year

It is difficult to find words to express my disgust for the coming White House visit. Like the man they are going to see, the Dodgers are without honor.

Rico Gardiner
San Diego

Sports do not transcend or evade association with politics, especially in the current period of America’s decline under President Trump. It’s disgraceful that the Dodgers would again honor a rank authoritarian, a brazenly corrupt kleptocrat, criminal, malignant narcissist and wrecker of our democracy and rule of law.

Trump is not honoring the Dodgers; he’s using their presence to honor him and give him a bit more gaslight glory. The organization has smeared itself with the dishonor, serving the PR agenda of our vainglorious tyrant. If they cared about the optics, their civic duty and the good of the country, they would decline.

T.R. Jahns
Hemet

Dodgers, you are out. Out of our house. In normal times, a White House visit is a grand honor for a championship club. I get that. These are NOT normal times. For you to pretend they are and honor this man with your presence is unforgivable. Spineless. A statement that makes the wrong statement. We will not be watching or rooting for you this season. You are out at home. Our home.

William Lewis
Burbank

Ever since the Dodgers accepted their World Series visit to the White House, they’ve been error-prone on the field, and losing most games. In the All-Star Game, the players were hitless and the pitcher served up the only home run. To add more insult, their former player received the MVP award! Most importantly, is the disappointment and loss of respect from the fans. Karma has a way to haunt.

Robert Torres
Torrance

Your letters to the editor section regarding the Dodgers’ planned visit to the White House continues the left bias of the L.A. Times. Four letters were published praising the article and one was published critical of the article. I doubt that the 4-to-1 ratio reflects the opinions of the L.A. population, but it may reflect the opinions of readers that your left-leaning paper attracts. I read the paper only to see what the lefties are up to.

Larry Hart
Tarzana

Universal Studios Hollywood has long been slated to have the biggest theme park opening of 2026 with its new high-speed coaster, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. But with no officially announced opening date, questions have started to intensify and rumors have begun to swirl as to what may be causing the park to go radio silent on what is expected to be its centerpiece attraction.

According to Universal, there is no need for concern.

Yet speculation has zeroed in on the potential noise of the coaster as being a problem for residents of the nearby of Toluca Lake. Rumors were fueled Friday by Fox 11 Los Angeles reporting, via a since-deleted post on social media network X that Hollywood Drift’s opening had been delayed at least until the end of year due to neighborhood complaints. Videos of audible screams of riders on the coaster have gone viral in recent weeks.

A spokesperson for Universal said reports that the coaster’s opening is postponed until the end of 2026 are “not accurate” and disputed the notion that the coaster has been delayed. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, the spokesperson said, is still on target to open before the end of summer.

“We expect to announce an opening date soon,” read an official statement from the company. “The information online is incorrect.”

The summer season lasts through the end of September. The park begins its popular fall Halloween Horror Nights on Sept. 3. Tickets for the latter are currently on sale, and Universal is promising access to Hollywood Drift for those who purchase its line-skipping express pass, which starts at $259.

Sources familiar with the coaster’s operations have also disputed the notion that noise is a cause for the coaster having not yet opened, instead pointing to more routine mechanical issues that have arisen during its test and adjustment phase. One theme park insider, however, stressed that when Hollywood Drift does open, it will likely be considered a “top-5, or top-10 coaster, in the world.”

The view of Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift from Universal Studios Hollywood’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is unique in that it is a 72 mph ride with vehicles created to rotate 360 degrees through multiple inversions. Designed to mimic the feel of stunt cars, its four-seated vehicles will twist and turn through banks in the track in an effort to create a drifting sensation.

Universal’s own website earlier this summer posted June 26 as an opening date, and while that was once the targeted launch, the date was quickly removed from the site. Universal began hosting media for walkthroughs of the coaster in May.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been in the works for than a decade. Built essentially on a cliff between the park’s upper and lower lots, the ride’s existence is a feat of engineering, and Universal has described it as among the most intense attractions in its global park portfolio.

Before land was moved, Universal began a series of tests to track how noise would travel through the surrounding neighborhood. Universal placed speakers on the old special effects and stunt buildings to see how ride screams traveled down the hill.

Ultimately, the tracks would be complemented with multiple sound walls and shields, the latter clear structures designed to block coaster rumbles and audience screams. And because the cars can rotate 360 degrees, Universal can in theory direct rider yells away from the studio below and the neighborhood nearby. The actual track has been filled with pea gravel, designed to minimize noise from any reverberations.

“It’s incredibly quiet,” said Jon Corfino, the lead creative at Universal Studios Hollywood. “We were able to do that by putting materials inside portions of the track to deaden the sound. I’m not sure we would have needed it, but it was important to do the right thing. It’s pea gravel and rocks. It’s quieter than I ever thought it was going to be.”

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift isn’t the only notable coaster slated to open in Southern California this year. Buena Park’s Knott’s Berry Farm initially intended to launch its reimagined Montezooma’s Revenge, now known as Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress, on Monday. Late last night, the park indefinitely delayed its public unveiling, with a spokesperson citing additional fine-tuning that surfaced during its final days of testing.

The delay is not expected to be a prolonged one.

“We appreciate everyone’s understanding and look forward to welcoming media and guests in the coming days when we can showcase the attraction exactly as intended,” read a statement from the park. Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress has been in development for the past four years.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The spotlight on Sunday’s World Cup final will shine brightest on two men, one playing the last game of his sixth tournament and the other the final game of his first.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi, 39, is arguably the greatest player in World Cup history, having played more games, scored more goals and collected more assists than anyone who has gone before him. If Argentina wins Sunday, he’ll match another record as captain of the first team to win back-to-back titles in 64 years.

Spain’s Lamine Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, may be the heir to all that. He’s already scored 56 goals and won seven major trophies for club and country; Messi had 11 goals and four trophies at the same age.

But these are more than just two ships passing in the night. If fact, this isn’t even their first meeting, although neither remembers the day they were introduced in 2007.

Messi was a shaggy-haired 20-year-old, just beginning his unparalleled career with Barcelona while Yamal was a cherubic 3-month-old, just beginning his life. They came together after Yamal’s mother, Sheila, won a raffle run by a local newspaper and Barcelona’s shirt sponsor, the children’s charity UNICEF. She was told the child would pose with an unnamed first-team player for a photo that would appear in a fundraising calendar.

When she carried her son into the dressing room at Barcelona’s stadium for the photo shoot, Messi appeared, having been chosen by chance. The pictures of a clearly uncomfortable Messi helping Sheila bathe her son in a blue plastic tub were published, then forgotten, until Yamal helped Spain win the 2024 European Championship. After the tournament Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, posted the picture online with the caption “The beginning of two legends.”

Lionel Messi, then 20, helps bathe Lamine Yamal, who was 3 months old, with help from Yamal’s mother, Sheila Ebana, during a photo shoot in September 2007 in Barcelona.

(Joan Monfort/Associated Press)

“It’s unbelievable,” Yamal’s teammate Mikel Merino said Friday. “The first time I saw it, I thought it was AI. It’s funny how life works sometimes. You have these situations you think is scripted by someone. But it’s just how life works, the coincidences of life.”

That they’ll meet again Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium seems more like destiny than coincidence, but who wins the reunion may be decided, in part, by factors other than the play on the field. Smoke from nearly 900 wildfires burning in Canada have blanketed a large swath of the U.S., from Chicago to New York, resulting in poor air quality that forced the postponement of one MLS game Thursday.

The sky above the open-air stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., was noticeably clearer Friday and could improve even more with the heavy rains forecast for Saturday. If those rains linger, however, that could also affect what is shaping up to be a battle of the ages.

Messi has carried Argentina into its third World Cup final since 2014, matching France’s Kylian Mbappé with a tournament-best eight goals and leading all players with 12 goal contributions. Four of his scores either tied the game or put Argentina in front and in Wednesday’s frantic comeback win over England, Messi assisted on the tying and winning goals seven minutes apart.

He seems guaranteed to win his third Golden Ball, which goes to the tournament’s outstanding player. He’s already the only player to win the award twice.

Yamal now plays at Barcelona, Messi’s home for 17 years, and he’s proven to be the same kind of game-changing left-footed playmaker, leading the team in goals (24) and assists (17) in all competition and winning La Liga’s player of the year award this season. Last year, at 18, he finished second in the voting for the Ballon d’Or, an award Messi won eight times.

He’s been quieter in the World Cup, with just a goal in seven games, but Spain has never lost a match he’s played in, going 21-0-6.

Yamal’s father was born in Morocco and his mother in Equatorial Guinea before moving to Catalonia with their families as children. Yamal grew up in a working-class, largely immigrant neighborhood the Spanish newspaper El País described as “forgotten, isolated and stigmatized.” His parents separated when he was 3 and while both remained present in his life, it was his paternal grandmother, Fatima, who sacrificed to support the boy, managing his daily routine to make sure he attended training sessions.

That devotion paid off when Yamal, then just 7, was invited to live and train at Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, the same academy the Argentina-born Messi had entered at 13. When Yamal signed his first long-term contract with the team 14 months ago — a contract that could pay him more than $45 million a year in wages, bonuses and sponsorships, making him the team’s best-paid player, as Messi once was — he was given the No. 10 shirt Messi wore.

“In every match he shows that he is the best player in history,” Yamal told a Spanish newspaper. “If someone has doubts, it is because they are looking for them. There is nothing more to say there. For me, he is the best.”

Spain forward Lamine Yamal controls the ball during a World Cup quarterfinal against Belgium at SoFi Stadium on July 10.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

The comparisons and the praise flatter him, said Messi, who then used the same words to describe Yamal as the best.

“There is a new generation of footballers who are very good and who have many years ahead of them. But if I have to choose one because of age, for what he has done so far and for the future he may have, it is Lamine,” he told the Spanish sports journal Diario Sport in May.”There’s no doubt, for me, he’s the best.”

For all the similarities, there are differences. Yamal plays with much more speed and street-football flair and is far more prolific than Messi was at the same age. And while a young Messi focused almost entirely on soccer, Yamal has learned to speak three languages fluently and, unlike Messi, hasn’t kept his politics hidden, waving a Palestinian flag during the club’s parade through Barcelona celebrating its La Liga title last May.

And remember that charity calendar photo with Messi? The one that raised money for UNICEF? Last month Yamal became a goodwill ambassador for the group, focusing on the right to play and supporting children living through humanitarian emergencies.

Turns out some pictures are worth more than a thousand words.

Inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by definition have plenty of marvelous memories when reflecting on the career accomplishments that led them to Cooperstown.

Bumps in the road were inevitable as well.

One big bump for Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones came with the Dodgers in 2008, Kent’s last of 17 MLB seasons and Jones’ first following 12 years with the Atlanta Braves.

Suffice to say neither will enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Dodgers cap.

Kent signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2005 season fresh off a National League Championship Series Game 7 loss with the Houston Astros. Already recognized as perhaps the top power-hitting second baseman of all-time, he yearned for a championship ring to make his career complete.

Jones, a center fielder from the Caribbean island of Curaçao, signed a two-year, $36-million contract with the Dodgers at age 31 only three years removed from leading the National League with 51 home runs and 128 runs batted in. Already the winner of 10 Gold Gloves, he also was chasing a title after losing twice in the Fall Classic.

“It’s one of those things where we didn’t sign to make the Hall of Fame, we played this game because we love it and because we wanted to win championships,” Jones said Friday.

The Dodgers had high expectations in 2008. Joe Torre, with four World Series championships as manager of the New York Yankees on his resume, was in his first year in L.A. The roster was a blend of accomplished veterans (Nomar Garciaparra, Greg Maddux, Derek Lowe and midseason pickup Manny Ramirez) and budding stars (Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, James Loney and midseason call-up Clayton Kershaw).

Kent was the resident no-nonsense, old-school veteran whose bat remained potent at age 40. Near the end of the previous season he had gone public with his frustrations about the approach of some of the young players.

“A lot of kids in here, they don’t understand that … you hate to waste an opportunity, even if it’s one and even if it’s your first time,” he said at the time. “It’s hard to get them to understand that because they haven’t been there.”

By spring training in what he acknowledged would be his final season, Kent had gotten over it and was ready for a last try.

“So much is made of the idea that we should be hugging, that we should all go out to dinner, but more important is the translation of talent and knowledge, with the older guys showing what they know and the younger ones asking for it,” he said.

Jones was expected to lock down center field and provide leadership. But a poor start and a midseason knee injury torpedoed his performance. He batted .158 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 75 games and suffered torn cartilage in his right knee that required surgery and landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

Kent, as always, was consistent at the plate, batting .280, but he also sustained a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery and sidelined him for all of September.

In what could have been a legit postseason opportunity, Jones did not play and Kent came off the bench to go 0 for 9 during an NLDS sweep of the Cubs and five-game loss to the Phillies in the NLCS.

Kent will wear a Giants cap into Cooperstown. His six seasons playing alongside Barry Bonds vaulted him into the conversation as the best-hitting second baseman of all-time. He drove in more than 100 runs eight times, was NL MVP in 2000 and finished his career with 55.4 wins above replacement (WAR).

In a video call with reporters Wednesday, Kent made it clear that his heart belongs not to San Francisco or L.A., but to Austin, Texas, where he lives on a ranch.

“I’m a boring guy,” he said. “I chase grandkids and chase cows and ride motorcycles. When I retired I kind of went into my hole in Austin and I like living in my hole.”

Jones will don a Braves cap. He made his debut at 19 in 1996 and hit 25 or more home runs in 10 consecutive seasons beginning in 1998, finishing his career with 434 homers and 62.7 WAR.

“When I came [to Atlanta] at the young age of 19, they welcomed me in,” he said. “I never moved from here. I made Atlanta my home.”

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place Sunday, July 26 at 10:30 a.m. PDT. Outfielder Carlos Beltrán will be inducted along with Kent and Jones.

“It’s a bigger emotional deal than I ever thought it would be, absolutely,” Kent said. “I still tear up talking about it.”

Added Jones: “Thinking that this kid from Curaçao who came here chasing a dream, gets a chance to play a sport he loves and ends up in Cooperstown, is wild.”

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told the Associated Press.

David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years, and one shared a voicemail with the AP from last winter in which he told her that he thought someone should slit her throat.

Brouillette’s troubling past further challenges how thoroughly the Department of Homeland Security has vetted recruits as it went on a hiring spree to help carry out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after retaking office, including 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was shot and killed by Brouillette on Monday while in his car near his home in the coastal Maine city of Biddeford.

DHS, which hasn’t released the name of the officer who killed Durán Guerrero, has said the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

Brouillette didn’t respond to text messages or an email seeking comment. Three relatives who said they had spoken to him since the shooting, including an ex-wife and daughter, said he told them he acted in self-defense.

When reached for comment about Brouillette’s record and his role in Monday’s shooting, ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that “[w]e will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” and that “[t]he ICE officer in question has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training including use of force training.”

The White House referred all questions about the shooting and Brouillette to ICE.

A new career in ICE

Brouillette, 37, told his ex-wife Ashley Brouillette late last year that he had been hired by ICE. She said that because of his long history of psychiatric issues, she thought he was having a mental health episode and she didn’t believe him. She didn’t realize he’d been telling the truth until this week, when videos began circulating online of the moments surrounding the shooting.

Ashley Brouillette told the AP that she spoke to her ex-husband in a Facebook audio call, and he acknowledged that he had killed Durán Guerrero. Their 18-year-old daughter, Madison Brouillette, also told the AP that her father called her Wednesday and said that he shot and killed Durán Guerrero.

David and Ashley Brouillette were high school sweethearts who got married in 2007. She said she divorced him in 2009 because he had become physically violent with her, which began after she got pregnant with their daughter.

According to Ashley Brouillette, he once threw boiling water at her while she was holding their child — an incident her mother, Avis Collins, also recounted.

The abuse continued after she left him, she said.

David Brouillette doesn’t appear to have a criminal record in Maine, as a check with the Maine Department of Public Safety returned no records for him.

But hundreds of family court records obtained from the Augusta District Court clerk’s office detail years of allegations of physical and verbal abuse raised by his second ex-wife on behalf of herself and his daughters.

The ex-wife — whom the AP is not identifying because she fears retaliation — alleged that he had stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused his daughter, according to multiple requests for temporary protection orders. Brouillette tackled his teenage daughter and smashed spaghetti in her hair, and during another outburst, he dragged his daughter around the house as she cried, she said.

“Dave needs counseling or something for his PTSD & depression,” she wrote in an application for a temporary protective order on behalf of his teenage daughter that a judge granted in 2021.

In court filings, David Brouillette said that his second ex-wife had slandered him.

His oldest daughter, Madison Brouillette, said she also witnessed her dad’s volatility.

“I watched my dad struggle a lot with a lot of things,” she told the AP. She said she came home from school once and he told her he had been sitting on a tree stump with a gun to his head.

“If you don’t really, truly take care of yourself, there’s no way you can protect other people. And with my dad, he never wanted to get help,” she said.

An immediate relative of David Brouillette who spoke on the condition that their name not be used said he was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder as a child — a diagnosis that Ashley Brouillette confirmed. The immediate relative described him as “extremely mentally ill” and said he attempted suicide twice at age 12 and was hospitalized multiple times.

The relative said they’d been estranged for years after they broke off contact because they feared he would harm them. He did not respond to their outreach this week, the relative added.

A military deployment and law enforcement aspirations

Growing up in Gardiner, a city of about 6,000 people roughly 60 miles northeast of Biddeford, where Monday’s shooting occurred, David Brouillette was enchanted by law enforcement and the military, his relatives said.

High school yearbook photos show he was a member of the school’s Naval Junior ROTC, and he wrote that he planned to go to college and become a police officer.

Brouillette was initially rejected by military recruiters because of his mental health diagnoses, but recruiters encouraged him to go off his medications for a year and reapply, which he did, his immediate relative said.

He was eventually able to enlist.

According to U.S. military records, Brouillette enlisted as a chemical equipment repairer in the Maine Army National Guard but then changed jobs to be a medical logistics specialist. He was in the Guard from November 2007 until January 2010, according to records provided by the Pentagon.

A 2009 article in the Kennebec Journal listed Brouillette as a private in the Maine Army National Guard’s 152nd Maintenance Company in Augusta.

In January 2010, he joined the regular Army as a human intelligence collector. Brouillette deployed to Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013 and eventually left the Army as a sergeant in December 2015.

His immediate relative believes Brouillette’s time abroad worsened his emotional struggles: “Afghanistan destroyed him — trained him to be a killing monster, a machine. They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.”

Life after the Army

After his discharge, Brouillette held a hodgepodge of jobs — some in or adjacent to law enforcement — and was injured in an accident while training to become a firefighter, public records and court documents show.

Brouillette worked for the Maine Correctional Center — a medium-security prison — and for the state’s Health and Human Services Department, spending less than a year at each.

In 2019, court documents show, he was a police officer at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center near the state capital, Augusta. A Veterans Affairs department spokesperson on Thursday referred questions about Brouillette’s employment to DHS.

But by the end of 2021, he wrote in a text message included in court filings, he was broke, going to school full time and making money delivering food for DoorDash.

Brouillette was enrolled in a firefighting program at Southern Maine Community College and was struck in the head by a steel beam while unloading a trailer at a training facility, according to a lawsuit he filed over his injury.

He sustained a concussion and post-concussive syndrome, with symptoms including impaired memory, cognitive deficits, headaches, vertigo and light sensitivity, and was unable to complete the program, according to the lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

In recent years, court filings show, he was collecting disability pay through the VA. He also drove a truck but quit in January 2025, citing health issues.

In March 2025, Brouillette passed an exam to become a real estate sales agent. His license was active until December. In a Facebook post, Realty of Maine announced Brouillette would be working in the firm’s Bangor office.

“David lives in Maine after retiring from the United States Army,” said the post, which has since been deleted. Brouillette is no longer listed as an agent on the firm’s website. Messages seeking comment were left for Realty of Maine.

In March, the Maine agency that handles child support matters filed a lien against him, public records show. The filing suggests that Brouillette may have been in line for a permanent impairment or disability settlement.

‘I don’t think he sees himself as a killer’

In late 2025, around the time he joined ICE, his ex-wife Ashley said he left a three-minute voicemail mocking her for taking out a restraining order against him. According to the message she shared with the AP, he repeatedly called her “disgusting” and suggested that she and the other women and girls in her “bloodline” should die.

“And all of you should have your f— throats cut,” the voicemail said. “Yeah, you should. Am I threatening that I’m gonna do that? Nope. Nope. But do I think that you should have your f— throats cuts? Or should have had them cut? Yep.”

She said she broke off contact with him until Wednesday, when his picture began circulating online.

Ashley Brouillette reached out to his current wife on Facebook and they spoke on the phone for several minutes. Her ex-husband spoke with her, according to cellphone screenshots of the phone exchange she shared with the AP. He acknowledged he had fatally shot Durán Guerrero.

“He was asking if I could tell them that he was a good person and not to talk about the abuse and stuff that I had endured while with him and he said that the most important thing is his character right now,” she said.

She said he told her he is now hiding in protective custody.

“I asked him why he did it,” she said. “He said it was a justified shooting. The guy was trying to run him over with a car.”

His daughter also said he told her it was justified.

“I don’t think he sees himself as a killer,” Madison Brouillette said.

“I think he thinks that he genuinely did the right thing,” she added. “All he said was that he did what he had to do. He said that he had to protect himself.”

Brook, Sisak, Swinhart and Galofaro write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Will Weissert contributed to this report.

LeBron James didn’t have a speech prepared.

“I’m just speaking to y’all from the heart,” the NBA’s all-time leading scorer told the audience Thursday night at the Time 100 Sports gala in New York.

In James’ heart and on his mind at that moment was his oldest son Bronny James, who nearly three years ago suffered sudden cardiac arrest as an 18-year-old rising freshman while practicing with the USC basketball team. He later was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect but eventually was able to resume his basketball career.

James and his son ended up becoming Lakers teammates for two seasons before the 23-year veteran became a free agent this summer. Bronny James is entering his third season with the Lakers after contract became fully guaranteed earlier this month.

“Obviously, if it wasn’t for the coaching staff and the medical team and everybody at USC being there in a timely fashion, we’d possibly be sitting here without our oldest son,” said James “So thank you to everybody and all the efforts when it comes to cardiac arrest.”

In June, Time magazine released its inaugural issue highlighting the 100 most influential people in sports, with James on the cover as “athlete of the century.”

James was one of the featured speakers at the gala honoring those individuals, as were fellow Time 100 Sports list members New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, Olympic gold medalist skater Alysa Liu, Invictus Games founder Prince Harry and women’s soccer legend Alex Morgan.

Savy King and Damar Hamlin speak onstage during the Time 100 Sports gala July 16 in New York.

(Jemal Countess / Getty Images for TIME)

Earlier in the evening, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Angel City FC defender Savy King gave a presentation on their experiences as athletes who suffered cardiac arrest while playing in games for their respective teams.

Like Bronny James, they were both young athletes at the time of their incidents — Hamlin was 24; King was 20 — and both were fortunate to have trained medical staff members on hand to perform CPR and use defribulators to save their lives.

Their message hit home for James.

“Guys, take that serious,” he said. “If you got kids in elementary, you got kids in middle school, kids in high school, colleges. Make sure they have these devices available where you can get them, practice them. It’s very important, super, super important. Obviously, we know how important it is to our family, so we’re a big advocate of that.”

The tight timeline to replace former Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner has left Democratic hopefuls scrambling to woo his progressive base while trying to turn the focus from the disgraced oysterman to defeating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

It’s a delicate balance for the candidates, who are vying to face Collins in a contest that could decide control of the Senate as Platner’s shadow hangs over the race. In their first debate Thursday night, one of the first questions candidates were asked was: What was Graham Platner’s best idea?

Moving past Platner is just one of the challenges facing Democrats. The never-before-used process to pick a new nominee means candidates have less than three weeks to pull off what typically takes campaigns months or years, from organizing volunteers to raising money and preparing for debates.

The whiplash many of the candidates are facing was on display Thursday.

Asked by debate moderators about President Trump’s decision to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife earlier this year, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows gave inaccurate information about Collins not pushing back against Trump, a Republican. When a moderator called her on it, Bellows said she was on vacation on the Kennebec River last week after previously focusing on her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign and hadn’t expected to be running for the Senate.

“When I need to know the facts, I will. I’ll do my homework,” said Bellows, who lost to Collins in 2014.

The field of 12 candidates also includes former public health leader Nirav Shah and union-backed logger Troy Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner in a failed bid for governor.

Platner’s exit means the clock is ticking

Platner quit the Senate race last week after he was accused of rape, which he denies, and his campaign quickly imploded as supporters revoked their endorsements and resources.

Democrats have until July 27 to choose a new nominee, according to state law. The Maine Democratic Party’s succession plan calls for a state party convention at which 601 delegates will meet on July 25 and vote for Platner’s replacement. The majority of the convention delegates will be selected this weekend from each of the state’s 16 counties.

Candidates hoping to replace Platner have been recruiting delegates who will vote for them at the convention. The candidates also must collect 500 voter signatures needed to qualify for the convention vote.

“I don’t think anyone’s happy that we’re in this situation,” said Dan Jenkins, a Maine Democrat who has applied to be a delegate. “We would have preferred that this had broken many, many months ago and then Graham had exited the race when there was a time for a democratic process. But it’s where we are.”

Some candidates might see a boost from prior campaigns

Jackson is among the handful of candidates pivoting to the Senate race after running for other political offices, likely giving them a leg up in not having to launch from scratch.

Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that had originally backed Platner, has thrown its support behind Jackson, the former Maine Senate president. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, has not endorsed in the race.

Shah, former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also unsuccessfully ran in this year’s Maine Democratic governor’s primary. He has been pitching Platner’s supporters that he’s also an outsider who can unify a fractured Democratic Party.

“You have an important place in this campaign, and we welcome your voices,” Shah said earlier this month speaking to Platner’s base.

Bellows also ran for governor. She’s hoping that her previous battles with Trump will bolster her argument that she’ll be an advocate for the working class.

Bellows previously attempted to run against Collins in 2014 as the Senate Democratic nominee and lost in a landslide. She later went on to win a seat as a state senator before becoming Maine’s secretary of state. She’s since downplayed her prior loss to Collins by pointing to the Democratic establishment’s unwillingness to take on the Republican in 2014.

Another candidate, Jordan Wood, initially announced his intent to run in the Maine Democratic Senate primary. He dropped out last fall to run in the state’s 2nd District but lost that race.

Candidates seize on recent ICE shooting

The fatal shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine this week has been top of mind among the potential Senate nominees.

The Embassy of Colombia has identified the man killed Monday in Biddeford, roughly 15 miles southwest of Portland, as Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national. The Department of Homeland Security has since said an ICE officer fired his weapon when the man officers were pursuing attempted to flee the scene, threatening “public safety.”

Many have rushed to connect Collins to the embattled federal agency.

All the candidates who debated Thursday said they agreed with the call to “abolish ICE,” though Wood stopped short of saying the agency should be completely dissolved.

“I believe that when I say we have to abolish it, what I mean is that we need a new law enforcement agency that has the trust of the people,” Wood said.

Jackson disagreed, calling ICE a “rogue agency that goes around doing things that they’re being told to on high.”

Candidates asked about Platner’s best ideas

Platner attracted more than 150,000 votes during the June 9 primary, an eye-opening number that signaled a progressive base eager to support a candidate known for his promise to defend the working class and ability to rally large crowds.

With little more than a week until the state convention to find Platner’s replacement, it still remains unknown just who will be able to capture that same excitement seen among Platner’s base.

When pressed during Thursday’s debate about Platner’s best idea on the campaign trail, Jackson pointed to his commitment to “Medicare for All.” As a gubernatorial candidate, Jackson also voiced support for replacing job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, no deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services.

Bellows said that she agreed with Platner’s description that democracy in the U.S. has been corrupted by those in power.

Shah said he would take up Platner’s commitment to “abolish ICE,” while Wood said he admired Platner’s decision to say that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, something Israel denies.

“Graham got into this race saying, ‘this is genocide.’ And I learned that it is so important in these moments to draw those moral lines,” Wood said.

Kruesi writes for the Associated Press.

Netflix stock plunged 9% on Friday morning to $67.74 a share, after the streamer’s second quarter earnings report renewed concerns among investors and analysts about the streamer’s future growth.

The Los Gatos-based company on Thursday narrowed its 2026 forecast to $51 billion to $51.4 billion from $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, causing equity analysts to cut their estimates. The stock reached a new 52-week low on Friday and is down 49% from a year ago.

“This outlook likely reinforces investor concerns,” wrote analysts from Guggenheim Securities in a research note on Friday, which has a “buy” rating on the stock.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its declining stock price.

Investors have been skittish about the amount of time people spend on the streaming platform. Netflix’s share of TV viewing time in the U.S. has steadily declined in recent months as YouTube has gained market share, according to Nielsen data.

Investors are concerned that if people spend less time watching Netflix, it could cause people to cancel their subscriptions and make it more challenging for Netflix to raise prices in markets like the U.S.

Netflix said engagement is healthy on its platform and its programs continue to draw large audiences with popular shows like crime drama series “I Will Find You.”

Netflix said subscribers watched more than 97 billion hours on the streaming service in the first half of the year, up 2% from a year ago.

“We are increasingly concerned that younger generations are less interested in long form content as their time migrates to ‘free’ social media platforms,” wrote Jeffrey Wlodarczak, CEO of Pivotal Research Group in a report on Friday, who has a hold recommendation on Netflix stock. “We believe this will result in slower subscriber growth and attempts by the company to offset this via more aggressive price increases and investment in content.”

Netflix executives in a Thursday earnings presentation emphasized that measuring engagement at the company goes beyond hours spent watching the streaming service.

“There is not a linear relationship between view hours and revenue and profit because all hours are not created equal,” said Greg Peters, Netflix co-CEO on an earnings presentation on Thursday. “All hours don’t provide the same kind of value to the business.”

The streamer said it plans to allocate just over 5% of its content spend on live programming this year. Live content has been a key driver for subscriptions, accounting for six of the top 10 new member sign-up days over the last five years, the company said, even though it makes up roughly 1% of overall watch time this year.

The company is also diversifying the content it offers on its platform, adding live sports games and video podcasts, in addition its large library of TV shows and movies.

Netflix revenue rose 13% to $12.6 billion in the second quarter. Net income was $3.4 billion, up 9% from a year ago.

The company said its advertising business is on track to reach $3 billion in revenue this year, double the amount in 2025.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Here we are at the All-Star break. How did that happen so fast? And how crazy is baseball? Arizona is 49-47, 11½ games out of first. The Angels are tied for the worst record in baseball (38-59) and are also 11½ games out of first.

The Dodgers begin the second half of the season with a 61-36 record, leading the NL West by 11½ games over Arizona. Yes, they lost their last three games going into the break, but those things happen. The first few games after the break (at Yankees, at Philadelphia, at Mets) won’t be easy, so we will see where things stand after that.

How does their record compare to years past at the break?

2026
61-36, .629
lead NL West by 11½ games
Record after break: ?

2025
58-39, .598
led NL West by 5½ games
Record after break: 35-30, .538
won NL West by 3 games

2024
56-41, .577
led NL West by 7 games
Record after break: 42-23, .646
won NL West by 5 games

2023
51-38, .573
second in NL West, a half-game behind Arizona
Record after break: 49-24, .671
won NL West by 16 games

2022
60-30, .667
led NL West by 9½ games
Record after break: 51-21, .708
won NL West by 22 games

2021
56-35, .615
second in NL West, two games behind San Francisco
Record after break: 50-21, .704
second in NL West, one game behind Giants

2020
Covid-shortened season

Now let’s look at the main players on the team. We will include their slash numbers (AVG/OB%/SLG%) and their career slash numbers.

We will list them in order of OPS+.

Shohei Ohtani
2026: .293/.403/.549, 162 OPS+
Career: .282/.377/.580, 160 OPS+

The discussion of whether pitching is hurting his hitting has mostly come to a halt. But maybe it is hurting his knee? That’s a huge thing to keep an eye on in the second half.

Tommy Edman
2026: .343/.421/.478, 150 OPS+
Career: .261/.314/.407, 99 OPS+

It’s highly unlikely that Edman hits this well the rest of the season (he’s had only 78 plate appearances), but the Dodgers are certainly better with him on the roster.

Freddie Freeman
2026: .290/.375/.487, 138 OPS+
Career: .299/.386/.510, 142 OPS+

He is still as steady as ever. When was the last time you said “Wow, that was a bad at-bat by Freeman?” It never seems to happen.

Max Muncy
2026: .259/.354/.488, 132 OPS+
Career: .232/.354/.475, 125 OPS+

Unsung star of the first half, even if he did make the All-Star team. He’s quite the steal at only $10 million. And his defense has gotten better too.

Dalton Rushing
2026: .254/.337/.475, 123 OPS+
Career: .232/.303/.409, 97 OPS+

Has has filled in quite well for Will Smith.

Andy Pages
2026: .270/.336/.471, 122 OPS+
Career: .264/.317/.448, 112 OPS+

Remember the Pages who seemed to break wrong on every fly ball his rookie year? That Pages no longer exists.

Miguel Rojas
2026: .290/.335/.420, 109 OPS+
Career: .261/.314/.364, 87 OPS+

He is not playing like a guy who is retiring at the end of the season. You could make a case for this being his best year ever.

Will Smith
2026: .249/.338/.382, 100 OPS+
Career: .263/.357/.470, 126 OPS+

Looking at his numbers, you have to wonder if he had any other nagging injuries before he went on the IL because of a neck problem. Playing catcher is hard, folks.

Kyle Tucker
2026: .244/.341/.375, 100 OPS+
Career: .270/.356/.493, 135 OPS+

You have to figure the Dodgers were hoping for more than a league average hitter for $60 million a season. I always wonder if deep down, a guy such as Rojas says to himself, “That guy is making $60 million and I’m making $6 million?”

Teoscar Hernández
2026: .243/.319/.387, 96 OPS+
Career: .260/.316/.479, 118 OPS+

The consistency just isn’t there anymore. The last two seasons he has been decidedly average as a player.

Mookie Betts
2026: .235/.293/.416, 95 OPS+
Career: .288/.366/.509, 134 OPS+

He may never be the hitter he once was. Then again, he’s hitting .288/.335/.475 since June 9.

Alex Call
2026: .250/.358/.321, 92 OPS+
Career: .243/.343/.365, 100 OPS+

A perfect example of a fourth outfielder.

Hyeseong Kim
2026: .259/.323/.328, 82 OPS+
Career: .271/.318/.361, 90 OPS+

Many fans are still enamored with him, but until he develops a better eye at the plate and a more consistent swing, he’s going to spend a lot of time in the minors.

Alex Freeland
2026: .234/.313/.318, 77 OPS+
Career: .221/.307/.315, 75 OPS+

Another Dodgers top prospect who hasn’t panned out … yet. Remember Miguel Vargas, who looked about as bad as Freeland with the Dodgers and was on the AL All-Star team this year? Perhaps they can use that as a factor at the trade deadline.

Starting rotation

Shohei Ohtani
2026: 8-2, 1.79 ERA, 234 ERA+
Career: 47-22, 2.83 ERA, 151 ERA+

Strangely, the Dodgers have a hitter with the same name. I wonder if they ever get them mixed up.

Justin Wrobleski
2026: 10-2, 2.69 ERA, 155 ERA+
Career: 16-9. 3.76 ERA, 110 ERA+

Get this: He has pitched this well and might not even be in the postseason rotation if Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell return.

Tyler Glasnow
2026: 3-0, 2.72 ERA, 154 ERA+
Career: 46-36, 3.69 ERA, 112 ERA+

Glasnow has been in the majors for 11 seasons and pitched more than 100 innings only three times, and in one of those seasons, he pitched over half of those innings in relief.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2026: 9-6, 2.85 ERA, 147 ERA+
Career: 28-16, 2.72 ERA, 151 ERA+

It has been a quiet season from him so far, but a very good season. Considering all the arm injuries in baseball, it’s amazing his arm didn’t fall off this year after his usage in the postseason.

Eric Lauer
2026: 3-0, 3.12 ERA, 134 ERA+
Career: 49-44, 4.20 ERA, 99 ERA+

Once again, the Dodgers find a pitcher on the scrap heap, make an adjustment, and he becomes a solid pitcher.

Emmet Sheehan
2026: 4-6, 4.81 ERA, 87 ERA+
Career: 14-10, 4.17 ERA, 101 ERA+

A big disappointment so far. If any of the 12 million starting pitchers on the IL for the Dodgers was healthy, you have to figure they might get a shot.

Roki Sasaki
2026: 3-5, 5.33 ERA, 78 ERA+
Career: 4-6, 5.06 ERA, 82 ERA+

He starred briefly while in the bullpen last postseason, but overall, you have to wonder why the Dodgers don’t let him figure things out in the minors.

Blake Snell
2026: 0-1, 12.00 ERA, 39 ERA+
Career: 81-63, 3.17 ERA, 129 ERA+

Snell is like Bigfoot. You think he might exist, but he’s seen only rarely and pictures of him are blurry. The search continues.

Bullpen

Alex Vesia
2026: 1-1, 2.27 ERA, 3 saves, 185 ERA+
Career: 20-14, 2.85 ERA, 16 saves, 145 ERA+

This is Vesia’s sixth season in the Dodger bullpen, and he has had only one mediocre season, in 2023. He comes in, get the job done, gets the team pumped up and leaves. Every team needs a Vesia.

Edgardo Henriquez
2026: 4-1, 2.29 ERA, 1 save, 183 ERA+
Career: 6-2, 2.34 ERA, 3 saves, 180 ERA+

No one gets too excited when Henriquez comes into a game, but he sure has been effective.

Will Klein
2026: 3-4, 2.41 ERA, 2 saves, 174 ERA+
Career: 5-5, 3.45 ERA, 2 saves, 123 ERA+

Career ERA before joining Dodgers: 11.05. ERA with the Dodgers: 2.39. At the beginning of the season, we mentioned something like what Klein did in Game 3 of last year’s World Series could catapult him into a long, solid major league career. So far, so good.

Tanner Scott
2026: 1-3, 2.56 ERA, 13 saves, 164 ERA+
Career: 33-31, 3.62 ERA, 91 saves, 121 ERA+

Yes, he has had a rough game or two this season, but overall he has been a dependable closer.

Brock Stewart
2026: 0-0, 2.79 ERA, 155 ERA+
Career: 10-5, 4.40 ERA, 2 saves, 97 ERA+

It is hard to draw any conclusions on Stewart since he has pitched only 13.1 innings for the team since it acquired him at last year’s trade deadline for James Outman.

Jack Dreyer
2026: 3-1, 3.03 ERA, 139 ERA+
Career: 6-3, 2.97 ERA, 4 saves, 139 ERA+

Henriquez, Klein, Dreyer. Three guys who draw little notice but have been stalwarts in the bullpen this season.

Blake Treinen
2026: 4-1, 3.52 ERA, 1 save, 120 ERA+
Career: 49-42, 2.93 ERA, 83 saves, 142 ERA+

He had three great seasons with the Dodgers, but it has been hit and miss since then.

Kyle Hurt
2026: 3-1, 4.88 ERA, 1 save, 86 ERA+
Career: 3-2, 4.05 ERA, 1 save, 105 ERA+

On the IL again, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering his name. Kyle hurt? Yes.

Evan Phillips
2026: 0-0. 6.00 ERA, 78 ERA+
Career: 16-12, 3.39 ERA, 46 saves, 126 ERA+

He has pitched only three innings since his return from the IL, so it’s too soon to draw any conclusions on how well he has recovered. He was really, really good before the injury.

And finally …
Of course, this doesn’t include players such as Kiké Hernández and Edwin Díaz, who played very little this season but are expected back after the All-Star break.

Overall, a solid team. There’s no one where you can say “That guy is terrible.” There may be a player or two who is overpaid for their production, but even those guys aren’t terrible. And that’s how you end up with the best record in baseball at the All-Star break.

Leaders

Remember sitting down with the Sunday newspaper and turning to the page that listed all of the hitters and pitchers and their stats? The Times and almost every other paper stopped running that years ago. Let’s do a little of it now by listing the top five in key categories in the NL and where the top Dodger is at the break. Remember, to qualify for rate stats, you have to have 3.1 plate appearances or one inning pitched for each game your team has played.

Batting average
1. Otto Lopez, Miami, .334
2. Luis Arráez, San Francisco, .330
3. Nick Gonzales, Pittsburgh, .308
4. Xavier Edwards, Miami, .303
5. Jung Hoo Lee, San Francisco, .302
12. Shohei Ohtani, .293

On-base%
1. Juan Soto, New York, .412
2. James Wood, Washington, .410
3. Shohei Ohtani, .403
4. Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh, .400
5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, .386
10. Freddie Freeman, .375

Slugging %
1. James Wood, Washington, .575
2. Juan Soto, New York, .562
3. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia, .559
4. Luis Garcia Jr., Washington, .554
5. Shohei Ohtani, .549

Runs
1. James Wood, Washington, 89
2. Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh, 68
3. Brice Turang, Milwaukee, 66
4. Shohei Ohtani, 65
5. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 64

Doubles
1. Otto Lopez, Miami, 26
2. Rafael Devers, San Francisco, 25
3. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 24
t4. Six tied with 23, including Freddie Freeman

Home runs
1. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia, 32
2. James Wood, Washington, 28
3. Hunter Goodman, Colorado, 27
4. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 25
t5. Shohei Ohtani, 22
t5. Jordan Walker, St. Louis, 22

RBIs
1. Jordan Walker, St. Louis, 74
2. Luis Garcia Jr., Washington, 68
3. CJ Abrams, Washington, 67
3. Alec Burleson, St. Louis, 67
5. Andy Pages, 66

ERA
1. Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 1.62
2. Chris Sale, Atlanta, 2.20
3. Eduardo Rodriguez, Arizona, 2.29
4. Chase Burns, Cincinnati, 2.54
5. Max Meyer, Miami, 2.58
7. Justin Wrobleski, 2.69
9. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2.85

Strikeouts
1. Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 167
2. Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia, 144
3. Jesus Luzardo, Philadelphia, 136
4. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh, 130
5. Braxton Ashcraft, Pittsburgh, 128
13. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 106

Saves
1. Mason Miller, San Diego, 25
t2. Jhoan Duran, Philadelphia, 24
t2. Riley O’Brien, St. Louis, 24
4. Paul Sewald, Arizona, 22
5. Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta, 19
t7. Tanner Scott, 13

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (Roki Sasaki, 3-5, 5.33 ERA) at New York Yankees (Gerrit Cole, 3-4, 4.04 ERA), 4:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 4-6, 4.81 ERA) at New York Yankees (*Ryan Weathers, 3-7, 4.15 ERA), 5:08 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 9-6, 2.85 ERA) at New York Yankees (Cam Schlittler, 9-5, 2.05 ERA), 4:20 p.m., NBC, Peacock, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Plaschke: Who says they don’t need him? Dodgers need to trade for Tarik Skubal

Most pressing question for Dodgers in the second half: Can Shohei Ohtani stay healthy?

Shohei Ohtani wins two ESPYs … and Mike Tyson learns the Dodgers superstar is a guy

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts has six Gold Gloves. And now a baseball glove company

Shaikin: To seize 2028 Olympics spotlight, does MLB really need draconian participation rules?

And finally

Kevin Costner on the legacy of Vin Scully. Watch and listen here.

Until next time …

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

This article contains many spoilers for “Heartstopper Forever.”

In the early minutes of “Heartstopper Forever” — the feature film finale of Netflix’s hit teen romantic dramedy series — Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) notices a crooked photo strip on his boyfriend Nick Nelson’s (Kit Connor) bedroom wall. Gently pulling down the pictures, taken on the beach day they made their relationship official, Charlie smiles wistfully at their younger selves: “We look like babies.”

It’s a line that applies to the characters as much as it does to Locke and Connor. Four years after being catapulted into global stardom, the pair are bidding a bittersweet farewell to the roles that have defined their own coming of age.

“Season 1 does feel like an immensely long time ago that I do look back and think, ‘Yeah, we do look like babies,’” Connor says, with Locke nodding in agreement next to him on a recent video call from London. “‘Heartstopper’ itself was this tiny little show that was clearly something quite special to us, but we didn’t really think or know anyone was going to watch. And, suddenly, it became this thing that was immensely important to a lot of people.”

Adapted by Alice Oseman from her own bestselling graphic novels, which originated as a webcomic in 2016, “Heartstopper” chronicles the endearing love story between high-strung, gay overthinker Charlie and kind-hearted, bisexual rugby player Nick at an all-boys’ school in England.

Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) in a scene from Season 1 of “Heartstopper.”

(Netflix)

Upon its debut in 2022, the show was lauded for its unabashedly joyful, tender portrayal of queer youth — a refreshing departure from the trauma-heavy narratives that dominate other teen dramas. Even as “Heartstopper” ventured into darker thematic territory, such as Charlie’s history of eating disorders and struggles with self-harm, Oseman’s writing never lost its deft, light touch.

From the outset, Oseman knew she wanted to end “Heartstopper” with Nick going off to university in Leeds and Charlie, who is a year younger, finding independence as head boy at school. But with her cast growing increasingly more in demand every year, the author-turned-screenwriter says it would have been logistically difficult to make a fourth and final season.

After Netflix greenlit a two-hour finale instead, Oseman elected to zero in on her protagonists — not unlike her comics — rather than give each character their own, heavily condensed arc. “I think that was definitely the right decision, because we really get to spend a lot of time with Nick and Charlie and not feel like we’re missing anything,” she says.

Directed by Wash Westmoreland (“Colette,” “Still Alice”), “Forever” finds the first loves grappling with the reality of an impending long-distance relationship, leading to a rash breakup and, ultimately, an emotional reconciliation. In a surprising role reversal, as Charlie confidently steps into a leadership role as an advocate for other LGBTQ+ students, Nick is left to discover his own identity and self-worth outside of being the protective, supportive boyfriend.

On the set of “Heartstopper Forever” as Connor and Locke film a scene from the movie.

(Samuel Dore / Netflix)

Connor, who also executive produced the film with Locke, felt Charlie and Nick’s romance would be better wrapped up in a feature-length format. “There were a few very important and crucial, but short and intense [plot points] — the breakup and the time apart, and the eventual makeup and the two of them discovering who they are without one another,” he explains. “Doing it in a shorter period, I thought, would make those things hit that much harder and feel that much more visceral.”

Unlike previous seasons in which she could rely on her existing comics as storyboards for the show, Oseman was working simultaneously last year on the sixth and final volume of the “Heartstopper” comics, released earlier this month, and the “Forever” screenplay.

Juggling the same story in two different formats turned out to benefit each end product. “When I finished writing the first draft of the script, it actually made me do a really big rewrite of the comic, because it helped me see which moments were really important and which moments didn’t need to be there,” she says. (One of the pivotal scenes was the Pride parade, filmed on the last morning of production.)

As first-time producers, Locke and Connor also provided script notes that directly influenced the story. For instance, “there was no scene between Charlie and Mr. Ajayi in the original script,” says Locke, referring to the gay art teacher, played by Fisayo Akinade, whose classroom became Charlie’s safe haven from bullying before he befriended Nick. “I was like, ‘That scene in Season 1 with them is so pivotal to the story. It would be really lovely to have just a little moment for them in the film that circles on that chapter of their relationship.’ And straight away, Alice was like, ‘Yeah, great idea. Let’s do this.’”

For his part, Connor always feared that the show’s “rose-tinted” approach, though part of the story’s appeal, “would not be nuanced enough to talk about the complexities of being human and being young.”

Locke says he proposed a scene with Fisayo Akinade, who plays art teacher Mr. Ajayi, as a way to circle back on their relationship.

(Netflix)

“There was one moment where I was like, ‘Oh God, I hope these young people watching “Heartstopper” don’t suddenly forget that these kids are human, and that these kids can make mistakes and still be lovely, delightful and good people,’” Connor says. With Oseman and Locke, Connor was adamant about “finding the place [where] these characters were being treated in a way that we all felt good about.”

According to Oseman, Locke and Connor were also heavily involved in selecting a new intimacy coordinator, Robbie Taylor Hunt. Over the years, the amount of sex — or lack thereof — in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of much discourse. “It always annoyed me slightly that people were like, ‘Oh, this is so unrealistic. They’re not having sex.’ They were underage. What do you want us to do?” Locke says with a wry laugh.

Oseman has learned to tune out that online chatter, accepting that she cannot please everyone — let alone represent the entire spectrum of the young queer experience. With each season and now this film, her creative team chose to age up the story slightly. After Charlie and Nick lost their virginity to each other at the end of Season 3, the film uses physical intimacy to reveal more about their maturing relationship.

Locke says those scenes were necessary to the plot. “The pier sex scene is this carnal lust between these two people who need to get it out. The sex scene in the pillow fort is a moment of connection for them,” he says. “And the big sex scene at the end of the film is the reconciliation of their relationship.”

In the end, Nick and Charlie decide to give their relationship another shot, confident that their love can defy the conventional wisdom that teen romances rarely last. But what they learn during their split is “that you can’t put all of your hopes and dreams, your mental health and your ability to survive into one person, because it’s not fair on yourself and on that other person,” Connor says.

Over the years, the amount of sex, or lack of it, in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of online discourse. The film shows more physical intimacy.

(Netflix)

The film’s epilogue, like in the comics, offers a brief glimpse of Charlie visiting Nick for a weekend in Leeds, ending with the two of them looking through the pages of a scrapbook that still has room for new photos. While Oseman has her own vision of Nick and Charlie’s future in 10 years — they’d be newly married with a dog, she believes — the actors who play them aren’t so sure.

“I feel like the beauty of ‘Heartstopper’ is that we get to see a chapter of these two young men’s lives, and it ends in a way that doesn’t promise anything,” Connor says. “Even if they were to not end up together eventually, it wouldn’t make the experience that they shared together any less special or pivotal to who they are as people. I think that’s kind of beautiful.”

Locke is reluctant to divulge his own interpretation of the characters’ future, preferring instead to let viewers make sense of the hopeful ending. “I hope they’re happy,” he says simply. (But for the record, the actors both believe that Charlie and Nick will stay together. “Of course, we all hope so,” Connor clarifies.)

Although she is ready to tell new stories, Oseman believes that she will be revisiting Nick and Charlie, who first appeared in her 2014 debut novel “Solitaire,” “in small ways for the rest of my life.”

“I think there definitely won’t be another 10-year-long webcomic — probably not — but I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” Oseman says. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”

Like their high school characters, Locke and Connor are ready to graduate from the “Heartstopper” universe. Wary of being typecast, they have established themselves as versatile stage actors, making their Broadway debuts in “Sweeney Todd” and “Romeo + Juliet,” respectively. Onscreen, Locke joined the Marvel universe in “Agatha All Along,” while Connor has explored vastly different cinematic genres — his next major project, the film adaptation of the dark fantasy video game “Elden Ring,” will reunite him with “Warfare” director Alex Garland.

Even on the day of our interview, Connor and Locke looked a world away from Nick and Charlie. Locke wore an all-black designer outfit, while Connor — dressed in a light blue striped button-down over a white tank and khakis — had traded Nick’s signature floppy hair for designer stubble. Yet both actors have made peace with the reality that they will forever be linked to each other and their roles. “That’s part and parcel of the job,” Connor says.

Fittingly, the last scene Connor and Locke filmed as Nick and Charlie was the anniversary scene in the park where there is a fallen tree with the letters “N+C” carved into the trunk. “It was lovely because it was back to how a lot of the ‘Heartstopper’ experience has been, which is just me and Joe,” Connor says.

“I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” says creator Alice Oseman. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”

(Netflix)

Would they be open to revisiting Charlie and Nick’s love story as older adults? “In 10, 15, 20 years, who knows? Maybe,” Connor says. “Even if Alice were to decide that they wanted to make a TV show about another character in the universe of ‘Heartstopper’ and they wanted us to cameo or something, then, hey, maybe.”

While the “Heartstopper” team expected the series to resonate with younger audiences, they have been particularly moved by the reactions of older queer viewers, who have marveled at the strides in LGBTQ+ representation onscreen. Coming from the world of young-adult fiction — where she notes stories of queer joy are abundant — Oseman recalls being surprised that “Heartstopper” was treated as an anomaly in mainstream media. Still, she is proud to have helped move the needle on LGBTQ+ representation, particularly when such characters remain underrepresented.

“My hope is that people will be able to look back … and say, ‘Hey, “Heartstopper” did really well. Let’s make another queer show that’s got the [same] ‘queer joy’ vibes,’” Oseman says. “I hope it’s been able to give that encouragement to the people in power to let there be more stories out there because we just need more, different kinds of queer stories.”

Connor believes that anyone can enjoy the show because “Heartstopper” simply captures the universality of “human beings being happy and being in love.”

“Obviously, the [queer] representation is incredibly important. I think that the very existence of the show and the comfort and safety that it can bring people is one of the things that makes it so special,” Connor says. And the demand for such stories “isn’t going to change,” he adds. “Queer people are always going to exist.”

THIS popular East Yorkshire holiday park has undergone an epic multi-million pound transformation for 2026.

Skirlington Coast holiday park in East Yorkshire has received plenty of exciting additions this year, including a range of new activities – plus a brand new lido and waterpark to splash about in.

Even better, the holiday park is available to book as part of The Sun’s Holidays from £9.50, meaning you can bag yourself a seriously affordable stay to check out all the new upgrades.

The holiday park have invested 10 million pounds into upgrading its grounds and facilities, such as introducing a new bandstand and festival gardens.

But perhaps the most exciting new additions are its waterpark, lido and family activities.

The waterpark spans both indoor and outdoor areas, centred around two large swimming pools.

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Indoors, kids can splash about under the umbrella-shaped water feature, while grown-ups can unwind in the sauna or hot tub.

Outdoors, kids can burn off their energy on the Giant Aqua Bounce inflatable, while adults can sunbathe on a comfy lounger.

As well as the waterpark upgrades, the park have also opened up a brand new lido.

The large outdoor lido is the perfect place to cool off on a sunny day, but if the weather does take a turn, it is sheltered by a large yellow-striped roof.

Next to the lido there are plenty of colourful deck chairs, parasols, loungers and even some beach huts that give the area that seaside holiday feel.

The lido and outdoor waterpark sit in the Festival Gardens area, a brand new section of the holiday park which is filled with brightly-coloured decorations and pretty fairy lights.

Here you can grab a refreshing drink from the Festival Bar and soak up the scenery.

As well as housing the lido and outdoor waterpark, this area is also home to a brand new dog agility park – so if you like to bring your furry friend with you on holiday, this is the perfect place to teach them some new tricks.

The area also includes a new bike pump track, where younger children can zoom around a course and practice their skills on pump bikes that require no pedalling.

The other two zones within the Festival Gardens area are the outdoor playground and the activity tent, where you can have a go at new activities like axe throwing, rifle shooting and firing mini crossbows.

When it comes to food and drink, this park has plenty of options.

Grab a bite to eat at Sea Salt Fish and Chips to keep in line with the seaside holiday vibe, or tuck into a hearty full English breakfast at the cosy Wonky Donkey cafe.

Menus here are made with fussy eaters in mind, so expect lots of familiar favourites like burgers, pizzas, chips and nuggets.

Accommodation ranges from camping and touring pitches to well-stocked holiday homes split up into Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum categories.

The most simple Bronze caravan comes with a roomy open plan design with a modern kitchen and spacious living room, with a sofa that pulls out to turn into an extra bed.

The caravans also all come with central heating, double-glazed windows, Wi-Fi and beds made-up on arrival, so no need to worry about bringing your own linen like elsewhere.

The holiday park sits on Yorkshire’s beautiful, rugged coastline, with popular seaside town Hornsea a 10-minute drive away and Skipsea Beach just five minutes away.

DONCASTER Sheffield Airport has taken a big step forward towards its reopening.

Approval has been given by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to move forward with a crucial stage in order for the airport to welcome back passengers.

The CAA has said that the hub can go ahead with its public consultation on the Airspace Change Proposal (ACP).

Locals and stakeholders get to state their opinion about its reopening – a necessary step in the process.

The consultation period for comments will be open from August 3 to October 4.

Christian Foster, Director for FlyDoncaster Ltd, operators of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: “A reopening project of this scale includes a number of important milestones, but being able to go out to public consultation around our airspace is one that is absolutely crucial.

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“We want to hear the views of people from across Doncaster and beyond, so that they can have a meaningful say about the airspace connected to this airport.

“As a community asset, it’s vital that we engage with those who live and work nearby to us and ensure we listen to the views of local people.”

Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed back in 2022 but could reopen to passengers in as little as two years’ time.

The regional airport in the north of England provided a gateway to Europe for those living in and around Doncaster up until four years ago, after it was deemed ‘not financially viable’, and closed.

However, in an extremely rare case, the airport is scheduled to reopen as soon as next year – with passenger planes set to start in 2028.

Previously, Doncaster Sheffield Airport was home to airlines like TUI and Wizz Air – but none have been confirmed to return to the hub yet.

Christian Foster, Director of FlyDoncaster – the company set up to manage the airport – told us:  “It does feel like the world has changed post-Covid, whereas people were focused two weeks in Spain or Greece, nowadays we’re seeing a lot of people keen to take city breaks.”

When talking of where he would like to fly, he said: “We’d love to fly to places like Croatia, and other destinations that are a bit more quirky like Azerbaijan.

“We’re keen to look at emerging places to visit as well, like India.“

Elizabeth Kobliha knows her one-eyed cat Likho has more friends than she does. So much so that on his 15th birthday last Saturday, the sidewalk outside her downtown Long Beach store where he spends most of his time transformed into a makeshift fair.

There were vendors selling peach cobbler, watches, hot dogs and offering tattoos and face paint. A DJ spun records in celebration.

“He’s a very good businessman. We’ve got stickers, T-shirts, keychains, and buttons [of him], and it all goes under his account, his name,” Kobliha said of the cat.

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Before Likho roamed the 7,000-square-foot Long Beach Vintage Etc, there was Apollo. The “big rag doll” came in with health problems but was the perfect shop cat. Apollo, a Maine coon who died at 13 following a seizure a year after his arrival in 2015, had curbed the shop’s mouse problem and brought “so much love and energy.”

Similarly, Likho, a one-eyed Russian Blue, also was ailing when Kobilha took him in at 8 years old, but she wanted him anyhow.

“I always wanted to open my own shop so I can have a shop cat,” Kobliha says, adding she was inspired by bookstores with cats “just chilling.”

Vendors line the sidewalk for Likho’s birthday party. The cat is a local celebrity.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

In 2016, Kobliha was swiping through Facebook when a video stopped her scroll. In it, a woman inside of a hoarder’s garage bobbed a feather toy in front of Likho, who jumped up to catch it.

The post was made by Sia Barbi in collaboration with animal rescue group Stray Cat Alliance after the cat had been abandoned at the Hancock Park home. During the early ‘90s, Sia and identical twin sister, Shane, made waves in the fashion and pop culture worlds, often modeling for Chanel, Thierry Mugler and Jean Paul Gaultier. Their rise to fame began after the Los Angeles Times covered a Sunset Boulevard billboard featuring the twins wearing little clothing that had been causing car accidents.

“Guys of a certain generation would get very hot and bothered over them,” Kobliha said of the Barbi twins. As they exited the modeling industry, they pivoted into animal activism and volunteering for rescue groups and trap, neuter and return programs for cats.

Elizabeth Kobliha holds her cat Likho. When she opened her vintage store, she knew she wanted a shop cat just like chill bookstore cats.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Kobliha wanted to adopt Likho, but first he’d need a $3,000 operation to remove an infected eye, paid for by the Stray Cat Alliance.

“They took care of everything, then we had to wait because he had to recuperate,” she recalls. “The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, what if it doesn’t work out? What if the cat gets here and is just absolutely bonkers?’”

That fear was for nothing. Likho, who lives at the shop full-time, acclimated within a day. “He has been a beautiful addition ever since then,” Kobliha says.

He’s since become the face of the shop, with a mural dedicated to him outside to welcome customers. That was done by local muralist LaJon Miller, who worked on another on the sidewalk during Likho’s party.

“I got adopted into it,” he says of the Likho fandom. “He’s been my muse on this street for a while. … He just roams around the store, chills, does his little nap thing, and hangs out with everybody, so he’s very social.”

Likho has never harmed the centuries-old objects in her shop, Kobliha says, but he has spooked suspected ghosts.

LaJon Miller, who calls Likho his muse, paints a portrait of the cat on the sidewalk outside of Long Beach Vintage Etc.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Kobliha believes ghosts once connected to shops at the 1922 building — a former patron of a grocery store shamed for his obesity and a former furniture shop owner who died by suicide — still roam her store’s stalls.

“We see shadow figures … there’s a certain area where they pass back and forth. They don’t do anything, but they’re scary as hell,” Kobliha says of unusual sightings. “Likho is very protective, and we do feel really safe when he’s around.”

“It is a little weird, though, when he’s sleeping, and then suddenly he will jump up and look around,” she adds.

Likho’s biggest fan may be a man named Dom Gomez. He lives within walking distance of the shop, and tends to visit after long shifts at a restaurant aboard the Queen Mary. He stopped by the birthday party wearing his work uniform: a white, button-down shirt and black slacks. His hair slicked; his hands behind his back.

Likho’s face graces merchandise at Long Beach Vintage Etc like this fan.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

When he speaks of Likho, he speaks with a tender cadence and dignified countenance, as if he were his own.

“Time flies, you know?” he says, smiling, of visiting Likho over the years. “He gets a lot of love from all the ladies that work here and myself … he has a lot of fans. I don’t know who’s more famous, Muhammad Ali or Likho the Cat.”

On a previous birthday, Gomez wanted to get Likho a gift. He settled on a kid’s denim jacket he modified for a cat with a patch for the Cure on the back but, regrettably, it was a “little too big.” Next year, he’ll give it another shot with a sweater.

“That’s my little buddy right there,” he says. “Today is a special day. I didn’t know a cat could live that long, but I think he’s still got a lot of energy to live … maybe another 100 years, I hope.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Dodgers have the best record in baseball, the highest run differential in baseball, the biggest lead in baseball.

And a pitching staff that recently required seven arms to get through a six-run loss in a game started by Kyle Hurt.

The Dodgers have the best player in baseball, the best manager in baseball, the best lineup in baseball.

And a starting rotation containing two cornerstones who have shown up for a total of eight games.

You know where we’re headed with this, right?

C’mon Dodgers, would you look in the mirror and ignore the noise and make the trade already?

Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal pitches against the Athletics on July 7 in Detroit.

(Duane Burleson / Associated Press)

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Go get the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner and cement your October. Go get the marvelous Detroit Tigers left-hander and claim your three-peat.

Everyone will say you are ruining baseball, but you know what really would ruin baseball? If its reigning dynasty is wrecked by loose bodies or back spasms or a needle stuck in a left knee.

Everyone will say you don’t really need him, but unless you have some sort of time machine that can restore vitality to some of the veterans showing serious wear, you need him.

The 29-year-old Skubal is a pending free agent, so the Tigers have to trade him or lose him to a $400-million contract elsewhere. The Tigers could keep him for a possible pennant run, but Skubal is a pitcher, not a miracle worker, and his 44-52 team has to leapfrog six others to sneak into a wild-card spot.

He’s there for the taking and, more than any other team, the asset-rich Dodgers are in the best position to take him. They have the best minor leaguers. They have the best fringe major leaguers. Give the Tigers whatever anonymous talents they desire because, as Dodgers fans have learned, nobody will be lamenting the lost kids when the big leaguers are parading down Figueroa.

Yes, agreed, this is an insane column to write … if it hadn’t already been written.

In June 2023, this space begged the Dodgers to bolster their weak starting rotation at the trade deadline.

“They need to surrender prospects and take on debt and do whatever it takes to trade for an ace starting pitcher or they have zero shot at a championship,” I wrote at the time. “They need to find somebody who can take the ball in one of the first two games of what could be a three-game wild-card playoff series or they have zero shot at surviving that series.”

One month later, failing to improve the team for one of the rare times in his brilliant career, Andrew Friedman struck out.

Three months later, they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the playoffs while rolling out a rotation of noodle-armed Clayton Kershaw, massively disappointing Bobby Miller and a human dinger machine named Lance Lynn.

Three years later it feels like it’s happening all over again, the Dodgers once again faced with a nightmare they’d rather ignore.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani puts on his batting gloves after pitching against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 3.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The team with four aces needs an ace. The team that began the season with two Cy Young candidates needs a third. The supernatural pitching staff needs help.

Start with Shohei Ohtani. They’re understandably acting like the knee-draining procedure he underwent last weekend was no big deal, but it pulled him off the mound and there has been no definitive word when he’ll return.

“We all know with where we’re at, who he is as a player, if there’s opportunities to be extra cautious and mindful, it’s just prudent,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the media.

In less than three months, will “cautious and mindful” become “ready to roll?” Who knows? Ohtani is 32 with slowly diminishing tread on those overworked wheels. Then there are Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, the injured starters who everyone thinks will just magically appear at full strength in the playoffs.

Believe that, and I’ve got some loose bodies to sell you.

Snell, 33, hasn’t lasted a full season in three years, and even though he’ll be pitching again soon, any season that includes even the most minor of elbow surgeries can have a problematic ending.

Glasnow, who turns 33 next month, has made but 25 starts in the last two seasons and missed the playoffs completely two years ago, and by now it feels like back spasms are the least of his problems.

The surprise bright spot of the rotation has been Justin Wrobleski, and last season he didn’t give up a run in four World Series relief appearances, but can he be trusted with the start? In Tuesday’s All-Star Game, deep-bombing Miguel Vargas reminded him how the heat increases when the expectations are higher.

The starting pitcher fears are heightened by the vulnerability of the man who is catching them. Will Smith will be back from his neck injury, but he’s lately shown some of the strain of his record-setting postseason workload. And do you really want Dalton Rushing talking trash behind the plate for pressure playoff battles?

To all these worries, add the bullpen, which has fallen back to earth after its club-record 38-inning scoreless streak. Edwin Díaz can’t come back soon enough and, oh wait, does that 10.50 ERA really belong to him?

Into this tightrope-walking atmosphere would step Skubal, who underwent a minimally invasive elbow procedure in May but came back stronger than ever. He has gone 36-15 over the last three seasons with two full years of sub-3.00 ERAs while being generally regarded as the best pitcher in baseball.

He might be a rental. So what? A third consecutive championship would be forever. The rest of the baseball world would cry foul. Who cares? The only sound that matters around here is the cheers accompanying one more title before the game goes dark.

The Dodgers’ rotation is hurting. The Dodgers’ window is closing. The Dodgers are on the verge of a three-peat, yet still one player away.

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Hal Williams, a veteran actor known for his roles as a friendly neighborhood police officer on “Sanford and Son” and a hard-working patriarch on “227,” has died. He was 91.

Williams died Wednesday morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, his representative Zna Portlock Houston told The Times in an email on Thursday.

“Hal Williams is legendary for his acting skills, his compassion and his community engagement,” Houston wrote, describing the actor as “an icon and a true professional.” “He never turned away a fan. He was always embraced so warmly, like he was truly their own family, because he was a cultural touchstone who represented an image of Black fatherhood that was loving and steadfast. Offscreen he was a sound advisor, lively debater and devoted friend.”

His death follows a recent trip to Ohio celebrating his work on the NBC sitcom “Sanford and Son,” on which he portrayed Officer “Smitty” Smith from 1972 to 1977.

In one of his final television interviews just days prior to his death, Williams spoke about one of the show’s recurring bits, which saw his character translate his partner Officer “Hoppy” Hopkins’ (Howard Platt) police talk into a vernacular that Fred (Redd Foxx) and Lamont Sanford (Demond Wilson) could understand.

“A lot of the stuff we created ourselves off camera and put it in the script,” Williams said when he appeared with Platt on a morning news show on Cleveland’s Fox 8. “A lot of the times, they didn’t have jokes in the script … because they didn’t know the jargon from the Black community.”

Born Halroy Candis Williams on Dec. 14, 1938, in Columbus, Ohio, Williams was working as a juvenile corrections officer when he decided to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor. He took the plunge and headed to Hollywood in 1968.

“I gave myself three years in California to see what I could do,” Williams told Fox 8. “And at the end of the three years I was on ‘Sanford and Son,’ ‘The Waltons’ and ‘Harry O.’ ”

Williams became a regular television presence, appearing on shows such as “Kung Fu,” “Good Times,” “Roots: The Next Generation,” “The Jeffersons,” “Magnum P.I.” and “The Sinbad Show” over the years.

Besides his breakout role of Officer Smitty in “Sanford and Son,” which he reprised in its follow-up, “Sanford,” Williams is perhaps best known for starring as Lester Jenkins, the husband of Marla Gibbs’ Mary Jenkins, in the NBC sitcom “227.” The show, which aired from 1985 to 1990, was notable for the portrayal of its middle-class Black family.

“ ‘227’ kind of set the bar a little higher because it was a totally intact family,” Williams told the “Today” show in 2020. “It was a mother, father, daughter and they were very positive. There were very few negatives. It addressed all kinds of social issues and it gave oncoming shows the opportunity to explore new avenues and new issues comfortably because the networks and production companies were open to that kind of a pitch idea.”

Gibbs took to social media Thursday to share a tribute to her “TV husband,” who she described as “a generous man who freely gave his time, his talent and his heart to the community.”

“Our journey together began long before 227 came to television,” Gibbs wrote on Instagram. “Hal was part of the original stage production at our Crossroads Theater. … Hal was always there to help. He even secured donated theater seats and helped organize the seating chart because he believed in supporting young artists.”

“When 227 became a television series, I fought to make sure my character had a husband. I’m so glad I did,” she added. “Hal, Regina King and I became a television family that showed the love, strength and stability of a Black family for five wonderful seasons. … Even after the show ended, Hal never stopped checking on me.”

Actor Jackée Harry, who portrayed the Jenkins’ young neighbor Sandra Clark in “227,” was also among those who shared tributes to Williams on social media.

“What a gentleman. Hal always carried himself with grace, and he always had me laughing,” Harry wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “He was also a stand-up guy who believed Black fathers on TV should be loving, present and compassionate. He helped show America what that looked like.”

“For as long as I can remember, Hal has been a steady, comforting presence on our television screens,” Holly Robinson Peete wrote in her Instagram tribute Thursday. “His warm smile, sharp comedic timing, kind spirit and gentle energy made him feel like family to so many of us. … Rest in peace, Hal. … You were one of the greats … a true television legend, but an even greater human being.”

Williams most recently appeared as Autry in a couple episodes of CBS’ “Matlock” reboot.

His survivors include his two children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Williams was predeceased by one son.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If something happened once, it can happen again. That’s kind of what Yogi Berra was getting at when he said “it’s like deja vu all over again.”

Berra, the late Yankee catcher and once New Jersey’s unofficial poet laureate, spent most of his life within walking distance of East Rutherford, N.J., where history could repeat itself all over again in Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. And that makes his words newly relevant.

Argentina and Lionel Messi, the reigning champions, will be seeking to become the first to repeat in 64 years while Spain will be playing in the title game for just the second time ever. And the similarities to its first trip, in 2010, are uncanny.

Sixteen years ago Spain became just the second reigning European champion to win a World Cup. It will enter Sunday’s game as the reigning European champion.

In the run-up to the 2010 World Cup, Spain ran off a 35-game unbeaten streak, which matched the longest in history at the time. La Roja will enter Sunday’s game with a 37-game unbeaten streak, which matches the current longest streak in history.

And that 2010 team was known for an absence of ego and a depth of character, a blue-collar collection of quiet superstars built around a core of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol, players who emphasized humility, unity and selflessness.

This team? It’s the same.

“We’re one big family,” center back Pau Cubarsí said in Spanish.

A family that has already achieved its goal, according to coach Luis de la Fuente. So while Argentina may be feeling the pressure of chasing World Cup history, De la Fuente said his team is playing with house money

“I don’t believe in the idea that finals are there to be won. They’re there to be enjoyed,” he said. “What’s to come could be the icing on the cake.”

Of course a cake is nothing without the icing. But then Spain hasn’t had to separate joy from success in this World Cup, enjoying an unbeaten run to the final whose only blemish has been a tournament-opening draw with Cape Verde.

That was the first of six clean sheets for Spanish keeper Unai Simón, though it’s really been a group effort with Simón facing an average of just two shots on goal a game.

De la Fuente, 65, whose only senior international appearance as a player came in the 1988 Olympics, coached Spain’s U-23 team to a silver medal in the Tokyo Games in 2021 then took over the national team a year later, after it crashed out of a second straight World Cup in the round of 16.

De la Fuente spent nearly two decades coaching at the youth level, including nine years with Spain’s U19 and U21 national teams. But seven months after taking over the senior team, he led Spain to its first UEFA Nations League title and a year after that it won its first Champions League title in more than a decade. La Roja has lost just twice in 48 games under De la Fuente, who has the highest winning percentage of any man who has managed more than nine games for Spain.

Given his background, De la Fuente trusts young players — with an average age of 26.7, Spain has the sixth-youngest roster in the World Cup — and his starting lineup includes two teenagers in Cubarsí and forward Lamine Yamal. The core of the team — Simón, Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo, Rodri, Mikel Oyarzabal, Fabián Ruiz — are players he coached to European youth-level championships and ones he has known for half their lives.

That has given the team a level of familiarity and trust that goes both ways.

“This team never ceases to amaze me,” the coach said. “The scope for improvement is endless. It was a labor of love, a process. It was about reaching the crucial moment in the best possible shape.”

And they’ve gotten there, said right back Pedro Porro, another product of De la Fuente’s youth teams, by all pulling in the same direction.

“From the very first day we got here — not just me, but the whole team — we’ve been working toward a common goal,” Porro said. “That’s part of the process. There are no excuses.”

That, too, is something De la Fuente brought to the job, though it’s not an original concept for Spain. It’s more like deja vu all over again.

“We are ordinary, generous people,” the coach said. “We’ve recaptured the spirit of 2010.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened leaders from more than 60 countries to take part in the Trump administration’s latest effort to quell what it calls “left-wing” political terrorism, a marquee issue for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

This focus comes even as studies show that there are very few reported cases of such incidents in the U.S., especially compared to historically higher levels of far-right violence.

With sweeping statements about the “alarming rise” of political violence by the left, Rubio and other U.S. officials painted a dark image of the future if the “communists and Marxists” perpetrating these supposed acts are not defeated. He urged officials in attendance — mostly from European and Latin American countries — to unite to address the issue, which he says has been a “blind spot” in counterterrorism doctrine.

“So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and even terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression, so long as they served a left-wing cause,” Rubio said in opening remarks. “A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was ‘a nefarious and murderous act of evil.’ It is, but a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary, well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism.”

A report published last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that left-wing terrorism attacks as of July 4, 2025, had surpassed those from the far right for the first time in more than 30 years. However, a closer look at the data reveals that the uptick reflects a very low starting level and a concurrent drop on the far right.

There was an average of 0.6 left-wing incidents annually from 1994 through 2000, compared with an average of 20.6 on the right, the report shows. From 2016 to 2024, there was an average of four per year on the left and 22.7 per year on the right. Those numbers had dropped dramatically on the right as of early July 2025, with only one incident. Meanwhile, there had been five from the left.

But the report’s authors note that right-wing terrorism could easily return to elevated levels and that it is important to fight terrorism on both sides of the political spectrum.

President Trump and his allies have prioritized talking points against the far left ahead of the congressional elections this November. Trump has repeatedly stated that the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to “completely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations.

Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is “something we haven’t seen in the U.S.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried “radical candidates” who are “self-described, self-identifying Marxists.”

For Rubio, his worldview on this issue has been largely shaped by his own history: he is the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in Miami in May 1956, a few years before communist leader Fidel Castro rose to power in Havana. The former Florida senator said Thursday that it was that same government’s sprawling intelligence and ideological network that “helped to build the far left in our country and in our hemisphere.”

Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and main architect of the administration’s immigration policy, followed Rubio’s remarks, aiming to drive home the immediacy of the perceived threats he saw to American institutions coming from the left, and what response is needed in return.

“If your civilization is your home, you must defend it with the same passion and force as if an enemy intruder is inside your own house where your family lives,” Miller said. “That is the level of dedication and urgency that is required.”

This ideological focus has repeatedly conflated democratic socialism — which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation — with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated.

It has only intensified in the last year, after the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to become New York City mayor and several of his proteges who won their New York City congressional primaries last month, beating out incumbents.

One of the ways the administration has started to target left-wing efforts is through sanctions. In November, the State Department designated four antifa or anti-fascist groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in his remarks Thursday that targeting these entities’ financial networks is the best way to circumvent their efforts.

“We have spent decades developing the world’s most sophisticated financial counterterrorism capabilities, and now we are mobilizing some of the same tools that we have deployed against terrorists abroad to confront this emerging threat here at home,” he told the conference.

Amiri and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Amiri reported from New York and Kinnard from Columbia, S.C. AP writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed to this report.

Shohei Ohtani is a global superstar.

The 2026 ESPY Awards provided the latest evidence of that, with the Dodgers two-way player winning two trophies, as determined by fan votes, at Wednesday night’s ceremony in New York.

But as surprising at it may be — especially to those of us in the Los Angeles area who have witnessed the Japanese baseball phenomenon during his nine years with our local MLB teams — not everyone on the planet is familiar with the four-time MVP and two-time World Series champion.

The ESPYs provided evidence of that as well. Boxers Mike Tyson and Jake Paul joined musician DJ Khaled to present the award for best single-game performance. Ohtani — nominated for his historic Game 4 of the 2025 National League championship series against the Milwaukee Brewers — was the winner, as announced by Tyson.

Paul told the crowd that Ohtani was unable to attend the event, but “he sends his gratitude and appreciation to ESPN and everyone who voted for him.”

Afterward, a hot mic picked up Tyson seeming to ask Paul a rather unexpected question:

“Shohei’s a guy?”

The question seemed to be genuine, and Paul gave a casual response to his friend and former boxing opponent. “Yeah, he’s a guy,” Paul appeared to say as the trio started leaving the stage.

The Times reached out to a Tyson representative for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

No shade toward Iron Mike for apparently not knowing much about Ohtani. Tyson is a legend in his sport and has a number of other ventures and interests that occupy his time. While he did throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers-Pittsburgh Pirates game in 2014, Tyson just might not be all that into baseball.

Also, the name Shohei isn’t at all common in the U.S., even amid Ohtani’s massive popularity. According to Parenting Patch, only nine American babies were given that name in each of the last two years. All of them were boys, but the odds are good that Tyson doesn’t know any of them.

If Tyson hasn’t been following Ohtani’s career, though, he’s missing out. Take the aforementioned Game 4 of last year’s NLCS as an example. Ohtani hit three home runs and pitched six-plus scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a 5-1 victory over the Brewers that completed an NLCS sweep and sent the Dodgers to the World Series for the second straight year.

“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game.

Ohtani was much more low-key in his postgame assessment.

“This time around, it was my turn to be able to perform,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I think just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven’t performed to the expectation.”

With his performance that night, Ohtani beat out fellow nominees Tyce Armstrong of Baylor baseball (three grand slams in a game), Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat (83 points in a game) and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame basketball (16 steals in a game) for the award.

That epic game certainly contributed to Ohtani’s other ESPY of the night. He was named best MLB player over fellow nominees Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Employers are bracing for what could be the highest rise in health insurance premiums in 16 years in 2027, driving up the average cost of family coverage in California to more than $30,000 — the price of a new compact car.

Health insurance companies expect the cost of medical services and prescription drugs to soar by 9% in 2027, according to a new survey by PwC, the highest rise the researchers have found since 2011. Insurers use those expected medical costs to calculate the price of premiums in the coming year. Many employers require workers to pay part of that cost.

Experts say the escalating costs of employers’ premiums are reducing workers’ wages and take-home pay, while raising the prices of goods and services in California and across the country.

“It’s going to erode the standard of living for lots of California families,” said Glenn Melnick, a USC professor of healthcare finance.

Melnick said when employers are forced to spend more on health insurance, there is less money available for wages. The skyrocketing premiums, he said, are like a hidden pay cut for working families.

The higher cost also has small-business owners wondering whether they can continue paying for their workers’ health insurance.

Co-owner Camden Avery makes a sale at the Booksmith in San Francisco.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

This year, premiums for staff at the Booksmith, an independent bookstore on Haight Street in San Francisco, leaped by 17%, said Christin Evans, the store’s owner. Next year could bring even more pain. The monthly premium for four employees is $3,250.

To try to cope, Evans said, she has reduced staff hours by closing the store earlier.

“We have to absorb it,” she said. “We’re not paying the wages we want to pay or delivering the customer service we’d like to deliver.”

Seventeen million Californians receive health benefits from an employer. Those premiums have been rising faster in California than the national average.

Between 2022 and 2025, the average family premium for employers in the state rose by 24% to $28,397, according to a survey by KFF and the California Healthcare Foundation. That was nearly double the 12.2% increase in consumer prices during those years.

Hospital, pharmaceutical and other medical costs escalated even faster after 2025.

PwC’s annual survey of insurers last year found an expected rise of 8.5% in 2026, which its researchers later revised to 9%.

A key driver of the rising medical costs, according to experts, is prices charged by hospitals. In recent years, some health systems, including UCLA and Cedars-Sinai, have grown larger by buying nearby hospitals and expanding their clinics, becoming more dominant in the community and reducing competition.

Melnick said the expansion of some health systems into giant organizations means that they can “tell insurance companies what the price will be.”

A Cedars-Sinai spokesperson pointed to a 2022 paper that found that for-profit health system prices had escalated faster than those at nonprofit systems like Cedars. The paper was partly funded by Cedars.

“Cedars-Sinai Health System’s growth in recent years has expanded access to the highest levels of patient care and medical innovation across the Los Angeles region,” the spokesperson said.

UCLA did not respond to requests for comment.

Another factor is the rising cost of prescription drugs. Spending on cancer drugs, the most costly category, reached $143 billion in 2025, an annual increase of 12%, the PwC survey found.

The nation’s spending on obesity medicines, including GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, soared by 81% last year, PwC said. A 30-day supply of the drugs lists for more than $1,000.

An Ozempic injection pen.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Gallup said this month that its survey found that 11% of U.S. adults are now taking the GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.

The obesity drug manufacturers say the medicines can reduce medical expenses by preventing other costly conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, but data don’t yet show such reductions, PwC said.

Researchers at the California Healthcare Foundation say a large part of the problem is that hospital operating costs, prescription drug prices and doctor fees have been allowed to grow unchecked for decades.

The foundation estimated in a report last year that 25 cents of every dollar spent in California — more than $73 billion each year — does nothing to help patients. Instead it goes to excessive profits for providers, administrative red tape and other waste, the foundation found.

California employer premiums are expected to rise next year for another reason: Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers agreed in June to raise taxes on the private plans to help pay for the cost of Medi-Cal, which covers the medical costs for the poor, and to help balance the state budget.

The California Assn. of Health Plans said insurers will add the tax to next year’s premiums. The trade group estimates the higher tax will cost each insured person $100 next year or $400 for a family of four.

The higher tax must still be approved by the Trump administration. Republicans in the state Assembly wrote a letter to the administration this month, asking officials to deny the request.

Researchers also expect a jump in premiums for families without employer insurance who purchase policies on state marketplaces such as Covered California. Some of those families faced double-digit increases this year because of rising medical costs and the end of enhanced federal subsidies that Congress had approved as a temporary measure during the pandemic. Almost 400,000 Californians dropped their Obamacare plans this year as prices soared.

To deal with the higher premiums, some employers are changing the design of their health plans to shift more of the cost to workers by raising deductibles and co-pays.

Those higher out-of-pocket costs are just the beginning of the fallout. Twenty-two percent of chief financial officers surveyed by Mercer in February said the high price of health benefits had forced them to stop hiring or led to layoffs. Thirty-six percent of those executives said the rising premium costs have harmed workers’ wages and raises.

Candice Elliott, a human resources consultant in Santa Cruz, said smaller businesses such as restaurants struggle to find ways to cover the higher costs.

Many restaurants, Elliott said, already have a slim margin between their revenues and expenses. When premiums rise, she said, some restaurants have added a fee to the customer bill to help cover workers’ health costs. Others have hiked menu prices.

“That impacts affordability for the consumer,” Elliott said. “It makes inflation greater.”

Some small businesses have moved from so-called silver plans to the lower-priced bronze plans, she said, which cover less of the employee’s monthly premium. “It’s effectively a decrease in pay for the employee,” she said.

Others are hiring employees overseas, Elliott said. “You can pay someone in the global south half of what you pay an American and still afford them a good standard of living and benefits that are unaffordable in the U.S.,” she said.

Melnick, the USC professor, said many workers don’t realize how much they are losing as their employers’ premiums rise. He tells people to look at their W-2 tax form from last year, where employers are required to report the cost of the employee’s premium in box 12, under “Code DD.”

He said USC’s premium for his family of four is $45,000.

“The base is so high that even a small increase has a big impact,” he said. The continuing annual increases, he said, are “bad news for everybody.”

NEXT year a load of new passenger rights will come into force, making it trickier for airlines to charge passengers unnecessarily.

The law, which aims to simplify passenger rights, was given the green light by the European Council earlier this week

The new rules are set to be introduced in mid-2027, and they could save families hundreds.

Here are all the changes you need to know about – and how much they could save a family of four.

Family seats

Over the years, budget airlines have forced families to pay a fee to sit together.

However, under the new rules, airlines will no longer be allowed to charge families to stay together.

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Instead, they must give the seat next to a child to the person accompanying them if they are under the age of 14.

The same rule applies to pregnant women or anyone with reduced mobility.

Ryanair used to make adults travelling with children pay one reserved seat fee and then they could select seats beside them for up to four children.

This meant for a usually for a family of four, and additional fee of £8 each way, per adult – if both parents wanted to sit with their children.

= Potential savings: £32

Hidden carry-on and hand luggage fees

Another trick by airlines to get more money was to charge for suitcases, sometimes even at the gate.

Under the new rules, there will be a baseline for ticket pricing where comparison sites and airlines have to display fares including cabin luggage, from the offset.

Passengers will be allowed a personal item each, which can measure up to 40x30x15cm and a small cabin suitcase weighing up to 7kg.

If you do travel bag-free, some airlines may offer a discount.

For Ryanair, passengers could be set back between £46 and £75 for a standard 10kg cabin bag that hasn’t been booked.

This would rise to between £70 and £75 for any oversized cabin bag, each way.

= Potential savings: £300

Boarding pass fees

Some airlines force you to download their app or create an account just to get your boarding pass.

And if you didn’t and instead wanted a paper boarding pass, often you are forced to pay.

However, under the new rules, airlines cannot force passengers to use the app or charge for a physical boarding pass.

For example, with Wizz Air if you check-in at the airport and they print off your boarding pass this will set you back between £33.92 and £42.20 per person, per way.

= Potential savings: £337.60

Name correction fees

If you accidentally made a typo or spelt your name wrong, you’d often have to pay a fee to have this corrected.

Airlines will no longer be able to charge for correcting a basic typo on a ticket.

A number of airlines allow for allow minor corrections of up to three characters for free, such as Wizz Air and Ryanair.

However, if there is anything more than this or the correction is made less than 48hours before your flight, then Ryanair charges between £115 to £160.

= Potential savings: £640

‘No show’ flight cancellations

For some reason or another, you may miss or skip the outbound leg of your return trip.

This previously has resulted in the airline cancelling travellers‘ return flight and as a result, the passenger is forced to buy a completely new ticket – often last-minute and therefore more expensive.

This could even cost thousands depending on the location.

Soon this will change though as passengers with a return trip will be allowed to use their return flight, even if they didn’t take their outbound flight, without any additional fees.

The bubbly laugh. The megawatt smile.

The queen of joyful gymnastics is back.

Seven years after gaining fame as UCLA’s “perfect 10 gymnast” and 13 years since last competing at an elite level, Katelyn Ohashi has returned to gymnastics with new goals and the same outlook.

“I want to have fun with it,” Ohashi said on a video conference Thursday, less than two weeks after making her return to competitive gymnastics at the American Classic. “I want to see how far I can go with it, and how far I can push myself.”

Still only two competitive routines into her comeback, Ohashi said the idea of competing in a home Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games is “a beautiful thing to think about.”

She is plotting her own path. The 29-year-old’s first elite meet since 2013 was on June 27, when she tied for third on beam and performed a floor routine with light tumbling passes. She will compete at the U.S. Classic on July 18 with hopes of qualifying for the U.S. championships, which determines the national team roster.

Katelyn Ohashi performs during the “Gold Over America Tour” at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.

(Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)

Competing on only beam and floor, Ohashi needs to reach 26.80 points in her routines to qualify for the national championships. The meet in August would be her first U.S. championship as a senior gymnast. Gymnasts typically make senior debuts at 16 years old. More than a decade older than some of her competitors, Ohashi can’t help but giggle at how circuitous her path has been.

“It’s really funny, also,” Ohashi said through laughter, “because, like, I’m pretty much a senior citizen.”

The deadline for a female gymnast’s Olympic dreams used to be 16 years old, Ohashi was told. But watching Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles win team gold at the Paris Olympics inspired Ohashi. The team, which also included 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, was the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team in the Olympics since 1952. Every gymnast who competed in the team final was in her 20s.

In 2024, the then-27-year-old Biles was the oldest U.S. female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1952. When Ohashi recently called her longtime friend about her plan to return to elite gymnastics after a 13-year retirement, Biles “thought I was crazy,” Ohashi said.

“Which,” Ohashi continued, “most people, I think, might.”

Ohashi has nothing left to prove. In her first senior international competition at 15, she beat Biles for the 2013 American Cup all-around crown — the last time Biles lost an all-around title. After injuries derailed her promising elite career and the sport’s abusive culture robbed her of her joy, Ohashi reached superstar status while rediscovering her love of the sport with UCLA. She won a team NCAA title and the floor individual title in 2018. As a senior, her perfect 10 floor routine garnered 500 million views, landed her in Rolling Stone magazine and drew sold-out crowds to almost all of UCLA’s meets.

Since her final college routine in 2019, Ohashi was loving her retired athlete life. She did speaking appearances, traveled and published a book of her poetry. She enjoyed all the time and freedom she had.

She still missed the gym.

“I have not been able to replicate the feeling or the joy, sensations, adrenaline that gymnastics or competing brings,” Ohashi said.

Staying connected in the sport by participating in Biles’ “Gold Over America Tour” in 2021 and 2024, Ohashi would often joke of a comeback. Calculating her age and looking toward an Olympics in the city that helped her fall in love with gymnastics again, Ohashi knew that if the joke was ever going to become real, it had to be soon.

So Ohashi started working with a personal trainer, lifting weights for three hours a day for four days a week. In January, she moved back to her hometown of Seattle, in part to be closer to her family, and started training with Cale Robinson at Pacific Reign Gymnastics in Woodinville, Wash.

Most skills came back seamlessly, even ones she hadn’t executed in competition since she was 16. The first month felt great. Then fatigue started setting in. Ohashi loved that challenge.

Former UCLA star gymnast Katelyn Ohashi performs during the “Gold Over America Tour” at Crypto.com Arena on Sept. 25, 2021.

(Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)

Because Ohashi, who suffered a back fracture and injuries to both shoulders during her elite career, can’t do as many reps as she did as a teenager, she makes each one count more now. Between training her upgraded skills, she focuses on conditioning and religiously attends physical therapy sessions.

Still early in her comeback, Ohashi said she’s “physically getting there.” She is mentally stronger than ever.

“There are still those hard days, but it’s a lot easier when I know that I’m doing it for me, and me only,” Ohashi said. “And only I can push myself on those days.”

Ohashi wants to push past the baseline she set at the American Classic, where her two-event total was 24.65 points. The meet, which was staged in a gym with one set of bleachers and fans sitting on mats, was an intimate warm up for the arena stage Ohashi will take at the U.S. Classic in Hartford, Conn.

Ohashi walked into her first elite meet in 13 years next to Carey, who, at 26, is trying for her third Olympics. Entering the gym, Ohashi giggled that so many of the judges from a decade ago were still there. She recognized so many coaches. She was greeting everyone and waving. Carey looked at her in shock and asked what she was doing.

She was just having fun.