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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2017

LAS VE GAS SHOOTI NG: THE DEAD

Sandy Casey

Angela Gomez

Hannah Ahlers

Heather Alvarado

Dorene Anderson

Carrie Barnette

Jack Beaton

Steve Berger

Candace Bowers

Denise Burditus

Andrea Castilla

Denise Cohen

Austin Davis

Thomas Day Jr.

Christiana Duarte

Stacee Etcheber

Brian Fraser

Keri Galvan

Charleston Hartfield

Chris Hazencomb

Jennifer Topaz Irvine

Teresa Nicol Kimura

Jessica Klymchuk

Carly Kreibaum

Rhonda LeRocque

Victor Link

Dana Gardner

Jordan McIldoon

Kelsey Breanne Meadows

Calla Medig

Sonny Melton

Patricia Mestas

Austin Meyer

Adrian Murfitt

Rachael Parker

Jennifer Parks

Carrie Parsons

Lisa Patterson

John Phippen

Melissa Ramirez

Jordyn Rivera

Quinton Robbins

Cameron Robinson

Rocio Guillen Rocha

Tara Roe

Lisa Romero

Christopher Roybal

Brett Schwanbeck

Bailey Schweitzer

Laura Shipp

Erick Silva

Susan Smith

Brennan Stewart

Derrick “Bo” Taylor

Neysa Tonks

Michelle Vo

Kurt Von Tillow

Bill Wolfe Jr.

LIVES CUT SHORT From a broad swath of society, they came together for music — and were killed for no good reason by a sniper who didn’t discriminate

By Joe Mozingo

A

pipefitter from Riverside, a limo driver from Reno, a teacher from Lancaster, a hockey mom from Alaska, a nurse from Tennessee.

Fifty-eight people who came to dance and groove, bound only by a common love of country music, were killed by an unseen gun in the night, nearly a quarter-mile away.

The death toll from Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas cut through a cross-section of America. The fallen had come from 14 states and two Canadian provinces. More than half, 33, were from California.

They were young adults, middle-aged parents and seniors — most of all, they were music lovers, drawn to the desert for three days of their favorite country artists.

Whatever the shooter’s motive, his sniper attack didn’t strike any particular ideology or ethnicity or religion or sexual orientation. His was an act of abhorrent cruelty leveled simply at humanity, at us all.

Two of the victims had survived serving in combat Three were engaged to be married Three died trying to save others Thirty-six were women The youngest was 20 years old

At husbands who would die protecting their wives.

At strangers who would cradle the dead. At people who would fall alone.

They had no way of knowing someone was targeting them from the 32nd floor of a luxury hotel.

The bullets bit the pavement, sounding like firecrackers. They didn’t signal anything bewildering as the music played in the glitter of a Vegas night. Only when the blood started to run and people fell helplessly did the terror announce itself.

Around the country and beyond, 10 minutes of gunfire shattered families and towns.

“Here’s to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more,” Laurie Beaton had just posted on Facebook, as she and her husband, Jack, celebrated their anniversary. They had come from Bakersfield.

Less than an hour later, Jack was suddenly shielding her from heavy gunfire, pulling her down and lying on top of her.

“Laurie, I love you.” he said.

[See Victims, A6] “I love you too,” she said.

Remembered as ‘goof ball’: Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock didn’t have a “serious bone in his body,” former employee says. NATION, A8

Atom bomb foes awarded peace prize The Nobel committee’s decision supports an effort to promote worldwide nuclear disarmament.

WORLD, A3

Birth control rules rolled back The Trump administration frees employers from paying for contraceptives.

NATION, A5

NL Division Series Complete coverage of Game 1 between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. SPORTS Weather Hot and sunny.

L.A. Basin: 93/64. B6

DIRTY JOHN CHAPTER FIVE: ESCAPE

John insisted he’d been a victim, in case after case.

To prove it, he planned to unleash lawsuits against his accusers. The attorney he approached had other ideas.

BY CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD

T

his couple is all wrong, the lawyer thought.

There sat the husband, John Meehan, glowering wrathfully as he plotted legal mayhem on his enemies.

There sat the wife, Debra Newell, soft-voiced and love-struck and helplessly in his grip.

As he gazed across a conference-room table at his newest clients in April 2015, attorney John Dzialo sensed that Debra was in danger.

The lawyer had not wanted to take this case, though Debra had paid an upfront $25,000 fee. His paralegal had been chilled, looking into Meehan’s background. Extortion.

Stalking. Harassment.

And now Meehan wanted the lawyer to prove that he had been the victim, in case after case. His plan was a salvo of lawsuits. Against an ex-girlfriend whose accusations had put him in prison. Against cops. Against another woman he swore had cheated him.

Debra wanted help too. She wanted to fix her fractured relationship with her kids, who believed her husband only wanted her money. Could anything be done?

A post-nup, Dzialo explained. If they got divorced, it would cut John off from Debra’s money.

Meehan did not erupt, but he crossed his arms. He sank into his seat. His lips tightened. His eyes were hazel, but they filled with a fury so intense that Dzialo would recall them as “black as coal.” Dzialo sensed a [See Dirty John, A9]

DIRTY JOHN THE PODCAST

AN ATTORNEY described John Meehan, shown

here, as the “scariest man I’ve met in my 70 years.”

Episodes 1 - 5 of the six-part podcast are available now at LATimes.com

Trump stares down barrel of guns He has a mixed record on firearms. After the Las Vegas shooting, activists on both sides have expectations.

By Noah Bierman WASHINGTON — The pro-gun community had reason to be suspicious of Donald Trump.

He wrote in favor of an assault weapons ban and a “slightly longer” waiting period before gun purchases in a 2000 book, and accused Republicans of walking “the NRA line.” And even as he rebranded himself a “2nd Amendment maven” in 2013, he sounded conflicted, suggesting he favored expanded background checks.

No one on either side of the gun debate seems to know exactly when or why Trump shifted. But they agree that the mogul from Manhattan has become one of the most forceful pro-gun presidents in decades.

Now, after the worst mass shooting in American history, Trump faces a gutcheck moment on guns. He could not have imagined that within his first year as president he would come under pressure, even from within his typically pro-gun party, to support legislation restricting gun use, however limited — in this case, a ban on so-called bump-fire stocks like the Las Vegas shooter used, which turn semiautomatic weapons into virtual machine guns.

White House officials, both privately and publicly, insist he is not likely to endorse fundamental change, that is, broader gun controls. Meanwhile, the gun lobby is watching.

“When a crisis happens [See Guns, A12]

Scandal exposes Hollywood double standard

By Meg James, David Ng and Meredith Blake When the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked one year ago, capturing then-candidate, now-President Trump bragging in coarse terms in 2005 about being allowed to grab women because he was a celebrity, Hollywood had a meltdown.

Cher called Trump a “scumbag carny barker” on Twitter. Comedian Patton Oswalt labeled him a “sexist creep.”

Actress Emmy Rossum wrote: “misogynistic entitled pig.”

This week, amid revelations that Oscar-winning movie and television producer Harvey Weinstein had a long history of sexually harassing women, Hollywood’s response was largely muted. Film studios on Friday all declined to comment.

“Yup. Hollywood shines light on Catholic Church, sex trafficking — let’s shine it on ourselves a second and what we’ve condoned,” actress-writer-producer Lena Dunham wrote on Twitter, one of the few celebrities who took a public stand.

Hollywood has a poor track record when it comes to women. Actresses re[See Weinstein, A14]

A2

L AT I ME S . CO M

BACK STORY

Christian Bruna European Pressphoto Agency

IRAN’S Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and EU official Federica Mogherini, right, with IAEA’s Yukiya Amano.

They didn’t win Nobel but advanced cause of peace An independent group’s shortlist notes some other worthy candidates

By Ann M. Simmons The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. But there were many other worthy candidates: 215 individuals and 103 organizations.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee keeps the names of the nominees secret for 50 years. But each year, their identities inspire a guessing game.

Since 2002, directors of the independent Peace Research Institute Oslo, which studies peace and conflict, have put out their own personal shortlists.

Here is the shortlist of the current director, Henrik Urdal: Mohammad Javad Zarif and Federica Mogherini Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mogherini, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, were paramount in organizing the negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal is considered to be “a landmark agreement resolving a 12 year long international conundrum,” the institute said.

United Nations High Commissioner for

Mohamad Abazeed AFP/Getty Images

MEMBERS of the Syria Civil Defense, known as the

“White Helmets,” help a victim in Dara, Syria.

Refugees Filippo Grandi As the world struggles with a humanitarian crisis that has seen more than 65 million people displaced from their homes and some 22 million people become refugees, “the Office of the UNHCR has shown its capacity and integrity in standing up for refugees’ rights and needs time and time again,” the institute said. “Refugees need a voice in the world,” and Grandi and his organization have been “working tirelessly to mend the consequences of war in major conflict theaters like Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan,” the organization said.

Cumhuriyet and Can Dundar Can Dundar, the former editor of the decades-old Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, has endured

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on the freedom of the press. After he was found guilty of disclosing state secrets and aiding terrorist groups, Dundar decided to forsake his homeland and move to Germany. In September, at least 17 members of the newspaper’s staff were prosecuted after being accused of involvement in terrorism. Cumhuriyet has won accolades for “its impartial reporting and fearlessness in criticizing the authorities,” the institute said. The Nobel Peace Prize, it said, “would be a welcome boost for press freedom and civil society in a country where such liberties are becoming rarer and rarer.”

Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS was lauded by a previous director of the

institute for its “success in combining diplomatic efforts with the prospective use of armed force.” This year, it helped ensure political transition in Gambia, where the electoral defeat of autocratic President Yahya Jammeh sparked unrest. In power for more than two decades, Jammeh initially refused to leave office after losing to Adama Barrow.

ECOWAS stepped in. The 15-member organization “exemplifies how increased political and economic interaction contributes to ensuring long term regional stability,” the institute wrote.

Syria Civil Defense and Raed Saleh Commonly known as the “White Helmets,” the Syria Civil Defense is a group of volunteer first responders that works in rebel-held territories of Syria digging survivors out of the rubble of bombed-out buildings at great risk to their own safety.

The group and its leader, Raed Saleh, “could be an ideal Nobel candidate for their work saving lives, ameliorating human suffering, and maintaining a ray of hope in the Syrian civil war, now in its sixth year,” the institute said. A Nobel prize would “draw attention to the remarkable — yet rarely celebrated — resilient forces of societies hit by armed conflict.” ann.simmons@latimes.com

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L AT I ME S . CO M

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A3

THE WORLD

Jorge Torres European Pressphoto Agency

A ROADWAY in Rivas, Nicaragua, is marred by a sinkhole Friday after Tropical Storm Nate swept through. The storm’s projected path crosses the Gulf of Mexico.

Deadly storm nears Mexico, U.S.

Nate could approach hurricane force after killing at least 21 in Central America.

By Patrick J. McDonnell and Cecilia Sanchez MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Nate was bearing down on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and its famed tourist resorts Friday after battering Central America,

where it was blamed for at least 21 deaths.

The storm’s projected path showed it passing over the peninsula by early Saturday, crossing the Gulf of Mexico and making U.S. landfall this weekend, prompting a hurricane warning on the northern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama.

A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were in effect for areas on and near the Yucatan Peninsula, including the tourist hubs of Cancun and Cozumel.

The tropical storm was expected to gather force over the Caribbean Sea before hitting Mexico.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Nate could reach near-hurricane intensity when it approaches the peninsula later Friday, “bringing direct impacts from wind, storm surge, and heavy rain.” Lifethreatening flash floods are also possible, the hurricane center warned.

In Mexico, officials said they were bracing for the arrival of the storm later Fri-

day but had not issued evacuation orders. Authorities issued a low-danger “green alert,” urging residents and visitors to take basic precautions such as having bottled water ready and being aware of announcements from civil protection personnel.

On Friday, Nate was expected to hit Cancun on the northeast coast of the Yucatan and the island of Cozumel east of the peninsula.

Officials from the coastal state of Quintana Roo advised tourists to stay in their hotels as the storm hit and

be in touch with hotel personnel. Visitors were warned to stay off the beaches, as storm-whipped waves could approach 10 feet.

As a precaution, officials in Quintana Roo and neighboring Yucatan state said they were mobilizing rescue brigades and preparing emergency shelters.

The National Hurricane Center said Nate would continue to pose a threat of flash floods and mudslides in Central America, which has been battered by torrential rains from the storm.

Nate has been blamed for at least 21 deaths in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the Associated Press reported. Nate’s arrival in Nicaragua followed two weeks of nearconstant rain that had left the ground saturated and rivers swollen. Authorities placed the whole country on alert and warned of flooding and landslides. patrick.mcdonnell @latimes.com Twitter: @mcdneville Sanchez works in The Times’ Mexico City bureau.

Activists win Nobel for push to ban nuclear arms Peace prize goes to group backing a U.N. disarmament treaty amid mounting threat.

By Alexandra Zavis and Tracy Wilkinson BEIRUT — As fears mount about the possibility of a nuclear conflict, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to a coalition of disarmament activists who lobbied for the global treaty recently approved by the United Nations to ban atomic bombs.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons for its work “to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and for its efforts to achieve the treaty that was adopted by 122 countries in July but has yet to take effect.

The award is an attempt to reinvigorate efforts for worldwide nuclear disarmament, a goal that appears increasingly out of reach at a time when North Korea has been carrying out provocative tests of its nuclear technology and trading threats of annihilation with President Trump.

The heated rhetoric has raised fears that a miscalculation could spark a confrontation that spirals out of control.

At the same time, tensions are escalating between India and Pakistan, and between the United States and Russia, all of which are working to improve their nuclear arsenals and delivery systems.

The U.S. administration has also signaled that Trump could next week decertify the 2015 agreement

that imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, a decision that could lead to the unraveling of the landmark accord.

“We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel committee, said when she announced the prize in Oslo. “Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea.”

Though she said the committee wasn’t “kicking anybody’s leg with this prize,” she noted that none of the nine nuclear-armed powers have so far supported the weapons ban.

The United States and close allies, including France and Britain, have sought instead to strengthen the nearly half-century-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons but does not ban them outright.

After Friday’s announcement, U.S. officials reiterated their opposition to the new treaty, which they view as reckless and misguided.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing a deterioration in the overall security environment and growing nuclear capabilities of certain states,” a State Department official said, speaking anonymously in keeping with administration guidelines. “This treaty ignores the current security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary and risks undermining existing efforts to address global proliferation and security challenges.”

Although the Nobel committee was explicit in saying

it was not sending a political message to a specific leader, it was clear there were implications for both Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who have invoked the threat of nuclear force.

During the presidential campaign, Trump suggested the best path was to arm additional countries, such as South Korea and Japan, with nuclear weapons. And he once reportedly asked White House advisors why not use nuclear weapons, since the country possesses them.

“Is this going to lead to a settlement of the North Korean nuclear crisis?” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Assn., a Washington think tank. “No, the only way we are going to do that is if we have direct, unconditional talks that lead somewhere.

“But it is clear from the Nobel committee’s statement and the timing that the award is a very strong and poignant rejoinder to the threats and counterthreats that are being lobbed between Kim Jong Un and Donald J. Trump.”

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization welcomed the attention brought to the issue of preserving world peace but said what was needed was “a verifiable and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons.”

“Since the end of the Cold War, NATO allies have dramatically reduced the number of their nuclear weapons,” he said. “But as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.”

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Geneva-based coalition known by the acronym ICAN, disputes the premise that nuclear weapons are a legitimate and essential source of security.

Martial Trezzini Keystone

BEATRICE FIHN , the group’s leader, said the threat

of mass destruction can’t be used to build security.

“We can’t threaten to indiscriminately slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians in the name of security. That’s not how you build security,” the group’s executive director, Beatrice Fihn, told reporters after Friday’s announcement.

The 10-year-old alliance, which says it has members in more than 100 countries, pressed for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which would enter into force after it has been ratified by 50 parties. So far, only three have done so.

“This prize really is a tribute to the tireless efforts of many millions of campaigners and concerned citizens worldwide who, ever since the dawn of the atomic age, have loudly protested nuclear weapons, insisting that they can serve no legitimate

purpose and must be forever banished from the face of our Earth,” Fihn said.

She said ICAN received a call about the award minutes before the official announcement, but she thought it was a prank until she heard the group’s name spoken during the televised ceremony.

Arms control advocates celebrated the news.

“People are worried.

They correctly feel closer to nuclear war than at any time in decades,” said Joseph Cirincione, president of the San Francisco-based Ploughshares Fund, which has provided support to ICAN in the past.

The disarmament movement, he said, is at a “dead stop” with 15,000 nuclear weapons in the hands of leaders such as Trump, Kim

and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“It freaks people out, and it should,” he said.

He admitted to some initial doubts about the littleknown group — until he attended a conference it sponsored in Geneva in December 2014. There, he said, he saw a true grass-roots coalition of civil society activists come together and persuade scores of states to take a stand against nuclear proliferation.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, also welcomed the decision to honor ICAN, saying on Twitter, “We share a strong commitment to achieving the objective of a world free from nuclear weapons.”

Mogherini was herself thought to be a leading contender for this year’s peace prize along with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, for their work on the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord.

Others had more mixed feelings about the award going to ICAN. Thomas Countryman, who served as assistant secretary of State for international security and nonproliferation during the last six years of the Obama administration, likened the move to the decision to honor President Obama with the peace prize in 2009 — years before his arms control efforts yielded results.

“It acknowledges potential and hope more than concrete achievement,” Countryman said. alexandra.zavis @latimes.com tracy.wilkinson @latimes.com Zavis reported from Beirut and Wilkinson from Washington. Times staff writer Barbara Demick in New York contributed to this report.

A4

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L AT I ME S . CO M

U.S. citizen’s secret detention poses a test ACLU petitions for alleged Islamic State ‘enemy combatant’ to appear in court.

By Joseph Tanfani and W.J. Hennigan WASHINGTON — The secret military detention of a U.S. citizen who allegedly fought for Islamic State has posed an unusual legal test for the Trump administration as it struggles to define a policy for dealing with people captured on the battlefield or suspected of terrorism.

The Pentagon has yet to release the name of the American in custody. Officials say he surrendered to U.S.-backed militia forces in Syria on or about Sept. 12 and was turned over to U.S. military authorities.

U.S. forces are detaining him as an “unlawful enemy combatant” at an undisclosed location in Iraq, the Pentagon said. U.S. officials have not said when the American will face charges, be given a lawyer or be brought before a judge.

In an attempt to force the issue, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court in Washington, arguing that the secret detention violates a U.S. citizen’s rights to see a lawyer and to answer charges before a judge.

“He’s being held basically in a black box, without any way to enforce his rights,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a senior lawyer for the ACLU. Hafetz said the government can’t hold an American citizen indefinitely without charges or access to the legal system. “They have not indicated what their plans are. We hope they will do the right thing and present him to a court,” he said.

The Justice Department said it was reviewing the ACLU petition and declined to comment further. The Pentagon also declined to comment.

An International Committee of the Red Cross delegate visited the American

Jim Watson AFP/Getty Images

THE DETAINEE is likely to face charges in a civilian

court rather than be sent to Guantanamo Bay, above. last week in accordance with the group’s role in military conflicts.

“ICRC confirms that it has been able to visit a U.S. citizen, captured in Syria and currently held by the U.S. authorities, but in accordance with our confidential approach, we are not in a position to comment on the individual’s identity, location, or conditions of detention,” spokesman Marc Kilstein said in a statement.

The government has argued that it has the right to hold enemy combatants indefinitely. But the Supreme Court has twice decided that military prisoners — even those held outside the U.S. — have the right to contest their detention in court.

“All detainees in [Department of Defense] custody are treated humanely and in compliance with U.S. and international law,” said Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesman.

The unusual case could provide an indication of whether the administration will follow President Trump’s promises during the campaign last year to send enemy combatants and terrorism suspects to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But indications so far suggest the government wants to bring charges in a civilian court. More than 500 Americans and numerous foreigners have been convicted of terrorism-related charges in U.S. civilian

courts since 2001.

According to Defense officials, the American in custody was questioned in a two-step process that civilian courts have allowed in terrorism cases.

U.S. intelligence officials first pressed the detainee for his knowledge of terrorist organizations, planning or active plots. After that, they said, a separate team of FBI agents interviewed him in an effort to obtain evidence that could be used in court.

As the law requires, they informed him of his Miranda rights to see a lawyer and warned that anything he said could be used against him in court.

At that point, the detainee stopped talking, officials said. The details of the interview were first reported by the New York Times.

An estimated 30,000 foreign fighters from around the globe flocked to Iraq and Syria after Islamic State first captured vast parts of the two countries in 2014 and proclaimed an Islamist caliphate.

Although the FBI conducted hundreds of investigations and arrested scores of people on suspicion of raising money or providing support to Islamic State, relatively few Americans made their way to the front lines as combatants.

One who did, Mohamad Jamal Khweis of Alexandria, Va., was grabbed in western Iraq by Kurdish guerrillas in March 2016 and later turned

over to U.S. authorities.

A federal jury convicted Khweis, 27, in June of providing and conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State, and a related firearms count. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 13.

A separate terrorism trial began last week in a federal courtroom in Washington.

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a Libyan, is charged with murder and other crimes for allegedly orchestrating the September 2012 armed attacks on a U.S. diplomatic compound and nearby CIA outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.

No one has been sent to Guantanamo Bay in nearly a decade. The military prison was opened in secret after the terrorist attacks of Sept.

11, 2001. About 780 foreigners ultimately were detained there, but the last to arrive was in early 2008.

President George W. Bush and then President Obama transferred, resettled or repatriated nearly the entire population, and both sought to close the site.

Only 41 detainees remain.

Only one U.S. citizen, Yaser Esam Hamdi, was ever held at the camp, and he was detained there only because U.S. officials didn’t initially realize he was an American. He was repatriated to Saudi Arabia after he agreed to renounce U.S. citi-

zenship. His court appeals first established legal rights for the detainees.

Several of Trump’s top aides, including Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, favor keeping Guantanamo Bay open. Kelly, a retired fourstar Marine Corps general, oversaw operations at the prison as commander of U.S. Southern Command from 2012 to 2016.

“They’re all bad boys,” Kelly said in January 2016, during his last news briefing

joseph.tanfani @latimes.com william.hennigan @latimes.com

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in uniform, of the final few dozen still held at the camp.

“We have dossiers on all of them. Some of them were more effective in being bad boys than others. I think we can all quibble on whether 13 or 12 or eight years in detention is enough to have them — having paid for whatever they did. But they’re bad guys.”

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THE NATION

Birth control mandate rolled back Administration order is second this week to negate Obama rules.

By David G. Savage WASHINGTON — The Trump administration launched a broad attack in the culture wars this week, announcing an expanded policy to protect religious liberty and rolling back Obama-era rules that shielded transgender employees and promised American working women access to free birth control.

Under the rule announced Friday, employers who have religious or moral objections to contraception may refuse to provide the insurance coverage for their female employees.

Where President Obama’s aides said the government should protect the tens of millions of women who use birth control, President Trump’s advisors said they were concerned by the government imposing itself on the small number of employers — perhaps no more than 200 nationwide, they said — that have moral qualms over certain contraceptives.

“No one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law,” said Atty.

Gen. Jeff Sessions. “Therefore, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance should be reasonably accommodated in all government activity, including employment, contracting and programming.”

That policy was on display last month when Trump’s lawyers joined a Supreme Court case on the side of a Colorado baker who cited his Christian beliefs in refusing to make a wedding

Evan Vucci Associated Press

PRESIDENT TRUMP signs an order in May aimed at easing an IRS rule on political activity by churches.

cake for a same-sex couple.

The state’s civil rights law requires businesses to serve customers without regard to their sexual orientation, but Trump administration lawyers said the baker deserves an exemption based on the Constitution’s protection for free speech and religious freedom. That case will be heard on Dec. 5, the court said.

Last year, the Obama administration said federal anti-discrimination laws protected transgender workers and students, but both rules have now been revoked under Trump. At issue is the meaning of the word “sex” in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Title IX amendment from 1972.

Obama administration lawyers said these laws should be understood to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender

identity. They cited, among others, an opinion by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that said an oil rig worker could sue his male co-workers for abuse and harassment under the law against sex discrimination.

Returning to the older view of the law, the Trump administration said the Justice Department would not use the anti-discrimination law to protect gays, lesbians or transgender people. “‘Sex’ is ordinarily defined to mean biologically male or female,” Sessions said. But he and the administration will not have the final word.

The Supreme Court has not ruled on whether the civil rights law forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation, but is likely to do so in the year ahead. Lower courts have split on the question, and a Georgia

woman who said she was fired as a hospital security guard because she is a lesbian has appealed her case.

Like Obama, Trump is finding it easier to bring about change through federal rules and regulations rather than passing laws in Congress.

After Obama won passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, his health regulators gave a broad interpretation to the provision that called for providing preventive care at no cost as part of health insurance.

They decided this should include the full range of approved contraceptives.

That rule, the so-called contraceptive mandate, has been under attack from conservative religious groups, including the Catholic bishops, even though churches and houses of worship were exempted.

The Obama administration also gave a partial exemption to religious nonprofit groups, including schools and charities, so they did not have to directly pay for the contraceptives.

Instead, their insurers paid for the coverage.

In the 2014 Hobby Lobby case, the Supreme Court extended the exemption to corporate employers who said they had a sincere religious objection to certain forms of birth control. The decision rested on the federal law that protects religious freedom, but the court’s majority opinion assumed female employees would still receive contraceptive coverage through an insurer.

Government lawyers argued in that case that providing free contraceptives saved insurers money over the long term because it re-

duced costs associated with pregnancies.

But objections continued from religious liberty advocates who argued that faithbased employers would be “complicit in sin” if their insurance policies paid for “morning after” pills and certain other contraceptives that they believe are a form of abortion.

In early May, Trump issued an executive order calling on then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to revise the contraceptive regulation “to address conscience-based objections.”

On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services said it was putting into effect a rule that would “provide conscience protections to Americans who have a religious or moral objection to paying for health insurance that covers contraceptive/abortifacient services.”

However, officials also downplayed the impact, arguing that the contraceptive rule remains in effect.

“These rules will not affect over 99.9% of the 165 million women in the United States,” the department said.

The rule change was applauded by the National Right to Life Committee and by social conservatives.

The new rule was slammed by women’s rights advocates, the Planned Parenthood Federation and several Democratic state attorneys general who said they would sue to block the change.

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said the new rule “is another example of the Trump administration trampling on fundamental rights. They would prefer to move us backward rather than forward.” david.savage@latimes.com

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LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: THE DEAD

LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: THE DEAD

Wally Skalij Los Angeles Times

HUNDREDS SHINE their cellphone lights on the Manhattan Beach Pier during a memorial Wednesday for two city employees who were among those killed Sunday.

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

KAILI BERDGE of Scottsdale, Ariz., tends to the candles Wednesday at a memorial near the scene of Sunday’s mass shooting at a music festival off the Vegas Strip.

58 STORIES OF LIFE, LOVE AND DEATH

By Sonali Kohli, Melissa Etehad and Seema Mehta

Hannah Ahlers Murrieta Ahlers, 35, enjoyed simple pleasures such as spending time outdoors with friends and family. “She was possibly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, with a heart to match,” her friend Sunni Almond said.

Heather Alvarado Cedar City, Utah Alvarado, 35, was a mother of three who enjoyed vacations and time outdoors with her husband, a firefighter. “She spent her whole life serving others in her family and community,” said her husband, Albert Alvarado.

Dorene Anderson Anchorage Anderson, 49, was a hockey booster in Anchorage and a self-described “stay-athome wife and mother.” She had traveled to Las Vegas with her husband, John, and two daughters, who all survived the shooting.

Carrie Barnette Riverside Barnette, 34, loved her Disneyland job and time with her nieces and nephews, and honored her grandparents with a tattoo of their favorite bird — a hummingbird. “She was always generous and helping everybody in every way,” said her mother, Mavis Barnette.

Jack Beaton Bakersfield Beaton, 54, died on his 23rd wedding anniversary shielding his wife, Laurie, with his body. Earlier that day she posted: “Here’s to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more.”

Steve Berger Shorewood, Minn.

Tall, handsome, gregarious — and a basketball standout in as a young man —

Where the victims were from Fifty-eight people were killed and nearly 500 others injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The majority of those killed were from Southern California.

ALASKA

Reno Cameron Park

NEVADA

UTAH

Anchorage

Cedar City

Novato

CANADA

Valleyview Edmonton

St. George CALIFORNIA

Taft Santa Barbara

Las Vegas

Seattle

WA. Sutherland IOWA

Henderson

Bakersfield Lancaster Littlerock

*

Okotoks

Maple Ridge

Murrieta

Bullhead City

Denver Gallup N.M.

ARIZONA

Tewksbury Shorewood MASS. MINN. Shippensburg PA. Martinsburg W.VA. Big Sandy TENN.

San Diego

* Aliso Viejo, Camarillo, Corona, Eastvale, Garden Grove, Grand Terrace, Huntington Beach, La Palma, La Verne, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Oxnard, Placentia, Redondo Beach, Riverside, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks Sources: Times reporting, Mapzen, OpenStreetMap

Berger was a single father of three. He went to Las Vegas to celebrate his 44th birthday last Saturday, and was killed the following day.

Candace Bowers Garden Grove Candace Bowers, 40, overcame many challenges in her life, including as a young girl when her mother died.

She raised two children as a single mother and adopted a relative’s 2-year-old child earlier this year.

Denise Burditus Martinsburg, W.V. Burditus, 50, died in her husband’s arms Sunday, not long after posting a photo on Facebook of the couple grinning big at the festival, with the Mandalay Bay hotel in the background.

Sandy Casey Manhattan Beach Casey, 34, was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years. “She has made a tremendous difference in the lives of her

students and their families,” the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said in a statement.

Andrea Castilla Huntington Beach Castilla’s boyfriend, Derek Miller, was planning to propose to the 28-year-old makeup artist the weekend of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. “I had waited for her my whole life,” he said.

Denise Cohen Santa Barbara Cohen, 58, was never without a smile. “Even when she was having a bad day she’d be trying to cheer everybody up,” said her sister, Kristal Vogel. Her boyfriend, Derrick “Bo” Taylor, also was killed at the concert.

Austin Davis Riverside A proud union man, Davis, 29, had just became a journeyman pipefitter. A Facebook friend celebrated his promotion: “Congratulations to you my good man!”

Los Angeles Times

Thomas Day Jr. Riverside A home builder, the 54-yearold Day had his four children — all in their 20s and 30s — with him at the concert. “He was the best dad.

That’s why the kids were with him,” Day’s father said.

Brian Fraser La Palma Fraser, 39, had become ordained as a minister so he could officiate at his stepson’s wedding in July. A loan officer, Fraser leaves behind his wife, stepson and three young children.

Christiana Duarte Redondo Beach Duarte, 22, had dreamed of following her family into sports — not on the field, but in the front office.

Relatives have played pro baseball. She started her first full-time job in September as a fan services associate with the Los Angeles Kings.

Keri Galvan Thousand Oaks Galvan, 31, cherished her three young children. Her sister said her “days started and ended with doing everything in her power to be a wonderful mother.”

Stacee Etcheber Novato, Calif.

Etcheber, 50, was as likely to be seen cheering at her kids’ sports games as starting a fire on their school camping trips, or helping someone change the oil in their car.

She attended the concert with her husband, San Francisco Police Officer Vinnie Etcheber.

Dana Gardner Grand Terrace As deputy recorder-county clerk for San Bernardino County, Gardner, 52, was a consummate professional.

Her boss Bob Dutton said: “If you needed advice or questions came up, she had the answer.”

Angela Gomez Riverside Friends of Gomez, 20, remember her for her love of the stage and her dedica-

tion to becoming a nurse.

“Angie was a fun-loving, sweet young lady with a great sense of humor,” said her former cheer coach, Lupe Avila.

Charleston Hartfield Las Vegas Off-duty at the time of the concert, Hartfield, 34, was an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after serving in the Army during the U.S.led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Chris Hazencomb Camarillo Colleagues and relatives described Hazencomb, 44, as a kind and selfless man, a friend and co-worker who loved talking sports. At 6-foot-5 he would help his aunt reach the top shelves in the grocery store. He died shielding a friend from bullets.

Jennifer Topaz Irvine San Diego The 42-year-old was a hard-charging familylaw attorney who enjoyed yoga, snowboarding and taekwondo in her free time.

Teresa Nicol Kimura Placentia Among a close-knit group of friends who dubbed themselves the “framily,” Kimura, 38, was known for her energy and radiance. “Route 91 was her favorite weekend of the year,” said friend Chad Elliott, who tried to shield her from the bullets.

Jessica Klymchuk Valleyview, Alberta, Canada Klymchuk, 34, was a librarian and bus driver who was raising four children on her own. She was engaged to Brent Irla and died by his side.

Carly Kreibaum Sutherland, Iowa Kreibaum, 33, lived in a small town with her husband and two children.

She was “well-loved by everyone and a fabulous mother,” said Sutherland

LOOKING FOR MEANING IN LOSS [Victims, from A1] That was the last she would ever hear from him.

When Jordan McIldoon, a 23-year-old Canadian and self-described “cowboy boot, tattoo-covered redneck” who loved the outdoors was hit, Heather Gooze stepped in to help. The bartender had never met him.

“I felt his fingers, like, tighten and then loosen,” Gooze told the CBC. When McIldoon’s phone rang in his pocket, she answered and learned his identity from the friend on the line. Gooze wrote McIldoon’s name on his arm, then searched

for his family on Facebook.

His mother soon called, and Gooze promised she would stay with her son. She did for five hours.

“We had only one child,” Al and Angela McIldoon said later in a statement from British Columbia. “We just don’t know what to do.”

Sent to follow the long trails of Sunday’s massacre, I sat earlier this week with the mother of Adrian Murfitt in Anchorage as she held back tears and struggled to understand why this stranger had killed her son, and how he could be equipped to cause such

mass casualties.

“I cannot believe when I found out about the guns and the way he altered those to be like machine guns,” she said, “how that can be legal to any kind of private citizen.”

In the senselessness of such murder, journalists strain to find meaning. We didn’t want to just show the horror wrought by the gunman. We wanted to pay tribute to those who died for no good reason.

So we turned to the victims and the lives they lived.

Eleven reporters set out to learn about

these waitresses, financial advisors and hairstylists, about these sisters, fathers and grandmothers.

In the last seven years, I have written about mass shootings in Tucson; Seal Beach; Aurora, Colo.; Newtown, Conn.; Killeen, Texas; Roseburg, Ore.; San Bernardino; Orlando; and now Las Vegas.

In a nation so divided over guns, the sickening truth is that we’re just waiting for the next one. joe.mozingo@latimes.com Twitter: @joemozingo

City Clerk Natosha Petitt.

latimes.com

Rhonda LeRocque Tewksbury, Mass.

LeRocque, 42, was a designer who was remembered by friends for her work as a Jehovah’s Witness and for helping rebuild homes in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

/vegasvictims

Portraits of the fallen Go online for the full stories of the 58 people killed in the Las Vegas shooting.

Victor Link Aliso Viejo Music was part of Victor Link’s life ever since his days as a young boy in rural Shafter, Calif. The 55-yearold’s fiancee, Lynne Gonzalez, shared his love of music, and the couple regularly traveled to concerts.

Jordan McIldoon Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada McIldoon’s parents remember the 23-year-old as a “self-described cowboy boot, tattoo-covered redneck who loved the outdoors.”

Kelsey Breanne Meadows Taft, Calif.

Meadows, 28, stayed close to home, growing up to become a substitute teacher at her alma mater, Taft Union High School. “She had a sweet spirit and a love for children,” Principal Mary Alice Finn said.

Calla Medig Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Medig, who was about to become manager of the restaurant where she worked, had attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival for three straight years. She and a friend decided to go again before she started her new position.

Sonny Melton Big Sandy, Tenn.

Melton, 29, was a nurse who shielded his wife, Heather, from the gunfire. “You know how when you meet someone and you just know that they’re good and kind?

That was Sonny,” said Christy Davis, an assistant nursing professor at Union University.

Patricia Mestas Corona Pati Mestas’ love of music, particularly country, led her to many concerts and festivals. Mestas, 67, had recently retired as deli manager at a convenience store.

Austin Meyer Reno Meyer, 24, was in Las Vegas with his fiancee, who surprised him with tickets to the concert. A limo driver who had gone back to school, he hoped to open an auto repair shop after graduation.

Stewart had posted a video online of himself playing guitar and singing “You Should Be Here” by Cole Swindell. The song is about loss, with haunting lyrics.

More than 200,000 people have shared the video.

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

VEGAS RESIDENT Carol-Ann Seitzinger runs her hand over each of the homemade crosses bearing the

names of the 58 victims of the attack. Greg Zanis of Illinois drove all night to deliver the crosses as a tribute.

Adrian Murfitt Anchorage Murfitt, 35, was a commercial fisherman, an animal lover and bit of a goofball.

“He made me laugh. He was like an Alaskan cowboy, but when he saw a dog he’d turn into a 10-year-old kid,” said his friend Brian MacKinnon, who survived the shooting.

Rachael Parker Long Beach Parker, 33, was a records technician at the Manhattan Beach Police Department. A coworker remembered her as “always happy.”

Jennifer Parks Lancaster Parks, 35, a kindergarten teacher, was the “the kind of teacher everybody wants their children to have,” said Westside Union School District Supt. Regina Rossall.

Carrie Parsons Seattle Parsons, 31, grew up across Puget Sound on Bainbridge Island and had interests that varied from country music to culinary arts. A huge fan of singer Eric Church, she took a selfie near the stage as he played Sunday night.

Lisa Patterson Lomita Patterson, 46, attended the concert with three friends.

The last time her husband, Robert, heard from her was a text sent around 8 p.m.

Sunday. It was a gif of a girl alone on a seesaw, with the message, “miss you.”

John Phippen Santa Clarita Phippen, 56, was dancing

next to his son, Travis, at the show when he was hit in the lower back by a bullet.

Travis, an emergency medical technician, carried his father to a car that took them to a hospital, where John died from his injuries.

Melissa Ramirez Littlerock, Calif.

Ramirez, 26, was an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan. In her memory, her work colleagues at AAA wore green ribbons — the team color. “I and everybody else will be Eagle fans today and, more importantly, a Melissa fan for life. God bless you and your family,” Christopher Sandoval wrote on social media.

Jordyn Rivera La Verne Rivera, 21, was months into her fourth year as a healthcare management student at Cal State San Bernardino. “We will remember and treasure her for her warmth, optimism, energy, and kindness,” university President Tomás D. Morales wrote to the campus community.

Quinton Robbins Henderson, Nev. Robbins, 20, loved playing sports and teaching them to others. He ran recreational adult sports leagues for his hometown and volunteered coaching kids, including his younger brother’s flag football team.

Cameron Robinson St. George, Utah Robinson, 28, was known for being spontaneous, smart and the life of any space he entered. He would call and say, “We’re going hiking in the mountains,” said friend and boss Brad

Jerbic. And they would.

Rocio Guillen Rocha Eastvale With two teenagers, a 1½year-old and a baby boy born seven weeks ago — Rocha, 40, would have wanted to be remembered as a supermom. “She did whatever she could not to miss out on her children’s lives,” said friend Shannon Dahl.

Tara Roe Okotoks, Alberta, Canada Roe, 34, was vacationing with her husband in Las Vegas. She was the mother of two sons and worked as a school assistant and a model.

Lisa Romero Gallup, N.M. Romero, 48, worked as a secretary for GallupMcKinley County Schools.

Students remember her as a loving woman who went out of her way to give them advice.

Christopher Roybal Denver Roybal, 28, enlisted in the Navy in 2007 and served five years. During that time he earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. He was at the festival with his mother, Debbie Allen.

Brett Schwanbeck Bullhead City, Ariz.

Schwanbeck, 61, was an avid outdoorsman, remembered by family as the reliable one, whether he was helping a niece fix a taillight or warning the new boyfriend of a great-niece to treat her well. He attended at the concert with his fian-

cee, Anna Corozco, who survived.

Bailey Schweitzer Bakersfield Schweitzer, 20, had only been working seven months as a receptionist at Infinity Communications and Consulting but made a lasting impression. “No one could possibly have a bad day when Bailey was around.” said Chief Executive Fred Brakeman.

Laura Shipp Las Vegas Shipp, 50, was a single mother who had raised her son, Corey, alone. “It was just the two of them,” said her brother, Steve Shipp.

“He looked out for her and she looked out for him.”

They had been hoping to buy a house.

Erick Silva Las Vegas Silva, 22, was the type of guy who bought hamburgers for elderly people who found themselves homeless and without supper last Christmas. A security guard at the concert, he lifted concertgoers over a barricade and to safety before he was killed.

Susan Smith Simi Valley Smith, 53, with crystal blue eyes and a broad smile, was the first face a parent or student would see when walking into Vista Fundamental Elementary School.

“She was the hub of the school.... Everyone who came through those doors, she knew,” said Jake Finch, a school district spokeswoman.

Brennan Stewart Las Vegas The chiseled 30-year-old

Derrick “Bo” Taylor Oxnard Taylor’s career as a corrections officer spanned 29 years. “There are no words to express the feeling of loss and sadness regarding Bo’s passing,” wrote Warden Joel Martinez. Taylor’s girlfriend, Denise Cohen, also was killed at the concert.

Neysa Tonks Las Vegas Known to a niece as “Aunt Ne-Ne,” the 46-year-old Tonks had shared dozens of photos of her three sons on Facebook, showing them sledding down snowy hills, beaming at Boy Scout ceremonies, and — years later, and feet taller — standing with their mother at the beach.

Michelle Vo Los Angeles The 32-year-old Vo’s day job as an insurance agent belied her sparkling and adventurous personality. “She spread joy and laughter everywhere she went.... She loved people. She loved sports and will try anything,” sister Diane Vo Hawkins said.

Kurt Von Tillow Cameron Park, Calif.

His friends said that whenever Von Tillow, 55, laughed, it brought smiles to the faces of people around him.

“I will always remember him for his big belly laughs and smiles and tremendous friendship,” Mark Baca said on Facebook. “Everyone was his friend.”

Bill Wolfe Jr. Shippensburg, Pa. Wolfe, 42, was a father of two who coached Little League baseball and youth wrestling. “The world has lost another good man, good father and husband,” said his friend Wanda Neil Davenport.

Times staff writers Esmeralda Bermudez, Cindy Carcamo, Thomas Curwen, W.J. Hennigan, Laura J. Nelson, Benjamin Oreskes and Ben Poston contributed to this report.

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LAS VEGAS SHOOTING

Vegas gunman is remembered as a ‘goofball’ Former employee says Paddock was ‘stable’ and ‘even-keeled.’

By Adam Elmahrek, Matt Pearce and Seema Mehta MESQUITE, Texas — Stephen Paddock, the former IRS agent and professional gambler whose shooting rampage in Las Vegas left 58 victims dead, was a laid-back “goofball” who didn’t have a “serious bone in his body,” a longtime employee of the gunman said Friday.

“He was the most stable, even-keeled personality,” said Lisa Crawford, who worked as a property manager in Texas for Paddock from 2006 to 2012. “He never even got frustrated.”

Crawford said she knew Paddock “better than a wife would,” and had an “emotional breakdown” after Paddock was identified as the gunman in the attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival outside the Mandalay Bay hotel that also injured nearly 500 people.

“I just pray that they can solve the problem — that he had an alternate personality, or had a brain tumor,” Crawford said.

Investigators revealed Friday that they also remain confused by the assault, which came after Paddock apparently spent the late summer gambling in Las Vegas and scouting outdoor concerts in Chicago and Boston, possibly as alternate targets.

“We do not still have a clear motive or reason why,” Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference. “We have looked at everything, litera-

lly, to the suspect’s personal life, any political affiliation, his social behaviors, economic situation and any potential radicalization that so many have claimed.”

But officials seem sure about one thing: “We’re very confident that there was not another shooter in that room,” said McMahill, and while investigators continue to gather all the clues they can, “We have not located any other person that we believe to be a suspect at this point.”

The congresswoman who represents the Las Vegas Strip and has been briefed on the investigation said authorities were combing through all the video footage from inside Mandalay Bay as they try to discern a motive.

“I’m not sure we’ll ever know it, but they’re going through every shred of evidence they can find for some kind of explanation,” said Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.).

She said learning Paddock’s motivation remained the most crucial part of the investigation.

“So far, with the interview with the girlfriend, looking at his computer, looking at the cameras, going through all of his internet history, so far nothing gives us an idea of what his motive was,” Titus said.

Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, and one of his brothers, Eric Paddock, have publicly said they knew Stephen Paddock as a caring man who showed no signs of planning an attack.

Paddock’s former property manager, Crawford, had similarly little explanation for Paddock’s turn to murder.

“It doesn’t make sense.

He didn’t want attention. He just wanted to blend in with the crowd, with the con-

John Locher Associated Press

A MEMBER of the FBI walks among piles of personal items at the scene of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las

Vegas. “We do not still have a clear motive or reason why,” Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said crete,” Crawford said Friday.

“In my opinion, he would have stepped in front of any harm that would have been coming toward me. He would have interfered in a heartbeat.”

Before Paddock lived with his girlfriend, Danley, in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nev., he lived near his mother in Mesquite, Texas, a suburban workingclass town outside Dallas.

Property records show he bought the home he lived in — in a placid neighborhood of red-brick, single-family homes — in 1998, and sold it in 2010. It’s unclear how long he actually lived there, but neighbors recalled seeing him regularly.

A source familiar with the transaction said Paddock bought an apartment complex in the city in 2004 for close to $8 million and sold it in 2012, with not much, if any, profit on the sale.

Crawford, 54, still lives in the Dallas area, and she managed the Central Park Apartment complex in a somewhat newly developed part of Mesquite. She bonded quickly with Paddock when he bought the property — not romantically, but as friends.

“From the night he came

to the door when he bought the property, to the very end, our personalities just clicked,” Crawford said.

“He was above the normal in a good way, in a beautiful way, for lack of a better term,” she added. “You wanted to be around him because he was cool. He was cool to hang out with; he made you laugh.”

Paddock had a mind like a world-class chess player, thinking ahead and anticipating tenants’ concerns and problems with his property. “He didn’t have to think about it, he was just smart,” Crawford said. “It was natural, like a gift.”

She said he was relaxed, not intense. “He’d sit back in the chair and just talk,” Crawford said. He’d watch comedies and romantic movies on Crawford’s Netflix account. “We didn’t talk politics, we didn’t talk religion,” Crawford said. “Did he believe in the Lord? I think he probably did.”

Paddock had guns, as far as she knew, though he didn’t show them to Crawford. “Maybe if he was bored, he’d maybe go to the gun shop and do something with his time till I was available so he could harass me,” said Crawford, chuckling.

For Texas, she said, that was not out of the ordinary.

Paddock always carried a pistol around in his fanny pack with his money, Crawford said. “He never told me it was there,” Crawford said.

“I knew it was there, because we would talk about guns and everything, and I said, ‘Do you carry yours around all the time?’ He said, ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out.’ ” The most distressed Crawford ever saw Paddock was when he got a kidney stone, but even then, Crawford couldn’t help but laugh with him at his condition.

Crawford’s mother took Paddock to the emergency room.

When Paddock slipped and fell in a casino, Crawford likewise teased him about his hurt leg. “I had to carry [his] suitcase because his leg was hurting,” Crawford said. “I’m like, ‘You big wuss, you big weenie.’ We just loved each other that way.”

Crawford stopped working for Paddock in 2012 and hadn’t seen him for years.

The last time she talked to him was an email she sent during Hurricane Irma as it headed for Florida in early September, where some of Paddock’s family lived. “In

the subject line, I wrote, ‘Dead or alive?’ ” The pair talked about the storms and about Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas.

When Hurricane Irma did not hit Florida as hard as expected, Paddock wrote Crawford a joking email “that said something like, ‘Newsflash, Irma took a different direction, 8.5 million people wanting their money back’ ” from storm-preparation purchases at Home Depot, Crawford said.

“What I would love for everyone to know about him, he was a good person when I knew him, and face to face, he was a good person,” said Crawford, choking up as she talked. She said she hadn’t slept since Monday, when she learned about the attack, leaving her bottled up with emotion.

Of Paddock’s motive, Crawford said: “I just think there’s more to it, personally.

I just think there’s more out there that needs to be found.” adam.elmahrek @latimes.com matt.pearce@latimes.com seema.mehta@latimes.com Elmahrek reported from Texas, Pearce and Mehta from Los Angeles.

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A9

L AT I ME S . CO M

DIRTY JOHN CHAPTER FIVE: ESCAPE

Jay L. Clendenin Los Angeles Times

ATTORNEY John Dzialo, hired by Meehan to sue his perceived enemies, said meeting him would stay with him as a glimpse into some kind of human abyss.

A ‘STORM OF LIES’

[Dirty John, from A1] “seething cauldron” in the man’s brain, a rage that looked as if it would split his forehead.

There are tales of encounters with religious personages so holy that their aura persists in memory, years later. It was like that for Dzialo, only inverted. Meeting Meehan would stay with him as a glimpse into some kind of human abyss.

“Scariest man I’ve met in my 70 years,” he would say.

He took the case; maybe he could help her.

bills — but he found it and dropped it in front of her.

She told him it was hers. He said, everything yours is mine.

He told her to hit him. He would make sure she never got up again.

She grabbed some makeup, just one shoe, and left. ::

:: John Meehan didn’t begin screaming until Dzialo called to say he had looked into his allegations and didn’t see the basis for lawsuits.

“I’m done! You’re fired!” Meehan yelled.

Dzialo had predicted this. He said he’d figure out his bill and return the remainder of the money.

Meehan demanded every penny. He would expose him as a cheat. He would tell the bar. He would tell prosecutors. He would ruin him.

Dzialo had put some time into the case, he had bills to pay, and he hated the thought of surrendering to threats. No way. Then he remembered those bottomless-pit eyes and thought, “This is a guy who would do anything.” He cut the check.

It did not stop Meehan from complaining to the bar. Because he couldn’t get through to Debra by phone, Dzialo drove out to her Irvine business and left her a note.

What did she think of this? Soon Meehan was screaming through the phone: “If you ever contact my wife again, you are going to regret it!”

Jay L. Clendenin Los Angeles Times

LAWYER Michael R. O’Neil filed to annul Debra Newell’s marriage to John Meehan. O’Neil be-

lieved that John’s threats were probably idle — until Debra’s Jaguar was stolen and set on fire.

I hope I am a better husband than the others. I hope I am a good man and that you are proud to hold my hand. I hope you look at me the same way you do now but in twenty years … I hope you love me and we grow old together. I hope … ::

:: John told her he wanted to die in her arms, that the world was a dark place without her. He got Debra’s car washed, ran her errands, dropped off packages at the post office. He brought her flowers constantly.

It was strange to be in love with someone and fear him at the same time. She came home from work anxious about finding him with another woman. When they went to the dog park with their golden retriever, Murphy, she noticed a woman who kept smiling at her husband. Had they shared something?

She had wanted so badly for this, her fifth marriage, to work. It was hard to accept another failure.

She didn’t think she could endure another divorce. She thought, “How can I keep getting this so wrong?”

But the size of her mistake was dawning on her. And now she was wearing a mask, trying to buy time, trying to figure out how to escape.

At times, John seemed to sense that something had changed. “You don’t look at me the same way,” he would say. “I know you’re going to leave me.”

She told him it was just his imagination. She was busy at

Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times

THE SIZE of Debra’s mistake was dawning on her. Now she was

trying to buy time, plotting her escape. She began to hide money.

work; she was stressed; she was sorry. To pacify him, she’d make him one of his favorite meals: pork roast with vegetables or jambalaya.

Sometimes they had the semblance of a normal domestic life. At night he’d watch TV while she sat reading beside him. He liked “Lockup,” the documentary series about life behind bars, and “Intervention,” the show about addiction — two subjects with which he had intimate experience.

His favorite show was MTV’s “Ridiculousness,” which specialized in the mockery of people who did stupid things and got hurt. It always made John laugh. :: In December 2015, for their oneyear anniversary, he typed out a two-page love letter. It was a treacly bonbon with an arsenic center.

It reminded her that between her family and her husband, there was room only for him.

One year … and forever means forever. It’s been an interesting year to say the least. We’ve been

through some hard times … complicated times. But at the end of the day I have you to myself. No family and no issues that we can’t work out. I love you. You have the kindest, most forgiving heart I have ever known…

I want to grow old with you.

Hear you breath[e] in the middle of the night. Feel you reach for me when there is nothing else between us. I can’t imagine living without you … and your absolutely nutty family. I hope to get over what they did …

You are simply the best person I have ever known with the biggest heart imaginable. I wish I was more like you … I wish I knew you when we were both younger. I can only imagine how ditzy you must have been and how you could have made me laugh until I couldn’t see straight. It would have been a dream to have a child with you …

I love you. I love the way you smell and the way you drift off to la-la land while I’m talking to you.

I love the feel of you. And needless to say … making love to you is about as close to a religious experience that I have EVER had ...

She was no longer thinking about forever. She was hiding money. She took $2,000 from every paycheck and gave it to a daughter or a friend. She didn’t want him to have access to all her money, for fear he’d take it. And she didn’t want him to know she was still giving money to her kids.

He didn’t even want her seeing her kids, particularly Jacquelyn, who had been so vocal in her contempt for him. One day he caught Debra sneaking away to see her and said he’d throw Jacquelyn in the ocean if it happened again.

When he discovered that Debra had been paying for Jacquelyn’s real estate classes, he called the school to malign her. He sent Jacquelyn lewd messages. She sent him a Googled image of a pile of feces.

“Mommy wants nothing to do with you and that will kill you,” he texted her.

And: “Jumping off a tall building would make me smile. Head first will work.” :: This is sick, Debra thought. In March 2016 — after a year and three months of marriage, after threats and lies and the blind, desperate hope that everything would turn out if she just loved hard enough, after taking him back when everyone said it defied all sense — she decided it was over.

She withdrew $120,000 from her bank account, hoping he wouldn’t notice. She had $30,000 stashed in the bottom drawer in a closet — banded stacks of hundred-dollar

They had been dividing their time between Orange County and Henderson, Nev., where she had bought a house in the hope of keeping John away from her children.

Now she and Jacquelyn hurried out there to pack her stuff into a moving truck. Debra put tape over the camera lenses, in case John was watching.

She found a family-law attorney, Michael R. O’Neil, who filed to annul the marriage in April 2016. If Debra had glimpsed a frightening side of him during their first separation, John now seemed a creature of pure malignancy.

“You get your family,” he wrote.

“I got the dog. I got the better deal.”

He demanded money. He would drain her accounts through the divorce courts if she fought him.

“For once in your holier than thou life, listen to me,” he wrote.

“You are going to have to pay both sides. Which could easily take a year.”

And: “We had a good run except for your family. There is no trust.

But the last thing I want to do is break you.”

He sent her a photo of himself with a provocatively posed ex-girlfriend, taunting her. He threatened to ruin her.

“Make yourself available or I ruin a family. There are children involved, Deb. This is bigger than you,” he wrote. “You’re selfish to allow this. You’ll never forgive yourself but I am doing it.”

He called her a crook on Yelp.

He had once coaxed naked photos out of her, and now he posted them to her nephew’s Facebook page. He texted her that he knew where she was when she picked up her grandchild.

He lectured her. “You don’t know how to live. Sex is not love.

Get help.”

He accused her of assaulting him. “It’s pathetic it’s come to this point, but you leave me with no options after your storm of lies.”

“Storm of lies!” she replied.

“Wow. You are the expert in that area.”

He had entered their marriage with only a few boxes, mostly old clothes, and now he accused her of stealing $120,000 in cash and gold coins from him.

He complained that he shouldn’t have to live on the $558 monthly disability checks he received for his bad back. He demanded $7,000 a month in spousal support and $75,000 in attorney’s fees.

“It doesn’t matter that paying support isn’t what a ‘real’ man demands. It’s what the court feels is equitable. That’s all that matters.

Think Deb. There is no alternative to this unless you start thinking.

That, or you will eventually get bled dry,” he wrote. “Be smart Deb. You [See Dirty John, A10]

A10

L AT I ME S . CO M

DIRTY JOHN CHAPTER FIVE: ESCAPE [Dirty John, from A9] have no idea of the mistakes you made. Be smart and you’ll save a fortune.”

He had posed as her soul mate, the answer to her longings after four failed marriages, and now he used her past as a barb.

“You think I’m going to allow your family to continue. Look in the mirror. Five times and still making the same mistakes,” he wrote.

“Now you’re getting yours. Pray Deb. Pray hard.”

He had turned himself into a churchgoing Christian and wept during sermons, knowing God mattered to her, and now he used her faith as a cudgel.

“Everyone is a better Christian than you,” he wrote. “Paybacks are costly and a bitch.”

He had rhapsodized endlessly about her beauty and promised she would never know loneliness again, and now turned her vulnerabilities into points of attack.

“You lying old bag,” he wrote.

“You’ll grow old alone.”

He sent her a list of her clients — builders who used her interior design business — and threatened to call them twice a day.

“I don’t trust anything you say,” she replied. “You’re evil.”

“Face it Deb, I’m smarter than you.”

“Stop! Don’t contact me again or I will go to the police!” :: She began wearing a wig, living and working out of hotels, checking in under the names of her assistants. In a request for a restraining order, her lawyer laid out John Meehan’s long, ugly history. How the Indiana nursing board had yanked his license and called him “a clear and immediate danger to the public.”

How he’d jumped out of a moving ambulance in Michigan. How he’d swindled multiple women and done prison time and been slapped with restraining orders. How Laguna Beach police, who had also asked for a restraining order against him, had found cyanide capsules in his belongings.

An Orange County judge decided there was no immediate threat to Debra’s safety. Her husband lived in another state; he had never physically harmed her. :: If there was any chance of trying again, Debra undermined it when she visited John at the Henderson house soon afterward. She thought she could talk him into an annulment. She suggested they

John off.

Debra was skeptical of her daughter’s account about seeing John. She thought the guy probably had just looked like John, that Jacquelyn was overreacting. They didn’t call police.

Jacquelyn wanted to know: What if he goes after Terra? Debra didn’t share this fear; a psychologist had told her the danger was to her, not to her children. Plus, what had Terra ever done to him? She thought he even seemed to like her, sort of.

But Jacquelyn told her friend to drive to the Coronados, the sprawling apartment complex in nextdoor Newport Beach where Terra was living.

Jacquelyn circled her sister’s apartment complex. She checked her sister’s door at Apartment W304, to make sure it was locked.

She listened for the reassuring jingle of the collar of her sister’s cat.

She didn’t want to wake her.

She called Terra at 6 a.m. and said, “John’s in the area. He’s in a white Camry.”

In the dark, Jacquelyn had misidentified the car John was driving. Terra would be watching for the wrong one.

Christina House Los Angeles Times

TERRA NEWELL with her dog, Cash. Her sister, Jacquelyn, worried: What if John goes after

Terra? Debra didn’t share this fear; a psychologist had told her the danger was to her, not her kids.

might even try to start fresh, afterward, with no lies — it was the only thing she could think of to say.

He looked terrible. He said he had terminal cancer. He wouldn’t hear of it. Hadn’t she promised “Till death do us part?” How could she leave him to die alone?

Trying to buy time, she wrote him a $10,000 check to rehab the Henderson house and told him he could stay there while they figured things out. She slept on a mattress on the floor that night.

“I’m dying Deb. Slowly dying.

Please just come up with something so we can move on,” he texted her when she got back to California. “I’m doing horrible without you. I need you.”

O’Neil knew what a judge would say. How scared of him could she be? :: O’Neil thought, “Just a sick son of a bitch.” He believed his threats were probably idle. He thought this until June 11, 2016, when Debra’s $64,000 sport-model Jaguar XF disappeared from in front of her Irvine office.

Grainy surveillance footage showed John, in jeans, crouched behind the bushes, watching the

car that morning. And it showed him coming back about an hour later wearing gloves and a painter’s uniform to steal it.

The car turned up a block away, reeking of gas, with fire damage to the seat and doors. As arson, it was a display of incompetence. The windows were rolled up, the doors closed, so the fire had extinguished itself for lack of oxygen.

June passed, then July. Now it was the third week of August, and Irvine police still hadn’t charged him.

Debra was living with Jacquelyn at the Carlyle Apartments in Irvine, near the airport. Jacquelyn liked that there were security cameras.

Debra had cut John off. She wasn’t taking his calls or texts. She and her kids were looking after John’s golden retriever, Murphy, which he’d left at a pound. And she had the Buick Enclave he’d been using, which had been impounded after he ran it into a gate. :: On Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, Terra was working at Rebel Run, a Newport Beach dog kennel. A man called with what sounded like a French accent.

The man made it sound as though they had met at some point, and wanted to know if she would be working tomorrow; he wanted to bring in his Rhodesian ridgebacks for her to groom.

She did not recognize the voice, or remember having met him, or think too much about the fact that most of the grooming requests came from women, not men. She told the stranger her work schedule. Yes, she would be there tomorrow until about 5 p.m. :: Around11:30 that night, Jacquelyn was returning from dinner with a male friend when she saw John in a car, in the dark, waiting outside her apartment gate.

She saw him reflected in the glow of his smartphone, and they locked eyes. John ducked his head.

She told her friend, “Follow him!”

Jacquelyn watched John head onto the 405 Freeway. John had smashed or removed the lights on his car, as if to improve his ability to move furtively in the dark.

Jacquelyn believed John was there to kill her or her mom. That he had been hoping to catch one of them alone, an easy target, and the presence of her male friend scared

christopher.goffard@latimes.com Twitter: @LATchrisgoffard

ABOUT DIRTY JOHN SUNDAY Chapter One: The Real Thing MONDAY Chapter Two: Newlyweds WEDNESDAY Chapter Three: Filthy THURSDAY Chapter Four: Forgiveness TODAY Chapter Five: Escape SUNDAY Chapter Six: Terra Each chapter of Dirty John will also be available online the day it publishes at latimes.com/dirtyjohn This series is based on multiple interviews with Debra Newell, Jacquelyn Newell, Terra Newell, Arlane Hart, Shad Vickers, Tonia Sells Bales, Karen Douvillier, Donna Meehan Stewart, investigators, attorneys and other sources.

Goffard also reviewed thousands of pages of court documents, police reports, restraining orders and prison records, as well as text messages and emails.

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A11

L AT I ME S . CO M

Mnuchin’s use of planes broke rules, but not law Treasury secretary did not have adequate justification for taking military aircraft, says inspector general.

By Lauren Rosenblatt Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin took military aircraft on at least seven occasions without adequate justification, his department’s inspector general said in a report.

The inspector general said that Mnuchin’s use of the planes was not illegal but that he had failed to meet rules that require that military flights be used only if the White House determines in advance that doing so is justified by costs or specific security or emergency needs.

Mnuchin has been criticized for requesting a military aircraft for a trip to Kentucky during which he viewed the solar eclipse and a trip to Europe for his honeymoon in August. He withdrew the request for the honeymoon trip, according to the report from the counsel to the Treasury inspector general, Rich Delmar.

In total, Mnuchin requested government aircraft for nine trips, one of which was withdrawn and one that is scheduled for later this month. The report, released Thursday, found that each trip was classified as a White House support mission.

In order to get that classification, the president must have directed the official to take the trip and the department must show that commercial airlines were either not available or cost effective or that there was an emergency need or national security concern requiring military planes.

Those guidelines are based on a 2011 memo from then-White House Chief of Staff William Daley.

Delmar found that for the

Andres Kudacki Associated Press

AT LEAST seven of

Steven Mnuchin’s government flights did not meet White House rules. majority of the trips Mnuchin requested, it was “not explicit” that President Trump had ordered the travel, and the department did not provide a detailed analysis of the trip.

Most of the requests included a similar line saying the planes were needed “due to scheduling, logistics and secure communications needs.”

This “single boilerplate statement constituted the whole analysis and justification for designation and use of military aircraft,” Delmar

wrote.

The inspector general’s review found “no violation of law in these requests and uses.”

“What is of concern is a disconnect between the standard of proof called for in the Daley memo and the actual amount of proof provided by Treasury and accepted by the White House in justifying these trip requests,” Delmar wrote.

The Office of Management and Budget said in a memo last week it was reviewing guidance for the use of government aircraft and suggested that officials should be using government air travel only in exceptional situations.

The report comes amid reports that three other administration officials have used private or military aircraft for trips, including former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who reportedly spent more than $400,000 on private domestic travel.

Price resigned last week after Trump expressed anger at his use of private charter flights.

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WST

L AT I ME S . CO M

He favored limits on guns, then didn’t [Guns, from A1] you can really tell who your friends are,” said Dudley Brown, president of the National Assn. for Gun Rights, which advertises itself as more hard-line on gun rights than the National Rifle Assn.

For decades, as he flirted with presidential runs, Trump tried to stake a position between what he called, in 2000, “the extremes of the two existing major parties.”

In his book that year, “The America We Deserve,” Trump accused Democrats of trying to confiscate all guns and Republicans of refusing even limited restrictions because of the NRA’s hold on the party.

In a brief, four-paragraph section on guns, between multi-page sections on “prisons” and “capital punishment,” Trump wrote that he supported President Clinton’s assault-weapons ban along with a brief waiting period for gun buyers.

Eleven years earlier, in a 1989 interview on MSNBC, Trump seemed even more ambivalent about gun rights.

Saying he owned “a couple of guns,” he added: “Now, I hate the concept of guns.

I’m not in favor of it, except for one thing: the bad guys

are going to have them.” He would be “all for” a total ban — if “you could take the guns away from the bad guys.”

Trump had not renounced those positions as late as 2013, when he told radio host Howard Stern that the focus should be on gun purchasers’ medical problems and past records. “It’s a very, very difficult subject, but you need guns for protection,” he told Stern.

That ambivalence vanished when Trump ran for president and tried to distinguish himself in a crowded Republican primary. He boasted in a 2015 debate of carrying weapons “on occasion — sometimes a lot.”

“Opponents of gun rights try to come up with scarysounding phrases like ‘assault weapons,’ ‘militarystyle weapons’ and ‘high-capacity magazines’ to confuse people,” Trump said in a campaign position paper.

“Law-abiding people should be allowed to own the firearm of their choice. The government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people are allowed to own.”

The NRA helped to elect Trump, spending more than $30 million and endorsing him at a point in the campaign when many Republi-

cans were still reluctant to support him, even as he closed in on enough delegates to get the party’s nomination.

Trump returned the favor with some of the strongest pro-gun rhetoric ever delivered by a presidential candidate. He told an NRA audience that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton wanted to destroy the 2nd Amendment and that terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino would have been stopped if more victims were armed.

He said of the Paris attackers in the November 2015 incident: “They just stood there and shot everybody.”

“If you would have had guns on the other side,” he added, “I promise there wouldn’t have been 130 people killed and hundreds of people lying in the hospital to this day.”

Trump has sought to fortify his gun-loving credentials by association with his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., who have been photographed hunting exotic animals in Africa. “They have so many rifles and so many guns, even I get concerned,” Trump joked at the NRA conference.

He endorsed a national

Scott Olson Getty Images

PRESIDENT TRUMP addresses the National Rifle Assn. in Atlanta in April.

The NRA helped to elect Trump, spending more than $30 million.

right to carry, regardless of local laws that are restrictive, and promised, on his first day in office, to eliminate restrictions on bringing guns within 1,000 feet of primary and secondary schools.

Trump failed to overturn the federal gun-free-zone law, an action that requires Congress to pass repeal legislation. Yet he has generally pleased the gun lobby since taking office.

In February, the president signed into law a measure overturning an Obama administration rule that would have denied gun access to about 75,000 Social Security beneficiaries per year who had been declared

both incapable of handling their own affairs and mentally incompetent.

Trump’s Justice Department narrowed the definition of fugitive under federal gun laws, clearing the way for thousands of people to buy guns, according to the Trace, a news site supported by advocates of gun limits.

And his Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, overturned a ban on using lead ammunition on wildlife refuges.

Gun groups are hoping for more, including measures in Congress that would make it easier to buy silencers and for veterans deemed mentally incompetent to carry a firearm. A separate measure would al-

NRA receptive to gun control measure

By Kurtis Lee The NRA does not budge in its opposition to stricter gun controls.

Not after 32 students and faculty were killed on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Not after 12 people were killed in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. And not after 20 first-graders and six staffers were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

But now, days after a gunman killed at least 58 people at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, the National Rifle Assn. has budged — at least a little.

NRA leaders issued a statement Thursday calling for regulation of “bump stocks,” a device that authorities said was used in the Las Vegas massacre to make semiautomatic firearms behave like fully automatic ones.

The group said it “believes that devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” while calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which currently authorizes the sale of bump stocks, to

George Frey Getty Images

“BUMP STOCKS” allow a semiautomatic rifle to

increase its firing speed. A move is afoot to ban them. implement tougher rules.

The statement also called on Congress to pass a law that would force states to honor concealed weapons permits issued in other states — suggesting to some gun control advocates that bump stocks were an easy place for the NRA to give up ground as it fights more significant battles over gun laws.

“This does not impact guns or manufacturers,” said Mark Rosenberg, a gun violence expert who has headed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

“These devices are accessories to firearms. Most

mass murders don’t use these devices … most gun owners also don’t use them.”

The NRA’s position may also be an acknowledgment that it might be difficult to defend a court challenge to bump stocks. Federal law bans automatic weapons.

Still, Rosenberg said the statement was significant because it marked clear movement from the group.

In 2002, NRA leader Wayne LaPierre, laying out the group’s philosophical views on the 2nd Amendment, said “we must declare that there are no shades of gray in American freedom. It’s black and white, all or nothing.”

“These recent comments

from the NRA are not black and white at all,” Rosenberg said. “They believe more regulation is needed. That’s promising.”

For Tom Sullivan, who became an avid gun control advocate after his son, Alex, was killed on his 27th birthday on July 20, 2012, in the Aurora movie theater, the NRA’s announcement came too late but was still welcome.

“Where has this been all along? Why not speak out against bump stocks before this happens,” he said. “It’s incremental, but it’s movement.”

For years, the NRA has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat candidates — Democrats and Republicans alike — who support tougher gun laws. Last year, the NRA spent nearly $50 million in the presidential race and six competitive Senate contests, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending. The group helped a majority of those candidates win their contests.

In 2012, following a string of high-profile mass shootings, President Obama and Democrats in Congress pushed for legislation to expand background checks.

At no point did the NRA wa-

ver in its opposition, and the effort failed as nearly all congressional Republicans opposed the effort.

This week, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and other Republicans expressed a willingness to regulate bump stocks.

Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada whose district spans the Strip, announced legislation this week to do just that. It would ban possession of bump stocks.

Titus said she was also exploring the regulation of other devices that can effectively turn a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic one, such as a glove that turns one pull of the trigger into multiple, rapid shots.

“The NRA is suddenly realizing they’re going to have to do something,” Titus said, noting that some Republicans are supportive of her bill. “I think opposition to them — not in Congress, but in the community — is building and it has built over time.”

“Maybe it’s just the cumulative effect” of mass shootings, she said. kurtis.lee@latimes.com Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

low people who have permits under state law to carry guns anywhere in the country, regardless of local laws.

Now it is Trump who is owned by the NRA, gun control groups say.

Speaking of NRA members, Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said, “I suppose they’re betting people, and having put all of their money into candidate Trump, they’re expecting that he’s bought and paid for.”

Yet Brown and others on her side are hoping Trump will shift again. “He has a real moment here,” Brown said, adding, “I’m not Pollyannaish about things.”

After Sunday’s Las Vegas attack, Trump echoed rhetoric that the NRA and its supporters often use following mass shootings, saying it was too soon to talk about gun policy. But he and his administration dropped hints that he might be open to discussion in time.

“We’ll talk about gun laws as time goes by,” Trump said on Tuesday, ahead of a visit to Las Vegas.

By Thursday, after the NRA said there should be restrictions on bump stocks — but through regulation, not a new law — White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration was eager to have that conversation. But she added that Trump is “a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. That hasn’t changed.”

Another White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Trump was most likely to back narrow measures.

The NRA, which is often silent after mass shootings, did not respond to several requests for comment.

At the National Assn. for Gun Rights, Dudley Brown said he is fighting to make sure Trump doesn’t act. But he’s not especially worried.

“There certainly was some question about his history, especially when you’re not an elected official in any manner,” he said. But, Brown added, “This administration has done much better than we thought.” noah.bierman @latimes.com

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L AT I ME S . CO M / O PI N I O N

OPINION LETTERS

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trapshooter. As no stranger to gun culture, I say this: The NRA is no longer a sportsmen’s club.

Today it’s possible to legally purchase weapons and accessories capable of injuring or killing more than 500 people in a short period of time. Until this week, Congress was considering rolling back restrictions on silencers, and legislation was moving to require concealed carry reciprocity among the states.

These laws don’t solve problems, they are problems.

If the Mandalay Bay hotel pool had chemically burned 500 people, we would regulate pool chemicals. We can and should pass common-sense gun laws. For example, AB 424, a bill to keep guns out of K-12 schools, is sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

No more thoughts and prayers. It’s time for action.

Darby Saxbe Los Angeles ::

Marcus Yam Los Angeles Times

PERSONAL ITEMS OF victims and survivors of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas lie at the scene.

Get mad, not sad Re “Don’t pray for Vegas. That’s not how we do things,” Opinion, Oct. 4

T

he deadly toll of mass murders will continue to rise until citizens get more mad than sad. The repeated national emphasis on sadness that follows these attacks evokes the emotion of empathy and our shared humanity. That is fine, but it does not evoke much action outward. This emotion is cultivated by leaders who do not want us to get angry, unless terrorists, who we are encouraged to fear, are involved. Then it seems to be OK for people get mad and want to do something.

Polls suggest that people don’t fear guns in the hands of Americans, but they do fear terrorists, and this fear underlies most anger. The problem is that we’re not fearful of the more than 300 million guns and especially the millions of assault-type weapons, which can often be transformed into automatic weapons.

The anger must start by changing our mass mediated messages about fear: It is our fellow Americans, often armed to the teeth, who provide the largest threat to our lives. We need to focus on the arms industry, on the lobbyists and on Congress. This cabal has no qualms about providing numerous assault rifles to virtually anyone who wants one, and that is scary.

Let’s mourn the slain, but then let’s get mad at what we should fear.

David Altheide, Solana Beach The writer, a professor at the Arizona State University School of Social Transformation, is the author of the book “Terrorism and the Politics of Fear.”

Years before District of Columbia vs. Heller was decided in 2008, the late Chief Justice Warren Burger correctly called the reasoning underpinning it — that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to own guns — a “fraud.”

I made a film on the American Revolution, so I studied colonial society for years. Any good historian of that period can tell you that the meaning of the amendment is not what Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the Heller decision. If you

understand colonial society, it is clear that this language pertains not to individuals but to the state militias.

This does not mean that the founders intended individuals not to have guns; it means that the Constitution does not address the issue of individuals owning arms. Furthermore, the framers could not have imagined today’s assault weapons any more than they could have imagined iPhones.

Steven Schechter Thousand Oaks

One need only to look at the high homicide rate in Chicago to see that gun control does not prevent murder. Chicago has tough gun laws, and yet it has more homicides than any other U.S. city.

It is supremely more relevant to look at the closing of mental health institutions in California and elsewhere. Currently, there are not enough services for our fellow citizens with mental illnesses, contributing directly to incidents of mass murder.

Spending our resources on helping people suffering from delusions, paranoia, depression and other afflictions is a far better use of that money than trying to defeat the National Rifle Assn. or change the 2nd Amendment.

Catherine Wirtz Westlake Village :: I was raised in a family of hunters and recreational shooters, and my grandfather was a competitive

When you purchase and drive a car, you have to be licensed and you need to register the car and pay for insurance; occasionally, one must attend traffic school.

We need to tie gun ownership to the civic duty implicit in the 2nd Amendment phrase “well regulated militia.” The surest path to this is waving the possibility of shiny new revenue streams at our state governments and the insurance industry.

Make gun owners pay in these ways: certifications, registration and licensing that must be renewed; liability insurance; and required public service in the National Guard or local emergency management services.

Freedom isn’t free, as the saying goes, so make gun owners pay for it.

Elisabeth Eliassen Alameda :: While pondering why people are obsessed with getting as many automaticlike accessories as can be found, the words of an old song about World War I veterans comes to mind: “How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paris?”

Are limitless quantities of revolvers and semi-automatic rifles not satisfying enough for gun enthusiasts? Perhaps the intoxicating power of releasing automatic fire is addictive.

Is there a recovery program for that?

Barbara Jackson Cerritos

A killer-making culture?

S

Published on April 22, 1999: With our present culture in violent television, violent movies and violent video games under the guise of entertainment, we continue to blunder along hoping there will be no others. Well, it won't be at this juncture.

How many student body counts and injuries are we to look forward to? Are we going to be serious about

this? What ... is it going to take to end this slaughter?

Wayne E. Scott Camarillo Published on April 23, 1999: When our hearts break for the parents, students and staff, neighbors and community ... we naturally ask what can we do? There is much that we can do. We can pray. We can change the

culture we support. We can stop attending violent movies, watching violent TV shows, buying violent video games, guns and war toys for our children and glorifying violence in sports.

We can support organizations working to reduce domestic violence. We can insist that more of our civil budgets, whether on a local or international scale, go into conflict resolution, negotiating skills and peacekeeping. Of course, there is much more that can be done, but let us start doing today. No one, and especially children, should have to experience what the students of Columbine High did Tuesday. We need to change.

Herb Huebsch San Juan Capistrano :: As Americans we come from Puritan stock with a healthy dose of the Wild

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

AND

Ross Levinsohn

PUBLISHER

Re “Dirty John,” parts 1-4, Oct. 1-5 I imagine you got many letters chastising you for putting the “Dirty John” series — about an Orange County family’s attempt to free itself of a dangerous manipulator — on the front page when there is so much more important news to report.

But I want to thank you for possibly saving many more women from these kinds of predators. We have all been lied to at some point in our lives, and usually it does nothing more than break our hearts. Sociopaths abound in today’s world, and so many women fall for these guys.

I hope with all my heart that this story will be a wake-up call to many women and save much anguish, heartbreak and, more important, lives.

Barbara Busch Santa Barbara :: When I first saw the huge “Dirty John” headline in Sunday’s print edition, I assumed it was one of those faux front-page ads. I was disgusted when I realized that you had actually used this on the front page of what I had always considered a responsible, serious, dignified publication.

Are you now putting our newspaper in the league with the National Enquirer?

It is an attention-getting story, but it belongs inside the paper.

With all the heartbreaking, unsettling, challenging news stories that might warrant the front page, this certainly isn’t one of them.

Leslie Geffen Encino :: In Part 3, we learn that “Dirty John” Meehan picked up the nickname from his law school classmates because of his manipulative, deceptive, cunning nature.

Had he graduated from that law school, those devious qualities would have earned him the more commonly accepted appellation for this type of person: “lawyer.”

John Farley San Juan Capistrano

HOW TO WRITE TO US Please send letters to letters@latimes.com. For submission guidelines, see latimes.com/letters or call 1-800-LA TIMES, ext. 74511.

Numbers and letters

FROM THE ARCHIVES

ince Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, we have received more than 300 letters to the editor on the massacre. All but a small handful of those letters focus on gun control, the preponderance of which favor more regulation.

Sadly, our readers have extensive experience commenting on mass shootings, and their letters haven’t always been almost exclusively focused on guns. In the days after Colorado’s Columbine High School massacre in April 1999 — in which 15 people were killed, including the two perpetrators — several of the letters published in the Los Angeles Times discussed what the writers viewed as the moral rot that may have inspired the killers, in addition to the majority that discussed gun control.

Here are some of those letters from 1999.

— Paul Thornton, letters editor

‘Dirty John’ is a cautionary tale

A quick breakdown of the mail we received from readers this week

869

Printable letters to the editor were received between last Friday and this Friday.

Michael S. Green Associated Press

COLUMBINE HIGH students on May 3, 1999, as the

Colorado state and U.S. flags are flown at half staff.

West. We hate sex and we love guns. In the era of AIDS, sex kills while guns are our salvation. In films, open portrayals of sexuality get NC-17 ratings while celebrations of violence have to work to get an R. When did it all get so backward?

David Dodson La Cañada Flintridge Published on April 26, 1999: I am so tired of reading our society’s denial of the

problems causing incidents like Littleton. No, it is not the media, guns or rock music.

It’s the lack of involvement, control and guidance of our children at home by parents and families. And, unfortunately, the problem of a few uncontrollable bad seeds out there.

Quite often, the hate of others that children act out was sparked by comments in the home.

Daryl Smith Chatsworth

327

Letters were written about the massacre in Las Vegas, the week’s most-discussed topic.

78

Readers discussed the Trump administration’s response to the crisis in Puerto Rico.

57

Readers reacted to The Times’ “Dirty John” series, the third-most discussed topic.

latimes.com/opinion

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The slaughter in Las Vegas is all too familiar, yet Americans refuse to stop it.

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Hollywood is largely mute on scandal

Larry Busacca Getty Images for TIME

HARVEY WEINSTEIN has taken a leave of absence from his company amid the allegations against him. He

has donated to many Democrats over the years, including Hillary Clinton. Above, the two at a party in 2012. charges in the rape and death of an actress. (Arbuckle was acquitted.)

Other prominent stars and directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Marlon Brando and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been accused of inappropriate behavior.

Allegations of sexual misconduct have toppled other media figures, including Fox News architect Roger Ailes and host Bill O’Reilly, and Epic Records Chief Executive L.A. Reid.

Scandals have also rocked beloved indie-film institutions, including L.A.’s nonprofit theater Cinefamily (where two leaders recently resigned) and indietheater chain Alamo Drafthouse. All have denied wrongdoing.

Instead of expressing shock or even dismay, Hollywood insiders acknowledged that Weinstein’s be-

havior was an “open secret,” the fodder of gossip for decades.

Weinstein’s alleged behavior may have been enabled by Hollywood’s sometimes toxic workplace culture, which often tolerates — and in some cases glorifies — an array of inappropriate, exploitative conduct. For lowly assistants hungry to get a foot in the door, long hours, demeaning job duties and the occasional cellphone-hurling boss are considered part of the job.

Being “volatile” or “hardcharging” can be a badge of honor, epitomized in such characters as Ari Gold, the rage-prone super-agent in the HBO series “Entourage.” The character was based on Ari Emanuel, now co-chief executive of one of the biggest talent agencies, William Morris Endeavor (and a Democratic fundrais-

er).

The sordid allegations against Weinstein put Hollywood in an awkward spot.

Over the years, Weinstein has given generously to Democrats and liberal causes, contributing more than $600,000 to Democratic politicians and groups, according to federal records.

He donated tens of thousands of dollars to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, worked as an intern for Weinstein Co. in New York last summer prior to enrolling at Harvard University. Weinstein also has contributed to the Clinton Foundation, whose website states that the producer provided well over $100,000 as of June.

Known as a “bundler,” Weinstein also used his vast connections to organize and

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collect checks from a wide swathe of donors. The mogul threw glamorous fundraisers for Clinton that raised millions for her presidential campaign and were attended by A-list celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lopez.

Weinstein, in his statement, noted that last year he began organizing a $5-million foundation at USC to provide scholarships to women who want to direct films.

Conservatives, who have spent years chafing when Hollywood celebrities moralized about social causes, had a field day over the Weinstein scandal. “Waiting on the professional ‘pro-women’ outrage machine... Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein,” Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway wrote Friday morning on Twitter.

Others jumped on the details of Weinstein’s alleged behavior as evidence that the entertainment industry has a double standard when it comes to sexual harassment.

“Hollywood stood by and did nothing and continued to award this person, work with him and glorify him,” Alex Marlow, editor in chief of Breitbart News, said in an

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[Weinstein, from A1] ceived just 31.4% of speaking roles in the top 100 films released last year, according to the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at USC Annenberg’s School for Communication and Journalism. The “sexy stereotype” persisted with more than a quarter of females in those films wearing sexy attire, compared with 5.7% of men. In 2015, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opened an investigation into allegedly discriminatory hiring practices against female directors.

“Hollywood likes to project an image of being progressive about issues of race, gender and social issues — but at the end of the day it is an incredibly regressive industry,” said Caroline Heldman, a college professor who has worked with alleged victims of Bill Cosby and Weinstein. “It is an industry that, in many ways, looks more like the 1950s.”

Weinstein, who has taken a leave of absence from his company, attributed his alleged conduct to coming of age “in the ’60s and ’70s, when all of the rules about behavior and workplaces were different.” On Friday, his company’s board said it was investigating the allegations.

The New York Times reported that at least eight settlements had been paid to woman who made allegations of sexual harassment to Weinstein Co. or Miramax, the studio that Weinstein and his brother Bob built into a cultural juggernaut with such independent films such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “Chicago.” Weinstein, while on trips to Los Angeles and London, would summon young actresses or assistants to his hotel room, where he would request massages or invite women to watch him shower, the paper said.

Hollywood has long been tarnished with allegations of sexual harassment, dating to the silent film era when actor Roscoe Conkling “Fatty” Arbuckle faced

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interview. The scandal could further erode Hollywood’s credibility with middle America, Marlow said.

“While he was allegedly preying on vulnerable people, the whole town that virtue-signals about women’s rights and female empowerment stood silent.”

The Republican Party sent email blasts naming Democrats who have accepted money from Weinstein.

Democrats quickly tried to distance themselves. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would donate $14,200 — the amount that Weinstein contributed to him — to charities supporting women. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) confirmed that they will be donating money given to them by Weinstein to various charities.

The amounts ranged from $2,700 to $7,800.

Some speculated the disclosures this week coincide with the weakening clout of Weinstein Co., which has delivered several box-office duds.

But culture is changing too. Women — aided by social media — have been more vocal in recent years, including stepping forward to accuse Bill Cosby of rape.

Actress Ashley Judd made a thinly veiled reference to Weinstein in a 2015 interview with Variety, without mentioning him by name. But this fall, she told her story to the New York Times, saying Weinstein lured her into a hotel room and asked her to watch him shower.

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit in July 2016 against Ailes exposed a culture of powerful men demanding sexual favors from women, and might have emboldened women to speak out.

The Weinstein scandal received relatively little play Thursday evening on Fox News as the network focused mostly on the Las Vegas massacre. Fox News still is recovering from its own sexual harassment crisis involving O’Reilly and Ailes, who died in May. Although Weinstein’s volatile behavior, including throwing tables at employees, was widely known, Hollywood was willing to tolerate him because he delivered high-quality films, Academy Awards and, most important, big profits.

“We’ve normalized this bad behavior and we rationalize it because ‘look at the great contributions these guys are making,’” said Mark Lipton, who interviewed several of Weinstein’s employees for his book, “Mean Men: The Perversion of America’s Self-Made Man.” But abuse, whether physical or sexual, “all goes back to power,” Lipton said. “It’s acknowledging and recognizing there’s this huge power differential and taking advantage of it for one’s own needs.” meg.james@latimes.com david.ng@latimes.com meredith.blake @latimes.com Times staff writers Cathleen Decker, Ryan Faughnder and David Lauter contributed to this report.

CALIFORNIA

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S A T U R D A Y , O C T O B E R 7 , 2 0 1 7 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L I F O R N I A

Donors to Rodriguez implicated Janitors who vouched for LAUSD official in campaign are named in his criminal case.

By Howard Blume

Photographs by

John Locher Associated Press

DEBRIS litters the grounds in Las Vegas where hundreds of concertgoers were shot Sunday. Authorities

have long discussed the threat of a sniper in a crowded area and that there are few countertools.

Thwarting sniper attack a challenge

The Las Vegas massacre of 58 people will force a shift in policing outdoor events, experts believe

By Richard Winton, Geoffrey Mohan, Sarah Parvini and Corina Knoll He was a quarter of a mile away and a few hundred feet high — the smallest of specks in a boisterous landscape.

They were 22,000 targets in an open field, dodging gunfire on a night when music turned to madness.

Some staked their lives on the shelter of a beer cart, a food truck, a cooler. Those who ran had little sense of direction. Were they racing toward the shots? Would a car, a restaurant, a hotel closet, become refuge or a trap?

The mass shooting Sunday at the Route 91 Harvest Festival would leave 58 dead and hundreds more injured.

It would also highlight the vul[See Tactics, B4]

When Ref Rodriguez ran for his seat on the Los Angeles school board, opponents accused him of underpaying the lowest-wage workers at the charter-school group he helped found.

His supporters quickly countered with testimonials on mailers — from three of the charter schools’ janitors.

“Don’t believe the lies you’ve heard about Ref Rodriguez,” one of them, Maria Hernandez, said in the mailer. “I have worked for Ref Rodriguez for 15 years and he has always done right by me.”

These janitors who so wholeheartedly backed their boss also are connected to the criminal case now plaguing the school board member, who has been charged with three fel-

Shock, outrage at USC after 2nd dean exits

By Sarah Parvini, Paul Pringle and Harriet Ryan

A POLICE OFFICER takes cover during what would turn out to be the

massacre of 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

The exit of a second dean at USC’s Keck School of Medicine over inappropriate behavior brought shock and outrage to the campus Friday and demands that university leadership explain what went wrong.

A number of physicians, researchers and scholars at the Keck School of Medicine said they were stunned to

An L.A. River activist’s concrete legacy Monument will honor environmentalist who led a fight to revitalize the paved waterway.

By Louis Sahagun On an early Monday morning, Lewis MacAdams plunged into work on a memoir recounting his years spent crusading to return the concrete-lined Los Angeles River to a more natural state.

It seemed an insurmountable task. His frail body had suffered the toll from a stroke a year ago, and his memory wasn’t what it

used to be.

MacAdams, a poet and founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River, looked up at historian Michael Block from his wheelchair and launched into an anecdote.

It involved “a little walk I took along the riverbank in 1985 with city officials led by Mayor Tom Bradley — all of whom acted as though it was an odd photo opportunity, or some kind of a joke. Like it was just….”

Suddenly, his words sputtered to a halt. “Sorry,” he said faintly. “I had a brain freeze.”

A moment later, MacAdams, 74, picked up the thread of his tale with a fresh twinkle in his eye: “Looking

back, that short walk along the riverbank was incredibly important. It was the moment we went from being spectators to creators when it comes to restoring the river.”

“Look at us now — we’re a snowballin’, steamrollin’, rock ’n’ rollin’ machine,” he continued with a smile and a clenched fist held high.

The hub of MacAdams’ life today is a cramped apartment in a Los Angeles retirement community.

Each weekday morning, Block uses an audio-recording machine, archival photos and documents to retrace MacAdams’ influence in making river restoration a [See MacAdams, B6]

onies and more than two dozen misdemeanors.

Prosecutors allege Rodriguez laundered $24,250 in campaign money by listing people — including these janitors — as individual donors to his campaign when he actually paid them back for the money they donated. A charter school principal also gave a testimonial and is on the list of suspected reimbursed donors.

“This looks bad,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. When the same people who provided testimonials turn out to be employees who gave suspect donations, “at very least, it creates a politically damaging appearance of impropriety.”

Rodriguez is holding on to his board seat but stepped down as board president last month, a week after he was charged. He has declined to discuss the case publicly.

The 2015 campaign between Rodriguez and incumbent Bennett Kayser [See Rodriguez, B4]

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

IN THE 1980s, Lewis MacAdams, now 74, pioneered a

conservationist campaign by demanding that the L.A. River be returned to a semblance of its natural flow.

learn that Dr. Rohit Varma, who was removed Thursday as dean, had been disciplined 14 years ago after a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint by a woman fellow he supervised.

Varma’s departure came a little more than a year and a half after Dr. Carmen Puliafito stepped down. Puliafito was the subject of a Times investigation that found he regularly abused methamphetamine and other drugs and associated with addicts and prostitutes.

A Keck administrator described the school as “completely in shock” over the Varma revelations. She said many on campus learned of the dean’s departure from colleagues who whispered the news or forwarded a link of The Times’ story on the resignation.

“It’s sad because a bulk of the folks who work here do great stuff, but this has sullied that,” said the administrator, who like others requested anonymity because USC has asked employees not to speak publicly on the matter.

In a letter to colleagues Thursday, Varma wrote that he “felt it was in the best interest of the school for me to step down at this time.”

In a statement to The Times released Friday, Varma added: “While I am disappointed that I will no longer be serving as dean of the Keck School of Medicine, I am proud of the many ac[See Varma, B5]

Today’s episode: Escape

A 6-part true story told in print, podcast and online.

A tale of seduction, deception and, ultimately, survival.

Reported and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winner Christopher Goffard.

latimes.com/DirtyJohn

ApplePodcasts.com/DirtyJohn DirtyJohn

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S C I E N C E F IL E

Sharing DNA with Neanderthals

A genetic analysis suggests our extinct cousins still influence our health risks.

MELISSA HEALY

Modern humans are a little more Neanderthal than we thought.

A highly detailed genetic analysis of a Neanderthal woman who lived about 52,000 years ago suggests that our extinct evolutionary cousins still influence our risk of having a heart attack, developing an eating disorder and suffering from schizophrenia.

Altogether, scientists now estimate that somewhere between 1.8% and 2.6% of the DNA in most people alive today was inherited from Neanderthals, according to a report published this week in the journal Science.

The genetic contribution of these archaic huntergatherers is highest in people of East Asian descent, accounting for between 2.3% and 2.6% of their DNA. Neanderthals lived primarily in Europe and western Asia for hundreds of thousands of years before they mysteriously disappeared around 40,000 years ago. However, in humans of western Eurasian heritage, the amount of Neanderthal DNA is a more modest 1.8% to 2.4%, researchers found.

Anthropologists believe that the ancestors of modern humans encountered Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago, soon after they migrated out of Africa. That would explain why modern people of African descent have little to no Neanderthal DNA. The new findings emerge from a comprehensive reconstruction of the genome of a Neanderthal woman whose skeletal remains were found in a cave in Vindija, Croatia.

She is the fourth occu-

Frank Franklin II Associated Press

A RECONSTRUCTED Neanderthal skeleton, right, and a modern skeleton. Scientists now estimate that

somewhere between 1.8% and 2.6% of the DNA in most people alive today was inherited from Neanderthals.

pant of the Vindija caves to have her DNA sequenced, but only the second Neanderthal whose genetic secrets could be reconstructed with a resolution fine enough to make comparisons to modern humans possible.

The first complete genetic analysis of a Neanderthal focused on an individual who lived in the Siberian province of Altai some 122,000 years ago. That analysis, published in 2013 in the journal Nature, prompted researchers to estimate that Neanderthals’ genetic contribution to modern-day non-Africans lay between 1.5% and 2.1%.

The second genome “adds to mounting evidence that Neanderthal ancestry influences disease risk in present-day humans, par-

ticularly with respect to neurological, psychiatric, immunological and dermatological” traits, according to the new study led by Svante Pääbo and Kay Prüfer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

(Pääbo and Prüfer led the 2013 Nature study as well.)

Experts in evolutionary genetics say the endurance of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans makes it important to take a long view of acquired traits.

Among the newly discovered gene variants are ones that influence the buildup of LDL cholesterol (the “bad” kind that can lead to heart attacks) and belly fat, as well as the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. These may be scourges to modernday humans, but at least some of the genetic propen-

sities conferred by these stocky homonins probably helped early groups of Homo sapiens to survive, prosper and expand once they migrated out of Africa.

“Neanderthals had been living outside of Africa for hundreds of thousands of years,” said Vanderbilt evolutionary geneticist Tony Capra, who was not involved in the current study. “As our closer human ancestors moved into those environments, it’s possible that interbreeding with Neanderthals gave ancestral humans benefits.”

In a 2009 genetic analysis, Pääbo and colleagues found scant evidence of interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. But as new samples yielded themselves to ever-more-complete analysis, evidence of mating

between members of the two distinct peoples has grown.

Such interbreeding gave our human ancestors access to genes that were already adapted to an environment filled with new and unfamiliar challenges, Capra said.

“In general, we know from looking at modern humans that the parts of our bodies influenced the most [by Neanderthal genes] are the parts that interact with the environment — hair, skin, immune system,” Capra said. As Homo sapiens made a transition from Africa to a colder, cloudier landscape in which unfamiliar germs threatened and diets shifted, the progeny of interbreeding probably adapted faster and better, he said.

Indeed, some of the newly identified Neander-

thal DNA that lives on in humans is associated with blood levels of vitamin D, which is needed for strong bones. Our bodies make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight, but that commodity became less abundant with the move from Africa to Eurasia.

The new genetic data also provide some insight into the kinds of Neanderthal societies our human ancestors encountered as they moved out of Africa.

By comparing the genetic sequences of the Croatian individual and the much older one from Siberia, the researchers concluded that Neanderthals p;robably lived in relatively small, isolated groups of around 3,000 adults.

The Siberian Neanderthal appeared to be the product of close inbreeding within the group — scientists inferred that his parents were likely half-siblings. But the Croatian DNA suggests that extreme inbreeding was not ubiquitous.

The study of ancient DNA “really is a time machine,” said Dr. Edward M. Rubin, a geneticist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who pioneered some of the genetic reconstruction techniques used on ancient DNA samples and wasn’t involved in the new study.

The decision by Pääbo’s team to post all of their genetic-sequencing data online for others to pore over “has opened a very rich window that will allow large numbers of people to ask what Neanderthals were like and what they contribute to modern humans,” Rubin added.

“We’re just scratching the surface of what we’re going to learn about Neanderthals.” melissa.healy @latimes.com Twitter: @LATMelissaHealy

Brown State changes vetoes law on known smoking HIV exposure ban at beaches S AC R A M E N T O WAT C H

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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection.

The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank they are HIV-positive.

Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Fran-

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cisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors of the bill.

“Today California took a major step toward treating HIV as a public health issue, instead of treating people living with HIV as criminals,” Wiener said in a statement.

Brown declined to comment on his action.

HIV has been the only communicable disease for which exposure is a felony under California law. The current law, Wiener argued, may persuade people not to be tested for HIV, because without a test they cannot be charged with a felony if they expose a partner to the infection.

“We are going to end new HIV infections, and we will do so not by threatening people with state prison time, but rather by getting people to test and providing them access to care,” Wiener said.

Supporters of the bill said women engaging in prostitution are disproportionately targeted with criminal charges, even in cases where the infection is not transmitted.

Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine voted against the bill, arguing it puts the public at risk.

“I’m of the mind that if you purposefully inflict another with a disease that alters their lifestyle the rest of their life, puts them on a regimen of medications to maintain any kind of normalcy, it should be a felony,” Anderson said during the floor debate.

Anderson said the answer could be to extend tougher penalties to those who expose others to other infectious diseases.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday vetoed two bills that would have banned smoking at California parks and beaches, calling them too coercive and saying potential fines are too high.

The measures, which also would have banned smoking marijuana and the use of electronic cigarettes, were proposed by legislators to protect public health from secondhand smoking and to prevent wildfires and reduce litter.

Brown, who vetoed a similar bill last year, said the $100 fine proposed could reach $485 when court assessments are added, an amount he called excessive.

“If people can’t smoke even on a deserted beach, where can they?” Brown asked in his veto message.

“There must be some limit to the coercive power of government.”

The Legislature had approved separate but similar bills by Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) that would have applied the ban to 300 miles of state beaches and areas of 280 state parks that have not been designated by park officials for smoking.

“This bill would reduce the serious health hazards posed by smoking — to people and wildlife — in our state parks and beaches,” Glazer said.

Secondhand smoke is a health risk, and discarded cigarette butts can be eaten by and poison wildlife, the lawmaker said.

patrick.mcgreevy @latimes.com

patrick.mcgreevy @latimes.com

PATRICK McGREEVY

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CITY & STATE ‘Suge’ Knight says he was target of hit ‘At least one of the individuals ... at the scene ... had been paid a substantial amount of money to participate in my murder.’

A lawyer for Dr. Dre calls allegations that he paid to have ex-rap mogul killed ‘absurd.’

By Marisa Gerber Former rap impresario Marion “Suge” Knight says Dr. Dre, his onetime business partner, paid $20,000 to have him killed in 2015, recently filed court documents show.

In a signed declaration, Knight said a hit man’s presence at a Compton burger stand that Jan. 29 — the day Knight is accused of intentionally ramming his red truck into two men, killing one of them — backs up his claims that he acted in selfdefense.

An attorney representing Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, has called the allegations “absurd” and “defamatory.”

Knight, who appeared in court Friday wearing orange jail scrubs and a chain around his waist, is accused of killing Terry Carter, 55, outside Tam’s Burgers at Central and East Rosecrans avenues following an argument on the set of the movie “Straight Outta Compton.”

Footage from a security camera at the burger joint shows Knight — who has pleaded not guilty — barreling his Ford F-150 Raptor pickup into Carter and Cle “Bone” Sloan, who survived.

Knight, who fled the scene but later turned himself in, also is accused in separate cases of robbery and threatening “Straight Outta

— “Suge” Knight, in a signed declaration

Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times

MARION “SUGE” KNIGHT said in a signed declaration that he saw a check from the personal account of Dr.

Dre for $20,000. The check, he said, showed he was the target of a hit man, but he never got a copy of it.

Valerie Macon AFP/Getty Images

A LAWYER for Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre

Young, says his client’s banking documents in no way are relevant to Knight’s claims of self-defense.

Compton” director F. Gary Gray.

In Knight’s declaration, which was attached to a document made public this week, the defendant said that during a jailhouse visit in 2016, a private investigator who no longer is working on his case showed him a check for $20,000. It was dated Nov. 16, 2014, and was from Young’s personal account, Knight wrote.

“This check is critical in the defense of my case,” Knight wrote. “This check tends to show that at least one of the individuals present at the scene ... had been

paid a substantial amount of money to participate in my murder.” And that, Knight wrote, justified “my actions in attempting to flee the scene.”

According to the filing, Knight said he never got a copy of the check and the investigator now says it does not exist.

Young’s attorney, Amos A. Lowder, argued Friday that his client’s banking documents were private and in no way relevant to Knight’s claims of self-defense.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen

agreed, granting Young’s order to quash a subpoena for the records.

At the hearing, Coen also postponed Knight’s murder trial, which was to begin in January. The district attorney’s office opposed the delay, but Knight’s attorneys said they needed more time to prepare.

When Coen asked Knight whether he approved of starting his trial on April 9, the defendant smiled and offered another option: April 19 — “my birthday,” he said.

“Just kidding,” Knight added. The judge let out a laugh.

Knight also requested Friday that criminal defense attorney Dominique Baños, whom he recently hired to defend him in the criminal threats case, also be added to his defense trial team in the murder case. Knight will return to court for a pretrial hearing in his murder case Nov. 14. marisa.gerber @latimes.com Twitter: @marisagerber

Another key Coldplay performs at Rose bullet train Bowl with boosted security exec is leaving

By Ralph Vartabedian Another key executive at the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced his exit in recent days, the third such departure in less than a year for the troubled project.

Jon Tapping, the agency’s director of risk management since 2012, has been charged with analyzing technical, schedule and cost issues facing the $64-billion, Los Angeles-to-San Francisco system. He reports directly to the rail authority board.

Pressure on the bullet train project has been growing for years, with multibillion-dollar cost overruns, construction delays, contracting disputes and ongoing legal issues.

In confirming the latest departure, rail spokeswoman Lisa Marie Alley said simply: “Mr. Tapping is retiring after 35 years in state service.” He is expected to stay on the staff until November, she said.

The project now finds itself without a permanent chief executive, chief operating officer and risk manager — three crucial positions as the rail authority works on its new business plan, scheduled for release early next year. That plan will lay out how the system’s initial operating segment, from San Jose to south of Wasco, can be built using available funds.

The project’s chief executive, Jeff Morales, left in June. His deputy, Dennis Trujillo, departed late last year.

Morales was temporarily replaced by the agency’s counsel, Thomas Fellenz.

The rail authority is close to hiring an executive search firm to find Morales’ successor, Alley said.

After Trujillo left, Tapping temporarily took over his responsibilities under the new title of chief operating officer.

Turnover among lowerlevel employees as well has made it difficult for the authority to remain fully

staffed, according to a manager who was not authorized to speak publicly about personnel matters.

An internal survey taken this year, which was obtained by The Times, found that morale problems had grown worse in each of the last three years.

“There is no stability,” the manager said. “The office is in chaos every day.” ralph.vartabedian @latimes.com Twitter: @rvartabedian

In wake of Las Vegas massacre, authorities take extra precaution for crowd of 60,000.

By Makeda Easter

Pasadena authorities Friday stepped up security for a Coldplay concert at the Rose Bowl in the wake of Sunday’s mass killing at a Las Vegas country music festival.

About 60,000 people attended the show at the outdoor stadium.

“After Sunday’s events, we evaluated our operational plans and looked at our staffing levels, and we’re ready and prepared for the concert,” Pasadena Police Lt. Art Chute said.

According to Chute, additional bomb-sniffing dogs and special response teams were assigned to the venue.

Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 500 injured after a gunman fired at a crowd of 22,000 concertgoers Sunday night.

“In light of recent events, there are no specific, credible threats related to the Coldplay concert at the

Rose Bowl Stadium,” said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip L. Sanchez said in a statement. “The Pasadena Police Department will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners from state and federal agencies to evaluate threat levels and ensure the safety of everyone in attendance.”

By 5:30 p.m., two lines filled with hundreds of concertgoers waiting to go through security. A video instructing attendees how to get smoothly through security and into the Rose Bowl played on repeat.

Standing in line, Harley

Elegino, 44, said he wasn’t worried about attending the show. “I believe that as Americans, we should ignore what the terrorists want us to feel,” he said.

Isti Halim, 42, acknowledged that the massacre was on her mind. She recalled her friends’ advice to stand to the side instead of in the middle. And her daughter, 6 years old, had something to tell her, too: “She said: ‘Be safe, Mommy.

I pray there’s no people shooting.’ ” makeda.easter @latimes.com

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times

A WE L C OM E R E T UR N H O M E F ROM T R AG EDY Family and friends greet Ontario Police Officer Michael Gracia, center; his fiancee, Summer Clyburn, right; and their 3-month-old daughter, Vayda, at Brackett Field airport in La Verne. Gracia and Clyburn were both shot in Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas.

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Sniper threat a tactical challenge

[Tactics, from B1] nerability of those in the focus of a sniper as well as the chilling limitations of responding officers.

Authorities have long discussed the threat of terrorism by a sniper in a crowded area and the reality that there are relatively few tools to prevent or quickly stop such an attack.

Los Angeles police have tried different tactics, including placing sharpshooters on rooftops during the Academy Awards. Earlier this year and for the first time, the LAPD had an officer in a helicopter shoot a suspect who was firing from the top of a hill.

But replicating those tactics more commonly at open-air events would be costly and in some cases impractical.

Stephen Paddock’s position on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino gave him “commanding terrain,” said Charles Heal, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff ’s commander and special weapons leader.

“There were so many people in his line of fire, he didn’t need to target anyone,” Heal said. He said the complexity of a high-rise hotel created a maze for police attempting to track Paddock.

“If you don’t find cover, given his position, he is likely to hit you.”

The scene was sustained by what could be called the trigonometry of terror.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Arthur B. Alphin said Paddock was a patient, welltrained gunner who did not pick and choose his targets, but held to a steady kill zone centered in the middle of thousands of concertgoers.

“He had a huge area of three, four or five football fields with people standing shoulder to shoulder,” said Alphin, who has a mechanical engineering degree and specialized in ballistics.

“He was not aiming at any individual person. He was just throwing bullets in a huge ‘beaten zone.’ ” “Beaten zone” is an infantry term dating to World War I. Shaped like the area a searchlight casts across a flat surface, it refers to where bullets can strike. It can move substantially with tiny changes in the tilt of the gun.

From his perch, Paddock was firing down the hypotenuse of a right triangle and would have to adjust his aim for the arc of the bullet — a skill that would require training.

John Locher Associated Press

THE KILLER’S position on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort gave him “commanding terrain,” said Charles Heal, a retired L.A.

County sheriff’s commander and special weapons leader. “There were so many people in his line of fire, he didn’t need to target anyone.”

Molly Hennessy-Fiske Los Angeles Times

THE ATTACK was similar to that of the 1966 killer

who shot from a University of Texas at Austin tower.

At least one of the 23 weapons found in his hotel room had a bipod stand to hold it steady, authorities

said.

Officers on the ground would be virtually ineffective when combating a sniper so

far away, said San Marino Police Chief John Incontro, a former LAPD SWAT captain.

“Even if you see the muzzle flash, we are talking officers with pistols,” Incontro said. “Even with rifles, you have a prospect of missing and harming others.”

Experts believe the Las Vegas massacre will force a shift in the paradigm for policing outdoor events. Locations will be vetted for quick escape routes for large crowds. Event organizers might be asked to have materials on hand that could become a makeshift fence.

Tactical plans could be drawn up for areas such as L.A. Live where skyscrapers loom.

Los Angeles police currently station counter-snipers at open-air events, but the tactic is used sparingly and only for major affairs, such as award shows. A counter-sniper would have to be positioned higher than the shooter.

On May 8, after a fivehour standoff with a gunman in Sunland, Los Angeles police were ordered to fire from a helicopter. The man was at the top of a hill in a house and had been difficult for responding officers

to reach. Chief Charlie Beck said the decision to employ the tactic was made at the highest levels of the department.

It’s not clear whether that approach would have been effective in a situation like the Las Vegas killings.

“You have to get pretty close for that shot,” said Incontro, adding that a sniper could also shoot at the helicopter, possibly forcing it into the ground.

Paddock’s plan of attack was similar to that of Charles Whitman, a former Marine sharpshooter who opened fire from a tower at the University of Texas at Austin in 1966.

Whitman, who lost his scholarship to the school a few years earlier, had taken an elevator to the 27th floor, where he hauled rifles up two flights of stairs to the observation deck. Sixteen people were killed.

Paddock was even higher up and armed with weapons modified to rapidly fire when he began his relentless attack on the crowd below.

He was able to create a setting similar to that of a battlefield, said James Allen Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist who researches mass killings.

Those watching country singer Jason Aldean perform that night dismissed the initial gunshots as firecrackers.

Then bodies began to drop.

“We’ve got to go!” Jared Birnbaum heard his girlfriend say before she disappeared in the chaos.

He scrambled to an exit only to be stopped by a police officer redirecting the mob. Birnbaum then dove under nearby bleachers, joining hundreds of others.

By then, Birnbaum was covered in blood — most of it from other people — and hearing talk of multiple shooters. He feared being taken hostage in what felt like a fishbowl of raining bullets.

“All you could do is duck and put your hands behind your head,” he said, “and hope you’re not one of the ones to go.” richard.winton @latimes.com geoffrey.mohan @latimes.com sarah.parvini @latimes.com corina.knoll@latimes.com Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report from Las Vegas.

‘This looks bad,’ expert says of donations [Rodriguez, from B1] was heated and sometimes got nasty.

Most of the low blows were paid for by outside groups not controlled by the candidates. The pro-Rodriguez effort was spearheaded by the political arm of the California Charter Schools Assn., whose mailers falsely accused Kayser of trying “to stop Latino children from attending schools in white neighborhoods.”

Kayser was trying to retain a seat in a district where a majority of voters are Latino. The teachers union, which supported him, fought back by trying to tar Rodriguez’s reputation.

One attempt was a mailer, sent out in English and Spanish, asserting that “it would take a custodial worker at a Refugio Rodriguez school nearly 12 years to make what he pays himself every year.”

The pro-Rodriguez campaign responded with the three janitors, misleadingly described as employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District. All were employees of Partnerships to Uplift Communities, or PUC Schools, which was cofounded by Rodriguez.

Though they are public schools, charters are independent organizations.

The mailers had janitor Carlos Villagomez allude to Kayser’s opposition to some charter schools. “Bennett Kayser voted to close down great schools serving our community’s poorest children,” Villagomez was quoted as saying. “Now his allies are lying about how Ref Rodriguez treats his janitors.”

Added fellow janitor Socorro Villagomez: “Ref Rod-

CAMPAIGN mailers from the L.A. Unified race featured testimony from janitors Carlos Villagomez, left, So-

corro Villagomez and Maria Hernandez. All three have been named in Ref Rodriguez’s money laundering case.

riguez’s parents were janitors who hailed from Jalisco, Mexico, and who worked hard to put him through school. Ref knows as well as anybody how important it is to treat workers well.”

In another flier, Carlos Villagomez — this time identified as an employee of Excel Academy, a PUC school — again accused Kayser of trying to “close down great schools.”

“If Bennett Kayser had his way,” he said, “I wouldn’t have a job and this school would be shut down. Ref Rodriguez has always had the best interest of the workers and the children at heart.”

A third mailer relies on a

testimonial from Nancy Villagomez, who is identified as a middle school principal.

“Ref is a passionate advocate for helping all students — regardless of what neighborhood they live in — succeed,” she said. “No candidate has done more to turn around failing schools and improve graduation rates.”

Nancy Villagomez is a principal at a PUC school. It is unclear whether she is related to the Villagomez janitors. She donated $900 to the Rodriguez campaign in late December 2014. In that same period, Carlos and Socorro Villagomez, who each earned about $10,000 from their PUC jobs in 2014, donated $1,000 apiece. Hernan-

dez donated $800. Rodriguez reimbursed all of these donations, prosecutors say.

Of the 25 contributions to Rodriguez’s campaign that prosecutors allege were illegal, 13 came from employees at his charter organization. Of these 13, as many as nine were relatives of Rodriguez, according to PUC administrators, who reviewed internal files in response to a public records request from The Times. Without identifying individuals, they said PUC employs 14 of his relatives in a workforce of 900.

Rodriguez left his $192,610-a-year position at PUC shortly after he joined the school board in 2015.

Kathy Feng, executive di-

rector of California Common Cause, an ethics watchdog group, said employee donors are worrisome.

“There’s been a long history of coercion of employees to take political positions or make donations at the direction of their employers,” Feng said. “There is a power relationship. A staff person might feel compelled to donate regardless of how they might feel personally about a candidate or a campaign.”

In 2014, Rodriguez was a senior executive at PUC; his co-defendant in the criminal case is his cousin Elizabeth Tinajero Melendrez, who was a PUC administrator.

According to prosecutors, Rodriguez asked Melendrez

to solicit donors and then use his money to reimburse them.

PUC’s other co-founder, Jacqueline Elliot, who remains a senior PUC executive, said she had no knowledge of improper donations until the charges were filed.

It is not known whether Rodriguez or anyone in his campaign worked with the pro-charter group in obtaining the testimonials. Such coordination between a candidate’s official campaign and an independent expenditure campaign would be illegal but would be difficult to prove, experts say.

Nancy Villagomez did not respond to attempts to reach her Friday by phone and email. Hernandez also could not be reached. Rodriguez did not respond to questions submitted Friday afternoon to his lawyer and his board office.

Approached outside their home as they got in their car Thursday, Carlos and Socorro Villagomez were less effusive than during the campaign.

Carlos Villagomez said they spoke no English, but both refused to answer questions posed in Spanish. Socorro Villagomez said they just worked at PUC and knew nothing about the criminal case. Carlos Villagomez said only their attorney could respond. They would not provide the name of their attorney.

“We have to go to work,” Carlos Villagomez said in English, as they drove off. howard.blume @latimes.com Times staff writers Nina Agrawal, David Zahniser and Anna M. Phillips contributed to this report.

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Shock at second dean’s departure [Varma, from B1] complishments I have made together with students, residents, the staff and faculty of both the Keck School and the USC Roski Eye Institute and look forward to continuing my work at USC as a member of the faculty.”

USC disciplined Varma in 2003 after allegations that he sexually harassed the young researcher while he was a junior professor, according to confidential personnel records reviewed by The Times and interviews with people familiar with the university investigation.

As The Times was preparing to publish a story disclosing the case, USC announced Thursday afternoon that Varma was no longer dean.

USC Provost Michael Quick said in a letter to the campus community Friday that Dr. Laura Mosqueda, Keck’s chair of family medicine, would serve as interim dean while the university searched for Varma’s permanent successor.

Quick acknowledged the widespread anger over the latest black eye to Keck. “I understand how upsetting this situation is to all of us, but we felt it was in the best interest of the faculty, staff, and students for all of us to move in this direction,” he wrote in a Thursday letter.

At a packed town hall meeting in Mayer Auditorium on Friday, university administrators heard from a large crowd of angry Keck medical students, many in scrubs and white doctor coats.

“I really want to talk about the culture that’s being propagated at the highest levels of USC leadership, and it seems to be a culture that values money above all else, especially ethics,” said one male student, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by The Times.

Both former deans were known as financial rainmakers for USC. Puliafito claimed to have raised $1 billion while leading Keck — a number USC now disputes.

The National Institutes of

Health sent more than $60 million in grants to USC for Varma’s projects, according to federal databases.

The deans present at the meeting tried to allay fears that the scandals could affect the medical school’s reputation or the careers of the students. One administrator told the students that they would be given written talking points to use during residency interviews “so you feel like you’ll have a little security in your back pocket.”

A female student demanded action by USC President C.L. Max Nikias and the university’s Board of Trustees.

“We need to have the freaking trustees, we need to have Nikias, we need to have Quick in here, and we need them to apologize,” she said.

In July, The Times published a lengthy story that detailed the 66-year-old Puliafito’s partying with muchyounger drug abusers while he was dean. He resigned as dean in March 2016, but USC allowed him to remain on faculty and continue to treat patients.

University leaders later said they were unaware of Puliafito’s drug use, although Varma told a gathering of students that his predecessor’s excessive drinking was known to administrators. After The Times’ investigation was published, USC barred Puliafito from campus and began the process to fire him. He is under investigation by the Medical Board of California.

A committee headed by Quick selected Varma as Puliafito’s replacement last year from a pool of more than 140 applicants from across the nation, according to USC. The candidates included academics from top universities. After winnowing the field to 15, USC interviewed the candidates and chose Varma.

On Tuesday, The Times informed USC of the newspaper’s findings on the sexual harassment case involving Varma and asked the university for comment.

USC on Wednesday told The

Times the incident had been addressed nearly 15 years ago and that it remained confident in Varma’s leadership. In meetings with faculty members Wednesday, Varma told colleagues he had the support of USC leadership, according to two Keck employees knowledge-

To therapist, a scream was a way to heal associated press

A

rthur Janov, a psychotherapist whose “primal therapy” had celebrities screaming to release their childhood traumas and spawned a best-selling book in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.

Janov died at his home in Malibu on Sunday from respiratory arrest following a stroke, his wife, France Janov, said.

Janov, a clinical psychologist, became an international celebrity with his idea that adults repressed childhood traumas, making them neurotic and leading to problems such as mood disorders, drug addiction and even epilepsy.

His ideas rode the counterculture wave of the late 1960s and were embraced by celebrities including John Lennon and James Earl Jones. The 1980s rock group Tears for Fears said it was inspired by Janov.

Over the decades, though, many of the bedrock principles of Janov’s teaching were dismissed as unsound.

Janov believed that what he termed “primal pain” could extend as far as birth.

“Coming close to death at birth or feeling unloved as a child are examples of such pain,” he wrote. “When the pain is too much, it is repressed and stored away.

When enough unresolved pain has occurred, we lose access to your feelings and become neurotic.

“The number one killer in the world today is not cancer or heart disease, it is repression,” he wrote.

His therapy method

involved having people relive their traumatic memories by “regressing” to infancy or childhood in order to confront and exorcise their demons.

His Santa Monica center provided props such as cribs and stuffed animals.

Patients, who might pay thousands of dollars, would scream or shout as their supposedly pent-up traumas were revealed.

“Once you feel it, people just become themselves,” his wife said. “People don’t need the drugs, the smoking, the acting out ... not to feel that pain.”

Janov contended that the therapy could cure everything from stuttering to drug addiction to epilepsy, and might even lead to an end to war.

He included homosexuality as a curable condition, although the American Psychiatric Assn. took it off the list of psychiatric disorders in 1973.

His 1970 book, “The Primal Scream,” made him an international celebrity.

In a 1975 book, Janov called his therapy “the only hope if mankind is to survive” and suggested that what he called primal consciousness “certainly means an end to war.”

As with many other emotional-release therapies of its time, primal therapy now is widely rejected by mental health professionals as unscientific and ineffectual.

Janov’s widow said it still is practiced around the world. “It changed so many people’s lives,” she said. news.obits@latimes.com A Times staff writer contributed to this report.

ment incidents that caused it to lose confidence in [Varma’s] ability to lead.” He declined to elaborate.

Senior faculty members at Keck said they were stunned by the developments over the last two days.

Some feared for the

school’s reputation. “It’s not that we’ve lost [Puliafito and Varma], but that these individuals were ever appointed,” another faculty member said. sarah.parvini@latimes.com paul.pringle@latimes.com harriet.ryan@latimes.com

obituary notices

Place a paid Notice: latimes.com/placeobituary Search obituary notice archives: legacy.com/obituaries/latimes

KAMBE, Sue Sumiko

February 26, 1929 - September 11, 2017

Arrigo, Elmo A.

April 14, 1925 - October 1, 2017

Elmo was born in Los Angeles in 1925 to Frank and Victoria Arrigo.

He married Marshall Anne Mathers in 1950 and is survived by their 5 children, his 3 brothers and 1 sister, 7 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is being held at San Buenaventura Mission on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 12:00pm, located at 211 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001. Please contact (661) 289-0891 for more information.

Sue Sumiko Kambe, 88 years old, passed away peacefully on September 11, 2017 with her family by her side. She is survived by her devoted husband, Victor Kambe, their children, Erin Junko (Hubert) Chow, Kevin Hutchins, Torye (Simon) Holland and Edward (Beverly) Kambe; 10 grandchildren and other relatives.

She was a resident for many years in Rolling Hills Estates, CA, and most recently resided in Seal Beach, CA. She will forever be remembered for her lively, fun-loving, and kind personality.

Katz, Ronald

Mount Sinai Memorial Parks Simi Valley 800-600-0076 www.mountsinaiparks.org

April 14, 1932 - October 2, 2017

Beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and fatherin-law. Born in Los Angeles, attended Harvard School, Stanford and UCLA. He enjoyed a long career at Bateman Eichler Hill Richards. Predeceased by his brother William H. Bateman, his sister-in-law Carol F. Bateman, his brother-in-law Willis Durst Jr., and his son Hugh Durst Bateman.

Survived by his wife Elizabeth Durst Bateman, daughter Mary Bateman Yen (Raymond) and their 2 children, along with nieces, nephews and many lifelong friends. After a private burial, a memorial service will be held.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Billings, John McCoy

November 29, 1938 - October 1, 2017

Passed away peacefully on Oct. 1, 2017. A resident of Highland, CA, he retired from LAC Fire Dept. in 1998 and spent his days leading a quiet life of reading, spending time with his grandchildren, and rooting for his SDSU Aztecs.

Minney, Maureen L.

Palmer, lillian Cogen

Poss, Charles William

Maureen “Mo” Minney died Tuesday, October 3, 2017 in Newport Beach, CA with her two sons Josh and Tyler by her side. She was 63.

Mo loved the islands of Tahiti, watching her two boys grow up, and spending time with all her friends.

Celebration of Life - Sat., Oct. 7, 1-5PM @ the old“Josh Slocums.”

The extraordinary life of Lillian C. Palmer, 97, ended on Friday, June 2 when she passed away peacefully in Santa Monica, CA. She was deeply loved by her children—daughter Meredith Palmer and son William Palmer, daughter-in-law Anne Palmer, her adored grandchildren Sofie and Gus Palmer, and her favorite, remarkable dog CoCo. Lillian lived a full and long life, active and lucid until the end. Her passion for art and photography led to a position as Professor of Instructional Media and Communications at California State University at Northridge (CSUN) where she taught for more than 30 years. She helped to create one of the first multi-media centers in the U.S. on the Northridge campus. She graduated from UCLA and Mills College, Oakland where she studied psychology and the arts, her passion for people and photography never ceased.

In 2006 her beloved husband of 61 years Herbert, who owned the Herbert Palmer Gallery, passed away. A private ceremony was held in memoriam for Lillian and the Gallery at the Getty Research Institute.

Donations in Lillian’s memory may be made to: UCLA Division of Geriatrics’Home Care Program Cedars Sinai, A. Giuliano Research & Education Fund

Age 88 passed away on September 30, 2017 in Fullerton, California.

Charles (“Charlie”) was born in Riverdale, Illinois on August 29, 1929.

Charlie was simply a legend in the Southern California construction and earthmoving industry for over 40 years.

Charlie graduated from Purdue University in 1951 with a Mechanical Engineering degree and was a United States Air Force Pilot and veteran of the Korean War. His service in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves spanned from 1946-1966 and he achieved the rank of Major.

In 1962, he started in the construction industry with La Mirada Trucking which quickly became the preeminent dirt trucking company of that era. In 1970, Charlie expanded into contracting with C.W. Poss, Inc. Quickly, C.W. Poss, Inc. became a major earthmoving and site development contractor responsible for a number of landmark developments and high-profile projects throughout the southland including many housing tracts, golf courses, high rises, hospitals, airports, sports venues, performing arts centers, harbors and landfills that we all still use today.

He created literally tens of thousands of jobs for the employees of C.W. Poss, Inc. and other ventures over his business career.

For the construction industry, Charlie was a founding member of the Southern California Contractors Association. He served as a board member of various construction trade trust funds including the Operating Engineers and Teamster trust funds as well as countless construction committees helping the industry navigate complex regulation, legislation and labor issues for close to 5 decades.

He was a philanthropist, supporting many worthy organizations such as Opera Pacific, Segerstrom Center for Arts, Pacific Symphony, Orangewood Children’s Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, City of Hope and the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center.

As he touched so many lives in the construction industry, the local community, through his philanthropic service, and with his big personality, Charlie was “larger than life” and “one of a kind.” If you ever met Charlie, you wouldn’t forget him.

Charlie was a loving husband, father, grandfather and greatgrandfather. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Patricia, daughters Janet Ugalde (Dan) and Robin Hartnett (Patrick) and son Chuck (Sharlene).

He is also survived by 9 grandchildren (Dan, Rose, Christopher, Elizabeth, Olivia, Jake, Madeline, Patrick and Ryan) and 6 great-grandchildren (Alexandria, Abigail, Daniel, Anabella, Daniel Jr. and Christopher).

In lieu of flowers the family suggests that donations be made to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Attn. Dr. Jacek Pinski and Dr. Stuart Boyd at cancer.keckmedicine.org/ giving/donate .

A Prayer Vigil will be held on Wednesday October 11, 2017 at 7:00 PM in the Chapel in the Sky at the Tower of Hope located at the Christ/ Crystal Cathedral, 13280 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92840.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday October 12, 2017 at 10:00 AM at St Juliana Falconieri Church, 1316 N Acacia Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831 with a Celebration of Charlie’s Life following the Funeral Mass.

February 6, 1954 - October 3, 2017

MiyaMoto, Emiko

Bateman, Hugh albert

He enriched our lives by loving, mentoring and supporting us through life’s joys and challenges.

ARTHUR JANOV

able of the conversations.

Less than 24 hours later, USC reversed course and said Varma was out, citing The Times’ reporting and “previously undisclosed information.” A university spokesman said Friday that “USC’s investigation led to new disclosures of employ-

Magit, Myrna Charlotte

October 27, 1929 - October 4, 2017

Myrna Magit passed away peacefully on October 4th, surrounded by her family. Myrna was known for her elegance, her grace, her welcoming home and her unfailing generosity but it is as an incredible mother that she will be most remembered. She not only loved her children fiercely and with all her heart and soul but made all around her feel taken care of and cared for. Our hearts are broken with her loss but what she taught about the power of love and family will endure for generations.

Myrna is survived by her children Benita, Debra (Chris), and Anthony (Gina), her grandchildren Sam, Jake and Bertie (Chase), and her greatgrandchildren Ezra and Hila.

Services will be held Sunday, October 8th at 1pm at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001W. Centinela Ave., Culver City. Reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association/Western State Affiliate, P.O. Box 742030, LA, CA 90074-2030.

(86) passed away on September 25, 2017 in Camarillo, CA. She is survived by her children, Jeffrey (Wende) and Alan (Julia) Miyamoto; grandchildren, Colin, Ryan, Kevin, Kimberly and Kari Miyamoto; siblings, Sue Yamamura and Mikio (Sanaye) Shimoide; sistersin-law, Bessie and Yoneko Shimoide, Yoshiye Kuramoto, Molly Takahashi, and Emiko Miyamoto; also survived by many nieces, nephews and other relatives.

A private funeral service was held on Friday, October 6, 2017 at West LA Buddhist Temple. (213) 749-1449 www.kubotanikkeimortuary.com

Moskowitz, irwin

May 13, 1927 - September 17, 2017

Irwin was a loving family man with a big heart. He is survived by his beautiful wife Elaine, his two sons Andrew & Matthew, his grandchildren Ben, Sara, Alex, Isabel & Dana, and his joyous great-granddaughter Matilda.

We will miss you!

John is survived by his wife Maria; his children, Jim, Debbie, Natalie, and Adam; his grandchildren Samantha, Zaena, Nathan, Dean, Vivian, Zach, and Ellesse; and his niece Kathy.

Gallop, Gerald D.

Mount Sinai Memorial Parks Hollywood Hills 800-600-0076 www.mountsinaiparks.org

Fred Siegfried Silton ifekwunigwe, Aaron e.

July 31, 1932 - October 1, 2017

Dr. Aaron Ifekwunigwe died quietly at home in Petersburg, VA. He is survived by his wife, Muriel, children Christopher, Jayne and Ann, grandchildren David, Justin, Cameron, Isaiah, and Muriel, son- and daughterin-law Christian and Janet, and sistersin-law Mary and Doreen. He joins his parents, Aaron and Florence, son David, sisters Grace and Theresa, and brother Richard. Memorial Service will be on Sat., Oct. 14, 2017 at 2pm at Christ and Grace Episcopal Church in Petersburg, VA. Contact the family via https://www.smore.com/5xv31 or rememberingdraaron@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, please support Doctors Without Borders https://donate. doctorswithoutborders.org.

Johnson, Vann

November 13, 1960 - September 27, 2017

Our beloved Vann Johnson made her transition into the heavenly arms of our creator. The message in her magical voice will forever live on. Vann moved from Flint, MI, to Los Angeles in 1990 to pursue her singing career.

Her vocal credits included recordings, appearances and tours with Michael Bolton, David Foster, Kenny G, Patti LaBelle, Elton John, Kenny Rogers and Ringo Starr. She performed on the Grammy Awards, BET Awards, The Tonight Show, Oprah, The Singing Bee and Yanni’s “Love Is All” at the Taj Mahal. She also co-wrote and produced her own album, Messages.

Vann recently fulfilled her lifelong dream of working toward a college degree and was accepted to the University of California San Diego for her senior year. Vann is survived by her only child LaShann (Marcus) Harris of Flint, MI; grandchildren Tianna L. Dailey of Laguna Niguel, CA, Torrey Harris, Alecia J. Harris, Alexandria J. Harris, and Alana J. Harris; father Matthew Taylor; sisters Mattlon (Henry Pete Roberts) and Sophia J. Taylor, all of Flint; and brothers Markantoney J. Taylor, also of Flint, and Delvin Wilson of Austin, TX. She was preceded in death by her mother Ethel (Bell)Taylor; grandparents John and Carrie (Mctier) Skinner and Tonie and Bertha (Porter) Taylor; and nephew Zion Roberts. Her family and friends ask that, in the memory of Ms. Johnson, you donate patience to one another, kindness to a stranger and, most important, love to yourself and to the world.

October 9, 1919 - June 2, 2017

July 22, 1923 - October 3, 2017 Fred Silton immigrated to the United States in 1938 at the age of fifteen with his parents Regina and Herman Silberstein to escape the Nazi Anschluss in Vienna, Austria. He settled in St. Louis with his mother and father through the sponsorship of relatives and graduated high school before returning to Europe to serve as a communications officer in WWII. After the war, he followed his family’s move to Los Angeles and worked in the family outerwear company, Silton Brothers, which grew under his leadership into a large national brand. In the 1980s, he made a timely transition to real estate development and investment and created an extensive portfolio of high quality apartment buildings in the Westwood area. He was actively involved in managing his portfolio until just a few months ago, despite battling Parkinson’s for almost 15 years.

His life’s work and journey were supported by his beautiful and devoted wife, Flora (d. 1994) with whom he had four children – Karen Balin (Barry), Debbi Cowan (Roger), Susan Silton and Jim Silton.

He is also survived by six adoring grandchildren – Zach (Tracy Walsh) and Aevrey Balin, Jeff (Shannon) and Amanda Cowan, and Rachel and Blake Silton. He was remarried in 1997 to Lee Silton (d. 2016) with whom he shared passions for travel, art, and cultural activities. He was committed to honoring the less fortunate and contributed tirelessly to multiple charities, culminating in a gift to UCLA to endow a chair in Parkinson’s research.

Dad’s vision, perseverance, and incredible work ethic brought him happiness as well as success, and his family is forever grateful for his love and guidance through his long life. We will miss him every day.

Services will be held at Hillside Memorial Park on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Donations may be made in his honor to UCLA Neurology, c/o Movement Disorders, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095.

To place an obituary ad please go online to:

latimes.com/placeobituary

Porcaro, Miles Edwin crawford Age 31, of Los Angeles, CA, passed away October 4, 2017.

Beloved son of the late Jeffrey Porcaro, Susan Porcaro Goings & Rick Goings; loving brother of Christopher (Cindy) Porcaro, Nico Porcaro, Rett Goings, Todd Goings, Amy Goings, Kristina Goings, and Anna (Eric) Goings Furr; grandson of Carrie & Edwin Norris, Sr., and Eileen & Joe Porcaro; nephew of Linda & Ron Lloyd, Edwin Norris, Jr., Steve Porcaro, Joleen & Steve Duddy, Cheryl Porcaro & the late Mike Porcaro; cousin of Carrie Hogaboom, Dillon Hogaboom, Emma Hogaboom, Heather Porcaro, Brittany Duddy, Brianne Porcaro, Chase Duddy, Sam Porcaro, Jeffrey Porcaro, Paige Duddy, Dominic Porcaro, & Michaela Porcaro; proud uncle of Porter & Holden. Also survived by countless friends.

Miles was a gifted musician, talented artist, knowledgeable military historian, and a student at Rollins College. He shared with his brothers a love of cinematic craft and was quick-witted with a wicked sense of humor. Miles will be remembered for his infectious laughter, his big smile, and his warm hugs.

A private service for family and friends will be held Wednesday, October 11, 2017 beginning at 3pm, at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Church of the Hills. Miles will be laid to rest with his father.

In lieu of flowers, and in honor of Miles’ passion for military veterans and the homeless, please donate to the Gary Sinise Foundation (www. garysinisefoundation.org).

Port, Norman

August 26, 1916 - October 5, 2017

101, passed away October 5, 2017 surrounded in love by his adoring family. Survived by his daughters Pamela Streitfeld and Barbara Schwartz, and son James (Stella) Port; brothers Marvin and Jack (Elaine); six grandchildren and their spouses and eleven greatgrandchildren and one on the way. He will be dearly missed and is loved by everyone who knew him.

Services will be held Monday, October 9, 2017 at 12:00 noon at Hillside Memorial Park (800)576-1994.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Temple Mishkon Tephilo, 206 Main St., Venice, CA 90291.

UsUi, Roy Mitsuo (91), Veteran of WWII, passed away on September 15, 2017 in Torrance. He is survived by his wife, Aiko Usui; children, Janice (Ricky Kanechika) Usui Kanechika and Alan Usui; grandchildren, Elijah, Micah and Hannah Usui; siblings, Yoneko Aoki, Frank (Susie) Usui, Mary Toma, Terry (Roy) Nakawatase, and Jim (Nancy) Usui; sister-in-law, Emiko Nishiyama; brother-in-law, Jim Nakamura; also survived by many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.

A funeral service will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 3:00PM at Senshin Buddhist Temple, 1311 W. 37th St., Los Angeles. Family requests casual attire. (213) 749-1449 www.kubotanikkeimortuary.com

In Memoriam

Patrick Kinne

To place an obituary ad please go online to: latimes.com/placeobituary

or call 1-800-234-4444 or call 1-800-234-4444

August 29, 1929 - September 30, 2017

March 21, 1943 - October 7, 2016

You’re still the one and I’ll be loving you always. Forever your wife, Sheryl

To place an obituary ad please go online to: latimes.com/placeobituary

or call 1-800-234-4444

B6

L AT I ME S . CO M

Today in Southern California

Today in North America

Storm approaches: Showers and thunderstorms will spread across the Deep South and Southeast as Nate strengthens over the Gulf.

Gusty winds and rain are on tap for the western Great Lakes. Snow will develop over the northern Rockies with a Canadian cold front.

5-day forecasts

Pressure:

High/low temperatures are average forecasts for entire zone.

Today Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday

L.A. Basin 92/63

Sunny and hot Fog, then sun Sunny Sunny Sunny

Valleys 94/61

Los Angeles Basin: Sunny and warm with elevated fire danger. Clear tonight with patchy coastal clouds and fog late.

Valleys/canyons: Sunny and hot with elevated fire danger. Clear tonight.

Sunny and cooler Sunday.

Orange County: Sunny and

Air quality

Sunny and hot Cooler Windy Sunny, windy Sunny

80/61 84/58 84/60 82/63

Beaches 84/61

Sunny and warm Fog, then sun 75/59 Sunny 80/56 Sunny 79/57 Sunny 77/60

83/58 83/57 86/57 84/59

warm inland with elevated fire danger. Clear tonight with patchy low clouds and dense fog late.

Ventura/Santa Barbara: Sunny and warm with morning Santa Ana winds 15-30 mph and elevated fire danger. Clear tonight with coastal clouds and fog late.

Good

Moderate

Mountains 77/36

Sunny and warm Sunny, warm 73/28 Windy 56/28 Sunny, windy 67/29 Sunny 67/28

San Diego County: Sunny and warm inland. Clear tonight with areas of clouds and dense fog late.

Local mountains: Sunny and mild. Clear tonight.

Sunny, breezy and cooler Sunday.

High desert: Sunny and warm. Clear tonight. Sunny

Unhealthful for:

Sensitive people

Temps

Deserts 101/69

Sunny and hot Sunny, hot Cooler Sunny Sunny, warm

L

–0

H

High

▲

Warm Front

Cold Front

0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+

4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p 4p

Las Vegas 88/64

Los Angeles 92/63

Denver 77/46

Houston 89/71

Miami 89/81

NATE

Ojai 90/53

NNW6 SW4 WSW4 WNW4 WSW4 WSW4 WSW4 WSW4 W4 W4 W4 W4 W4 WNW4 WNW4

5/17 1/16 5/16 5/16 5/16 4/16 4/16 6/16 6/16 6/16 5/16 5/16 6/16 6/16 0/16

California cities

Friday Today Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo

Anaheim 98 Avalon/Catalina 84 Bakersfield 86 Barstow 88 Beaumont 86 Big Bear Lake 70 Bishop 83 Burbank 96 Camarillo 97 Chatsworth 94 Chino 99 Dana Point xx Death Valley 100 Del Mar 81 Escondido 92 Eureka 63 Fallbrook 94 Fillmore 99 Fresno 85 Fullerton 97 Hemet 94 Hesperia 87 Huntington Beach 80 Idyllwild 81 Irvine 87 L.A. D’ntown/USC 92 L.A. Int’l. Airport 86

Chicago 79/56 New York 80/68

VENTURA CO.

55/78 67/80 66/79 67/78 69/79 69/79 66/78 66/79 68/79 69/80 70/78 70/79 68/80 68/81 68/76

Wind speed in knots; wave heights in feet/intervals in seconds; temperatures for sea/air

City

Rain T-storm Snow Ice

Seattle 61/47

Not Available

Santa Clarita Hesperia 96/59 Santa Paula LOS ANGELES CO. 90/51 91/54 Santa Simi Valley Barbara Chatsworth SAN BERNARDINO CO. Burbank Monrovia 94/58 80/53 95/61 Camarillo Ventura 94/61 89/62 87/57 79/55 Yucca Valley Pomona/ UCLA 91/61 Fairplex Oxnard San Bernardino Westlake Ontario 88/61 LA Downtown 98/58 80/55 Woodland 97/58 92/63 Village 97/62 Hills Whittier Santa Barbara Co. 91/58 Chino 96/59 Height Period Direction Santa Monica Hills Riverside 100/55 RIVERSIDE CO. Fullerton 93/62 1-3’ 16 sec SSW 84/61 96/51 93/61 Torrance Santa Ana Ventura Co. 85/60 ORANGE CO. Palm Hemet Long Height Period Direction 87/62 Springs 97/54 Irvine Beach Newport 3-6’ 16 sec SSW 88/61 101/69 88/62 Beach Mission Viejo Los Angeles Co. 82/63 Temecula Height Period Direction 90/60 Laguna 96/52 3-6’ 16 sec SSW Beach San 83/62 Clemente Orange Co. Surf and sea 85/59 SAN DIEGO CO. Height Period Direction POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICO Oceanside 4-7’ 16 sec SSW Inner waters: Variable winds 5-10 knots, 89/53 becoming west 8-15 knots. Wind waves San Diego Co. 1-6 feet with a south swell of 3-4 feet.

Ramona Escondido Height Period Direction 96/52 94/57 Surf zone: The potential for strong rip 4-7’ 16 sec SSW currents is high, except at beaches on Poway the south coast of Santa Barbara 91/61 County, where it is low.

Tides UV index L.A. Outer Harbor, in feet.

Minutes to burn for San Diego Today 10:37a 6.1 Hi 4:25a 0.9 Lo sensitive people Station Time Wind Waves Temp 82/64 Las Vegas, 45 Morro Bay Santa Barbara Ventura Zuma Beach Marina del Rey Hermosa Beach Cabrillo Beach Hunt’n. Beach Newport Beach Dana Point San Clemente Oceanside Solana Beach Mission Beach Avalon

Trough

97/67 87/63 90/64 93/65

South Coast Air Quality Management District forecasts air quality

SANTA BARBARA CO.

Jet Stream

Anchorage 50/41

and breezy Sunday.

Low desert: Sunny and hot.

Clear tonight. Sunny and cooler Sunday.

San Francisco Bay Area: Sunny and mild near the water. Warm in the East Bay and North Bay. Clear tonight.

All

Low

◗

Breezy: Mostly clear skies and offshore winds will warm the region as a ridge lingers through today.

Warm, dry, breezy conditions will cause elevated fire danger to continue. Then a trough will drop in from the Great Basin on Sunday, bolstering the marine layer with increased onshore flow and bringing cooler temperatures. Moderate Santa Ana winds and a warming trend are expected next week.

58 54 52 52 55 32 41 56 50 56 51 xx 74 56 54 41 59 49 50 55 62 46 51 42 54 60 59

-- 94 60 -- 88 60 -- 90 59 -- 92 59 -- 93 52 -- 77 36 -- 89 43 -- 94 61 -- 87 57 -- 95 61 -- 100 55 xx 83 59 -- 97 67 -- 82 64 -- 94 57 -- 63 47 -- 92 54 -- 94 56 -- 90 59 -- 93 61 -- 97 54 -- 90 51 -- 83 63 -- 84 58 -- 88 61 -- 92 63 -- 84 62

Sunday Hi Lo 81 69 85 92 84 73 86 81 76 83 88 74 97 74 82 64 79 82 85 80 87 86 74 79 77 80 74

60 56 56 54 50 28 34 59 58 59 57 60 66 63 54 43 53 58 55 59 53 47 62 49 60 61 61

11:25p 4.8 Hi Sun. 11:14a 6.1 Hi ------ Hi

5:12p 0.0 Lo 5:00a 1.4 Lo 6:04p 0.1 Lo

Almanac

Los Angeles, 45 Phoenix, 45 San Francisco, 45

Friday downtown readings Temperature Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura High/low 92/60 97/55 80/66 High/low a year ago 81/57 90/57 83/55 Normal high/low for date 80/61 80/60 75/54 Record high/date 102/1971 97/2017 99/1971 Record low/date 44/1881 51/2011 45/1955 Precipitation 24-hour total (as of 4 p.m.) 0.00 0.00 0.00 Season total (since Oct. 1) 0.00 Trace 0.00 Last season (Oct. 1 to date) 0.00 0.00 0.00 Season norm (Oct. 1 to date) 0.10 0.08 0.09 Humidity (high/low) 83/15 74/9 61/22

City

Friday Today Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo

Sunday Hi Lo

Laguna Beach Lancaster Long Beach Mammoth Lakes Mission Viejo Monrovia Monterey Mt. Wilson Needles Newport Beach Northridge Oakland Oceanside Ojai Ontario Oxnard Palm Springs Pasadena Paso Robles Pomona/Fairplex Poway Redding Rialto Riverside

80 86 95 74 91 97 87 83 93 76 97 82 83 96 98 79 98 99 89 97 95 94 92 97

75 88 76 74 79 79 70 74 98 74 85 75 76 79 85 71 97 82 89 87 80 79 86 86

49 38 56 30 52 60 50 57 63 59 55 47 48 43 56 56 69 60 37 54 48 46 63 55

-- 83 62 -- 92 54 -- 88 62 -- 77 34 -- 90 60 -- 89 62 -- 69 52 -- 83 54 -- 97 66 -- 82 63 -- 95 60 -- 74 52 -- 89 53 -- 90 53 -- 97 62 -- 80 55 -- 101 69 -- 94 62 -- 94 45 -- 98 58 -- 91 61 -- 89 57 -- 96 59 -- 96 51

Forecasts provided by

AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017

61 48 61 23 59 58 52 51 67 62 58 57 52 54 58 56 67 60 41 58 61 58 56 52

Sun and moon Today’s rise/set Los Angeles County Sun 6:52a/6:29p Moon 8:14p/8:48a

Last Quarter Oct. 12 New Moon Oct. 19

Orange County Sun 6:51a/6:28p Moon 8:13p/8:46a

First Quarter Oct. 27

Ventura County Sun 6:56a/6:33p Moon 8:18p/8:52a

Full Moon Nov. 3

City

Friday Today Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo

Sunday Hi Lo

Sacramento San Bernardino San Clemente Pier San Diego San Francisco San Gabriel San Jose San Luis Obispo Santa Ana Santa Barbara Santa Clarita Santa Monica Pier Santa Paula Santa Rosa Simi Valley Tahoe Valley Temecula Thousand Oaks Torrance UCLA Van Nuys Ventura Whittier Hills Woodland Hills Wrightwood Yorba Linda Yosemite Valley

86 97 71 86 84 xx 89 95 87 88 85 83 98 91 93 68 96 95 86 88 96 80 94 98 69 98 80

82 87 75 74 73 83 82 81 76 71 85 75 79 88 83 63 84 78 75 77 83 72 81 85 76 83 77

46 54 62 60 53 xx 51 57 58 46 60 57 48 41 59 26 53 63 58 62 55 66 54 50 46 58 37

-----xx ----------------------

87 97 85 82 73 96 83 90 87 80 96 84 91 88 94 72 96 90 85 88 96 79 93 96 80 95 80

52 58 59 64 54 62 52 54 62 53 59 61 54 45 58 33 52 57 60 61 61 55 62 59 55 59 47

54 56 59 63 60 61 53 52 60 51 59 59 56 52 59 25 51 58 58 59 58 58 61 57 43 59 40

U.S. cities High 100 in Death Valley, Calif.

Low 9 at Bodie State Park, Calif.

City

Friday Hi Lo Prcp.

Today Hi Lo Sky

Albuquerque Amarillo Anchorage Atlanta Atlantic City Austin Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Brownsville Buffalo Burlington, Vt. Casper Charleston, S.C. Charleston, W.Va. Charlotte Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Colo. Springs Columbia, S.C. Columbus Concord, N.H. Dallas/Ft.Worth Denver Des Moines Detroit Duluth El Paso Eugene Fairbanks Fargo Flagstaff Grand Junction Grand Rapids Green Bay Hartford Helena Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville, Fla. Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Louisville Medford Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland, Maine Portland, Ore. Providence Pueblo Raleigh Rapid City Reno Richmond St. Louis Salt Lake City San Antonio San Juan, P.R. Santa Fe Seattle

80 82 51 84 76 87 84 68 85 70 78 88 68 62 57 84 85 84 70 81 70 67 88 75 66 90 66 71 64 55 92 76 46 63 69 65 68 65 78 65 87 87 77 87 78 84 85 83 81 86 88 67 60 85 86 82 85 72 89 82 97 71 68 73 81 77 86 61 76 85 84 64 87 88 71 66

71 73 50 81 79 90 84 65 86 67 75 91 81 76 69 85 90 80 79 83 84 73 88 85 77 85 77 66 83 63 84 64 47 72 74 69 81 71 80 55 86 89 84 88 70 88 87 86 71 87 89 76 66 86 84 80 78 70 90 85 96 84 71 63 78 79 84 75 83 86 81 76 88 89 68 61

60 Tr 64 Tr 41 .12 63 -67 -66 -61 -37 -62 -41 -61 Tr 71 Tr 58 .12 52 .02 45 -70 Tr 56 -58 -60 .32 64 -65 .30 52 Tr 59 -62 Tr 47 .01 70 -51 Tr 64 1.21 58 .45 35 .09 68 Tr 36 -32 -34 .07 37 -38 -53 .84 54 .04 52 .02 34 -77 .16 66 -65 Tr 73 .17 67 .09 61 -61 -59 -39 -63 -81 .04 56 .31 48 .43 57 -72 .02 67 .01 67 Tr 59 .26 72 .16 67 .01 71 -62 .01 49 .04 43 -60 .01 57 -56 -41 .01 39 -59 -71 .01 43 -71 -81 .34 53 -46 --

48 49 41 73 69 65 68 40 73 41 65 73 64 66 33 73 67 70 56 61 62 45 76 62 59 60 46 52 61 46 55 43 36 46 34 41 57 51 63 36 73 71 57 78 53 64 66 66 42 73 81 56 50 71 76 68 53 51 77 70 65 65 60 48 64 44 69 43 44 71 56 49 68 78 40 47

Su Su Pc Cy Pc Pc Pc W Ts Su Pc Pc Cy Pc W Sh Pc Pc Ts Pc Pc Su Sh Pc Cy Pc Su R Cy R Su Pc R Su Su Su Ts R Pc Cy Pc Pc Ts Pc Su Su Pc Sh Su Ts Ts R R Sh R Pc Pc R Ts Pc Su Pc Cy Pc Pc Su Ts Pc Su Pc Ts Su Pc Sh Su Pc

Taken at 3 p.m. Friday Spokane Springfield, Mo. Tallahassee Tampa Tucson Tulsa Washington, D.C. Wichita Yuma

World

Acapulco Amsterdam Athens Baghdad Bangkok Barbados Beijing Berlin Buenos Aires Cabo San Lucas Cairo Calgary Cancun Copenhagen Dublin Edinburgh Frankfurt Geneva Havana Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Istanbul Jerusalem Johannesburg Kabul Kingston London Madrid Manila Mecca Mexico City Montreal Moscow Mumbai New Delhi Oslo Paris Rio de Janeiro Rome Seoul Stockholm Sydney Taipei Tehran Tokyo Toronto Vancouver Vienna Winnipeg Zurich

66 86 89 93 95 86 83 83 98 90 57 81 91 90 87 77 54 72 95 85 64 86 58 55 54 55 57 81 90 91 75 76 68 76 88 59 88 90 104 70 66 46 97 97 57 61 88 73 75 53 71 89 73 66 68 57 57 66 52

41 68 72 76 69 69 66 68 67

-.01 .02 .02 -Tr -.06 --

59 77 88 91 96 79 85 77 97

40 52 79 79 59 54 73 51 65

Pc Cy R Ts Su Pc Pc Su Su

78 .08 52 1.02 58 -61 -79 .16 80 .18 49 -48 .25 43 -77 -66 -43 -73 .62 46 .12 39 .18 39 .12 41 .14 52 .03 75 .04 75 .25 82 .08 63 -61 -51 .21 55 -81 .03 48 -55 -79 .01 82 -54 -52 -44 .16 86 .29 79 -39 .02 43 -70 -63 .14 59 -43 .05 65 -80 .04 50 -60 1.85 59 .05 45 .01 50 .02 36 -43 .08

85 61 80 96 89 86 67 54 66 93 93 53 88 54 57 59 55 61 88 89 92 75 77 63 81 89 64 79 90 106 75 70 50 92 97 53 60 84 72 78 46 69 87 73 72 78 59 59 65 57

76 53 58 67 77 79 56 45 53 77 74 33 77 45 48 46 48 44 75 74 82 56 64 50 45 80 50 51 79 79 54 62 39 82 75 35 51 69 48 62 38 56 79 59 66 63 44 46 43 46

Pc R Ts Su Ts Sh Sh R Pc Pc Su Pc Ts R Pc Pc R Pc Pc Ts Ts Pc Su Ts Su Pc R Su Ts Su Pc R Cy Ts Su Cy Pc Su Su Pc Sh Cy Ts Su R Cy Sh Pc Su Pc

Key: Su sunny; Pc partly cloudy; Cy cloudy; Fg

foggy; Prcp precipitation; Dr drizzle; Hz;hazy Sh showers; Ts thunderstorms; R rain; Sn snow; Sf snow flurries; I ice; Rs rain/snow; W windy; Tr trace. Notes: National extremes are for NWS stations; excludes Alaska and Hawaii.

Missing data indicated by “xx”.

A staunch defender of often-reviled river [MacAdams, from B1] credible issue for Southern California nature lovers and policymakers from former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to Mayor Eric Garcetti.

The memoir will be called “Poetry and Politics.” In another part of the city, in a nondescript San Pedro warehouse, another project celebrating the poet-environmentalist’s legacy nears completion.

Sculptor Eugene Daub is finishing a 7-foot-tall monument featuring MacAdams in stark relief over river flora and fauna including frogs, herons and fish. It will be unveiled Saturday at a celebration near the river’s edge at Marsh Park in Elysian Valley.

Daub’s previous works include a bronze statue in Washington, D.C., of Rosa Parks, whose arrest in 1955 for refusing to yield her seat to a white passenger led to a boycott of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system and helped spark the civil rights movement.

Bronze, Daub decided, was not quite the right material for a statue depicting MacAdams.

“Almost everything I do is in bronze,” he said. “But in this case, concrete seemed appropriate since Lewis has campaigned so hard for its removal from the L.A. River channel.”

Michael Atkins, a spokesman for Friends of the Los Angeles River, likes to say the monument is “concrete

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

LEWIS MacADAMS , right, meets with historian Michael Block, recounting stories from his life as a poet and

crusader for the Los Angeles River. The conversations will be the basis for an upcoming memoir. staring down concrete, and I’d put my money on Lewis’ stony face outlasting that conveyor belt for urban runoff.”

The monument depicts MacAdams, his eyes fixed on a distant horizon. Just beneath the visage is one of his favorite phrases: “If it’s not

impossible, I’m not interested.”

In the 1980s, MacAdams pioneered a conservationist campaign by demanding that one of the world’s most heavily industrialized rivers be returned to a semblance of its natural flow from the San Gabriel Mountains to

the Pacific Ocean.

MacAdams became known as an uncompromising defender of an often-defiled river.

He helped transform the nonprofit Friends of the Los Angeles River into one of the leading conservationist organizations in California

with a list of 40,000 supporters, annual river cleanup efforts and educational programs.

MacAdams and Friends also did much of the work to win approval of a $1.6-billion federal project to restore habitat, widen the channel, create wetlands and provide

access points and bike trails along an 11-mile section of unpaved riverbed north of downtown.

“Lewis made the entire region aware of the possibility of making the L.A. River more central to the life of our city,” Deborah Weintraub, chief deputy city engineer, said. “Because of his unflagging commitment to the cause, we’re starting to make that happen for both people and an array of wildlife.”

Block said the memoir is a work in progress — with new stories only MacAdams could provide being unearthed every time they meet.

“Just the other day, Lewis asked, ‘Did you ever hear about my Tiananmen Square moment?’ ” Block recalled.

“No,” he responded expectantly. “But it sure sounds interesting. I’m all ears.”

“Lewis said, ‘Well, one day, back in the1980s, I clambered down to the river bottom, raised my hand and stopped a bulldozer in its tracks.’ ” Block asked what happened next, but MacAdams would not say.

“Instead, he abruptly changed the subject because he felt uncomfortable calling attention to himself,” Block said. “So, the memoir is moving along — slowly.” louis.sahagun @latimes.com Twitter: @LouisSahagun

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U.S. jobs drop, hit by storms

L . A. RIDE S

Hurricanes lead payrolls to decline 33,000 in September, the first net loss in seven years.

By Jim Puzzanghera Charles Fleming Los Angeles Times

RAWHYDE COACHES , foreground, instruct students on ways to lift a fallen bike — an essential skill for so-called adventure riding.

Adventurers get a leg up

Near Castaic, RawHyde coaches help riders build skills, face fears in putting a big bike through its paces in uneven terrain

By Charles Fleming The adventure bike niche is the fastest-growing segment in the American motorcycle industry.

But many people who own the big, adventureready machines don’t know where to ride them, don’t know whom to ride them with, and, perhaps of greatest concern, don’t know how to ride them off-road.

Jim Hyde and his RawHyde Adventure training programs have become legend for helping them.

On a Friday afternoon last spring, dozens of riders were streaming into Hyde’s hidden mountain compound north of Castaic.

Arriving on BMWs laden with adventure gear, or hauling their motorcycles in trucks and trailers, the riders had come to RawHyde to build their skills and face their fears.

“I’m terrified,” said Jonathan Martin, a rider from San Jose who had never taken a motorcycle off-road.

I could relate. Though I’d raced motocross as a kid and had ridden dirt bikes in the desert for decades, I had very little experience putting a big bike through its paces off the pavement.

So, I was a little unnerved by the prospect of taking a 600-pound, $18,000 motorcycle onto uneven terrain. When shown Friday what I’d be doing through the weekend, I thought: Not me, not with this bike and certainly not in the dirt.

I had plenty of company. As the three-day

training weekend began, I found that most of the 34 riders arriving at the compound were similarly spooked.

RawHyde charges $1,395 for the basic twoday, one-night camp, if the rider brings his or her own motorcycle. The base rate includes training, lodging and meals. Motorcycle rentals, gear rentals and additional training, including a two-day ride that follows the weekend, are extra. The camp is held several times a year.

The students were a mixed bag. Some were veteran dirt bike riders eager to brush up their skills on bigger equipment. Others were brave newbies with specific plans to put the training to use.

Some of the riders were young and fit. Most [See RawHyde, C5] were not.

Weinstein Co. hires law firm to probe allegations Film company says it supports co-founder’s choice to go on leave.

By Ryan Faughnder

Ricardo DeAratanha Los Angeles Times

A RARE statement issued by two California Energy Commission members sig-

nals a plan for a new plant is all but dead. Above, the current plant in Oxnard.

Panel urges rejection of Oxnard natural gas plant Energy commissioners say it would conflict with laws, area goals.

By Ivan Penn A California Energy Commission committee is urging the state to reject a proposal to build a new natural gas plant in Ventura County.

Called the Puente Energy project, the 262-megawatt power plant would be owned and operated by NRG, a Houston-based electricity

company. NRG contracted with Southern California Edison to supply power to the utility.

In what the regulators themselves called an “unusual” statement, the twomember committee said that the proposed plant, set for construction on Mandalay Bay in Oxnard, conflicted with state laws and goals for communities and the environment.

“We hereby notify the parties and interested members of the public that we intend to issue a [decision] that recommends denial of

the project on the grounds that it creates inconsistencies with LORS [laws, ordinances, regulations or standards] and significant environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated,” Commissioners Janea Scott and Karen Douglas said in their two-page statement.

Southern California Edison said in a statement that the Puente project was competitively chosen and is needed to help meet demand when older power plants close by 2021.

“It is important to remember that the approval [See Plant, C4]

Harvey Weinstein’s film and television company has hired a law firm to investigate the sexual harassment allegations against the indie film impresario. But Weinstein Co.’s board of directors stopped short of ousting the co-founder.

Instead, the directors expressed support for Weinstein’s decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the production company and seek professional help.

“We strongly endorse Harvey Weinstein’s alreadyannounced decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the company, commencing today,” the board said in a statement Friday. “Next steps will depend on Harvey’s therapeutic progress, the outcome of the board’s independent investigation, and Harvey’s own personal decisions.”

The company has retained attorney John Kiernan of Debevoise & Plimpton to investigate the allegations and report to a special committee of independent board directors, the board said.

The board of directors discussed Weinstein’s future at his namesake firm in a

Thursday night meeting by phone.

The film pioneer, who is responsible for Oscar-winning movies such as “Shakespeare in Love,” already said Thursday that he would take a leave of absence.

What remained unclear is whether the board ultimately would decide to terminate Weinstein, which some in Hollywood have demanded.

But the allegations may have already irreparably damaged his ability to do business in Hollywood by attracting talent or campaigning for prestigious movies during Oscar season.

In a sign of infighting, three company directors have quit the board in the wake of the allegations.

They include billionaire investor Dirk Ziff, a managing partner at Ziff Capital Partners, who resigned before the Thursday meeting.

Ziff, 53, is co-owner of the World Surf League. Board members Marc Lasry and Tim Sarnoff also resigned, according to a person close to the company.

The exiting board members did not return calls seeking comment.

The company’s statement was undersigned by Harvey Weinstein’s brother and co-founder Bob Weinstein, and three remaining board members: Tarak Ben Ammar, Lance Maerov and Richard Koenigsberg.

During the meeting, [See Weinstein, C4]

WASHINGTON — Hurricanes Harvey and Irma walloped the labor market last month, causing the nation to lose jobs for the first time in seven years, the Labor Department said Friday.

Total nonfarm employment declined by a net 33,000 jobs in September, compared with an upwardly revised gain of 169,000 the previous month. The Labor Department said 1.5 million workers — the most in 20 years — were not at their jobs during the survey week last month because of bad weather.

Restaurants and bars took the biggest hit. Total employment in September declined by 105,000 “as many workers were off payrolls due to the recent hurricanes,” the Labor Department said.

The sector had averaged job growth of 24,000 over the previous 12 months.

“We’re very confident those jobs are coming back,” Gary Cohn, the top White House economic advisor, told Fox Business Network.

Analysts had expected the major hurricanes that devastated large parts of Texas and Florida would significantly reduce job growth in September, but the decline was much bigger than expected.

“The first thing that comes to mind here is the scene in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ where we hear the line, ‘Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,’ ” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at financial information website Bankrate.com.

“Because of the impacts from hurricanes and flood[See Jobs, C6]

Employment Total nonfarm employment declined by 33,000 in September and the jobless rate fell to 4.2%.

Monthly net job gains Sept.

2017 –33,000

300,000 250 200 150 100 50 0 –50

S OND J FMAM J J A S 2016 2017

Monthly unemployment rate 5%

Sept.

2017 4.2%

Sept.

2016 4.9%

4 S O N D J F M A M J J A S 2016

2017

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics K y l e K i m Los Angeles Times

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L AT I M E S. C O M /B U S I NE S S

Model 3 is ‘in production hell,’ Tesla CEO tweets

TRAVEL BRIEFCASE

Company’s revised forecast of 5,000 cars a week is in doubt.

By Russ Mitchell

Spencer Platt Getty Images

THE UNION for TSA screeners wants more front-line workers hired. TSA screened more than 239 million

fliers between Memorial Day and Labor Day this year. Above, a screener at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

TSA has record summer

By Hugo Martin The Transportation Security Administration had the busiest summer on record, screening more than 239 million passengers between Memorial Day and Labor Day, an increase of 9 million passengers over the same period last year.

The higher workload for TSA officers has prompted the union representing the screeners to demand that the federal government hire more front-line workers.

“The people in the chain of command forget why we were put here,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the council that represents TSA screeners at the American Federation of Government Employees.

“We were put here to protect.”

The airports were so busy this summer that the TSA said four summer days broke the TSA’s top 10 list for

busiest days in agency history: June 29, June 30, May 26 and July 21.

The record may not be surprising considering that airline industry officials have been touting an increase in air travel over the last few years, thanks to cheaper fares and strong consumer confidence.

A TSA spokeswoman said the agency can hire only as many screeners as are allowed under the annual budget approved by Congress. The most recent federal budget approved the full-time equivalent of 43,000 officers, which represents an increase of less than 1% over the previous year’s budget.

Thomas said the turnover rate among TSA officers is so high that the agency can’t hire new screeners fast enough to replace those who leave to take jobs with higher pay and better benefits.

“If they don’t manage this

agency and hire enough employees, they are going to have problems,” he said.

Boarding policies and infection rates The common practice of boarding airline passengers by classes is the worst way to avoid spreading infectious diseases, according to a study from Arizona State University.

The study by a team that included experts in human evolution, biomedical informatics and applied math found that infection rates increased when passengers were crowded together — as they often are while trying to board a plane.

In the case of an Ebola outbreak, the study said the current boarding practice used by most airlines would lead to a 67% chance of 20 air-travel-related cases a month.

Furthermore, the study found that bigger planes

with more passengers can also lead to higher infection rates.

In the last decade, the airline industry has tried to increase efficiency and profits by packing more passengers in larger planes.

“Using smaller airplanes during an outbreak, instead of completely banning flights to a specific destination, can drastically reduce the probability of introduction of infection,” said Anuj Mubayi, an assistant professor at ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change who worked on the study.

The study recommends a few fixes to reduce the infection rate, such as dividing the plane into two lengthwise sections and loading passengers randomly to cut down on bottlenecks. hugo.martin @latimes.com Twitter: @hugomartin

San Francisco – In July, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk warned of production hell for the Model 3, the new compact electric car on which the company’s future depends.

It’s October, and the heat’s still on. “We are deep in production hell,” Musk posted on Twitter Friday, his tweet punctuated by an orange-and-yellow flaming emoji.

Earlier this week, Tesla officially acknowledged Model 3 production problems, and reported that only 220 of the cars had been delivered, far short of the “at least 1,500” vehicles Tesla had forecast by the end of September.

Rumors that the Model 3 assembly line is not yet complete were bolstered by a Wall Street Journal article Friday reporting that major parts of the vehicles were still being assembled by hand.

Musk once had forecast production of 200,000 Model 3s by the end of this year.

Now he’s talking about a rate of 5,000 a week by the end of December — a rate that now appears to be in jeopardy.

The famously secretive company will not discuss its problems beyond Musk’s tweets and other public statements. In a statement to investors Monday the company said “production bottlenecks” were to blame.

“It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term,” Tesla said.

In another Friday tweet, Musk said the production bottlenecks and hurricanedevastated Puerto Rico will delay the company’s planned Oct. 27 unveiling of a prototype Tesla semi truck tractor into November.

Puerto Rico has attracted Tesla’s attention as a hot market for its solar roof and storage battery energy systems. The island’s power grid was almost completely shut down by Hurricane Maria in September. The federal government will spend billions to get the island back on its feet.

“Let’s talk,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello told Musk in his own tweet.

Musk once sat on one of President Trump’s business advisory councils but quit in June because of the administration’s lack of support for the Paris climate agreement.

Most new cars face production glitches early on, but Musk has deliberately attracted worldwide attention on the Model 3, which will have to sell in the hundreds of thousands to make money and justify Tesla’s sky-high stock valuation.

Tesla stock closed up $1.55 on Friday, to $356.88 a share. russ.mitchell @latimes.com Twitter: @russ1mitchell

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Treasury proposes rolling back finance rules The department’s recommendations include repealing parts of Dodd-Frank legislation.

By Renae Merle

Spencer Platt Getty Images

DIANNE BRANDI has been named in several of the harassment and discrimination lawsuits that have been

filed against the company. They claimed she either ignored or failed to prevent harassment or misconduct.

Fox News legal counsel takes a voluntary leave

Dianne Brandi, with the network since 1996, played a key role in its response to sex harassment scandal.

By Stephen Battaglio Dianne Brandi, the longtime legal counsel at Fox News who played a key role in the network’s response to its sexual harassment scandal, has taken a voluntary leave of absence.

Fox News announced the

leave on Friday in a one-sentence statement with no explanation.

Brandi, who is executive vice president of legal and business affairs, has been with Fox News since its launch in 1996. She was a close advisor to the organization’s former chairman, Roger Ailes, and has long been involved in the top decisions made at the 21st Century Fox unit.

Brandi has been named in several of the harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits that have been filed against the company in the last year. The lawsuits

claimed that she either ignored or failed to prevent harassment or misconduct by executives.

Fox News has been dealing with harassment claims since former anchorwoman Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Ailes in July. The suit, which was settled for $20 million, led to a barrage of claims from women who alleged that they were harassed and spurred a company-wide investigation by an outside law firm.

Star anchor Bill O’Reilly was abandoned by advertisers and eventually forced to leave the network in April af-

ter revelations that he and Fox News paid a total of $13 million to settle claims of sexual harassment and other bad behavior toward women at the company. Last month, Fox News fired onair host Eric Bolling after investigating claims that his cellphone was used to send lewd pictures to current and former female employees.

Another longtime Ailes lieutenant, Bill Shine, was also pushed out in May amid the scandal. stephen.battaglio @latimes.com Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

The Treasury Department on Friday recommended rolling back key parts of Obama administration regulations governing Wall Street, including a requirement that companies disclose the pay gap between chief executives and their employees.

The report is the second of four ordered by President Trump to review the banking rules that the White House says have hampered economic growth. Broadly, the report recommends making it easier for companies to go public and streamlining regulations of key parts of the financial markets.

“The U.S. has experienced slow economic growth for far too long,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. “By streamlining the regulatory system, we can make the U.S. capital markets a true source of economic growth which will harness American ingenuity and allow small businesses to grow.”

For example, the report calls on Congress to repeal several provisions of the 2010 financial reform legislation known as Dodd-Frank, including one that requires

A path paved for Weinstein’s accusers Gretchen Carlson and Cosby case cast light on sexual harassment.

By Stephen Battaglio After the New York Times report detailing sexual harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein broke Thursday, many who worked with the mogul asked why it took so long for the allegations to become public.

It’s a question that always gets asked when news about harassment and abuse of women going back decades surfaces. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment suit against Roger Ailes and the women who came forward to accuse comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault are getting some of the credit for paving the way for Weinstein’s accusers to finally come forward.

But it remains to be seen whether the latest allegations against another powerful media and entertainment industry figure will turn the issue of sexual harassment and the treatment of women into an industrywide issue that needs to be addressed more forcefully.

Debra Katz, an attorney specializing in sexual harassment cases, said the industry’s willingness to forgive the indiscretions of powerful, talented men can keep the issue from getting traction.

“It’s significant that Ashley Judd spoke and perhaps it will encourage other women to describe their own experiences,” Katz said, citing one of Weinstein’s accusers.

“We all know this goes on. I don’t think it’s going to go away because we’re shining a light on Harvey Weinstein.... It’s about abuse of power. It’s about having enablers around them. I’m not optimistic that anything is going to change anytime soon.”

Still, the mounting accusations against Cosby and the lawsuit by Carlson against her boss at the network she worked at for 10

Matt Rourke Pool Photo

Nicholas Hunt Getty Images for American Magazine Media Conference

ANDREA CONSTAND, top, is one of the women who accused Bill Cosby of sexu-

al assault. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, above, sued Roger Ailes.

years were a one-two punch in bringing sexual harassment out of the shadows.

“Gretchen Carlson was the igniter of a tinderbox that had embers swirling around it for decades,” said Lauren Zalaznick, a veteran media executive who publishes the online feminist newsletter LZ Sunday Paper.

In July 2016, Carlson filed her lawsuit against Ailes, the impresario and founding chief executive of Fox News, accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.

Though Fox News denied Carlson’s allegations, the former Miss America was not subjected to the type of personal smears that other sexual harassment accusers

have endured in the past.

Within a month of her suit, Ailes was ousted from Fox News, which eventually paid Carlson a $20-million settlement.

“Before Cosby and Gretchen, it was unfashionable to come forward,” said one veteran TV news producer who has worked with Carlson and spoke on the

condition of anonymity.

“Everybody would go to the men’s side. What was groundbreaking about her is she was someone who wasn’t assassinated and was vindicated.”

Cosby has not been convicted of any crime, but the allegations against him by nearly 50 women have virtually ended his career and resulted in his enormously popular sitcom “The Cosby Show” being dropped by most of the TV outlets that carried it in reruns. Cosby has denied wrongdoing. The high-profile case accusing him of aggravated indecent assault ended in a mistrial in June after the jury deadlocked. Prosecutors plan to try him again.

But how Hollywood reacts to the Weinstein allegations will be the next test of whether the industry is serious about addressing sexual harassment, Zalaznick said.

“The question is who actually wants to change versus who knows that lip service is the price you have to appear to pay, before we all move on to another hot-button issue du jour,” Zalaznick said.

In a statement on the Weinstein report, Carlson noted that it is nondisclosure agreements that allow workplace harassment to go on unreported.

“Once again, we have the revelation that for 30 years a powerful man has harassed women and the companies they run have enabled it, covered it up, and shut up the victims,” Carlson said.

“This happens in all industries and it must stop.

Equally disturbing is the fact that the Weinstein Co. required employees to agree to secrecy before they were even hired. Then, the women who were brave enough to complain about harassment were forced to sign confidentiality agreements. This is typical. These secrecy and arbitration agreements allow the harassers to harass again, sometimes for decades, and the women are forever silenced. When will this dynamic end?” stephen.battaglio@ latimes.com Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

companies to disclose the pay gap between CEOs and workers. Republicans have long objected to the rule, and Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, ordered a review of the rule after taking office in May. Those types of rules, the report says, discourage companies from going public. “Such requirements impose significant costs upon the public companies that are widely held by all investors,” the report says, noting that the number of publicly listed companies has declined 50% over the last 20 years.

The report also recommends easing the burdens faced by companies considering an initial public offering. Companies should be able to privately discuss a potential IPO with likely shareholders before making a public filing with regulators, the Treasury Department says. “This ability is known as ‘testing the waters,’ which allows a company to gauge investor interest in a potential offering before undertaking the expense of preparing a registration statement,” the report says.

But the report also includes recommendations that could make it easier for small companies to stay private. A small company could raise more money, $5 million instead of $1 million, through crowdfunding within a year without having to go public, under the Treasury Department’s recommendations.

The department also calls for “recalibrating” the rules governing the vast market for derivatives, a financial instrument that helped fuel the global financial crisis. The SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, another regulator, should work together to harmonize rules governing these complex markets, the report says.

Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, expressed concern about the report’s guidance. The recommendations are “almost uniformly deregulatory,” he said. “It is written pretty technically, but what they are saying is that a lot of things that were done after the crisis to try to increase our safety margins and improve our risk control on derivatives, they want to cut back on.”

Clayton and Brian Quintenz, head of the CFTC, both issued statements supportive of the call for simplifying rules around derivatives.

“Derivatives are used in virtually every segment of the U.S. and global economies, covering nearly every conceivable type of commodity,” Quintenz said. “It is for this reason that it is so important that we get the oversight of these markets right.”

The report comes at a time when Republican efforts to roll back financial regulations have withered on Capitol Hill. The House passed sweeping legislation that would gut key parts of Dodd-Frank in June, but the Senate has yet to take up similar legislation. With lawmakers preoccupied with tax reform, it is not likely to emerge before the end of the year.

The Treasury Department report, which would require some congressional action but could mostly be done by regulators, is likely to be heralded by Republicans and business groups who have argued that DoddFrank went too far after the financial crisis. The report “offers a blueprint to unlock the resources needed to spur economic growth and job creation,” said David Hirschmann of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But Democrats and consumer advocates have argued that rolling back financial regulations could put taxpayers in danger of having to bail out industries again.

Merle writes for the Washington Post.

C4

S

L AT I M E S. C O M /B U S I NE S S

MARKET ROUNDUP

S&P ends extended hot streak; Dow also declines

associated press

U.S. stocks faded a bit from their record highs Friday as telecom and energy stocks sank. The loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was small, but it was the first in nearly two weeks — and meant the end of the index’s longest winning streak in four years.

Much of the day’s action was centered on the government’s jobs report, which is usually the most anticipated economic report of each month, but it was a muddled one.

Economists cautioned not to read too much into the hiring numbers, which were far weaker than expected, because they were distorted by hurricanes that damaged businesses from Texas to Florida.

Investors focused instead on a stronger-than-expected rise in workers’ wages, which helped to push Treasury yields higher.

The S&P 500 fell 2.74 points, or 0.1%, to 2,549.33.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.72 points, or less than 0.1%, to 22,773.67.

The Nasdaq composite edged up 4.82 points, or 0.1%, to 6,590.18. All three indexes had closed at record highs Thursday.

Roughly nine stocks fell for every five that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

If rising wage growth feeds into higher prices across the economy, it makes the Federal Reserve that much more likely to keep raising interest rates from their record lows. As a result, investors made moves Friday in anticipation of a rate increase in December.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped as high as 2.39% shortly after the release of the jobs report, up from 2.35% late Thursday.

The gains faded later in the day, which traders said may have been due to worries

about tensions with North Korea. A Russian lawmaker said that North Korea is preparing to test-fire a longrange missile soon.

Late Friday, the 10-year yield sat at 2.36%. The twoyear Treasury yield climbed to 1.52% from 1.49%, and the 30-year yield rose to 2.91% from 2.89%.

When bonds pay higher yields, it makes them more attractive to investors looking for income, undercutting demand for stocks that pay relatively big dividends.

Telecom stocks in the S&P 500 fell 2%, the largest drop among the 11 sectors that make up the index.

Energy stocks were also among the market’s weakest after the price of benchmark U.S. crude sank $1.50, or 3%, to settle at $49.29 a barrel.

It’s the fourth drop for oil in the last five days. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.38, or 2.4%, to $55.62 a barrel.

Costco Wholesale slumped 6% to $157.09 — the biggest decliner in the S&P 500 — despite reporting stronger earnings for the latest quarter than expected.

Analysts pointed to a slight drop in its membership renewal rates, among other factors.

Herbalife jumped 11.2% to $75.25 after the Los Angeles maker of nutritional supplements announced preliminary results of its self-tender offer.

In the currency market, the dollar slipped to 112.71 yen from 112.85 yen. The euro rose to $1.1735 from $1.1708, and the British pound fell to $1.3065 from $1.3116.

In the commodities markets, natural gas fell 6 cents to settle at $2.86 per 1,000 cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline fell 5 cents to $1.56 a gallon.

Heating oil fell 4 cents to $1.74 a gallon.

Gold rose $1.70 to settle at $1,274.90 an ounce. Silver rose 15 cents to $16.79 an ounce. Copper fell 2 cents to $3.03 a pound.

Dow: six months

Friday: 22,773.67 Down 1.72

23000 22500 22000 21500 21000 20500 20000 19500 19000

A

M

J

J

Major stock indexes Index

Close

Dow industrials

A

Daily change

S

O

Daily % YTD % change change

22,773.67

-1.72

-0.01

+15.24

S&P 500

2,549.33

-2.74

-0.11

+13.87

Nasdaq composite

6,590.18

+4.82

+0.07

+22.42

S&P 400

1,818.43

-1.53

-0.08

+9.51

Russell 2000

1,510.22

-1.87

-0.12

+11.28

EuroStoxx 50

3,189.97

-9.62

-0.30

+5.96

Nikkei (Japan)

20,690.71

+62.15

+0.30

+8.25

Hang Seng (Hong Kong)

28,458.04

+78.86

+0.28

+29.35

1 year change

Interest rates Treasuries

Yield

Weekly change

6 month change

T-bill: 1 year

1.34

+0.05

+0.31

T-note: 5 year

1.97

+0.04

+0.11

+0.70

T-note: 10 years

2.36

+0.02

+0.02

+0.64

T-bond: 30 years

2.90

+0.04

-0.09

+0.44 1 year ago

+0.71

Bank & mortgage rates

Rate

Week ago

6 months ago

6 Month CD

0.46

0.45

0.41

0.38

1 Year CD

0.79

0.77

0.74

0.62

2 Year CD

0.89

0.87

0.87

0.77

30 Year Fixed

3.86

3.80

3.67

3.94

3.11

3.02

2.94

3.14

4.44

4.37

4.24

4.62

15 Year Fixed 30 Year Jumbo

Commodities Commodity: Unit

Delivery date

Close in $

Weekly change

1 year change

Oil: Barrel

Nov 17

49.29

-2.38

-0.52

Gold Ounce

Oct 17

1,271.60

-9.90

+22.70

Silver Ounce

Oct 17

16.73

+0.13

-0.59

Source: The Associated Press (Bank and mortgage rate figures from Bankrate.com)

Online updates

For current market coverage plus stock prices and company data, go to latimes.com/business

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

A NEW YORK TIMES report Thursday detailed decades of sexual harassment claims against indie film

impresario Harvey Weinstein, seen at the 2012 Academy Awards. He will take a leave of absence.

Lawyer to probe claims

[Weinstein, from C1] which lasted hours, Weinstein made his case to the board to save his job. He also said he wanted to do the right thing for the company, according to a knowledgeable person.

The board called the meeting the same day the New York Times published a report detailing decades of sexual harassment accusations against Weinstein.

The accusers included Hollywood actresses such as Ashley Judd and former employees at Weinstein Co. and his previous company, Miramax.

Weinstein has reached at least eight legal settlements with women over harassment allegations, the article said.

“We believe it is important to learn the full truth regarding the article’s very serious accusations, in the in-

terests of the company, its shareholders and its employees,” the board said.

On Thursday, Weinstein expressed regret for his actions even as his lawyer threatened to sue the New York Times, alleging defamation.

“I so respect all women and regret what happened. I hope that my actions will speak louder than words,” Weinstein said in a statement. “I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt, and I plan to do right by all of them.”

Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded Miramax in 1979, which was responsible for critically beloved movies including “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Pulp Fiction” and “The English Patient.”

They sold the company to Walt Disney Co. in 1993 and left 12 years later to pursue their own venture, ending

an acrimonious relationship.

Several women told the New York Times that Harvey Weinstein sought massages and gave unsolicited ones. The accusers told the paper Weinstein was naked during some of the encounters. His alleged behavior had long been discussed by entertainment industry players.

Co-Chairman Bob Weinstein and President and Chief Operating Officer David Glasser will lead the company in Harvey Weinstein’s absence. Glasser has served as Harvey Weinstein’s right-hand man for years.

The allegations against Weinstein come amid a long period of struggles for the company.

Its most promising candidate this awards season is “Wind River,” an acclaimed

crime drama starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. But the company’s other recent films have failed at the box office, including the Alicia Vikander historical drama “Tulip Fever” and the Matthew McConaughey movie “Gold.”

The company on Friday withdrew from Outfest’s Legacy Awards, where the company was set to be honored as a corporate trailblazer by the LGBTQ festival later this month.

“We do not want to overshadow the extraordinary achievements of the other honorees,” the company said in a statement. ryan.faughnder @latimes.com Twitter: @rfaughnder Times staff writer Tre’vell Anderson contributed to this report.

AAA studies infotainment risks

By Charles Fleming American drivers are demanding increasingly complex infotainment systems when they shop for new cars.

But a new AAA study says they’re putting themselves at risk if they use the systems while driving.

The news is worse for luxury car buyers. The infotainment systems that could prove most distracting are those installed in some of the most highly prized vehicles.

The Tesla Model S, Audi Q7 and Volvo XC60 are among models placing “very high” infotainment system demands on the driver, the AAA study concluded. So were the Honda Civic Touring and Ridgeline models, Mazda 3 Touring, Subaru Crosstrek Premium and Ford Mustang GT. At the other end of the spectrum, said to require only “moderate” driver demand, are the systems on the Chevrolet Equinox, Hyundai Santa Fe, Lincoln MKC, Ford F250 XLT and

Toyota’s Camry, Corolla and Sienna. It’s all a matter of how much technology is available, and how intelligently it is deployed.

“Some in-vehicle technology can create unsafe conditions for drivers on the road by increasing the time they spend with their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Drivers are more at risk, Yang said, if the infotainment system isn’t designed with safety in mind.

“When an in-vehicle technology is not properly designed, simple tasks for drivers can become complicated and require more effort from drivers to complete,” Yang said.

In its study, the AAA asked 120 drivers ages 21 to 36 to help study 30 different 2017 model vehicles. Observing the subject drivers, researchers studied how long drivers took their eyes off the road to use infotainment systems, and how much mental energy they ex-

pended. A low level of demand was equal to listening to a car radio. Very high demand was the equivalent of trying to balance a checkbook while driving.

More demand means more time, which decreases safety. Programming navigation into a nonintuitive system can require 40 seconds for a driver to complete, the AAA study said. At 25 miles per hour, that driver could travel the length of four football fields while trying to enter a destination.

Auto experts have concluded that distracted driving is responsible for at least 10% of U.S. auto fatalities. A 2016 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that 3,477 drivers and passengers lost their lives to distracted driving in 2015, the most recent year for which full-year figures are available. An additional 391,000 were injured in crashes that involved distracted drivers.

The AAA splits the blame for distraction behind the wheel between automak-

ers that build complex systems and drivers who ought to know not to use them while their vehicles are in motion.

“Some of the latest systems on the market now include functions unrelated to the core tasks of driving, like sending text messages, checking social media or surfing the web — tasks we have no business doing behind the wheel,” AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney said. “Drivers should avoid the temptation to engage with these technologies, especially for nondriving tasks.”

But automakers are in a bind, said Autotrader executive analyst Michelle Krebs, because buyers are seeking the best new onboard technology.

“Consumers tell us they want more and more of these features in their vehicles,” Krebs said. “But accidents are going up, and exactly for this reason — distracted driving.” charles.fleming @latimes.com

Panel opposes power plant plan [Plant, from C1] for new resources is a very lengthy and costly process, and it is not practical to continually revisit development decisions, as this can make it more difficult to address reliability needs on the system,” Edison stated.

“While there are potential solutions to the needs addressed by the Puente project, it is speculative to assume that preferred resources can be developed on the scale and at the cost needed to competitively replace the Puente project by 2021.”

The recommendation sends the final decision about the project to the full energy commission, but the rare statement all but signals that the power plant plan is dead.

The recommendation follows Los Angeles Times investigations that showed the state has overbuilt the electricity system, primarily

with natural gas plants, and has so much clean energy that it has to shut down some plants while paying other states to take the power California can’t use.

The overbuilding has added billions of dollars to ratepayers’ bills in recent years.

Officials in Oxnard, along with state lawmakers who represent the area, have called for clean energy alternatives to the plant. And residents flooded the energy commission with hundreds of emails for days throughout the summer, pressing regulators to reject the project.

California has a mandate that 50% of the state’s electricity come from clean energy sources by 2030. Some lawmakers want to increase the mandate to 100%.

In August, the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s electric grid, released a 46-page report detailing

how clean energy sources could serve as alternatives to building the natural gas plant.

But in its study at the time, Cal-ISO said that the alternatives would cost more than the gas facility.

The report by Cal-ISO, which has argued that additional energy resources are needed in the Oxnard area to ensure reliability in the local area, pegged the new plant’s cost at $299 million while the three clean-energy alternatives would cost $309 million to $1.1 billion.

Some critics said that a request for proposals could yield more competitive prices than the Cal-ISO study.

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who had joined the opposition to the plant, said rejection of the natural gas facility is crucial for the Oxnard community, which has a substantial low-

income population that has been saddled with polluting production plants.

“For decades, corporations have targeted Oxnard as a dumping site, profited from the city’s environmental destruction and left behind hazardous waste and pollution that continues to threaten the health and safety of its residents,” Steyer said.

Steyer and others said Californians must continue to support clean energy in the face of the energy industry’s push for more fossil fuels.

“California is at a critical and exciting threshold of a clean energy future that will expand clean energy jobs and build healthier communities,” said Gladys Limon, executive director of the California Environmental Justice Alliance. ivan.penn@latimes.com Twitter: @ivanlpenn

C5

L AT I ME S . CO M / B U S IN E S S

Getting adventure riders on track [RawHyde, from C1] “Hey, everyone looks like me,” said Tracey McCormick, a retired fighter pilot who had recently purchased a BMW adventure bike. “I thought it would be all kids.”

After breakfast Saturday, the students and staff attended the morning briefing, where RawHyde’s founder gave an overview of the training to come and set ground rules, which included: “We will not tolerate any clowning around — at all.”

The students I met seemed quite serious, and had varying motives for attending.

Mark Adams, a photographer from Los Angeles, was preparing for an offroad ride across the country.

Jeff Gibson, a restaurant franchise owner from Utah, wanted to “be the cool dad,” and ride dirt bikes with his son and grandson.

Giles Kavanagh, a finance officer from New York, was hoping to survive an offroad ride in Peru.

Hyde, an intense, compact man with sharp blue eyes and close-cropped white hair, grew up on what is now the RawHyde compound. He retired in 2000 from selling medical equipment and moved back to the mountain property shortly after.

After a few missteps running tours in off-road sport utility vehicles, he shifted his focus to motorcycles, and turned full time to adventure training in 2007.

Since then, RawHyde has trained 3,500 students, he said, and the company has grown. Annual revenue was roughly $500,000 in 2007, Hyde said. It rose to $1.8 million last year — 70% of that from training sessions, with the remainder earned via post-training tours and motorcycle rentals.

His staff has grown, too.

Hyde employs seven people full time. He has 14 part-time coaches, and three parttime medics. His kitchen boasts three full-time chefs.

Most of the instructors, he said, are former students who became so enamored of the camp that they left other jobs to become trainers.

The business model makes sense for his partners, too. One of Hyde’s instructors is Owen Balduf, who does sales for Long Beach BMW Motorcycles.

Balduf estimated that the dealership has sold 70 motorcycles over the last few years to RawHyde gradu-

Charles Fleming Los Angeles Times

RAWHYDE INSTRUCTORS , left, map out a route for their adventure school students. Many students had never ridden their motor-

cycles off-road. The company charges $1,395 for the basic two-day, one-night camp, if the rider brings his or her own bike.

ates eager to own their own machines.

Hyde’s teaching style is blunt and direct.

“It’s an illusion that this is a safe activity. It isn’t,” Hyde said that morning. “But we’re going to teach you the skills to do it without killing yourself.”

The RawHyde curriculum began with a simple exercise: Going slowly, on a dirt road, students were asked to stand up, remove one foot from a footpeg, and then swing that leg up onto the motorcycle seat. Then repeat, on the other side.

This was the first of several drills designed to get riders off their seats and onto their feet, so they would begin moving their bodies around on the motorcycle — essential, we would later learn, for controlling the heavy bikes on uncertain terrain.

Soon, riders were shifting their weight around while making circles and figureeight loops. Within hours, we were doing tight turns and loops on a steep hillside.

The drills gradually got more complicated. Learning clutch and throttle control, later that day we were doing figure-eight loops with two or three or even four other motorcycles inside the same circle — closely maintaining speed so we didn’t bump into the bikes in front of or behind us.

They got more difficult, too. We were told that we would soon practice crossing a patch of deep sand, which, because of the size and weight of the motorcycles, is the great nemesis of every big-bike rider.

We’d all been warned, near the beginning of the instruction, that we should be prepared to fall over a few times. So riders were all required to wear proper helmets, boots, gloves and jackets. The delicate parts on our bikes had been removed or taped up for safety.

And fall we did. Some riders went down repeatedly.

This allowed us all to practice another important technique we’d been taught, that

of getting a big motorcycle back on its feet when it tips over. Some riders were expert at this before Saturday afternoon.

Some sustained injuries, too. Two of the riders who started the course were not able to finish, one going out with a bad knee, another with a sprained ankle.

The day ended with drinks in the bar, a substantial dinner of salmon steaks and jasmine rice in the dining room, and a musical performance, featuring coach Owen Balduf on electric violin, in the lounge.

The talk was entirely moto-centric — best bikes, favorite rides, greatest adventures, worst accidents — as a group of men, smoking cigars by the campfire, placed bets on which occupants of the four-person cabins would snore the loudest.

By midday Sunday, many of the novices were riding like veterans. Drills such as those designed to help a rider stop on a steep hill, and turn around without falling,

Costco offering grocery delivery New service begins as the possible threat from Amazon looms.

By Samantha Masunaga Costco Wholesale Corp., the warehouse chain known for its huge store format, food sample stations and cheap hot dogs and pizza, is now offering same-day grocery delivery through Instacart as the company looks to expand its customer base.

The Issaquah, Wash., company announced two new delivery options Thursday: two-day delivery for dry goods and same-day delivery powered by grocery delivery firm Instacart for orders that include fresh foods.

The two-day option guarantees deliveries in two business days and is available only in the continental United States. For orders of less than $75, there is a delivery fee. Costco said the goods sold for delivery will be priced higher than the same goods sold at its stores; it did not specify how much higher.

The same-day delivery option, available in “most metropolitan areas,” lets customers choose a onehour window during which their order will arrive. For orders of less than $35, there is a delivery fee. Prices on the goods will be about 15% to 17% higher than in stores.

Costco said an additional 10% service fee will be added at checkout, though shoppers “may elect not to pay the service fee.”

In an earnings call Thursday, Richard Galanti, Costco’s executive vice president and chief financial officer,

Frederic J. Brown AFP/Getty Images

COSTCO SAID its same-day delivery, handled by Instacart, will be available in

“most metropolitan areas.” Above, a couple head to an Alhambra location in 2013.

said the delivery options are more “fill-in than replacement of a shop.” He said the company has driven sales for years with value, which he defined as “quality and low price.”

But he acknowledged that shopping habits were changing and that customers may not always feel the need to pick out their own fresh produce.

“Over time, the percentage of delivery of fresh will change,” he said on the call.

“How much so, we’ll all have to wait and see.”

Grocery delivery is becoming increasingly important as customers look to save time and add convenience, said David J. Livingston, supermarket analyst and founder of DJL Research.

But Costco’s strength is still its warehouse store format, meaning the delivery options will be just another addition, not necessarily a pivot toward solely e-com-

merce, he said.

Offering grocery delivery is “pretty much what everybody else is doing,” Livingston said. “Just another ‘me too’ program.”

The new delivery options could enable Costco to expand its reach beyond customers who are close to the mega warehouse stores. The inclusion of the one-hour window for same-day deliveries is another added bonus, said Bill Dreher, senior retail analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group.

“It’s really the fresh product that excels,” he said.

“We’re really seeing the emergence of a company that can go toe to toe with Amazon when it comes to grocery.”

The potential threat from e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc., which recently acquired Whole Foods Market Inc., came up several times during Thursday’s earnings call.

Costco executives said on

the call that they get many questions “literally every day” about issues such as whether new member signups were slowing and what the growing number of households that pay for both an Amazon Prime account and a Costco membership will mean for the warehouse chain.

Costco also said its membership renewal rate ticked down slightly, which the company attributed to the changeover from American Express to Visa credit cards.

Costco had long relied on American Express as its exclusive credit card supplier, but chose to switch to Visa and Citigroup for its Costcobranded cards in 2015 after AmEx and Costco could not agree on terms of a new partnership.

Shares of Costco fell 6% to $157.09 on Friday. samantha.masunaga @latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga

were beginning to pay off.

Instructors led riders up a rutted, gravelly road, and then onto a narrow trail that climbed a grassy slope between low-hanging oak trees. Emerging from one grove, the riders followed as their trainers rolled up and over 6-foot-high dirt mounds.

Asked if he’d have been willing, on Friday, to do what he was doing Sunday, the once-nervous Martin said, “No way! Not a chance!”

Then came the hill climbs and finally the dreaded deep sand — which took down several riders, including one instructor.

“This was supposed to be fun!” one rider said as he tipped over into the sand pit.

That evening, after showering off the day’s dust, riders received commendations from the trainers and certificates of completion.

Some would leave that night, but others had paid extra to continue on to “Base Camp Alpha,” which meant another two days of riding and practicing in real-world conditions.

Many exchanged email addresses, and made plans to team up for future rides.

Contacted later, riders said they were still reveling in the experience.

Kody Honeyman, who’d been a veteran dirt bike rider, bought a BMW R1200GSA, like the one he’d studied on, then took a 14,000-mile trip with his girlfriend through Alaska, Can-

ada and a smattering of U.S. national parks.

Retired pilot McCormick, also a seasoned dirt rider, did several more RawHyde rides, and hosted Honeyman and his girlfriend when they crossed Nevada on their way from Tennessee to Alaska.

“You really do become part of the RawHyde family,” McCormick said.

Mark Adams, who may have won the award for most falls during the training session, set off on a cross-country, solo motorcycle tour. By email, months into his trip, he called the RawHyde training “a real spiritual experience” that gave him “a tremendous amount of confidence about riding offroad.”

New rider Kavanagh completed his planned twoweek ride through Peru, much of it on dirt roads and trails. In an email, he described riding on beaches and sand dunes as “like a Steve McQueen movie.”

Relative newbie Gibson learned about his limitations, and said most of his post-RawHyde riding was close to home with his grandson.

“I was able to do things that I never thought were possible,” Gibson wrote. “I also learned that I did not want to ride a motorcycle around the world.” charles.fleming @latimes.com Twitter: @misterfleming

C6

WST

L AT I M E S. C O M /B U S I NE S S

Payrolls drop for first time in 7 years

Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times

ECONOMISTS expect the job market to rebound from the hurricane damage in coming months. Above, Carol

Orr wades through waters last month to check on his father who lives by the river in Jacksonville, Fla. “We’re going to make up for it late 2017 and early 2018.”

Patrick Schaffer, global investment specialist with J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Los Angeles, said people should not be concerned by the one-month job decline because other data show the economy remains strong.

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Garage Sale Community Wide

Huntington Continental Town House Association HUGE GARAGE SALE - Sat., Oct. 7th, 7:00 PM - 3:00 PM 19801 Brookhurst, Huntington Beach, 92643 You won’t want to miss this!

St. Charles Annual Rummage Sale

Estate Sales

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Economic growth in the third quarter of the year also will be “held down by the severe disruptions” caused by the hurricanes but probably

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“We are seeing really strong, broad-based economic growth in the U.S., and we are also seeing an acceleration of growth internationally,” he said.

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen warned Sept. 20 that “the hurricanes severely dis-

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A Mandatory Proposers’ Conference and Mandatory Site Visit will be held on Thursday, October 26, 2017. Additional information can be obtained on the County’s website at: http://camisvr.co.la.ca.us/ lacobids/BidLookUp/BidLookUpFrm.asp Instructions: On the left hand column under the Search by Bid Number, type in “104529,” click submit, and select the appropriate RFP. 10/7, 10/10/2017 RFP NO. AS-4059 SPECIALIZED ADA TRANSPORTATION SERVICES – NORTHERN REGION LOS ANGELES COUNTY ACCESS SERVICES, a state mandated agency that manages paratransit service providers and eligibility contractors in Los Angeles County, has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on October 6, 2017 for Specialized ADA Transportation Services for the Northern Region of Los Angeles County.

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“Based on past experience, these effects are unlikely to materially alter the course of the national economy beyond the next couple of quarters,” she said.

Because of that, the hurricanes probably won’t stop

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the Fed from raising a key interest rate again by the end of the year, analysts said. On Friday, Investors put the odds of a small rate hike in December at 87%, according to the FedWatch tool of the CME Group futures exchange.

Market participants are also looking through this as they continue to expect the Fed to raise rates in December. Hurricane Harvey hit Texas on Aug. 25, and Hurricane Irma hit Florida on Sept. 10.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency declared 87 counties in the two states as disaster areas.

Those counties have about 11.2 million workers — 7.7% of the nation’s nonfarm labor force, the Labor Department said.

The jobs report does not include the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.

If a worker didn’t receive any pay for the survey pay period, which is in the middle of the month, the Labor Department considered that person unemployed.

Businesses that were destroyed or could not be contacted by the Labor Department because of storm damage would affect the jobs numbers as well.

There are 23,000 employers in the 87 disaster-declaration counties included in the Labor Department’s monthly survey of about 147,000 businesses and government agencies.

The unemployment rate is calculated through a survey of 60,000 households. jim.puzzanghera @latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

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Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

Legal Notices

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVENUE BONDS FOR MULTIFAMILY HOUSING PROJECTS LOCATED IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES Notice is hereby given that on October 23, 2017, a public hearing will be held as required by Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to the proposed issuance of multifamily housing revenue bonds or notes in the maximum amounts specified below, issued in one or more series, pursuant to a plan of financing, for the purpose of providing funds to make a loan to the respective project sponsors specified below or to a special purpose entity created by or on behalf of such sponsors to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction and equipping of the below-referenced projects (the “Projects”).

BEAVO ©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

FYEHT FRIDTA CRIWEK

The hearing will commence at 9:00 a.m., October 23, 2017, and will be held in the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department, Room 801, Eighth Floor, 1200 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, California.

Interested persons wishing to express their views on either the issuance of the multifamily bonds or notes or the Projects will be given an opportunity to do so at the public hearing, or may, prior to the time of the hearing, submit written comments to the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department, City of Los Angeles, Eighth Floor, 1200 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, California 90017, Attention: Ms. Magdalina Zakaryan Phone (213) 808-8592.

Answer here: Yesterday’s

Check out the new, free JUST JUMBLE app

[Jobs, from C1] ing, the decline reported in September payrolls doesn’t carry weight this time around,” Hamrick said.

Although much of the report will be discounted because of the temporary weather effects, there were some good signs.

The unemployment rate, which is calculated differently, declined to 4.2% in September, from 4.4% the previous month. That was the lowest level since 2001.

And average hourly earnings jumped 12 cents in September to $26.55. That was the biggest increase since 2007. For the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, wages were up 2.9%, well above the low inflation rate.

“These are really great numbers,” Cohn said of the wage growth. “It just shows President Trump’s economic agenda is really working.”

But the unusually sharp wage growth was probably a temporary boost related to the hurricane, said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. With so many lowerwage restaurant and bar workers out of the calculation, average earnings got an artificial bump up, he said.

“My guess is that was skewed,” Faucher said.

Economists expect the job market to rebound from the hurricane damage in coming months as workers get back to their jobs and rebuilding begins.

“We should get a boost over the months ahead because you’re going to have reconstruction efforts from insurance payments and federal aid,” Faucher said.

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

“

”

(Answers Monday) Jumbles: VILLA GIZMO CIRCUS HERMIT Answer: When it came to making things disappear, the illusionist had the — MAGIC TOUCH

PLAYOFFS D

S AT UR DAY, OC TO BE R 7 , 2 017

9

LATI ME S. COM/D ODG ERS

DIVISION SERIES GAME 1

5

Dodgers lead series 1-0 W: Kershaw L: Walker GAME 2: 6 p.m. today at Dodger Stadium, TBS

LIKE GOOD OLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DAYS

Kershaw gives up four solo homers, but Dodgers regain their summer swagger

By Andy McCullough The night felt like June or July or August, those glorious months when the Dodgers ruled the sport like preordained kings. But it was October, the proving ground for prospective monarchs, and that mattered all the more.

In the first game of the first round of 2017 playoffs Friday, the Dodgers pulped the Arizona Diamondbacks in 9-5 victory, galvanized a crowd of 54,707 at Dodger Stadium and re-staked their claim for National League preeminence.

A four-run, first-inning blitz against a jittery Taijuan Walker set the tone. Justin Turner bashed a three-run homer, en route to tying a playoff franchise record with a five-RBI night. Yasiel Puig licked his bat, wagged his tongue, cracked a double and a triple, and drove in two runs. Corey Seager scored three runs and delivered a tension-easing, RBI triple in the eighth.

Handed the lead, Clayton Kershaw towed his team into the seventh inning before a fusillade ended his night. Arizona walloped a quartet of solo home runs against Kershaw, the most given up by any Dodger in postseason franchise history. Two came in the sev[See Dodgers, D11]

From start to finish, a time to celebrate BILL PLASCHKE Vin was waving to the crowd again. Newk was whipping one across the plate again.

The ageless Sandy Koufax was in the box seats, the new Sandy Koufax was on the mound, and the once-brilliant Dodgers were those Dodgers again.

Welcome back, summer.

Welcome home, hardball.

On an early October night that appropriately felt like a warm July afternoon, the Dodgers began their long-awaited postseason Friday with a raucous, rollicking flashback.

Remember when everyone thought they could be the best team in baseball history? Before everyone thought they were the worst team in baseball history?

Well, after a few hours of [See Plaschke, D2]

Giving his all Hill, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s starter, gives an inspiring speech to the Dodgers. D11 SPORTS INSIDE

Key win for U.S. Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times

JUSTIN TURNER GOT the Dodgers going in the first inning with a three-run home run, and he tied a franchise record with five RBIs.

N L D S

3

0

Spoiling a gem: Cubs capitalize on error to ruin the night for Strasburg and Nationals. D12

A L D S

8

2

Power players: Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve back Dallas Keuchel to give Astros 2-0 lead. D12

A L D S

9

Pulisic, Altidore pace 4-0 victory that makes World Cup bid likely. D3

8

No safe lead: Indians rally to win in 13 innings and put the Yankees on the brink of elimination. D12

D2

SS

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS

DODGERS VS. DIAMONDBACKS

Kershaw was good enough on this night DYLAN HERNANDEZ

Photographs by Wally Skalij Los Angeles Times

DODGERS manager Dave Roberts congratulates Justin Turner after his three-run home run in the first in-

ning. Turner had five RBI, while the Dodgers chased Diamondbacks starter Taijuan Walker after an inning.

Old and the new came together on rowdy night

[Plaschke, from D1] brilliant hitting, sturdy pitching and serious snake crushing, everyone can feel free to jump back on the belief wagon.

To be more precise, the Dodgers opened the first round of the playoffs by punching the Arizona Diamondbacks right between their wide eyes in a 9-5 victory in front of a full house at Dodger Stadium.

“It was fun,’’ said Cody Bellinger, and was it ever.

It was closer than it should have been, the Dodgers allowing a 7-1 lead to shrink to 7-4 after consecutive seventh-inning homers

by Ketel Marte and Jeff Mathis against Clayton Kershaw, whose seventhinning playoff ERA as a starter is now 25.50. But the Dodgers countered with bullpen cleanup and Justin Turner’s fifth RBI, and all was well.

It’s only the first game of a best-of-five National League Division Series, but in the Dodgers’ last 15 postseason series, the outcome of the first game mirrored the outcome of the series.

It’s only nine innings, but this thing felt finished after one, the Dodgers rolling rattled kid pitcher Taijuan Walker for four runs in the first before he recorded an out, the big hit being a Turner three-run homer into a partying mass of fans in the left-field pavilion.

“It’s just nice to jump on him early,’’ said Corey Seager of Walker. “It’s nice to win Game 1, get the momentum and move on from here.’’

It was only one night.

But goodness, what a night, one that featured dancing fans, a flurry of waving blue towels, rattling cheers and Hollywood stars reading lines from their movies.

When the video board showed Tom Hanks, he wagged his finger at the crowd and mouthed the words, “No crying in baseball.’’

That is usually good advice for Dodgers fans in October, as the team has made 10 consecutive postseason appearances without a World Series championship, the longest such drought in history. But for once, those words were not needed.

All this, and Dodger fans throughout Los Angeles could actually watch them on television, the national

DESPITE struggling again in the seventh inning, Clayton Kershaw had enough to get the win.

networks taking over during the postseason for the mostly blacked-out SportsNet LA. For those first-time viewers, that big guy making nifty plays at first base is Cody Bellinger, that little guy scoring two runs is Chris Taylor, and this is really how the team played for most of last summer.

The night began when Don Newcombe, the Dodgers’ 91-year-old legend who practiced throwing a sponge ball for two weeks in anticipation of this moment, delivered a perfect first pitch from in front of home plate to his protege Kenley Jansen.

The charm continued in the middle innings when the video board showed Vin Scully sitting in the crowd.

He immediately stopped his conversation and stood and waved to a roaring crowd that has missed him terribly.

Dodgers fans have also

missed this kind of baseball, the sort that pushed the team to a 52-9 stretch at one point during a regular season during which they were once on a pace to record the most wins in major-league history. Memories were quickly dimmed when, late in the season, this same team went 1-16, a stat that’s scary because no club since 1900 has gone into such a nose dive and emerged as a World Series champion.

But these were the good Dodgers, right from the start, beginning a first inning that featured the same sort of offense that led them on this summer’s amazing streak. It helped that they were facing a very nervous Walker, a kid making his first postseason start after admitting he can’t even stand watching these sorts of games.

Taylor led off by lashing a full-count single. Seager drew a full-count walk. Then Turner drove a two-strike

home run into the left-field pavilion, shaking the packed stadium down to its studs.

Up next, Bellinger, who drove another two-strike pitch up the middle for a single. Yasiel Puig then scored him on a double to the center-field wall after a brilliant nine-pitch at-bat.

“It was exciting to hear the crowd roar in the first inning,’’ said Bellinger.

It was trademark 2017 Dodgers excellence. Grinding plate appearances, unselfish swings, working the pitcher, moving the line, wearing out arms and whittling away at resolve.

“This is what we’ve talked about from this offseason, wanting to bring that trophy back to L.A. to fans who have been waiting a long time for it. It’s the fifth year in a row for some of these guys, trying to do everything we can to make it happen,’’ said Turner earlier this week. “It’s about doing the little things.”

Walker finished the inning and was then quickly pulled after allowing four runs on four hits in one 48-pitch inning in his his postseason debut. The Diamondbacks must now come back in Game 2 Saturday night with another pitcher with a bit of baggage.

Robbie Ray has stifled the Dodgers in his five starts against them this year with a 3-0 record, 2.27 ERA, 53 strikeouts and just 12 walks. But by taking the ball Saturday night against Rich Hill, he is essentially pitching on short rest, as he threw 34 pitches out of the bullpen in the Diamondbacks’ wild-card victory on Wednesday.

“We made it here for a reason,’’ said Ray. ”We’re not just limping our way in.’’

The Dodgers nearly had to limp their way out of Friday night, but survived, and Turner warned fans to get used to it.

“No lead is safe in playoffs, no team going to roll over and quit,’’ said Turner.

“It’s going to be an emotional ride of ups and downs. If we limit our downs and ride our highs as much as possible, we’ve got a chance.’’

On a redemptive kind of evening, the city surely fell back in love with that chance. bill.plaschke@latimes.com

By themselves, the home runs could be viewed as an aberration. In the context of the last month, they are a clear sign of trouble.

Clayton Kershaw isn’t himself.

Kershaw became the first pitcher in Dodgers history to serve up four home runs in a postseason game, doing so Friday night in the opening game of a National League division series.

“I gave up too many home runs, obviously,” he said.

To be fair, the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-5. Kershaw did enough to win.

He pitched 61⁄3 innings and departed with a threerun lead. He struck out seven. He threw 100 pitches, the overwhelming majority of them fastballs.

He also walked three batters.

And then there were the home runs. The solo blast

by A.J. Pollock in the third inning. Another by J.D. Martinez in the sixth.

And the back-to-back home runs by Ketel Marte and Jeff Mathis in the seventh.

“I didn’t have much left,” Kershaw acknowledged.

“Obviously, a frustrating way to end it.”

As much as the Dodgers boast about their depth and claim to be less dependent on Kershaw, the reality is they won’t win the World Series with him pitching like this. He is their best pitcher.

He is their on-field leader.

The uneven performance was a continuation of September, when Kershaw made six starts after missing the previous five weeks with a strained back. After blanking the San Diego Padres for six innings on Sept. 1, he never looked right, posting a 4.23 earnedrun average over his last five starts. He allowed a home run in each of the last five games.

Kershaw insisted nothing was wrong with him physically.

“Good, thank you,” he said when asked about how his back felt.

But if Kershaw is anything, he is emotionally resilient. This could be the most overlooked of Kershaw’s virtues. Every time the game has knocked him down, he has picked himself back up. He has experienced the worst postseason baseball has to offer, but always returned for more.

“Thankful for another opportunity,” Kershaw said.

He welcomed the latest opportunity, knowing fully well this October could end how it did in 2013, when he melted down against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL

Championship Series.

Or how it did in 2014, when he and the Dodgers were knocked out again by the Cardinals, this time on a home run by Matt Adams.

Or how it did last year, when he lost an elimination game to the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. He entered Friday night with a career playoff earnedrun average of 4.55, which ranked 61st among the 67 pitchers with 10 or more postseason starts.

There were times Kershaw was combative with reporters in the aftermath of these defeats, but he was never dismissive of the media. He never pretended the failure didn’t bother him and he never told his critics they had “sorry lives,” as LeBron James once did after falling in the NBA finals.

He recharged over the winter, regained his resolve and returned to work with as much intensity as he had the previous season.

On pretty much every day he doesn’t pitch, he is the first Dodgers player on the field, already running in the outfield when reporters start trickling into the pressbox.

If this postseason marks another opportunity for Kershaw to earn a World Series ring, it also marks another chance for failure.

‘I gave up too many home runs, obviously.’

— Clayton Kershaw “That’s basically what it is,” Game 2 starter Rich Hill said. “You’re going out there and you’re putting yourself in a position to fail, but in doing that, you’re giving it everything you can to succeed.”

The other Dodgers find inspiration in Kershaw’s fearlessness.

“Any time you have someone out there exuding that passion for what they do, it’s a magnet,” Hill said.

“You attract that intensity from other players.”

He was clearly amped up in the first inning, touching 96 mph with his fastball on the stadium radar gun. The Dodgers followed his lead, scoring four times in the bottom of the inning against rattled Diamondbacks starter Taijuan Walker.

Then came the home runs. Kershaw allowed a career-high 23 in the regular season.

The back-to-back homers in the seventh inning also brought back unpleasant memories. His postseason ERA in the seventh inning as a starter is 25.50.

But that won’t scare Kershaw.

The Cardinals and Cubs couldn’t break him. This won’t, either.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times

CLAYTON KERSHAW struggled again in the sev-

enth inning, this time against the Diamondbacks.

D

SPORTS

S A T U R D A Y , O C T O B E R 7 , 2 0 1 7 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / S P O R T S

D

SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN

C O LL E G E F OO TB AL L :: W EE K 6

Pulisic, Altidore lead the goal parade as U.S. gets closer to grabbing World Cup berth.

USA 4 PANAMA 0

By Kevin Baxter

Harry How Getty Images

USC COACH Clay Helton says his team has “extremely high standards,” which is why he’s not satisfied with the Trojans’ offense.

Straining days for Trojans

First loss has USC feeling tense, but Oregon State might provide temporary relief

By Zach Helfand Stress wore on the faces and in the voices of USC team members this week as they approached the midway point of the season.

Clay Helton pronounced with a rare edge Tuesday that, “There’s a lot of things to correct. I’m not gonna BS you.” That is about as as profane as USC’s mild-mannered coach gets publicly.

Offensive coordinator Tee Martin mounted a vigorous, and sometimes exasperated, defense of his offense and his play calling. “News-

flash,” he said at one point this week. “We lost a lot of really good players that have gone off to the NFL right now.”

Multiple players cried in the locker room last Friday after a loss to Washington State, USC’s first loss in more than a year.

USC (4-1, 2-1 in the Pac-12 Conference) has responded to that loss differently from even a year ago, when the Trojans began 1-3. Partially, the expectations USC carries — it began the season a playoff favorite, the Pac-12 frontrunner and in the top five — have added tension. Helton has no easy maneuver

TODAY’S GAME

USC (4-1) vs.

Oregon St. (1-4)

14

at the Coliseum 1 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Networks that can cure all of USC’s problems, as he had last season in quarterback Sam Darnold. And, USC’s lack of a bye week has left the team battered by injury and dizzied by a month with no time to take a breath.

The first five games whooshed by with little time for reflection.

USC escaped with precarious victories in each of its first four games before losing at Washington State.

The Trojans never had an easy game. Most troubling, they never showed consistent signs of progress on offense.

Saturday’s game against Oregon State should provide an opportunity for both. The Beavers (1-4, 0-2) have been outscored by an average of 25.2 points. Their only win was by three points over Portland State, an FCS team.

[See USC, D9]

Defenses are running head-on into problem Targeting rule remains a big issue for UCLA’s Mora and other coaches, players around college football.

By Ben Bolch

Alex Gallardo Associated Press

JOSH WOODS , left, was ejected for targeting on this hit against Hawaii’s Kalakaua Timoteo that he shared with Mossi Johnson.

Jim Mora watched the play and had an identical reaction to that of his son, the UCLA football coach by the same name.

They both saw Bruins safety Adarius Pickett dip his upper body toward Stanford tight end Dalton

Schultz’s midsection as Pickett approached to make a tackle.

A moment before impact, Schultz dropped his shoulder and head to protect himself. Pickett then struck him helmet to helmet, resulting in a targeting penalty and Pickett’s ejection.

Father, like son, didn’t see any culpability on the part of the defender.

“He told me the other day, he said, ‘If I was to put together a clinic tape on how to tackle, Adarius Pickett’s would be one of the ones I showed. It was a perfect tackle,’ ” [See Targeting, D9]

NFL WEEK 5

By Lindsey Thiry

Rams vs. Seattle

The Chargers began the 1992 season 0-4 but won 11 of next 12 and made the playoffs.

AT THE COLISEUM

Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth stood at his locker as reporters approached him, one after another.

When there were no reporters left, a public relations official handed Whitworth a phone. On the other end of the line, another reporter.

Sunday, 1 p.m., Channel 2

By Dan Woike

And finally, after practice, workouts and meetings, Whitworth connected with a final reporter as he drove his SUV away from the Rams facility in Thousand Oaks.

Whitworth laughed [See Rams, D8]

Kings have three for show

Zimmerman felt fear for friends

Iafallo, Fantenberg and MacDermid made their NHL debuts Thursday and it was special for all three. D5

Trip to Las Vegas is a homecoming for the Lakers’ center, but he will make it with a heavy heart. D6

John Raoux Associated Press

CHRISTIAN PULISIC

celebrates scoring the opening goal in the win.

History they’d like to repeat

Whitworth proving his worth with Rams Leadership, wisdom from experienced pro fuel turnaround for the offensive line.

The U.S. national team played a game it couldn’t afford to lose Friday. And it didn’t, overwhelming Panama 4-0 to move a big step closer to an eighth consecutive World Cup appearance next summer.

Christian Pulisic, who seemed unstoppable for much of the first half, and Jozy Altidore did most of the heavy lifting, with Altidore scoring two first-half goals while Pulisic scored one and assisted on another.

But a game was all the U.S. won Friday and much work remains to be done to assure the Americans safe passage to Russia.

With the victory, the U.S. (3-3-3) vaults over Panama (2-3-4) into third place in a six-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament that will send three nations to the World Cup. The Americans can secure their trip to Russia by beating Trinidad and Tobago in their final qualifier next week.

A draw would likely be enough to see the U.S. through as well because it would leave Panama needing to both beat Costa Rica at home and overcome a sevengoal margin in goal differential to overtake the Americans.

“On a night where so much was on the line — maybe everything — we played in a way from the get-go that gave no doubt as to who was going to win the game,” said captain Michael Bradley, whose team would have seen its path to an automatic [See Soccer, D6]

Chris Covatta Getty Images

BOBBY ROSS , with receiver Tony Martin during a

game against Seattle in 1992, says he stressed unity and complete effort during that team’s turnaround.

Bobby Ross talked about that day in Houston 25 years ago with an inflection in his voice, the kind you’d use when remembering, say, your worst bout of food poisoning.

“Horrible,” he said. “We didn’t score a point.”

The 1992 San Diego Chargers had lost four games in a row, the most recent a 17-0 walloping against the Oilers, and the general feeling was the season was lost. But it wasn’t.

Thanks to a coach who kept believing, a locker room that didn’t crack and potential that finally became real-

NFL WEEK 5

Chargers at N.Y. Giants METLIFE STADIUM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

Sunday, 10 a.m., PDT Channel 9 ized, those Chargers won 11 of their next 12 games, winning their division, advancing in the playoffs and building the greatest in-season turnaround in league history.

It’s a template no one in the NFL has been able to duplicate. And, it’s the only hope 0-4 teams such as the 2017 Chargers can cling to.

“It’s the 25th anniversary.

[See Chargers, D8]

D4

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS

PRO CALENDAR SAT. 7

DODGERS

TUE. 10

WED. 11

SEATTLE 1 Channel 2

at San Jose 7:30 FSW PHILA. 7 Prime

UCLA coach had voluntarily given up extra year in contract in wake of 15-17 season.

By Ben Bolch

at N.Y. Giants 10 a.m.

Channel 9

CHARGERS

DUCKS

MON. 9

at Arizona* at Arizona* 7 6** TBS TBS

ARIZONA* 6 TBS

RAMS

KINGS

SUN. 8

Alford receives extension

CALGARY 7:30 FSW NY ISLANDERS 7 Prime

CALGARY 7 Prime

NEXT: OCT. 15 VS. MINNESOTA, 4:30 P.M., SPECSN

Steve Alford got his year back.

UCLA announced Friday that it had awarded its men’s basketball coach a one-year contract extension that runs through the 2020-21 season, more than a year after Alford had returned a previous oneyear extension in the wake of a losing season.

The Bruins went 31-5 last season and reached an NCAA tournament regional semifinal for the third time in Alford’s four seasons at the school. UCLA tied a school record with 28 regular season wins while going 15-3

Gary Coronado Los Angeles Times

STEVE ALFORD has

compiled a 96-45 record in four seasons at UCLA. in the Pac-12 Conference.

“Steve did an outstanding job, helping produce one of the nation’s most exciting offensive teams in recent memory,” UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said in a statement announcing the contract extension. “There was a significant buzz about

UCLA basketball around town and among the sellout crowds at Pauley Pavilion.

As such, he certainly earned back the one-year extension that he had voluntarily returned prior to the season.

We are looking forward to seeing what 2017-18 brings.”

UCLA’s seven-man freshman class features McDonald’s All-Americans Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes and has been widely ranked among the best in the country. The freshmen will join senior center Thomas Welsh and junior guard Aaron Holiday, who will return after initially declaring for the NBA draft to receive evaluations about their professional prospects and areas to target for improvement.

Alford returned a oneyear extension in March 2016 after the Bruins completed a 15-17 season. They more than doubled that victory total

last season while finishing second in the nation in points per game (89.9) and leading all Division I teams in assists per game (21.4), field-goal accuracy (52.2%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.91).

Alford has compiled a 9645 record in four seasons at UCLA, producing nine NBA draft selections, including Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, the second overall pick in the most recent draft.

UCLA also announced that Duane Broussard, a longtime assistant under Alford going back to his tenure at New Mexico, had been elevated to the position of associate head coach.

The Bruins will play Cal State Los Angeles in their exhibition opener on Nov. 1 at Pauley Pavilion. ben.bolch@latimes.com Twitter: @latbbolch

GALAXY

LETTERS

Shade denotes home game * National League division series **If necessary LAKERS: Sunday vs. Sacramento (exhibition) at Las Vegas, 6, SpecSN CLIPPERS: Sunday vs. Portland (exhibition), 12:30

TODAY ON THE AIR TIME EVENT AUTO RACING 7:30 a.m.

IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, Petit Le Mans 8:30 a.m.

IMSA, Petit Le Mans 9 a.m.

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Drive for the Cure 300, qualifying Noon NASCAR Xfinity Series, Drive for the Cure 300 2 p.m.

IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, Road Atlanta 8 p.m.

FIA Formula Two Championship 9:30 p.m.

Formula One, Japanese Grand Prix BASEBALL 2:30 p.m.

NLDS, Chicago Cubs at Washington 6 p.m.

NLDS, Arizona at Dodgers

BOXING 8 p.m.

Jorge Paez Jr. vs. Jose Carlos Paz COLLEGE FOOTBALL 9 a.m.

Wake Forest at Clemson 9 a.m.

Iowa State at Oklahoma 9 a.m.

Penn State at Northwestern 9 a.m.

Georgia at Vanderbilt 9 a.m.

Mississippi at Auburn 9 a.m.

Temple at East Carolina 9 a.m.

Eastern Michigan at Toledo 9 a.m.

Illinois at Iowa 9 a.m.

Texas Tech at Kansas 9:15 a.m.

Duke at Virginia 9:30 a.m.

Pittsburgh at Syracuse 12:30 p.m.

West Virginia at Texas Christian 12:30 p.m.

Miami at Florida State 12:30 p.m.

Notre Dame at North Carolina 12:30 p.m.

Louisiana State at Florida 12:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Purdue 12:30 p.m.

Air Force at Navy 12:30 p.m.

Charleston Southern at Indiana 12:30 p.m.

Western Michigan at Buffalo 1 p.m.

Maryland at Ohio State 1 p.m.

Oregon State at USC 1 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

4 p.m.

4 p.m.

4:15 p.m.

4: 15 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

7:15 p.m.

Arkansas at South Carolina Army at Rice Southern Methodist at Houston Kansas State at Texas Alabama at Texas A&M Virginia Tech at Boston College Michigan State at Michigan Missouri at Kentucky Central Florida at Cincinnati Wisconsin at Nebraska Washington State at Oregon Arizona at Colorado Central Florida at Cincinnati Stanford at Utah

7:30 p.m.

7:45 p.m.

7:45 p.m.

GOLF 5 a.m.

Hawaii at Nevada California at Washington San Diego State at UNLV

2:30 p.m.

4:30 a.m.

(Sun.) HOCKEY 7 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

European PGA, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship PGA, Safeway Open European PGA, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Philadelphia at Ducks Kings at San Jose

HORSE RACING Noon Trackside Live, Santa Anita 2 p.m.

Breeder’s Cup Challenge Series, Fall Stars Weekend MIXED MARTIAL ARTS 7 p.m.

UFC 216: Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee RUNNING 5 a.m.

Chicago Marathon (Sun.) SOCCER 5:45 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Uganda vs. Ghana 5:45 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, South Africa vs.

Burkina Faso 8:45 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Nigeria vs, Zambia 8:45 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Bosnia Herzegovina vs.

Belgium 9 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Sweden vs.

Luxembourg 11:30 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Bulgaria vs. France 11:30 a.m.

World Cup qualifier, Switzerland vs.

Hungary 12:30 p.m.

NWSL, Orlando at Portland 2 p.m.

MLS, Vancouver at New York Red Bulls 4:30 p.m.

NASL, Miami vs. San Fransisco TENNIS 9 p.m.

ATP, Shanghai Masters; Japan Open, final 1:30 a.m.

WTA, China Open, final (Sun.) 4:30 a.m.

ATP, China Open, singles final (Sun.)

ON THE AIR TV: FS1 TV: FS2 TV: NBCSN TV: NBCSN TV: FS2 TV: NBCSN TV: NBCSN TV: TBS R: 710 TV: TBS R: 570, 710, 1020, 1330 TV: beIN2 TV: ESPN2 TV: 11 TV: 7 TV: ESPN TV: SEC TV: ESPNU TV: CBS Sports TV: Big Ten TV: FS1 TV: KDOC TV: Prime TV: FS1 TV: ESPN TV: 7 TV: 2 TV: ESPN2 TV: CBS Sports TV: Big Ten TV: ESPNU TV: 11 TV: Pac-12 R: 710 TV: SEC TV: beIN1 TV: CBS Sports TV: FS1 TV: ESPN TV: ESPN2 TV: 7 TV: SEC TV: ESPNU TV: Big Ten TV: 11 TV: Pac-12 TV: ESPNU TV: FS1, FOXD TV: CBS Sports TV: ESPN TV: ESPN2 TV: Golf TV: Golf TV: Golf TV: Prime R: 830 TV: FS West R: 790 TV: TVG TV: 4 TV: PPV TV: NBCSN TV: beIN1 TV: beIN2 TV: beIN1 TV: ESPNews R: 1220 TV: FSP, FOXD TV: FS2, FOXD TV: FSP TV: Lifetime TV: UniMas TV: beIN2 TV: Tennis TV: beIN Net TV: Tennis

Put this shot on a Tee Don’t expect any great things from this Trojan team this year so long as Tee Martin remains the offensive coordinator and is setting the game plan and calling plays. It is an embarrassment to think that someone who was a starting quarterback for a championship team has such an inept and ineffective approach to not only the running game, but even more importantly to a creative and dynamic passing game.

He manages the game as if he is not there and is not watching what is actually happening on the field.

USC’s defeat to Washington State was not to a better team — it was to a better-coached team.

Mike Loshin Beverly Hills

miscalculation — not at all surprising.

Jim Regan Carlsbad

Missing man

The unity shown by the players, coaches and supposedly the owners has been impressive. But Colin Kaepernick still hasn’t been invited to join a team.

Mark Winters Sherman Oaks

Not a DJ fan

:: There is no rule against sending in a linebacker or safety when the opposing quarterback is picking you apart.

Really, you are allowed to blitz in the second half of an important game. Winning teams do lots of it.

Ira Laufer Beverly Hills :: If anyone needs an example of a contest where two opposing sides played not to lose, Washington State 30, USC 27 is it. The Cougars just happened to be better at it than the mighty Trojans. When your defense plays like your offense and your offense plays like your defense, bad things can happen.

It’s getting to the point where USC looks like UCLA. Time to retool this band of underachievers.

Lawrence Kates Los Angeles :: To Sam Darnold: No Adoreé. No JuJu. No Heisman.

Jim Amormino Rancho Palos Verdes

And the Bruins?

In an article on Sept. 30, Jim Mora stated, “Great competitors and really good teams, they respond in these situations.” He was referring to the Bruins’ two-game losing streak.

One could also state that great competitors and really good teams are not ranked 102nd in rushing offense, 119th in time of possession, tied for 113th in turnover margin, 113th in punt returns and 123rd in penalty yards per game.

Wonder what would happen if you asked him (or his father) about getting to the playoffs.

Gary Yates Los Angeles

Analyze this

So reader Jerry Hiller thinks Troy Aikman was a bad choice to analyze the pro prospects of Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, because his Bruin teams lost twice to USC. Never mind his three Super Bowl rings and 15year career as the top TV analyst, who meets with, dissects and breaks down NFL quarterback play every week.

Darnold proved last week that with a weak offensive line, he can be just as

Young Kwak Associated Press

SAM DARNOLD had a below-average game against

Washington State. Will it cost him the Heisman?

average as the UCLA walkon forced to play behind a decimated offensive line last year. He has much less zip on his ball than Rosen, despite a nice scrambling ability that’s wonderful for college quarterbacks.

At the same time, how much longer do we have to listen to homer Keyshawn Johnson on ESPN radio every day, as if he knows it all about college football?

Despite stabbing the fake sword into the Coliseum turf for his last game vs. UCLA, he was also 0-2 vs. the Bruins.

Jimmy Sogg Toluca Lake

Playoff time

Here’s a synopsis of the Dodgers’ playoff schedule and the season.

Division series: WinExpected; Lose-Totally surprising, Season-Major disappointment; Championship series: Win-Hoped for; Lose- Unforeseen, Season- Disappointment; World Series: Win-Fabulous; Lose- Underwhelming and “Wait till next year.”

Allen J. Schanhaar Redondo Beach :: Almost half of my life has passed since the Dodgers last won the World Series in 1988. Few of the current Dodgers were alive way back then. Traveling to away games during that span the Dodgers have flown more than twice as far as Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong did on Apollo 11. The Soviet Union was still a country. It was 10 years before Staples Center was built. It has been long enough, eh?

Kevin Park Mission Hills :: As a lifelong Giants fan, I never thought I would be saying this, but the thrill of winning the World Series is so unbelievable, so emotional, especially doing it three times in six years, I hope that all Dodgers fans get to share that experience this season.

Mark Berglas Huntington Beach ::

Pedro Baez made the postseason roster? Is there juicy gossip or dirt on management that only he knows about?

Mark J. Featherstone Windsor Hills

The non-playoffs

It’s always amazing to me when I see former Angels playing for other teams; they often seem so much more confident, relaxed and successful. When they played for the Angels they seemed rather tentative and unsure. Jeff Mathis and Ervin Santana are the most recent examples. Mike Napoli was another glaring example. It looks like it is not fun to play for the scowling Mike Scioscia; consider how Joe Maddon builds confidence in his players and makes the game fun.

David Waldowski Laguna Woods :: Mike Scioscia is a nice guy, but Bill Shaikin’s selecting him as the best manager in California is a bad joke. Shouldn’t one at least pretend to look at overall records?

If Arte Moreno weren’t so tight with a buck, Scioscia would have been gone years ago.

Ralph S. Brax Lancaster

Bad move

Sam Farmer details the downward spiral the L.A. Chargers franchise is in, but can anyone be surprised?

Owner Dean Spanos failed in getting a new stadium approved in fan-friendly San Diego, then made every marketing mistake possible in his relocation to L.A. Remember his first preposterous plan, to partner with the Raiders on a stadium project to be built on a toxic landfill dump? The StubHub Center experiment has proved that the Chargers cannot even sell 27,000 seats for home games.

Conventional wisdom just several months ago said the San Diego Chargers franchise was worth about $1 billion, but a move north to L.A. would double its value. Just the opposite is true; this franchise is nearly worthless now, save for the NFL television revenues.

Dean Spanos has made a staggering billion-dollar

As DeAndre Jordan comes up for a new contract extension, Clippers’ fans ask why the team should give a maximum contract to someone whose skills no longer fit the winning pro game. Wing players who can play multiple positions, shooters who can stretch the floor, and quick guards who can penetrate and kick out, are the currency of the realm in today’s NBA. Jordan brings to the floor a giant wing span, huge hair, a congenital inability to hit free throws and a massively inflated ego. None of these attributes, singularly or in combination, is the stuff of which champions are made.

I would prefer to see Keith Closs return.

Andrew Rubin Marina del Rey

On the Balls

Basketball aside, I don’t think it was a very wise move for LaVar Ball to yank his son LaMelo out of Chino Hills High in his junior year.

Besides missing out on all the social advantages of being in school, LaMelo’s basic education could also suffer. Those issues, however, don’t seem to have mattered too much to LaVar. But then, rational thinking has never been his strong suit.

Charles Reilly Manhattan Beach :: For 40 years, Marv Marinovich set the standard for psycho sports parents. That standard hasn’t just been broken by LaVar Ball, it has been obliterated.

Jerry German Downey

On the clock

I decided to record the game between the Saints and the Dolphins from London. I added 1 hour of recording time. I was able to see most of the the third quarter.

John Broecker Upland

OK, that’s a flag

I guess with a bye week, the UCLA defensive unit will be heading to Target.

Jeff Black Los Angeles :: The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Mail: Sports Viewpoint Los Angeles Times 202 W. 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Fax: (213) 237-4322 Email: sports@latimes.com

D5

L AT I ME S . CO M / S P O RT S

NHL KINGS REPORT

STANDINGS WESTERN CONFERENCE

Pacific KINGS DUCKS Vegas Edmonton Vancouver Calgary Arizona San Jose Central St. Louis Chicago Colorado Winnipeg Nashville Minnesota Dallas

W 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 L 0 0 0 1 1 1 1

OL Pts GF GA 0 2 2 0 0 2 5 4 0 2 2 1 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 5 0 0 3 5 OL Pts GF GA 0 2 5 4 0 2 10 1 0 2 4 2 0 0 2 7 0 0 3 4 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 2

Note: Overtime or shootout losses worth one point.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Metropolitan Columbus Washington Philadelphia Pittsburgh New Jersey Carolina NY Rangers NY Islanders Atlantic Montreal Tampa Bay Detroit Boston Toronto Ottawa Buffalo Florida

W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 W 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

L 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

OL Pts GF GA 0 2 5 0 0 2 5 4 0 2 5 5 1 1 5 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 5 OL Pts GF GA 0 2 3 2 0 2 5 3 0 2 4 2 0 2 4 3 0 2 7 2 1 1 4 5 1 1 2 3 0 0 3 5

Chris O’Meara Associated Press

FLORIDA CENTER Aleksander Barkov knocks the

puck away from Tampa Bay winger Ryan Callahan.

RESULTS VEGAS 2 AT DALLAS 1 AT TAMPA BAY 5 FLORIDA 3 AT COLUMBUS 5 NY ISLANDERS 0

James Neal scores twice in the third period, rallying the Golden Knights to a victory over the Stars.

Steven Stamkos sets up the go-ahead goal for the Lightning in his return from a right knee injury.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scores in his NHL debut and Sergei Bobrovsky makes 29 saves in the Blue Jackets’ victory.

For complete NHL summaries, go to latimes.com/sports/scores

TODAY’S GAMES KINGS at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.

Colorado at New Jersey, 11 a.m.

Detroit at Ottawa, 4 p.m.

Nashville at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

Buffalo at NY Islanders, 4 p.m.

Dallas at St. Louis, 5 p.m.

Vegas at Arizona, 6 p.m.

Winnipeg at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Philadelphia at DUCKS, 7 p.m.

Montreal at Washington, 4 p.m.

NY Rangers at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Minnesota at Carolina, 4 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Florida, 4 p.m.

Columbus at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.

Edmonton at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY’S GAME Montreal at NY Rangers, 4 p.m.

MONDAY’S GAMES Calgary at DUCKS, 7 p.m.

Colorado at Boston, 10 a.m.

Chicago at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Winnipeg at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

St. Louis at NY Islanders, 10 a.m.

New Jersey at Buffalo, noon Washington at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m.

Rookie trio got chills in hitting the ice together

By Curtis Zupke

Often when a player makes his NHL debut, it occurs in a normal regular season game, perhaps in an unfamiliar city.

Seldom does it happen on a team’s opening night, when their name is announced during introductions and they skate out to center ice under a spotlight. Such was the case Thursday for three Kings: Alex Iafallo, Oscar Fantenberg and Kurtis MacDermid.

“The national anthem gave me some chills,” Iafallo said Friday, a day after the Kings’ 2-0 victory over Philadelphia. “Very cool.”

Iafallo’s parents, Tom and Barbara, flew to L.A. from Buffalo, N.Y., to watch their son in person. MacDermid is from Sauble Beach, Canada, three hours north of Toronto, and there wasn’t enough time for his parents to make it out.

But it was special for all three to reach that moment in their careers simultaneously.

“It was great experience, especially doing it together,” Iafallo said. “We had all of training camp together. It was fun to play the home opener with such an amazing team and amazing players. It can’t get any better than that.”

Kings coach John Stevens paused and thought for a moment when asked if he’d ever had three players make their NHL debut in the same game.

“I’ve had lots of young players in the lineup,” Stevens said. “Whether they all made their debut together, I’m not sure.”

Stevens graded them differently given their various roles. Iafallo displayed highend skill as the left wing on the top line. The 6-foot-5, 208pound MacDermid is an in-

Harry How Getty Images

TREVOR LEWIS, right, celebrates his goal with Kurtis MacDermid, center, and

Kyle Clifford in front of Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth on opening night in L.A. some big hits and knocked down the Flyers’ Taylor Leier behind the net in the second period. He was inserted into the lineup after Alec Martinez got injured before the opener.

“It’s something I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid,” MacDermid said.

timidating presence in the mold of former Kings defenseman Matt Greene, and he was paired with the dynamic and more offensive-driven Fantenberg.

Fantenberg is older than Iafallo and MacDermid — he turns 26 on Saturday when the Kings play the San Jose Sharks — and he has extended European experience.

He said it helped to take part in development camps over the summer to adjust to the NHL game.

Fantenberg played more than 17 minutes and was a plus-1 against the Flyers with MacDermid as his partner.

“He’s a big guy and he plays a simple [game],” Fantenberg said. “You feel pretty safe out there. He talks a lot and it’s easy to play with him.”

MacDermid turned in

Third line iced

The line of Adrian Kempe, Jonny Brodzinski and Michael Cammalleri was all but benched in the third period. Kempe and Brodzinski took two shifts each and Cammalleri four.

Stevens said their ice time wasn’t curbed because of the special teams situations.

“It will be earned throughout the hockey game,” Stevens said. “I thought there were times in our zone we got

in trouble. That line specifically had some trouble managing the puck in the neutral zone.”

KINGS TONIGHT AT SAN JOSE When: 7:30 p.m.

On the air: TV: FSW; Radio: 790 Update: The post-Patrick Marleau period began Wednesday for San Jose, which lost its all-time leading scorer to the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason. Franchise fixtures Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski remain, as well as reigning Norris Trophy-winner Brent Burns.

The Sharks’ normally potent power play slipped to 25th in the NHL last season. curtis.zupke@latimes.com Twitter: @curtiszupke

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linemates made some pretty good plays on those goals,” he said.

Perry turns back clock to the delight of Ducks

His two goals in season opener are signs that he’s far from being washed up.

By Mike Coppinger

Corey Perry threw both his hands in the air and pulled them to his side in jubilation.

This first goal — career No. 350 — had to feel good.

All offseason (and much of last season) Perry heard the comments. Washed up, they said. Not the same elite player.

And there was good reason to believe he had seen better days. Perry, once a 50-goal scorer and league MVP, found the back of the net just 19 times last season.

So when Perry scored twice in the Ducks’ season opener Thursday — a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes after erasing a three-goal deficit — it must have been a weight off his back.

Just maybe, the old Corey Perry is back, and his subpar campaign was simply a matter of puck luck.

“I knew that question was coming, here we go,” Perry, 32, said with a laugh when last season was referenced. “Yeah, it’s exciting. It’s definitely a

[boost] of confidence when you find the right spots. My linemates made some pretty good plays on those goals so credit to them as well.”

Perry, who added an assist, played on the top line along with Rickard Rakell and Andrew Cogliano.

The makeshift No. 1 unit — top-liners Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf are on injured reserve — was involved on all but one goal, with Cogliano, Rakell and Perry each producing three-point nights.

“You want [Perry] to feel it,” Cogliano said. “When he does, he usually keeps it going.

We’re a team here and we need contributions from each guy.

One night it might be him or it might be another guy. He did a great job. ... He was around the puck all night.”

Perry was his usual pesky self in front of the net — and behind the net too. He ran into Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue in the trapezoid, which ignited a pile-up of bodies and punches with Perry at the bottom. “You get involved right away, that’s for sure,” Perry said.

And maybe this is exactly what Perry needed to jumpstart his bounce-back campaign — a fracas, a couple goals and playing right wing on a line that played at a fre-

netic pace with the forecheck, especially in the third period.

The Ducks are missing a trio of top-six forwards right now, and two top-four defensemen. But if the Perry everyone really knows is back, just maybe the depleted Ducks can hold the fort down until the cavalry returns.

“We believe in Corey Perry,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “The commitment we’re trying to portray to him is if he plays in a top role and continues to do the things we ask you to do, we think you’re going to score goals. It’s our job to prop him up, not tear him down.”

DUCKS TONIGHT VS. PHILADELPHIA When: 7 On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 830.

Update: The Ducks could be without Getzlaf and Eaves again as both recover from lower-body injuries. … The Flyers are 1-1 entering Saturday after a 2-0 defeat to the Kings on Thursday. … Gritty Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds scored a hat trick in the team’s opener Wednesday, one of a record-tying four three-goal games in the player’s opener. sports@latimes.com

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LAA5218340-1

Kelvin Kuo Associated Press

COREY PERRY began the season with a two-goal game against the Coyotes. “My

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D6

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS LAKERS REPORT

Hearts are heavy for trip

By Tania Ganguli

John Raoux Associated Press

PAUL ARRIOLA fights Panama’s Edgar Barcenas

for the ball during the first half in Orlando.

U.S. moves a step closer to World Cup [Soccer, from D3] World Cup berth close with a loss.

“Across the board we had guys ready for a big game.

And come through in a huge way,” added Bradley of a U.S. team that gave it most complete effort of the qualifying tournament, putting eight shots on goal while giving up just two.

“But the job isn’t quite done yet.”

Playing before a rainsplattered sellout crowd of 25,303 at Orlando City Stadium, Pulisic, Altidore and Bobby Wood carved up Panama from the start, opening huge holes in its defense and going in front to stay in the eighth minute on a spectacular goal from Pulisic.

After taking a deft rightfooted feed from Altidore, Pulisic split two defenders on his way into the penalty area, rounded keeper Jaime Penedo at the edge of the six-yard box and pushed a right-footed shot in from a difficult angle for his fifth goal of the year.

Panama, which pounded Pulisic in a 1-1 draw in a March qualifier, attacked him again Friday but it did little to slow the teenager playmaker and11minutes after scoring, he set up Altidore for the second goal.

The play started with Pulisic eluding Michael Murillo on the left wing and sending a low left-footed pass to the front of goal for Altidore, who redirected it in.

“From the first minute we put them under a lot of pressure,” Altidore said. “I don’t think they were able to deal with it.”

Altidore then made it 3-0 just before the half, chipping in a penalty kick for his 41st

international goal.

Wood, who set up that score when he was taken down by Armando Cooper in the 18-yard box, closed the scoring 18 minutes into the second half, accepting a short pass from Paul Arriola with his back to the net, spinning and sending a soft shot by a pair of stationary defenders and into the back of the net.

The four goals marked the most Panama has given up in a World Cup qualifier since a 6-0 loss to the U.S. in October 2004 — and was one short of the five goals it had allowed in its eight previous games in this cycle combined.

“We faced a team that was immensely better than us. Superior in every way,” Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez said in Spanish.

“It was ugly….we could have given up 10 goals.”

The U.S. didn’t get out of the game unscathed, however, with Pulisic limping off the field briefly early in the second half after a strong tackle by Anibal Godoy.

He was allowed to stay in briefly before being replaced

by Dax McCarty in the 57th minute, then walked gingerly to the locker room after the game.

“I got kicked a few times tonight, but I’ll be fine,” Pulisic said.

“We needed a win but the job’s not done. We definitely need a result Tuesday.”

Altidore agreed.

“There’s still a way where we can’t be in this World Cup,” he said. “So for us the job is, on Tuesday, to get a result.” kevin.baxter@latimes.com Twitter: @kbaxter11

Around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, Stephen Zimmerman, a reserve center on the Lakers’ training camp roster, checked in with his friends from back home to make sure everyone was OK. Zimmerman spent his formative years in Las Vegas, from ages 10 to 20. He went to bed that night, like so many did, not expecting the historic tragedy that unfolded later when a gunman killed 58 people from windows in a 32nd floor suite at Mandalay Bay and injured more than 500 others during a music festival.

“That’s something that’s going to affect Las Vegas forever,” Zimmerman said.

On Saturday the Lakers will travel to Las Vegas for their Sunday game against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers, Kings, T-Mobile Arena, and AEG and MGM Resorts International, which own and operate TMobile Arena, will donate the proceeds of the game to benefit victims of the shooting, their families and first responders.

Zimmerman’s family will be there, but he’ll make this trip with a heavier heart after what his hometown has been through.

“It hurts,” Zimmerman said. “It feels way more personal. It’s one of those things that’s like, you never know how it feels until it happens to you and it feels like it happened to me. It’s kind of hard to describe.”

Zimmerman was lucky.

Although he had some friends who did attend the concert, they were safe. He watched their videos on social media and felt the fear they experienced.

One close friend’s parents and aunts and uncles were there, but they left be-

Sean M. Haffey Getty Images

WITH THE TEAM heading to Las Vegas for a game, Lonzo Ball has been limited

by a sprained ankle. “It’s getting better every day, still day-to-day,” Ball said.

fore the horror began.

In the few spare moments he had after waking up and before going to practice, Zimmerman and his girlfriend, who was born and raised in Las Vegas, talked about what happened. They talked about how they could help. He was pleased to hear the Lakers’ commitment of the game’s proceeds.

“Anything I can help [with],” Zimmerman said.

“Luckily, Las Vegas was helpful. We had three-hour lines for blood drives and a whole bunch of stuff going on. Just seeing what I can do.”

Ball limited Point guard Lonzo Ball was limited in practice on Friday with a sprained ankle. The team has listed him as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Kings.

“It’s getting better every day, still day-to-day, got out there today, tried to practice a little bit, but I was limited,” Ball said.

“But try to take positives, and like I said, just try to get better every day.”

Ball suffered the left ankle sprain that the Lakers called mild during Monday’s preseason game at Staples Center.

He missed Wednesday’s game in Ontario, the closest Lakers game of the season to his hometown of Chino Hills.

As practice closed on Friday, Ball was sitting on the side of the practice court with his foot elevated as he received treatment for the injury.

“We would love to have him out there obviously,” Coach Luke Walton said.

“But … if he is not ready to go then he won’t play.”

Forward Brandon Ingram took on some of the point guard duties in Ball’s absence.

Ingram, who missed Wednesday’s game with a head contusion, is probable for Sunday.

Center Andrew Bogut is questionable with a groin injury.

New analytics boss The Lakers hired Jason Rosenfeld, previously with the NBA, as their director of basketball analytics.

Rosenfeld helped develop new statistics to track player production while working in the league office.

Rosenfeld has also been the Charlotte Hornets director of basketball analytics and he worked in the front office of the Shanghai Sharks, owned by Yao Ming, from 2009 to 2010. tania.ganguli@latimes.com

CLIPPERS REPORT

Gallinari latest bit by injury bug

By Broderick Turner On their first day back at their practice facility in Playa Vista after nine days in Hawaii for training camp, the Clippers are dealing with a rash of injuries.

The latest injury was to starting forward Danilo Gallinari, who suffered a sprained left foot during the second exhibition game Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Gallinari, who is not expected to practice the next two days, is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s exhibition game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center.

“He did something to his foot,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s not serious, but we’re going to act like it’s serious so we’re just going to

shut him down for a while.”

Guard Austin Rivers, who suffered a strained right glute in the first exhibition game last Sunday, will not play against the Trail Blazers.

“It’s a strange injury,” Doc said. “We just have to monitor him and be careful.”

Reserve forward Sam Dekker suffered a left oblique injury in the second exhibition against the Raptors. Dekker is listed as out for Sunday’s game.

On the positive side, Blake Griffin said Friday that the right big toe he had surgery on in May has not been a concern. He played in both games in Hawaii and has not missed a practice during the preseason.

“I haven’t had any issues,” Griffin said. “I haven’t had to be held back at all. So, I’m taking it day by day.”

Griffin even said he’s in

good shape despite not being able to work out as soon as he wanted because of the toe injury.

“My condition has been good,” Griffin said. “A point of emphasis for me this summer, even when I wasn’t able to, like, run, I was doing a lot of upper-body conditioning.

I was doing stuff in the water, just trying to get creative condition-wise to stay in as good of shape as possible.”

Building trust

With nine new players, these days in training camp are the time for the Clippers to build some trust.

They have learned to trust that Griffin will deliver for them. They have learned to trust that when they get open, Milos Teodosic will get them the ball. They have learned to trust that Patrick Beverley will play nonstop defense. They have learned

to trust that DeAndre Jordan will gobble up rebounds.

They have learned to trust that Lou Williams will provide scoring punch off the bench.

That all came to pass in two games in Hawaii, during practices there and here in Los Angeles.

“We have a lot of trust,” Griffin said. “Guys really trust the extra pass. Guys trust that the help is going to be there. I think that’s important. When your trust is high to start out with, as you get on the same page and as you learn each other’s tendencies and all those things, I think the trust builds even more. So, that’s what I learned, among other things, but that was the thing that stood out the most and the thing I was the most impressed with.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Ferguson is no McGregor, and proud of it He’s focused on UFC 216 bout against Lee, but he has a lot to say about flashy Irishman.

By Lance Pugmire LAS VEGAS — If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then it’s clear what Tony Ferguson is doing to contrast the riches Conor McGregor has achieved this year.

“I look at character. I can see right through people,” Costa Mesa’s Ferguson — wearing a simple black hoodie and jeans to a meeting with reporters — said recently after closing an intense training camp in Big Bear. “I’m not fake. My outfit probably cost less than $100.”

On Saturday night at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Ferguson (23-3) puts his ninefight UFC winning streak on the line when he meets Kevin Lee (16-2) in the UFC 216 main-event bout for the organization’s interim lightweight title.

Lee put a scare into Ferguson and the UFC by

nearly missing weight Friday. He weighed 156 pounds — one pound over the limit — at the UFC’s 11 a.m. deadline. But Nevada Athletic Commission rules allow a fighter to shed as much as two pounds with a one-hour extension, and a stressed Lee returned nude behind a towel to weigh 154.5 pounds.

The fight’s interim tag is there because Ireland’s charismatic McGregor hasn’t been in the octagon since winning the 155-pound belt in November.

McGregor took an extended break to await the birth of his son, then lost by 10th-round technical knockout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an Aug. 26 novelty boxing match. The fight drew about 4 million pay-per-view buys and likely put $100 million in McGregor’s pocket after he promoted the bout wearing designer suits and a mink coat.

In a recent interview, McGregor said fighting the Ferguson-Lee winner next might be his best option since Nate Diaz perhaps is pricing himself out of a third fight against McGregor.

“Somewhere along the line, righteousness and

virtue has gotten skipped,” Ferguson said, knocking the UFC for yielding to its No. 1 breadwinner’s wishes.

“Good for [McGregor]. He has a lot of likes, a lot of followers. I might not be as marketable as Conor. I don’t care. I make my money winning and I’m here to remind everybody.”

Ferguson has been sidelined since November after Russia’s No. 1 lightweight contender, Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0), fell ill trying to make weight for their March fight. Nurmagomedov could be ready to fight the Ferguson-Lee winner in late December, the fighter’s manager told The Times on Friday.

Seventh-ranked Lee, a strong wrestler riding a fivefight win streak, is seen by the UFC as such a formidable test that it kept the fight as the main event even after a flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg was shifted to Saturday’s card.

Johnson can break longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s UFCrecord 10 consecutive successful title defenses by de-

feating Borg.

“I’m looking to make a finish,” said Johnson, who told reporters he’s receiving a cut of the pay-per-view profits for the first time in his career. “I’ll step back [if the record is set], get to my new house, look at my new fireplace, have a delicious beer and say, ‘This is what it feels like.’ But the thing about this sport, it’s right on to the next one.”

While Johnson is his division’s full champion, Ferguson’s entertainment value and the fact he fights in McGregor’s division are being considered, so there is a coattails benefit.

“I’m not here to play this game. I’m here to remind [fighters] this is my show.

This is my time. I deserve this,” Ferguson said. “I didn’t talk my way here. I earned my way here. I’m going to fight like I have a chip on my shoulder.”

Ferguson was so agitated at a UFC 216 luncheon last week he nearly fought with heavyweight Fabricio Werdum, who is handled by Nurmagomedov’s manager.

He also got moody with The Times on Thursday, prompting someone close to

him to remark, “That’s Tony being Tony.”

Said Lee: “He’s a weirdo.”

McGregor’s trainer has speculated the Irishman could return to the UFC on St. Patrick’s Day evening, but when Ferguson was asked if he expects himself or someone else to be the opponent, he responded, “I’m not going to prepare for a fight that’s not there.

“The rankings go out the window” for McGregor, Ferguson said. “What I do [Saturday] is going to be on their conscience. When that time comes, I’ll make them feel guilty.

“One way or another, they’re going to run into my [rear]. You’ve got a guy [Nurmagomedov] who can’t make weight, a guy [McGregor] who’s a no-show. He needs to defend or vacate.”

Lee, 25, had to shed 191⁄2 pounds in less than 24 hours.

If the fight lasts its maximum 25 minutes, he could find it difficult to maintain his endurance.

Ferguson cracked, “I ran every night, and sometimes up there you didn’t feel like you were running with yourself, so that makes you run a little faster. I would’ve been

UFC 216 Main Event: No. 2 Tony Ferguson (23-2) vs. No. 7 Kevin Lee (16-2) for UFC interim lightweight belt When: Saturday; pay-per-view card begins at 7 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas Television: Pay-per-view, $59.99; preliminaries on FX at 5 p.m. Pacific Undercard: Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1) vs. No. 3 Ray Borg (11-2) for Johnson’s flyweight belt; No. 2 Fabricio Werdum (21-7-1) vs. No. 6 Derrick Lewis (18-5), heavyweights; Mara Romero Bella (11-4) vs.

Kalindra Faria (18-5-1), women’s flyweights; No. 12 Beneil Dariush (14-3) vs.

No. 14 Evan Dunham (17-6), lightweights OK. ... And I will have my hand raised.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com Twitter: @latimespugmire

D7

L AT I ME S . CO M / S P O RT S

HIGH SCHOOLS

St. John Bosco QBs prove two much Quarterback platoon debuts to great effect in Braves’ Trinity League opener.

ST. JOHN BOSCO 42 ORANGE LUTH. 21 ERIC SONDHEIMER ON HIGH SCHOOLS

Re-Al Mitchell is the fastest quarterback in the state. When he takes off, you need a track sprinter to catch him. D.J. Uiagalelei, 6 feet 4, 240 pounds, might be the best sophomore quarterback in the state.

One person alone can’t tackle him and he throws a spiral so hard a finger can be broken by a receiver not looking.

Bellflower St. John Bosco finally has solved its dilemma about what to do with two big-time quarterbacks — use both.

Switching to a quarterback rotation system that Corona Centennial successfully used three years ago, St. John Bosco let its QBs do their thing in a 42-21 Trinity League victory over Orange Lutheran on Friday night at Orange Coast College.

Alternating series, Mitchell had touchdown runs of 27 and 37 yards.

Uiagalelei had touchdown passes of six yards to Jude Wolfe,15 yards to Colby Bowman and 36 yards to Josh Delgado.

Together, they are one imposing duo.

Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times

D.J. UIAGALELEI , the No. 2 punch in the Braves’ quarterback rotation, is tackled by a pack of Orange Lutheran defenders.

“They handled it so great,” coach Jason Negro said of the decision to split playing time.

Mitchell, an Iowa State commit, quarterbacked St. John Bosco to the Southern Section Division 1 championship and state Open Division bowl victory last season. He started Friday but will have to get used to alternating because Uiagalelei is just too good to keep on the sideline.

“We have to be dynamic on offense,” Negro said.

And the Braves were, when penalties were not disrupting things. The offensive line was effective.

Running back George Holani rushed for 135 yards in 19 carries and had a fiveyard touchdown run.

St. John Bosco (5-1, 1-0), up 14-7 at halftime, opened a 28-7 lead late in the third quarter and seemed ready to go into cruise control.

THE TIMES’ PREP FOOTBALL RANKINGS How The Times’ top 25 high school football teams fared this week (losses are shaded): Rk. School (W-L)

Result

Next game

1 MATER DEI (6-0)

def. Santa Margarita, 70-35

vs. St. John Bosco (at El Camino College), Friday

2 ST. JOHN BOSCO (5-1)

def. Orange Lutheran, 42-21

vs. Mater Dei (at El Camino College), Friday

3 CORONA CENTENNIAL (4-1)

def. Eastvale Roosevelt, 72-33

vs. Corona Santiago, Friday

4 MISSION VIEJO (7-0)

def. Tesoro, 42-6

at San Juan Hills, Friday

5 RANCHO CUCAMONGA (5-1) lost to Upland, 30-23

at Los Osos, Friday

6 CHAMINADE (5-1)

Did not play

at Loyola, Friday

7 JSERRA (6-0)

def. Servite, 52-36

vs. Orange Lutheran (at Orange Coast College), Friday

8 SERVITE (5-1)

lost to JSerra, 52-36

vs. Santa Margarita (at Cerritos College), Friday

9 UPLAND (6-0)

def. Rancho Cucamonga, 30-23

vs. Damien, Friday

10 LONG BEACH POLY (5-1)

def. Long Beach Cabrillo, 49-0

at Compton, Friday

11 ORANGE LUTHERAN (5-1)

lost to St. John Bosco, 42-21

vs. JSerra (at Orange Coast College), Friday

12 CALABASAS (6-0)

def. Westlake, 52-14

vs. Sierra Canyon, Friday

13 SAN CLEMENTE (6-0)

Did not play

vs. Tesoro, Friday

14 SANTA MARGARITA (4-2)

lost to Mater Dei, 70-35

vs. Servite (at Cerritos College), Friday

15 EASTVALE ROOSEVELT (4-2)

lost to Corona Centennial, 72-33

at Corona, Friday

16 VALENCIA (5-1)

def. Hart , 42-14

vs. Golden Valley, Friday

17 NARBONNE (3-3)

def. Carson, 48-13

vs. Wilmington Banning, Friday

18 PARACLETE (6-1)

def. Vasquez, 61-6 (Thur.)

vs. Viewpoint (at Antelope Valley College), Friday

19 HERITAGE (5-1)

def. Lakeside, 60-7

at Elsinore, Friday

20 CHARTER OAK (6-0)

def. Diamond Ranch, 14-7

at Los Altos, Friday

21 GARDENA SERRA (3-3)

def. Loyola, 13-10

at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Friday

22 EDISON (4-2)

def Huntington Beach, 63-0 (Thur.)

at Newport Harbor, Friday

23 OAKS CHRISTIAN (5-2)

def. Newbury Park, 48-0

at Camarillo, Oct. 20

24 BISHOP AMAT (5-1)

def. SO Notre Dame, 31-17

vs. Crespi, Friday

25 LA HABRA (4-2)

def. Sunny Hills, 42-3

vs. Troy, Friday

But Orange Lutheran (5-1, 0-1) took advantage of penalties and mistakes. After Kyle Ford caught a nineyard touchdown pass, the Lancers recovered an onside kick.

Then pass interference and personal foul penalties set up a one-yard touchdown run by Ryan Hilinski with 7:16 left.

The Braves were feeling a little nervous, but Mitchell came to the rescue. He

directed a quick scoring drive, racing 27 yards untouched for the touchdown.

Hilinski, who came in completing 75% of his passes, was 22 of 40 for 219 yards and ran for two scores. Ford caught five passes for 110 yards.

St. John Bosco was called for 170 yards in penalties, the most ever under Negro.

“I don’t think it was sloppy,” Negro said. “It was

bad officiating.”

St. John Bosco faces Santa Ana Mater Dei next Friday at El Camino College in a showdown of the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams in Southern California.

In other Trinity League openers, JSerra defeated Servite, 52-36, and No. 1 Mater Dei defeated Santa Margarita, 70-35. eric.sondheimer@latimes.com Twitter: @latsondheimer

Narbonne takes Carson anger and runs with it NARBONNE 48 CARSON 13

By Devin Ugland A billboard touting the success of the Narbonne football program popped up out of the blue one day last April.

It was placed on Carson Street, not far from the Gauchos’ Marine League rivals at Carson High, and featured a fist-pumping photo of coach Manuel Douglas and highlighted the school’s three-straight City Section titles and 2015 state championship.

The sign outraged the Colts and was removed, but in the months leading to Friday’s matchup between the two, the chatter on social media was loud and clear.

Carson, armed with a

slew of transfers, was coming for No. 17-ranked Narbonne on its home turf.

But after the Gauchos dispatched the Colts, 48-13, and Carson decided to forgo the post-game handshake, Douglas stood in front of his team and delivered a message, tongue-in-cheek.

“What are they mad about now, the billboard or the scoreboard?” Douglas asked.

The answer is probably both.

“They chose not to shake hands,” Douglas said. “We wouldn’t do that. I don’t care. We’re never not shaking hands.”

The game was never in question. Narbonne took control in the first half behind senior running back Jermar Jefferson.

Jefferson rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns

before the break, which gave Narbonne (3-3,1-0) a 34-6 advantage at the half.

Jefferson, who transferred to Narbonne from Redondo Union, said he was starting to get more comfortable in the offense and with his teammates.

“The biggest adjustment is facing better teams and competition,” he said.

In the second half, senior quarterback Jalen Chatman took over, throwing two touchdowns, first to Noah Jackson for 16 yards and second to Aaron Magee for 20 yards, giving the Gauchos a 48-6 lead.

Carson (3-3, 0-1) scored in the first half on a 23-yard pass from Jaja Bellinger to Dejonte Thomas, and in the second half on a 70-yard interception by Sultan Moala. sports@latimes.com

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D8

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS

NFL

Rams praise leader

RAMS REPORT

The ‘Legion of Boom’ will test thriving offense

By Gary Klein

[Rams, from D3] through a slight crackle in a Bluetooth connection when asked if he’s ever been so popular with the media.

“I’ve had it happen before,” he said. “When we don’t play well.”

That’s not the case these days.

The Rams are 3-1 and in first place in the NFC West as they prepare to face the 2-2 Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at the Coliseum.

The Rams offense ranks first in points scored, averaging 35.5, and fifth in yards, averaging 383.3.

Quarterback Jared Goff has completed 67% of his passes, seven for touchdowns, with only one interception.

And running back Todd Gurley has scored seven touchdowns, rushed for more than 100 yards in consecutive games, and ranks second in the league in total yards from scrimmage with 596.

The offensive line is getting credit.

“Can’t stress enough how important they’ve been to our success so far,” said Goff, who has been sacked only four times this season. “And how important they will be to any future success we’ll have.”

Said Gurley: “Those guys have been doing an incredible job. … Just blocking, pass protecting, just opening up lanes for me … they’ve been working hard.”

Last season, the offensive line carried the burden as the team stumbled to a 4-12 finish.

Goff was sacked 26 times in seven starts and Gurley was unable to gain 100 yards in a single game.

“We’ve definitely grown from last year,” right guard Jamon Brown said.

New coaches, new players and a new scheme have

Michael Ainsworth Associated Press

“IT’S COOL when the O-line gets the chance to get some notoriety,” says Rams

tackle Andrew Whitworth, right, with second-year quarterback Jared Goff.

sparked improvement.

“The room and the whole team in general has been more accountable,” left guard Rodger Saffold said.

“Guys have really been working the technique diligently and I think, after last year, you just see guys working harder.”

Offensive line coach Aaron Kromer has provided a positive influence in meetings, particularly in film breakdown after games.

Kromer critiques performances, then emphasizes how players can improve.

“He’s really good about getting us into a greater understanding of defensive schemes, defensive fronts, where guys are going and why,” right tackle Rob Havenstein said.

The Rams signed center John Sullivan, a ninth-year pro, to a free-agent contract with the hope that he would aid in the development of Goff. Quarterbacks and their centers have special relationships, and Sullivan can answer any question he has.

And Whitworth, a 35-

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Raiders not saying Carr is out for sure

associated press

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was limited for a second consecutive practice Friday and coach Jack Del Rio declined to say what, if any, role Carr will have this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens.

Carr broke a bone in his back late in the third quarter of Oakland’s 16-10 loss in Denver last Sunday. He was initially diagnosed with back spasms but the injury was later revealed to be a transverse process fracture.

Earlier this week, Del Rio indicated that Carr would miss the Baltimore game and possibly up to six weeks but the fourth-year quarterback was cleared for light practice Thursday and Friday and is listed as questionable.

The Raiders have already named EJ Manuel as the starter for Sunday.

Carr leads a long list of players on the injury list. Del Rio declined to discuss any of them.

“Before you even have to ask, there are a lot of question marks on the injury report and that’s what they are,” Del Rio said. “I’m not going to really talk about injuries and what we may and may not do or who we may or may not play or when and all that kind of stuff, when we’re going to utilize people.”

Montgomery listed as doubtful Green Bay Packers running back Ty Montgomery is listed as doubtful to play against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday because of broken ribs.

Montgomery was hurt in last week’s win over the Chicago Bears. He appeared to be wearing a flak jacket under his jersey while practicing on a limited basis this week.

Backup running back Ja-

maal Williams, who hurt his knee in the Bears game, was dropped from the injury report on Friday and should be available against Dallas.

Receiver Davante Adams was listed as questionable. He remains in the concussion protocol following a helmet-to-helmet hit by Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan, though he has been moving around well at practice.

Fines

Baltimore linebacker Za’Darius Smith and Washington cornerback Bashaud Breeland have been fined $18,231 by the NFL for hits last weekend.

Smith was called for roughing the passer after hitting Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger in the Ravens’ loss to the Steelers.

Breeland made a horsecollar tackle of Kansas City running back Kareem Hunt in the third quarter of the Redskins’ loss to the Chiefs on Monday night.

Oakland punter Marquette King was docked $9,115 by the league after he threw a football at a Denver Broncos player following a failed fake punt. Jacksonville linebacker Paul Posluszny was fined $9,115 for taunting Jets linebacker Dylan Donahue after Donahue got hurt during a punt when he hit the Jaguars veteran.

Philadelphia’s Vinny Curry and Indianapolis’ Jonathan Hankins were also fined $9,115 — both for unnecessary roughness.

Etc.

New York Jets running back Matt Forte (turf toe) and defensive lineman Kony Ealy (shoulder) will miss Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns because of injuries. ... Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota will be a game-time decision for Sunday’s matchup against Miami.

year-old, 12th-year pro, was brought in to protect Goff ’s blindside and provide leadership for a position group — and a locker room — that spent last season looking for direction.

According to coaches and teammates, Whitworth has delivered.

“He plays well himself,” Kromer said, “but he also helps the other guys just understanding the game plan and understand what they need to get done.”

Said rookie tight end Gerald Everett: “He comes in day in and day out and does his job to his fullest capability. I’m just trying to become that.”

Between plays, Whitworth approaches teammates to provide direction, tips and encouragement.

Between series, he works the sideline to keep the offense loose.

“He’s given us different things to think about coming out of a series,” Brown said. “Going into the next one, he’s always got some points as a group.”

For Whitworth, it’s not

about earning extra credit or praise.

He wants to provide young teammates with wisdom he’s gathered through a long career, with hope it will elevate the team.

“You see guys that have been in the league for a long time and have taken that opportunity to not only make their game better but to make the people around them better,” Whitworth said. “And to help them know things that maybe you wish you had known.”

Kromer said the goal of his group was to go unnoticed.

“If they don’t know we’re out there, then we’re doing well,” he said.

And Whitworth was cautiously optimistic about the 3-1 start.

“It’s great,” he said. “It’s cool when the O-line gets the chance to get some notoriety. But the real thing is that NFL football is quick to humble you.” lindsey.thiry@latimes.com Twitter: @LindseyThiry

The Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defensive backfield has been making it tough on NFL quarterbacks and receivers for more than half a decade.

Cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas are mainstays, and cornerback Jeremy Lane is the latest to fill the role opposite Sherman.

The quartet — along with an aggressive front seven led by end Michael Bennett and linebacker Bobby Wagner — is expected to give Rams quarterback Jared Goff and coach/play-caller Sean McVay their toughest challenge yet on Sunday at the Coliseum.

“It’s going to be a great measuring stick for our offense,” offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said Friday.

Goff struggled against the Seahawks last season in a 24-3 defeat at CenturyLink Field, a game that was played three days after the Rams fired Jeff Fisher as coach. During the loss, Sherman leveled Goff on a scramble along the sideline.

But Goff has progressed under the tutelage of McVay, LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Greg Olson. New left tackle Andrew Whitworth has protected Goff, and running back Todd Gurley and receivers Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and others have provided dependable targets for the second-year quarterback.

Goff has passed for seven touchdowns, with only one interception.

The Seahawks secondary is capable of ruining that efficiency.

Thomas is a five-time Pro Bowl selection. Sherman and Chancellor have made the Pro Bowl four times.

The continuity is appar-

ent in a veteran unit that ranks fourth in the NFL in passing defense.

“A lot of it starts with Earl Thomas,” LaFleur said.

“He’s a guy that, on the back end, he’s all over the place and he plays with his hair on fire.

“They’re so good at diagnosing plays and then just teeing off on whatever they see.”

Happy return

Pharoh Cooper is eager to build on last week’s 66yard kickoff return against the Dallas Cowboys.

“Looking forward to breaking some more,” the second-year receiver said.

Cooper’s play came a week after he fumbled late in the game against the San Francisco 49ers.

McVay was pleased with the way Cooper responded to the miscue. He also said he was confident that Cooper would come through at receiver if more opportunities on offense present themselves.

Cooper backs up Woods, and has one catch for four yards. Cooper would welcome more opportunities on offense.

“I love kick-returning — it’s my role for right now on this team and I’m going to do whatever it takes,” Cooper said. “But I’m never going to lose sight of the fact that I’m still ready to burst onto the scene as a receiver in this league.”

Etc.

Jamon Brown (groin) was limited and is questionable for Sunday’s game.

Safety Lamarcus Joyner (hamstring) is doubtful.

Seahawks defensive ends Cliff Avril (neck) and Quinton Jefferson (hand) have been ruled out for Sunday’s game. gary.klein@latimes.com Twitter: @latimesklein

’92 Chargers turned it around [Chargers, from D3] Sounds like a good time to change that,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. “You just start grasping for things to get fired up.”

It’s quite a grasp at that.

No team other than the 1992 Chargers has been able to turn an 0-4 start into a playoff berth. And no one on that team thought they could be the first.

The hope was to stay competitive, to win football games and to begin building a culture that could lead to wins down the road.

In a lot of ways, the ’92 team’s season seemed like it was over before it began.

Starting quarterback John Friesz injured his knee in the preseason and would miss the entire year. The team had to acquire a former sixth-round pick, Stan Humphries, who was backing up Mark Rypien in Washington.

And while he learned the offense, the team took plenty of lumps.

“We get into the season, lose four straight and I’m thinking, ‘Boy, this isn’t going too well.’ It was really … we weren’t doing too well,” Ross remembered. “And, obviously, a lot of people were really upset. What I tried to do was, first of all, stay real positive. I really did.”

But it wasn’t easy — especially when the team’s own play-by-play guy was getting his shots in.

On the Friday before the team’s game in Week 5, Ross met with the “Chargers Backers,” the team’s fan club, for a weekly 10-minute chalk talk. But before he could begin, Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton, the team’s playby-play voice, gave him a memorable introduction.

“Hacksaw introduced me as the director of the ‘Laurel and Hardy Show.’ I probably had smoke coming out of my nose when it happened,” Ross said. “But I didn’t let it rile me. I really tried to stay focused and move on.”

That was his message to his team as well.

Center Courtney Hall,

one of the locker room leaders, remembered how Ross wouldn’t focus on the major errors that cost them big.

“We all knew we lost,” Hall said.

Instead, the focus would be on more minor details — incorrect fundamentals, a six-inch miss in lining up — all correctable errors. And Ross would surround those plays with highlights.

“The way I did that was I would cut out good things in games and good things in practice. And then I tried to stress team unity and finish — full and complete effort,” he said. “I stressed them in a very positive way. If we had a fumble, I probably didn’t show it.

“I felt like we could get on track. But I didn’t know we could accomplish what we did.”

The Chargers, two days after Ross’ “Laurel and Hardy” introduction, beat the Seattle Seahawks. After a bye, they won their next three games, winning in Indianapolis and at home against Denver and the Colts.

“When we started 0-4, the locker room didn’t get divided. We weren’t pointing fingers. It just seemed like we weren’t getting the breaks. When you’re losing games, you don’t get the breaks. … The other games, we were right there,” receiver Anthony Miller said.

“When we started turning it around, we were getting all the breaks. Everything was kind of just flowing our way.

We just got on a roll.”

Their record now at .500, the Chargers were set to face Kansas City for a second time. As Ross walked into the locker room after the game, he saw the effects of an incredibly physical 16-14 loss where 250-pound running backs Marion Butts and Christian Okoye took turns crashing into the opposing defensive line.

The loss had ended a four-game winning streak, but in the process, it told Ross that he had a special team on his hands — one

that was maybe about to do something unprecedented.

He saw the cuts and scrapes, the turf-stained uniforms and the exhaustion in his players.

It was the total effort he’d been after.

“I felt good because we really played hard. Kansas City, at that time, was a pretty darn good football team. … I thought the things that we were talking about and preaching about were starting to show. And I really think, to me, that was one of our big games,” Ross said. “I remember talking to them and telling them we’re going to be fine.

“From that point on, we just won them all.”

With Humphries now in full command of the offense, with Hall and the offensive line clearing a path for Butts, with Miller streaking down the field and with Junior Seau and Leslie O’Neal leading a dominant defense, the Chargers won their next seven games, setting up a rematch with the Chiefs in the AFC wild-card game.

The defense held the Chiefs scoreless, and the Chargers scored 16 unanswered points in the second half to put the team two wins away from the Super Bowl.

But Miami and Dan Marino put an end to the run, beating them 31-0.

Two years later, the team beat Pittsburgh to win the AFC title for the first — and only — time, sending them to the Super Bowl, where they lost to San Francisco.

“I grew up in L.A. and went to Banning High School, and we were perennial L.A. City champions,” Hall said. “From there, I went to Rice University, where my senior year we were 0-11 and then to the Chargers, where I’m on an 0-4 team that goes to the playoffs and wins a playoff game, to being the only team in Chargers history to go to the Super Bowl.

“Those were all experiences, but that 0-4 experience does hold a special place in my heart because it

really taught me, in my life in business and venture capital, [getting] a JD and a MBA [degree], you really do have to keep your nose down and keep pounding away.

Never lose confidence.”

A quarter-century later, Miller sees similarities between his Chargers team that made history and the winless one that plays the 0-4 Giants on Sunday.

“Hopefully, they’re a team, in the locker room, that’s not divided. You can easily start pointing fingers and certain things like that, but if they stick together, anything can happen,” Miller said. “And I think that team is just as talented as our team was.

“You can’t say this happens all the time. It really doesn’t — it happened once.

But it’s not like it can’t happen again.”

Etc.

Rookie running back Austin Ekeler, who scored a 35-yard touchdown on the first carry of his NFL career last Sunday, was already in line for a bigger workload against the Giants. Ekeler, though, should be an even bigger part of the offense with Melvin Gordon’s backup, Branden Oliver, ruled out because of a hamstring injury. The team also could sign running back Andre Williams from the practice squad. … Linebacker Jatavis Brown, the team’s leading tackler, was a limited participant Friday and is questionable for the game against New York. If Brown can’t play, linebacker Nick Dzubnar will start and call the defensive plays. … Wide receiver Tyrell Williams is listed as questionable on the injury report because of a neck injury, but coach Anthony Lynn expects him to play. … Starting right tackle Joe Barksdale is questionable because of a foot injury and, if he can’t go, Lynn said he’s comfortable with backup Michael Schofield. dan.woike@latimes.com Twitter: @DanWoikeSports

D9

L AT I ME S . CO M / S P O RT S

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tacklers forced to adjust approach [Targeting, from D3] the younger Mora said of his father, a former NFL coach.

“And it was a perfect tackle.”

College football installed the targeting rule for safety reasons in 2008, hoping to eliminate what is considered forcible contact to the head or neck. But its application during games — and the stiff accompanying punishment — continue to trouble some coaches and players.

Pickett was ejected in the first quarter of UCLA’s loss to Stanford, with the Bruins allowing 55 points in his absence. Players who are ejected for targeting in the second half of a game must sit out the first half of their team’s next game.

“You [only] get so many opportunities to play the game of football,” Pickett said, “and getting kicked out of the game, especially like that, early, that hurts.”

There are other gripes with the targeting rule.

Washington State coach Mike Leach called it “micromanaging, for lack of a better word,” citing too many variables and inconsistent enforcement. Stanford coach David Shaw echoed a sentiment shared by Mora and Pickett: that there should be different levels of targeting penalties corresponding with the severity of the infraction.

“If the offensive player lowers his helmet, hey, great, put the onus on the defensive player and let’s have the 15yard penalty,” Shaw said.

“But let’s leave him in the game because it’s obvious that he’s trying not to hit the guy in the helmet, it just happened incidentally.”

David Coleman, the Pac-12 Conference’s director of officials, said varying levels of targeting penalties was a topic that he expected the NCAA’s rules committee to discuss after this season.

Since the issue involves player safety, any rule change could be implemented for the 2018 season.

This is the second season

NOTES

Top QB recruit chooses Georgia

wire reports

Thearon W. Henderson Getty Images

BRYCE LOVE and Stanford scored 55 points after UCLA’s Adarius Pickett (6) was ejected from the game.

Mark Humphrey Associated Press

JIM MORA on the application of the targeting rule:

“We are hurting young men’s ability to go out and play in games that are important to their future.” that replay officials have been allowed to initiate targeting penalties that are not called on the field. Replay officials are also responsible for confirming or overturning targeting calls made during a play.

Coleman said he believes the targeting rule is having its intended effect of making the game safer. The NCAA rule book prohibits both forcible contact with the crown of the helmet and forcible contact to the head or neck of a defenseless player.

“I see that it is changing behavior, and that’s what it’s all about,” Coleman said,

MATCHUP: No. 14 USC (4-1) vs.

Oregon State (1-4) Today, 1 p.m., Coliseum. TV: Pac-12 Networks. Radio: 710.

By Zach Helfand

Marquee matchup USC passing game vs.

Oregon State’s secondary: Last week, the Trojans endured their worst passing game in quarterback Sam Darnold’s time as a starter.

He completed just 15 of 29 attempts for 164 yards, with one interception and no touchdowns. No tight ends or running backs had a reception. Now, USC returns injured starter Steven Mitchell Jr. Oregon State is without two starting cornerbacks. If the passing game doesn’t put up big numbers in this one, when will it?

Getting offensive 8 USC (459.0 ypg/35.0 ppg): USC's offense has been afflicted with issues in shortyardage situations, problems passing the ball and play calling that has at times been ineffective. The result: USC has had one great offensive game this season, against Stanford, but otherwise production has declined.

8 Oregon State (321.6 ypg/21.2 ppg): Oregon State is last in the Pac-12 Conference in yardage and scoring.

The Beavers probably will be without two of their best players. Quarterback Jake Luton has a spine fracture, and there is no timetable for his return. Darell Garretson started against Washington last week and completed 11 of 22 passes for 74 yards. Running back Ryan Nall hasn’t had the breakout season many expected. He has 341 yards in five games, and he is doubtful for Saturday's game with an ankle sprain. If he can’t go, he’ll be replaced by Artavis Pierce (137 yards this season) and Thomas Tyner (72 yards).

Getting defensive

8 USC (388.6 ypg/25.8 ppg): USC gave up conversions on eight of 18 third

downs against Washington State, including five of eight from 10 yards or longer.

USC’s pass rush has been a bright spot, with 13 sacks in the last three games. Linebacker Uchenna Nwosu has forced or recovered a turnover on the opponent’s goal line in consecutive games.

8 Oregon State (490.2 ypg/46.4 ppg): Cornerbacks Dwayne Williams and Xavier Crawford are out. The Beavers have just six sacks and seven forced turnovers in five games. The team leader in tackles for loss is linebacker Manase Hungalu, with 3.5.

Oregon State ranks 128th out of 130 teams in scoring defense.

Something special

Neither team has been very explosive on special teams, particularly on punt returns. USC has failed to return or even fair catch more than half of the punts it has faced this season. Oregon State’s returner, Trevon Bradford, has only one return this season. It went for zero yards.

Of note Oregon State last defeated USC in Los Angeles in 1960, a 23-game home winning streak for USC. … The Beavers have the ninthhardest schedule in the nation, according to ratings guru Jeff Sagarin.

Local ties

Oregon State has 27 players from California on its roster, including starting receiver Jordan Villamin (Fontana) and starting cornerback Shawn Wilson (Pomona).

Defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu is the only USC player from Oregon, though defensive tackle Brandon Pili, who is from Alaska, attended an Oregon high school for one season. zach.helfand@latimes.com Twitter: @zhelfand

“that players are being taught and coached to understand that they can make a play without using their head.”

UCLA has been called for four of the nine targeting penalties upheld against Pac-12 teams this season, according to qwikref.com, an online repository for tracking officials’ calls. Four other targeting penalties against Pac-12 teams were waved off after being reviewed by replay officials.

With the season less than half over, the Pac-12 is on pace to surpass its 16 targeting calls that were upheld in

2016.

Coleman said he didn’t view the potential increase as troubling.

“It’s not a cause for concern per se,” he said. “It is an area of focus in terms of the fact that we really want to do everything we can to call these fouls when they take place.”

UCLA’s Mora disputed two of the targeting calls that went against his team, including the play involving Pickett and one in which linebacker Josh Woods appeared to be turning his body at the last moment in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact with a Hawaii receiver.

The Bruins also were involved with a non-call that the Pac-12 later acknowledged should have been ruled targeting against a Hawaii player for helmet-tohelmet contact that popped UCLA linebacker Kenny Young’s helmet off his head before he hit the ground.

Young sustained head trauma that sidelined him for the rest of the game as well as the Bruins’ next game against Memphis.

USC is among the Pac-12 teams that have avoided a targeting penalty through the season’s first five games.

Trojans coach Clay Helton credited the team’s practice methods.

“Our kids have done a good job of, one, I think being trained to protect them-

selves as well as others,” Helton said. “Anything to be able to help the safety of our game, I think, is important.”

Remembering to apply the proper techniques in the midst of a game can be difficult. When UCLA defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa closed in on Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson last month, he slammed his helmet into Ferguson’s neck area before pushing him to the ground. Odighizuwa was called for targeting and ejected.

Odighizuwa said the Bruins have practiced proper tackling techniques in an effort to make them instinctive.

“The more we drill it, the more natural it will become,” Odighizuwa said, “and you won’t really have to think about it as much and I think that’s what’s going to help a lot, making it a natural thing to aim lower. That’s kind of the point of the rule.”

Pickett learned that sometimes the aiming and contact points can be different, leading to ejections for what otherwise would have been routine football plays.

“We have to accelerate the movement toward a resolution,” UCLA’s Mora said, “because we are hurting young men’s ability to go out and play in games that are important to their future.” ben.bolch@latimes.com Twitter: @latbbolch

Highly touted high school quarterback Justin Fields has picked Georgia.

Fields is from Harrison High in Kennesaw, Georgia.

He announced at a school pep rally Friday his nonbinding verbal commitment to the Bulldogs. According to 247Sports’ composite rankings of the major recruiting analysts, he’s the No. 1 player in the country.

Fields adds intrigue to No. 5 Georgia’s quarterback situation. Five-star recruit Jacob Eason started last year as a freshman, but freshman Jake Fromm took over when Eason got hurt this season and has played well. All three could be on the roster by spring.

Memphis QB: 7 TDs

Memphis’ Riley Ferguson passed for 431 yards and seven touchdowns in a 70-31 victory at Connecticut on Friday night.

Anthony Miller had 224 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

In Friday’s other action: Alexander Mattison ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns in Boise State’s 24-7 win at Brigham Young.

Iowa State QB out

Iowa State QB Jacob Park is taking a leave of absence for medical reasons, the school said. He’s thrown for 1,181 yards, nine scores and five interceptions.

Etc.

Mississippi said it’s replacing Rebel the Bear as its mascot with the Landshark. ... Georgia junior linebacker Natrez Patrick could face a four-game suspension after his second arrest on marijuana charges. ... Freshman reserves Zaire Webb and Anthony White Jr. were dismissed by Washington State after they were arrested on suspicion of stealing.

Trojans’ offense has been on downward trend [USC, from D3] Saturday probably will be about signs of improvement.

Helton was asked Tuesday if his offense had regressed. He danced around the question. He said the team had taken strides from a year ago and said he wanted to see similar progress from September to October.

Asked again Thursday if he’d seen improvements, he got more specific.

“I thought defensively that we’ve improved, especially with our younger kids,” Helton said.“Special teams have probably been the biggest bump up.”

But for the offense, he said, “You go through the first month, 35 points of offense and [459] as far as offensive yardage, most teams would be like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s awesome,’ ” Helton said. “For us, we have extremely high standards.”

The trend has been downward. USC began with 521 yards against Western Michigan, then zoomed to 623 against Stanford. Since, USC has steadily slid until it managed only 327 against Washington State.

USC has sustained a rash of injuries — fully half of the starting lineup has missed time in addition to several important reserves — but USC’s execution has diminished too.

Martin defended his offensive scheming this week.

“There has not been one game plan that I haven’t liked,” Martin said, before reconsidering with a laugh.

“Probably Alabama [last season], those guys.”

USC has also struggled to put away teams early. None of the Trojans’ wins were comfortable.

Linebacker Cameron Smith said USC had to “take bigger steps throughout the rest of the season,” but did not agree that USC had been living dangerously with close wins.

“I wouldn’t say ‘dangerously’ is a word you say when you win a game,” Smith said.

Young Kwak Associated Press

LINEBACKER Cameron Smith disagreed that USC had lived dangerously. “I

wouldn’t say ‘dangerous’ is a word you say when you win a game,” he said.

“There’s times when we would obviously like to have games that weren’t going into overtime and close ones.”

The loss wore on USC perhaps as much as the first three losses did a year ago.

Helton said the 45-minute bus ride from Pullman to the airport in Lewiston, Idaho, on Friday evening was dead silent. There was not a single word, he said.

By Tuesday’s practice, some frustration remained.

“I wish we played tomorrow

to be honest with you,” Helton said afterward.

But Helton and USC have resisted drastic change. Helton reversed USC’s fortunes last season by remaining steady and calm, and USC’s players responded.

“We’re not gonna freak out,” Smith said. “It’s not something where we’re gonna change what we’ve been doing for the last year.

So it’s something that us as leaders need to step up and show the younger guys how

we react after a loss. And we’re all [angry], and we’re not OK with it at all. We didn’t come here to lose games.”

Players said they looked forward to having a target for their irritation.

“I’m sure everybody’s gonna be mad,” safety Chris Hawkins said. “So we play Oregon State. They’re probably not going to be happy to play us after this one.”

zach.helfand@latimes.com Twitter: @zhelfand

D10

.

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Two Louisville coaches are put on leave wire reports

Louisville has placed associate men’s basketball coach Kenny Johnson and assistant Jordan Fair on paid administrative leave while the school handles its involvement in a national federal investigation of the sport.

Neither Fair nor Johnson have participated in practices conducted this week by interim coach David Padgett, who was named Sept. 29 as Rick Pitino’s replacement. Pitino is on unpaid administrative leave and facing dismissal after 16 seasons in the wake of the probe.

Vince Tyra was named acting athletic director on Tuesday in place of Tom Jurich, who’s on paid leave pending an Oct. 18 review by trustees. Tyra said in a release Friday that the school is doing due diligence while cooperating with federal authorities and called the decisions regarding Fair and Johnson “an appropriate step at this time.”

Johnson is in his fourth season with Louisville; it’s Fair’s second season on the staff.

Basketball spokesman Kenny Klein said that staffers Michael Bowden, Logan Baumann and R.J. Evans have been placed in temporary coaching roles.

Ten people have been arrested in the federal probe of the sport, including four college assistant coaches at different schools and an Adidas executive.

Pitino, 65, is not named in the federal documents and has maintained that he did nothing wrong. His attorney, Steve Pence, has said Louisville “effectively fired” Pitino when they placed him on administrative leave on Sept. 27. The school’s Athletic Assn. on Monday authorized interim university

President Greg Postel to begin the process of firing Pitino for cause after 16 seasons as Cardinals coach.

The NCAA in June placed Louisville on four years’ probation and has ordered the vacation of up to 123 victories — including its 2013 national championship — as a result of a sex scandal. The school and Pitino, who was suspended for five games, are appealing those sanctions.

ETC.

Spain qualifies for its 11th consecutive World Cup Spain secured its 11th straight World Cup appearance aided by Italy’s disappointing home draw against Macedonia, while Serbia missed on its chance to make it to next year’s finals in Russia after a loss at Austria.

Spain comfortably defeated Albania 3-0 in a match in which defender Gerard Pique, an outspoken defender of Catalonia, received a mixed reaction from the home fans.

Italy practically secured a playoff spot but it was jeered by fans after drawing with Macedonia 1-1 in Turin. Even a victory would have kept the Italians in a difficult position to surpass Spain for first place in Group G because of its worse goal difference.

Serbia needed a win against Austria to clinch its spot from Group D but it lost 3-2 in Vienna, while Wales kept its chance alive by beating Georgia 1-0 despite Gareth Bale’s absence.

Iceland stayed on the path to becoming the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup after beating Turkey 3-0 in Group I.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CITY CENTRAL LEAGUE Hollywood 37, Legacy 13 COLISEUM LEAGUE Crenshaw 54, Manual Arts 0 Dorsey 63, Los Angeles 7 View Park 61, Hawkins 0 EAST VALLEY LEAGUE Arleta 34, Grant 14 Monroe 25, North Hollywood 17 EASTERN LEAGUE Garfield 48, Huntington Park 22 South East 38, Los Angeles Roosevelt 35 South Gate 43, Bell 20 EXPOSITION LEAGUE Jefferson 48, Rivera 0 MARINE LEAGUE Narbonne 48, Carson 13 San Pedro 61, Gardena 6 NORTHERN LEAGUE Eagle Rock 42, Los Angeles Wilson 13 Los Angeles Marshall 48, Lincoln 6 Torres 64, Franklin 33 VALLEY MISSION LEAGUE Canoga Park 33, Panorama 22 Granada Hills Kennedy 42, Van Nuys 20 San Fernando 51, Reseda 26 WEST VALLEY LEAGUE Birmingham 60, Taft 0 El Camino Real 20, Cleveland 6 Granada Hills 48, Chatsworth 0 WESTERN LEAGUE Fairfax 41, Los Angeles University 0 Palisades 42, Los Angeles Hamilton 7 SOUTHERN SECTION ALMONT LEAGUE Montebello 30, Alhambra 6 Schurr 48, Keppel 8 AMBASSADOR LEAGUE Aquinas 43, Riverside Notre Dame 15 ANGELUS LEAGUE La Salle 51, Salesian 7 St. Francis 24, St. Paul 7 ARROWHEAD LEAGUE Sherman Indian 24, CSDR 14 BASELINE LEAGUE Damien 34, Chino Hills 29 Etiwanda 34, Los Osos 27 BAY LEAGUE Mira Costa 28, Peninsula 14 Palos Verdes 52, Inglewood 12 Redondo 52, Morningside 0 BIG VIII LEAGUE Corona Centennial 72, Eastvale Roosevelt 33 CHANNEL LEAGUE Buena 42, San Marcos 0 Dos Pueblos 35, Ventura 7 CITRUS BELT LEAGUE Yucaipa 48, Redlands 21 DESERT VALLEY LEAGUE La Quinta 31, Xavier Prep 0 Palm Springs 35, Cathedral City 0 Shadow Hills 32, Indio 13 EMPIRE LEAGUE Tustin 63, Western 27 FOOTHILL LEAGUE Valencia 42, Hart 14 West Ranch 35, Canyon Country Canyon 14 FREEWAY LEAGUE Fullerton 35, Sonora 14 La Habra 42, Sunny Hills 3 Troy 29, Buena Park 21 GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE Garden Grove Santiago 53, Bolsa Grande 13 GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE Santa Ana 28, Westminster 21 Segerstrom 28, Ocean View 13 HACIENDA LEAGUE Charter Oak 14, Diamond Ranch 7 INLAND VALLEY LEAGUE Arlington 32, Riverside North 31 (OT) LOS PADRES LEAGUE Lompoc 49, Pioneer Valley 10 Santa Maria St. Joseph 77, Lompoc Cabrillo 10 MIRAMONTE LEAGUE Pomona 38, Garey 21 MISSION LEAGUE Bishop Amat 31, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 17 Gardena Serra 13, Loyola 10 MISSION VALLEY LEAGUE Arroyo 14, South El Monte 13 Rosemead 28, Mountain View 16 MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE Apple Valley 31, Oak Hills 24 Ridgecrest Burroughs 47, Hesperia 10 Serrano 41, Sultana 14 MONTVIEW LEAGUE Nogales 58, Gladstone 0 MOORE LEAGUE Long Beach Poly 49, Long Beach Cabrillo 0 Long Beach Wilson 58, Long Beach Jordan 6 Millikan 33, Compton 13 MOUNTAIN PASS LEAGUE Beaumont 24, Hemet 7 MT. BALDY LEAGUE Alta Loma 42, Ontario 14 OCEAN LEAGUE Culver City 46, El Segundo 27 Hawthorne 50, Beverly Hills 18 ORANGE LEAGUE Katella 56, Anaheim 14 ORANGE COAST LEAGUE Godinez 38, Laguna Beach 14 Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 21, Costa Mesa 7 PAC-5 LEAGUE Paso Robles 28, Arroyo Grande 7 Righetti 27, San Luis Obispo 7 PACIFIC LEAGUE Burbank 17, Arcadia 14 Crescenta Valley 48, Pasadena 33 PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE Corona del Mar 62, Beckman 13 Woodbridge 47, Irvine 41 PACIFIC VIEW LEAGUE Oxnard 38, Hueneme 7 Rio Mesa 42, Oxnard Pacifica 7 PALOMARES LEAGUE Bonita 42, Diamond Bar 39 South Hills 21, Ayala 13 PIONEER LEAGUE Leuzinger 35, South Torrance 0 North Torrance 3, West Torrance 0 Torrance 48, Compton Centennial 0 SAN GABRIEL VALLEY LEAGUE Paramount 21, Downey 20 (OT) SEA VIEW LEAGUE Capistrano Valley 49, Laguna Hills 3 El Toro 41, Aliso Niguel 24 SOUTH COAST LEAGUE Mission Viejo 42, Tesoro 6 SOUTHWESTERN LEAGUE Murrieta Valley 38, Vista Murrieta 17 SUBURBAN LEAGUE Glenn 44, Artesia 41 La Mirada 37, Norwalk 21 SUNBELT LEAGUE Heritage 60, Lakeside 7 Paloma Valley 48, Temescal Canyon 10 SUNSET LEAGUE Fountain Valley 35, Marina 21 TRINITY LEAGUE Mater Dei 70, Santa Margarita 35 JSerra 52, Servite 36

St. John Bosco 42, Orange Lutheran 21 VALLE VISTA LEAGUE Covina 36, San Dimas 35 Northview 56, Baldwin Park 0 NONLEAGUE Anaheim Canyon 17, El Modena 14 Big Bear 22, Rio Hondo Prep 13 Bishop Diego 56, Fillmore 0 Calabasas 52, Westlake 14 Camarillo 42, Simi Valley 7 Campbell Hall 33, Viewpoint 30 Carpinteria 30, Santa Paula 14 Crean Lutheran 39, St. Monica 0 El Dorado 10, Foothill 8 Grace Brethren 35, St. Margaret's 13 Moorpark 46, Agoura 21 Oak Park 22, Nordhoff 18 Oaks Christian 48, Newbury Park 0 Santa Clara 42, Trinity Classical Academy 7 Santa Ynez 54, Morro Bay 0 St. Anthony 44, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 6 St. Bonaventure 61, Thousand Oaks 55 (OT) St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 44, Firebaugh 0 Villa Park 63, Esperanza 0 Yorba Linda 40, Brea Olinda 21 8 MAN CITY VALLEY LEAGUE Sherman Oaks CES 44, North Valley Military Institute 20 Sun Valley 44, Fulton 24 SOUTHERN SECTION OMEGA LEAGUE Bell-Jeff 60, Westmark 38 VICTORY LEAGUE Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian 48, Joshua Springs 12 NONLEAGUE Cate 33, Laguna Blanca 24 Hesperia Christian 72, Public Safety Academy 20 Orcutt Academy 57, Academy of Careers & Exploration 10 University Careers & Sports Academy 58, Hillcrest Christian 36 INTERSECTIONAL Animo Robinson 46, Sage Hill 20 Riverside County Education Academy 24, Edwards AFB Desert 20

THE ODDS

College Football

Today Favorite Line (O/U) Underdog at USC 33 (571⁄2) Oregon St. at Iowa 17 (411⁄2) Illinois Notre Dame 151⁄2 (63) at N. Carolina Central Florida 17 (531⁄2) at Cincinnati Penn St. 14 (51) at Northwestern at Virginia 21⁄2 (52) Duke at Syracuse 3 (641⁄2) Pittsburgh Va. Tech 161⁄2 (451⁄2) at Boston Col. at Ohio St. 30 (601⁄2) Maryland at Clemson 21 (471⁄2) Wake Forest at Purdue 4 (451⁄2) Minnesota at Michigan 10 (40) Michigan St. Stanford 4 (52) at Utah San Diego St. 91⁄2 (561⁄2) at UNLV at Navy 71⁄2 (511⁄2) Air Force Arkansas 3 (451⁄2) at S. Carolina at Colorado 61⁄2 (59) Arizona Texas Tech 16 (79) at Kansas at Washington 281⁄2 (52) California Updates at Pregame.com —Associated Press $6.2-MILLION SAFEWAY OPEN At Napa, Calif.—Par 72 Silverado Resort & Spa—7,166 yards 36-Hole Leaders Tyler Duncan.......................65-66—131 -13 Brendan Steele ...................65-67—132 -12 Chesson Hadley ..................72-61—133 -11 Zac Blair ............................69-66—135 -9 Tony Finau..........................70-65—135 -9 Graham DeLaet...................69-67—136 -8 Brian Davis.........................70-66—136 -8 Chez Reavie........................67-70—137 -7 Bill Haas ............................72-65—137 -7 Martin Flores ......................70-67—137 -7 Emiliano Grillo ....................67-70—137 -7 Harold Varner III ..................69-68—137 -7 Kevin Streelman ..................69-68—137 -7 Andrew Putnam...................71-66—137 -7 Ryan Moore ........................68-70—138 -6 Phil Mickelson.....................69-69—138 -6 Hunter Mahan.....................70-68—138 -6 Tyrone Van Aswegen .............71-67—138 -6 Martin Laird........................71-67—138 -6 Bud Cauley.........................69-69—138 -6 Tom Hoge...........................65-73—138 -6 Bronson Burgoon.................70-68—138 -6 Peter Malnati ......................71-68—139 -5 Grayson Murray ...................70-69—139 -5 Webb Simpson....................69-70—139 -5 Whee Kim ..........................72-67—139 -5 PGA EUROPEAN TOUR $5-MILLION ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP At St. Andrews, Scotland—Par 72 c-Carnoustie—7,345 yards, k-Kingsbarns Golf Links: 7,227 yards; St. Andrews— 7,307 yards 36-Hole Leaders Tyrrell Hatton, England.......68s-65c—133 -11 Tommy Fleetwood, England 70s-63c—133 -11 Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium.67k-67s—134 -10 Marcel Siem, Germany ......69k-66s—135 -9 Paul Dunne, Ireland ..........67s-68c—135 -9 Kira Aphibarnrat, Thailand..70k-66s—136 -8 David Drysdale, Scotland...69c-67k—136 -8 Joakim Lagergren, Sweden .69c-67k—136 -8 B. Ritthammer, Germany ....70k-66s—136 -8 Matt Wallace, England.......69s-67c—136 -8 Ben Evans, England ..........69c-68k—137 -7 Gregory Bourdy, France......70k-67s—137 -7 Brandon Stone, S. Africa....71s-67c—138 -6 Richard Bland, England .....73s-65c—138 -6 Niclas Fasth, Sweden ........73k-65s—138 -6 J.B. Holmes, U.S. ..............73s-66c—139 -5 Branden Grace, S. Africa....70s-69c—139 -5 G. McDowell, No. Ireland ...69s-71c—140 -4 Padraig Harrington, Ireland.72s-68c—140 -4 Matt Fitzpatrick, England....73s-68c—141 -3 Ernie Els, South Africa .......74s-70c—144 E Rory McIlroy, No. Ireland ....73s-71c—144 E

BASKETBALL

NBA EXHIBITIONS Friday’s Results Boston 110, Philadelphia 102 Detroit 109, Atlanta 87 Washington 104, New York 100 Indiana 106, Cleveland 102 Chicago 114, Milwaukee 101 Oklahoma City 102, New Orleans 91 San Antonio 110, Sacramento 93 Utah 112, Phoenix 101

SOCCER INTERNATIONAL WORLD CUP QUALIFYING NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Final Round Friday’s Results At Orlando, Fla. United States 4, Panama 0 At San Luis Potosi, Mexico Mexico 3, Trinidad and Tobago 1 Today’s Schedule At San Jose, Costa Rica Costa Rica vs. Honduras, 3 p.m.

EUROPE Group Play At Tblisi, Georgia Wales, 1, Georgia 0 At Vienna Austria 3, Serbia 2 At Dublin Ireland 2, Moldova 0 At Turin, Italy Italy 1, Macedonia 1 At Vaduz, Liechtenstein Israel 1, Liechtenstein 0 At Alicante, Spain Spain 3, Albania 0 At Osijek, Croatia Croatia 1, Finland 1 At Shkoder, Albania Ukraine 2, Kosovo 0 At Eskisehir, Turkey Iceland 3, Turkey 0 AFRICA Group Play Mali 0, Ivory Coast 0 SUMMARY At Orlando, Fla. Panama.........................................0 0—0 United States ..................................3 1—4 FIRST HALF—1. U.S., Pulisic (Altidore), 8th minute. 2. U.S., Altidore (Pulisic),19th minute. 3.

U.S., Altidore, penalty kick, 43rd minute.

SECOND HALF—4. U.S., Wood (Arriola), 63rd minute.

Yellow cards—Baloy, Pan, 34th; Cooper, Pan, 42nd; Murillo, Pan, 48th.

Referee—Roberto Garcia, Mexico. Linesmen— Jose Camargo, Mexico; Alberto Morin, Mexico.

A—25,303.

The group winners automatically qualify, while the best eight second-place finishers from the nine groups advance to the playoffs.

Major League Soccer fined FC Dallas $75,000 of general allocation money and $25,000 for using an ineligible player during its match against Orlando City on Sept. 30 that resulted in a 0-0 draw.

The decision is controversial because FIFA’s disciplinary code calls for a forfeit if a team fields an ineligible player.

Sacramento Kings rookie Harry Giles will not play until at least January while he rehabs his surgically repaired knees.

Giles is the 20th overall draft pick out of Duke. He missed summer league to rest his left knee.

The team said he will work with the training staff to build strength and endurance. He will participate in some “controlled” parts of practice.

Hornets guard Nic Batum says some basketball fans in his native France are happy he tore a ligament in his left elbow.

Batum says some on social media are angry he decided not to play for the French national team this summer for the first time since joining the NBA. Batum decided not to play because he wanted to focus on working on particulars of his game and the Hornets’ upcoming regular season. Batum will miss a minimum of six to eight weeks because of the injury.

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired goalie Calvin Pickard from the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Tobias Lindberg and a sixth-round pick next year. The 25-year-old

Pickard was 15-31-2 with a 2.98 goals-against average in 50 games last season for Colorado.

Tyler Duncan chipped in from the fringe for eagle on the par-five 18th hole to take the second-round lead in the season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal moved into the semifinals of the China Open by beating sixth-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (0).

On the women’s side, unseeded Carolina Garcia of France upset third-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (6) in almost 31⁄2 hours to line up Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.

Simona Halep, on course to becoming the No. 1 player in the world for the first time, faces French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Denny Hamlin topped qualifying for the NASCAR Cup playoff race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., marking the 13th straight year he has captured a pole on the top circuit.

Hamlin turned a lap at 191.598 mph in the No. 11 Toyota on the 11⁄2-mile oval for his first pole of the season and the 25th of his career.

He’ll share the front row with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.

After being arrested in Rio de Janeiro and accused of storing gold bars in Switzerland, Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman was suspended by the IOC. The decision came hours after Brazilian authorities investigating a 2016 Olympic vote-buying case asked for help from prosecutors in Switzerland.

SANTA ANITA RESULTS Copyright 2017 by Equibase Co. Fifth day of a 19-day meet.

8038 FIRST RACE. 6 furlongs. Claiming. Fillies and mares.

Three-year-olds and up. Claiming prices $8,000-$7,000.

Purse $16,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 9 Scathing Nakatani 11.80 5.40 3.60 10 Herunbridledpower Hernandez 3.60 3.00 1 Where’s the D Roman 3.20 8 Also Ran: Lirica Heat (ARG), Forthenineteen, Nazareth, Smil’n From Above, Southern Treasure, Octofy, Miss Fireball.

8 Time: 21.99, 45.60, 58.44, 1.12.02. Clear & Fast. Trainer: Vladimir Cerin. Owner: Kianoush Matin Abdi., Cerin, Vladimir and Seymour, Lauri.

8 Scratched: none.

8 Exotics: $1 Exacta (9-10) paid $20.20, $1 Superfecta (9-101-8) paid $555.30, 50-Cent Trifecta (9-10-1) paid $43.55.

8039 SECOND RACE. about 61⁄2 furlongs turf. Maiden claiming. Fillies and mares. Three-year-olds and up.

Claiming prices $50,000-$40,000. Purse $28,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 4 Coalinga Hills Gonzalez 53.80 19.40 7.40 6 Lori’s Attitude Baze 3.20 2.80 9 Paddy Jean Talamo 2.60 8 Also Ran: Twirling Apples, Christmas Carol, D’ Platinum, Tiffany Diamond, Lady Acclamation, Snowdust, Schwary’s Girl.

8 Time: 21.78, 43.77, 1.06.83, 1.12.92. Clear & Firm. Trainer: Martin F. Jones. Owner: Harris Farms, Inc..

8 Scratched: Ciao Bella Rosa, Mag the Mighty, Molinita, Arrowsphere.

8 Exotics: $2 Daily Double (9-4) paid $344.20, $1 Exacta (4-6) paid $91.80, $1 Superfecta (4-6-9-8) paid $1,684.30, 50Cent Trifecta (4-6-9) paid $149.05.

8040 THIRD RACE. 61⁄2 furlongs. Maiden claiming. Fillies and mares. Three-year-olds and up. Claiming price $20,000.

Purse $17,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 5 Christy Jackson Baze 4.80 2.80 2.40 3 Ramona Lover Solis 6.60 4.00 2 Bona Fide Image Pedroza 3.20 8 Also Ran: Count On Nikki, Dressed in Prada, My Carmela, Californiasummer, Champagne Elegance, Purrfect of Course, Valedictoriette, Acclaimed Cat. 8 Time: 22.31, 45.89, 1.11.72, 1.18.82. Clear & Fast. Trainer: Kenneth D. Black. Owner: Finish Line Racing, LLC and The Ellwood Johnston Trust.

8 Scratched: Grace Hopper.

8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (9-4-5) paid $866.90, $2 Daily Double (4-5) paid $133.00, $1 Exacta (5-3) paid $16.90, $1 Super-

fecta (5-3-2-1) paid $242.00, 50-Cent Trifecta (5-3-2) paid $23.30.

8041 FOURTH RACE. 6 furlongs. Starter allowance. Fillies and mares. Three-year-olds and up. Claiming price $50,000.

Purse $30,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 2 Pied N True Pereira 24.40 12.00 6.80 1 Party Hostess Gutierrez 9.60 5.40 3 Princess Dorian Maldndo 5.00 8 Also Ran: Pomp and Party, Li’l Grazen, Awesometastic, Royal Astronomer, Blissful Lady, Privy.

8 Time: 22.10, 45.49, 57.91, 1.11.57. Clear & Fast. Trainer: Matthew Chew. Owner: Jeong, Peter, Nicolas, Matthew J. and McNamara, Margaret J..

8 Scratched: Norwegian Spy. 8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (4-5-2) paid $934.80, $2 Daily Double (5-2) paid $83.20, $1 Exacta (2-1) paid $89.80, $1 Superfecta (2-1-3-8) paid $2,217.60, 50-Cent Trifecta (2-1-3) paid $198.60.

8042 FIFTH RACE. 1 mile turf. Claiming. Fillies and mares.

Three-year-olds and up. Claiming prices $25,000-$22,500.

Purse $29,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 10 Peach Cove Stevens 6.60 3.60 2.80 6 An Unusual Group Bejarno 3.80 3.00 8 Mangita Roman 4.20 8 Also Ran: Jennyway U Want It, Scatterling (IRE), Joyable, Summer Lady, Comet Sixty Two, Candy Boss, Brookes All Mine.

8 Time: 23.00, 46.32, 1.09.92, 1.22.19, 1.33.94. Clear & Firm. Trainer: Richard E. Mandella. Owner: Augustin Stable.

8 Scratched: Out Ofthe Ordinary, Well Caught (IRE), Lookinforadanger.

8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (5-2-10) paid $157.60, 50-Cent Pick Four (4-5/12-2-10/11/12/13) 4 correct paid $1,845.05, 50-Cent Pick Five (9-4-5/12-2-10/11/12/13) 5 correct paid $18,264.20, $2 Daily Double (2-10) paid $113.60, $1 Exacta (10-6) paid $10.90, $1 Superfecta (10-6-8-3) paid $294.60, 50-Cent Trifecta (10-6-8) paid $33.20.

8043 SIXTH RACE. 11⁄16 mile. Maiden special weight.

Three-year-olds and up. Purse $50,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 9 Liberty Park Arroyo, Jr. 17.00 8.20 4.00 1 Captivate Prat 4.20 3.00 5 Ziconic Espinoza 2.60 8 Also Ran: Sergio, California Street, Brulee, Principal Bob, Thorpe d’Oro, Activated.

8 Time: 23.25, 46.94, 1.11.70, 1.38.64, 1.45.68. Clear & Fast. Trainer: Clifford W. Sise, Jr.. Owner: Wygod, Martin, Emily and

Pam. 8 Scratched: none.

8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (2-10-9) paid $768.80, $2 Daily Double (10-9) paid $68.40, $1 Exacta (9-1) paid $38.40, $1 Superfecta (9-1-5-2) paid $1,084.30, 50-Cent Trifecta (9-1-5) paid $78.35.

8044 SEVENTH RACE. 6 furlongs. Allowance. Fillies and mares. Three-year-olds and up. Purse $51,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 3 Powder Espinoza 10.20 4.00 4.40 9 Dreamy Gal Baze 3.40 3.80 4 Red Stich Ocampo 6.00 8 Also Ran: Tee Em Eye, All of a Sudden, Dangerously Close, Ms Wakaya, Divine Spark, Love Recipe, Bold At Night.

8 Time: 22.28, 45.74, 58.09, 1.10.56. Clear & Fast. Trainer: Ian Kruljac. Owner: Seltzer Thoroughbreds.

8 Scratched: none.

8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (10-9-3) paid $220.00, $2 Daily Double (9-3) paid $96.20, $1 Exacta (3-9) paid $22.80, $1 Superfecta (3-9-4-2) paid $1,561.10, 50-Cent Trifecta (3-9-4) paid $112.00.

8045 EIGHTH RACE. about 61⁄2 furlongs turf. Allowance.

Fillies and mares. Three-year-olds and up. Purse $51,000.

P# Horse Jockey Win Place Show 2 Chocolate Coated Stevens 8.40 4.40 3.20 5 Cash Prize Talamo 20.00 11.80 7 Angel Allie Baze 7.20 8 Also Ran: Moon Kitty, West Coast Bias, Sugary, Nicarra (IRE), Ava Forty Seven, Resilient Humor, Robin’s Love.

8 Time: 21.35, 43.46, 1.05.96, 1.11.76. Clear & Firm. Trainer: Neil French. Owner: Becker, Barry and Judith.

8 Scratched: Be Mine, Freedom Journey, Painting Corners, Shezroxiie.

8 Exotics: $1 Pick Three (9-3-2) paid $259.70, 50-Cent Pick Four (10/11/12/13-9-3-2) 748 tickets with 4 correct paid $600.25, $2 Pick Six (5/12-2-10/11/12/13-9-3-2) 297 tickets with 5 out of 6 paid $312.20, $2 Pick Six (5/12-2-10/11/12/139-3-2) 10 tickets with 6 correct paid $69,851.80, $2 Pick Six Jackpot (5/12-2-10/11/12/13-9-3-2) , Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $203,954, $2 Daily Double (3-2) paid $47.20, $1 Exacta (2-5) paid $89.70, $1 Superfecta (2-5-7-4) paid $3,449.70, $1 Super High Five (2-5-7-4-8) 4 tickets paid $5,415.20, 50-Cent Trifecta (2-5-7) paid $393.25.

ATTENDANCE/MUTUEL HANDLE On-track attendance-3,522. Mutuel handle-$766,222 Inter-track attendance-N/A. Mutuel handle-$1,647,355 Out-of-state attendance-N/A. Mutuel handle-$6,031,814 Total attendance-3,522. Mutuel handle-$8,445,391

NFL STANDINGS

NATIONAL CONFERENCE West RAMS Seattle Arizona San Francisco North Detroit Green Bay Minnesota Chicago South Atlanta Carolina Tampa Bay New Orleans East Philadelphia Dallas Washington N.Y. Giants

W 3 2 2 0 W 3 3 2 1 W 3 3 2 2 W 3 2 2 0

L 1 2 2 4 L 1 1 2 3 L 1 1 2 2 L 1 2 2 4

T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0

Pct. PF PA .750 142 105 .500 94 77 .500 74 91 .000 66 94 Pct. PF PA .750 99 70 .750 102 81 .500 79 76 .250 61 104 Pct. PF PA .750 104 89 .750 78 70 .500 85 83 .500 93 78 Pct. PF PA .750 103 92 .500 94 97 .500 91 89 .000 60 95

AMERICAN CONFERENCE West Kansas City Denver Oakland CHARGERS North Pittsburgh Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland South Jacksonville Houston Tennessee Indianapolis East Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami

W 4 3 2 0 W 3 2 1 0 W 2 2 2 1 W 3 3 2 1

L 0 1 2 4 L 1 2 3 4 L 2 2 2 3 L 1 2 2 2

T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 0

Pct. PF PA 1.000 122 77 .750 98 74 .500 91 79 .000 72 93 Pct. PF PA .750 90 59 .500 60 80 .250 64 67 .000 63 107 Pct. PF PA .500 109 74 .500 110 88 .500 100 126 .250 71 136 Pct. PF PA .750 73 54 .600 148 142 .500 75 92 .333 25 57

Sunday’s Schedule CHARGERS at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m.

Seattle at RAMS, 1 p.m.

Arizona at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.

Carolina at Detroit, 10 San Francisco at Indianapolis, 10 Jacksonville at Pittsburgh, 10 Buffalo at Cincinnati, 10 N.Y. Jets at Cleveland, 10 Tennessee at Miami, 10 Baltimore at Oakland, 1 p.m.

Green Bay at Dallas, 1:15 Kansas City at Houston, 5:30 Monday’s Game Minnesota at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.

TENNIS

$9.41-MILLION CHINA OPEN At Beijing Surface: Hard-Outdoor MEN’S SINGLES (quarterfinals)—Grigor Dimitrov (3), Bulgaria, d. Roberto Bautista Agut (5), Spain, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2; Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, d. John Isner (6), 6-4, 7-6 (0); Nick Kyrgios (8), Australia, d. Steve Darcis, Belgium, 6-0, 3-0 retired; Alexander Zverev (2), Germany, def.

Andrey Rublev, Russia, 6-2, 6-3.

WOMEN’S SINGLES (quarterfinals)—Simona Halep (2), Romania, d. Daria Kasatkina, Russia, 6-2, 6-1; Jelena Ostapenko (9), Latvia, d. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, 6-4, 6-4; Petra Kvitova (12), Czech Republic, d. Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4; Caroline Garcia, France, d.

Elina Svitolina (3), Ukraine, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (6). $1.56-MILLION RAKUTEN JAPAN OPEN At Tokyo Surface: Hard-Outdoor SINGLES (quarterfinals)—Diego Schwartzman (8), Argentina, d. Steve Johnson, 6-0, 7-5; David Goffin (4), Belgium, d. Richard Gasquet, France, 7-5, 6-2; Marin Cilic (1), Croatia, d. Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-0; Adrian Mannarino, France, d.

Yuichi Sugita, Japan, 6-2, 6-4.

DOUBLES (semifinals)—Jamie Murray, BritainBruno Soares (2), Brazil, d. Dominic Inglot, Britain-Daniel Nestor, Canada, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 11-9.

SANTA ANITA ENTRIES 6th day of a 19-day thoroughbred meet.

First Post 12:30 p.m.

8046 FIRST RACE. 6 furlongs. Maiden claiming. 2-year-olds.

Claiming price $30,000. Purse $21,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6271 Ima Take Charge,9 K Desormeaux,120 7-2 7069 Fabrication,4 R Bejarano,120 4-1 7042 Cause for Pardon,3 E Maldonado,120 9-2 6301 Michael Mundo,11 M Pedroza,120 9-2 7025 Dramatic Ride,6 E Roman,X115 8-1 6301 Cash Pilot,1 S Elliott,120 12-1 ....

Snazzy Dresser,7 C Sutherland,120 12-1 6248 Virghazi,10 T Conner,120 12-1 7069 Awesome Prophecy,2 T Baze,120 15-1 7025 Fight On Forever,5 I Ocampo,120 15-1 ....

Wheres Hollywood,8 S Arias,120 15-1 8047 SECOND RACE. 1 mile turf. Obviously Mile. Stakes.

3-year-olds and up. Purse $75,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds (6217) Blackjackcat,1 K Desormeaux,126 4-5 7019 He Will,3 R Bejarano,122 4-1 (6261) Bird Is the Word,2 F Prat,119 5-1 6250 Cistron,5 T Baze,123 5-1 (6086) Tequila Joe,6 J Talamo,122 6-1 9179 Mach One Rules,4 E Roman,126 12-1 8048 THIRD RACE. 6 furlongs. Maiden special weight.

3-year-olds and up. Purse $50,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6170 Puig,2 S Gonzalez,125 3-1 6170 Little Juanito,5 E Roman,X117 7-2 ....

Catalina Cruiser,3 D Van Dyke,122 5-1 9204 Antioch,1 F Prat,122 6-1 2256 Bardstown,4 K Desormeaux,125 6-1 1019 Williston Dude,7 T Pereira,125 6-1 6283 Mister Mojo,8 T Baze,122 8-1 6283 New Dancer,6 J Talamo,122 8-1 8049 FOURTH RACE. 61⁄2 furlongs. Allowance optional claiming. 3-year-olds and up. Claiming price $40,000. Purse $53,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds (6283) City of Light,6 G Stevens,120 8-5 7033 Americanize,2 R Bejarano,123 5-2 (6291) Coils Gold,1 F Prat,122 3-1

NFL INJURY REPORT

As provided by the league: CHARGERS at N.Y. GIANTS—Chargers: OUT: RB Branden Oliver (hamstring), WR Mike Williams (back). QUESTIONABLE: T Joe Barksdale (foot), LB Jatavis Brown (ankle), TE Sean McGrath (foot), WR Tyrell Williams (neck).

Giants: OUT: RB Paul Perkins (ribs), C Weston Richburg (concussion). QUESTIONABLE: G John Jerry (hamstring), DE Avery Moss (shoulder), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (shoulder/knee), DE Olivier Vernon (ankle).

SEATTLE at RAMS—Seahawks: OUT: DE Cliff Avril (neck), DT Quinton Jefferson (hand).

DOUBTFUL: CB Jeremy Lane (groin), RB C.J. Prosise (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: LB Michael Wilhoite (hamstring). Rams: DOUBTFUL: S Lamarcus Joyner (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: G Jamon Brown (groin).

ARIZONA at PHILADELPHIA—Cardinals: OUT: T D.J. Humphries (knee), DT Robert Nkemdiche (calf). QUESTIONABLE: G Alex Boone (chest), WR John Brown (quadricep), WR J.J. Nelson (hamstring, tooth). Eagles: OUT: DT Fletcher Cox (calf), CB Ronald Darby (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: S Corey Graham (hamstring), RB Wendell Smallwood (knee), DT Destiny Vaeao (wrist), S Jaylen Watkins (hamstring).

BALTIMORE at OAKLAND—Ravens: OUT: DT Brandon Williams (foot), TE Maxx Williams (ankle). DOUBTFUL: CB Jaylen Hill (thigh). QUESTIONABLE: S Anthony Levine (thigh), WR Jeremy Maclin (hand), CB Jimmy Smith (achilles), TE Benjamin Watson (calf), S Lardarius Webb (thigh). Raiders: QUESTIONABLE: CB David Amerson (concussion), QB Derek Carr (back), CB Gareon Conley (shin), G Gabe Jackson (foot), RB DeAndre Washington (hamstring).

BUFFALO at CINCINNATI—Bills: OUT: LB Ramon Humber (thumb), WR Jordan Matthews (thumb). QUESTIONABLE: CB E.J. Gaines (groin), T Cordy Glenn (foot, ankle), S Micah Hyde (knee), CB Shareece Wright (back). Bengals: OUT: TE Tyler Eifert (back), TE Ryan Hewitt (knee),

(6262) Sir Samson,5 D Van Dyke,123 5-1 6318 Midnight Pleasure,3 N Arroyo, Jr.,120 8-1 6299 Best Two Minutes,4 M Pedroza,125 10-1 1 8050 FIFTH RACE. about 6 ⁄2 furlongs turf. Maiden special weight. Fillies. 2-year-olds. Purse $50,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds ....

Sappho (IRE),7 K Desormeaux,120 3-1 6085 Katherine,10 C Nakatani,120 9-2 6232 Silken Spy,3 J Talamo,120 5-1 Also Eligible 6232 Great Ma Neri,14 T Pereira,120 6-1 6232 Orageuse,5 F Prat,120 6-1 6317 Thisoleheartofmine,13 B Blanc,120 8-1 ....

Bunny Yogurt,6 V Espinoza,120 10-1 ....

Favorite Trip,4 N Arroyo, Jr.,120 10-1 ....

Journal Entry,8 E Roman,X115 10-1 6289 Into Glamour,2 R Bejarano,120 12-1 ....

Biscate,12 T Conner,120 15-1 ....

Heaven Escape,11 S Elliott,120 15-1 6304 In the Jeans,1 D Van Dyke,120 15-1 7101 Baytown Juliet,9 G Mitchell,120 30-1 8051 SIXTH RACE. 6 furlongs. Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Stakes. 3-year-olds and up. Purse $300,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6078 Roy H,6 K Desormeaux,122 8-5 (6078) Ransom the Moon,1 F Prat,126 5-2 (4147) American Anthem,4 M Smith,119 3-1 (6252) Giant Expectations,2 G Stevens,122 3-1 (6207) Edwards Going Left,3 T Baze,119 10-1 6252 Mr. Hinx,5 D Van Dyke,119 15-1 8052 SEVENTH RACE. 6 furlongs. Maiden Claiming.

2-year-olds. Claiming prices $50,000-$40,000. State bred.

Purse $28,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6091 Butte City,9 E Roman,X115 7-2 6301 Royal Trump,7 E Maldonado,122 9-2 6248 Oh Man,1 S Risenhoover,122 5-1 7042 Lipster,4 S Elliott,122 6-1 6301 Respect the Shot,2 M Pedroza,120 6-1 6248 Royal Bar,8 T Baze,122 6-1 7042 Run Jeanne Run,3 R Bejarano,122 6-1 ....

Catability,5 Mt Garcia,122 15-1 7069 Desert Black,10 A Solis,XX115 15-1 6152 Starship Chewy,6 I Ocampo,120 20-1

WR John Ross (knee), S Derron Smith (ankle).

QUESTIONABLE: LB Jordan Evans (hamstring).

CAROLINA at DETROIT—Panthers: OUT: S Kurt Coleman (knee), S Demetrious Cox (ankle), C Ryan Kalil (neck). QUESTIONABLE: DE Mario Addison (knee), T Matt Kalil (groin), DE Julius Peppers (shoulder). Lions: OUT: WR Kenny Golladay (hamstring), RB Dwayne Washington (quadricep), LB Paul Worrilow (knee). QUESTIONABLE: DE Ezekiel Ansah (knee), S Don Carey (knee), LB Jarrad Davis (neck), G T.J. Lang (back), DT Haloti Ngata (shoulder), C Travis Swanson (ankle), T Rick Wagner (ankle, shoulder), LB Tahir Whitehead (pectoral).

GREEN BAY at DALLAS—Packers: OUT: LB Joe Thomas (ankle). DOUBTFUL: RB Ty Montgomery (ribs). QUESTIONABLE: WR Davante Adams (concussion), T David Bakhtiari (hamstring), LB Ahmad Brooks (back), T Bryan Bulaga (ankle), DT Mike Daniels (hip), CB Davon House (quadricep), LB CB Quinten Rollins (ankle).

Cowboys: QUESTIONABLE: CB Anthony Brown (ankle), CB Nolan Carroll (concussion), T La'el Collins (ankle), LB Sean Lee (hamstring), DT Stephen Paea (knee), T Tyron Smith (back).

JACKSONVILLE at PITTSBURGH—Jaguars: OUT: LB Lerentee McCray (knee). QUESTIONABLE: WR Marqise Lee (ribs), C Brandon Linder (illness), WR Jaelen Strong (hamstring), S Jarrod Wilson (shoulder). Steelers: DOUBTFUL: T Marcus Gilbert (hamstring).

N.Y. JETS at CLEVELAND—Jets: OUT: DE Kony Ealy (shoulder), RB Matt Forte (knee, toe), LB Josh Martin (ankle), CB Darryl Roberts (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: CB Juston Burris (foot), DE Muhammad Wilkerson (shoulder). Browns: DOUBTFUL: WR Kenny Britt (knee, groin), LB Jamie Collins (concussion).

SAN FRANCISCO at INDIANAPOLIS—49ers: OUT: S Adrian Colbert (hamstring), LB Reuben Foster (ankle), S Eric Reid (knee), LB Dekoda Watson (groin). QUESTIONABLE: WR Marquise Goodwin (concussion). Colts: OUT: TE Jack Doyle

8053 EIGHTH RACE. 1 mile turf. Swingtime Stakes (R).

Fillies and mares. 3-year-olds and up. Purse $70,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6296 Madame Stripes J Talamo,126 5-2 (ARG),1 6296 Insta Erma,6 C Nakatani,122 3-1 6278 Belvoir Bay (GB),8 K Desormeaux,122 4-1 6296 Mrs McDougal,3 F Prat,122 4-1 6315 Jeremy’s Legacy G Stevens,122 6-1 (IRE),5 6296 Lady Valeur (IRE),2 D Van Dyke,126 10-1 6265 Do the Dance,4 E Roman,122 15-1 4271 Show Stealer,7 T Baze,122 15-1 1 8054 NINTH RACE. 1 ⁄16 mile. Claiming. 3-year-olds and up.

Claiming prices $25,000-$22,500. Purse $29,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6173 Tribal Jewel,1 M Pedroza,123 4-1 6305 Kristo,9 T Baze,123 5-1 6239 Indygo Bo,6 T Conner,123 6-1 7033 Shackleford Banks,11 D Van Dyke,125 6-1 6257 Blanket of Ice,4 R Bejarano,123 8-1 6257 City Steel,10 J Talamo,123 8-1 6305 Just Kidding,8 E Roman,X118 8-1 3155 Dadtaughtmewell,3 F Prat,123 10-1 (7039) El Super,12 C Nakatani,125 12-1 7039 I’malreadythere,7 T Pereira,123 15-1 6103 Pioneerof the West,5 K Desormeaux,123 15-1 7039 Muchos Besos,2 S Arias,123 30-1 8055 TENTH RACE. 1 mile turf. Starter allowance. Fillies and mares. 3-year-olds and up. Purse $30,000.

PR Horse (PP) Jockey,Wt Odds 6234 Midnight Swinger,5 F Prat,123 3-1 6234 Shazara,4 T Baze,125 4-1 6276 Looking At Thelake,3 R Bejarano,120 5-1 6276 Candy Swirls,2 G Stevens,122 6-1 6276 Tammy’s Window,10 D Van Dyke,120 8-1 6220 Road Test,7 E Roman,X115 10-1 7097 Bridal Arch,9 T Pereira,120 12-1 6096 Fly Far Away,11 C Nakatani,123 12-1 6053 Lookinforadanger,1 T Conner,123 12-1 6230 Ragazza Di Vola,8 N Arroyo, Jr.,120 15-1 6221 Blondy’s Reward,6 B Boulanger,123 30-1 6159 Pattin for a Dance,12 I Puglisi,120 30-1

(concussion, neck), CB Nate Hairston (quadricep), QB Andrew Luck (right shoulder). DOUBTFUL: RB Matt Jones (knee). QUESTIONABLE: CB Rashaan Melvin (hamstring, ankle), WR Chester Rogers (hamstring).

TENNESSEE at MIAMI—Titans: OUT: S Johnathan Cyprien (hamstring), WR Corey Davis (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: QB Marcus Mariota (hamstring). Dolphins: QUESTIONABLE: DE Terrence Fede (shoulder), CB Xavien Howard (shoulder), LB Mike Hull (shoulder), CB Byron Maxwell (hamstring, foot), DT Jordan Phillips (ankle).

KANSAS CITY at HOUSTON—Chiefs: OUT: G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (knee), LB Dee Ford (back), C Mitch Morse (foot). Texans: OUT: G Kyle Fuller (hamstring), LB Ben Heeney (knee), CB Kevin Johnson (knee). QUESTIONABLE: C Greg Mancz (knee).

PRO SOCCER

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Today’s Schedule Vancouver at New York, 2 p.m.

Sporting Kansas City at Minnesota United, 5 p.m.

FC Dallas at Colorado, 6 p.m.

NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS Semifinals Today’s Schedule Orlando at Portland, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday‘s Schedule Chicago at North Carolina, 12:30 p.m.

PRO FOOTBALL CANADIAN LEAGUE Friday’s Result Hamilton 30, Winnipeg 13

TRANSACTIONS

BASEBALL Major League Baseball—Fined Arizona coach-interpreter Ariel Prieto and the Diamondbacks undisclosed amounts for Prieto wearing an unauthorized watch in the dugout.

PRO FOOTBALL NFL—Fined Baltimore linebacker Za'Darius Smith and Washington cornerback Bashaud Breeland $18,231 each; and Oakland punter Marquette King, Jacksonville linebacker Paul Posluszny, Philadelphia defensive end Vinny Curry and Indianapolis defensive end Jonathan Hankins $9,115 apiece for their actions during last weekend’s games.

Chicago—Waived defensive lineman Mike Purchell; signed linebacker Howard Jones to the practice squad.

HOCKEY Colorado—Called up defenseman Anton Lindholm from San Antonio (AHL).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Washington State—Dismissed cornerback Zaire Webb and wide receiver Anthony White Jr. from the team.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Friday’s Results EAST Memphis 70, Connecticut 31 Framingham St. 32, Fitchburg St. 16 SOUTH S.C. State 35, Morgan St. 14 West Florida 28, Mississippi College 14 ROCKIES Boise St. at BYU

VOLLEYBALL

WOMEN Pac-12 Arizona d. USC, 25-23, 25-17. 26-24

L AT I ME S . CO M / S P O RT S

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D11

DODGERS VS. DIAMONDBACKS

Dodgers start quickly in game and the playoffs Mark J. Terrill Associated Press

THE DODGERS’ Rich Hill, who got his first taste of the postseason with the Chicago Cubs in

2007, has come a long way since languishing in independent ball during the summer of 2015.

Hill can relate to uplifting speech he gave Dodgers

Pitcher, 37, urges passion, intensity. He didn’t always have that during his career.

By Pedro Moura Twenty-four hours before Friday’s first pitch of the National League division series, there was a team meeting around the Dodger Stadium mound. All the Dodgers wore official gear, except for Clayton Kershaw, who stood in the back in baggy basketball shorts and a Tshirt.

After manager Dave Roberts spoke, he turned over the floor to left-hander Rich Hill, at 37 the oldest active Dodger. Typical of Hill, he implored his teammates to exert every bit of energy they had within them.

“Go out there and bring that intensity, bring the passion, bring that aggressive attitude,” Hill said he told the Dodgers. “So when you look back years from now, we’re going to not look at it in regret, but look at it as, ‘I did everything that I could to succeed.’

“Again, whether we look back at the end of the day and we can call ourselves world champions or we go home knowing that you did everything that you could as an individual to succeed, that’s really it.”

Hill has employed that ethos to great success over the last two years. Languishing in independent

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Friday at Dodgers DODGERS .....................................9 ARIZONA .......................................5 Saturday at Dodgers, 6 p.m.

ARIZ: Ray (15-5, 2.89) LA: Hill (12-8, 3.32) Monday at Arizona LA: Darvish (10-12, 3.86) ARIZ: Greinke (17-7, 3.20) Tuesday at Arizona LA: Wood (16-3, 2.72) ARIZ: Corbin (14-13, 4.03) Thursday at Dodgers ARIZONA: TBD LA: TBD

TV: All games on TBS Games 4, 5 if necessary | All times PDT Arizona AB R H BI Avg. Dodgers Peralta lf 4 0 0 0 .000 Taylor cf Pollock cf 3 1 1 1 .333 Seager ss Gldsmdt 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Turner 3b Martinez rf 4 1 3 1 .750 Bllingr 1b Drury 2b 4 0 0 0 .000 Puig rf Rosales 3b 2 0 0 0 .000 Grndrsn lf d-Blanco 1 0 0 0 .000 Hrnndz lf Marte ss 4 2 2 1 .500 Grandal c Mathis c 3 1 1 1 .333 Forsythe 2b e-Descalso 0 0 0 0 --- Kershaw p Godley p 2 0 0 0 .000 b-Utley a-C.Walker 1 0 1 0 1.00 c-Barnes f-Lamb 1 0 0 0 .000 Totals Totals 33 5 8 4 Arizona Dodgers

AB 4 4 4 5 5 4 0 4 3 2 0 1 36

R 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 9

H 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 12

001 001 201 —5 400 300 02x —9

andy.mccullough@latimes.com Twitter: @McCulloughTimes

the bench.”

By Mike Hiserman and Pedro Moura

Best-of-five series

GM

pedro.moura@latimes.com Twitter : @pedromoura

Roberts calls Baez an easy roster pick

ARIZONA vs.

DODGERS

1

well,” he said. “I was able to control my emotions. But I feel like a start is a little bit different, knowing that you’re coming into the game and setting the tone for the whole game. But I do feel like getting into that game gave me a little bit of a taste of it.”

Ten years ago Friday, Hill earned his first taste of the postseason, a failed three-inning start that ended the Chicago Cubs’ season. Back then, he said, he was more results oriented.

His evaluation of his performance depended on how much success he found.

Now, he said, he rates himself on his effort, and he ensures he spares no expense. “There are no set rules,” Hill said. “When you’re out there and you’re playing, you improvise and you use that creativity to your advantage.”

On Friday night, he planned to immerse himself in Kershaw’s intensity and, soon, exude it himself.

“You’re going out there and you’re putting yourself in a position to fail. But in doing that, you’re giving it everything you can to succeed,” Hill said of Kershaw. “So, when you see guys going out there and whether it’s a live performance of any kind — theater, music, baseball, whatever, a professional sport — you appreciate that genuine passion that they have. That’s what Clayton brings.”

the plate as Puig partied at second base to expand the lead to four.

It took Walker 38 pitches to record an out. He threw 48 pitches in the inning. He would not return from the dugout. Zack Godley, a potential Game 4 starter, replaced Walker.

Kershaw wobbled in the third.

All evening, he flirted with trouble.

His curveball was uncooperative.

His slider stayed hidden. He leaned on his fastball, which touche 95-96 mph in the first inning. By the third, his velocity had dipped, ever so slightly, and Arizona outfielder A.J. Pollock smashed a 93-mph fastball into the left-field pavilion.

The offense eased Kershaw’s burden in the fourth. Forsythe led off with a single against Godley.

Kershaw bunted him to second base. After a walk by Taylor, Seager chopped a grounder to the left side of the infield. The baseball eluded the glove of Arizona shortstop Ketel Marte by inches. The distance proved large enough for Forsythe to jet home. Two more runs scored on a single by Turner and a groundout by Puig.

Kershaw needed the cushion. In the sixth, he hung a curveball to outfielder J.D. Martinez. The ball disappeared into the left-field seats. He finished the sixth with 92 pitches.

The five-run lead enticed manager Dave Roberts to stick with Kershaw for one more inning. The decision backfired. Marte laced an elevated slider over the left-field fence. Roberts stuck with Kershaw against Mathis, the light-hitting former Angels catcher with 13 home runs since 2013. Mathis swatted his first-ever postseason homer on a first-pitch fastball.

The Dodgers turned to the bullpen from that point, with Tony Watson and Brandon Morrow escaping more trouble in the seventh and eighth innings.

Kenley Jansen worked the ninth, giving up a walk, an infield single and an unearned run but ending the game by snagging a line drive from David Peralta.

Seager added an run-scoring triple in the eighth inning, a very good sign after his late-season slump and elbow problems, and Turner matched Davey Lopes’ playoff-record, five-RBI game by driving in Seager.

DODGERS REPORT

NL DIVISION SERIES

GM

ball during the summer of 2015, he resolved to commit himself more fully to his craft.

Since he resurfaced with the Boston Red Sox that September, he owns a 2.65 earned-run average over 49 starts.

He did so by breaking with tradition and throwing more of his steep curveballs than anyone in baseball. And, late this season, as opponents caught up to him, he reversed course and pumped up more fastballs.

The pitcher opposite Hill in Saturday’s Game 2 at Dodger Stadium has done the opposite. Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray has reintroduced a curveball into his regular repertoire, complementing his 95-mph fastball and his strikeout slider.

“It’s basically just resurrecting a pitch that was there,” Ray said.

He scrapped the curveball several years ago in the minor leagues, thinking the slider was sufficient.

His 4.90 ERA last season proved him wrong. Wielding the curve and the slider, he lowered that ERA by two runs in 2017.

Arizona’s Game 1 starter, Taijuan Walker, came away from watching Wednesday’s wild-card game a “little tired.” He lasted one inning Friday night.

Ray, who made a 34-pitch relief appearance in the wild-card game, said the outing provided him an understanding of what to expect on Saturday.

“I felt like I handled it pretty

[Dodgers, from D1] enth, on back-to-back pitches to shortstop Ketel Marte and catcher Jeff Mathis. He finished with seven strikeouts in 61⁄3 innings. The barrage sent a scare through the ballpark but could not offset the Dodgers’ early charge as the team took a 1-0 lead in the series.

On the scoreboard during batting practice, a video package played highlights from the first five months of the season: Kyle Farmer’s game-winning debut hit, Puig pegging runners at third base, a slew of blasts from rookie sensation Cody Bellinger. The plays looked like dispatches from another decade, from the halcyon days before the team went 1-16 to stumbled toward the finish line.

So the first inning felt like a flashback. On the mound for Arizona was Walker, a hulking, 25-yearold right-hander making his first postseason start. He admitted a day earlier that this was the biggest outing of his career — after he admitted he felt so nervous during Wednesday’s wild-card game victory over Colorado that he could not even watch.

Friday was far worse. A leadoff single by Chris Taylor opened the bottom of the inning. Seager took a walk, passing on splitters inside and fastballs away. After a pitiable September, the patience shown by Seager offered encouragement for the rest of this month. So did what came next, from Turner.

Walker did not hold back. He challenged Turner with a cutter and a fastball at the waist. Turner fouled off both. He settled in to even the count. A 2-2 fastball hummed at Turner’s thighs. Turner parked it 10 rows deep in the leftfield bleachers.

On the mound, Walker muttered expletives. In the on-deck circle, Puig celebrated. The two would soon meet, after a single by Bellinger.

Puig saw nine pitches from Walker. He fouled off four of them.

After one pitch sprayed out of play, Puig dabbed his tongue on the barrel of his bat. A moment later, he grimaced as the pine tar coursed through his taste buds.

As Puig experimented with different food groups, Walker stuck with fastballs. He left a 95-mph heater on the outer half of the plate. Puig ripped it into right-center field, setting Bellinger free from first base. Bellinger swam across

BI 0 2 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9

Avg. .250 .500 .750 .200 .400 .000 --.000 .333 .500 --1.00

8 12

2 2

a-singled for Godley in the 7th. b-pinch hit for Morrow in the 8th. c-singled for Utley in the 8th. d-flied out for Rosales in 9th. e-walked for Mathis in9th. f-out on fielder’s choice for Sherfy in 9th.

Walks—Arizona 4: Peralta 1, Pollock 1, Rosales 1, Descalso 1.

Dodgers 4: Taylor 1, Seager 1, Turner 1, Forsythe 1.

Strikeouts—Arizona 7: Goldschmidt 1, Martinez 1, Drury 2, Marte 1, Mathis 1, Godley 1. Dodgers 9: Taylor 2, Bellinger 2, Granderson 2, Grandal 2, Kershaw 1. E—Mathis (1), Godley (1), Seager (1), Turner (1). LOB—Arizona 5, Dodgers 8. 2B—Puig (1). 3B—Seager (1), Puig (1). HR—Pollock (1), off Kershaw; Martinez (1), off Kershaw; Marte (1), off Kershaw; Mathis (1), off Kershaw; Turner (1), off T.Walker.

RBIs—Pollock (1), Martinez (1), Marte (1), Mathis (1), Seager 2 (2), Turner 5 (5), Puig 2 (2). S—Kershaw.DP—Dodgers 3 (Seager, Forsythe, Bellinger), (Turner, Forsythe, Bellinger), (Seager, Bellinger).

Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA T.Walker, L, 0-1.............1 4 4 4 2 3 48 36.00 Godley ........................5 4 3 2 2 5 100 3.60 Hernandez ...................1 1 0 0 0 0 12 0.00 Chafin.........................0 1 1 1 0 0 4 0.00 Sherfy .........................1 2 1 1 0 1 17 9.00 Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Kershaw, W, 1-0 .........61⁄3 5 4 4 3 7 100 5.68 Watson, H, 1 ...............1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 Morrow, H, 1..............11⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 7 0.00 Jansen ........................1 1 1 0 1 0 16 0.00 Chafin pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP—Godley.

T—3:37. Tickets sold—54,707 (56,000).

No player exemplified the Dodgers’ late-season swoon more than reliever Pedro Baez, who seemed to ignite opponent rallies — and incite the ire of the home fans — whenever he was summoned from the bullpen.

Yet, when the club announced its 25-player roster for the National League division series Friday morning, the right-hander was on it. And manager Dave Roberts said it was an easy choice.

“Ultimately, Pedro has been a big part of what we’ve done all year,” Roberts said during a news conference before the game. “I trust him. Arguably, he’s been our high-leveraged reliever outside of Kenley [Jansen] all year. So, I just think it makes sense.”

Roberts said he would “probably” deploy Brandon Morrow as the primary setup man for Jansen during the playoffs, with Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson as “1 and 1A” from the left side.

Baez, 29, has season statistics that would have made his selection a no-brainer. He had a 2.95 earnedrun average in 66 games and limited opponents to a .099 batting average with runners in scoring position — second-best among all major league relievers.

But in the first three weeks of September, as the Dodgers were sliding toward 16 losses in 17 games, Baez had an ERA of 20.77. After a particularly tough outing at Philadelphia in which he faced seven batters and gave up four runs, he received tutelage from Jansen.

Jansen, the club’s All-Star closer, advised Baez to change up his patterns and not rely solely on his fastball. The guidance seemed to help. Baez was able to string together four scoreless outings to finish the season, striking out seven of the last 12 hitters he faced.

Baez’s roster candidacy was

Silence of the Lamb

Matt Slocum Associated Press

PEDRO BAEZ HELD batters to a .099 average with runners in

scoring position, but he had a 20.77 ERA during Dodgers’ slump.

also bolstered by his competition for a spot. Fellow right-handed relievers Walker Buehler and Brock Stewart also struggled in September. Left-hander Luis Avilan is coming off an injury.

One factor that probably wasn’t in Baez’s favor: his past postseason experience. Entering Friday’s game, he had made 11 playoff appearances and given up seven earned runs in 92⁄3 innings.

Buehler and Stewart traveled to the club’s Arizona training complex at Camelback Ranch, where they will throw and be on call if the club needs them later.

For seconds

Logan Forsythe got the start at second base over Chase Utley in

Game 1 of the NLDS, even though Arizona started a right-hander, Taijuan Walker.

“I don’t think that we could have made a wrong decision,” Roberts said before the game. “I think that part of it is I think there is a tick grade better from defense from Logan. You’ve got your ace on the mound and the ability to have Chase on the bench to use him at any point in time … I think holds huge value.”

Another consideration, Roberts said, was that Friday marked Forsythe’s first career playoff appearance. “I think it’s a benefit for him to start a game, to get into the game, the flow of the postseason, as opposed to … taking his first pinch-hit or postseason at-bat off

Jake Lamb had four hits in Arizona’s wild-card game win over Colorado on Wednesday. He hit 30 home runs and drove in 105 runs.

And he was not in the Diamondbacks’ starting lineup Friday.

On Thursday, shortly after Arizona arrived at Dodger Stadium for a workout, Lamb said there were “a couple” of pitchers he could face during the postseason that he would tell manager Torey Lovullo he was uncomfortable facing.

Clayton Kershaw might have been one of them. Lamb, a left-handed hitter, has never faced Kershaw and his career batting average is just .159 against all lefthanders. Adam Rosales, who batted .225 this season — .240 against left-handers — started at third base.

“I just felt like we’ve been doing something like that through the course of the year since we got Rosie, and I felt like I wanted to just stay with the script,” Lovullo said before the game.

An upgrade? Very debatable.

Rosales came into the game with one hit in six at-bats against Kershaw, with three strikeouts.

The Dodgers will start another left-hander, Rich Hill, in Game 2, and Lamb might get a start. He is two for four against Hill, with a home run and three RBIs. In other lineup decisions, Lovullo went with Jeff Mathis at catcher over Chris Iannetta.

Mathis is superior defensively but batted .215 this season. Iannetta batted .254 with 17 home runs. At second base, the Diamondbacks started Brandon Drury over Daniel Descalso. Drury came into the game one for 11 life-time against Kershaw. The hit: a home run. pedro.moura@latimes.com Twitter: @pedromoura mike.hiserman@latimes.com Twitter: @MikeHiserman

D12

S

L AT I M ES . C O M / SP O RTS

DIVISION SERIES

Cubs jump on mistake

AL DIVISION SERIES

Error is the key to two-run sixth inning, spoiling night for Strasburg, Nationals.

BOSTON vs.

HOUSTON

CHICAGO vs.

WASHINGTON Chicago leads series 1-0

Houston leads 2-0 GM

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Thursday at Houston HOUSTON..................................... 8 BOSTON ........................................2 Friday at Houston HOUSTON..................................... 8 BOSTON ........................................2 Sunday at Boston, 11:30 a.m.

HOUSTON: Peacock (13-2, 3.00) BOS: Fister (5-9, 4.88) Monday at Boston, 10 a.m.

HOUSTON: TBD BOSTON: TBD Wednesday at Houston, 1 p.m.

BOSTON: TBD HOUSTON: TBD

TV: All games on FS1, except Game 1, which will be on MLB Games 4, 5 if necessary Boston Bogaerts ss Pedroia 2b 1-Holt 2b Benintendi lf Betts rf Ramirez 1b Young dh a-Mrlnd dh Vazquez c Marrero 3b b-Devers 3b Bradley Jr. cf Totals Boston Houston

AB 5 3 0 4 4 3 2 2 3 2 2 4 34

R 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2

H 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 7

BI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

Avg. .000 .167 --.125 .375 .333 .500 .200 .667 .000 .000 .286

Houston AB R H BI Avg. Sprngr cf 4 2 2 1 .250 Brgmn 3b 5 1 1 0 .333 Altuve 2b 3 2 2 1 .714 Correa ss 4 2 2 4 .250 Gattis dh 3 0 1 1 .500 c-Bltrn dh 1 0 1 0 1.00 2-Fshr dh 0 0 0 0 --Rddick rf 4 0 0 0 .286 d-Mybin cf 1 0 0 0 .000 Grriel 1b 4 0 1 0 .250 Gnzlz lf 4 1 1 0 .250 MCann c 3 0 1 0 .286 Totals 36 8 12 7 010 000 001 —2 202 004 00x —8

7 12

1 0

a-popped out for Young in the 6th. b-struck out for Marrero in the 7th. c-singled for Gattis in the 8th. d-lined out for Reddick in the 8th.

1-ran for Pedroia in the 8th. 2-ran for Beltran in the 8th.

Walks—Boston 3: Pedroia 1, Ramirez 1, Vazquez 1. Houston 6: Springer 1, Altuve 2, Correa 1, Gattis 1, Gurriel 1. Strikeouts—Boston 11: Bogaerts 2, Pedroia 1, Benintendi 1, Betts 1, Ramirez 2, Vazquez 1, Marrero 2, Devers 1. Houston 5: Altuve 1, Gattis 1, Reddick 1, Gurriel 1, Gonzalez 1. E—Betts (1). LOB—Boston 8, Houston 11.

2B—Betts (2), Young (1), Springer (1), Bregman (1), Correa (1).

HR—Correa (1), off Pomeranz; Springer (1), off Pomeranz.

RBIs—Bradley Jr. 2 (2), Springer (1), Altuve (4), Correa 4 (4), Gattis (1). SB—Young (1).

Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Pomeranz, L, 0-1 ..........2 5 4 4 1 1 47 18.00 Smith .........................1⁄3 0 0 0 2 0 12 0.00 Price.........................22⁄3 1 0 0 1 2 38 0.00 Rodriguez ....................0 1 2 2 0 0 4 0.00 Reed ..........................1 2 2 2 1 0 11 18.00 Maddox.......................1 2 0 0 1 1 31 4.50 Kimbrel .......................1 1 0 0 0 1 16 0.00 Houston NP ERA IP H R ER BB SO Keuchel, W, 1-0 .........52⁄3 3 1 1 3 7 96 1.59 Devenski, H, 1............11⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 19 0.00 Gregerson....................1 1 0 0 0 2 22 0.00 Giles...........................1 2 1 1 0 1 20 9.00 Pomeranz pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd. Rodriguez pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

HBP—Rodriguez (McCann). WP—Giles. PB—Vazquez (1).

T—4:00. Tickets sold—43,410 (42,060).

AL DIVISION SERIES

NEW YORK vs.

CLEVELAND Cleveland leads 2-0 GM

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Thursday at Cleveland CLEVELAND .................................4 NEW YORK ....................................0 Friday at Cleveland (13 innings) CLEVELAND .................................9 NEW YORK ....................................8 Sunday at New York, 4:30 p.m.

CLE: Carrasco (18-6, 3.29) NY: Tanaka (13-12, 4.74)

CHICAGO 3 WASHINGTON 0

GM

1

By Bill Shaikin GM

WASHINGTON — In Washington, a city that has gone seven years short of a century without postseason success, this will be a play that will live in infamy.

It was a ground ball, hit hard but not impossibly so, hit directly at the man who had committed the fewest errors of any everyday third baseman in the major leagues. Anthony Rendon fielded the ball, lifted his glove to transfer the ball to his hand and ... dropped the ball.

“It’s like when you have a car accident,” Rendon said. “It’s not a car purpose. It’s a mistake. We’re human.”

The mistake did not seem immediately ominous.

Stephen Strasburg, the pitcher for the Washington Nationals, was throwing a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs. This was the sixth inning. Of the first 15 outs, eight had come by strikeout. He had thrown his fastball as hard as 99 mph.

So what if Rendon had just made his first error in three months? Strasburg retired the next two batters, one on a sacrifice bunt. He should have been out of the inning.

He got strike one, then strike two on Kris Bryant, the defending National League most valuable player. In his previous at-bat, Strasburg struck him out on a change. He went fastball here, a fastball intended to wander high and outside. The pitch did not escape the strike zone, and Bryant poked it into right field, an 0-2 mistake that ended Strasburg’s nohitter and shutout all at once.

“I didn’t even know he had a nono, to tell you the truth,” Washington’s Bryce Harper said. “Sorry about that. It’s pretty cool that he had one.”

The Nationals, the team that never has advanced past the division series, instantly went from being 10 outs from celebrating a nohitter to losing yet again. A raucous crowd went silent, sensing October doom yet again.

2 GM

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5 Pablo Martinez Monsivais Associated Press

CUBS CATCHER Willson Contreras reacts after catching a

popup for the final out in Game 1 against the Nationals.

Bryant had taken second base on the throw home, Anthony Rizzo, like Bryant, had struck out in each of his first two at-bats against Strasburg. And, like Bryant, he singled in his third at-bat, and the Cubs had a 2-0 lead.

The Nationals never did score.

The defending World Series champion Cubs beat the Nationals, 3-0, in Friday’s opener of the best-offive division series.

The home-field advantage shifted to the Cubs, with Jon Lester lined up to start for Chicago here Saturday, but Harper said the untimely inning did not trigger images of another postseason defeat in the Nationals’ heads.

“That’s why we play five,” he said.

Kyle Hendricks might not have been the headliner of the evening, but he was the star. Hendricks throws his fastball in the high 80s.

Strasburg was throwing his changeup harder.

No matter. Hendricks, the unheralded right-hander from Orange County, pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits: a single to Harper in the first inning, and a single to Michael A. Taylor in the second inning. The Nationals did not get a runner into scoring position — or a hit, for that matter — after the second inning.

Hendricks works in the shadow of Lester, who starred for the Cubs

and Boston Red Sox in October, and Arrieta, the 2015 NL Cy Young award winner.

It was Hendricks who started Game 7 of last year’s World Series.

And it is Hendricks who has a 1.98 postseason earned-run average — better than Lester, better than Arrieta, better than the only man to beat him in October: Clayton Kershaw.

Hendricks thrives on postseason adrenaline, even if he seldom shows it.

“I’m a laid-back guy,” he said, “but you’re definitely feeling it.”

Strasburg pitched seven innings, walking one and striking out 10. Never had a Nationals pitcher struck out so many in a postseason game. He did not give up an earned run.

But he and the Nationals lost.

They must win three of their next four games, or their autumn will be cold and bitter yet again. Rendon insisted their October failures did not creep into their heads as a nohitter tilted into defeat.

“That’s 2016, 2015, 2014,” he said, apparently forgetting the Nationals had lost in 2016, 2014 and 2012.

“What year is it this year?”

2017.

“There you go,” he said, and off he went into the night. bill.shaikin@latimes.com Twitter @BillShaikin

Sluggers back up Keuchel to give Houston a 2-0 lead in the AL division series.

associated press

Wednesday at Cleveland, 5 p.m.

5 NY: TBD CLE: Kluber (18-4, 2.25)

GM

TV: All games on FS1, except Game 2, which will be on MLB Games 4, 5 if necessary New York AB R H BI Avg. Cleveland AB R H BI Avg. 5 2 1 4 .143 Gardner lf 5 0 0 0 .000 Lindor ss Judge rf 3 1 0 0 .000 Kipnis cf 6 0 2 1 .200 Sanchez c 6 2 2 2 .200 Ramirez 2b 5 1 0 0 .111 Grgrius ss 5 1 0 0 .000 Ecrncn dh 0 0 0 0 .000 Castro 2b 6 1 2 1 .400 a-Brntly dh 5 0 0 0 .000 Bird 1b 5 2 2 2 .250 Santana 1b 5 1 1 2 .250 Hicks cf 6 1 2 3 .333 Bruce rf 6 1 1 1 .333 Ellsbury dh 3 0 0 0 .000 Jackson lf 5 2 2 0 .286 c-Hedly dh 3 0 0 0 .000 Gomes c 5 1 2 1 .400 Frazier 3b 5 0 3 0 .375 Urshela 3b 1 0 0 0 .250 1-Tryes 3b 1 0 0 0 .000 b-Chisenhall 0 1 0 0 .000 Totals 48 8 11 8 Gonzalez 3b 2 0 0 0 .000 Totals 45 9 9 9 New York Cleveland

204 020 000 000 0 —8 210 004 010 000 1 —9

11 9

3 2

No outs when winning run scored. a-struck out for Encarnacion in the 2nd. b-hit by pitch for Urshela in the 6th. c-grounded out for Ellsbury in the 8th.

1-ran for Frazier in the 11th.

Walks—New York 5: Judge 3, Gregorius 1, Bird 1. Cleveland 5: Lindor 1, Ramirez 1, Santana 1, Jackson 1, Gomes 1. Strikeouts—New York 12: Gardner 1, Judge 1, Sanchez 2, Gregorius 1, Castro 1, Bird 1, Hicks 2, Ellsbury 2, 1-Torreyes 1. Cleveland 12: Lindor 1, Kipnis 2, Ramirez 3, Brantley 2, Bruce 1, Jackson 1, Gomes 1, Urshela 1. E—Frazier 2 (2), Chapman (1), Ramirez (1), Gonzalez (1). LOB—New York 7, Cleveland 8. 2B—Castro (1), Gomes (1).

HR—Sanchez (1), off Kluber; Hicks (1), off Kluber; Bird (1), off Clevinger; Lindor (1), off Green; Bruce (2), off Robertson. RBIs—Sanchez 2 (2), Castro (1), Bird 2 (2), Hicks 3 (3), Lindor 4 (4), Kipnis (1), Santana 2 (2), Bruce (4), Gomes (1).

SB—Jackson (1). CS—Frazier (1). S—Gardner, Urshela. DP—New York 1 (Gregorius); Cleveland 1 (Lindor, Santana).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Sabathia ...................51⁄3 3 4 2 3 5 77 3.38 Green .........................1⁄3 2 3 3 0 0 23 81.00 Robertson, BS, 1-1 .....12⁄3 1 1 1 0 3 25 5.40 Kahnle........................2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 8 0.00 Chapman ....................2 2 0 0 1 2 27 0.00 Betances, L, 0-1...........2 1 1 1 1 2 35 3.00 Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Kluber.......................22⁄3 7 6 6 1 4 76 20.25 Olson..........................1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.00 Clevinger.....................2⁄3 1 2 2 2 2 28 27.00 Shaw........................22⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 22 0.00 Miller........................11⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 15 0.00 Smith .........................2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 6 0.00 Allen...........................2 1 0 0 2 1 36 0.00 Tomlin, W, 1-0 ..............2 0 0 0 0 3 18 0.00 HBP—Sabathia (Encarnacion), Green (Chisenhall).

T—5:08. Tickets sold—37,681 (35,051).

HOUSTON — Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and the high-powered Astros led the majors in runs, hits and batting average in the regular season.

Now that it’s playoff time, Houston is still hammering away.

Correa homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Altuve got two more hits and the Astros battered the Boston Red Sox 8-2 Friday to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL division series.

George Springer also homered to back Dallas Keuchel in Houston’s second straight romp by the exact same score.

“One through nine, everybody can do damage, everybody can go deep,” Correa said. “That’s the good thing about our lineup, there’s no holes in our lineup, and we feel very confident no matter if

Cleveland overcomes a five-run deficit and wins on walkoff run-scoring single.

associated press

Gregory Shamus Getty Images

teammates after hitting an RBI single to beat the Yankees.

Today at Wash., 2:30 p.m.

CHI: Lester (13-8, 4.33) WAS: Gonzalez (15-9, 2.96) Monday at Chicago, 1 p.m.

WAS: Scherzer (16-6, 2.51) CHI: Quintana (11-11, 4.15) Tuesday at Chicago, 2:30 p.m.

WAS: TBD CHI: Arrieta (14-10, 3.53) Thursday at Wash., 2:30 p.m.

CHICAGO: TBD WASHINGTON: TBD

TV: All games on TBS Games 4, 5 if necessary

Lester Chicago Zobrist rf-lf Edwards p Davis p Bryant 3b Rizzo 1b Contreras c Schwarber lf Martin cf-lf Russell ss Heyward cf-rf Baez 2b Hendricks p b-Jay lf Almora cf Totals Chicago Washington

Gonzalez AB 4 0 0 4 4 3 3 1 3 3 4 1 1 0 31

R 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3

H 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 5

BI 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Avg. .000 ----.250 .500 .000 .000 .000 .333 .000 .000 .000 1.00 ---

Washington AB R H BI Avg. Turner ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Harper rf 4 0 1 0 .250 Rendon 3b 3 0 0 0 .000 Murphy 2b 3 0 0 0 .000 Zmrmn 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Werth lf 3 0 0 0 .000 Wieters c 2 0 0 0 .000 Taylor cf 3 0 1 0 .333 Strasburg p 2 0 0 0 .000 a-Kendrick 1 0 0 0 .000 Madson p 0 0 0 0 --Kintzler p 0 0 0 0 --Totals 29 0 2 0 000 002 010 —3 000 000 000 —0

5 2

1 1

a-struck out for Strasburg in the 7th. b-doubled for Hendricks in the 8th.

Walks—Chicago 2: Contreras 1, Russell 1. Washington 3: Rendon 1, Murphy 1, Werth 1. Strikeouts—Chicago 13: Zobrist 1, Bryant 2, Rizzo 2, Contreras 1, Schwarber 2, Martin 1, Russell 1, Baez 2, Hendricks 1. Washington 9: Turner 2, Harper 1, Rendon 1, Murphy 1, Zimmerman 1, Werth 1, Wieters 1, Kendrick 1. E—Bryant (1), Rendon (1). LOB—Chicago 5, Washington 6. 2B—Rizzo (1), Jay (1).

RBIs—Bryant (1), Rizzo 2 (2). SB—Russell (1). S—Hendricks.

Runners left in scoring position—Chicago 2 (Baez, Martin); Washington 2 (Murphy, Strasburg). RISP—Chicago 3 for 9; Washington 0 for 2. Runners moved up—Bryant, Rendon.

GIDP—Baez, Zimmerman. DP—Chicago 1 (Russell, Baez, Rizzo); Washington 1 (Murphy, Zimmerman).

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Hendricks, W, 1-0 .........7 2 0 0 3 6 106 0.00 Edwards, H, 1 ..............1 0 0 0 0 2 11 0.00 Davis, S, 1-1................1 0 0 0 0 1 11 0.00 Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Strasburg, L, 0-1 ..........7 3 2 0 1 10 81 0.00 Madson.......................1 2 1 1 1 2 24 9.00 Kintzler........................1 0 0 0 0 1 16 0.00 HBP—Hendricks (Wieters), Kintzler (Heyward).

U—Cory Blaser, Ron Kulpa, Fieldin Culbreth, Laz Diaz, Jerry Lane, Will Little. T—3:02. Tickets sold—43,898 (41,418).

Ronald Martinez Getty Images

JOSE ALTUVE , right, celebrates with George Springer after

scoring a run against Boston on Friday. The Astros won 8-2. we went 0 for 4 the day before or if we went 4 for 4.”

The Astros will go for a sweep in the best-of-five matchup Sunday at Fenway Park, a year after Boston was swept in the ALDS by Cleveland. Brad Peacock (13-2) starts for Houston against Doug Fister (5-9).

“We couldn’t really script it any better,” Keuchel said.

A day after Altuve hit three home runs in the playoff opener, he got things going with a two-out single in the first inning off Drew Pomeranz. Correa, who went 0 for 4 on Thursday, made it 2-0 when he launched a towering shot onto the train tracks atop left field.

“For me if he’s not No. 1, he’s No. 2 in the league,” Altuve said of Correa. “One of the best players, I’m

really happy to have him on my team. Believe it or not I have learned from him.”

Keuchel pitched into the sixth, giving up one run and three hits while striking out seven to improve to 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in three career postseason starts.

After Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI single in the Boston second, the Astros started to break away.

Springer hit his first postseason homer when he sent the second pitch of the third inning into the front row of the seats in right field.

So is Red Sox manager John Farrell surprised that the series has been this lopsided so far?

“They’re very good, they’re deep, and they have got a number of ways to beat you,” he said. “So we fully respect and understood the opponent, and they’re playing like that.”

A double by Alex Bregman set up an RBI single by Altuve later in the third, making it 4-1 and ending Pomeranz’s first career postseason start.

“Any mistake that we’ve made these past two games, they’ve made us pay for them,” Pomeranz said. “It’s playoff baseball, and these guys have come out swinging.”

Indians rally past Yankees to go up 2-0 CLEVELAND 9 NEW YORK 8 (13 INN.)

YAN GOMES celebrates with

Friday at Washington CHICAGO.......................................3 WASHINGTON..............................0

Correa, Altuve again lead Astros HOUSTON 8 BOSTON 2

Monday at New York, 4 p.m.

CLE: Tomlin (10-9, 4.98) NY: Severino (14-6, 2.98)

NL DIVISION SERIES

CLEVELAND — Yan Gomes singled home Austin Jackson from second base with none out in the 13th inning as the Cleveland Indians rallied from five runs down to stun the New York Yankees 9-8 Friday and snatch a 2-0 lead in the AL division series.

Jackson drew a leadoff walk in the 13th from Dellin Betances and

stole second. Gomes went to a full count before pulling his bouncer just inside the third-base bag, easily scoring Jackson. The Indians poured out of their dugout to mob Gomes, who ended the 5-hour 8minute thriller.

“We just were supposed to win,” said Indians outfielder Jay Bruce, who hit a game-tying homer in the eighth. “No words, honestly. I’m speechless.”

The Indians posted their biggest comeback win in postseason history, overcoming an 8-3 deficit, a terrible start by ace Corey Kluber and a potentially serious injury to slugger Edwin Encarnacion.

Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the sixth to rally Cleveland, right after a close call on a hit by pitch that the Yankees didn’t chal-

lenge.

New York had its chances late, but the Yankees stranded the goahead run at third in the ninth and 10th — and had pinch-runner Ronald Torreyes picked off second in the 11th by Gomes from behind the plate.

Cleveland will try for a sweep in Game 3 on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Carlos Carrasco is set to start for the Indians against Masahiro Tanaka.

As they’ve done so many times in a season becoming more special by the day, the defending AL champions battled back and can now put the Yankees away in New York — just as they did in the 2007 ALDS. Josh Tomlin, who had been scheduled to start later in the se-

ries, pitched two perfect innings for the win.

Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer off Kluber and Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird hit two-run shots for the Yankees, who may have caught a bad break before Lindor’s homer.

New York’s Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 and is hitless in seven at-bats in the series with five strikeouts.

The Yankees lost consecutive games for the first time since they were swept at home in a threegame series by the Indians from Aug. 28-30. Now, they need to sweep three in a row from Cleveland.

Down 8-3, facing New York’s vaunted bullpen, the Indians came back.

New York starter CC Sabathia was lifted with one on and one out in the sixth for Chad Green.

CALENDAR

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S U N D A Y , O C T O B E R 8 , 2 0 1 7 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L E N D A R

Nightly show skewers far-right media Jordan Klepper takes on the post-facts era in ‘The Opposition’ on Comedy Central.

By Meredith Blake

Jennifer S. Altman For The Times

NEW YORK — Responding to mass shootings, terrorist attacks and other violent atrocities has become a grim rite of passage for late-night comedians in this fraught era. But for Jordan Klepper, the moment has arrived sooner than most. Just a week after the premiere of his nightly show, “The Opposition,” Americans are riveted to their screens following news of the carnage in Las Vegas.

“We all woke up shocked,” says Klepper, 38, in his office near Penn Station on Monday afternoon. “We’re constantly watching the news as the numbers keep changing.

It’s heartbreaking and it’s overwhelming.”

Klepper and his team have already formulated their approach: they will address the tragedy that night but wait to weigh in more significantly until later in the week when “we feel like there is something to be added to the conversation.”

Instead, they’ll offer viewers “some laughter on a dark day” with a lead story about Chance the Rapper’s bizarre feud with Rotten Tomatoes — a subject that’s apolitical [See ‘Opposition,’ E3]

IT’S DEFINITELY me being more vulnerable,” said the Killers’ Brandon Flowers of the song at the center of the band’s new album.

A ‘tender’ return

Las Vegas rockers the Killers are back on the scene of a very different world with a new album that reflects troubled times

By August Brown A lot of people shed tears after boxer Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson in 1990 (mostly, those who had bet on the much-favored Tyson).

But Brandon Flowers, lead singer of the Killers, cried for a different reason. It was the first time in his young life — he was born in 1981 — that the usual rules of the world seemed to fail, that things did not turn out like he expected them to.

“I think about that fight all the time,” Flowers said, mulling over the childhood shock of that match, which inspired the single “Tyson vs.

Douglas” on his band’s new album, “Wonderful Wonderful.” “My view of the world changed. I have three sons around that same age, and so many people have experiences like that, stuff that happened with your dads or sports heroes

where you didn’t see them as fallible before.”

The last year (and week) has, obviously, seen shocking events that few people were expecting.

Maybe that gives some extra relevance to the Killers’ first new album in five years, a tender yet dramatic look at growing older amid so much uncertainty.

“Wonderful Wonderful” was released just before the shooting that killed 58 people at a country music festival in the Killers’ hometown of Las Vegas. The band finished its record (and this interview with The Times) well before it.

But it’s hard to listen to perhaps the most popular band Las Vegas has ever produced without thinking of what happened this week.

Because, for the most part, “Wonderful” is an LP about reckoning with uncertainty and trying to find some ballast in family and in music.

“Some Kind of Love,” the album’s devotional

centerpiece, was written for Flowers’ wife, who suffers from PTSD. It’s an entirely new kind of song for the Killers. They’ve long tapped into a very American, archetypal strain of yearning and loss on singles like “When You Were Young,” but for the first time the band truly looked inward for a new angle on those emotions.

“It’s the most tender moment we’ve had,” Flowers said. “It’s definitely me being more vulnerable. But I didn’t feel naked or embarrassed.”

The LP hit the top of the Billboard 200 album charts in its release last week — clearly the fiveyear hiatus since the Killers’ last LP, “Battle Born,” didn’t quell fans’ interest. Other dancier singles hark closer to the band’s 2004 debut, “Hot Fuss,” with sounds drawing from 1970s downtown disco and early ’80s electro-rock.

[See The Killers, E5]

Vince Vaughn in beast mode Latest role is fierce, not funny. Character and audience face moral questions.

By Jen Yamato Three decades ago a teen Vince Vaughn launched his acting career by landing a wholesome Chevy commercial, a first taste of success that sent the Chicago kid to Los Angeles with his sights on Hollywood.

In this weekend’s unflinching prison picture “Brawl in Cell Block 99,” the actor, now 47, comes full cir-

cle in a way, channeling a disquieting combination of blue-collar rage and hurt into his fists — pummeling a parade of prison guards, fellow criminals, and one unsuspecting automobile — with a ferocity audiences have never seen before.

This new Vaughn — silent and intimidating, worldweary and smirk-less, a metric ton of power coursing through his imposing 6foot-5 frame — demonstrates his capabilities early on in one memorable, paradigm-shifting scene: Moments after being laid off and learning of his wife’s infidelity, he dismantles an in[See Vaughn, E2]

MUSIC REVIEW

Mozart muses on the spiritual

Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic explore ‘Magic Flute,’ Clarinet Concerto.

MARK SWED MUSIC CRITIC

Wise books have been written about Mozart’s last year, and two works of lyrical wonder from it — the 35year-old composer’s Clarinet Concerto and his opera “The Magic Flute” — have maintained a special hold on the popular imagination for more than two centuries. Yet it’s still impossible to make sense of 1791. Although Mozart wasn’t one to look back, the world has done little else when it comes to contending with an unintended late style.

Gustavo Dudamel chose to end the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s brief survey of Mozart’s 1791 this week in Walt Disney Concert Hall with that beloved concerto and opera. (The program runs through Sunday.) He also chose, wisely, to stop far [See Mozart, E4]

Insight into a director’s reach HBO’s look at Steven Spielberg’s life and work feels at once too long and yet oddly sparse, a testament to his huge influence. E2 BCB99, Inc.

BRADLEY THOMAS (Vince Vaughn) is driven to violence and prison by his own

internal code and blue-collar rage in S. Craig Zahler’s “Brawl in Cell Block 99.”

Comics ................... E6-7 TV grid ...................... E8

E2

L AT I M E S. C O M /CA L E N DA R TELEVISION REVIEW

QUICK TAKES

Cal Jam security increased Security is top of mind for organizers of Cal Jam 2017, which is likely to draw upward of 30,000 rock fans to Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino this weekend for a two-day blowout.

“Additional security measures have been established, both seen and unseen, including bag searches with size limits and metal detectors, along with enhanced security and law enforcement presence,” Cal Jam officials said Friday.

Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age headline the event.

— Gerrick Kennedy

Tribute song to help Puerto Rico Tony-winning “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has released a tribute song to benefit hurricaneravaged Puerto Rico. “Almost Like Praying” features Latin superstars who include Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Luis Fonsi and Rita Moreno.

“I was like every Puerto Rican with ties to the island ...,” Miranda told the Associated Press. “For me, that helplessness turned into, ‘OK, well, what can I write that will help?’ ” Proceeds go to the Hispanic Federation’s disaster relief fund.

— Libby Hill

Weinstein Co. exits Outfest Amid controversy surrounding Harvey Weinstein, the Weinstein Co. has pulled out of Outfest’s Legacy Awards, where it was set to be honored as a corporate trailblazer later this month.

“We do not want to overshadow the extraordinary achievements of the other honorees,” the company told Outfest exec director Christopher Racster on Friday.

— Tre’vell Anderson

Sam Smith has new album, tour “The Thrill of It All,” Sam Smith’s follow-up to his Grammy-winning debut album, will drop Nov. 3.

Smith also on Friday revealed North American tour dates that include Staples Center shows Aug. 28-29.

Tickets go on sale Thursday.

— Gerrick Kennedy

Zooming in on Spielberg career A documentary traces his work from teen to big-screen statesman, with colorful guests.

By Chris Barton No other American filmmaker has as mighty a track record of combining artistic ambition with popular success as Steven Spielberg. A multiple Oscar winner as well as, somewhat divisively, the co-inventor of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg and his films have left an enormous footprint on moviemaking and pop culture.

So why, given all the space his work and the discussion of it already occupies, does Spielberg now merit a new, two-and-a-half hour HBO documentary, premiering Saturday, that looks back at those films and his methods and is called, appropriately, “Spielberg”?

Because, to cross genres for a moment, the documentary-industrial complex surrounding the likes of the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and others has proved that nothing inspires a thorough, even celebratory, look back quite like massive success.

And in Spielberg, director Susan Lacy (creator of the musician-heavy PBS biography series “American Masters”), has a subject with such a far-reaching influence that you practically have to venture to the titans of classic rock for a comparison.

In a way, it’s that massive success that is one of the biggest challenges for “Spielberg.” How do you cast new light on Spielberg’s story when so much of it has already been thoroughly examined by both cinephiles and casual fans ?

It’s not a balance the film always gets right. But it’s a testimony to Spielberg’s career that a two-and-a-halfhour documentary on his life and work could both feel too long in some places and yet oddly inadequate in others.

While much of the first half of the film is structured around the creation of landmark films — “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and that weaponsgrade emotion-wringing machine, “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” — the early footage of Spielberg the teenage auteur is a fascinating look at how an obsession can become a life.

Drawn to the camera as a means of navigating a childhood in Phoenix marked by an absent father, schoolyard bullying and low self-esteem, Spielberg tells us, “When I was able to say ‘action’ and ‘cut,’ I wrested control of my life.”

The film then shows some of his shockingly sophisticated teenage 8mm

HBO

STEVEN SPIELBERG helps frame his younger days in Phoenix and Hollywood. There’s some mythmaking.

Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times

SUSAN LACY , who created “American Masters” for

PBS, directs the insightful “Spielberg” for HBO.

‘Spielberg’ Where: HBO When: 8 p.m. Saturday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) movies, one of which featured his friends climbing into WWII-era planes from a local airstrip cut with actual war footage (shot by, the ever-obsessive Spielberg reminds us, John Ford). “The production value was off the charts!” the 70-year-old Spielberg says, still giddy at the memory, and in that we see the energy and childlike enthusiasm his career was built upon.

Spielberg also indulges in some mythmaking of his own in remembering that his rise at Universal began with his sneaking off the tour tram (a detail that seems a bit “Catch Me If You Can”), and, studio chief and mentor

Sid Sheinberg, Richard Dreyfuss and James Brolin coyly talk of his keeping a secret office on the lot as a teenager. David Geffen brushes aside the idea but references “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and says, “When the legend is bigger than the facts, print the legend,” which offers a small hint at where the documentary is coming from.

Spielberg’s time as a young filmmaking phenom is recounted by his ’70s contemporaries who, backed by some amusing home movie footage, offer interesting glimpses of their impressions.

Future “Indiana Jones” collaborator George Lucas admits he found Spielberg “too Hollywood-y” before seeing his man-versus-truck debut feature “Duel,” and Francis Ford Coppola, in an ever-so-slightly backhanded compliment, describes Spielberg as “a creature of the studio” and “fortunate that the kind of movie

he really had a sense for was also the kind of movie that the audience had a sense for.”

The bulk of the documentary focuses on where that connection between Spielberg and the audience was strongest. He still sounds a little wounded by his greatest box-office failure, the oddball 1979 comedy “1941,” but it’s ushered to the wings quickly. Later films like “Hook,” “The Terminal,” “Warhorse” and “The BFG” are relegated to montage, and his TV work is brushed aside entirely.

That’s partly a necessity of time but also a shame because the moments where the documentary examines Spielberg’s blind spots are its most revealing. In discussing his Oscar-nominated 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” the director says he was “too timid” to handle the book’s sexual material, an admission that speaks to one of his long-held onscreen difficulties. Along with a few film writers on hand, Tom Stoppard also offers one of the film’s few notes of criticism with what he considered the “unnecessary softness” in 1987’s “Empire of the Sun.” And for all of Spielberg and Lucas’ enthusiasm in remembering the advances that made “Jurassic Park” possible in1993, only production designer Rick Carter recognizes the parallel between the film’s cautionary tale about unchecked technology and how the movie helped usher in an era when digital effects were the new stars of summer block-

busters.

With widescreen spectacle Spielberg’s stock-intrade, digital was a natural draw for the director, and the odd juxtaposition in “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List” being released the same year is not overlooked. Filmed on location in Kraków, Poland, with a harrowing intimacy, the film acts as testimony of Spielberg’s obsessive sense of detail, from using handheld cameras to Liam Neeson confessing that he, at times, felt like a puppet under his direction.

While the words “intuitive” and “natural” keep cropping up among Lacy’s subjects in their impressions of Spielberg, the documentary examines some of what fuels him in the impact of his parents’ divorce and subsequent reconnection (even “Lincoln,” Spielberg admits with a laugh, is a story of a family torn apart and coming back together).

“I’ve avoided therapy because movies are my therapy,” he says.

Does this explain how Spielberg knew to build tension from a floating barrel in “Jaws” or a ripple through a glass of water in “Jurassic Park”? Not really, but no documentary could.

But for fans who have followed him through an unparalleled career that saw an ever-growing mystique surround his biggest films, “Spielberg” offers some insight into a rare filmmaker who became a genre unto himself. chris.barton@latimes.com Twitter: @chrisbarton

What to make of the violence in ‘Brawl’?

[Vaughn, from E1] nocent car with his bare hands, beating it to pieces and ripping its metal frame apart, and with it, the wisecracking brand that’s come to define Vaughn’s career in comedies from “Swingers” to “Wedding Crashers.”

There’s a forceful poetry in the juxtaposition given that, until a few years ago, Vaughn seemedstuck in a rut of mainstream comedy fare of diminishing returns.

“When I first started, I did a lot of independent film,” Vaughn reflected last month in Austin, Texas, where “Brawl” premiered to raves at the genre-film-focused Fantastic Fest. “When Todd Phillips came to me with ‘Old School’ the studio said, ‘I don’t know if he can be funny.’ You kind of get on a run of doing those, falling into different types of PG-13, softer versions of the comedies ...”

“It drifted into that,” he added, clear-eyed and frank.

“Maybe I got a little comfortable doing things too much in the same direction.”

In the last few years he took pains to take roles outside his comic wheelhouse: the Army sergeant who begrudgingly comes to respect Andrew Garfield’s pacifist ways in Mel Gibson’s WWII war pic “Hacksaw Ridge,” an ambitious career criminal desperate to go legit in HBO’s “True Detective.”

In “Brawl,” Vaughn brings to life Bradley Thomas, a brutal antihero with

family on his mind and a tattoo of a cross on his head, whose unwavering moral code sends him hurtling into a life of crime, incarceration and through a Dante’s Inferno of ultraviolent R-rated exploitation movie trials. “ ‘Hacksaw’ was a great opportunity,” he said of pal Gibson’s Oscar-winning war film. “[‘Brawl’] was a tremendous opportunity.”

It’s the emotion behind his haunted eyes that brings a fundamentally different side of Vaughn to the fore in the second feature from novelist-filmmaker S. Craig Zahler, whose 2015 “Bone Tomahawk” memorably married the verbose strain of the western genre with some of the goriest horror shocks in years.

“I needed someone who was daunting, but also an interesting choice,” said Zahler, who wrote Bradley as a silent roadblock of a man out of place in the modern world. He’s in constant dialogue with his own impulses and listens to the struggle-soul sounds of musicians like the O’Jays (who recorded original songs written by Zahler for the film).

He stalks his world internally measuring the consequences of his actions — whether running illicit drugs to provide for his wife and unborn child, or opting to mercifully and methodically snap the arm of his enemy rather than kill him. Which he can, of course, do when necessary and does fre-

BCB99, Inc.

VINCE VAUGHN , left, and Marc Blucas find trouble in “Brawl in Cell Block 99.”

quently in “Brawl’s” deliberately composed, bonecrunching fight sequences.

“If I saw [Vaughn in character] on the street, I don’t even know if I’d think he’s a nice guy,” said Zahler, laughing.

Vaughn says Bradley — a Southerner out of place, an addict treading sobriety, a coiled beast acting out of necessity — is a product of American cross-culturalism; deliberately contradictory. As physically demanding as the “Brawl” shoot was, with Zahler’s long-take fight scenes requiring precision and endurance from the boxing and jujitsu-trained Vaughn, it’s the complex emotionality that

plays out with every punch and head stomp, that made the role particularly special.

“I still saw this as a character piece,” said Vaughn. “I think it’s interesting that you set him up that he doesn’t want to hurt people.

You make that clear. There’s no joy in it; he’s got to do this, which is what makes it so vicious. He’s very deliberate about what he’s going to do.”

Arriving in a post-election maelstrom of heightened tensions and violent clashes fueled by political divides and brazen racism, “Brawl” has come under fire from some viewers who read it as an uber-violent exploitation flick in which thinly drawn African Ameri-

can, Latino and Asian characters find themselves disproportionately on the receiving end of Vaughn’s bluecollar, economic anxietyfueled, righteously deadly justice.

Zahler found himself fielding similar criticism over “Bone Tomahawk,” in which white heroes fall prey to a band of grotesquely brutal native cannibals. The stomach-churning violence those villains wrought, he points out, is meant to be traumatic; the violence in “Brawl,” which places its audience in the shoes of Vaughn’s bruiser, is intended to be cathartic.

“I’ve read interpretations of ‘Bone Tomahawk’ that are

flat out not my intention,” said Zahler, “and there are interpretations that are 100% correct. I’m not really a political person; my father’s hardcore right wing and my mother’s hardcore left wing, and I’m happy to write both sides and characters who [represent] both sides. To me that makes a three-dimensional world. People can interpret it the way they want, and I encourage that.

It’s more important that you ask those questions than that I answer them.”

Vaughn is more elusive when it comes to the film’s politics. Curiosity over the subject has only been amplified by the actor’s own conservative political views, as well as the film he just finished shooting for Zahler, “Dragged Across Concrete,” in which he and Gibson star as cops who turn to crime after their brutal methods get them suspended from the force.

What he will say is that the moral deliberations in “Brawl” — and the consequences Bradley faces — are what he finds fascinating, comparing the character’s violence and descent to the Grimm fairy tales he tells his own children.

“It’s not right, it’s uncomfortable, and he knows that — and he’s responsible for it,” said Vaughn. “Therein lies the messiness that for me makes it so entertaining.” jen.yamato@latimes.com

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L AT I ME S . CO M / CA L EN DA R

Alt-media figures meet ‘The Opposition’ [‘Opposition,’ from E1] but “full of joy,” he says. (On Tuesday, though, Klepper offers a tongue-in-cheek guide “to avoid[ing] the gun debate in times of crisis.”)

Las Vegas would be a difficult subject for any comedy show to tackle but is especially tricky for a new program whose host performs in character as a factually challenged fear-monger styled after Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones. Just as “The Colbert Report” satirized the belligerent, hyperpartisan cable news environment of the BushObama years, “The Opposition” skewers far-right media outlets like InfoWars and Breitbart.

The nightly half-hour follows the same basic recipe of news segments, field pieces and interviews as “The Daily Show” and its offspring, but there are adjustments that reflect the zeitgeist when the very concepts of observable reality and nonpartisan truth seem to be in question.

Correspondents are known as “citizen journalists,” and the bunker-like set includes a projected conspiracy board and desk piled high with dog-eared papers.

Just as “The Colbert Report” introduced the idea of “truthiness,” Klepper — or “Klepper,” rather — laid out the show’s manifesto in the debut episode: “No human society has ever enjoyed such an abundance of facts, which is why in America in 2017, you get to pick which facts are right for you.”

While the format makes it hard for Klepper to be earnest, in other ways he’s well-suited to discuss gun violence. Raised in Kalamazoo, Mich., where six people were killed in a mass shooting last year, he fondly recalls shooting with his grandfather as a child.

“Guns mean something different in Michigan than they do in New York City,” he says.

He also spent months traveling the country, talking to lobbyists, militiamen and gun enthusiasts — including his duck-hunting

Brad Barket Getty Images

JORDAN KLEPPER takes on the guise of a factually challenged fear-monger in new show “The Opposition.”

‘The Opposition w /Jordan Klepper’ Where: Comedy Central When: 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday Rated: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14) cousin, Pete — for a special, “Jordan Klepper Solves Guns,” that aired this year.

The experience left him surprisingly hopeful.

“My big takeaway was just how much middle ground there is on the issue of guns. It’s mostly middle ground,” says Klepper, who, with a voluminous pompadour and a tall, lanky frame accentuated by a wardrobe of slim-cut suits and skinny ties, is physically reminiscent of a young Co-

nan O’Brien. There are traces of the Midwest in his voice, especially when he mentions Chicago. He pursued comedy there after college, performing at Second City and in the improv show “Whirled News Tonight,” which stoked his interest in political satire.

Eventually relocating to New York, Klepper joined “The Daily Show” as a correspondent in 2014, not long before Jon Stewart announced his retirement.

Klepper struck up an easy rapport with Stewart’s successor, Trevor Noah, who is an executive producer on “The Opposition.”

In an email, Noah praised Klepper’s “ability to make any situation funnier. I hope Jordan is at my funeral to keep people laughing.”

Particularly once the 2016 presidential campaign got underway, Klepper earned notice for his field pieces, often filmed at Trump campaign events, where the candidate’s popularity was un-

deniable. In a memorable segment, Klepper interviewed Trump supporters who suspected that Bill Clinton had contracted AIDS from NBA legend Magic Johnson and wondered why Obama wasn’t in the Oval Office on 9/11.

“What I quickly noticed was people weren’t necessarily talking about Fox or CNN; they were talking about these other alt-media sources,” Klepper recalls.

“There’s this world of news, this perspective that I’m not very tapped into, but half the electorate is, and it’s controlling our dialogue right now and eventually our policies.”

When Comedy Central began looking for the right talent to take over the 11:30 time slot, Klepper was the inevitable choice, says network President Kent Alterman. “His approach was so responsive to how much the world has changed. He’s actually going into the new ways that people are engaging with political discourse

and the new ways people are getting their news and information — or misinformation, as it may be.”

While Noah has successfully steered “The Daily Show” in the post-Stewart era, finding a worthy successor to the “The Colbert Report,” which bowed out in late 2014, has been trickier.

The ratings-challenged “Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore” was canceled last year and replaced by “@midnight,” a comic game show whose nonpolitical bent (and title) didn’t really work following “The Daily Show” at 11:30.

Early reviews of “The Opposition” have been positive, and viewership in the time slot is up by 43% over last year. But “The Opposition” joins an already crowded field of satirical shows featuring graduates of the University of Jon Stewart, including “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” and “The Late Show

With Stephen Colbert.”

“It is definitely a golden era for these types of latenight programs,” says executive producer Stuart Miller, one of many “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” veterans now working at “The Opposition.” “What we bring to the table is obviously Jordan, being in character and being able to use satire in a unique way.”

Given the political climate, where news stories are increasingly shared with the caveat “not an ‘Onion’ headline,” there is a risk that real life is beyond satire and that figures like Alex Jones — who has dismissed Klepper’s fans as “mentally retarded” — are too absurd or too loathsome to lampoon.

Klepper and his team are “constantly calibrating” in order to hit their satirical mark, he says. “Even though we can go to crazytown, we have to keep our foot grounded in reality.” The goal is to “find the nugget of truth and the nugget of empathy,” no matter how outlandish the subject.

It also helps that, like Colbert, Klepper has an innate likability that softens the edges of his bloviating persona. Despite the pressure, during Monday’s taping, Klepper seems at ease in the role of host, responding nimbly to a few audience questions before the cameras roll. (Q: “If you could ask Donald Trump one thing, what would it be?” A: “How much longer?”).

In the episode’s cold open, Klepper, out of character, soberly acknowledges the events in Las Vegas and sounds a note of unity.

“Remember that the goal we have in common is bigger than the differences that separate us,” he says. During a commercial break, as Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” blares over the studio sound system, Klepper briefly points upward — quietly acknowledging another sad event in a 24-hour news cycle full of them. meredith.blake @latimes.com

THEATER REVIEW

No room for secrets here

‘Curve of Departure’ at SCR reveals the ‘weird things’ a death can bring about.

REAL JOURNALISM REAL IMPACT

By Margaret Gray After Rachel Bonds’ “Five Mile Lake” had its world premiere in 2014 at South Coast Repertory, news that SCR would be producing Bonds’ new “Curve of Departure” this fall was thrilling.

The last time I remember feeling this excited about an opening was in my 1970s childhood, during the buildup to one of the “Star Wars” movies. Bonds’ plays lack spaceships, larger-than-life characters and cosmic battles. Some might go so far as to say they lack drama. Like “Five Mile Lake,” “Curve of Departure” focuses on ordinary people trying their best to behave well in unglamorous circumstances.

They’re not fighting evil; they’re having tough days, negotiating delicate, unseen emotions in small rooms.

Their tragedies and life-anddeath decisions are folded into the creases of thoroughly mundane activities.

A high proportion of exposition to action lives in these works, which are still evolving, and which occasionally falter. Still, by the end of “Curve of Departure,” just as with “Five Mile Lake,” I felt as though I had taken a journey with people I knew well.

“Curve of Departure” is set in an airport hotel room in Santa Fe, N.M., brought to life on a set by Lauren Helpern. It’s a little cramped for the four people obliged by circumstances to spend the night there: 80-year-old Rudy; his 50-ish daughterin-law, Linda; Linda’s twentysomething son, Felix; and Felix’s boyfriend, Jackson. This group would never ordinarily share a bedroom, but as Linda tells her son, “Sometimes when people die, you do some weird things.”

They’ve come for the funeral of Cyrus — Rudy’s son, Linda’s husband and Felix’s father. Cyrus abandoned all three of them years ago, and

latimes.com 16BR1801

“EXTRAORDINARY.” -Pete Hammond, DEADLINE

LIAM NEESON

DIANE LANE

MARK FELT THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE

Debora Robinson

BASED ON THE BOOKS BY

KIM STAUNTON , from left, Christian Barillas, Larry Powell and Allan Miller

make up the “strange ragtag little group” in “Curve of Departure” at SCR.

‘Curve of Departure’ Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa When: 7:45 p.m. TuesdaysFridays, 2 and 7:45 p.m.

Saturdays-Sundays; ends Oct. 15 Tickets: $31-$83 Info: (714) 708-5555, www.scr.org Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

his sudden death has left them off-balance, struggling to swallow their resentment and brace themselves for a sure-to-be-awkward ordeal with the family he preferred to them.

Upon seeing Rudy and Linda in the room together, he watching TV in his pajamas while she irons his suit, we may find it easy to assume at first that they are a couple.

Even after it’s clear that Rudy was Linda’s father-inlaw, you can imagine the two of them forming a romantic bond at some point after Rudy’s wife died and Linda split with his son. Their conversation conveys a hus-

band-and-wifely rapport: mutually familiar, teasing, affectionate and exasperated. I concluded that they’re meant to have a platonic, filial relationship, if in some ways more intimate than marriage.

Rudy, who initially comes across as sharp and feisty, turns out to have health problems — memory loss, incontinence — and Linda cares for him more devotedly than a live-in nurse.

Together Linda and Rudy wait for Felix to arrive from California with his new boyfriend. In a more traditional social-issue drama, Felix’s sexuality might be a point of contention. Or maybe the different ethnic backgrounds of this “strange ragtag little group of humans wandering the Earth together,” as Rudy poetically describes them, would provoke conflict: Rudy is Jewish, Linda is African American, Felix is a mixture of the two, and Jackson is Latino.

Here, though, these identities are woven so intricately into the family quilt that they barely rate a mention.

Yet even people who unhesitatingly accept one another, Bonds suggests here, do worry, disagree and keep secrets out of love — and these realistic conflicts can

clutter up a room quickly (as does, from time to time, the heavy-handed melodrama).

Although I found director Mike Donahue’s pace a little sluggish at moments, I was impressed by how fully he has encouraged his cast members to inhabit their roles.

Kim Staunton brings the richly drawn Linda to brave, vulnerable life, while Allan Miller invests Rudy with a poignant, endearing whimsy. Larry Powell, who was such a delight last spring in the Geffen Playhouse’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” here struggles a bit to fit his powerful stage presence into the slightly underwritten Felix. Christian Barillas, hilarious as Ronaldo on “Modern Family,” seems similarly hampered by the earnest, expository Jackson. Still, the four actors work together well, discovering the subtle humor in Bonds’ writing.

Bonds’ characters find solace in nature, an unseen Southwest terrain memorably conjured by Scott Zielinski’s gorgeous lights. “Curve of Departure” is a play that sneaks up on you instead of bashing you on the head, and I’m still thinking about it. calendar@latimes.com

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Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times

MARTIN FRÖST , right, performs Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the L.A. Philharmonic on Thursday.

Mozart’s last year bestows a lot of magic, spirituality [Mozart, from E1] short of making sense of that final year.

The Clarinet Concerto and “Magic Flute” are often linked as having been cast in similar sweetly idealistic molds, revealing as they do Mozart’s love of life. The composer certainly loved the clarinet and was the first to turn it into the supreme extension of the larynx. No disarming machine — sorry, Siri — has ever sounded so ideally human as Mozart’s clarinet. Even “Flute” is suffused with a clarinet aura lent to the orchestral winds in many of its magical passages, passages that help an opera of sheer idealism, however disguised in childlike fantasy, to prescribe a process for society to rise above pettiness.

Curiously enough, the two halves of the program somewhat turned things around. The harlequinesque Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst, as is his wont (and a wont that has made him very popular), played and boogied his way through Mozart’s concerto.

The dancing is both physical and musical. He bops to the left and he bops to the right, back and forth, as he plays and even when he’s not playing.

At the same time, Fröst’s tongue bops with a liquidity the equal of which I’ve never encountered. The sheer mutability of his tonguing creates a seductive flow that is indeed the ideal of song. He finds the last drop of beauty in Mozart’s concerto. The audience eats it up.

But you have to put up with a lot mannerism. Even

though Fröst played a basset clarinet, the elongated early version of the instrument for which Mozart wrote his concerto, Fröst’s style has an unsettling postMozart quality to it. He may be the epitome of the modern performer, stylish in dress and manner and showman through and through, but the dreamy character of his playing is like looking at Mozart through a misty preRaphaelite lens.

While keeping the orchestra more focused, Dudamel mostly deferred to Fröst, but the conductor then took charge of a dynamic 70 minutes’ worth of “Flute,” with a spectacular young cast who placed graphic drama over childlike fantasy. There was none of the dialogue, just musical numbers. A handful of major arias and ensemble numbers were eliminated and a couple of minor ones included. There was no attempt to tell the story of the “Flute.”

Instead, Dudamel emphasized a raw dramatic intensity that too often gets buried under cartoon cuteness or Masonic exoticism.

He followed the lead of Peter Sellars and Peter Brook — Sellars’ Glyndebourne production that eliminated the dialogue and updated the libretto to the drug underworld of the modern-day Sunset Strip, and Brook’s mysterious, multicultural ritual reductive version.

Maybe it was no coincidence then that soprano Julia Bullock, the stunning Pamina, got her professional start in Brooks’ “Flute” and is a mainstay in Sellars’ recent work. (She’s starring in

sembling, sang (as translated on the projected titles) “If all liars had such a lock to their lips,” there were politically tinged titters in the audience. But mainly this performance was a kind of pure distillation of the deep human emotions that usually lie buried at the heart of “Flute.” Bullock projected a magnificent aura of implacable spiritual grace in the face of danger. Appleby provided the fervor. Only Jessica Pratt’s Queen of the Night seemed studied. Jack Fagan, Brandon Takahashi and Enzo Grappone, the three boy sopranos, all won hearts.

Dudamel, for the most part, exchanged playfulness for passion. The orchestral playing was detailed, carefully colored and stirring.

The high priest Sarastro and most of the Masonic business was left out. The fire and water trials of Pamina and Tamino were treated not as magical rites but trials of a deepening relationship. Dudamel ended with the duet between Papageno and Papagena (the lively Vanessa Becerra) as an apotheosis.

This all proved so illuminating you almost didn’t want a complete “Flute,” although Dudamel was clearly born to conduct one sooner or later. At the same time the approach proved satisfyingly unilluminating in its willingness to leave the meaning of Mozart’s final year the eternal unanswered question it must, like all worthwhile spiritual pursuits, remain.

‘Mozart 1791: Music From “The Magic Flute” ’ Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. When: 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $20-$210 Info: (213) 850-2000, www.laphil.com the premiere of the Sellars’ production of John Adams’ “Girls of the Golden West” at San Francisco Opera next month.) Indeed the L.A. Phil purloined much of the cast of “Golden West,” including tenor Paul Appleby as Tamino and baritone Elliot Madore (as well as J’Nai Bridges, who last week joined Appleby in the first 1791 program).

That collegiality of the three “Flute” leads may also explain why what had been planned as a concert performance became theatrical. There was no director; the performers themselves took charge of an effective and unfussy semi-staging in which they used a platform behind the stage as well as the area in front of the orchestra.

There was humor in Madore’s otherwise unusually virile and emotional Papageno. And when the three women (Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez, Emily D’Angelo and Sara Couden, all enticing), after padlocking Papageno’s mouth for his dis-

mark.swed@latimes.com

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FRIEND REQUEST (SPANISH SUBTITLES) E 7:50, 10:15 KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (SPANISH SUBTITLES) E (12:00), 6:30 THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE B (12:25, 3:00), 5:35 THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE (SPANISH SUBTITLES) B (11:30, 2:00), 4:35, 7:10, 9:50 AMERICAN ASSASSIN E (3:35), 9:25 AMERICAN ASSASSIN (SPANISH SUBTITLES) E (12:50), 6:45 IT E (1:30), 4:40, 8:20 IT (SPANISH SUBTITLES) E (12:40, 3:45), 7:00, 10:05 HAZLO COMO HOMBRE E (12:10), 5:10 THE EMOJI MOVIE B (12:05), 4:45, 9:25 THE EMOJI MOVIE (SPANISH SUBTITLES) B (2:25), 7:05

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E5

L AT I ME S . CO M / CA L EN DA R POP MUSIC REVIEW

A dance party for a world gone mad

Gorillaz may be a cartoon band, but it takes reality head on during a Forum show.

MIKAEL WOOD POP MUSIC CRITIC

Damon Albarn was plenty worried about the future of the planet when he made “Humanz,” the fifth album by his band Gorillaz, which he’s described as a “dark fantasy” imagining the impossible election of Donald Trump.

But that was last year, before Trump actually won.

And before hurricanes demolished Houston and Puerto Rico. And before a madman pointed a gun through a hotel window in Las Vegas and massacred 58 music lovers trying to enjoy a concert.

“Every week the world just gets slightly crazier,” Albarn said Thursday night at the Forum, and he sounded genuinely crushed, if also somehow unsurprised, by the developments of the last few months.

Apart from that observation, though, the singer seemed determined to persist — to live it up, in fact — as he led Gorillaz through a sweaty, exuberant two-hour performance full of guest appearances and singalong tunes.

The message was dire, but the vibe was celebratory: a dance party despite (or perhaps because of) the dire state of the world.

That blend of emotions has always defined the music of Gorillaz, which began in the late 1990s when Albarn, best known for leading the Britpop band Blur, teamed with visual artist Jamie Hewlett to create a socalled virtual group fronted by animated characters.

The goofy concept (and the catchy tunes) helped make radio hits of songs with deeply gloomy sentiments, like “Clint Eastwood” and the archly titled “Feel Good Inc.”; the focus on Hewlett’s cartoons gave Albarn a break from the personal scrutiny demanded by pop stardom.

Yet these days the singer

Photographs by

Timothy Norris Getty Images

GORILLAZ played songs faster than on record (hey, life has gotten crazier) during an exuberant two-hour set full of guest performances.

D.R.A.M. , left, and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn perform “Andromeda.”

seems less concerned with all that. At the Forum, where Gorillaz stopped as part of a lengthy world tour, slickly produced videos played on a giant screen at the back of

the stage; sometimes those characters even mouthed Albarn’s lyrics.

But the real show was watching the frontman and his crew of musicians (in-

cluding six backup vocalists) bear down on the music, which hit harder and moved faster than on the band’s records.

“We Got the Power,”

about the will to “be loving each other no matter what happens,” was punky and propulsive, while “Kids With Guns” had Albarn attacking an electric guitar as though he were meting out a punishment.

For “Ascension,” the Long Beach rapper Vince Staples popped out to deliver his vivid lines about how sinister forces are “trying to dinosaur us.” Peven Everett, a soul singer from Chicago, channeled the great Charlie Wilson as he joined the group for an ecstatic rendition of the rubbery “Strobelite.”

And then there was D.R.A.M., the ebullient Virginia rapper, who brought a merry sensuality to “Andromeda.”

Additional cameos from De La Soul (in “Superfast Jellyfish” and “Feel Good Inc.”), Pusha T (“Let Me Out”) and Del the Funky Homosapien (“Clint Eastwood”) kept your eyes on the stage rather than the screen; Jehnny Beth, of the fierce

London rock band Savages, was especially commanding in “We Got the Power” as she pumped her fists in the air, her dark hair slicked back like a young Freddie Mercury.

Not everything jumped so intensely. Near the end of the show, the band played a new song, a kind of country shuffle, that Albarn said he’d just written during a brief vacation in Idaho.

And the concert finished with the reggae-inflected title track from Gorillaz’s 2005 album, “Demon Days,” which had the enveloping feel of church music thanks to the mini-choir of backing singers.

But even here — in a decade-old song conceived at a time when “you can’t even trust the air you breathe” — Albarn projected a willingness to meet the moment.

Yes, things are bad, he seemed to be saying. But they can only get worse. mikael.wood@latimes.com Twitter: @mikaelwood

New album is the Killers’ most varied yet [The Killers, from E1] Lead single “The Man” is also a one-of-a kind addition to their catalog, the most blatantly upbeat thing they’ve ever recorded, but also drenched in self-awareness about their quick rise to stardom more than a decade ago.

Of course, the Killers are returning to a very different world than the one they left.

During the five years they’ve been gone from the scene, streaming services throttled the last of full-album sales (“Wonderful” hit No. 1 in large part due to bundling with tour tickets), and hiphop and pop fully tightened their grips on the charts for young fans.

Still, the band has always effectively used electronics to drive its songs, and if any rock band can cope with our current era of genre and commercial confusion, the Killers stand as good a chance as any.

“We’re really fortunate to have such a strong fan base,” drummer Ronnie Vannucci said. “But that’s one of the reasons we worked with Jacknife Lee [the album’s producer, who recently worked with Taylor Swift and U2]. We knew it was 2017 and couldn’t keep doing the same thing.”

The album is, indeed, the

Killers’ most varied yet and captures a seasoned band trying to grow into its middle career as the music business (and life in general) seems to be collapsing and reconfiguring in ways no one fully understands yet.

But like the LP’s closer, “Have All the Songs Been Written?,” other tracks try to wrestle with the very idea of music and lineage — seeking to answer the question: What is the point of being a rock band in 2017? Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler played guitar on the song, and for a band with a rapacious knowledge of rock history and unabashed ambitions to join it, the record asks how music can still be a place of healing and refuge.

In the wake of the Las Vegas tragedy — and the death of Tom Petty, one of the Killers’ formative influences and models for evolving over decades in rock — music may be one last reliable place to turn to for a sense of purpose. Even as changes come quickly, and shock after shock keeps happening in America.

“I’m unsure where we fit in, and I’m fine with that,” Vannucci said. “I never see where we should belong.” august.brown @latimes.com

Gary Coronado Los Angeles Times

AFTER a five-year hiatus, the Las Vegas band the Killers return with the new album “Wonderful Wonderful.”

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E6

L AT I M E S. C O M /CA L E N DA R

COMICS

BRIDGE

SUDOKU

By Frank Stewart The “Simple Saturday” column focuses on basic technique and strategy.

You’re declarer at today’s 3NT. You have 26 points in your hand and dummy, so you should have a chance.

West leads the queen of hearts.

You can force out the defenders’ A-K of diamonds and you will have three diamond tricks, four spades and two hearts. But they have nine hearts, so one defender has at least five. They will get in twice to set up and cash their hearts, and you will lose two diamonds and three hearts.

Try the clubs, where you must lose the lead only once.

With this holding, to lead twice toward the hand with

KENKEN Every box will contain a number; numbers depend on the size of the grid. For a 6x6 puzzle, use Nos. 1-6. Do not repeat a number in any row or column. The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares must combine to produce the target number found in the top left corner of the cage using the mathematical operation indicated. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.

10/7/17

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis Aries (March 21-April 19): The thing that’s working will continue to work for a time, and when it doesn’t anymore, you’ll move on.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Seek an instructor who not only knows the material but also is gifted at teaching.

Gemini (May 21-June 21): Your work has an integrity that is independent of anything anyone else thinks or says. So soldier on toward completion.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): The silent person in the corner may very well be the one who comes off as the most eloquent.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): It’s rare that you can find a person with a strong enough sense of self and a good enough sense of humor not to take your pure outspokenness personally.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You’ll make a difference with

people who really want to interact with you, even if that difference is seemingly ordinary.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): The fact that people are fighting over an idea doesn’t necessarily mean it’s great either.

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): Trusting a person allows you to relax and be yourself. But you also like the edge you get when you’re not sure of the relationship.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22Dec. 21): You will enjoy activities that connect you to your beliefs and strengthen your faith, in whatever form that might take.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): No one really enjoys interacting with a loved one who is tired, distracted and preoccupied, yet these are common moods that prevail in most households. Yours will be different only because you make sure it’s so.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t do nothing about

something, and don’t do something about nothing.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Those who see unfulfilled desire as an affirmation of powerlessness will experience that. Those who see unfulfilled desire as an opportunity will grow.

Today’s birthday (Oct. 7): This solar return finds you in a sweet position to leverage your talents and work your advantages, although it may take you several weeks to figure out exactly what they are. Expert advice will help you get what you’re missing. December and May are the luckiest financially.

You’ll close a deal in January.

Aquarius and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 4, 16, 3, 28 and 11.

Holiday Mathis writes her column for Creators Syndicate Inc. The horoscope should be read for entertainment. Previous forecasts are at latimes.com/horoscope.

two honors is best. Go to the ace of spades and return a club. East plays low, and your jack wins. Lead to the jack of spades to return a second club.

This time East must play the ace. You win the heart return and take the queen of clubs, two more spades and the king of clubs, making three. You would also succeed if clubs broke 3-3.

Question: You hold: ♠ 8 6 3 ♥ 9 8 7 5 2 ♦ K 7 6 ♣ A 9. The dealer, at your left, opens one spade. Your partner doubles, and the next player bids two spades. Now what?

Answer: Partner has opening values or more with help for the unbid suits. You must act, especially since you may have a game. Bid three hearts. You would do the same to compete even if your hand were a bit weaker.

Don’t worry about your ragged suit; in essence, you are supporting a suit that partner implied.

South dealer N-S vulnerable NORTH ♠AQJ ♥63 ♦J9842 ♣Q73 WEST EAST ♠752 ♠863 ♥ Q J 10 4 ♥98752 ♦A5 ♦K76 ♣ 10 8 6 5 ♣A9 SOUTH ♠ K 10 9 4 ♥AK ♦ Q 10 3 ♣KJ42 SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass Opening lead — ♥ Q Tribune Media Services

ASK AMY

When the hurt continues Dear Amy: How do you have a meaningful relationship with a family member or friend when that person hurt you, continues to hurt you, doesn’t think he/she has done anything wrong, and refuses to apologize?

Do you simply forgive without an apology, and if so, how do you open your heart again to that person?

It makes me sad to think of ending a long relationship, but the wrongs done impact me greatly and are so immoral that I can’t imagine being able to have any meaningful relationship with them, especially since the same wrongs continue.

The person’s actions are mean-spirited and disrespectful to me. They offer very selfish justifications.

I can’t even be in the same room with them now because it repulses me. We talked things over, and that made everything worse.

I don’t know how to forgive everything without an apology and still be able to have a meaningful relationship with them.

The hurt is too deep, and time isn’t healing any of it.

I would appreciate some general guidance.

Wounded Dear Wounded: You ask how to have a meaningful re-

lationship with a person who has hurt — and continues to hurt — you.

You don’t. A consequence of someone willfully hurting you is that your meaningful relationship is going to take a hit.

It is natural to avoid someone who hurts and repulses you. In some contexts, avoidance is also the smartest thing to do.

One path to healing is to work on loving yourself more. The stronger you are, and the better you feel about yourself, the easier it will be to release the pain this person has caused you.

You should table forgiveness for now, and work on acceptance — of the other person’s flawed humanity, and the fact that you cannot change them. Once you truly accept this, you will be able to release your own anger.

Forgiveness should follow.

Dear Amy: I’m in my 40s, and my guy and I decided to get married.

We invited more than 100 family and friends (including spouses and children).

About 25 of our invitees responded either that they couldn’t come, or they didn’t respond at all. Only two of these people sent a gift (a check).

I am shocked. I have been

to so many graduations, birthdays and weddings over the years and always thought that if I received an invitation, that meant I should send or bring a gift.

Did I miss the memo where people are just deciding not to send wedding gifts?

A similar thing happened with my bridal shower. A portion either didn’t RSVP, or they said they couldn’t come, and still didn’t send a gift or a card.

Disappointed Dear Disappointed: Being invited to a wedding does not obligate someone to send a gift. If it’s a close friend or family member, you would want to, but receiving an invitation does not establish this obligation.

Receiving an invitation DOES obligate someone to respond and extend their congratulations, however.

You say that 25 people out of more than 100 either didn’t respond, or said they couldn’t attend. That means that 75 did respond/attend.

That’s actually a very good response/attendance rate.

This is something to celebrate.

Send questions for Amy Dickinson to askamy@ amydickinson.com.

FAMILY CIRCUS By Bil Keane

DENNIS THE MENACE By Hank Ketcham

ARGYLE SWEATER By Scott Hilburn

MARMADUKE By Brad & Paul Anderson

BLISS By Harry Bliss

BALLARD STREET By Jerry Van Amerongen

CROSSWORD Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

By Alex Bajcz

ACROSS 1 Chimpanzee relative 7 “Teen Wolf ” airer 10 One on a sting operation?

14 You’ll need a lift to use one 15 “Madam Secretary” star 17 Have grand ambitions 18 Deal maker 19 Pronoun for Catherine de’ Medici 21 Mariner’s home 22 Classic 26 Peels off, perhaps 27 Revolutionary icon 28 Mideast capital once called Philadelphia 29 Prima __ 31 They might be set in windows: Abbr.

34 Included in the game 36 Canal treatment fluid 38 Not irreg.

39 Made waves, in a way 41 House Lannister member on “Game of Thrones” 42 Basses’ sect.

43 First period of the Mesozoic Era 45 Pass for now 48 Script used by ancient Minoans 49 Oft-layered item 50 Share of ownership 52 Renew one’s strength 56 Trial area 57 Automaker Bugatti 58 Freezer brand 59 Stereotypical corny joke teller 60 Tin ear, to a pathologist DOWN 1 Jamboree-on-the-Air org.

2 Accepts 3 Something in the air 4 With a hotel, avenue whose rent is $550 5 Break down 6 Request for a small delay

© 2017 Tribune Content Agency

7 Some are named for 42 ’50s-’60s country singer McDonald presidents: Abbr.

44 How land is measured 8 Flirt 45 Like rakes 9 Spanish autonomous community or its capital 46 Pacing, maybe 47 Many a reggae artist 10 Little white breed, 48 Beer case word affectionately 51 Mosby on “How I Met 11 Vital circulation aid Your Mother” 12 Fisherman’s knot 53 Homework amount?

13 Lead Clue weapon 54 Ocean State sch.

16 Stereotypical doo-wop 55 Princess’ bane garb ANSWER TO 20 Put on one’s wish list PREVIOUS PUZZLE 22 Outdoor lecture sites 23 Like some unreasonable requests 24 “Your noble son __”: Polonius 25 Issuer of three-part nos.

30 Comedian __ the Entertainer 31 Surface 32 Lewis Black, e.g.

33 Barely a blip 35 “American Pie” actress 37 Makes a break for 40 Zeta-theta go-between 10/7/17

E7

L AT I ME S . CO M / CA L EN DA R

COMICS DOONESBURY By Garry Trudeau

Doonesbury is on vacation. This is a reprint.

DILBERT By Scott Adams

LA CUCARACHA By Lalo Alcaraz

BABY BLUES By Jerry Scott & Rick Kirkman

CANDORVILLE By Darrin Bell

CRANKSHAFT By Tom Batiuk & Chuck Ayers

HALF FULL By Maria Scrivan

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE By Stephan Pastis

NON SEQUITUR By Wiley

LIO By Mark Tatulli

JUMP START By Robb Armstrong

9 CHICKWEED LANE By Brooke McEldowney

BLONDIE By Dean Young & John Marshall

GET FUZZY By Darby Conley

ZITS By Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

BIZARRO By Dan Piraro

TUNDRA By Chad Carpenter

DRABBLE By Kevin Fagan

PRICKLY CITY By Scott Stantis

MUTTS By Patrick McDonnell

FRAZZ By Jef Mallett

PEANUTS By Charles M. Schulz

E8

L AT I M E S. C O M /CA L E N DA R

T V HI G HL IG HT S

Saturday Prime-Time TV Winkler (“Gunfight”).

Panel: Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic; David Leonhardt, the New York Times; Susan Page, USA Today; Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review. (N) 8 a.m. KCBS

SERIES This Old House The home renovation franchise returns for a new season with an appearance by Mike Rowe, who discusses the need for skilled tradespeople, 10:30 a.m.

KLCS and 3 p.m. KVCR; sister series “Ask This Old House” begins a new season at noon on KLCS and 3:30 p.m. KVCR. The new series “This Old House: Trade School” features Norm Abram, Tom Silva, Richard Trethewey, Roger Cook and Kevin O’Connor taking on a variety of projects from start to finish. 12:30 p.m. KTLA Saturday Night Live Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman”) is the guest host with musical guest Sam Smith.

8:29 p.m. and 11:20 NBC Halt and Catch Fire In this new episode Cameron (Mackenzie Davis) lends a hand when Donna (Kerry Bishe) needs help packing up. 9 and 10:15 p.m. AMC The Graham Norton Show Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling (“Blade Runner 2049”) are joined by Margot Robbie and Reese Witherspoon in this new episode.

Bananarama performs. 10 p.m. BBC America Austin City Limits Ed Sheeran performs. 11:04 p.m. KOCE SPECIALS Spielberg In this new feature-length documentary, filmmaker Susan Lacy examines the filmography of Oscar-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg. 8 p.m. HBO MOVIES All of My Heart: Inn Love A follow-up to 2015’s “All of My Heart” (which airs immediately before, at 7 p.m.), this 2017 sequel finds Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott returning as a couple who are now engaged and getting ready to open their bedand-breakfast. 9 p.m.

Hallmark Happy Feet (2006) 8 a.m.

WGN A Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) 4 p.m. VH1 Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) 6:15 p.m. TNT

Rosalind O’Connor NBC

GAL GADOT (“Wonder

Woman”) hosts NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

WEEKEND TALK SATURDAY

Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC SUNDAY Good Morning America (N) 6 a.m. KABC State of the Union The mass shooting in Las Vegas: Sen. Chris Murphy (DConn.). The mass shooting in Las Vegas; Puerto Rico: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.). Panel: Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.); former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) Mary Katharine Ham; Karine Jean-Pierre. (N) 6 and 9 a.m. CNN CBS News Sunday Morning Ivana Trump; Pink; the life and career of Tom Petty; Andrew Garfield.

(N) 6:30 a.m. KCBS Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace Security issues following the mass shooting in Las Vegas: Steve Wynn. Erich Pratt, Gun Owners of America.

Author Leland Melvin (“Chasing Space”). Panel: Gillian Turner; Julie Pace; Tom Rogan; Juan Williams. (N) 7 a.m.

KTTV;11a.m., 7 p.m. and11 p.m. FNC Fareed Zakaria GPS The mass shooting in Las Vegas; gun control: David Frum; Thomas Friedman; Leah Libresco, Five Thirty Eight. Understanding the second Amendment: Akhil Amar.

Australian gun laws: Tim Fischer. (N) 7 and 10 a.m.

CNN Face the Nation Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

Wayne Lapierre, NRA; Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole; Fran Townsend. Author Adam

Meet the Press Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (DCalif.). Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). Panel: Kristen Welker; Carol Lee; Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post; Hugh Hewitt.

(N) 8 a.m. KNBC; 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. MSNBC This Week With George Stephanopoulos The mass shooting in Las Vegas; gun control: Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.); Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.).

Panel: Matthew Dowd; Geoff Bennett, NPR; Jeanne Cummings, the Wall Street Journal; Susan Glasser, Politico. (N) 8 a.m. KABC Reliable Sources Coverage of Sec. of State Rex Tillerson’s comments about President Trump; new leaks; Trump’s ‘fake news’ strategy: Joanne Lipman, USA Today; April Ryan; Brian Karem, Sentinel Newspapers. The Washington Post covering President Trump: Marty Baron, the Washington Post.

Russian-linked ads on Facebook: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Conservative media echo chamber: Author Charlie Sykes (“How the Right Lost Its Mind”). (N) 8 a.m.

CNN MediaBuzz Coverage of the mass shooting in Las Vegas and President Trump’s trip to Puerto Rico: Shannon Pettypiece, Bloomberg; Mollie Hemingway, the Federalist; Marie Harf; James Rosen; Shelby Holliday, the Wall Street Journal.

(N) 8 a.m. and Midnight FNC 60 Minutes Political strategist Brad Parscale; Danny Meyer. (N) 7 p.m. KCBS

8 pm

CBS NBC KTLA ABC KCAL FOX MyNt KVCR

UNI KOCE KDOC KLCS A&E AMC ANP BBC BET Bravo CMT CNN Com Disc Disn E! ESPN Food FNC Free FX Hall HGTV Hist IFC Life MSN MTV NGC Nick OWN Spike Sund Syfy TBS TCM TLC TNT Toon Travel Tru TV L USA VH1

Baseball The Cubs visit the Nationals for game 2 of their playoff series, 2:30 p.m. TBS; the Dodgers host the Diamondbacks for the second game of their series. 6 p.m. TBS

Cine Encr EPIX HBO Show Starz TMC

9:30

Sports News Movies (N) New Å Closed Captioning

10 pm

Wisdom of the Crowd (TV14) Å NCIS: New Orleans (TV14) Å Will & Grace Saturday Night Live (TV14) Host Gal Gadot;

(TV14) Å

Sam Smith performs. (8:29) (N) Å

(N) Å

Carole King

(TVG) (7) Å

Ossie Davis.

of the orchestra. (9:45) Å Tyson. Å Artbound (TVY) The opera reers of Karen and Richard Carpenter. Å “Hopscotch.” Å Crónicas de Sábado (N)

The Carpenters: Close to You (TVG) The ca-

Aquí y Ahora Doctor Blake Mysteries (TVPG) Midsomer Murders (TVPG) King of the Lake. Å

Midsomer Mur- Europe (TVG) ders (9:48) Å (10:36) Å Elementary (TV14) Å The Forsyte Saga (TVPG) Å

OCTOBER 23, 2017 6:30-9:30 P.M.

THE MACARTHUR LOS ANGELES

The pleasure of your company is requested To give Jonathan Gold’s much-anticipated guide a proper send off, the Los Angeles Times is taking over the magnificent and historic The MacArthur (formerly Park Plaza). It’s your chance to mingle with Mr. Gold, meet your culinary heroes and enjoy dishes from 30 of L.A.’s finest restaurants.

Small plates

Spago CUT Mozzaplex Alimento Kismet Kobee Factory Sqirl

A special wine experience featuring Lumos Vineyards Workman Ayer Ascension Cellars the Central Coast Group Project

Sweetzer Cellars Beekeeper Cellars Talley Vineyards Windrun Wine Byron Blatty

Jitlada Spring Church & State Michael’s Animal Howlin’ Ray’s LASA Maude

Cocktails Knob Creek Sipsmith

Plus entertainment and special surprises

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Native Shorts

(TVPG) X Nikamowin / Chrysalis. Å The Coroner Å

Noticias 34 Fin Austin City Limits (N) Å Saving Hope Å Real Rail Å

Beachfront Bargain Renovation Lakefront Bargain Hunt (N) Å House Hunters Renovation (N) Log Cabin (N) Ancient Aliens: Declassified (TVPG) Sexual encounters with aliens. (N) Å Wedding Crashers ››› (2005) Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn. (R) Å Wedding Crashers (10:45) (R) Stranger in the House (2016) Emmanuelle Vaugier. Å Hidden Truth (2016) Shawn Christian.

Lockup Corcoran Å Lockup: Raw Å Lockup: Raw Å Dateline Å Four Brothers ›› (2005) Mark Wahlberg. (7:30) (R) Å The Departed ››› (2006) (R) Å Putin Takes Control (TV14) Å Inside North Korea (TV14) Å Explorer (TV14) Å North Korea Å Henry Danger Game Shakers Full House Å Full House Å Fresh Prince Å Fresh Prince Å Friends Å Iyanla, Fix My Life (TV14) Å Iyanla, Fix My Life (TV14) (N) Released (TV14) (N) Å Fix My Life Å Friends Å Friends Å Taken ››› (2008) Liam Neeson. (PG-13) Å GoodFellas (R) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) MASH (TVPG) Texas Chainsaw 3D › (7) (R) House of the Witch (2017) Emily Bader. Å Jennifer’s Baseball Diamondbacks at Dodgers. (6) (N) Post Game Å Full Frontal Å 2 Broke Girls 2 Broke Girls Day of the Outlaw ›› (7:15) Wind Across the Everglades ›› (1958) Burl Ives. Å After Hours (R) Cake Boss (TVPG) A helicopter cake. (N) Å Cake Boss (TVPG) Cake Boss Star Wars: A New Hope (6:15) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back ›››› (1980) Mark Hamill. (PG) Å Dragon Ball Å Dragon Ball (N) Rick and Morty Rick and Morty Family Guy Å Family Guy Å Dragon Ball Å Ghost Adventures (TVPG) Ghost Adventures (TVPG) (N) Ghost Adventures (TVPG) (N) Ghost Adv. Jokers Å Jokers Å Jokers Å Chris Gethard Jokers Å Jokers Å Jokers Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) King of Queens Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family White Men Can’t Jump (6:30) 8 Mile ››› (2002) Eminem, Kim Basinger. (R) Å Austin Powers in Goldmember ›› (2002) (PG-13) Å Engagement Å Engagement Å Engagement Å Yes Man ›› (2008) Jim Carrey. (PG-13) Å Liar Liar ›› (1997) Jim Carrey. (PG-13) (9:45) Å Unfaithful (2002) (6:54) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ›› (2016) Lily James. Å Footloose ›› Arrival ››› (2016) Amy Adams. (PG-13) Å The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 ››› Spielberg (TVMA) Examining the director’s filmography in-depth. (N) Å Tracey Ullman The Deuce Å Shameless (TVMA) Å Bleed for This ››› (2016) Miles Teller. (R) Å Nemr (TV14) The Ugly Truth › (2009) (R) Å Outlander (TVMA) (9:38) Å The Patriot (2000) (10:40) Å I Am Number Four (7) Å Intruders (2015) Beth Riesgraf. (R) Girl House (2014) Å

Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants Launch Party

Lukshon Mayura Garlic & Chives Shunji Bestia Taco María Providence

11 pm

News (N) Å News (N) Å

Picture of Innocence. Å American Ninja Warrior Å Globe Trekker (TVG) Å Live PD (TV14) Riding along with law enforcement. (N) Å Halt and Catch Fire Cameron Halt and Catch Fire Cameron helps Donna vester Stallone. (R) (7) Å helps Donna pack up. (N) Å pack up; Gordon and Donna fight. (10:15) Dr. Jeff: Extra Dose (N) Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet (N) My Big Fat Pet Makeover (N) Dr. Jeff: RMV Star Trek: Voyager (TVPG) Star Trek: Voyager (TVPG) The Graham Norton Show (N) Graham Norton Madea’s Big Happy Family A dying woman gathers her family. Å Madea’s Family Reunion ›› Sweet Home Alabama ›› (2002) Reese Witherspoon. (7:45) (PG-13) Å Sweet Home Alabama (10:20) Lost World Jurassic Park III ›› (2001) Sam Neill. (PG-13) Å Crocodile Dundee ››› Å Anthony Bourdain (TVPG) The Wonder List With Bill Weir Anthony Bourdain (TVPG) San Anthony Myanmar. Å Patagonia: Paradise Bought. Sebastian. Å (TVPG) Å Joe Dirt › (2001) David Spade, Dennis Miller. (PG-13) Å Joe Dirt › (2001) David Spade. (PG-13) Å Garage Rehab (TV14) Å Garage Rehab (TV14) Richard rehabs two shops. Å Misfit Garage Bizaardvark Raven’s Home Alvin and the Chipmunks ›› (2007) (PG) Å Transylvania Å Raven’s Home Sex and the City 2 ›› (2010) Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall. (R) Å Fifty Shades College Football California at Washington. (7:45) (N) SportsCenter (10:45) (N) Å Halloween Baking (TVG) Å Halloween Baking (TVG) Å Halloween Baking (TVG) Å Halloween Å Watters’ World Å Justice With Judge Jeanine The Greg Gutfeld Show Å Watters’ World Twil: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ›› (2011) Kristen Stewart. (8:40) (PG-13) Å The Amazing Spider-Man ››› (2012) Andrew Garfield. (7) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) (PG-13) All of My Heart (2015) (7) Å All of My Heart: Inn Love (2017) Lacey Chabert. Å Golden Girls Å

American Ninja Warrior Å Between Lines Well Read Live PD: Rewind (TV14) (8:06) First Blood ››› (1982) Syl-

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THE UPPER CRUST

Any way you slice it, the perfect pie starts at the foundation, with a shell that marries flour and fat, flake and flavor. Whether star baker or newbie, get ready to elevate your game.

FOOD & DINING

Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times

BUTTER, shortening or lard. Food procesor or hand mixing. Rolling, crimping and decorating. Baking or par-baking. All is revealed in pie-crust primer inside.

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SARI SARI STORE , a Filipino-style lunch counter at Grand Central Market run by Margarita and Walter Manzke, takes the passion for rice bowls to new highs.

COUNTER INTELLIGENCE

In rice bowl heaven at Sari Sari JONATHAN GOLD RESTAURANT CRITIC

I have stopped by Sari Sari Store five times in the last three days, and I’m not sure if I should be admitting this to you or to a therapist.

On Monday, I walked over with Times Food editor Amy Scattergood, my Sari Sari Store enabler, and tried the arroz caldo, the sisig fried rice and also the adobo fried rice. On Tuesday morning, Amy texted me to say a section meeting was already underway at Sari Sari Store, so I found myself back at the counter with an order of lechon manok — spit-roasted chicken — as well as a cantaloupe slush and a few forkfuls of buko pie. Late that afternoon, I came in for an early supper of grilled pork ribs, silog made with homemade “Spam’’ and a taste of tortang talong, which is grilled eggplant dipped into beaten egg and fried.

Wednesday’s breakfast (Amy’s choice, again) was another bowl of arroz caldo, and I breezed through again a few hours later for halo-halo and a coffee with condensed milk. I’ve given up my fidget spinner. I have Sari Sari Store instead.

My colleagues and I have probably adored Sari Sari Store a little too much lately, partly because we’re as likely to become crushed out on a new restaurant as a 14year-old is on the latest Zayn track, and partly because the idea of a Filipino-style lunch counter run by République’s Margarita and Walter Manzke is just too much, especially in downtown L.A.’s Grand Central Market.

Deputy food editor Jenn Harris swooned over the buko pie this

Sari Sari Store A new Filipino food counter at Grand Central Market.

STEAMING hot arroz caldo is a rice porridge featuring cubes

of pork, poached egg, mushrooms, ginger and fried garlic.

LOCATION

Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (323) 320-4020, sarisaristorela.com PRICES

next door.

RECOMMENDED DISHES

Arroz caldo, “Spam” silog, buko pie.

Savory dishes $11-$13; sweets $6-$8.

latimes.com

DETAILS

Go online for more photos from Sari Sari Store, Margarita and Walter Manzke’s Filipino food stall.

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Beer and wine. Credit cards accepted.

Validated parking in lot

/food

week. So I won’t say that much more about it, other than to say that Margarita Manzke comes close to baking the best, darkest pie crust in Los Angeles, that the custard is as dense as pastry cream because it is pastry cream, and that while you would think that the jellysoft layer of buko, young coconut, might pull the dessert toward the exotic, it ends up tasting like the kind of coconut cream pie you might find at a roadside diner in Oklahoma if you were very, very lucky.

Amy loves the halo-halo, a layered dessert of jellied coconut, ice cream, fruit, crushed ice and other things, although I will act the purist for a moment and insist that the purple yam, omitted here, is an essential part of the experience, and that the Sari Sari Store version may bear a closer resemblance to the chewy, icy Vietnamese desserts called chè you find at sweet shops in Little Saigon than it does to the halo-halo at the old-school Filipino places. There is a place for them both.

But Sari Sari Store is basically devoted to the Filipino rice bowl, a hybrid form made popular here at places like Rice Bar and Oi, a savory, salty, nominally healthful dish of silog — a toss of meat, vegetables and aromatics — served over pickle-spiked garlic-fried rice.

There is always a fried egg on top.

And the Manzkes, whose refined French cooking has been revered in Los Angeles for years, are masters of balance — you may notice the subtleties before you blast them into the umami zone with fish sauce, Sriracha and chile-infused vinegar. (You may have self-control, but I am kind of a peasant.)

It may be an odd thing to say about a restaurant, but at Sari Sari Store it really doesn’t matter what you order. If you get adobo fried rice, you will find a bit of sweetness from the pork belly’s marinade; the sisig, fried pig’s head, is crunchier and more assertively salty; and the grilled eggplant is smokier, richer, more tart. The grilled pork ribs tend to smack more of the backyard Weber than of the pit, if that’s a factor, and the chewiness is not quite tamed. The slices of housemade “Spam,” soft and fluffy, seared almost black, are pretty wonderful, especially if you were expecting the high salt-sweet flavor of the actual trademarked meat in a can.

Chef de cuisine Don Dalao brines his chicken — the meat is almost bouncy — before cooking it slowly on the rotisserie the restaurant inherited from Bar Moruno, the former occupant of this corner of Grand Central Market, and the sweetish sauce inhabits the skin, which is more sticky than crackly; more bronzed than charred. In the arroz caldo, a lunch favorite at République, the rice is seethed into a loose, hot porridge, fragrant with ginger and fried garlic, thick with chewy mushrooms and little cubes of pork.

The inevitable egg is poached sous-vide to the soft, runny consistency of the eggs you find in ramen.

A squirt of lime and a dash of fish sauce transform the flavor — not necessarily better, but different, with an extra level of depth. You’re ready for the morning. And Sari Sari will still be waiting for you when you return for a post-work slice of pie. jonathan.gold@latimes.com

NEWSFEED

Marché Moderne’s new view

From the return of a lauded Orange County French restaurant to a cereal bar in Koreatown, here’s what’s happening in the world of food and drink.

— Jenn Harris also makes cereal milkshakes, liquor-infused cereal ice cream and sorbets. And to go with all that cereal, you can order Moët Champagne, rosé and craft beers. The 3,000-square-foot space also has Nintendo video games, table tennis and bean bag toss. Milk Tavern is open daily from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.

French by the ocean Fans of Marché Moderne, the almost 10-year-old French restaurant at South Coast Plaza, have waited patiently for it to reopen after it closed earlier this year.

Marché Moderne, which is featured on restaurant critic Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list, has reopened in a 4,200-squarefoot-space in the Crystal Cove Shopping Center in Newport Beach. Yes, there are ocean views.

Husband-and-wife chef-owners Florent and Amelia Marneau are cooking a mixture of old and new dishes. So you can still order the roasted wild Spanish octopus with chorizo emulsion and the Salade Composée with hearts of palm. But you’ll also see newer dishes such as braised veal and crayfish blanquette. The Marneaus plan to start three-course prix fixe dinners on Mondays and Tuesdays next year, as well as brunch.

Marché Moderne: 7862 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (714) 434-7900, www.marche moderne.net

Milk Tavern: 528 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 568-3770, www.milktavern.com

Seeing white Ariel Ip

MILK TAVERN has treats

such as Cocoa Puffs soft serve.

Cereal party Whether you’re a cereal-loving kid or an adult who never gave up the stuff, you’re going to want to check out Milk Tavern. It’s a new dessert lounge in Koreatown, just north of the Wiltern theater, that has a cereal bar with more than 18 different kinds of cereal, along with toppings such as cheesecake bites and marshmallows. The restaurant

You may have run into a Diner en Blanc event in Los Angeles over the last few years. It’s a giant dinner party in a random location (the first year’s event was held on Rodeo Drive; the next two were held at Pershing Square and at the Music Center in downtown), full of thousands of people dressed entirely in white. The large-scale pop-up dinners started in France 29 years ago. Attendees set up tables clad in white table cloths, and the tablescapes range from elaborate candelabras to floral displays of white roses. Each year, the location

Marché Moderne

THE FRENCH RESTAURANT Marché Modern has moved to

Crystal Cove Shopping Center in Newport Beach. It’s now open. is secret, known only to attendees when they arrive on buses from meeting points around the city.

This year’s event in L.A. will be Oct. 14.

Diner en Blanc: To register for the event and for more details, visit losangeles.dinerenblanc.com.

So wild, so free Terry Heller, the restaurateur behind the Plan Check restaurants, has just opened Wild & Free, a rotisserie chicken restaurant in Sherman Oaks. Wild & Free has taken over half of the now-closed

Solley’s Deli space on Van Nuys Boulevard. The seasonal menu includes rotisserie chicken prepared in three styles: a spicy chicken bowl with herbed rice, a Peruvian spicy chicken sandwich and Chinese chicken salad. Plantbased chicken from Beyond Meat is also available at the restaurant as a vegan option.

Wild & Free: 4550 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 616-5688, www.eatwildandfree.com jenn.harris@latimes.com Instagram: @Jenn_Harris_

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FOOD & DINING

4 slices of perfection

BY JENN HARRIS >>> The perfect pie — flaky crust, filling you can eat on its own and a topping that makes all the components sing — is like the holy grail of baking. Sit down with a slice of your favorite, whether it be pumpkin, apple, banana cream or Key lime, and the effect is instantaneous. It’s nostalgic, it’s comforting, it’s potentially transformative. ¶ Los Angeles is home to many great pies. Here are four you should likely seek out as soon as possible.

Alpha Smoot

PADMA LAKSHMI’S recipe for sweet and sour

shrimp is included in the “Cherry Bombe” cookbook.

COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK

The Cherry on the top

By Amy Scattergood

If you are one of those old-school folks who frequents newsstands and still loves thumbing through glossy magazines for good stories and captivating photography, then you likely have had the magazine Cherry Bombe on your radar since it began in 2013. Published twice a year by Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu, it’s a lovely thing, devoted to the intersection of women and food, with a particular interest in fashion. (Diamond is a former magazine editor, Wu, a former art director.) Cherry Bombe is irreverent and compelling, giving voice to women in the food world from Martha Stewart to Lena Dunham — both of whom have graced the cover, with cherries. Imagine “Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book” crossed with Lady Gaga.

Happily, probably inevitably, Diamond and Wu have now come out with a cookbook: “Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook.” Inside the book, published by Clarkson PotClarkson Potter ter, are 100 recipes from 100 women, among them Chris“Cherry Bombe: tina Tosi of Milk Bar; “Top The Cookbook” Chef’s” Padma Lakshmi;

by Kerry Diamond Naomi Pomeroy of Portland, and Claudia Wu Ore.’s, Beast restaurant; (Clarkson Potter, $35) Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams; Tartine’s Elisabeth Prueitt; and L.A.’s own Evan Kleiman (KCRW), Jessica Koslow (Sqirl), Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer (Kismet).

On some levels, like the magazine that engendered it, it’s a tongue-in-cheek book (pink cover, lots of cherries, pink KitchenAid). But on other levels, the cookbook is surprisingly straightforward, as the voices and stories that make the magazine so compelling are oddly missing, replaced by just the recipes themselves.

If you already subscribe to the magazine, you might want to make Lakshmi’s sweet and sour shrimp from the cookbook while you reread last year’s magazine cover story on the television personality and cookbook writer, which is a far more interesting read than the few sentences that operate as introduction to the dish. If you don’t have a copy of the magazine, well, maybe go pick up an issue while you’re out shopping for the ingredients for Prueitt’s chocolate hazelnut torte. (If you want even more Cherry Bombe, there’s also Cherry Bombe Radio and, on Oct. 14, a daylong conference called the Cherry Bombe Jubliee.)

With a stack of issues, you’ll have the best of both worlds: the assembled chapters (tools and rules; mains; sweet treats) of the cookbook, plus all the stories that load the magazine, including interviews, illustrations, photo essays and to-do lists. Nice. amy.scattergood@latimes.com Instagram: @ascattergood

Sweet and sour shrimp with cherry tomatoes 40 minutes. Serves 4.

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1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined but tail-on 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Kosher salt 2 tablespoons canola oil ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ½ teaspoon fennel seeds 1 cup minced shallots 1 cup diced yellow bell pepper 2 dried red chiles, such as Kashmiri for mild heat or Thai for extra heat 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 2 tablespoons butter 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 1 ⁄3 cup diced dried apricots 1 whole preserved lemon, seeded and diced ½ teaspoon turmeric powder ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro Cooked rice, for serving 1. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cover and

set aside.

2. In a deep skillet or wok set over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, stir in the cumin and fennel seeds and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Toss in the shallots and bell pepper and continue to cook for 5 to 7 minutes to soften the peppers.

3. Add the dried chiles, garlic and ginger to the skillet and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the butter and tomatoes, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes release their juice and it begins to thicken, 12 to 15 minutes.

4. Toss in the dried apricots, preserved lemon and turmeric and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes to marry the flavorings. Taste for seasoning and add a ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste.

5. Stir in the shrimp, coating it with the sauce. Cook, stirring once or twice, just until the shrimp becomes opaque, 3 to 4 minutes, careful not to overcook.

Toss in the cilantro and remove any chile tops that popped off during cooking.

Serve over rice.

Note: Adapted from a recipe from Padma Lakshmi in the book “Cherry Bombe” by Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu.

@eugenshoots

Jenn Harris Los Angeles Times

Apple pie from Alcove

Key lime pie from HiHo Cheeseburger

It stands tall in the bakery counter at this Los Feliz restaurant, a dessert that holds its own beside the more “interesting” items around it. Sure, there’s a cake full of Oreos and another stuffed with Reese’s peanut butter cups.

But the real star is the apple pie, made for the restaurant by the same secret bakery (they won’t share the name) since Alcove opened in 2004. It’s four inches of paper-thin sliced Granny Smith apples tossed in enough sugar and cinnamon to tame the fruit’s tartness. They’re piled onto a thin, buttery pie crust and topped with a crunchy streusel and a drizzle of lemon glaze. Each slice is an impressive, individual tower, built like a game of apple Jenga. The strategy of attack is up to you, but it’s fun to pluck out individual slices until the entire thing collapses into a perfect heap of apples and topping on the plate.

This is not a fancy Key lime pie. There is no elaborate topping. It is not green. But after one of the recently opened Santa Monica restaurant’s cheeseburgers (these are very good cheeseburgers, made with 100% Wagyu beef), you need to order a piece for dessert. HiHo’s four owners (Matt Levin, Jerry Greenberg, Ajay Sahgal and Lowell Sharron) collaborated on the recipe for the pie. It’s a compact slice with about an inch of Key lime filling and about the same amount of smooth whipped cream on top. But that small slice of pie is packed with the zing of tart Key limes in a rich, dense custard filling. The whipped cream offers more of a relief from the tanginess of the limes than any real sweetness.

And the crust is textbook perfect graham cracker with just enough butter and crumb. You should probably order a slice to go too.

Alcove: 1929 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 644-0100, www.alcovecafe.com.

HiHo Cheeseburger: 1320 2nd St., Suite B, Santa Monica, (310)-469-7250, www.hiho.la.

Jenn Harris Los Angeles Times

Banana dulce de leche cream pie from Cassell’s

Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times

Buko pie from Sari Sari Store

When you think of banana cream pie, chances are you think of rich cream studded with slices of banana — and a lot of whipped cream on top. Whatever you’re expecting from a banana cream pie, the banana dulce de leche cream pie from Cassell’s, the hamburger joint on the ground floor of the Hotel Normandie in Koreatown, is different. It’s also better. Chef (and former “Top Chef” contestant) Elia Aboumrad, who is married to Cassell’s chef Christian Page (he’s responsible for the diner’s excellent cheeseburgers), says the pie is a family recipe, one that was a “must” at all her family gatherings growing up in Mexico. Rather than a classic cream filling with slices of banana, the entire middle of the pie is made of banana slices, layered like bricks to form the base of the pie. The crust is graham cracker, extra buttery and made with Plugra European-style butter. There are dollops of lightly sweetened whipped cream on top. And the best part? The layer of dulce de leche that spills out from under the banana, over the crust and onto a pool on the plate.

Margarita Manzke, pastry chef at the new Filipino food stall Sari Sari Store at Grand Central Market in downtown L.A., and at République, the French restaurant she runs with her husband, chef Walter Manzke, is making the best coconut pie in the city. Only it’s not exactly coconut pie, it’s buko pie. The coconut custard pie popular in the Philippines is typically made with sweetened condensed milk and young coconut (buko in Tagalog), and it’s just about the most luxurious thing you can eat on top of crust.

Manzke’s version features a silky pastry cream mottled with slices of fresh, young coconut and a layer of coconut jam that together give the pie a real but subtle coconut flavor. And that crust? It’s laden with butter, the texture creating that perfect trifecta of flaky, crunchy and tender, allowing it to hold the pastry cream without getting soggy.

Crowning the pie is a streusel-like topping that adds a little more sweetness and some extra crunch. The flavors and textures are so perfectly balanced that even your friend who swears he “hates coconut cream pie” will go in for another slice.

Cassell’s: 3600 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, (213) 387-5502, www.cassellshamburgers.com.

Sari Sari Store: 317 S. Broadway, (323) 320-4020, sarisaristorela.com.

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FOOD & DINING

Flaky pie dough 20 minutes, plus chilling times.

Makes enough for 1 (9-inch) single crust pie with extra dough for a decorative or lattice top AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

1 tablespoon sugar ¼ cup water 2 ¼ teaspoons cider vinegar 2 ¼ cups (9.6 ounces) bleached all-purpose flour, chilled Generous 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons cold shortening or lard ½ cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes Ice water, if needed Egg white, for brushing a paror blind-baked shell

Photographs by

Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times

A GREAT slice of pie begins with a terrific crust, which means just the right combination of fat and flour, chilling and baking.

The perfect pie crust

BY NOELLE CARTER >>> When I tell people I grew up in a family of pie bakers, it’s easy to imagine I’m bragging.

My mother’s pies are legendary — rich, velvety custard fillings or mounded fruit pies, each cradled in an ornately decorated crust, golden and with the most delicate layers. And don’t get me started on my grandmother; in her day, she was known as the “Pie Baker of Villa Park,” a small suburb west of Chicago. ¶ When I went to start baking my own pies, I didn’t think much about it. Pie-making was something my family took for granted. But then I sliced into that first homemade pie — it was pumpkin, brought to a work potluck — and found to my horror not a perfect take-for-granted pie, but a bubble of raw dough beneath the layer of filling. There are some mistakes not even a truckload of whipped cream can cover.

A dozen or so years later, a career change, several restaurant and catering jobs and a few hundred pies later, my skills have improved — though they still don’t quite match those of my mother or grandmother. But I’ve learned a lot and continue to pick up tips. Recently, I spoke with some experts and tested more than a dozen combinations of fats, flours, ingredients and tricks. Here are my results.

Choosing the right fat

Passionate pie bakers tend to have a religious zeal about what type of fat goes into their crusts, and not without good reason.

“Fats and shortenings are absolutely critical to pies,” says Ernest Miller, research and development chef at Coast Packing Co., a major supplier of animal fats and shortenings for cooking, baking and frying based in Vernon. The type of fat determines flavor and can influence the final texture and color of the crust. Bakers tend to use one of three kinds — butter, shortening or lard — or a combination. But which, and why?

Lard is among the most traditional of kitchen fats, once made from heritage pigs specifically bred for their fat. “In certain points in our history, lard was actually more expensive than pork,” says Miller.

Never mind the cost of butter. “You wouldn’t be using butter for baking unless you were wealthy.”

Miller notes that shortening, with the introduction of Crisco in 1911, was created to mimic the effects of lard, but at a fraction of the price. “An all-Crisco crust will give you the best border,” notes Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of “The Pie and Pastry Bible,” “but I don’t use shortening, because there’s no flavor.”

As people began shunning shortening for health reasons, bakers looked for alternatives such as butter, even oil. Over the years, I’ve taken to making my crust using a ratio of two-thirds butter to onethird shortening. I’ve found, particularly when I keep the fats cold until the crust goes in the oven, I get some of the benefits of shortening in my detailed borders, along with the flavor of butter. (For savory pies, I’ll usually substitute short-

ening for lard, or even bacon, goose or duck fat, which lends great savory flavor and rich coloring to the crust.)

Although my grandmother and mother preferred shortening, they would often brush the formed crust with butter, and occasionally dust with sugar, before baking, for added flavor and color.

And lard is making a comeback.

Occasionally, you can find lard from heritage pigs, such as Mangalitza, as well as from specific parts of the animal, such as leaf lard, which is valued by bakers for its delicate flavor.

Coast Packing is currently testing a treated lard and tallow blend, not yet on the market, that mimics leaf lard; in my tests, I could barely tell the difference from the real thing.

argue, making pie dough in a food processor is wonderfully simple and easy. Just be sure not to overprocess it; use the pulse feature and your dough will be tender as if mixed by hand.

Rolling out the dough

STEP 1: If using butter in the crust, add cold cubes to flour mixture in a food processor.

Flour, other ingredients

Fat and its ratio to other ingredients, particularly flour, is integral to a great pie. “I think too little fat is not a pie crust,” says Los Angeles baker and pie specialist Nicole Rucker, a past winner of KCRWFM’s Good Food Pie Contest.

“Once you remove a certain amount of fat, you’re forming more of a bread or biscuit dough.”

When it comes to flour, some experts swear by all-purpose, others by lower-protein pastry flour and still others by a host of custom blends, all in the name of making a tender but flaky crust.

If she’s using all-purpose flour Beranbaum finds that adding a touch of sugar works to tenderize the dough, mimicking the results she normally gets using pastry flour. (This is a trick she’ll be adding to her new book on baking basics, due out next year.)

Rucker also uses the sugar trick in her dough, though she goes an extra step by dissolving the sugar in water before she adds it, ensuring that it’s evenly absorbed by the flour and making for a uniformly tender crust.

Another trick is adding apple cider vinegar, which also helps to tenderize or “shorten” the crust. (You might smell it as you make and roll out the dough, but the vinegar will evaporate as the pie bakes and shouldn’t affect the taste of the crust.)

STEP 2: Pulse the mixture just until the butter is reduced to pieces that are pea-size.

After you’ve made the dough, flatten it into a disk, cover and chill it before you roll it out.

To keep the dough even, work the rolling pin in the center of the dough and don’t roll all the way to the edges. You’ll have greater control over the thickness of the dough if you keep the pin toward the center — the closer you get to the rim, the more likely you are to roll the pin off the edges, flattening them and making the dough uneven. Rotate the dough a quarter-turn each time you roll.

To keep the dough from sticking and absorbing too much flour, roll it between lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap or parchment or wax paper.

After you’ve formed the crust, chill it. I freeze my formed crusts for 20 to 30 minutes, which allows the crust to hold its shape and any designs while it bakes.

Blind-baking, par-baking and finishing the pie

STEP 3: Press the mixture until it forms a dough. Mold into a disk, cover, refrigerate.

Mixing the dough When combining the ingredients, it’s important to keep them cold — particularly your fat. If the fat, especially butter, softens and begins to melt, the flour will absorb it, creating a tough dough. I actually take the extra step of chilling everything — fat, flour, water, vinegar — even the bowl and food processor blades.

And though some purists may

Blind-baking, or par-baking, a crust is common when you’re using a filling that doesn’t need to be baked or when the crust needs to bake longer than the filling, such as with pumpkin and other custard pies. (Both flaky pie and short tart crusts need to be weighted before baking so the pastry doesn’t puff on the bottom or slip on the sides.)

To blind-bake a crust, line the chilled dough with parchment or a large coffee filter, then fill it with weights. If you don’t have storebought ceramic or metal weights, use dried rice or beans.

Finally, watch the pie as it bakes. Most ovens heat from the bottom, so adjust the pie if necessary, moving up or down in the oven as needed. And cover the top or edges of the crust with foil if they’re browning too much. noelle.carter@latimes.com Twitter: @noellecarter

Apple pie 1 ½ hours, plus cooling times. Makes 1 (9-inch) pie with a decorative or lattice top AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

8 (or 6 large) tart apples, such as Granny Smith 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon Scant ½ teaspoon salt ⁄3 cup raisins, rehydrated in rum, another liquor or juice 2 tablespoons cornstarch Prepared flaky pie crust dough, chilled Egg white and sugar for finishing the top crust

2

1. Peel and core the apples, and cut each into 8 slices. Cut each slice crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.

2. In a large skillet over medium

heat, melt the butter. Stir in the apple slices, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, and cook, stirring frequently, just until the apples start to soften, 3 to 4 minutes (the slices should still be crisp). Remove from heat and stir in the raisins and cornstarch. Spread the apple mixture onto a baking sheet to stop the cooking process and allow the apples to cool.

3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees, and fit a rack at the lowest part of the oven.

4. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and roughly divide into two pieces (figure on using about 2/3 for bottom crust). Wrap and refrigerate the smaller portion of dough while you roll out and fill the bottom crust.

5. On a well-floured board, roll the dough for the bottom crust to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. (It might help to roll the dough on a large sheet of floured parchment or wax paper. The dough then can be more easily lifted and inverted over the pie dish.)

6. Gently lift and center the dough over a 9-inch pie dish; if the dough cracks, simply press the crack together to seal, or patch with a little leftover dough. Ease the dough into the pie dish, making sure to remove any air bubbles from underneath the dough, and trim the edges, saving any scraps.

7. Fill the shell with the fruit filling, mounding the fruit in the center of the pie.

8. Roll out the top crust, cutting decorative cutouts or lattice strips if desired. Decorate the top of the pie, brushing egg white as needed to adhere the decorations or lattice.

Sprinkle sugar over the decorations or lattice, avoiding the outer edge of the crust where the sugar is more likely to burn.

9. Bake the pie on the lowest rack of the oven until the crust is a rich, golden color and set, and the filling is bubbly throughout, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. If any part of the crust browns too quickly, tent with foil, and if the bottom crust browns too quickly, move the pie to a higher rack.

10. Cool the pie before serving.

Note: From Noelle Carter.

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved to form a simple syrup. Stir the cider vinegar in with the syrup. Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled.

2. To make the dough using a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt until thoroughly combined.

Add the shortening and pulse until incorporated (the dough will resemble moist sand). Add the butter and pulse just until the butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Sprinkle the syrup over the mixture and pulse a few times until incorporated. Remove the crumbly mixture to a large bowl and very gently press or knead the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, adding additional ice water, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Mold the dough into a disk roughly 6 inches in diameter. Cover the disk tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

To make the dough by hand, whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the shortening and incorporate using a pastry cutter or fork (the dough will resemble moist sand). Cut in the butter just until it is reduced to pea-size pieces. Sprinkle the syrup over the mixture, and stir together just until incorporated. Gently press or knead the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, adding additional ice water, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Mold the dough into a disk roughly 6 inches in diameter. Cover the disk tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large round roughly 1/8-inch thick. Place in the baking dish or pan, trimming any excess that extends more than 1 inch from the sides of the dish and crimping the edges as desired. (One trick I use is to roll out the dough onto floured parchment or wax paper, invert and center the pie dish over the dough and then flip the dough into the dish.) Use any extra dough to make a decorative border (brush the edges of the unbaked crust with water or egg white before pressing any cutouts or other decorations) or save it for later use: Form the dough into a disk, cover tightly and refrigerate until needed. Freeze the formed shell for 20 to 30 minutes before filling and baking.

4. If par-baking (or blind-baking) the crust, line the frozen shell with parchment and fill with pie weights.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove the weights and parchment, prick the sides and bottom a few times with a fork and bake until the crust bottom is dry and lightly colored, an additional 10 to 15 minutes (longer if fully baking the shell). To “waterproof” a par-baked crust, cool the crust for several minutes, then brush the bottom and sides of the crust with egg white before filling.

Note: From Noelle Carter. The simple syrup step is inspired by Nicole Rucker.

A primer on fats Butter adds flavor to a crust, along with color due to the milk solids in the fat. However, over-mixing the butter can make the crust tough and crunchy.

Shortening has a high melting point, which will give you a light and flaky crust and allow for creative decorations, but it lacks the flavor found with butter or lard.

Lard makes a light and flaky crust.

Leaf lard and rendered caul fat (another fat preferred by many bakers) have the benefits of lard with less flavor, perfect for dessert pies.

Oil results in a crust that is generally more mealy in texture, though certain fruity oils, such as olive or some nuts, will lend flavor and coloring to the crust.

— Noelle Carter

latimes.com /food

More tips, a recipe Go online for a pumpkin pie recipe, plus expert tips and notes about what pie pan to use.

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MIND & BODY

Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times

OF KEEPING FIT , Sterling K. Brown, 41, says: “It’s easier to maintain it than to lose it and try to get it back.” The “This Is Us” actor has always been health-focused.

Q&A

This is us looking at his abs

BY ROY M. WALLACK >>> Ask 41-year-old Sterling K. Brown, who just took the Emmy for lead actor in a drama for his role in “This Is Us,” how he developed his awesome abs and a spectacular devotion to lifelong fitness, and he’ll point to his relatives. ¶ The aunt who paid him to do sit-ups, a dad who died way too early, and an older brother who challenged him to keep what he had. The father of two, who shot to fame with his Emmywinning performance in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and stars in the biopic “Marshall” out Oct. 13, talked to us about those abs, how he bans bad food from his house, and his crazy-hard workouts.

Your killer abs got a big buzz when you posted on Instagram earlier this year. How’d you get them?

I’ve had ‘em for a long time — since age 6. As a kid in St. Louis, I remember playing shirts versus skins at summer camp — and not wanting to be a skin because I didn’t like my body. So when my aunt bought us a sit-up board, it was an opportunity. She would always have competitions between us kids. She’d give 10 bucks to anyone who could do 100 sit-ups. For a 6-,7-, 8-year-old, that was a lotta money! So I once did 200 sit-ups without stopping — and got $20.

From that point forward, I would watch music videos on MTV and try to do sit-ups for an entire song.

So you're not one of those actors who pigs out most of the time and then gets fit to play a certain role?

Right. I told my wife [actress Ryan Michelle Bathe], “You know, I’m thankful that most of these roles I get have very little to do with the way I’m built.” And she said, “Are you kidding me? I would love to get roles because people want to see my body.” So we have an inverse relationship to the way we see our fitness. But for me, it’s always been about being healthy.

I’ve seen the men in my family all start out young very fit and healthy and over time let themselves go. I always had it in the back of my mind: It’s easier to maintain it than to lose it and try to get it back. I was a good high school athlete, played football and basketball and always had a decent shape. I weighed 197 when I graduated and am 190something right now. I just wanted to stay slim, stay fit and stay tough to show my family that there is another way of aging. That you can age without growing old — that you can maintain a sense of vivacity to your lifestyle. Age doesn’t have to keep you from being an active participant in life.

Did it work? Did you influence them to get healthier?

Maybe … to a small extent. The lifestyle in St. Louis, Mo., is not very active. Of my four siblings, my 54year-old brother, a pharmaceutical salesman — former track star, martial artist, college football player — will hit the elliptical. He was built like an Adonis — not anymore — but he probably inspired me more than I did him.

He would always tease me. "By the time you hit 30, you won’t have those abs anymore. You’ll be going

out to all these corporate dinners and you’ll see.” I said, “OK, we’ll see.” When I turned 30, I told him, “Hey, man, I still got ‘em.” Then he said, “Just wait until you turn 40.”

So when I turned 40, I sent him a picture just to show him I still had 'em.

@sterlingkbrown / Instagram @sterlingkbrown / Instagram

Holds himself accountable Actor Sterling K. Brown’s schedule is hectic — he is set to appear in two 2018 movies, “The Predator” and “Black Panther” — and his workouts vary week to week. “ I keep it different so my body doesn’t get used to any one thing.” He aims to balance it all by working out most weekdays and “taking the weekend off to hang out with the family.” Here’s what a recent week of workouts looked like: Monday: “I did the one workout I love, the ‘50-40-30-20-10-10.’ A friend of mine told me about it. It means 50 jumping jacks, 40 squats, 30 push-ups, 20 butt-ups [a core workout move], 10 burpees and 10 pull-ups. Do three sets in a row. I did it in 28 minutes, with 24 minutes my PR.” Tuesday: “Played basketball, my workout without thinking about working out. Ninety minutes of fun.”

Wednesday: “Ran 4 miles on a treadmill, incline of 2% lowering to 1% as I sped up.” Done in 34 minutes, burned 1,150 calories per hour, according to the dashboard. “My PR is just under 32 minutes.”

Thursday: On a plane, traveling, so no workout.

Friday: The 50-40-30-20-10-10 workout.

Sunday: “Ran 5 miles in 42 minutes, followed by some ab exercises from P90X.”

You're over 40, an age when some people start slowing down. Have you changed anything?

I still do something nearly every day. I want to hold on to what the good Lord has blessed me with — that’s my motto. I haven’t slowed down — still love basketball, running, working out. But now, instead of banging in the paint, I’ve become more of a perimeter player to reduce body contact.

It’s a big change. Until age 38 I played with reckless abandon, or “RA,” as we called it in high school; go all-out, with total disregard for your body, and it will take care of you. But at 38, I noticed: Driving the lane and playing outdoors on the pavement instead of playing indoors on the wood, my body would tell me: “Hey, Brown, why you doing this to me? Stop beating me up.” I’d go for a 7-8-mile run on the street, instead of the treadmill, and every time, my body would say, “Hey, Brown …”

So a good rule of thumb: Beware of the pavement. The recovery time on a more forgiving surface like wood or dirt is much less. There is no sense, with the busy schedule I have now, to go through the day hurt. A little sore, OK; hurt, no.

Do you do any fitness activities with your kids, or are they too young?

Actually, I’ll take my 6-year-old son out and we exercise together.

I’ll push him just enough to where he wants to come back and do it again. We’ll go to a park with a onethird-mile track. He likes running.

I’ll say, “OK, big boy, I’m going to give you a 30-second head start.

Then, Daddy’s going to go all out to try to catch you.” And he takes off.

He’s fast. Sometimes I catch him, sometimes I don’t.

Afterward, we might do wall jumps, pushups, squats. At some point, he’ll go, “Daddy, my legs don’t work anymore.”

And I’ll say, “You can take a break while I keep going.”

I try to expose him to fitness at an early age — not just to sports — but what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. That way, although he may not be able to play sports the rest of his life or have the facility for it, he can always take care of him-

self. That’s of tantamount importance.

What’s your diet strategy?

I remember at 16 doing a 7-mile run and was so proud of myself that I came house and made myself a pitcher of Kool-Aid. Now that doesn’t even make sense.

I began to get away from the fast-food lifestyle when I became an actor in college and grad school.

There was an emphasis on your body being your instrument, and I began to understand the car analogy of thinking of food as fuel you put in your engine. If you want to go long and go hard, you have to give it the best gas possible. Then, about 10 years ago, I read a book, “Healthy at 100” by John Robbins, which follows pockets of centenarians across the globe and what they have in common. The conclusion: The longest-living ate a plantbased diet with lean meat and whole grains. They didn’t do hardcore, beat-your-body-up exercise but had built-in activity in their lifestyle that keeps them supple and mobile. That book sort of flipped the switch in me, made me think about the legacy I’ll want to pass to my children.

One big thing: Water. I’ll drink almost a gallon a day — great for my skin. Another rule: Keep out the bad stuff. No white pastas, flour or sugar in my house. We’ll eat brown rice, not white. Pop-Tarts used to be a regular thing, but if I opened the box, I’d probably finish it all. Keeping it out of the house is the key.

Your father died when you were 10. Did that play any role in your health consciousness?

Yes — a big one. My dad had [Type 2] diabetes, smoked, drank and passed from a heart attack. So I’ve never smoked a cigarette. I enjoy a cocktail every now and then but have no need to have a drink every day. I’m very careful with salt.

We sweeten everything in our house with brown rice syrup, agave and honey, but no sugar. My kids have never seen a sugar-frosted flake. My son wouldn’t know what Cap’n Crunch was if he looked at it.

I’m not just looking good for the sake of looking good. I want to live a long, healthy life. The life expectancy of the African American male is the shortest of all groups in this country, and I don’t wish to be a statistic. I want to be around to see great-grandchildren — and be able to enjoy them. health@latimes.com

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MIND & BODY

FITNESS

Is this the gym of the future?

BY MELINDA FULMER >>> The first thing Dave Asprey will tell you about his newly opened Bulletproof Labs in Santa Monica is that it’s not a

gym. Rather, he says, it’s the world’s first “human upgrade” facility dedicated exclusively to biohacking, or tweaking your biology for better performance. ¶ At first glance, the light-filled space adjacent to his Bulletproof Coffee café on Main Street certainly looks like a gym, with personal trainers standing by and gleaming equipment lined up.

But take a closer look, and that equipment is unlike anything you’re used to seeing in a health club, from the cockpit-style atmospheric cell trainer by the door to the rotating virtual float tank in the center of the room. These are the same machines that Asprey has in the $1-million performance lab at his Victoria, Canada, home.

“It has been a dream for several years to make this level of technology available for everyone,” said Asprey, arguably the world’s most famous biohacker. “Part of the role Bulletproof plays in society is to make people aware of all the things they can do to tap into their full power — and it’s frustrating to me that this kind of amazing technology isn’t more widely available because it makes such a big difference.”

With this first lab, Asprey and his partners are learning how to scale these “stacks” of treatments for mind, body and cellular health for a larger audience of Paleoites, Bulletproof podcast listeners and butter coffee drinkers, with locations to follow in other cities.

momentum, said to deliver a week’s workout in 15 minutes.

There’s also a bone density trainer to support all that muscle, as well as “cold cardio,” a cooling and compression bike that is being tested by NASA for flights to Mars.

Other treatments for cognition and mental performance include neurofeedback; a dry float tank that induces a rejuvenating, dreamlike state; light therapy; and heart rate training to manage stress response.

While they’re between treatments, members can have a vitamin IV infusion administered by a nurse at its in-house lab and clinic area.

“Most of the technologies are focused on recovery, immune system function, cellular health and cognitive performance, and other areas not available in the standard fitness concept,” Asprey says.

Ahead of the curve

If this all sounds a bit out there, it is. Much of the research on this equipment is still in the early stages and therefore, like biohack-

ing, it’s an experiment you’re performing on yourself in hopes of getting ahead of the research curve and feeling and performing better.

Because the treatments are unfamiliar to most people, staff members expect people to come in to try a few individual treatments before they commit to a membership, which ranges from $500 a month to around $1,500 per month depending on frequency of use. Each membership includes a battery of tests and an individualized treatment plan depending on performance goals.

It’s certainly not inexpensive, but Asprey’s team says if you come in once a week, it’s comparable to paying for a very high-end personal training session. And for many, he says, it will be the thing that helps them feel and look better, when traditional workouts and dietary changes are not enough.

“This,” he says, “is about getting the best biological return on the effort you put in, and that works for everyone.” health@latimes.com

Jay L. Clendenin Los Angeles Times

BULLETPROOF LABS , founded by Dave Asprey, is open

in Santa Monica. Here, CEO Martin Tobias uses a device.

Brain and body hacks

Some of the lab’s equipment might be familiar to elite athletes and hard-core fitness enthusiasts.

There is the oxygen trainer, which uses a bike and an oxygen mask that alternates between 100% oxygen to low-oxygen air to optimize cardiovascular function and performance. Or the cryotherapy chamber, in which three-minute stints in temperatures as low as minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit are meant to decrease inflammation, enhance recovery and boost the immune system.

Asprey may not want to call it a gym, but many of the machines are designed to complement or expand on gains users have made at the gym: The cheat machine delivers an adaptive resistance strength workout that eliminates the user’s ability to “cheat” or use

Here are 6 easy ways to recharge your personal batteries Here are diet and lifestyle “hacks” from Dave Asprey to boost energy and brain power.

Throw a little cold water on your day. End your morning shower with a blast of cold water. Try to build up to a 30-second-long blast. “You’ll burn hundreds more calories all day long,” Asprey says, and “have more energy and sleep better.”

Fast with fat in the morning.

Intermittent fasting (or not eating for the 16 hours between dinner and lunch) has delivered big payoffs in energy and focus

for Asprey, but, he says, it’s easier to do without irritability when you have Bulletproof coffee to last you through lunch. While Asprey’s popular but controversial creation is made with grass-fed butter, his own “Brain Octane” oil, and special mold-free coffee beans, many make it with their own coffee and a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil.

Get 20 minutes of sunshine in the a.m. Take your dog for a walk, tilt your face — without sunglasses — to the sky, and leave some of your skin unprotected to help your body create Vitamin D.

The Beverly Hills Art Show

Oct 21 & 22

10 am to 5 pm

Be smart about oil and sweeteners. Asprey cooks with monounsaturated fats such as avocado oil or grass-fed ghee. “You want to cook foods at a lower temperature and eat the right fats. It makes a huge difference in how the body performs.” Asprey advises limiting sugar and eliminating artificial sweeteners.

Exercise differently. Asprey advocates working out fewer times each week but upping the intensity to boost cellular function and energy output. In addition to daily walking or other movement, he performs two

Stretching your limits

BY KAVITA DASWANI >>> In San Diego. Downtown Los Angeles. Westwood. Here are some noteworthy fitness events to get you moving:

Tri San Diego

A twist on the triathlon Helen Allois, Dreamcatchers 2, oil on oxydized steel, 19” x 17”

featuring Ghostly...

Curb blue light to improve your day and night. Cover the blinking lights on your monitors, televisions and other electronic devices with electrical tape or stick-on covers. Set your phone to low light. Use a dimmer on lights in your living room and bathroom at least two hours before bed.

— Melinda Fulmer

HEALTH HAPPENINGS

drop in!

wellness expo and live entertainment.

The event is organized by the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research; pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate among major cancers.

Some 3,000 participants are expected to gather at UCLA in Westwood for the event; they will also be able to enjoy a Fit Family Expo and a Halloween parade for the kids. This will also be the first year there will be a 15K run, in addition to the traditional 5K and 10K. Info: 7 a.m. Oct. 29 on the UCLA campus’ Wilson Plaza, 120 Westwood Plaza.

It might be a bit of a drive to get there, but the intense workout on the other side will be worth it. With three different courses, the Life Time Tri San Diego on Oct. 15 is designed for all levels and takes place at South Shores Park on Mission Bay, site of the first modern triathlon in 1974.

Entrants can sign up for Super Sprint, which is a .24-mile swim, 6.35-mile bike ride and 1.65-mile run, or Sprint, which is about twice that distance. Haven’t been training for a triathlon? You can enter a Mixed Relay, which allows four competitors to finish the Super Sprint. The event was previously known as Esprit de She, and was for women only; it is now open to everyone. After, local dining spot Konito’s Cafe will provide breakfast burritos, and from Second Chance Beer Co. come welldeserved frosted libations.

Info: Event takes place Oct. 15. Registration starts at $85 until Oct. 14. trisandiego.com

Oue Skyspace LA

Strike a pose at 1,000 feet

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intense workouts a week for peak performance — one a weightlifting workout with heavy weights and another high-intensity interval training workout that mixes sprints of 60 to 90 seconds with a minute of rest.

Los Angeles Cancer Challenge

Costume up and run for Halloween

Put on a costume, lace up those running shoes and hit the pre-Halloween Los Angeles Cancer Challenge’s walk/run in Westwood. Now in its 20th year, the event this year will include a family-friendly

There’s beachfront yoga, yoga in blazing temperatures, yoga on the dance floor.

But ever tried warrior pose at 1,000 feet above Los Angeles?

OUE Skyspace, at the top of the US Bank Tower, has reprised its limited Sunset Yoga in the Sky series, led by an instructor from the neighboring Evoke Yoga.

The hourlong class gives participants a 360-degree view over the city while headphones block out any sound except the instructor’s voice and soothing background music to calm any incipient acrophobia.

Info: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16 and Nov. 6.

Classes typically held on the first and third Mondays of each month. $35 per person, which includes a post-class ride on the heart-stopping Skyslide. oue-skyspace .com

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HOME & DESIGN

Photographs by

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

RITA TATEEL created a fairy (and gnome) village at the base of a 100-year-old carob tree outside her Fairfax neighborhood home. It’s become a local landmark.

Fairy tree sinks deep roots

BY JEANETTE MARANTOS >>> Never underestimate the power of popsicle sticks. ¶ Rita Tateel has used them and other inexpensive materials

to create a kind of happiness tree in her quest to keep cellphone-absorbed passersby from tripping over the buckling sidewalk. ¶ Some people might set out cones or hazard signs, but Tateel decided to work with whimsy by creating a mini “habitat” for fairies and gnomes in the 100-yearold carob tree outside her Fairfax neighborhood home.

After all, it’s the tree’s massive roots that made the sidewalk look more like a roller coaster track. “I wanted to get people to stop and pay attention,” she said.

And pay attention they have, taking photos and leaving piles of fan mail.

“I love your garden,” gushed one letter signed by “Random Stranger.” “Thank you for infusing a little magic in a world otherwise devoid.”

The reaction has been both overwhelming and uplifting, Tateel said. “I saw one woman stop dead in her tracks with this huge grin on her face. Other people stop to thank me. It’s so joyous, it makes my heart sing.”

When Tateel started the habitat on Memorial Day weekend, her intent was to plant some succulents among the tree’s gnarly roots and add a few fairyland touches, such as tiny doors and porches, spiraling walkways and even a waterfall and lake (made from blue aquarium gravel).

She was inspired by the fairy gardens she found online when she was researching succulent plants.

“I just kept thinking, This tree has so many nooks and crannies … what can I put there?”

The answer was surprisingly simple and cheap, Tateel said. She visited yard sales and dollar stores to find inexpensive materials to create doors (out of popsicle sticks), fences and tiny, precarious walkways that circled the tree (us-

MANY pieces in Tateel’s wonderland are handmade, including this swing, just the size for a fairy.

ing trimmed down garden trellises). She even broke apart pine cones to use their scales for shingles on little roofs.

Then she put everything on the tree and steeled herself against the likelihood of theft or vandalism.

To her astonishment, however, “not only has stuff not been taken, we’ve had a bunch of stuff brought

in by strangers,” she said.

For instance, at least three young neighborhood children, Thomas, Winnie and Charlotte, have adopted the site and make regular visits, bringing tiny items — sometimes handmade — to add to the display.

One visitor left an umbrella too big for the fairies, so Tateel dangled

it from a branch, making it look like a fancy parachute with a fairy hitching a ride. Another visitor left a small mailbox at the tree, which is often stuffed with mail. And another dropped off a bucket of sidewalk chalk to encourage further enhancements to her rippling walkway.

Tateel says she’s always enjoyed

arts and craft projects, but her “Fairy and Gnome Magical Tree” has given her more happiness than she ever imagined. Her goal now is to share the wealth, by encouraging other people to create their own “magic trees.”

“You can do this with any tree. It doesn’t take a lot of work or time,” she said recently. “I’d love it if, instead of neighbors complaining about traffic or car thefts or new McMansions, they could share this spirit of joy.”

As if on cue, a walker named Beth Polito reined in her dog and spoke eagerly to Tateel.

“Are you the one who’s doing this?” Polito said. “I just want you to know I love this. It makes me so happy. It brightens up all the crazier things happening in this world.”

Tateel laughed, both delighted and embarrassed.

“I never met her before,” she said after Polito went on her way, “but this is just what I’m talking about. People ask me, ‘Aren’t you afraid someone will take it away?’

But what’s the worst thing that can happen? Someone trashes it, and I have to do it again.”

Ultimately, Tateel said, “I do this because it makes people smile.

And if it makes you smile, why would you want to mess it up? It’s really an exercise in trust.”

And whimsy, and a whole lot of popsicle sticks. home@latimes.com

Some tips for establishing your own magical tree Succulents provide a fairyland feel and require very little soil to grow, which makes them good for tucking around tree roots. Scrape out soil around the roots, until you are hitting the root itself, then fill in with cactus soil (available in nurseries) and plant your succulents.

Go online and search “fairy POPSICLE sticks can be used in a number of creative ways. gardens” for inspiration.

You’ll find endless ideas about creating bridges, doors and other habitats. The Facebook group “Fairy Garden Believers” is especially helpful, Rita Tateel said.

Yard sales and dollar stores are your friends. Tateel spent less than $50 to create her tree. Also, check the garden section of your local hardware store for wood trellises that can be cut to size or little fairyland decorations like ceramic gnomes or mushrooms.

Popsicle sticks, both regular and thin, can be glued together and painted to make houses, doors, even window shutters.

Rivers, lakes and waterfalls can be created using flat glass marbles, available at dollar stores, or aquarium rocks available at pet stores.

Sphagnum moss, available at nurseries or pet stores, is great for creating woodsy roofs.

Practice trust, but be practical, Tateel said. Don’t put anything in your magic tree that it would kill you to lose.

— Jeanette Marantos

Photographs by

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

DOLLAR STORE finds are mixed with handcrafted items on Rita Tateel’s fairy tree. Small

succulents are planted at the tree’s base. Aquarium rocks are shaped into waterfalls.

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HOME & DESIGN

Decorate like you’re a celebrity

SHOPPING

BY KAVITA DASWANI >>> Unless you’re an interior designer scouting fine furniture for a celebrity client, the pristine showrooms along the La Cienega Design Quarter might feel a tad out of reach.

But for a short time those showrooms are shifting their prized pieces outdoors and slashing prices. The first sidewalk sale in the LCDQ — a two-day event that began Friday and concludes Saturday — features wares of about 30 showrooms along La Cienega from Santa Monica Boulevard to Rosewood Avenue, spilling over onto Melrose Avenue and Melrose Place. The designers that sell to the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Aniston are clearing out their warehouses: ChristoLCDQ pher Farr rugs are discounted from $2,500 to Sidewalk Sale $250; table lamps originally priced at more When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. than $2,000 are half price; ceramics that once Saturday cost $80 are now $20; and fabric and wallWhere: La Cienega Design Quarter, along La Cienega paper remnants can be found for $10.

Boulevard and other Top design and decor names such as Madestreets near Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood line Stuart, Serena & Lily and Harbinger will Info: lcdqla.com be taking part.

“Our showroom has been here 21 years and we’ve never had a sale,” said Robert Willson, owner of Downtown. “We have a 10,000-square-foot warehouse with pieces that never made it to our showroom. We thought it was time to pull out some things.” These will include Midcentury pieces and antiques — sofas, cabinets, Lucite chairs. Willson said many will be discounted by up to 80%.

“It’s a great opportunity for consumers who might be too intimidated to go into a showroom,” said Orli Ben-Dor, creative director for Hollywood at Home, owned by designer Peter Dunham. “It’s a good idea to band together and have this walkable sidewalk where everything is centralized. Nobody will have the same things as a neighbor.” Look for Hollywood at Home’s vintage pillows and throws, table and floor lamps and other home accents, priced at $15 and up.

Hollywood at Home Hollywood at Home

PUT IT TOGETHER

Hollywood at Home is among the showrooms participating in the La Cienega Design Quarter's sidewalk sale, ending Saturday. Nearly 30 shops are involved.

PERCH

SEATING

Downtown

An ottoman from the Madeline Stuart showroom is the sort of item featured in the sidewalk sale.

Madeline Stuart

Italian chairs with brass sections are carried by Downtown.

home@latimes.com

FLOORING

Some rugs from Christopher Farr will be offered at a tenth of their original price.

Christopher Farr

Hollywood At Home

BRASS ACCENTS

Nesting tables from Hollywood at Home, which is offering a variety of decor items.

AMERICA’S LARGEST DOOR STORES BEST PRICES • FINEST DESIGNS • HIGHEST QUALITY

Harbinger Harbinger

CREATE A LOOK

The Harbinger showroom is moving some pieces to the sidewalk, priced to move.

GARDENING

Fall’s ideas are planted

By Jeanette Marantos Here are three plant sales to get you started on your fall planting, with more to come in late October. The events continue through Sunday and are free unless otherwise specified.

Mt. SAC Plant Sale at Descanso Gardens Students from the Mt. San Antonio College horticulture program will sell a variety of potted plants for home gardens.

Admission to the gardens is $9. Once inside, admission to the sale is free; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge.

Info: descansogardens.org

South Coast Botanic Garden Fall Plant Extravaganza

NORTHRIDGE 8700 Tampa Ave. (818) 725-2544 Open 9–6 Monday – Saturday (Closed Sunday) www.UrbanDoorsCompany.com

LAA5024386-1

TUSTIN 1301 Santa Fe Dr. (714) 312-5101

The garden’s “Propagation Volunteers” have been cultivating plants all year long in preparation for this sale, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. in Palos Verdes.

Info: southcoastbotanicgarden.org

Horticulture department at Fullerton College Fall Plant Sale

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Celebrity home sales and high-end real estate transactions accompanied by stunning photos.

Sign up at latimes.com/HotProp

This sale offers California natives and drought-tolerant plants, plus herbaceous perennials, flowering shrubs, shade and house plants, winter vegetables and even tomatoes for the die-hards who can’t let go of summer; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. No credit cards, free parking at the Horticulture Center, Building 1600, 321 E. Chapman Ave. in Fullerton.

Info: horticulture.fullcoll.edu home@latimes.com

PHOTO: LA Times

Mt. San Antonio College

SUCCULENTS and other items suit-

able for fall planting are on sale now.

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HOME & DESIGN

THE MIDDLE AGES

Open mouth and insert a foot.

Or food, whichever is handier

CHRIS ERSKINE As we were saying at work the other day: It’s fall; eat a little. You’ll soon wrap yourself in coats and sweaters. No one will be the wiser.

So go ahead, eat up.

Orally insulate. All happiness starts with the mouth … a chicken wing, a bite of cheesecake, a sloppy kiss, a witty remark.

I am sadly short of those, even though I am in the business of witty remarks. In fact, I hosted another big benefit the other night, in Glendale, “Gateway to Altadena.”

Flubbed a few names, as usual. I am a game and enthusiastic emcee, though I occasionally have a mouthful of marbles, which surprises people, considering how much I jabber on and on. You’d think I’d have picked up more of the language by now.

Lately, I chatter almost incessantly.

I even gave up coffee last week in hopes of dialing it back a little and told colleagues that quitting coffee was changing my entire personality.

“You have a personality?” they asked.

I understand their confusion.

But the banquet went very well.

Raised a few shekels for the young scholars at Glendale College, ate some very tender beef — all happiness begins with the mouth — told banquetcaliber stories about friends and grizzly bears, including the absolutely true story of a good buddy who climbed into bed after a long night out.

From the other side of the bed, a woman’s voice: “You’re drunk again, aren’t you?”

“How can you tell?” my buddy asked.

“Because you live next door,” she said.

True story, far as I know. At least, it seems like it could happen. As they say: Dying is easy; marriage is hard.

You meet these women — our wives — and they seem the nicest, mostinteresting women ever. They totally are, except with their own husbands, who seem always to be on probation for some perceived infraction.

“Sometimes you have to push back,” one husband explained to a few of us the other day at breakfast.

We all nodded.

In truth, I don’t see a whole lot of pushing back. Compromise and surrender just seem so much more expedient.

Saw a lot of good friends last week; it was as if they were dropping out of the sky: a sitcom writer; a wry restaurateur; my physician, Dr. Steve, who operates a magnificent medical practice out of the trunk of an aging Eldorado.

An old high school buddy, Kimla, also came barreling into town, ordered up an Irish whiskey, and caught me up on the last 10 years of his life, including a stunning new granddaughter.

I told him: “Me, I don’t have grandchildren. I just keep having my own kids.”

“How many?” he asked.

“No one knows,” I explained. “Maybe a hundred.”

“That’s a lot,” he said.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” I said with a shrug.

He told me about his life in Texas and how things had worked out pretty well. He traveled a lot, liked his job, couldn’t imagine retiring.

I explained my own financial strategy — holding doors for rich widows at every opportunity, yet how I still find myself at the helm of a 12-year-old

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latimes.com /home

Go online for an archive of Chris Erskine’s “The Middle Ages” columns.

minivan full of stale French fries and broken dreams.

“So things are really working out for you?” he said.

“It’s fall,” I told him. “Eat a little.”

As we kibitzed, a confident young woman blew into the bar, the way confident young women do these days, as if on a jet stream, as if on a layer of her own helium.

You couldn’t miss her, this woman.

The afternoon sun lit her like an autumn day. I recognized her immediately — known her a while. I can locate her in a crowd just by the chestnut in her hair, the reds and browns of early October.

“Hi, sweetie,” I said.

“Coors Light,” said the patient and lovely older daughter.

Obviously, I am rich in many things.

Just nothing with any equity to it.

You gotta laugh, right? As old high school buddies remind us, life blows by, as if on a jet stream. No regrets. No apologies, except to our wives, on an almost hourly basis.

Other than that, no apologies at all.

Another buddy, Marcus, understands all this, the capriciousness of human relationships, the need to act morally in challenging situations, and how all happiness begins with the mouth.

He told me how he was at a wedding the other day — splendid event, vineyards so near you could crush your own grapes.

Late in the evening, he found himself at the dessert table and decided not to be greedy. He’d just eat the tops off the cupcakes, then put them back neatly on the table.

“I’m on a diet,” he explained.

True story, far as I know.

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L.A. AFFAIRS

Love drives a pickup truck

By Maisha Closson “That guy over there.”

I was talking to my friend, Kim, as we sipped cocktails at a bar in Hollywood. She followed my gaze.

“The … bald … white guy?” she asked, her face scrunched up in disbelief. I nodded. She raised an eyebrow and slurped on her vodka cranberry.

Some background might be helpful here. I’m black and my friend Kim is white, as was the guy in question. He also shaved his head and, apparently, that threw my friend for a loop. I knew why.

Since I’d known her I’d mostly dated black guys. The real estate agent I’d met at the LACMA summer jazz series. The actor who’d given me his head shot as soon as he learned I was a TV writer. The musician who serenaded me at the Dresden between Marty and Elayne’s sets. All black. And the one or two white guys in the mix had hair.

Two weeks later, I climbed in the passenger seat of the bald white guy’s truck when he picked me up from my apartment in Miracle Mile. Hmm … he drove a pickup truck. And I knew from talking to him on the phone that he was from the South.

I smiled as he told me he’d made a reservation at Ammo. So far, so good. I liked that place. As we drove along, I surreptitiously glanced at him — he was wearing a nice suit, having come straight from his office to get me.

He had mentioned he was a lawyer, so I’d already mentally checked the box for gainfully employed. But something else was on my mind.

Here’s the truth: Race is still a thing.

No matter how advanced a society we think we are, the idea that we’re post-racial is laughable.

Over the years working in numerous writers rooms as the only black writer, I’d become a pro at deciphering comments white guys made: Interracial relationships aren’t a big deal nowadays.

Translation: I’d never do it but I think Halle Berry’s pretty.

I have a lot of friends in inter-

Gwenda Kaczor For The Times

racial relationships.

Translation: Some of my friends date Asian women.

Today, kids don’t care about race.

Translation: My kid listens to hip-hop.

This guy was from Georgia.

“The heart of Klan activity,” one of my friends felt compelled to tell me. To be fair, I’m from the South.

Raised in Florida, I know about chewing tobacco, gator farms, 2 Live Crew, y’all, and the Confederate flag. For that reason, I started

getting nervous about this guy.

What if I were part of some Dixieland fantasy of his? After we were seated I asked him how many black girls he’d dated. “Why?” he asked. “Because maybe black girls are your thing,” I said. “I don’t want to be part of your chocolate fantasy.”

“Uh … I just think you’re hot,” he said.

We continued dating, and soon we were exclusive. This didn’t come without challenges.

Whenever we went somewhere

with a lot of black people in attendance, I got the side eye from some of them. I understood. My dating outside the race was seen as a betrayal. Their thought bubble hovered, clear as day: “After everything they’ve done to us, you’re going to date one of them?”

And some days, it was tough because I felt guilty for not completing the picture of the strong black couple. Another time, my boyfriend got a call from his exgirlfriend. “I heard you’re dating a black girl.” Yep. Word had spread

through the Caucasian grapevine.

I was working on a sitcom at the time. When I told the writers on the show I was dating a white guy from the South who drove a pickup truck, I could tell they were skeptical.

The kicker was when we went to the wedding of one of his friends in Cape Girardeau, Mo. I’m not exaggerating when I say white people stared at us as we walked down the street.

See? Race is a thing.

The more serious the relationship got, the more I started thinking about kids.

If we had them, they would be “multiethnic” or “biracial” or “mixed heritage.” All terms that annoyed me. But I was getting ahead of myself, right? Was I in this or not? Was I ready to be committed to a guy whose family owned shotguns and went to the Waffle House?

My parents were both college professors. His parents hadn’t gone to college. My parents were Baha’is who didn’t celebrate Christmas. His dad played Santa Claus in various malls below the Mason-Dixon line during the yuletide season. My boyfriend listened to emo rock, for God’s sake!

This was bound to be a disaster.

But I didn’t break up with him.

I grew to love him more.

I loved that he shared a house off Sunset with a gay, Pakistani performance artist. I loved that he’d had the same Rottweiler for a pet since high school. I loved that he was a plaintiff ’s attorney, helping clients who’d been discriminated against in the workplace.

I didn’t love his pickup truck — it was cramped and always had dog hair on the seat.

But no relationship’s perfect.

Fourteen years and two kids later, race is still a thing, in a growing list of things, that defines us.

The author is a TV writer living in Los Angeles. She’s on Instagram as @maisha_closson.

L.A. Affairs chronicles the current dating scene in and around Los Angeles. If you have comments or a true story to tell, email us at LAAffairs@latimes.com.

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