with new dates available include Parkdean Resorts’ Kessingland Beach, Trecco Bay, Camber Sands and Vauxhall in Great Yarmouth.
You can also book a Park Holidays resort like Sand le Mere or Lossiemouth, as well as Lyons resorts like Sunnysands or stay at Hendra and Unity Beach.
There are even European breaks available at resorts in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.
There will be Park Holidays resorts available to book for this autumn or for next yearCredit: park holidays uk
Sign up to Sun Club for £1.99 per month or £12 per year
How to book your £9.50 holiday
There are FIVE ways to book our Hols From £9.50:
Book with Sun Club: Join Sun Club for £1.99 a month by clicking here. Then go to the Sun Club Offers hub (here) and find the Hols from £9.50 deal. You do not need to collect any codewords or Sun Savers codes. Booking opens at midnight on Sunday, August 23.
Book with Codewords: Simply collect two codewords printed in The Sun daily from Saturday, August 22 to Friday, August 28. Then enter them on the £9.50 holiday website to unlock booking from Sunday, August 23.
Book with Sun Savers: Download the Sun Savers app or register at sunsavers.co.uk. Then go to the ‘Offers’ section of Sun Savers and click ‘Start Collecting’ on the ‘Hols From £9.50’ page. Collect two Sun Savers codes from those printed at the bottom of the Sun Savers page in the newspaper from Saturday, August 22toFriday, August 28. Then enter or scan the codes on Sun Savers to unlock booking fromSunday, August 23.
Book by post: Collect two of the codewords printed in The Sun each day from Saturday, August 22 to Friday, August 28. Cut the codeword out and send it back with the booking form – found in paper on Saturday, August 22 or online at club950.co.uk.
Book with The Sun Digital Newspaper: Sign up to The Sun Digital Newspaper at thesun.co.uk/newspaper. Then download the Sun Savers app or sign up at sunsavers.co.uk, log in to Sun Savers with your Sun account details (the same email and password you use for your Digital Newspaper) and enjoy automatic access to Hols, without the need to collect Sun Savers codes daily. Booking opens on Sunday, August 23.
These parks still have availability to book a break this autumn, so whether you’re looking to jet off abroad for some last-minute sun, or book a cosy UK Halloween break, the choice is yours.
You can even book ahead and secure a holiday for next year, which is a nifty trick to avoid the January £9.50 holiday rush.
Not only does it make booking your £9.50 holiday a lot easier, but there are plenty more benefits and freebies exclusive to Sun Club members.
Savvy Sun Club member (and Queen of the £9.50 holiday) Tracy Kennedy saved nearly £1,000 in one year on family hols and days out by being a Sun Club member.
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Parkdean Resorts Highfield Grange is among the parks to have new dates added from this weekendCredit: Parkdean Holidays
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BILLINGS, Mont. — The 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was just months away when National Park Service employees received a surprising directive from Washington: Maintenance projects approved for this year at sites across the nation were being relegated to a new “low priority” list.
Work wanted by the White House was taking precedence, including repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press and three officials from the park service and Interior Department who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The reflecting pool repairs and other projects tied to President Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative landed on a separate list for White House priorities, the documents show. Many of the administration-backed projects have advanced, though the Reflecting Pool repairs were botched.
Meanwhile, almost all of about 1,500 maintenance and other projects on the low priority list as of last month are expected to go undone, the officials said. That will worsen a repair backlog at national parks that doubled over the last decade to more than $24 billion even as visitor numbers surged.
The shelved projects, many already approved, span more than 200 sites and range from roof repairs at Golden Gate National Recreation Area to computer upgrades at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and bulk purchases of toilet paper and garbage bags at Yellowstone National Park.
Because of their low priority designation and with the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, it’s unknown when they will move forward unless park staff can find a workaround, two of the officials said.
Park service employees “were told to not expect anything on the low priority list to be contracted,” one of the officials said.
“The first priority was White House priorities,” the official said. “Anywhere that is 250th-related they would have been diverting resources, some it probably planned but a lot of it pushed by the administration.”
The Interior Department said many entries on the low priority list had been “mis-prioritized and were corrected.” It declined to say how many or which ones, or how much parks are spending on projects outside Washington. Agency officials declined to answer questions about the Reflecting Pool.
Congress has pushed to fix maintenance backlog
The park service has a third list for “high priority” projects that includes more than 2,000 items, many with contracts awarded or in process, the documents show.
“In any year, the National Park Service must prioritize projects most in need,” Interior spokesperson Katie Martin wrote in a statement. “The National Park Service has not only been focused on beautifying the district for the 250th celebrations in our nation’s capital but has also been working on many deferred maintenance projects throughout the country.”
The 1,500 low priority projects had a combined cost estimate of more than $400 million.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), the ranking member of the Senate’s National Parks Subcommittee, said the administration’s pursuits around Washington “are more aesthetic than strictly necessary,” even as they siphon resources from sites elsewhere in the U.S.
“I don’t object to setting priorities,” King said in an interview. “I object to the White House priority list being tacked onto the top of that pyramid.”
He added it could lead to “the deterioration of America’s gems” as things like sanitation upgrades and basic maintenance don’t happen.
Congress during both Democratic and Republican presidencies has pushed to address the backlog. The bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 included $6.5 billion for maintenance and repairs through 2025. A legislative extension is pending.
Testing the park service’s mission
The priority designations came from park service headquarters in Washington, according to documents obtained by AP and one of the unnamed officials.
The park service appears to be moving forward on at least $80 million in White House priorities, including $52 million awarded, the documents indicate. Much of that work was championed by Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, such as the reflecting pool repairs and the rehabilitation of other parks in the capital with an eye toward the 250th celebrations.
Trump announced his plans to paint the Reflecting Pool blue in April, aiming to address longstanding problems at the site before July 4. But the $16-million initiative faced immediate problems, including peeling sealant and a fierce return of green algae.
Not all of the administration’s priorities advanced: A $70-million line item for “turf maintenance” over five years at parks in the Washington, D.C., area is among more than $80 million in work marked as “canceled” in the Interior Department data.
The park service’s mission has been tested under Trump as its employees navigate new realities. It lost at least one-quarter of its permanent workforce under Trump.
Remaining employees have been ordered to revise exhibits that Trump said advanced “improper ideology,” and demolish the East Wing of the White House, which is under park stewardship, for the creation of a ballroom. Trump also reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape public lands management.
Contracting officers in short supply
Pressure to deliver on administration demands for Freedom 250 was compounded by staffing cuts that made it harder to execute contracts, the unnamed officials said.
Prior to Trump’s second term, the parks had 275 contracting officers. They’ve since been consolidated into the Interior Department, which nevertheless saw its contracting workforce drop more than 20%, public records show.
About $140 million has been obligated or spent by the park service in Washington, D.C., this year, according to public data. That includes the reflecting pool work and the rehabilitation of fountains across the district.
Interior spokesperson Martin said the Trump administration is eyeing different revenue sources for maintenance including endowments and park pass sales.
Those sales rose more than $2 million, to $16.7 million, in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, she said.
NEW YORK — Nearing the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Tehran, promising an “economic D-Day” against a country that has withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions.
With sparse details, President Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.
It reflects the dire reality Trump faces with an increasingly unpopular war he can’t seem to end just months before pivotal midterm elections that will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. Whether out of desperation or strategy, the president is refocusing America’s might on bringing Iran to its knees through an accelerated sanctions campaign against one of the most economically penalized countries in the world.
In response to the threat, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted Friday on X the history of U.S. sanctions against Iran, saying, “We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies.”
The immediate reaction from Iran hawks has been praise and a call for patience as it plays out, while other analysts warn that Trump is refusing to learn the lessons of his predecessors.
In an interview Thursday on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a small glimpse of what may be ahead, threatening secondary sanctions on nations and companies that conduct business with Iran.
He did not reveal who would be targeted as part of this next phase of the administration’s Operation Economic Fury, which earlier had focused on entities and people who buy oil from or bank with Iran. China and India, however, are major buyers of Iranian oil.
“If you insist on doing business with them, then the U.S. Treasury and U.S. government will put its full might and force against you,” Bessent said. “It’s time for our allies and the rest of the world to make a decision.”
Some experts see ‘uncharted waters’ that could force Iran’s hand
Despite decades of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Trump administration is arguing that it’s only a matter of time and that striking the right economic target would get Tehran to its breaking point.
Richard Goldberg, who coordinated efforts to put diplomatic pressure on Iran in Trump’s first term, said the consequences of U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last year, the war this year and the American naval blockade on Iranian ports have created the perfect storm for capitulation — one that didn’t previously exist.
“I think we’re watching a strategy, whether it takes a short time or a long time, that is very much about fundamentally changing the future of the world by seeing the end of this regime,” said Goldberg, who is now at the hawkish Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD.
“I caution everyone — including myself, who has worked on sanctions, who’s worked on financial warfare — to have the humility to admit that we are in uncharted waters,” he said.
He said the decision this week by the United Arab Emirates — once one of Tehran’s most important trading partners — to suspend trade with Iran over an alleged missile attack will only further isolate the government.
Beyond trade in domestically produced goods, the Emiratis had helped the country absorb some of the shocks caused by sanctions through its re-export hub.
Targeting allies and partners comes at a price
With nearly all of Iran’s energy, financial and transportation sectors already covered by U.S. sanctions, Trump’s aim appears to be to apply secondary sanctions on countries, including allies and partners, that have not cut all ties with Iran to starve the country of any remaining income it may still be receiving.
In many ways, it is a redux of Trump’s first-term maximum-pressure campaign, which he has ramped up during his second term to include military action.
But as Trump and his allies discovered during his first administration, it can be difficult to enforce secondary sanctions without harming U.S. interests and provoking reciprocal measures. There were numerous instances of the administration granting sanctions waivers to countries, particularly those that rely on Iranian oil for their energy needs.
“Trump’s strategy now rests on targeting Tehran directly by impeding its touch points and access to the formal financial system and international economy,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the FDD’s Iran program. “This will require making the Iran issue more important in U.S. bilateral relations with countries in Europe and Asia.”
Iran doesn’t see an ‘open door’ at the end of the sanctions campaign
Iranian officials and analysts have accused the Republican president of flip-flopping with his latest pivot to economic pressure against Tehran. Trump has long derided past leaders who used sanctions to limit Iran’s ability to pay for its military and nuclear development.
In a post last week on X, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, wrote that Washington’s pattern of retreating to sanctions when it doesn’t want to pursue diplomacy has proven to be futile.
“Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains,” he said. “The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making.”
Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group, said the Trump administration’s decision to take its own maximum-pressure policy to new heights with military action seems to ignore years of U.S. foreign-policy lessons that show Iran does not respond well to pressure.
If anything, he says, the latest economic campaign has only “hardened Iran’s position.”
“I think (Trump’s) blind spot is the fact that the only thing that the Iranian regime views as more dangerous than suffering from U.S. sanctions is surrendering to U.S. terms,” Vaez said.
Plus, the past year of start-stop diplomacy has only worsened the already fragile dynamic between the longtime adversaries, Vaez says, adding that Iranian officials’ lack of trust in Trump and his mediators has created an untenable foundation.
“They believe that even if they capitulate to U.S. terms under economic duress, Trump would move the goalposts and ask for more,” he said. “And this is really the fundamental problem: Pressure without an open door is an exercise in futility.”
Amiri writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Matthew Lee and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.
