Newspaper Los Angeles Times – July 09, 2021- Газета Нью-Йорк, США, Америка, New York, USA, America

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FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2021

Retired workers leave a void

NEWSOM SEEKS CUT IN WATER USAGE

Boomers laid off in pandemic are quitting job market, putting the economy at risk.

Californians are asked for 15% reduction as governor expands his drought emergency.

By Don Lee WASHINGTON — Even with declining numbers of young Americans entering the job market and the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, U.S. employers were able to count on the last of the baby boomers to prevent labor shortages and soaring wages.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has hit that longstanding reality like a hand grenade.

And the effects will probably be felt throughout the economy for years to come, in recurrent labor shortages, pressure for higher pay, problems for Social Security and private pension funds, and a host of other areas.

When the health crisis struck early last year, workers of all ages were laid off by the tens of millions. But the result of the pandemic-induced recession is turning out to be vastly different for older workers than for their younger counterparts.

Younger workers — regardless of the fattened jobless benefits provided by Washington on a temporary basis — now face strong pressure to resume their interrupted careers relatively quickly. And recent jobs numbers reflect that pressure to get back to work.

Not so among older workers.

In large numbers, many have reassessed their finances and other factors and have concluded that they are about as well off retiring now as they would be going back to work and soldiering on for a few more [See Retirement, A9]

By Taryn Luna

Photographs by

early Thursday cleared a portion of an encampment on Ocean Front Walk that has set the city on edge.

Clearing camps, block by block, tent by tent Remaining stragglers rousted in predawn Venice sweep

By Benjamin Oreskes and Doug Smith Ursula was asleep on a beanbag under an umbrella on a patch of sand, just feet from the public bathrooms on Venice Beach when three LAPD officers shined flashlights on her and told her to move. It was just after 2 a.m.

Thursday.

She told them she’d been given a hotel room the day before and had come back for the shopping carts teeming with possessions she left behind. But the effort left her too tired to return to the hotel.

THERE IS a Friday deadline to remove structures from the boardwalk’s far north portion.

TOKYO OLYMPICS

The ‘Pandemic Games’ will be marked by the sound of silence With Tokyo in state of emergency, the Olympics will take place without crowds.

By David Wharton The Tokyo Olympics made history last year when they were postponed until this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now comes another unfortunate first.

Facing a surge in corona-

Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times

L.A. POLICE approach a woman in Venice to ask if she wants shelter. She declined. Sanitation crews

virus cases in the Japanese capital, the government has declared a new state of emergency beginning next week and officials confirmed Thursday what had been suspected for months — the Summer Games will proceed for the first time with no spectators allowed in the stands.

The sound of silence in empty stadiums and arenas will unarguably diminish the massive sports competition, said the International Olympic Committee, organizers and government offi-

“You’re going to have to get up and exit this area,” one officer said — as sanitation workers stood off to the side, ready to sort her belongings from trash.

“The park is closed.”

For more than three hours, a crew of about a dozen Los Angeles sanitation and recreation and parks workers accompanied by several officers from the Los Angeles Police Department went to work on Ocean Front Walk, sweeping up detritus from one portion of a homeless encampment that has set Venice on edge for months.

[See Venice, A12]

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Californians to voluntarily cut back on water consumption by 15% compared with last year as drought conditions worsen and temperatures continue to rise across the western United States.

The governor on Thursday also expanded his regional drought state of emergency to apply to 50 California counties, or roughly 42% of the state’s population.

“We’re hopeful that people will take that mindset they brought into the last drought and extend that forward with a 15% voluntary reduction, not only on residences but industrial commercial operations and agricultural operations,” Newsom said at a news conference in San Luis Obispo County.

With the recall election two months away, the governor has refrained from issuing a state of emergency for all of California or mandating water restrictions as drought covers the state.

Standing before Lopez Lake, where the reservoir is at less than 35% capacity, Newsom encouraged people to take “common sense” measures, such as watering lawns less, fixing leaks on their properties and taking shorter showers. He underscored that water reduc[See Consumption, A7]

‘Southern California is the hardest place to fight fire.

It’s not for the faint of heart.’

— J USTINE G UDE

cials in a joint statement that offered “regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place.”

“I’m a little bit heartbroken,” U.S. diver Krysta Palmer said. “I also feel heartbroken for Tokyo and the country of Japan. It’s tough for them not being able to hold a normal Olympics.”

Tokyo officials previously had suggested they would not move forward without fans but changed their [See Olympics, A4]

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

FOREST SERVICE firefighters Nick Browne, left, and Justine Gude deploy

a hose pack at the Oak Flat Fire Station in the Angeles National Forest.

Changing landscape puts fire crews under pressure

Biden rejects role in protracted war President rebuffs critics of Afghanistan pullout, noting the U.S. achieved its goal of killing Osama bin Laden. WORLD, A4

Heat, drought make for ‘a whole year of summer’

Bauer may face MLB sanction Even if the Dodgers pitcher isn’t charged, he may draw a long suspension, based on past cases. SPORTS, B10 Weather Mostly sunny.

L.A. Basin: 89/69. B6

By Hayley Smith

Joseph Odelyn Associated Press

A RRE STS IN HAITI Protesters in Port-au-Prince decry the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Six suspects, two with U.S. links, are in custody. WORLD, A5

At Oak Flat Fire Station in the Angeles National Forest, veteran firefighters are already getting a bad feeling about this year.

There has been so little rain, and rising temperatures caused by climate change have made the landscape drier than they’ve ever seen — ready to combust with the smallest spark.

They’ve watched the rugged mountains of the forest around the Castaic sta-

tion change before their eyes, from a place of seasons to a place that seems like it is in perpetual summer. And with homes encroaching farther into the terrain each year, there are more people in harm’s way.

The firefighters’ readiness and anxiety now hang in the air, as thick as the dead, dry brush clinging to the surrounding hillsides.

“My first winter here, I was burning piles in thigh-deep snow,” said Christian Bauzo, a firefighter who has been with the Forest Service for 15 years. “Now it’s like, ‘What winter?’

[See Fires, A7]

BUSINESS INSIDE: New solar farm could save water as well as generate clean energy. A8

A2

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PERSPECTIVES

U.S. line on Afghanistan rings hollow other militant groups. Early hopes that the U.S. could set up bases or observation posts in neighboring countries foundered when no nation would allow such a presence. That would place forces on warships in the sea, too far away to be effective in air support or surveillance.

A report last month by a U.N. Security Council monitoring team concluded that the Taliban and Al Qaeda remain “closely aligned” and “show no sign of breaking ties.” (The Taliban disputed the report.)

Officials say the gains made will endure after military departs. But a Taliban resurgence has shaken premise.

By Tracy Wilkinson WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s defense of its final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is predicated on claims and assumptions that many say are shaky at best. It depends in large part on a conviction that progress made in Afghanistan during the last 20 years — in education, development, human rights — is irreversible. That today’s Afghanistan is a fundamentally changed nation, and that Taliban militants accept the transformation.

But facts on the ground belie many elements of that conviction.

Has the Taliban changed?

The most important questions What will prevent Taliban insurgents from attempting to take over Kabul, the capital? What will prevent the group from returning to the egregious abuses it practiced when it ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, when it forced women out of public view and imposed a harsh and antiquated form of Islam?

The Biden administration insists the Taliban now knows it must behave according to globally accepted norms to enjoy international recognition.

“Any government that comes to power at the barrel of a gun, through force, is not one that will have popular support, it is not one that will accrue assistance from the international community, it is not one that will have international legitimacy,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week.

“What we know is that the world will not accept an imposition by force of a government in Afghanistan,” he continued. “The legitimacy of any future Afghan government, the ability of that government to receive international assistance — which will be of critical importance — the durability of any future Afghan government can only be possible if that government has a basic respect for human rights.”

In fact, the Taliban, while perhaps on best behavior now, has shown little regard

Marcus Yam Los Angeles Times

U.S. MARINES disembark at Camp Bost in southern Afghanistan in 2017. With U.S. troops’ departure, the

Taliban’s advance has fueled concern that the group will return to the abuses under its harsh rule in the 1990s. for international acceptance, experts and diplomats say. It was not concerned with being largely a pariah state for nearly a decade, supported only by neighboring Pakistan, where many share an affinity for equally radical forms of Islam.

And when the Taliban does allow international organizations to work in its territory, providing medical care or food, it is at a high cost: The militants charge the groups tens of thousands of dollars in protection money.

Critics say the U.S. government rhetoric is aimed at saving face even as the administration accepts less than credible Taliban assurances.

“People want to find justifications for abandoning Afghanistan that they know aren’t true,” said David Sedney, until recently president of the American University in Kabul and a former senior Pentagon official who handled the Afghan region.

“They’re tired of it; it’s hard.”

Diplomacy vs. war Even as U.S. officials continue to insist that “only a political solution” will resolve the conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban aggressively pursues a military outcome, one in which it fully intends to be the victor.

“Too painful to see the country we invested our blood and energy gets destroyed in front of our eyes,” Fawzia Koofi, a rare female member of the Afghan government’s peace negotiating team, said on Twitter. She called on the U.S. to “use its leverage,” adding that “way too many people lose life daily” in Afghanistan.

In recent days, Taliban forces have advanced and taken control of one district after another in the Afghan countryside — a third of the more than 400 districts — and this week seized a provincial capital, the first such urban foray. There has been some speculation that the insurgents will surround the cities rather than overrun them as a way to demand further concessions from the Afghan government.

Despite the military campaign, teams of Afghan negotiators representing both the government and the Taliban, with the U.S. playing an observer role, have continued to meet in Doha, Qatar, in what are described as peace negotiations. Yet the Taliban team has yet to make clear its plans and goals, leaving many observers unsure of its ultimate intentions. A proposal for a joint interim government, floated recently by U.S. special envoy Zalmay

Khalilzad, sputtered and failed.

Price, of the State Department, cited a statement from the Taliban this week that said it wanted to “accelerate” diplomacy. Asked what that meant, given the reality on the ground, Price declined to say, adding it was up to the Taliban to define terms.

The talks “are designed to handcuff, confuse and provide false hope to the Afghan government and people,” said Bill Roggio, a military expert at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

He said the Taliban “has manipulated the entire process from the beginning” with the aim of reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan styled after the iteration dissolved after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The United States invaded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, claiming the Taliban gave refuge to those who planned the devastating assaults.

Is it already over?

The speed with which the Taliban is advancing has stunned U.S. officials. U.S. military commanders are now warning of a possible civil war that would bathe the troubled country in new rounds of bloodshed that

would reverberate throughout the region. Hundreds of Afghan soldiers have fled the country in the face of the Taliban push.

“If we don’t provide them [Afghan military forces] some support, they certainly will collapse,” U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, testified to a Senate committee in April.

“I think everyone is concerned that should ... a civil war ensue, there’s the possibility of mass refugee movement that could affect all forms of the nations around Afghanistan.”

And the stated principal goal of invading Afghanistan in the first place — diminishing the ability of networks such as Al Qaeda to use the country as a launching pad for terrorist attacks — has only partially been achieved, military commanders say.

Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was assassinated a decade ago, but ties between the militant network and the Taliban are not completely severed, despite Taliban assurances to the contrary, according to U.S. intelligence and United Nations reports.

McKenzie acknowledged that the withdrawal will leave American forces less able to observe activity by Al Qaeda, Islamic State or

California Republicans’ Trump dilemma MARK Z. BARABAK How do you solve a problem like The Donald?

The caterwauling expresident and sore loser nonpareil poses a vexing riddle for Republican candidates.

Trump loyalists stick like epoxy to the former chief executive and are seen, rightly or not, as indispensable to the hopes of anyone running under the GOP banner.

Fail to excite the Trump faithful, the thinking goes, and they’ll skip voting and give Democrats an overwhelming turnout advantage. Antagonize them and the wrath of MAGA warriors will rain like hellfire from Mar-a-Lago.

At the same time, a great many Republicans are disgusted with Trump and his self-dealing presidency, not to mention his continuing assault on the country’s foundational pillars, things like the peaceful transition of power and free and fair elections.

The defection of GOP apostates helped Democrats win control of the House in 2018 and put Joe Biden in the White House in 2020. Should a candidate hug Trump too tightly, the theory goes, those voters will stay home — or, worse, vote Democratic once again.

So what’s a deeply principled, or nakedly ambitious, Republican to do?

It’s a quandary that is particularly acute in Cali-

Seth Wenig Associated Press

SEVERAL CANDIDATES in California are trying to

have it both ways on the polarizing ex-president. fornia, where Trump lost to Biden by 30 percentage points and no Republican has won statewide office in well over a decade.

Given the predicament, candidates have taken varied approaches.

On one side is Caitlyn Jenner, whose gubernatorial candidacy seems mostly about mainlining publicity, her drug of choice, and profiting off the attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom by treating the campaign as one big merchandising opportunity. She has been coached by members of Team Trump and, to the extent the former reality TV star takes a position on issues, sounds as though she’s reading from the Trump Manifesto.

On the other end of the spectrum is Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne

Marie Schubert, who is running for state attorney general. She quit the GOP in 2018 and changed her registration to “no party preference” — not due to Trump, Schubert said, but because she has views “on both sides of the aisle.”

All well and good, though the move followed a contentious primary in which Schubert’s Democratic foes pilloried the prosecutor for her alleged ties to Trump.

That will be harder to do now that she’s exited the Republican Party.

Somewhere in the middle sit Lanhee Chen, a Stanford professor and policy whiz, who this week announced his candidacy for state controller, and Kevin Faulconer, the former San Diego mayor running to replace Newsom in the recall election.

Chen, a fixture on the political chat show circuit, has never been a rabid Never Trumper. But the former advisor to presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio is firmly rooted in the Republican establishment and, to the extent it still exists, the ideas wing of the GOP. When asked, Chen refuses to say whether he voted for Trump, a statement that is unlikely to please either side and shows no obvious willingness to make tough calls regardless of consequence. Chen said he prefers to look forward and not backward, which is a good thing when driving but difficult if not impossible to manage when running for political office.

In an interview with The Times’ Seema Mehta, Chen did allow as how Trump “was certainly a part of what we saw” on the day of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, and that remarks such as calling COVID-19 the “kung flu” — one of several bigoted statements Trump made about the pandemic — helped fuel the rise in anti-Asian sentiments.

Even those carefully couched and obviously true statements may disqualify Chen in the eyes of some Trump loyalists.

More curious, and contorted, is the stance Faulconer has taken.

In 2016, San Diego’s mayor said he “could never vote for Trump.”

“His divisive rhetoric is unacceptable,” Faulconer said, “and I just could never support him.”

But he did in 2020, after four years of Trump’s endlessly divisive rhetoric and epic mishandling of the pandemic, which tanked the economy and politicized the coronavirus to the point that basic safety measures like wearing a mask and getting vaccinated became fuel for partisan conflict.

Faulconer’s campaign has been a model of trying to have things both ways.

One day he’s campaigning at Rep. Devin Nunes’ “Freedom Fest” on a program starring several Trump acolytes — some of whom downplayed the Jan. 6 attack or even called it a hoax. On another, Faulconer is sidestepping questions about his vote for the former president by suggesting it’s irrelevant to his own candidacy.

California voters “don’t want a debate on national politics,” he told KQED radio, as if Faulconer’s views on what it takes to lead the country are entirely divorced from his judgment, values and beliefs.

What will voters think of a candidate’s support or opposition to Trump? That will become clearer once they cast their ballots in the recall or, in Chen’s case, the June 2022 primary.

“We know it mattered a lot in 2020,” said Dan Schnur, a veteran campaign strategist who teaches political communication at USC and UC Berkeley. “We know it won’t matter at all in 2050.

“What we don’t know,” he added quite rightly, “is at what point in between it stops mattering.”

Its leaders insist the Taliban would offer a government for all citizens and treat people fairly. U.S. officials point to the millions of girls who now go to school and women who work and hold government positions as evidence that Afghanistan cannot return to the dark days of Taliban repression of all women.

Many people remain skeptical, however. The Taliban also abused minorities and imposed oppressive social restrictions on all citizens. In recent weeks, there have been bombing attacks on a girls’ school and on the Hazara minority — 100 killed in one attack in May — but the Taliban routinely denies responsibility.

In addition, news reports describe a video that is currently circulating and purports to show the Taliban staging a public flogging of a woman, another familiar practice from the past — coupled with public stonings and executions.

Reports also say the Taliban has already begun censoring or banning provincial radio stations, forcing them to increase religious content and eliminate women’s voices. The Times could not confirm the reports.

“The ideological goals of the Taliban in the ’90s [are] the same as today,” Gina Bennett, an intelligence analyst with the government’s National Counterterrorism Center, said in a panel discussion Thursday. “That’s not going to change.”

Annie Pforzheimer, a veteran U.S. diplomat who was deputy chief of mission in Afghanistan, said the Taliban is already rolling back women’s rights in areas it controls. The only guarantee women and girls will have is if Afghan government forces can retain control over a majority of the population, said Pforzheimer, who also helps lead the Alliance in Support of the Afghan People, which advocates for continued U.S. engagement. Otherwise, “those rights are no longer guaranteed, or are under threat,” she said.

Is there an alternative to U.S. withdrawal?

President Biden says it’s past time to leave. Basic anti-terrorism goals have been achieved and the more elusive objectives remain, well, elusive. The status quo was not an option, he said.

Others suggest the U.S. could have engineered a more orderly withdrawal if it had coordinated better with North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, who have served alongside the Americans from the start of the invasion in 2001. Several countries would have been willing to keep troops in Afghanistan had they been assured of U.S. air support that would provide the ability to evacuate in emergencies as well as air cover.

But the U.S. drew down so quickly that many NATO commanders say they were left in the lurch.

“Speed is safety,” Biden said Thursday.

The bottom line that Biden is counting on, however, is there is little remaining appetite, political will or public interest in the Afghan project.

Laurel Miller, a former State Department special envoy for Afghanistan now at the International Crisis Group, said on Twitter that the administration views the withdrawal as “closing the books on a failing enterprise.”

Biden, she said, “has been clear that US policy is now premised on a determination that there is no US obligation to Afghanistan.”

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THE WORLD

Secret haircuts and empty stadiums Brazil ignored warnings and agreed to host a soccer tourney. Now COVID-19 is calling again

By Ana Ionova RIO DE JANEIRO — Just after nightfall about 60 miles north of here, Marlus Jesus was whisked into a hospital after hours to verify that he didn’t have the coronavirus, then ushered into a hotel room.

His secret mission? The Brazilian soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior and several teammates wanted haircuts.

“I started cutting hair at about 8 p.m. and finished after midnight,” said the 32year-old barber. “I cut the hair of seven or eight players.”

He couldn’t resist posting a selfie with Neymar on Instagram.

The haircuts, which quickly became national news, burst a strict “sanitary bubble” meant to keep the coronavirus out of the Copa America, the premier soccer tournament on the continent.

The event has been shrouded in controversy since organizers hurriedly moved it to virus-stricken Brazil in early June, less than two weeks before kickoff. The original co-hosts, Argentina and Colombia, had suddenly bowed out, citing an alarming rise in coronavirus cases.

Brazil, where COVID-19 has killed at least 530,179 people, a toll second only to the United States, was a curious second choice. Infections were surging to unprecedented levels as the country entered a devastating third wave. But, to the shock of many, President Jair Bolsonaro enthusiastically agreed that Brazil be the host.

“From the beginning I have been saying, when it comes to the pandemic: I am sorry for the deaths, but we

Alexandre Schneider Getty Images

MEMBERS of Argentina’s soccer team celebrate after defeating Colombia in a semifinal of the Copa America

tournament. The event has been shrouded in controversy since organizers moved it to virus-stricken Brazil. have to live,” said the farright populist, who is being investigated by a congressional committee for his handling of the pandemic, including possible corruption related to the purchase of vaccines.

Government health authorities and Copa America’s organizers say those taking part in the tournament are following strict protocols to avoid infections, as 10 teams compete in four Brazilian cities. Crowds are barred from stadiums and players must stay in their rooms when not training or playing matches.

Nearly 26,000 coronavirus tests had been administered

as of this week.

But outside health experts say the event is complicating Brazil’s fight against the virus.

At least 165 new cases have been linked directly to the tournament. A total of 37 were players, coaches, trainers and other team personnel, while 125 were drivers, caterers, cleaners and others providing services for the tournament. Three work for Conmebol, the South American soccer federation, which provides medics and referees to the tournament.

“We’ve seen that the majority of cases were not among players — they were the people providing them

with services,” said Dr. Lucia Campos Pellanda, an epidemiologist and dean of Porto Alegre’s Federal University of Health Sciences. “It’s really cruel — to expose people who are already vulnerable.”

Without systematic contact tracing, authorities are unable to determine how those infections may have spread the coronavirus into the wider population.

Enforcing protocols — and controlling the players off the field — has proved challenging. Members of Chile’s team were accused of partying and inviting prostitutes to their hotel. Venezuelan team members infected

Fight over LGBTQ rights in EU Activists vow to resist discriminatory law in Hungary amid a wider debate on European Union values.

By Justin Spike BUDAPEST, Hungary — Activists in Hungary erected a 30-foot-high rainbow-colored heart opposite the country’s neo-Gothic parliament Thursday, vowing to wage a civil disobedience campaign against a new law that discriminates against LGBTQ people and has raised questions about what values the European Union stands for.

The law, which came into effect Thursday, prohibits the display to minors of content depicting homosexuality or sex reassignment — and critics say its goal is to marginalize and stigmatize the LGBTQ community as the country marches steadily to the right under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The law has drawn intense opposition in Hungary and from the EU, becoming a significant battleground in the fight over what the bloc represents.

Orban and other rightwing leaders of member states have been at the forefront of that fight, challenging the EU’s traditional “liberal consensus” by refusing to accept migrants, cracking down on media plurality and limiting the independence of their judiciaries.

At Thursday’s demonstration, rights groups said the Hungarian law denies thousands of LGBTQ young people crucial information and support, and violates national and international human rights standards.

“We think that the only path we can pursue is civil disobedience, and we will not change anything about our activities,” Luca Dudits, a spokesperson for Hatter Society, Hungary’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, told the Associated Press.

One provision in the law bans organizations from holding educational programs on sexual orientation

Laszlo Balogh Associated Press

ACTIVISTS in Hungary erect a rainbow-colored heart outside the country’s

parliament in protest of a new law that discriminates against LGBTQ people. in schools unless they are approved by the government.

But Dudits said the Hatter Society would continue to provide teachers with training and educational materials, and to offer its services to anyone regardless of age.

Dudits added that the law “stigmatizes LGBTQ people and actually puts LGBTQ youth more ... in danger of bullying and harassment in schools and in their families as well.”

Many European leaders have demanded the law’s repeal, saying it violates the bloc’s values.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday that the law was “a disgrace.”

EU lawmakers were expected to approve a resolution condemning the legislation Thursday and have urged the European Commission to take swift action against Hungary unless it changes tack.

The resolution states that the law will “restrict severely and intentionally the rights and freedoms of LGBTIQ persons, as well as children’s rights,” and urges the commission to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Speaking ahead of a

meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday, Orban characterized the controversy as a “debate about who decides how we will raise our children.”

“Brussels bureaucrats have no place here,” Orban said.

The debate over the law reflects a larger one within the 27-member EU, where a handful of countries are led by populist leaders who have pressed ahead with laws and policies that many in the bloc believe are anti-democratic or violate its founding values.

Critics of those polices want the EU to take action to protect their vision of the bloc as a progressive institution, but such action raises questions about how much power Brussels should have over member states’ parliaments.

Orban’s government — which next year faces elections expected to be the most competitive since his party returned to power in 2010 — is one of the faces of this split.

A champion of what he calls “illiberal democracy” and a conservative religious worldview, Orban has depicted his rejection of immigration as a fight to preserve Christian civilization and has taken increasing control over Hungary’s higher edu-

cation system in an effort to instill conservative values.

Along with Poland, Orban has repeatedly challenged the bloc over issues such as migration, corruption and the rule of law.

Last year, the two countries held up passage of the EU’s budget and COVID-19 economic recovery package over provisions that would allow the withholding of payments to countries that fail to uphold democratic standards.

David Vig, director of Amnesty International Hungary, which co-hosted Thursday’s demonstration, called the recent legislation “fundamentalist” and expressed support for EU action against Hungary’s government, including the possible freezing of billions of dollars in funding.

“We expect EU institutions to act firmly and the European Commission to start an infringement procedure ... because this is in clear contradiction not just with EU values, but also with binding EU law and the commission’s LGBTQ strategy,” Vig said.

But he said that must be done in a way that “does not affect the human rights of everyday Hungarians.”

Spike writes for the Associated Press.

with the coronavirus allegedly broke quarantine, sneaking out of their rooms.

Hotel workers who came in contact with the rogue players complained that their pleas for testing were ignored for days.

With the Tokyo Olympics just over two weeks away, Brazil may serve as a grim bellwether on whether behemoth multinational sporting events can be held safely as the pandemic still rages.

The Summer Games have sparked protests as coronavirus cases surge across Asia, and authorities announced Thursday that fans would be barred from Olympics venues.

“Even if the risk is minimal, even if an event like this results in a single death — is it worth it?” Pellanda asked.

Outraged Brazilians have dubbed the tournament “Cova America,” rebranding it using the Portuguese word for “grave.”

Memes of a coffin kicking a coronavirus have swept through social media.

Brazil has advanced to the final, scheduled for Saturday. But many fans say that even if it wins and retains the title it captured in 2019, there will be little to celebrate.

“There just isn’t that same joy that the game usually brings,” said Júlia Passos, a 21-year-old food service worker. “This time, it brings a lot of sadness. Because it can’t erase what happened, how many people have died.”

Her family, like so many others, saw the devastation of COVID-19 up close. Her stepfather spent a week in the hospital, struggling to breathe.

“With all the pain Brazil is going through, that we’re going through,” Passos said, “it is not the time to host a huge sporting event like this.”

Still, she couldn’t turn down a gig in one Rio stadium hosting some of the matches. Out of work since March, the young mother needed the income. On game days, she earns $20 serving food and drinks to the coaches, organizers and security staff.

Passos managed to get one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and she and her colleagues are tested for the virus every other day.

Nonetheless, she said, the job feels risky, starting with her 25-mile commute from the outskirts of the city.

“We end up so exposed. We take trains packed full of people to get to work,” she said. “But I really needed the work.”

Her stepbrother, Júnior Campos, needed money too and also jumped at the chance to nab a job at the stadium. Yet, even as a soccer fan, the tournament left a bitter taste.

“I lost my uncle and, just last week, I lost my best friend too,” said Campos, 21, who was applying to colleges when the pandemic struck.

“We’ve lost so many people to the virus. And so many are still dying. It’s absurd to have this event, to pretend like life is back to normal here, like in Europe.”

The Euro Cup, which is

being held in 11 countries across the continent, kicked off in June amid easing lockdowns and ramped-up vaccination campaigns in many of the host nations. But even with reduced stadium capacity and rigid travel restrictions, the tournament has failed to fully avoid infection. The World Health Organization sounded an alarm recently, pointing to overcrowding and clusters of cases.

Health experts warn the risks are even greater in Brazil, where just over 13% of the population is fully vaccinated. One particular worry is that highly contagious new variants could gain traction. The Delta variant — first discovered in India — was spotted in one city hosting Copa America matches, though authorities are still unsure if it infected tournament participants.

In the last two weeks, daily coronavirus cases have eased from June’s record peaks. But health experts still fear spikes. And with the lag between infections and illness and hospitalization, they warn that the tournament’s full effects may not become clear for weeks.

Unlike much of the world, Brazil never closed down to contain the virus. All along, Bolsonaro downplayed COVID-19 and urged Brazilians to keep working. Despite the country’s staggering death toll, he insisted that lockdowns kill more people than the virus by hurting the economy.

Brazil ultimately lost out on both fronts. As the virus ripped through the country undeterred, the pandemic decimated the economy. A welfare scheme helped keep informal workers afloat last year, but the aid was slashed significantly as public spending ballooned.

Angry Brazilians have taken to the streets, calling for vaccines, economic aid and impeachment of the president. Nearly 15 million are out of jobs and hunger has almost doubled, with 19 million routinely going without food during the pandemic.

Faced with economic need, millions risk their health in search of work, including in the Copa America.

On a recent morning, Viviane Azevedo served breakfast to the Copa America delegations at a ritzy hotel in Rio’s wealthy south zone.

Still waiting for her second dose of vaccine, she was happy for extra shifts at the hotel that came with the influx of guests.

“It’s a disgrace, really, hosting this tournament now,” said Azevedo, 43, who went back to waitressing after being laid off from a piercing studio early in the pandemic. “But for us, there’s no other way. In today’s Brazil, if you don’t take the risk, you’ll go hungry.”

Murilo Castro Vianna, 61, waited outside the same hotel in a white shuttle bus, ready to drive Uruguay’s team to training.

Earlier in his 12-hour shift, he had dropped off an injured player at the airport.

A few days earlier, a fellow driver had been sickened by COVID-19.

“I’ve spent every day of this pandemic on the street, working,” he said. Before this, he had shuttled linesmen working for an electricity company. “Here, I’m being tested. I wear my mask, I try to be careful. That’s all you can do.”

Back at the barbershop he owns in Rio, Jesus was clad in a mask as he swiftly razed a little boy’s hair into a mullet, like the ones worn by soccer stars.

One chair over, an unmasked employee trimmed a client’s beard, then doused it in a fragrant spray.

Jesus’ secret mission last month wasn’t the first time he cut the hair of Brazil’s soccer elite. But the Copa America job was a chance he couldn’t pass up.

The tiny, bright shop had remained shut for much of the pandemic. Jesus kept cutting hair in the homes of clients to stay afloat.

“Are we afraid of the virus?” Jesus said. “Of course we’re afraid. But we have to work.”

Ionova is a special correspondent.

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COVID silences crowds at Tokyo Games [Olympics, from A1] minds on the same day IOC President Thomas Bach arrived in the city. Bach was expected to self-isolate in his hotel for three days and then attend meetings to discuss the issue.

Those plans were accelerated after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared that a state of emergency would go into effect Monday and continue through late August, a timeline that envelops the Games, which are scheduled for July 23 through Aug. 8.

“Taking into consideration the impact of the Delta strain” of the coronavirus, Suga told reporters, “and in order to prevent the resurgence of infections from spreading across the country, we need to step up virus prevention measures.”

Athletes seemed to understand Japan’s predicament but expressed frustration at the numerous restrictions heading into what hammer thrower Gwen Berry dubbed the “Pandemic Games.” Organizers have asked competitors to limit their stay in the country, which rules out hanging around the village and could mean skipping the opening or closing ceremony.

Triple jumper Keturah Orji tweeted: “No fans, no opening ceremony, no choosing roommates, NO ANYTHING & leave 48h after you compete.”

The U.S. men’s water polo team will experience the difference right away because it is scheduled to open play against host

Eugene Hoshiko Associated Press

JAPANESE Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on a TV screen above a Tokyo crowd announces a state of emer-

gency to combat a rise in coronavirus cases. Fans will be banned from Olympics venues for the first time.

Japan on July 25. Marko Vavic, a Rancho Palos Verdes native who helped USC to a national championship in 2018, said an empty stadium won’t generate the sort of rush he feels from cheering fans.

“We were really excited, expecting it to be loud and rowdy,” he said, adding, “I think I definitely feed off the energy and the ruckus they cause.”

There is still a possibility fans can attend select events held outside Tokyo in prefectures where the state of emergency is not in effect.

Local government authorities in those areas are expected to meet and decide on specific measures.

Organizers also said they would wait until next month to discuss a spectator policy for the Paralympics, which are scheduled to begin

Aug. 24, two days after the state of emergency expires.

Japan ranks 33rd on the list of nations hit hardest by the coronavirus, with 814,319 cases and 14,865 COVID-19 deaths reported since the pandemic began, according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

But the country has been slow to react to the development of vaccines, with only about 15% of citizens

fully vaccinated.

According to Kyodo News, new daily coronavirus cases in the Tokyo metropolitan area hit 896 on Thursday, with numbers approaching a mid-May peak that exceeded 1,000 a day.

The Games are expected to bring about 11,000 athletes to Japan in the next few weeks. The IOC has predicted 80% of the residents of the athletes’ village will be

Biden defends troop pullout from Afghanistan President questions staying in protracted war, noting goal was to kill Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

By Chris Megerian WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday defended his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, challenging any critic to say whether “you would send your own son or daughter” to continue fighting in America’s longest war.

“I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome,” he said during remarks from the East Room of the White House.

The withdrawal is ahead of schedule — “Speed is safety,” Biden explained — and expected to be complete by Aug. 31. The original deadline was Sept. 11, the anniversary of the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks that ignited the war two decades ago.

Biden’s defensive remarks reflected the secondguessing that has built since April, when he initially announced the U.S. drawdown.

The Taliban, the radical Islamist group that ruled Afghanistan and harbored Al Qaeda before the war started, has gained ground across the country in anticipation of the Americans’ exit, while the U.S.-trained Afghan military has faltered.

Many experts, including within the U.S. intelligence community, are fearful that the Afghan government could be toppled within months after American troops depart.

Such a collapse could allow the resurgent Taliban to retake power or set the stage for a chaotic civil war.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime supporter of extending U.S. military operations, warned that Afghanistan could see a replay of what happened in Iraq, where the militant group Islamic State filled a void after the American withdrawal, prompting the U.S. military to return.

“Get ready for major up-

heaval as this decision by President Biden is a disaster in the making,” Graham tweeted.

Biden insisted that Kabul’s fall is not inevitable.

He expressed faith in the Afghan military despite its series of defeats on the battlefield, saying it was “as well equipped as any army in the world.” Now, he said, it was up to Afghan leaders to protect their country.

“They have the forces.

They have the equipment,” he said. “The question is, will they do it?”

Biden acknowledged that the Taliban is stronger militarily than at any point since the U.S.-led invasion, and that Afghanistan might never have a central government in Kabul that’s able to control the expansive, tribal country.

“No nation has ever unified Afghanistan. No nation,” Biden said. “Empires have gone there and not done it.”

Administration officials are working to relocate Afghan interpreters and other contractors who helped U.S. forces and may be in danger from the Tali-

ban, Biden said, and 2,500 special immigrant visas have been issued so far.

Directing remarks to the Afghan allies, he added, “There is a home for you in the United States, if you so choose. We will stand with you, just as you stood with us.”

Biden said the goal of the U.S. invasion was not nation-building but to kill Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who eventually died in a 2011 U.S. raid in Pakistan, and to prevent Afghanistan from being used again as a launchpad for terrorism against Americans.

“We accomplished both of those objectives,” he said.

“Period.”

At the core of Biden’s remarks was his impassioned rebuttal to critics who say U.S. forces should remain in Afghanistan.

“How many thousands more American daughters and sons are you willing to risk? How long would you have them stay?” Biden said. “Already we have members of our military whose parents fought in Afghan-

istan 20 years ago. Would you send their children? Or their grandchildren as well?

Would you send your own son or daughter?”

The public broadly supports the withdrawal, according to an April poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov, with 77% of Americans backing the decision to pull out.

“Congressional offices get no mail on this. There are no protest marches. No one runs attack ads. It’s just been invisible,” said Stephen Biddle, a professor at Columbia University and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Yet withdrawal carries significant political risks.

While a poll in the fall for the Associated Press and NORC, a research institution at the University of Chicago, said 57% of Americans don’t follow any news about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, that could change if the situation devolves rapidly, Biddle said.

“The only thing that will get a lot of Americans paying attention to this war,” he said, “is a catastrophe.”

vaccinated, but there also will be tens of thousands of officials, judges, administrators, media and others.

Still, there was uncertainty about what do with fans; even as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic dwindled, stands at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics were crowded, sports historian Mark Dyreson of Penn State University said. Tokyo organizers previously had barred foreign spectators, then announced that capacity at venues would be limited to 50% with a maximum of 10,000.

The Japanese people initially had seemed enthusiastic, scooping up tickets in a series of lotteries. But public sentiment turned against the event as the pandemic persisted, with recent polls showing a majority of citizens favoring postponement or cancellation.

“It’s not too late. Cancel or postpone it,” Yukio Edano, head of an opposition party, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Cancellation has met with resistance for numerous reasons. Broadcast rights account for 73% of the IOC’s $5.7 billion in quadrennial revenues. Tokyo organizers similarly need to generate money to cover costs that, by some accounts, have risen to $25 billion.

Thursday’s decision will wipe out more than $800 million the organizing committee expected to earn from ticket sales.

In the U.S., NBC has done its best to drum up interest in the Games, showing recent American trials in sports such as track, swimming and gymnastics in prime time.

With spectators banned, the network must now call upon lessons learned from months of televising sports from empty arenas and stadiums in this country.

American viewers have experience watching games with artificial crowd noise and none of the usual fan shots.

At a news event last week, NBC producer Rob Hyland spoke about a plan to show competitions with simultaneous video of reactions from family members back home. “It’s a pretty elaborate plan that we’re calling ‘Friends and Family,’ ” he said. “What I’m most excited about, I think what we all are, is connecting.”

As for the athletes, many have reacted with typical joy upon making the U.S. team.

They have seemed willing to adjust no matter who is in the stands.

Palmer suggests that she and her diving teammates might use visualization to pretend there is a crowd.

“Of course we want our family and friends there to feel the support,” U.S. soccer player Becky Sauerbrunn said recently, “but it’s all business for us.”

Times staff writer Ben Bolch contributed to this report.

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A5

6 held in assassination of Haiti’s president Pair with U.S. ties are among those arrested.

Confusion arises over who is prime minister.

By Evens Sanon, Dánica Coto and Joshua Goodman PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two men believed to be Haitian Americans — one of them purportedly a former bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Portau-Prince — have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti’s president, a senior Haitian official said Thursday.

Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s minister of elections, told the Associated Press that James Solages, a Haitian American, was among six people arrested in the brazen killing of President Jovenel Moise by gunmen at his home in the predawn hours Wednesday. Pierre also said that four others are from Colombia. The oldest suspect is 55 and the youngest, Solages, is 35, he said.

Seven other suspected assailants were killed in a gun battle with police, according to Léon Charles, Haiti’s director of national police.

Pierre would not provide additional details about Solages’ background, nor would he provide the name of the second Haitian American he said was arrested.

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that Haitian Americans were in custody but could not confirm or comment.

Solages describes himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and a budding politician on a website for a charity he established in south Florida in 2019 to assist residents.

On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. The embassy didn’t immediately comment; calls to the foundation and Solages’ associates at the charity either did not go through or weren’t an-

Valerie Baeriswyl AFP/Getty Images

TWO SUSPECTS in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moise are taken to a police station in Port-au-

Prince. A crowd followed the vehicle to the station and chanted, “Give them to us. We’re going to burn them!” swered.

Witnesses said two suspects were discovered hiding in bushes in Port-auPrince on Thursday by a crowd, some of whom grabbed the men by their shirts and pants, pushing them and occasionally slapping them.

Police arrived shortly afterward to arrest the men, who were sweating heavily and wearing clothes that seemed to be smeared with mud, an Associated Press journalist at the scene said.

Officers placed them in the back of a pickup truck and drove away as the crowd ran after them to the nearby police station.

Once there, some in the crowd chanted: “They killed the president! Give them to us. We’re going to burn them!”

One man was overheard saying that it was unacceptable for foreigners to come to Haiti to kill the country’s leader, referring to reports from Haitian officials that the perpetrators spoke Spanish or English.

The crowd later set fire to several abandoned cars riddled with bullet holes that they believed belonged to the suspects, who were

white men. The cars didn’t have license plates, and inside one of them was an empty box of bullets and some water.

At a news conference Thursday, Charles, the police chief, asked people to stay calm, go home and let police do their work as he warned that authorities needed evidence they were destroying, including the burned cars.

Officials did not address a motive for the slaying, saying only that the attack, condemned by Haiti’s main opposition parties and the international community, was carried out by “a highly trained and heavily armed group.”

Not everyone was buying the government’s description of the attack. When Haitian journalist Robenson Geffrard, who writes for a local newspaper and has a radio show, tweeted a report on the police chief ’s comments, he drew a flood of responses expressing skepticism. Many wondered how the sophisticated attackers described by police could breach Moise’s home, security detail and panic room and then escape unharmed but were then caught with-

out planning a successful getaway.

Meanwhile, a Haitian judge involved in the investigation said that Moise was shot a dozen times and his office and bedroom were ransacked, according to the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste. It quoted Judge Carl Henry Destin as saying investigators found 5.56- and 7.62-millimeter cartridges between the gatehouse and inside the house.

Moise’s daughter, Jomarlie Jovenel, hid in her brother’s bedroom during the attack, he said, and a maid and another worker were tied up by the attackers.

Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who assumed leadership of Haiti with the backing of police and the military, asked people to reopen businesses and go back to work as he ordered the reopening of the international airport.

On Wednesday, Joseph decreed a two-week state of siege after the assassination, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere’s highest rates of poverty, violence and political instability.

Inflation and gang violence have spiraled up-

ward as food and fuel have grown scarcer in a country where 60% of the people earn less than $2 a day. The increasingly dire situation comes as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 after a history of dictatorship and political upheaval.

“There is this void now, and they are scared about what will happen to their loved ones,” said Marleine Bastien, executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a group that helps people in Miami’s Little Haiti community.

She called on the Biden administration to take a much more active role in supporting attempts at national dialogue in Haiti with the aim of holding free, fair and credible elections.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council met Thursday to discuss the situation in Haiti, and U.N. special envoy Helen La Lime, speaking from Portau-Prince to reporters at U.N. headquarters, said Haiti made a request for additional security assistance.

The island nation had grown increasingly unstable under Moise, who had been

ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests amid accusations he was trying to amass more power and opposition demands that he step down.

Moise had faced large protests in recent months that turned violent as opposition leaders and their supporters rejected his plans to hold a constitutional referendum with proposals that would strengthen the presidency.

According to Haiti’s Constitution, Moise should be replaced by the president of the Supreme Court, but the chief justice died in recent days of COVID-19, leaving open the question of who might rightfully succeed the slain leader.

Joseph, meanwhile, was supposed to be replaced by Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who had been named prime minister by Moise a day before the assassination.

Henry told the AP that he is the prime minister, calling it an exceptional and confusing situation. “I am the prime minister,” he said.

On Thursday, public transportation and street vendors remained scarce, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince.

Marco Destin, 39, was walking to see his family since no buses were available. He was carrying a loaf of bread for them because they had not left their house.

“Everyone at home is sleeping with one eye open and one eye closed,” he said.

“If the head of state is not protected, I don’t have any protection whatsoever.”

Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city hours after the killing, a reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.

Sanon, Coto and Goodman reported from Port-au-Prince; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Miami, respectively, for the Associated Press. AP videographer Pierre-Richard Luxama in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.

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THE NATION

Winter cough virus in July baffles doctors RSV cases fell last year but are surging now as pandemic restrictions ease.

By Lindsey Tanner The recent emergence of a virus that typically sickens children in colder months has baffled U.S. pediatricians and put many infants in the hospital with coughs and breathing trouble.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of cold-like symptoms but can be serious for infants and the elderly. Cases dropped dramatically last year, with people staying home and social distancing, but began cropping up as pandemic restrictions eased.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Dr. Kate Dutkiewicz, medical director at Beacon Children’s Hospital in South Bend, Ind., said after treating two RSV-infected infants recently. Both needed oxygen treatment to help with breathing. “I’ve never seen cases in July, or close to July.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory on June 10 about an increase in RSV cases across parts of the South. Cases have appeared in many other states too, including California.

LaRanda St. John grew worried when her 6-week-old son, Beau, developed a bad cough a few weeks ago. The Mattoon, Ill., mom has a medical background and suspected RSV when she opened his sleeper and saw his chest heaving with labored breathing.

“The doctor’s office couldn’t get me in because they were flooded with people calling” about kids with

LaRanda St. John

LARANDA ST. JOHN’S 6-week-old son, Beau, lies in bed at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in

Mattoon, Ill. She said she wondered if his illness might be COVID-19 because it’s the wrong season for RSV. similar symptoms, St. John said.

A positive test in the ER confirmed RSV. The infant developed a rapid heart rate and had to be hospitalized overnight. His 16-month-old sister, Lulabelle, also contracted the virus but was not as sick and didn’t need hospitalization.

St. John said she wondered if it might be COVID-19 because it’s the wrong season for RSV. “I can’t say I was relieved, because I know RSV is just as bad,” she said.

Children infected with either virus usually develop only mild illness, but for some, these infections can be serious.

Among U.S. kids under age 5, RSV typically leads to 2 million doctor-office visits each year, 58,000 hospitali-

zations and up to 500 deaths — higher than the estimated toll on kids from COVID-19.

Among adults ages 65 and up, RSV can lead to pneumonia and causes almost 180,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths yearly. Cases in kids and adults usually occur in fall through early spring.

Off-season cases in Australia were a tip-off that the same might happen in the United States, said Dr. Larry Kociolek, an infectious disease specialist with Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Typically, infants are exposed to RSV during the first year of life, often when older siblings become infected in school and bring the virus home, Kociolek said. But, he added, “there were a lot of kids and babies

who were not exposed to RSV in winter of 2020 and winter of 2021. That just leaves a much larger proportion of susceptible infants.”

In infants, symptoms may include fussiness, poor feeding, fever and lethargy.

Children may have runny noses, decreased appetite, coughs and wheezing.

But in very young infants and those born prematurely, the virus can cause small airways in the lungs to become swollen and filled with mucous. Babies who develop this condition, called bronchiolitis, may require hospitalization and oxygen or ventilator treatment.

There is no approved treatment for RSV, although a once-monthly injection of an antibody-based medicine is sometimes prescribed before and throughout RSV

season to help prevent severe RSV lung problems in premature infants and other babies at risk for serious disease.

Reinfections are common but typically cause milder symptoms than the initial illness.

Kociolek said the recent unusual surge in cases could be partly due to more testing because of COVID-19 fears.

In usual times, parents may dismiss RSV symptoms as nothing serious but now may fear they signal the pandemic virus.

RSV spreads through contact with airborne droplets from an infected person, but it’s much more likely than COVID-19 to linger on skin and other surfaces including toys, which can also be a source of transmission.

RSV is among reasons

why day care centers and preschools often have strict policies about keeping kids with coughs home from school.

“A lot of parents think, ‘Oh well, it’s just a cold, they’re fine to go to school,’” said Diana Blackwell, director of children’s programs at Auburn University-Harris Early Learning Center in Birmingham, Ala. Despite strict cleaning measures, several children at her center have become sick with RSV in recent weeks, including her 4month-old son. He had violent coughing spells and was prescribed medicine often used to treat breathing problems in asthma, but did not need to be hospitalized.

She called the summertime outbreak at her center “just weird.”

“It didn’t even cross my mind that it would end up being something like RSV,” Blackwell said.

Dr. Mary Caserta, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious diseases committee and a professor at the University of Rochester, said parents should be aware of the unusually timed virus activity and seek medical care if babies appear very ill or have trouble breathing.

RSV is one reason pediatricians often caution parents of young babies to avoid crowds in winter.

“COVID has made people so hungry to be with other people that it would be hard now” to make the same recommendation, Caserta said.

Whether the unusual virus activity foreshadows less-than-usual RSV this coming winter is uncertain, she said. “I’ve given up in any way trying to forecast the future,” Caserta said.

Tanner writes for the Associated Press.

Democrats will boost voter spending, Harris says Activists respond by urging administration to push for laws that counter GOP limits.

By Noah Bierman WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday the Democratic National Committee would more than double its planned spending on voter registration, outreach and protections ahead of the 2022 midterm election, but civil rights groups said a law is needed to counter new voting restrictions in some GOP-led states.

“We have never really started this early before,” Harris told cheering students at Howard University.

“But folks, it is never too early to defend your rights.”

Harris’ comments, at a Democratic Party event at Howard, her alma mater, came after months of Democratic losses on voting rights in the Supreme Court and some state legislatures con-

trolled by Republicans. She said the party would spend $25 million on top of $20 million already announced for its “I Will Vote” program.

Her address at the nation’s most prominent historically Black university was intended to link the effort to the civil rights movement. But when Harris and President Biden later met for an hour and 40 minutes with civil rights leaders, the activists pressed for greater effort to get Congress to pass bills expanding voting access.

“We will not be able to litigate our way out of this threat to Black citizenship voting and political participation,” Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told reporters afterward. “We must have legislation. We must have the president use his voice, use his influence, use his power and use what he clearly understands about this moment.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton promised “a summer of activism” and of “saying to the

Andrew Harnik Associated Press

VICE PRESIDENT Kamala Harris spoke at Howard

University about her party’s efforts to expand voting.

Senate and the Congress, ‘You may be going home, but it’s going to be warmer politically than you think on the ground.’ ” The White House focus on voting comes at a time when Democrats and voting rights advocates are despairing over legal and political setbacks on the issue.

An ambitious Democratic voting rights bill in Con-

gress, which would bar some of the state efforts to limit voting access, was blocked

by Senate Republicans last month, shortly after Biden tapped Harris to lead on the issue.

The Supreme Court last week greatly weakened a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act allowing challenges to election laws. The 6-3 decision upheld GOP-

sponsored rules in Arizona that include a requirement that elections officials throw out ballots cast in the wrong precinct. The plaintiffs had argued that based on past experience, the policy would result in tossing twice as many ballots from minority voters as white voters.

The ruling is expected to make it much harder for Democrats to prevail in lawsuits against states, including Georgia, that have passed new voting restrictions following false claims by former President Trump that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

“These laws create obstacle upon obstacle,” Harris said. “These laws make it harder for you to vote because they don’t want you to vote.”

Republicans argue that Democrats are mischaracterizing the intent of the bills, which the GOP says are meant to prevent fraud.

“In a desperate effort to push their federal takeover of elections, Democrats continue to lie to the American people,” Danielle Álvarez,

Avenatti gets 30 months in Nike extortion case Stormy Daniels’ ex-lawyer is sentenced in New York. Orange County trial is next. associated press

NEW YORK — A New York judge sentenced the combative California lawyer Michael Avenatti to 2½ years in prison Thursday for trying to extort as much as $25 million from Nike by threatening to use his popularity to damage the company’s reputation.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe announced the sentence in Manhattan, where a jury in early 2020 convicted Avenatti of charges including attempted extortion and honest services fraud for his dealings with the company.

Avenatti, 50, gained fame representing porn star Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against then-President Trump.

Avenatti tried to extort

money from the Beaverton, Ore.-based sportswear giant when he represented a Los Angeles youth basketball league organizer upset that Nike had ended its league sponsorship.

Criminal fraud charges on two coasts disrupted Avenatti’s rapid ascent to fame.

After his sentencing in New York, he faces the start of a fraud trial next week in Orange County, a second California criminal trial this year and a trial next year in Manhattan, where he is charged with cheating Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Avenatti represented Daniels in 2018 in lawsuits against Trump, appearing often on cable news programs to disparage the Republican president.

Avenatti explored running against Trump in 2020, boasting that he would “have no problem raising money.”

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleged that a tryst with Trump a decade earlier resulted in

John Minchillo Associated Press

LAWYER Michael Ave-

natti still faces charges in New York and California. her being paid $130,000 by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2016 to stay silent. Trump denied the affair; Cohen went to prison.

Avanatti’s political aspirations evaporated when prosecutors in California and New York charged him with fraud in March 2019.

California prosecutors said he was enjoying a $200,000a-month lifestyle while cheating clients out of millions of dollars and failing to pay hundreds of thousands

to the Internal Revenue Service.

Charges alleging he cheated Daniels out of proceeds from a book deal followed weeks later. Avenatti pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors requested a “very substantial” sentence, citing the U.S. Probation Department’s recommendation of an eight-year prison term. Avenatti’s lawyers said six months in prison and a year of home detention was enough punishment.

In written sentencing arguments, prosecutors said Avenatti tried to enrich himself by “weaponizing his public profile” to try to force Nike to submit to his demands.

In a victim impact statement, Nike’s lawyers said Avenatti did considerable harm to the company by falsely trying to link it to a scandal in which bribes were paid to the families of NBAbound college basketball players to steer them to powerhouse programs. An employee of Adidas, a Nike

competitor, was convicted in that prosecution.

The lawyers said Avenatti threatened to do billions of dollars of damage to Nike and then falsely tweeted that criminal conduct at Nike reached the “highest levels.”

Avenatti’s former client, Gary Franklin Jr., said in a statement submitted by prosecutors that Avenatti’s action had “devastated me financially, professionally and emotionally.” Franklin was expected in court Thursday.

In their pre-sentence submission, Avenatti’s lawyers said their client had suffered enough, citing public shame and a difficult stint in jail last year that ended after lawyers said he was particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

“Avenatti’s epic fall and public shaming has played out in front of the entire world. The Court may take judicial notice of this fact, as Avenatti’s cataclysmic fall has been well-documented,” the lawyers wrote.

Republican National Committee communications director, said in a statement Thursday.

“Democrats refuse to join Republicans in supporting common-sense policies like voter ID, because their sole agenda is more power and partisan control.”

Some Democrats, including voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, have said they would consider identification requirements as part of a comprehensive federal voting rights law.

Nonpartisan studies have found little evidence of fraudulent voting, and none on a scale that would reverse election results.

Texas is expected to be the next state to pass a restrictive voting bill after GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump supporter, called a special session that began Thursday.

In late May, Texas Democrats blocked Republicans’ initial attempt at passing voting restrictions by walking out during the regular legislative session.

The latest Texas bill would ban drive-in voting, prevent election officials from sending out mail-in ballots unless voters request them, and stiffen potential criminal penalties for election officials, among other provisions.

Democrats, so far, have had little success in combating such laws.

“People say, ‘What’s the strategy?’ ” Harris said, answering that “we are going to assemble the largest voter protection team we have ever had to ensure that all Americans can vote and have your vote counted in a fair and transparent process.”

Democratic officials declined to say how much the party had spent on similar efforts in prior election cycles.

“In the past we have invested many millions of dollars in our voting rights litigation, voter protection staffing, voter education and protection technology,” said Adrienne Watson, DNC communications director.

“This is the first time that we have launched a comprehensive program with a dedicated commitment across the board,” she said. “And it represents a substantial overall increase that dwarfs our previous spending.”

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A7

‘A whole year of summer’ for firefighters [Fires, from A1] Almost all winter we were fighting fire.”

Bauzo and his crew now respond to at least two wildfires a week. And because it keeps getting hotter, and the landscape has shifted and the dangers have increased, they are having to change how they approach the flames.

Before the 1970s, firefighters in the Angeles National Forest used to follow something called the “10 a.m. rule,” which meant that crews had to put out every wildfire by 10 the morning after a blaze ignited, said Diane Travis, a fuels manager who has been with the Forest Service for more than 30 years.

The notion seems laughable in today’s climate, where many fires grow too fast and too large for that to be a reasonable expectation.

Now, crews have no seconds to spare, and have to hit the fires hard before they get out of control.

Back then, Travis said, it was a “different type of ecosystem.”

A century of fire suppression has created a buildup of fuel, while decades of population growth and development have formed new obstacles. And from the ongoing drought to more frequent heat waves, the approach to wildfire management and strategy has had to evolve with the times.

The Angeles National Forest is home to about 700,000 acres of oaky woodlands and dense shrubbery that skirt the north and eastern edges of Los Angeles County. The U.S. Forest Service calls it one of the “driest, most fire-prone areas in the United States,” where human-caused fires are becoming larger and more frequent.

Last year, the Bobcat fire burned more than 115,000 acres of the forest and came within feet of the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory, casting a pall of black smoke and orange skies over northeast L.A. for days.

At the Oak Flat Station, hotshot squad boss Justine Gude said she worked 1,600 hours of overtime last year, by far the most in her nine years with the Forest Service. This year is shaping up to be similarly grueling.

“This particular year is the driest I’ve ever seen it,” Gude said, noting that the recent North fire in Castaic was “really scary to see in April” because it burned more like a fire in August: hot and fast.

And while her team

Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times

FOREST SERVICE firefighter Nick Browne creates a hose pack at the Oak Flat Fire Station on July 3. Fire-

fighters carry two or three of the 28-pound hose packs on their backs and deploy them in fighting wildfires. would normally encounter wildflowers and grasses during their routine trail maintenance, the paths today look as shriveled as they did last fall.

“There’s been no new growth,” Gude said. “We’ve been in critical [mode] for two or three months already on this side of the forest.”

Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia said vegetation dryness in the region is well ahead of where it should be.

“We are extremely concerned based on our local conditions and conditions throughout the state,” Garcia said by phone. “The conditions we’re experiencing now are typical of the seasonal averages that we see in August and into September in most years.”

An alarmingly low-rainfall year has contributed to that dryness, with the state’s fire officials warning that a single spark or strike of lightning is enough to ignite a potentially catastrophic blaze.

But it’s not just the dryness that is concerning, according to Deputy Fire Chief Shane Olpin, who has been with the Forest Service for 26 years. On a recent Saturday, Olpin kept a watchful eye on the crew as he sought shelter from the brutal mid-

day sun.

Over the course of his career in various Western states, the biggest change isn’t heat and drought, Olpin said — it’s urban sprawl.

“If you’re talking about some of the complexities down here in Southern California, it would be more the sprawl of development, and us moving into an ecosystem,” he said. “The landscape has always burned, but now we have homes and infrastructure on the landscape that we have to be concerned about.”

The population of California has quadrupled since the 1950s, according to state data, and with that explosion have come more homes, more construction and far more opportunities for wildfires to ignite.

And while firefighters in more rural states such as Idaho and Montana sometimes have the option of allowing remote wildfires to burn, Olpin said, that’s not so easy in Southern California, where quick-to-ignite fires are rarely far from freeways, power lines or people.

“Allowing fire to play a natural role on the landscape would be nice, but I just don’t think it’s feasible here,” he said.

Travis, the fuels planner,

said the Angeles National Forest does use prescribed, or planned, burns in the spring and fall to help manage forest health. Prescribed burns can reduce the buildup of dead vegetation on the forest floor and replenish nutrients in the soil.

But the requisite environmental review process for those burns can take up to a year, and the state’s climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable. The Angeles National Forest is 60% chaparral, she said, and its growth cycle is falling way out of whack, with drier falls and less new growth in the spring.

There are other regional factors that add to the area’s challenges, Olpin said, including wildlife habitats, gusty Santa Ana winds and even L.A.’s notorious traffic and media market. But no pressure is greater than what he feels for his crew.

“We know that we’re going to lose young kids [to these fires], and we already have,” he said. “That’s what weighs on management: just making sure they’re properly trained and prepared and fit, and ready to do the job that we ask them to do.”

And the job is grueling.

Because of the steep forest terrain, trucks can’t always drive up to the line of

fire. That means firefighters are parking and hiking uphill — often with two or three 28-pound hose packs on their backs — in temperatures that now regularly soar into triple digits.

Heat-related illnesses and injuries are not uncommon, said Nick Browne, 25, who is entering his fourth season of fighting fires with the Forest Service.

Browne demonstrated how the crew’s perfectly packed hose lines are designed to unravel as they walk uphill, like a strategic ball of yarn, and emphasized how important it is to hit flames with a precise stream or spray of water. The wrong angle could send embers flying and ignite a new blaze.

“The operational tempo in [this region] is very aggressive,” Browne said, noting that crews in the bonedry forest must aim for 100% mop-up, meaning they must extinguish every ember.

“There are no shortcuts here.”

But fire behavior also has changed in recent decades, the crew said. Wildfires are arriving earlier and more frequently than in the past, and the number of acres burned is increasing.

There are several reasons for this shift in ecology, including the fact that fire-

fighters have been squelching the forest’s fires for more than a century in order to protect the surrounding communities. The action helps people but allows flammable, dead vegetation to pile up on the forest floor.

“We’ve had 100 years of suppression,” Travis said, “so we’ve created an ecosystem that burns differently.”

Even prescribed burns, which take into account factors like botany, wildlife, hydrology and archaeology, are becoming risky in the region. Travis said most planned burns that get approved aren’t very large.

“It’s not that the risk of escape is very high,” she said of controlled fires, “it’s that there are very high consequences if they do.”

But perhaps one of the greatest challenges heading into the 2021 fire season is the psychological toll.

Firefighters are finding it necessary to increase the pace and scale of their work even though there aren’t always accompanying increases in resources. During the worst months of fire season, they are regularly assigned to 24-hour shifts.

Browne has been on the job since he was 19 and has experienced moments both terrifying and humbling in the face of scorching flames, he said. He even left the Forest Service briefly to explore other career options but came back because he missed the culture and the calling.

Last year, Gude deployed to Australia to help fight that country’s catastrophic wildfires, which burned more than 30 million acres.

And while those fires were dangerous and challenging, she said, “the complexity level here is up 1,000%” from any other place she has worked.

“Southern California is the hardest place to fight fire,” she said. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Bauzo, who is about to have his fifth child with his fiancee, said he worries about staying in touch with his family while battling blazes in remote areas with limited cell reception.

He also recalled his rookie season 15 years ago, when the hillsides lining the nearby 5 Freeway were lush and green on his drive into work.

But amid worsening heat and drought conditions, those hillsides are now brown, and the fire season hardly seems to end.

“It seems,” he said, “like we’re going to have a whole year of summer.”

Californians asked to reduce water usage by 15% [Consumption, from A1] tions are not required.

California isn’t being a “nanny state,” he said.

“We’re not trying to be oppressive,” Newsom said.

“Again, these are voluntary standards.”

The governor and his aides have pushed back on the need for more drastic action, saying water resources vary in different parts of the state and not all 58 counties are in an emergency situation.

Newsom’s regional emergency order instead provides a path for the State Water Resources Control Board to mandate potentially unpopular water restrictions. The declaration also makes it easier for counties to coordinate water supply with the state and reduces some environmental regulations.

The state water board issued curtailment notices to water rights holders in the Russian River watershed earlier this month, and has warned rights holders of water unavailability in the Scott River Basin, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed and other areas in light of dwindling supplies.

Sen. Andreas Borgeas (R-Fresno) said Newsom needs to go further than voluntary reductions and regional orders. He said the governor should direct state agencies to prioritize water supplies for drinking water and food production over environmental considerations in the short term and invest money to improve water storage in California in the future.

California was at a crisis stage months ago and it’s likely to get worse in the years to come, he said.

Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times

FOLSOM LAKE shows the extent of the drought. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s regional emergency order provides a

path for the State Water Resources Control Board to mandate potentially unpopular water restrictions.

“This is a crisis of epic proportions,” Borgeas said.

“The problem is we don’t have any water storage that is going to change the trajectory.”

From a political perspective, water restrictions present a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for Newsom, said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant who served as press secretary for former Gov. Gray Davis.

“The American lawn is sacrosanct, so anytime somebody tells you that you can’t keep it green, there’s

going to be pushback, and we’ve seen that before,” Maviglio said.

Proponents of the recall have already attempted to tie Newsom to the issue of water restrictions. The official petition they circulated to gain enough signatures to force an election listed “rationing our water use” as one of the many “burdens” the governor sought to impose on the state.

Maviglio said it makes sense for Newsom to ask Californians to voluntarily reduce their water consumption before ordering

them to do so. But he also runs the risk of being criticized later for acting too slowly, Maviglio noted, considering the drought didn’t happen overnight and the state has known about the problem for some time.

“It’s another one of these issues where he has to tread very carefully because it could hurt him no matter what he does, and that’s the danger of the recall climate,” Maviglio said.

California is in the midst of a particularly dry year, due to below-average precipitation and low snowpack

in the Sierra Nevada.

Newsom added Inyo, Marin, Mono, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties to his regional emergency order on Thursday.

The governor’s original order on April 21 applied to Mendocino and Sonoma counties before he added 39 other counties on May 10.

Southern California appears to be in better shape than other areas. Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco and

Ventura are the only counties not under a regional drought state of emergency at this time.

Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the north, say there are record reserves in regional reservoirs and groundwater banks — enough to carry the district through 2022. Los Angeles, which is partly supplied by the MWD, also doesn’t anticipate any shortages, officials said last month.

Some local communities have stepped up their own household water conservation rules, and officials expect more urban restrictions in certain parts of the state.

If achieved, a voluntary 15% water reduction statewide would save roughly 850,000 acre-feet of water, which is enough to supply 1.7 million households for a year, according to the governor’s office.

Newsom said the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources will track progress toward the voluntarily 15% reduction and decide whether further measures are necessary.

During the last drought, per capita residential water use dropped 21% between 2013 and 2016 and remains 16% below 2013 levels today, the governor’s office said.

On Thursday, the governor also drew attention to the long-standing Save Our Water campaign, started in 2009 by the Assn. of California Water Agencies and the California Department of Water Resources to encourage water conservation, for tips on how to reduce usage.

A8

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BUSINESS

A shining example of two-for-one fix San Joaquin Valley solar farm, one of the largest in U.S., will provide clean energy and could save water.

By Sammy Roth To the extent most Californians are thinking about energy right now, they’re probably wondering whether the lights will stay on during the next heat wave.

It’s a reasonable fear, especially after the state’s power grid operator issued an urgent call for electricity supplies last week and warned of possible shortfalls this summer. The California Independent System Operator is seeking bids from power plants that can fire up after sundown, when solar panels stop generating but air conditioners keep humming.

Why the newfound urgency?

State officials wrote that California’s ability to produce hydropower could be reduced by as much as 1,000 megawatts this summer as reservoir levels fall due to drought. At least 300 megawatts of gas-fired power won’t be available either because of “unforeseen circumstances.” And a few hundred megawatts of new energy resources that were expected to be ready to go by Aug. 1 — mostly lithium-ion batteries — could be “delayed by one to several months,” energy officials said in a joint statement.

They also pointed to recent heat waves across the American West as evidence California can no longer rely so heavily on electricity imports from other states. Like falling water levels at reservoirs, it’s a problem the climate crisis has worsened.

“Summer has barely begun and we have already had repeated extreme heat events creating dangerous

Gary Kazanjian For The Times

RAYSHAWN LEE, left, and Omar Lemus carry a panel at the Westlands Solar

Park, whose developer has permits to build 670 megawatts of solar power there. conditions and shattering records,” leaders of the Independent System Operator, the Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Commission wrote in the joint statement. “Climate change is here and with increasing intensity.”

So the next few months could be a wild ride, with more rolling blackouts a possibility.

But the challenge of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy, without sending us plunging into darkness, will extend far beyond this summer. With that in mind, let’s zoom out and look at an enormous solar project in California’s farm country that helps tell the story of the state’s energy future — and its water future too.

Westlands Solar Park is being built in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, northeast of Kettleman City near Interstate 5. The place was a beehive of activity last month. More than 400 construction workers were

keeping busy in the summer heat, many of them unloading solar panels from tractors, methodically placing them on steel racks and screwing them into place.

The project’s developer, Los Angeles real estate firm CIM Group, has permits to build 670 megawatts, which would be nearly 100 megawatts larger than the biggest U.S. solar farm operating today. The developer ultimately plans to install at least 2,700 megawatts by the end of the decade, across more than 20,000 acres — an area two-thirds the size of San Francisco.

CIM started building the first 250 megawatts last year and expects to finish this fall. The developer has contracts in place for only half that power — a sign it’s highly confident it’ll be able to find buyers for the rest at a profitable price.

In an interview at CIM’s Wilshire Boulevard office, co-founder Avi Shemesh said the company expects to spend “substantially north”

of $4 billion to $5 billion building Westlands Solar Park.

“We decided to move forward knowing that the need is there,” Shemesh said.

“The need for power is tremendous, and the commitment [to clean energy], we believe, from the governmental agencies here is unequivocal.”

That confidence was rewarded last month when the Public Utilities Commission ordered utilities and local governments to buy 11,500 megawatts of new, clean power by 2026. It’s a giant batch of energy designed to replace power plants retiring in the next few years, including the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors and several gas generators along the Southern California coast.

Just adding a bunch of solar power won’t help much on scorching summer nights. But future phases of Westlands Solar Park — and most big solar farms from now on — will almost certainly include battery banks

as paying off balances in a timely fashion.

If lawmakers could step up for cardholders, they can certainly be more attentive to the needs of millions of American hospital patients.

At the very least, medical providers should be required to provide bills that are written in plain English and are accessible to all, and that clearly break out all costs related to treatment.

If that would be too voluminous for a paper bill, doctors and hospitals should provide patients with a secure link to access this information online.

“One thing that makes this very challenging is our incredibly fragmented healthcare system,” Stanford’s Duggan said. “Each hospital and each physician group tends to contract with multiple insurers,” and each insurer might have a different negotiated price for any given treatment.

“The amount of resources and administrative costs that are consumed in negotiating those prices — for many services — is just massive,” he said.

Needless to say, all this lunacy goes away with a Medicare-for-all system that would create a transparent baseline for all medical costs. This is one reason other developed countries are able to deliver healthcare for a fraction of the cost faced by Americans.

U.S. hospitals are already required to list prices for some treatments online, although this is being done in a haphazard, patientunfriendly way.

If they can’t find the wherewithal to make clear to patients what they’re paying for in bills, they’ll need to be shown the way.

That may be just a BandAid for a broken system, but it’s a start.

on that community choice could do more harm than good, now says the programs “are actually doing something useful” by providing competition in the energy marketplace. Though he’s still concerned about the potential for bankruptcies — Western Community Energy in Riverside County became the first CCA to close its doors last month — he thinks the sector is in good shape.

“Now that this is a serious industry, they are starting to adopt serious industry practices,” Borenstein said.

For the Westlands Solar Park team, negotiating power sales with local governments has become a fact of life in California.

“We and our lenders are underwriting the specific risk of each CCA on its own.

But we think they’re here to stay, with some exceptions,” Shemesh said.

CIM’s solar project could also help California resolve one of its thorniest water challenges.

San Joaquin Valley farmers have been overpumping groundwater for decades, resulting in sinking land, buckling canals and household wells running dry, and threatening a future of severe water shortages, especially as climate change dries up rivers and snowpack.

The situation is especially bad on “drainage-impaired” farmlands where the soil is loaded with cropkilling salts — and toxic selenium — because clay layers beneath the dirt prevent irrigation water from percolating into the underground aquifer.

The federal government has been fighting with Westlands Water District over the future of those troublesome lands for decades, ever since it was discovered that the original solution to the drainage problem — sending irrigation runoff to Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge east of San Jose — was killing ducks and other waterfowl and causing grotesque birth defects in birds.

Solar offers at least a partial solution, giving Westlands Water District a good economic reason to take land out of agricultural production and not make the drainage problems worse.

For CIM, the availability of so much land — without the environmental conflicts that have plagued renewable energy development elsewhere — helped to make the giant investment worthwhile.

“Being in a position of this scale, it just gives us a platform to really contribute to where the state is going in terms of decarbonization,” Shemesh said, referring to the process of drawing down planet-warming carbon emissions.

More broadly, experts say farmers may need to take more than half a million acres out of production in the San Joaquin Valley to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Solar could help replace some of the lost jobs and tax revenues.

The California grid operator estimates that about 2,000 additional megawatts are needed to limit the risk of rotating outages this summer. It’s yet to be seen whether power companies will step forward with that much energy.

A lot may depend on circumstances elsewhere in the West. The recent unexpected shutdown of a unit at New Mexico’s San Juan coal plant, for instance, is the kind of event that could further limit California’s ability to import power from other states during the next big heat wave.

Longer term, California’s ability to keep the lights on — and the rest of the country’s willingness to follow its lead — will depend on an unprecedented infrastructure build-out, from giant projects such as Westlands to lots more solar systems on rooftops. The alternative is a future of heat waves that will make the temperature records of the last few weeks feel quaint.

David Lazarus’ column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and on Twitter @davidlaz. Send your tips to david.lazarus @latimes.com.

This article was originally published in Boiling Point, a weekly email newsletter about climate change and the environment. Go to latimes.com/boilingpoint to sign up.

that can store a few hours’ worth of electricity for the evening. And as fossil fuels fade away, the state will need loads more climate-friendly power during the day too.

“The needs in California are tremendous. And it’s not an issue of you need it tomorrow morning,” Shemesh said.

Another noteworthy facet of the solar project is the identity of the buyers, at least the ones that have signed up so far.

One is the city of Santa Clara, which agreed to buy 75 megawatts. The other is Valley Clean Energy, a government-run “community choice” agency, or CCA, that serves the cities of Davis, Winters and Woodland, and parts of unincorporated Yolo County.

Neither of those buyers is an investor-owned utility such as Pacific Gas & Electric or Southern California Edison. As more local governments go the community choice route, the big utilities are increasingly being pushed out of the business of buying and selling electricity, prompting them to shift their focus to the poles and wires that move power around the state.

When a tidal wave of cities and counties started launching community choice programs a few years ago, skeptics were concerned they would be disruptive — and not in a good way.

What if local governments didn’t have the financial wherewithal to withstand swings in energy markets? Would they be able to sign long-term contracts and get solar and wind farms built without long credit histories? What if they had to set electricity rates higher than expected, sending customers streaming back to the big utilities?

Thus far, those fears mostly have not come to pass.

Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeley who worried early

Itemized hospital bill? That should be the norm A father wonders what exactly he was paying for after seeing a nearly $32,000 tab.

DAVID LAZARUS Chris Joseph’s 18year-old son, Jasper, complained that his arms were unusually sore after a workout at the gym a few weeks ago.

The pain continued into the next day.

Jasper went with his mother to Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, where a series of tests were conducted. He then returned home.

“Within a half-hour of returning,” Joseph told me, “the hospital called. They said we had to bring our son back now.”

The tests showed Jasper had rhabdomyolysis, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood.”

“These substances can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability or even death,” it says.

The teen was hospitalized for five nights.

Joseph, 64, told me that his son was fine now and that the family had no complaints about his quality of care. But the Santa Monica resident is still scratching his head over the nearly $32,000 hospital bill.

It includes $9,448 in laboratory tests, $6,745 in pharmacy costs, $1,694 for emergency room treatment and $12,368 for five nights in a semiprivate hospital room.

“There was very little detail,” Joseph said. “I mean, $6,700 in pharmacy charges? OK, but for what?”

Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times

PROVIDENCE St. John’s Health Center in Santa

Monica doesn’t itemize a bill unless that’s requested.

Or, put less delicately, was his son charged $500 for a Tylenol?

Joseph called the hospital and conveyed his frustration. A service rep said she’d send an itemized bill within a few days.

“I asked why they don’t just do that automatically,” Joseph said. “She told me that’s just not their policy.”

Patricia Aidem, a Providence spokeswoman, confirmed that itemized bills are provided only when a patient requests one.

Again, Joseph isn’t criticizing the treatment his son received — he’s grateful for all that the doctors and nurses did for his boy.

“It’s the bill,” Joseph said. “All these charges may be completely legitimate, but consumers should have a right to know what they’re paying for.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Lack of billing transparency is one of the core problems with the $4-trillion U.S. healthcare system.

Along these lines, the Biden administration issued a rule last week that aims to minimize surprise bills for emergency care. It’s part of bipartisan legislation passed by Congress last year.

Although, thanks to his insurance, Joseph was responsible for just $2,700 in payments, he’s correct to wonder about the total cost.

Sky-high medical ex-

penses charged to insurers drive up premiums for all policyholders. The system deliberately masks costs while persistently pushing those costs higher.

“Healthcare pricing is unbelievably opaque — not only to patients but also to providers,” said Mark Duggan, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

He told me about the time he sprained his ankle while running and worried that it could be broken. A doctor at an urgent care clinic “recommended that I purchase a boot, sort of like a ski boot, instead of using crutches.”

Duggan replied that he’d recently switched to a highdeductible insurance plan and would be stuck paying the full cost of the boot.

“Oh, you’ll have to pay for it?” he recalled the doctor saying. “I have no idea what it will cost. But if you have to pay for it, then I would not recommend it.”

The healthcare industry repeatedly tells people that they need to be good medical consumers. That is, they need to make well-informed choices about their treatment. But if people are denied the information they need to make well-informed choices — or any choice, for that matter — how can they be good medical consumers?

At best, they’re captives

to a fog-enshrouded marketplace that goes out of its way to prevent people from knowing how much anything truly costs, or how much money may be changing hands among the various players.

“It’s basic to market functioning that consumers have to know, and agree to, what they are purchasing and what it costs,” said Martin S. Gaynor, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Patients can’t be effective consumers if they can’t find out what they’re purchasing and what it costs,” he told me.

A spokesman for the American Hospital Assn. said the industry group “doesn’t have a specific policy on itemized bills.”

But he pointed me toward “voluntary guidelines” issued by the association last year. They say “hospitals should use a billing process that is clear, concise, accurate and patient-friendly.”

That’s not very specific.

And, again, it’s just a guideline, not a requirement.

This needs to change.

Credit cards can serve as a model.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act was signed into law in 2009.

Among other things, it requires that card issuers provide account holders each month with a clear, concise summary of recent activity.

Card companies have to prominently warn customers about possible late fees and the long-term cost of making only minimum payments each billing cycle.

They also must notify cardholders at least 45 days before any changes to interest rates.

The Credit CARD Act was needed because card issuers were notorious for confusing and misleading consumers with monthly statements that hid fees and did nothing to promote responsible behavior, such

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MARKET ROUNDUP

Investor caution pulls stocks lower associated press

Richard Shotwell Invision

FIDJI SIMO, shown in 2018, will replace Instacart co-founder Apoorva Mehta as chief executive. Simo, who

oversees Facebook Inc.’s flagship social networking app, has served on the Instacart board since February.

Instacart hires Facebook exec as CEO ahead of IPO bloomberg

Grocery delivery giant Instacart Inc. has appointed Fidji Simo, who oversees Facebook Inc.’s flagship social networking app, as its new chief executive, replacing co-founder Apoorva Mehta as the company prepares for an initial public offering.

Simo, 35, will start her new role by Aug. 2, the San Francisco company said in a statement. Mehta will become executive chairman of Instacart and will remain “very engaged” in the dayto-day operations of the business.

“The idea of someone else running the company had never even crossed my mind,” Mehta said in an interview. “But this changed when I met Fidji. Both of us share an incredibly ambitious vision for Instacart’s future.”

A former Amazon.com Inc. employee, Mehta, 34, helped found Instacart in 2012 and built the company into one of the most valuable startups to come out of Silicon Valley.

The pandemic spurred a

surge in delivery demand, catapulting Instacart from a luxury to a service seen by its users as virtually essential.

The company’s explosive growth has made it a serious contender in online groceries alongside Walmart Inc. and Amazon. Instacart generated net revenue of about $1.5 billion in 2020.

Simo, who joined the Instacart board in February, will be responsible for shepherding the company through its post-pandemic chapter and ensuring it can parlay its momentum into a successful IPO this year.

Instacart doubled its valuation to $39 billion in a March funding round that raised $265 million from investors.

Simo has been at Facebook for more than a decade, working her way up the company’s product organization to one of its top jobs, reporting directly to Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. She’ll be replaced by another longtime Facebook product veteran, Tom Alison, who was Simo’s No. 2.

Simo started at the social media giant working on advertising products for the News Feed, and her public

profile took off after she began running Facebook’s video products, which have been some of its highest-profile products in recent years.

She ran Facebook Live as the company signed deals with publishers for streaming video content, helped launch Facebook’s video ads and was also in charge of video for the launch of Facebook’s YouTube competitor, Facebook Watch.

She took the top job running Facebook’s core social network in March 2019 and has been a proponent of the company’s push toward creator and video products during the pandemic, including its recent live audio push.

She’s also been a vocal critic of Apple Inc., calling out the company over its in-app purchase fees, which Facebook argues hurt creators.

As one of Facebook’s most important product executives, Simo had also reached the top of Facebook’s product ladder.

Above her in the organizational chart were only CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Cox, the company’s longtime head of product who rejoined Facebook last year after a short stint away.

Meanwhile, Instacart has been bolstering its corporate ranks this year by hiring a series of top executives.

Nick Giovanni, who previously served as head of the technology, media and telecom group at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., was appointed chief financial officer in January, and a former Facebook vice president of product, Asha Sharma, became chief operating officer in February.

Most recently, Instacart brought on Snowflake Inc. CEO Frank Slootman to its board of directors.

In addition to continuing to grow within grocery delivery into such categories as convenience store items, Simo said Instacart would also look to expand globally.

Her success in helping build Facebook’s advertising business, which topped $84 billion in annual revenue in 2020, will come in handy at Instacart, where the number of advertisers on its platform increased by 500% last year.

“Advertising is going to be an ever-growing part of Instacart’s revenue going forward,” Simo said in an interview.

Stocks closed lower Thursday on Wall Street as bond yields fell again and investors turned cautious after the market’s recent run of record highs.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.9%, weighed down by a broad slide driven mainly by technology, financial, industrial and communication companies. The benchmark index’s pullback comes a day after it hit its eighth all-time high in nine trading days.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.30%, the lowest level since February, after slipping to 1.32% a day earlier.

The benchmark yield, which is used to set rates on mortgages and many other kinds of loans, has been falling steadily in recent weeks as traders shift money into bonds. The 10-year yield traded as high as 1.74% at the end of March.

The bond market has been signaling concerns over the strength of the recovery for months, specifically that it may have peaked and is now leveling off to a steadier pace.

The stock market has largely ignored those signals, analysts said, but could be coming around to that message amid struggling job growth and lackluster economic reports.

The S&P 500 fell 37.31 points to 4,320.82. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 259.86 points, or 0.7%, ending at 34,421.93. The Nasdaq composite snapped a threeday run of closing highs, dropping 105.28 points, or 0.7%, to 14,559.78.

Smaller-company stocks also fell. The Russell 2000 index slid 21.17 points, or 0.9%, to 2,231.68.

Longer-term yields tend to move along with in-

vestors’ expectations for inflation and economic growth, and both are still very strong and much higher than they’ve been in recent years. But Wall Street increasingly suspects they’ve already topped out as the economy moves past the initial catapult phase of its recovery from the pandemic.

For example, two recent reports showed that the manufacturing and services sectors are still growing, but more slowly than in previous months and below economists’ expectations.

On Thursday, the Labor Department said that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week even while the economy and the job market appear to be rebounding from the recession that was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All told, jobless claims increased by 2,000 from the previous week to 373,000.

Weekly applications, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily this year from more than 900,000 at the start of the year.

Investors are also gauging the potential impact from COVID-19 variants stymieing a resurgence in commerce and travel. Fans are banned from the Tokyo Olympics after a state of emergency aimed at containing rising coronavirus infections in the capital.

Part of the sharp drop in long-term bond yields could also be attributed to investors quickly reversing bets that they would continue rising as the U.S. economy continued its sharp recovery.

Investors have swung between enthusiasm about an economic recovery and unease that the Fed and other central banks might roll back stimulus to cool pressure for prices to rise.

Major stock indexes Index Dow industrials S&P 500

Close

Daily change

Daily % change

YTD % change

34,421.93

-259.86

-0.75

+12.47

4,320.82

-37.31

-0.86

+15.04

14,559.78

-105.28

-0.72

+12.97

S&P 400

2,648.43

-34.38

-1.28

+14.82

Russell 2000

2,231.68

-21.17

-0.94

+13.00

EuroStoxx 50

3,490.91

-57.35

-1.62

+12.31

28,118.03 27,153.13

-248.92 -807.49

-0.88 -2.89

+2.46 -0.29

Nasdaq composite

Nikkei (Japan) Hang Seng (Hong Kong) Associated Press

Boomers, key part of workforce, exit job market [Retirement, from A1] years.

Right now, it looks as though many of these older workers will never come back.

“We are now, in this century, in a period of reduced immigration to the U.S. We are also in a period of lower fertility,” said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center specializing in the economy and education. “So the fact that boomers were staying in the labor force has been an important contributor to economy-wide growth.

“Whether this is a permanent exit from the labor force or temporary we don’t know,” he added. “But it’s really an important question.”

For some older workers, it’s a quality-of-life issue: They have found being at home fulfilling. And retirement incomes go further than many expect without job-related expenses of transportation, lunches and such.

Others have been nudged toward earlier retirement by medical, family and other personal reasons.

“This is a big shock that’s irreversible for a lot of people,” said Patrick Button, an economics professor at Tulane University who has written extensively on age discrimination and the labor market.

Even as pandemic restrictions have been lifted and businesses are struggling to find enough workers to fully reopen, the number of adults 55 and older who are participating in the labor force — that is, working or looking for work — has barely budged this year and is actually down from last fall, according to government statistics.

That’s in sharp contrast to people in their prime

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times

PEOPLE WAIT to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots

at a senior living community in Lakewood in March. working years, ages 25 to 54, who have made significant strides in getting back into the job market.

The pandemic did not accelerate Monique Hanis’ retirement, but it certainly crystallized her plans.

“I think it allowed for thoughtful time and conversations. It really solidified the decision that I was ready,” said Hanis, who this week turned 60 and also left her job as senior director of communications at Advanced Energy Economy, a business association in Washington.

For Hanis, the pandemic spurred a broad rethink about life, health and priorities.

“You can’t always get your healthiest time back,” she said, “and as we get older, that becomes a concern, to be able to physically do the things that we want to do, to travel.”

Her husband, Doug Warnecke, retired two years ago at age 66. “After juggling two really demanding careers,” Hanis said, “raising kids through all of this — I took six weeks off to have the ba-

bies and I was back to work — you know, all the carpooling and sports teams and all the stuff you do, and we’re just like, ‘It’s time to have fun. Let’s play.’ ” To be sure, many older workers don’t have adequate savings and retirement funds to stay away from jobs. Others want the stimulation of work.

“I never, ever in a million years saw myself retiring at all. I’m very work-oriented, and so for me, just not doing anything itself drives me up a tree,” said Christine Garza, 68, a former health educator in Charlottesville, Va., who has been taking part-time and temporary assignments in recent years.

Still, it’s likely the momentum among older workers has shifted, a change from the last two decades, when they remained on the job and reversed a centurylong trend toward earlier retirement, said Courtney Coile, a Wellesley College professor who studies the economics of aging and health.

What kept people working longer had to do

with better health and education, the increased role of women in the job market, shifts in company retirement plans and especially changes to Social Security that incentivized delaying retirement, she said.

In the last decade just before the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., employment among people 55 and older grew on average by 1 million a year, compared with about 750,000 for primeage workers. The fastest growth rate was among those 65 and older.

But since last fall, after an initial burst of recovery, employment for older workers has plateaued.

Right now, the change is aggravating the labor shortage. There are record numbers of job openings, and more people — young and old — have quit their jobs and are on the sidelines.

Even before the pandemic, labor trends were not looking good for employers.

With Americans having fewer babies, the workingage population is projected to grow over the next 10 years at a fraction of recent decades. “If a bigger number retire than in the past, that’s a big potential crash for the labor force,” said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution.

The long-term consequences of a pullback by baby boomers cut deep: Their smaller contribution to the labor force suggests slower economic growth ahead for the U.S. and potentially negative effects on the economy’s overall productivity.

Reduced availability of older workers will complicate the Federal Reserve’s ability to steer interest rate policy and manage inflation.

There are also huge implications for public finances: Having fewer work-

ers is likely to mean reduced tax revenues, including payments into Social Security.

In the first quarter of this year, 30.3 million baby boomers reported they were out of the labor force because of retirement, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of government data.

That is 2.7 million more than in the first quarter of 2020, a much bigger increase than the average growth of roughly 2 million retired boomers annually over the last decade.

There hasn’t been an accompanying jump in Social Security claims — one can start drawing benefits as early as 62 — but experts suspect that may be partly because people, up to now, have been making do with savings and generous forms of pandemic aid, including expanded unemployment benefits and several rounds of relief checks.

The Pew center’s Fry worries about the solvency in the long run of retiree programs such as Social Security. As more seniors retire, he said, they’ll draw down pensions and retirement plans, and that has consequences for the price of financial assets.

There are reasons to think the sharp break in older workers’ labor participation could be a lasting trend.

As of June, 55% of unemployed workers who are 55 or older have been jobless for more than six months, compared with 36% for all other working age groups combined. And the longer a person is unemployed, the harder it is usually to return to the job market.

For workers 65 and older who were unemployed in June, half have been out of work for more than 46.5 weeks. For all workers, the median length of unemploy-

ment was 17.6 weeks.

Many of them face barriers to returning. The AARP says more people are seeing age discrimination in employment.

And, despite the overall shortage of workers, experts say they haven’t seen companies generally stepping up their efforts to recruit or retain older workers, focusing instead on race and income disparities.

Renée Ward, founder of Seniors4Hire, a Huntington Beach-based organization that tries to match older workers with employers nationally, said some businesses that were trying to come back from the pandemic and desperate to fill openings were targeting seniors.

Many of the jobs posted on her site are for such work as hotel clerks, building receptionists, tour guides, security guards, nannies and caregivers. Whether they provide enough pay, flexibility or safety protections to draw older workers is another question.

“This group will be much more resistant to returning to employment,” said Jeffrey Korzenik, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Bank in Tampa, Fla., who has been closely following the labor market and its implications for the economy.

And if fewer older workers return, he added, there will be less mentoring and handover of knowledge — a problem for manufacturers and other industries that are concerned about losing a generation of experienced workers.

“We have a more dynamic economy when you have more people in the workforce who are productive and more robust consumers,” he said. “But there’s no sign they’re coming back.”

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EDITORIALS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Space tourism, the next frontier The GOP’s climate change experience sounds more like the most extreme amusement park ride imaginable.

The Virgin Galactic rocket plane, attached to a larger carrier plane, will take off from a runway in New Mexico. When the carrier hits an altitude of 50,000 feet, the plane will detach, fire up its rockets and blast up into space at three times the speed of sound, or roughly 2,300 mph. When the plane reaches the blackness of space, the motor will shut off and the plane will hover at nearly 300,000 feet above Earth. Passengers can briefly unbuckle to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Then the plane descends, landing on the same runway as before. The trip takes about an hour.

Bezos’ Blue Origin, which launches on July 20, will offer a similar experience, with passengers in the autonomous capsule having several minutes of weightlessness and Earthly views before the capsule returns to terra firma, floating under parachutes.

Of course, it’s all extraordinarily expensive. One person paid $28 million in an auction for a seat with Bezos on Blue Origin’s first flight.

It’s also dangerous. Spaceflight is still a highly risky endeavor; even the experts at NASA have had deadly accidents, including two space shuttle disasters, the Challenger in 1986 and the Columbia in 2003.

In a world with life-and-death needs for technological advancements — cures for cancer and infectious diseases, carbon sequestration and geo-engineering to mitigate climate change — can we really celebrate the entrepreneurs who have chosen to spend billions of dollars on space tourism?

Yes, we can. We still want some visionaries to put money behind curiosity and imagination. We still need to push the limits of human experience and pursue what seems impossible or impractical. Even if dreams of spaceflights seem gratuitous, there will be Earthly benefits from the pursuit. The race in the 1960s to put a man on the moon did more than just that — it helped develop technology that we rely upon today, including solar panels, portable computers and air purifiers.

So let the new space race begin.

High-altitude joyrides for the super rich have arrived. But there may be benefits for the rest of us. here’s a new space race underway. Over the coming weeks and months, two, three, possibly four new space tourism ventures will launch from U.S. soil, taking paying passengers high into the Earth’s atmosphere.

On Sunday, British tycoon Richard Branson will be one of the first four passengers soaring into space on his Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane. Later this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is expected to be on the first human spaceflight launched by his company Blue Origin. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning to take paying passengers into orbit this year. And Boeing is hoping to use its Starliner spacecraft to carry space tourists.

What was once the final frontier, where “no man had gone before,” could soon become the playground of the rich and daring. That comes as no surprise.

For centuries, humankind has looked to the sky in wonder. Sure, scientific advances have helped shed some light on the mysteries of space. Telescopes have allowed us to see stars and planets in greater focus.

Rockets and space shuttles allowed people to travel into space and even walk on the moon. Rovers and unmanned spacecraft have given us images and sound from Mars.

But the experience of being in space and looking down on the shimmering blue Earth has been largely the domain of highly trained astronauts on government-run flights. Until now.

With technological advances fueled by billions of dollars supplied by some of the world’s richest men, the opportunity to shoot into the Earth’s orbit will soon be open to the public. Or, that is, the public willing to withstand a Mach 3 ascent into the sky and capable of spending at least $250,000 for the pleasure of it.

The first space tourists won’t be taking a leisurely float over the Earth. What they’ll

T

the need for stable sources of energy.

The caucus’ other areas of interest — safe nuclear energy and carbon sequestration — are more promising, with caveats. If Republicans can somehow come up with a truly safe nuclear path, the nation will be all ears.

Right now, however, “safe nuclear” rings a little bit like the oxymoron “clean coal.”

And before any thought of expanding nuclear energy can occur, the country would first have to identify a place to store spent fuel rods and then figure out a foolproof way to transport them there.

The most stable forms of energy are the nearly infinite ones, such as solar and wind, not fuels that will eventually be tapped out (and that cause other environmental harms in their extraction). Nor does this country need to rely on foreign sources to maintain a steady supply of the sun.

It will be important for Republicans not to use this as a shield to convince America that they really do care about climate change and the increasingly frequent droughts, wildfires and extreme weather events, when in fact they aren’t willing to take tough steps to soften future blows.

Any discussion of environmental reform that excludes a drastic reduction in the use of fossil fuels is just happy talk, not reality.

Nor is it helpful to complain, as Curtis does, that nothing we do will matter much as long as China emits more carbon than the United States. On a per capita basis, this country still produces more greenhouse gas emissions, and China has been making major strides toward clean energy.

For now, incremental change is better than none at all. The reality is that support from both parties will be needed to pass important new climate change laws, and so the help of Republicans is welcome in accomplishing that — as long as they don’t demand concessions on the move to clean, sustainable energy in exchange for supporting tree-planting. With the mounting evidence all around us, the GOP should not have to be dragged kicking and screaming into admitting that there is a climate crisis and that it will require serious and sometimes uncomfortable commitments from the nation.

Five dozen House Republicans join a new caucus on global warming. It’s late, but it’s a start. aced with polls showing not only that most Americans want more done about climate change, but that a majority of Republicans feel the same way, a substantial number of GOP lawmakers are sounding a conciliatory note on the issue.

Sixty House Republicans have now joined a Conservative Climate Caucus, formed by Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), that is willing at least to acknowledge the problem instead of labeling it a hoax, as President Trump did early on, or pretending that it’s temporary and that human actions haven’t contributed. Among its members are three Californians: Reps. David Valadao of Hanford, Michelle Steel of Seal Beach and Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake.

Republicans in both chambers appear ready to start talking — and go a little bit further. The Senate recently voted 92 to 8 for the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which was supported by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. If it passes the House as expected and is signed into law by President Biden, it would ease the way for farmers and ranchers to earn and sell credits for reducing or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

That’s progress, as is the less divisive approach. But in truth, the climate caucus and its somewhat more solutions-oriented tone are far too little, coming this late in the game.

Curtis talks about how he has spent a lot of time trying to understand the science, He and other Republicans needed to be quicker studies because the world is running out of time to avert the worst effects of climate change.

Worse, the caucus’ public statements indicate that its members won’t support reining in the use of fossil fuels in serious ways, as climate scientists insist we must do. Instead, the caucus calls those sources of greenhouse gases part of the solution to

F

LETTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taxpayers, step up for cougars Re “Bridging a freeway to save cougars,” July 4

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

POLICE at the scene of a May shooting in Hollywood that killed one person.

A deadly coincidence?

Re “Handgun sales across the state jumped 65.5% amid pandemic” and “Bloody weekend leaves more than a dozen killed,” July 6

O

n the front page of the July 6 California section, there were articles about the rise in handgun sales in California during the pandemic, and the spike in homicides over the Fourth of July weekend.

The U.S. Supreme Court in its 2008 District of Columbia vs. Heller decision held that the Framers’ “originalist” intent was for the 2nd Amendment to give individuals the right to keep and bear arms — meaning, effectively, that we have ready access to firearms so we can just kill each other whenever we choose to. It’s not like there’s any mention in the 2nd Amendment of a “well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state.”

The closest to a so-called militia was led by a shaman ransacking the U.S. Capitol.

Bruce N. Miller Playa del Rey

Re “Guns fuel deadly surge in L.A.,” July 7 And cars fuel drunk driving, right?

The article states that 2020 was a “very unusual year for homicides with a small increase in killings in the first half of the year, followed by a dramatic rise in the second.” Could it be due to radical changes in attitudes toward police after the demonstrations that started mid-year?

Barry DuRon Oxnard :: Your articles reporting the spike in handgun sales

in California during the pandemic and the homicides over the Fourth of July weekend make me think there might be a connection there.

Is it possible that the more heavily armed the populace becomes, more people will be killed by the firearms they bear? After all, what else are all those guns for?

John Humble Santa Monica :: After years of reading articles in The Times about gun violence, I decided to conduct a scientific experiment during the lockdown.

I closely watched a handgun for 30 days. I kept waiting for it to shoot me and my family and then go after my neighbors. It didn’t. In fact, it never moved.

As such, I have come to the conclusion that a handgun is an inanimate object and is incapable of killing anyone without the intervention of a person.

Perhaps your focus on homicides should be placed on those who kill, because I am now certain that it is not the fault of the handgun any more than it is the fault of a pencil for misspelling a word, or the fault of a fork for one’s weight gain.

Richard Miggins Toluca Lake

Building a wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway is a laudable endeavor, and hopefully this effort will be expanded to include more crossings over or under other freeways.

Private donations, though welcome, will not be enough to save large predators like mountain lions who live close to or even within urban areas. A public commitment to conservation through legislative and executive action is essential in the form of more overpasses, underpasses and continuous wildlife corridors.

This will involve a large amount of public spending, but if we really do consider ourselves good stewards of the Earth, we ought to do this.

Daniel Connell Moorpark :: So we need a small fortune in donations in the next few weeks to make the proposed 101 Freeway wildlife overpass in Agoura Hills possible.

Where, oh where are the billionaire philanthropists for whom this sum would be chump change?

Lisa Edmondson Los Angeles

Nudity and LGBTQ rights Re “Transgender rights at the spa,” editorial, July 7 Your editorial misframed the whole discussion of transgender rights by characterizing one’s objection — in this case, involving nudity at a spa — as being “uncomfortable.”

We live in a world where men are the oppressors, the aggressors, the rapists and the abusers of women worldwide. And now women are supposed to accept

men’s genitals in their most intimate spaces — these same men worldwide who oppress and threaten women.

If we lived in an equal world, then we could allow trans women into womenonly locker rooms, but we are far away from that.

It is horrible and unfair to women to have to suffer men’s aggression, and worse to have to be in intimate settings with these aggressors. I believe we must guarantee women’s equality.

Transgender rights should be worked into that, and forcing intimacy in this unequal situation is just plain wrong.

Kathryn Kosmeya-Dodge Santa Monica :: The reality is that there have always been, and always will be, people whose bodies don’t conform to our expectations of what is “normal.” But nothing justifies discriminating against them because their differences make someone else uncomfortable.

Likewise, if a patron of a business had been attacked by a member of a different race and thus feared all people of that race, we would not be expected to ban all such people from the business.

The same goes for sexual assault survivors and members of religious groups. We can sympathize with their troubles without allowing intolerance to be institutionalized.

Geoff Kuenning Claremont :: Always feeling comfortable isn’t an entitlement, your editorial says. That’s true unless someone pays for a service that offers comfort; in that case, comfort is expected.

Laws affording LGBTQ people the right to go into an establishment without discrimination make sense until you add the element of nudity. That is too much to expect for many. And, it’s

not bigoted or inflicting trauma on someone else to want privacy.

Mary Fischer Highland Park

Some skepticism on seers, please Re “Seers see benefits of a new work medium,” July 4 I was disappointed and annoyed that The Times would devote a whole Business page to the hucksterism that is represented by self-appointed psychics.

Out of more than 40 paragraphs, only one suggested that there is no scientific basis for some of the claims. The others implied that the con game played by these grifters was somehow legitimate.

In this world of climate change and vaccine and election deniers, how can The Times justify giving any space to such unvalidated, anti-science sophistry?

Shall we expect snake oil, homeopathy and Ponzi schemes to be highlighted in the coming weeks? Perhaps we could laud the many telemarketing scams that fill our phone lines every day since they produce revenue for many workers and for our telemarketing companies?

Surely The Times can put its voice to better things.

Jan Ludwinski Santa Monica :: I find it strange that apparently none of these psychics could see our pandemic coming and prepare for it ahead of time.

Also, it is such a shame that The Times, now a much smaller paper, would waste valuable space on such woo-woo.

Michael Kraft Torrance

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.

Executive Chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

FOUNDED DECEMBER 4, 1881

News: Executive Editor Kevin Merida • Managing Editors Scott Kraft, Kimi Yoshino • Deputy Managing Editors Shelby Grad, Shani O. Hilton, Julia Turner • Creative Director Amy King • Executive Sports Editor Christian Stone • Assistant Managing Editors John Canalis, Angel Jennings, Loree Matsui • Opinion: Editor of the Editorial Pages Sewell Chan • Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion Editor Terry Tang • Business: President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Argentieri • Chief Human Resources Officer Nancy V. Antoniou • Chief of Staff; Head of Strategy and Revenue Anna Magzanyan • Chief Information Officer Ghalib Kassam • General Counsel Jeff Glasser • V.P., Communications Hillary Manning

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OP-ED

The trouble with being ‘beefatarians’

By Peter Singer f the sound of beef sizzling on the grill brings tears of joy to your eyes, you’re a real beefatarian.” That’s the opening line of a TV ad produced by a European advertising campaign called Proud of European Beef.

Just more advertising silliness? No, because the European Union is paying 80% of the cost of it.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2013 report “Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock” states that beef contributes 41% of the greenhouse gas emissions from the entire livestock sector and also has the highest emissions intensity — that is, the highest emissions per unit of protein — of any animal product.

That is largely because ruminants belch and fart methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas.

As a result, rearing beef cattle brings about, on average, six times the contribution to global warming as nonruminant animals (for example, pigs) producing the same quantity of protein.

Since that report, the case against beef has strengthened. In 2015, a report from London’s Royal Institute of International Affairs pointed out that worldwide, meat and dairy consumption are rising at a rate that, if projected to 2050, would use 87% of the total quantity of emissions that is compatible with the Paris climate agreement’s objective of staying below a 2-degree Celsius increase in temperature.

A study published in Science in 2018 indicates that producing protein from soybeans in the form of tofu creates only 4% of the emissions required to produce the same quantity from beef cattle, while peas and nuts can both produce protein for less than 1% of emissions from beef cattle.

To meet the 2-degree target, the EU is aiming to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

There is now a solid body of evidence that says this cannot be done without a global shift away from meat.

Yet the European Commission spent 252 million euros ($298 million) promoting meat and dairy products from 2016 to 2020, compared with 146 million euros advertising fruit and vegetables.

“If you support sustainable farming by choosing European beef, you are real beefatarians,” says the Proud of European Beef advertisement — but without offering any explanation of why European beef is sustainable.

Climate targets are not the only things being undermined by the EU’s beef promotion. Its “Beating Cancer Plan” acknowledges that red and processed meats have been linked to higher risks of cancer. That view is shared by the World Health Organization, which lists processed meats, such as meats treated with salt, as Group 1 carcinogens, or products known to cause cancer. Red meat — beef, lamb and pork — is listed as a Group 2A carcinogen, indicating that it probably causes cancer.

The European Commission has said it “will review, and where necessary propose to revise, all relevant policy instruments to deliver the additional emission reductions.” An international group of more than 60 scientists, including Jane Goodall and Bill McKibben, has called on the commission to align its promotion of agricultural products with the goals of avoiding catastrophic climate change and improving public health.

Arguably, beef advertising should go the same way as tobacco advertising. Before we get to that point, the least governments could do is avoid paying for it. But the EU is not alone in failing to stand up to the meat industry.

Americans eat four times as much beef as the world average, and beef production alone is responsible for more than 3% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. American beef, dairy and pork producers are heavily subsidized, both directly and by agricultural support that makes animal feed extremely cheap.

As a candidate for president, Joe Biden called climate change “the No. 1 issue facing humanity” and “the No. 1 issue for me.” Within days of taking office, he appeared to live up to that statement by placing a moratorium on oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, scrapping the Keystone XL pipeline and announcing that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris agreement.

But when it comes to reducing emissions from agriculture, Biden’s announced plans do not go beyond incentives for sequestering more carbon in the soil and encouraging the use of additives in cattle feed to reduce methane emissions — a nice idea, but it’s likely to take many years before it is used on a scale that would have a significant effect.

Eating meat is not just a personal preference. The way that the animals eaten are raised and killed has long made it a legitimate matter of public concern. Now that we can see that eating red meat affects the entire planet in a manner that none of us want, it is time for governments to end their support for it.

“I

Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times

Hold on to the lessons of the pandemic These 14 months brought suffering and loss, but also reflection and growth

VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN t’s getting harder and harder to remember the height of the pandemic, when some 4,000 Americans were dying every day.

As recently as January, a person died of COVID-19 every eight minutes in Los Angeles County. Embalmers were overwhelmed. California ran out of storage space for the dead, so the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates smog across the Southland, lifted restrictions on cremations.

At the time, all of this — and the overwhelmed hospitals, the lockdown, the unemployment, the closed schools, the grounded planes — seemed unforgettable. It was staggering, surreal; it would stay with us forever.

But in this “vaccine summer,” we seem to be celebrating our relative freedom with amnesia.

Two weeks after my second dose of the Moderna vaccine, I told myself I’d still be vigilant. I told myself I’d go slow, wear my mask, keep my social distance.

But then vaccinated friends came to visit. At first we stayed outside in masks; then we sat in the kitchen in masks. Then without. Now hours pass and I don’t even think about the pandemic, though it is still claiming some 8,500 lives worldwide every day. At some point, I’m not sure when, I stopped keeping close watch on the death toll in the U.S. — it’s more than 606,000 — and began to hug and shake hands again. Fear kept the pandemic in the front of my mind, until the fear abated.

That’s what happens with trauma: We forget. The mind can be kind to us in this way. It would be impossible to

I

move on if we let every sight of haze on the horizon provoke thoughts of crematoria chimneys or trigger memories of ventilator shortages and dying relatives.

But it’s also important to remember — not just the trauma but also the lived experience during the worst of the outbreak. The pandemic made room for long periods of contemplation and stock-taking, to say nothing of brooding, fighting and fretting.

Relationships faltered. Careers stalled. Tens of millions of jobs evaporated, and many aren’t coming back. Teenagers, many cooped up at home, suffered extreme psychological duress.

Working parents struggled, and some, especially mothers who shouldered most of the burden of child care, hit breaking points. Millions of workers quit their jobs.

When the vaccine first started to roll out, many feared it would be hard to go back to normal. The country seemed stuck in a dysphoria that combined disbelief, anxiety and boredom. All we had were our new abnormal routines.

But after my vaccinated night out, I started to worry it would be too easy.

Like an adult who visits her parents and finds herself acting like a teenager again, we may find it irresistibly tempting to lapse into our old ways. It has even seemed possible, at times, to delete all of 2020 from our minds, skip in memory from summer 2019 to summer 2021 with no summer in between, while treating crumpled masks and gallon jugs of sanitizer as relics of a bygone civilization.

Some refuse to vaccinate, but nearly 50% of Americans have put the pandemic largely behind us with an

injection or two. Maybe we should pump the brakes. The reflections of the last 14 months shouldn’t just be shoved in a cupboard with the ramen and dried milk we stockpiled. Nothing throws one’s life choices into relief like a sustained global life-or-death emergency. Relationships, money, work, rest, health, political and moral commitments — these all came up for reevaluation. Keep doing that hard work.

Because our imaginations opened up, too. The stories of people quitting jobs, or joining the front-line workers, or resolving to marry or divorce or have children or move to the Yukon — these changes, many of them radical, suggest that the turbulence shook loose hidden yearnings in many of us.

The vaccines may be making the world safer. But that doesn’t mean our newfound self-knowledge is irrelevant.

It is possible to hold on to the knowledge, to keep building on it, without remaining stuck in anxiety.

There’s an old joke about a man on a train that succinctly warns against that stuckness.

“Oy, am I thirsty,” the man moans.

“Oy, am I thirsty.” This goes on for hours until finally his seatmate gets him a Coke, and the man gulps it down. A few minutes pass until the man speaks up again: “Oy, was I thirsty,” he moans. “Oy, was I thirsty.”

Oy, were we scared. But we can recall and honor that period of fear without bringing the spiked cortisol with us.

A tragic and chastening year awakened us to life’s brevity, its preciousness and its possibilities, and we should not forget that.

@page88

Wrong answer to California’s housing crisis

By Christian Horvath, Olivia Valentine and Drew Boyles n recent years, a group of California lawmakers has been pushing for legislation to override locally approved zoning rules and permit denser development in residential neighborhoods. At the moment, a bill is rushing toward passage in the state Legislature that would dramatically and undemocratically rewrite land-use rules in California.

The bill is SB 9, written by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). If approved, it would effectively eliminate single-family zoning in wide swaths of California’s cities.

Under its provisions, the owners of parcels currently zoned for single-family use would be allowed by right (subject to very limited environmental and other exceptions) to split their lots in two — and then to have up to two residential units on each lot.

In other words, a parcel currently zoned for only one family could soon have four families squeezed together.

These changes in the rules would be imposed on local governments but would not provide true solutions to the state’s affordable housing crisis.

That’s why a bipartisan group of 120 locally elected officials from 48 cities across the state — including not just wealthy communities but also low- and middle-income communities — have signed on to this article, agreeing that adding density to neighborhoods in such a broad and haphazard manner lowers quality of life for all communities.

SB 9 has passed the state Senate and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

One problem with the bill is that overriding local zoning cannot be Sacramento’s lone scheme

I

for achieving affordability — because, unfortunately, it will not have the intended outcome.

Affordable housing development is only attractive where land values are economical and adequate financial subsidies are available. Upzoning of the sort proposed does not produce more affordable housing. Rather, it increases the underlying land’s value, making new construction unnecessarily more expensive and, over time, raising values and rents throughout neighborhoods.

In 2017, census data suggested that there were twice as many vacant units in the city of Los Angeles as unhoused individuals. If those in need had the means to pay for those units, or if the units were accessible to existing public programs, low-income families seeking housing could have found it more rapidly.

The state should allow SB 329, which was signed into law in 2019, to work. It bans landlords from discriminating against renters who seek apartments using Section 8 or other housing assistance vouchers. In addition, California could house people more quickly by creating its own state housing voucher program.

Another problem with the SB 9 approach is that many cities face “carrying capacity limits” that must be considered before density is increased. If a community’s population is going to grow, as it would under SB 9, are there enough parks? Can the schools support the increase in students?

You can’t just make a neighborhood more crowded without considering sewer limitations, traffic conditions and water supply.

Proponents of SB 9 argue that density will allow families to live in “resource-rich neighborhoods” without guaranteeing every community is, or will become, resource-rich. We must address historical inequities to ensure all neighborhoods have sufficient on-

A proposed state law, SB 9, would effectively do away with single-family zoning in cities. But it wouldn’t solve our affordable housing problems. going public and private investments.

Additionally, the proposed eradication of single-family neighborhoods and the undermining of local control over zoning are attacks on democracy.

California currently requires citizen participation in the adoption of general plans and community changes in zoning rules. Overriding those policies undermines existing state mandates.

The barrage of new housing legislation coming down from Sacramento in recent years compromises cities’ ability to meet low-income-housing requirements and complicates the job of both local planners and developers, creating confusion and delays.

Municipal planning departments are becoming administrators of state policy instead of being allowed to guide their jurisdictions into sustainable and resilient futures. Local inclusionary zoning and density incentives are undermined by state legislation that adds density without affordability requirements.

Cities have yet to fully comprehend the impacts of last year’s three bills regulating accessory dwelling units. Municipalities need time to adjust, reset and thoughtfully adopt changes. They do not need a tsunami of statewide bills to “help.”

The state would do better to develop programs that provide more resources to planning departments. Right now, for example, cities may want to prioritize redeveloping their commercial districts, many of which have been devastated by COVID-19. Local entities should have the option to control their own zoning and set their own priorities.

Finally, overriding local zoning with by-right development can inadvertently increase greenhouse gas emissions without also acknowledging the dire need for broad infrastructure investment that could help guide communities toward zero-emission mobility. If public transit is the strategy to bring us to zero emissions, unfortunately it doesn’t currently work or exist in L.A.’s South Bay or many suburban parts of the state.

California residents should demand that Sacramento abandon the one-size-fits-all strategy embodied in SB 9, which would benefit developers, hurt homeowners and renters, and not necessarily facilitate the production of low-income housing. The state could better address the affordability crisis by helping local communities create reliable and fast transportation options and collaborating on regionally focused solutions that aid those in greatest need.

SB 9 falls short of accomplishing those goals and only furthers the lack of trust in state government to be a partner with local jurisdictions in solving real problems.

Christian Horvath is a City Council member in Redondo Beach. Olivia Valentine is mayor pro tem of Hawthorne.

Drew Boyles, the chair of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, is mayor of El Segundo. A full list of signatories is at SouthBayCities.org.

Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and founder of the nonprofit organization The Life You Can Save. His books include “Ethics in the Real World” and “Why Vegan?”

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FR I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M

‘Because the activists won’t be there, the news won’t be there.

They’re definitely hiding what they’re doing.’

— P EGGY L EE K ENNEDY,

Venice Justice Committee activist on the overnight sweep

Clearing camps in Venice, block by block [Venice, from A1] A tarp here, a blanket there. Bottles and cans and other consumer waste. But after all was said and done, after the eastern horizon had begun to glow with the impending dawn, they had moved only two people — Ursula and a man who had been reluctant to leave behind his paintings. The rest had left earlier in the week.

It was a case study in how difficult, and complicated, it can be to move homeless people when the goal is to avoid the kind of blunt-force dispersal that the city carried out this spring at Echo Park Lake.

The crews had come back for a second consecutive morning, mopping up after last week’s deadline to clear the southern portion of the homeless camps from Windward to Park avenues, a stretch of about 650 yards.

St. Joseph Center reported that it moved 72 people from the boardwalk to shelter or housing last week. City Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents Venice, said Thursday that about 90 people had been given shelter of some sort.

A small cluster of persistent tent dwellers holding out at Park Avenue after a July 2 deadline were removed Wednesday morning. The target Thursday was anyone remaining.

Officials said the final push was done in the wee hours of the morning to enforce a 2 a.m. curfew on the narrow berm adjacent to the boardwalk, a city park where more than 200 tents had accumulated over the last year.

The timing also afforded the cover of darkness for the labor-intensive and politically sensitive moments when the threat of arrest is the last negotiating chip against those who refuse to leave.

“Because the activists won’t be there, the news won’t be there,” said Peggy Lee Kennedy of Venice Justice Committee, who monitors cleanup activities.

“They’re definitely hiding what they’re doing. It’s really hard for me to be out in the middle of the night, especially after being out there all day.”

Thursday’s mop-up was only a prelude to the more difficult work ahead as a deadline approached for tents and other structures to be removed from the far north end of the boardwalk between Navy Street and Rose Avenue. Notices were posted this week that all structures would have to be cleared by 7 a.m. Friday.

Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times

A WOMAN who declined St. Joseph Center’s offer for housing pulls her belongings after police asked her to leave her Venice encampment.

The Los Angeles Sanitation Bureau conducted what it described as voluntary cleanups Wednesday and Thursday and has scheduled a comprehensive cleanup Friday.

But most of the tents, as well as some semipermanent structures, remained in the northern section. Outreach workers from St. Joseph Center and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority were out in force offering shelter to those remaining. But several people living in them told The Times they had no intention of leaving voluntarily.

Thursday’s cleanup was costly in resources but essential to neighborhood groups that pushed for the boardwalk to be cleared for the summer season and are now watching to be sure any cleared area stays that way.

“If you leave a single tent, it is a signal that it is OK to camp here,” said Connie Brooks, a member of Friends of Venice Boardwalk. Brooks said she appreciated the determination to keep the area, which is administered as a city park, usable by everyone.

“The amount of resources shows that there is a

commitment to doing this right for everyone,” she said.

On Thursday morning, the two stragglers took up the attention of teams that included St. Joseph Center outreach workers and two senior officials from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office — Deputy Mayor for City Homelessness Initiatives Jose “Che” Ramirez and Chief of Homeless Operations Brian Buchner, who came to observe and, at times, pitch in.

The mayor’s office, which is co-leading the operation with Bonin, will stay engaged as the phased cleanup moves from zone to zone through the end of the month, mayoral spokesperson Alex Comisar said.

After some back and forth and consternation on her part, Ursula, who gave only her first name, pushed a suitcase and her carts, which were lashed together, north on the boardwalk toward an area that hadn’t yet been cleared of tents.

Then the slow, arduous procession of city employees moved several yards north — three pickup trucks, one squad car and a garbage truck in tow.

They stopped at about 3:30 a.m. outside a closed

Ben & Jerry’s shop. There, in a small structure covered by a tarp, outreach workers from St. Joseph and police officers woke Jules Navarro and told him he had to move.

The problem for Navarro was that he had dozens of pieces of his art, which he’d been selling on the boardwalk for at least two years.

Officers reminded him they’d warned him about this deadline and that the time had come to stop sleeping on the boardwalk.

He refused to come out from his home, which was made from plywood and a large dresser.

If they could just give him until 9 a.m., he said, he would take down the structure and find somewhere to store the paintings.

An outreach worker initially told him that would work but after consulting with sanitation workers, LAPD officers and Garcetti aide Buchner, he came back.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Navarro,” the outreach worker said.

“They pulled the rug out from under my feet. You got to leave.”

“In the morning I will go with you all,” he yelled at the outreach workers, “but not at 3:45 a.m.”

“I don’t want your paintings to be taken,” another outreach worker responded.

Navarro had been detained and then released earlier in the week for sleeping on the boardwalk after curfew. After an extensive back and forth with the officers, he came out — frustrated and left wondering why this needed to happen in the middle of the night.

The 38-year-old then grabbed piles of canvases and bags of paint and ferried them across the boardwalk on his skateboard. He leaned the possessions against the wall of a pizza parlor and wondered aloud how he could store his work, which was also his livelihood.

He’d been living out here for just over two years, having moved from Riverside to Venice to ply his trade as an artist. He never made enough to afford rent but was able to get by and stay fed. When the pandemic struck, his income dried up.

He made a few extra dollars sleeping on the boardwalk and guarding street vendors’ possessions overnight. This week, he watched city workers haul away those items to a stor-

age facility five miles away and worried his canvases would meet a similar fate.

After an hour of ferrying, his paintings were out of the way and sanitation workers sorted through what was left. The garbage truck groaned as it devoured the plywood that minutes before had been the roof over his head.

While this dismantlement played out, outreach workers had secured a room for him at a nearby hotel and an Uber ride there.

Ramirez, Garcetti’s homelessness deputy, offered to stay behind to look after Navarro’s art while he was gone. Navarro feared that if he left, it would be trashed or stolen.

The Garcetti staffer planned to take Navarro to a nearby Public Storage facility when he returned from checking into the hotel.

They didn’t want him to lose his art.

By 5 a.m. the sun was rising, Navarro was on his way and the sanitation workers were packing up. They planned to be back Friday morning to clear another portion of the boardwalk.

About 5:20 a.m., the Uber arrived.

Seattle officers trespassed at Capitol, report says Two lied about their actions on Jan. 6, watchdog says. Four others are cleared.

By Martha Bellisle SEATTLE — Two Seattle police officers who were in Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6 insurrection were illegally trespassing on Capitol grounds while rioters stormed the building, but they lied about their actions, a police watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

“They were both standing in the immediate vicinity of the Capitol Building in direct view of rioters lining the steps and climbing the walls,” the Office of Police Accountability said in its report, citing video evidence.

“OPA finds it unbelievable that they could think that this behavior was not illegal, contrary to their claims at their OPA interviews.”

After the release of the report, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said he would hold accountable any officer in his department involved in the insurrection, including disciplinary action up to and including termination.

He said he would make a decision within 30 days.

Four other officers were cleared by the accountability office. The two found to have violated the law and policy have been placed on administrative leave, police spokesperson Valerie Carson said.

John Minchillo Associated Press

TWO SEATTLE officers were “standing in the immediate vicinity of the Capitol

Building in direct view of rioters” on Jan. 6, a report by a police watchdog says.

The six officers traveled as a group to Washington to attend then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. Their trip became public after one officer posted a photo on Facebook of herself and a former officer at the demonstration. Four other officers later acknowledged that they were in the capital on Jan. 6, but said they had not participated in the riot.

The Office of Police Accountability launched an investigation to determine whether the officers violated the law or department policy. Their names have not been released because of contract restrictions with

the city of Seattle. The officers also filed a lawsuit that sought to keep their names withheld from public records requests. That case is being appealed to the Washington Supreme Court.

The officers told investigators that they went to the Capitol to support Trump and hear him speak. Most said they went back to their hotel after the rally and learned about the insurrection on the news.

But the accountability office, using records, text messages, photographs, bank records and interviews with federal law enforcement, determined that two officers

violated department policies and Washington laws.

Seattle City Council President M. Lorena Gonzalez said the two officers should be fired.

“Their participation in activities intended to undermine the lawful and legitimate results of our electoral system and diminish the integrity of our democracy, is unacceptable,” she said in a statement.

“Additionally, there should be disciplinary action and accountability for the four other officers who participated in the reprehensible events on January 6.”

The first officer, a man,

said he and the other officer, a woman, left the rally and decided to go to the Capitol “because President Trump had asked people to be there.” He said he was exercising his 1st Amendment rights and was supporting “a free and fair election.”

The female officer said that at the Capitol, she saw people “peacefully standing on the lawn and around the building” but couldn’t see the Capitol steps.

But the FBI provided Seattle investigators with photos taken from a video of the two officers on the side of the Capitol as rioters were climbing scaffolding and surrounding the building.

The FBI said the person shooting the video turned to the male officer and asked, “Doing it?” The man with the camera then turned to face the building, and a male said off camera: “Thinking about it.”

While the video was shot, the officers were standing in an area that was clearly marked off-limits.

“While they smiled and looked at the Capitol Building, as captured by the video stills, rioters defiled the seat of American democracy and assaulted numerous fellow officers,” the accountability office said. “That they, as SPD officers, were direct witnesses to the acts that were going on around them, including the scaling of the Capitol Building walls, but did and said nothing, compounds this.”

The video also undermined their claims that they

didn’t know they were trespassing, the report said.

“Not only were there signs posted in that area,” the report said, “but there were ongoing violent acts, the use of less-lethal tools by law enforcement officers, and multiple other signs that being in that location was inappropriate and impermissible.”

The activities of a third officer were more difficult to confirm, the Office of Police Accountability said. He said he was in a grassy area with the first two officers for about 15 minutes but left to get food. Investigators said it was possible he was trespassing, but they didn’t have video evidence.

“By the same token, OPA could not find evidence to exonerate this employee,” the report said. “Accordingly, OPA recommended a finding of not sustained — inconclusive.”

The investigation found that the three other officers did not violate the law or department policies.

“Absent any illegal acts, the officers’ presence at this rally was absolutely protected by the Constitution,” OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said. “OPA found this to be the case even if the views held by the officers and expressed at the rally were contrary to the majority view in Seattle or, for that matter, the views held by Myerberg as the factual decider in this case.”

Bellisle writes for the Associated Press.

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CALIFORNIA F R I D A Y , J U L Y 9 , 2 0 2 1 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L I F O R N I A

Jacobs’ conduct no secret, says Garcetti staffer Former aide testifies the mayor’s office was a Mafia-like culture that rewarded silence.

By Dakota Smith, Richard Winton and David Zahniser

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

ZACHARY PRUETT, 10, packs up as he and his mother, Amanda Pruett, finish their morning at Castaic

Lake Lagoon on Thursday. The pair came to “cool off before the sun becomes dangerous,” Pruett said.

Record highs expected for swaths of California — again Heat waves are a clear impact of climate change, scientists say

By Rachel Schnalzer Potentially record-breaking temperatures are on their way to wide swaths of Southern California — a scorcher scientists say is clearly tied to climate change and could be lethal for those unprepared.

“Heat waves are killers,” said retired oceanographer and climatologist William Patzert, noting that more and more people in the Southwest and elsewhere are exposed to dangerous temperatures, even inside their homes.

A heat warning is in effect for the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley and parts of the Los Angeles County mountains, set to expire over Sunday and Monday.

The National Weather [See Heat wave, B2]

Mel Melcon Los Angeles Times

RICARDO DE ALEJANDRO, who is homeless, relaxes in the shade of a tree

while sitting next to his truck and belongings in North Hollywood on Thursday.

A former high-level aide to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti testified last month that former Garcetti advisor Rick Jacobs kissed both her and her husband on the mouth without their consent, and that a male Garcetti staffer separately complained to her that Jacobs made a pass at him.

Former Garcetti communications director Naomi Seligman said in deposition testimony that Jacobs grabbed her and kissed her on the lips in 2016 in front of several staffers, an incident she called humiliating.

Seligman, who worked in the mayor’s office from 2015 to 2017, also testified that she complained about the incident to Garcetti chief of staff Ana Guerrero but that nothing was done.

The deposition, a copy of which The Times reviewed Thursday, contained several explosive allegations about Jacobs — now at the center of a sexual harassment lawsuit — and those who worked with him.

Seligman testified that Garcetti staffers made comments to her over the past year that she took to mean that she should remain silent about Jacobs’ behavior. She said she encountered a Mafia-like culture that rewarded silence and was told that Jacobs “was protected by the mayor.”

At one point last summer, Seligman said, she confronted Guerrero, asking her why, considering Garcetti’s big dreams for his future, neither she nor the mayor had done anything about

CORONAVIRUS IN CALIFORNIA

Transmission is up in L.A. County as Delta raises alarms

By Luke Money and Rong-Gong Lin II Coronavirus transmission is up across the board in Los Angeles County, a troubling trend officials say illustrates the new normal of the still-potent pandemic — one in which the virus continues to spread easily among residents who have yet to be inoculated.

“Right now, people have the lowest levels of protection from this virus in the communities where transmission is the highest. But among all of our communities, transmission is going up,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told reporters Thursday.

Over the last week, the county has reported an average of 521 new coronavirus cases a day, a number that, though still significantly smaller than what was seen during the pandemic’s previous waves, nevertheless represents a tripling of the figure from two weeks ago, according to data compiled

by The Times.

The county’s positivity rate — the proportion of conducted tests that confirm coronavirus infection — has also shot up, from 1.2% last week to 2.5% as of Thursday.

As has been demonstrated throughout the pandemic, upticks in infections represent just the first link of a potentially devastating da[See Transmission, B5]

Gabriella Angotti-Jones Los Angeles Times

NATHAN FLUELLEN, left, and Joi K. Madison warm up before surfing at

El Porto Beach in Manhattan Beach in April 2020 during the pandemic.

Beach is for all of us — but we have to get there

Jacobs.

“I just said ... why would he allow Jacobs to torpedo his career? Why would he protect him? Why won’t you say anything?” And she said, ‘I’ve tried, and there’s nothing I can do.’ ” Garcetti’s top aides “knew, discussed, and did nothing about the harassment and abuse that took place for years,” she said.

Seligman’s testimony comes at a critical time for Garcetti, who is awaiting word on whether he will be selected by President Biden [See Jacobs, B2]

TEMBLOR RATTLES NORTH PORTION OF STATE 6.0 quake centered in the Eastern Sierra was among several jolts to hit in the afternoon.

By Rong-Gong Lin II, John Myers and Leila Miller SACRAMENTO — A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck California’s eastern Sierra Nevada on Thursday afternoon, sending strong shaking through a rural mountainous region and light shaking across much of Northern California.

The earthquake was reported at 3:49 p.m. The preliminary epicenter was just west of the town of Walker, where fewer than 1,000 people live, on the northern edge of Mono County — about 70 miles northwest of Mammoth Mountain and 40 miles southeast of South Lake Tahoe.

A section of U.S. 395 was shut after reports of rockslides in northern Mono County, Caltrans said. Fire Chief Rich Nalder of the Antelope Valley Fire Protection District, which serves Walker, said there were no reports of serious infrastructure damage.

Lorri Martin, a deli supervisor at Walker Country Store, had been sticking labels on merchandise when she felt the shaking.

Items in the refrigerator tipped over. Coolers began leaking water.

Martin screamed and stood in the bathroom doorway to try to calm down.

“This thing shook like it was moving onto the highway,” she said. “It rocked and rolled.

Everything broke.”

But customers kept arriving, and over the next few [See Quake, B3]

Democratizing access to the waves is difficult FRANK SHYONG

Christina House Los Angeles Times

SORA FUKAYA, 22, receives the Pfizer COVID-19

vaccine at El Camino College in Torrance.

When I first moved to Los Angeles in 2006, I imagined that I’d be going to the beach all the time.

I changed the background of my Myspace profile to a picture of Venice Beach palm trees at sunset as part of my preparations to live out the sundrenched California fantasy that brings so many people to this state. Obviously, I would get into surfing. The only question was how good would I be.

Fifteen years later, I have still never surfed, and my fantasy of a beachy life-

style has run aground on a hard reality.

The coast exists for all of us, and our right to beach access enjoys greater protections here than in almost any other state. But first, you have to get there.

In the quadratic equation of distance, parking, traffic and transfers we use to determine our every course of action across this city, the beach is one of the hardest to solve.

If you wake up too early, or drive too far out, you might be exhausted when you get there. If you wake up too late, you’ll probably pay much more to park and have to go much farther to find a spot. If you pay too [See Shyong, B5]

Power flex alert is set for Friday Officials urge state residents to cut their energy use amid the heat wave. B3

Half-nude man scales church Trespasser climbs Boyle Heights bell tower and sets a fire under its cross. B3 Lottery ...................... B3 Weather .................... B6

SPORTS ON THE BACK: Jared Walsh’s improved hitting for Angels is no accident. B10

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FR I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M

Exploring COVID, erectile dysfunction link

By Rong-Gong Lin II Can COVID-19 cause lasting erectile dysfunction?

This is now the topic of some discussion among doctors and health experts as they try to better understand the effects of the coronavirus. The problem has been observed in some patients, but experts agree more study is needed to form any conclusions.

Some men are coming into doctors’ offices saying erectile dysfunction has occurred following a COVID-19 infection, said Dr. Ryan Berglund, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic. At the moment, there’s primarily anecdotal evidence, and “we don’t know the scale of the problem at this point.”

Berglund stressed that it had not been proved that COVID-19 causes erectile dysfunction.

Observational studies need to be done, he said, adding that a helpful one would be to study men in the same age group with similar health status to see if rates of erectile dysfunction differ depending on whether they have the coronavirus.

“That, we haven’t gotten to yet,” Berglund said.

It would not be surprising if COVID-19 harmed male sexual health, said Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, who has written extensively on the subject.

Erectile dysfunction could be a symptom of “long COVID,” he said, an array of symptoms that can last

months after the initial coronavirus infection. Common symptoms of long COVID include difficulty breathing, chest pain, heart palpitations and loss of smell or taste.

Jannini said he suspected the risk was higher in patients who suffered from pneumonia accompanying COVID-19, which triggers inflammation of the blood vessels — specifically, endothelial cells that line the body’s blood vessels.

When those blood vessels and the rest of the cardiovascular system are harmed, it can trigger erectile dysfunction, Jannini said. He suspects that when a coronavirus infection leads to erectile dysfunction, it can last long after the initial bout with COVID-19 has passed.

Unlike some other mammals that have a bone in their penis that contributes to an erection, erections in humans are solely generated through blood flow, Berglund said — specifically, a dilation of arteries that brings more blood flow to the penis than can exit it. “So anything that could affect the ability of the artery to effectively deliver sufficient blood supply to create an erection could lead to erectile dysfunction,” he said.

In much the same way inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, can occur as a consequence of COVID-19, it is plausible that erectile dysfunction could occur from the disease.

“It’s also the blood vessels themselves that can become inflamed,” Berglund said, “which could cause an

severity of it have probably led to a higher incidence of vascular-related disease and vascular inflammatory disease than other viral infections.”

Pneumonia caused by COVID-19 harms blood oxygen levels.

Pneumonia can lead to lung damage that can reduce a person’s ability to get enough oxygen in the blood, Jannini said. That can reduce the ability to maintain an erection.

It’s well established that a lack of sufficient oxygen in the blood can lead to erectile dysfunction, he said.

Associated Press

MEN who had COVID-19, the disease caused by

SARS-CoV-2, may be at risk for erectile dysfunction obstructive phenomenon and negatively impact the ability to get erections.”

Lasting erectile dysfunction associated with COVID-19 has consequences beyond sexual activity. It can be an indicator of related disease of the heart and blood vessels, he said, and those suffering from it should tell a doctor and get a regular heart checkup.

“The most concerning thing here would be that erectile dysfunction related to the disease may be an indicator of other underlying vascular disease related to COVID,” Berglund said. Vascular disease refers to coronary artery disease, which can lead to a myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack, he added.

Here, in short, are several of the reasons COVID-19 could contribute to persist-

ing erectile dysfunction or otherwise impair male sexual health: Pneumonia from COVID-19 causes blood vessels to become inflamed.

Pneumonia from COVID-19 can cause blood vessels to become inflamed, leading to restricted blood flow, which can contribute to erectile dysfunction, Jannini said.

“Very often,” said Berglund, “the development of erectile dysfunction is related to the development of vascular disease.”

And it’s now becoming clear that some patients with COVID-19 are suffering from inflamed blood vessels, he added.

“This is not an uncommon problem with other viral infections,” Berglund said. “It’s just that the scale of this viral infection and the

COVID-19 may damage the cells that produce testosterone.

It’s possible the coronavirus infects cells in the testicles, including Leydig cells that produce testosterone, the male sex hormone, which affects libido and desire.

A review of scientific literature on possible ways erectile dysfunction can develop in COVID-19 survivors, which Jannini coauthored, says Leydig cells also have a protein called ACE2 — the same protein the coronavirus uses to begin infecting human cells.

Autopsies of people who have died from COVID-19 show “significantly reduced Leydig cells,” the review said.

Berglund called this hypothesis reasonable, but it hasn’t been proved.

Lacking a sense of smell may affect arousal.

An inability to pick up

scents can reduce the ability to become aroused, Jannini said.

Depression and anxiety from the pandemic may contribute.

The effects of the pandemic, including losing jobs and the impact of stay-athome orders, can also affect people’s moods and contribute to erectile dysfunction, Jannini said.

“There is a strong, emotional, psychological component,” Berglund said, “to being able to get an erection — quote-unquote ‘being in the mood.’”

Berglund said he had patients he knew could get an erection because they would wake up with one.

“But when the time comes to be intimate, they can’t actually get an erection.

“And we know that the disease has caused a tremendous amount of stress on people,” he said, “and that can affect your ability to get erections.”

More study is needed.

When people get an illness, they tend to blame the illness for things that happen, Berglund said, even if the illness isn’t the cause of the problem.

But the plausible relationship between COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction is one more reason for the unvaccinated to get their shots, Jannini said.

“Having vaccinations leads to having more sex,” he quipped. “I would suggest for young people to get their vaccinations: If they want to have sex, better to get the vaccine.”

Ex-Garcetti staffer said Jacobs’ conduct no secret

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

JOSH PUCHALSKI practices his bouldering skills with fellow UCLA students at

Stoney Point Park in Chatsworth on Thursday morning before temperatures rose.

Heat wave to bake California [Heat wave, from B1] Service expects “dangerously hot conditions,” with temperatures up to 113 degrees in the Antelope Valley — potentially record-breaking heat for this time of year, according to meteorologist David Sweet.

If the Antelope Valley reaches 113 degrees this weekend, it will be far from the first heat record broken in Southern California this summer.

“All three of our desert climate sites (Palm Springs, Thermal and AnzaBorrego) experienced their hottest June on record, with mean monthly temperatures of 93.5 F, 91.0 F, and 91.7 F respectively,” the National Weather Service’s office in San Diego tweeted Tuesday.

Temperatures of 120 to 128 are expected over the weekend in Death Valley, with daily record high temperatures “likely to be rivaled or broken,” according to the weather service.

With highs expected near 112 degrees, “we could be looking at some daily records in Fresno, especially on Sunday and Monday,” said meteorologist Colin McKellar at the National Weather Service’s Hanford office. In addition, Bakersfield, Merced and other areas of the Central Valley may break daily heat records over the weekend into Monday, McKellar said.

The Indian Wells Valley may experience its hottest day on record, McKellar said, with a high near 118 degrees possible on Saturday.

The Palm Springs area is also expecting a potentially record-breaking heat wave this weekend, with temperatures up to 121 expected across the Coachella Valley, according to the National Weather Service. This weekend, “it’s going to be pretty close, probably within a few degrees of some daily re-

cords,” said meteorologist Bruno Rodriguez with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.

The hot weekend comes after a “mega heat dome” struck the Pacific Northwest and western Canada earlier this month, killing hundreds, igniting fires and prompting a study that quickly tied it to climate change.

This incoming heat wave can also be attributed to a warming planet, said Patzert.

“Over the past 60 years, every decade has been hotter than the previous decade. None of this should be a surprise,” he said. “We’ve had what I would call a tipping point or a crisis here with regard to heat waves.”

Heat poses a serious risk to human health, Patzert explained, especially when it surpasses 95 degrees.

“That’s when the human body starts to have negative reactions,” he said. With climate change, “we’re spending more and more time over that [95 degree] threshold at various locations, especially in the West.”

The extreme temperatures will be particularly dangerous “for those working or participating in outdoor activities,” the heat alert for the Antelope Valley explains. The National Weather Service predicts overnight temperatures will remain “very warm” in the area, hovering in the mid-70s to mid-80s.

Residents in high heat areas should drink fluids, avoid spending time in the sun and check on family members and neighbors periodically. Adults and pets should not be left in vehicles, the National Weather Service warns.

Free, air-conditioned cooling centers are available across L.A. County, with a list of locations at ready.la-

county.gov/heat. Additional tips for extreme heat can be found at publichealth.lacounty.gov.

Heat-related illness can be serious and life-threatening. Anyone suffering from signs of heat stroke should call 911.

With the heat and dry conditions also come an elevated fire risk, Sweet said.

The National Weather Service urges residents to use caution with any potential flame sources, as fires continue to blaze across the state.

Climate change, heat waves and unhealthy forests are combining to compound the threat of blazes, Patzert said. “The great forests, the Sierra and the Rockies becoming more and more desiccated and more prone to these extreme fire situations.”

In addition to the Antelope Valley, heat warnings are in effect for many other areas in California, such as the Cuyama Valley, parts of San Luis Obispo County, and large swaths of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Heat waves shine a glaring light on both local and global inequities, experts say.

In low-income neighborhoods, with fewer trees and less access to air conditioning, “the heat wave is more punishing,” Patzert said. “As CO2 levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, the misery level across the planet will certainly follow.”

“If we don’t do some serious environmental mediation, which means weaning ourselves off fossil fuel, and considerable adaptation, which means making air conditioning more available for more people, the heat waves of 2021 will seem mild in 2031,” Patzert said. “We’ll be referring to 2021 as the good old days.”

[Jacobs, from B1] for an overseas ambassador post. His wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, recently gave her own deposition in the case.

Meanwhile, Guerrero has been on leave following a scandal over her messages in a private Facebook group.

Garcetti, in a statement from his office, said he, his chief of staff and other senior aides did not witness the kissing and hugging incidents that were described by Seligman.

“No mayor’s staff or former staff or anybody else has ever faced retaliation or intimidation for making any personnel complaints or offering testimony in this case,” the statement said.

Guerrero, in her own statement, said Seligman informed her of “conflicts” with Jacobs. But Guerrero said she concluded that they came down to “differences in personality and work style.”

“Naomi Seligman absolutely never reported harassment of any kind to me,” she said.

Jacobs, through his lawyer, also disputed Seligman’s statements about him.

“Ms. Seligman’s characterizations of our interactions and relationship are wildly inaccurate and come as a shock to me,” he said.

Seligman’s deposition is one of several to be made public in a lawsuit filed last summer against the city by Los Angeles Police Officer Matthew Garza, who worked on the mayor’s security team. Garza has alleged that Jacobs sexually harassed him over a period spanning several years.

In his lawsuit, Garza said Jacobs touched him inappropriately and made crude comments. He also alleged that Garcetti witnessed some of Jacobs’ inappropriate behavior but took no actions to stop it.

Jacobs denies sexually harassing anyone, but conceded in his own deposition that he might have hugged members of the security detail and made sexual jokes.

Garcetti has repeatedly

denied seeing any inappropriate behavior by Jacobs.

Seligman, who continued to attend functions at Getty House after leaving the mayor’s office in 2017, said she saw Jacobs hug and touch members of the security detail at those events. However, she testified that she could not recall seeing Jacobs touch Garza.

She said members of the detail did not enjoy the hugs and looked “wildly uncomfortable.”

Seligman also testified that Garcetti was present for some of Jacobs’ “power hugs” that she saw in the mayor’s suite.

Micha Star Liberty, Seligman’s lawyer, said her client’s concerns have been repeatedly dismissed by Garcetti, his staff and Jacobs.

“This is a tactic we’ve all seen too often to discredit survivors.”

Seligman’s testimony follows statements made by exmayoral aide Henry Casas in a deposition that it was “common knowledge” in the mayor’s office that Jacobs behaved inappropriately toward male employees.

Casas described how Jacobs squeezed his biceps, gave him hugs and massaged his shoulders — all without Casas’ consent. He also testified that he saw Jacobs hug and touch Garza.

By contrast, Guerrero and former top Garcetti aide Matt Szabo testified in their depositions that they didn’t see inappropriate behavior

by Jacobs.

Guerrero testified that she did not learn of any sexual harassment allegations against Jacobs until shortly before Garza filed his suit.

In her deposition, Seligman said it was a common occurrence for Jacobs to “grab, hug, kiss, touch women and men.”

“I wish I could give you chapter and verse on every time that he touched or inappropriately hugged or kissed a female, but it would be literally like remembering every day and what time I logged into my computer.

Gary Coronado Associated Press

MAYOR ERIC Garcetti delivers his State of the City

address from the Griffith Observatory in April.

There’s just — it just is something that happened all the time. You would say it was an open secret, but it wasn’t a secret. It happened every day, all day long.”

In one incident in 2016, Seligman said, Jacobs came into her office and kissed her on the lips “for a long period” in front of her staff.

She said she immediately went to Guerrero’s office and told her what happened.

“She just kind of shook her head, rolled her eyes, got her sort of blank angry stare,” Seligman said.

Seligman testified that nothing was done by the mayor’s office about her complaint. She also said Guerrero discouraged her from filing a sexual harassment complaint against another unnamed staffer.

Seligman also testified that during her conversation with Guerrero last summer, Guerrero told her that she hoped they could “continue to be friends.” Seligman took this to mean that their friendship would end if she spoke out about Jacobs.

Guerrero, in her statement, said she was “surprised and disappointed” to learn years after Seligman’s departure that Seligman did not feel supported by her or the mayor’s office.

“Had she reported harassment of any kind to me, to the mayor, or to any of the resources available to them, we would have taken action immediately, as is our legal and moral obligation,” she said.

During her deposition, Seligman showed a text from a Garcetti staffer whose name is redacted.

Seligman said the staffer had complained to her that Jacobs had hit on him and that he was “uncomfortable” over Jacobs’ advances.

Garcetti’s office would not identify the staffer in question, saying that person is protected by the court’s confidentiality rules. “Furthermore, the employee denies experiencing any sexual harassment,” the mayor’s representative said.

Seligman also testified that Jacobs kissed her husband on the lips when he walked into Jacobs’ home for a book party hosted in his honor. The kiss went on “for some time,” she said. Seligman also accused Jacobs of using a racist term to describe an aide, calling him “China Boy” in the mayor’s suite. She could not recall if the mayor was present and conceded she never complained about the language.

Jacobs, in his deposition, acknowledged using such language, but said he apologized to the aide.

F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M

B3

CITY & STATE

Half-naked man scales church in Boyle Heights Trespasser climbs to roof of bell tower and sets a fire under a rooftop cross.

By Melissa Hernandez

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times

ZOE COOKSEY, left, flanked by mother Amber Leight and grandmother Annette Oltmans, leaves a news

conference Thursday in Mission Viejo. Cooksey has filed a lawsuit against a nurse and Providence Health.

Nurse faces charges, lawsuit over sexual assault claims

By Priscella Vega A Costa Mesa resident is taking legal action against an Orange County hospital for weak protocols she says allowed a registered nurse to sexually assault her in the emergency room.

Attorney Shawn Steel filed a lawsuit Thursday in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of Zoe Leigh Cooksey. The suit names Providence Health and Paul Alden Miller, a registered nurse formerly employed at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Joined by her mother and grandmother on a sidewalk near the hospital, Cooksey, 22, spoke during a news conference about “one of the worst experiences of my life.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll ever be the same again, but I am coming forward today to give a voice to the victims of sexual assault and to let others know that it’s OK to stand up and share your story,” she said.

Cooksey said she checked into Mission Hospital’s ER on March 31 because of lingering pain from an earlier car crash. The hospital sent her for blood work, and Miller, 56, took her to a “small, secluded room,” according to the lawsuit.

As she changed into a gown, the suit says, Miller

asked Cooksey four times whether he could help her and she declined every time.

When he saw she was still wearing her underwear, he removed the garment and told her he needed to insert a catheter, court records show. Cooksey didn’t understand why this was necessary but gave in to Miller’s authority.

According to court documents, Cooksey voiced her discomfort as Miller struggled to insert the catheter for several minutes. Miller then rubbed her vagina in a sexual manner and asked whether it felt good, the lawsuit states. Cooksey repeatedly told him to stop and again asked why his actions were necessary.

Steel said that at one point, Cooksey managed to call her mother and ask her to come to the hospital because she was uncomfortable. Shortly before her mother arrived, Miller — who had overheard the phone call — injected two syringes of morphine into Cooksey’s intravenous line, according to the lawsuit.

The medication prevented her from properly explaining to her mother what had happened, Steel said.

Cooksey was later escorted to another department by a female nurse for a CT scan. The suit states that during her absence, Miller

6.0 quake rattles northern region

Wearing only blue boxer shorts and one black sock, a man climbed atop the roof of a Boyle Heights church Wednesday night and set a fire at the foot of a small cross, authorities said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded around 8:25 p.m. to reports of a person trying to jump off a rooftop and “appearing to set the building on fire,” an alert from the LAFD said.

The 25-year-old man, who was not identified by police, climbed onto the bell tower of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, at 407 Chicago St. He lighted a small fire beneath the rooftop cross, but the blaze failed to spread, authorities said. The fire scorched about one square foot of the roof but did not significantly damage the church, LAFD officials said.

Video from OnScene.TV shows a man, minus shirt and pants — and holding a pill bottle in his mouth — walking heel-to-toe as

KTLA

A MAN lights a small

fire at Boyle Heights’ St. Mary’s Catholic Church though balancing on a tightrope while crossing the roof of the four-story church.

He then shimmies down scaffolding near the church before jumping onto the rooftops of adjacent buildings. He uses electrical wires from a utility line to scale the side of one building, the video shows.

Once on the ground, the man ran to a residential building, where he smashed a window to get in, Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Lopez said. The family inside was evacuated, officials said.

The man was taken into custody about 10:30 p.m. outside the residence and was taken to a hospital, LAFD officials said.

He was arrested on suspicion of arson and burglary, Lopez said.

asked Cooksey’s mother whether she wanted to lie down in a room next to her daughter and said he could “give her something to relax.” She declined.

The suit alleges that Miller administered another shot of morphine before Cooksey was discharged. By then, she couldn’t hold a pen or sign her name to leave the hospital, so her mother signed for her.

In the months after Cooksey said she was violated, two other women — a 68-year-old and a 56-yearold who have not been identified — reported they also were sexually assaulted by Miller at Providence hospital, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff Department arrested Miller on June 30 on suspicion of sexual abuse and battery. He was released from jail later that night after being held on $100,000 bail, jail records show. He has been charged with three counts of sexual battery involving an unconscious person, all felonies, according to Orange County Superior Court documents. He also has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of touching an intimate part of another person and one misdemeanor count of inflicting injury on an elder adult.

Representatives for the Orange County district at-

torney’s office were not immediately available for comment, but court documents show Miller is scheduled for arraignment Sept. 28.

Providence Mission Hospital said in a statement that it has “zero tolerance for behavior that does not align with our mission and values.”

Miller was placed on leave immediately after hospital officials received the first patient complaint and launched their own investigation, the hospital said. Authorities were notified and he has not worked at the facility since. He began working at Providence Mission Hospital in January, according to sheriff ’s officials.

He previously worked at El Centro Regional Medical Center and Sharp Hospital in Chula Vista.

Miller, a San Clemente resident, has been a registered nurse for about six years, according to the California Board of Registered Nursing. His license listed no disciplinary actions as of Thursday. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Investigators think there may be more victims and are asking for anyone with additional information to call the Sheriff ’s Department at (714) 647-7419 or submit an anonymous tip at (855) 8476227.

Lottery results

Long Beach is set to offer guaranteed incomes to 500

Tonight’s Mega Millions Estimated jackpot: $94 million Sales close at 7:45 p.m.

For Wednesday, July 7, 2021 SuperLotto Plus

Power flex alert is called for Friday

By Leila Miller The California Independent System Operator, which runs the electric grid for most of California, has issued a new flex alert for Friday, asking residents to conserve electricity as a heat wave sweeps the state.

Officials are calling on residents to cut back on their energy use from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. in order to ease the strain on the grid during the evening, when there’s less or no solar energy available.

During the flex alert, CAISO is asking consumers to set thermostats at 78 degrees or higher, turn off all unnecessary lights, and avoid using major appliances such as dishwashers or

laundry machines until after 10 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings across portions of Southern California, including the San Diego County deserts, Coachella Valley, Antelope Valley, interior San Luis Obispo County and the Cuyama Valley.

Saturday will likely be the warmest day overall, forecasters said.

The Apple and Lucerne valleys are preparing for temperatures that could climb as high as 120 degrees by the weekend — potentially the hottest of the year so far.

Times reporter Hayley Smith contributed to this report.

Mega number is bold

[Quake, from B1] minutes, as staff began to clean up broken glass, the small convenience store continued to feel jolts.

About a mile away at Mountain View Barbeque, pots and pans flew off shelves.

“I’ve been here 27 years and this was the first time it was a jolt, it was just a bam,” owner Jeff Hinds said.

Weak to light shaking was felt as far away as Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose, according to reports by seismic instruments and people filing reports to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Did You Feel It? survey. But the shaking reported was not uniform, and some people in the East Bay and San Mateo County felt nothing at all.

A flood of posts on social media discussed not only the earthquake but also the rarity of such an event in Sacramento, a city where residents typically consider themselves at less risk of an earthquake than places such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Sacramento City Hall shook and swimming pools sloshed. Though the temblors were mild, the state capital quickly took to social media to confirm the brief shaking was actually an earthquake.

Sen. Mike McGuire ( DHealdsburg) was in the Capitol building to chair a committee hearing, while most lawmakers had departed af-

ter the conclusion of morning floor sessions.

“That was a heckuva earthquake to hit the Capitol,” he posted on Twitter.

Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said there were no immediate reports of damage.

Baxter said he has a hanger that keeps above his office desk to gauge if there’s been an earthquake.

“It was swaying a little bit,” he said. “Then a bunch of people started calling me.”

There are a number of active faults in the Eastern Sierra region of California in what’s called the Walker Lane system, said Keith Knudsen, deputy director of the USGS’ Earthquake Science Center.

“There is tectonic slip that goes up the east side of the Sierras, and there have been a number of historical earthquakes of this size or bigger in the last few decades. So it’s not a big surprise that it happened here,” Knudsen said.

An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 5.0 and 6.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.

Lin reported from San Francisco, Myers from Sacramento and Miller from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Anita Chabria contributed to this report from Sacramento.

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Low-income single parents selected for the pilot program will receive $500 a month.

By Rachel Schnalzer Long Beach is launching a guaranteed-income pilot program intended to assist 500 residents who have incomes below the poverty line, the city announced.

Up to 500 single-parent families will receive $500 each month for a year, Mayor Robert Garcia said.

Payments will be distributed largely to households led by single mothers with incomes below the poverty line in the 90813 ZIP Code, which has the highest concentration of family poverty in the city, officials said.

“We’re looking at 30% of eligible single parents [who] are going to be able to receive this direct income in this ZIP Code,” Garcia said Thursday.

Generally speaking, family income of around $20,000 or less a year would place the household below the poverty line and make the household eligible for the program.

The program’s application process, handled by the Long Beach Economic Development Department, will begin in the coming months, and the city plans to start distributing funds by the end of the year.

Luis Sinco Los Angeles Times

LONG BEACH will begin accepting applications for

the guaranteed-income effort in the coming months.

“In the next few months, when we open up the process, we’re going to do an intense outreach effort,” Garcia said. “We will be going door to door. We will engage with community organizations that are already working on the ground, just to get information out as much as possible.”

In addition to an applicant’s household income, pandemic-related hardships will be considered.

Those receiving the monthly stipends also will be provided with free child care, transportation support, workforce training and “access to resources to support digital inclusion,” such as cellphones and internet connection.

The Office of Economic Research at Cal State Long Beach, which helped develop the program, will be

studying its effects on participants.

Long Beach isn’t the first California city to launch a guaranteed-income program. In 2019, Stockton launched a two-year initiative in which 125 residents received $500 every month, with no strings attached.

The payments in Stockton resulted in better health, well-being and professional success for participants, according to a study.

Cities such as Compton, West Hollywood and Oakland have implemented similar programs.

“We’re trying to make a national case” for guaranteed-income programs, Garcia said. Long Beach’s pilot program is “a great opportunity to get some really great data and, most importantly, just to help people.”

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5. Brake, Clutch and Drivetrain Component Overhaul and Repair 6.

Engine External Component Repair 7.

Hydraulic System Component Repair 8. Towing and Roadside Services 9. Tire Services 10. Vehicle Engine Internal Component Overhaul and Repair The anticipated Contract term in each of the categories above will be for an initial three (3) years, with two (2) possible oneyear extensions, and twelve (12) possible one-month extensions, for a potential maximum contract term of six (6) years.

To obtain solicitation documents in any of the categories listed under 1, 2 or 3 above, please contact Carlos Santiago via email at Carlos.Santiago@fire.lacou nty.gov.

To obtain solicitation documents in any of the categories listed under 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 above, please contact Jenny Carney via email at Jenny.Carney@ fire.lacounty.gov.

CN978872 Jul 7,8,9,10,11,12, 2021

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Miscellaneous Services FREON WANTED: We pay $$$ for cylinders and cans of R12 R500 R11 R113 R114. Convenient. Certified Professionals. Call (312) 291-9169 or visit RefrigerantFinders.com

Bids Wanted INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) SOLICITATION FOR FIRE FLEET MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES The Los Angeles County Fire Department is soliciting bids from qualified companies interested in providing fire fleet maintenance and repair services under ten (10) separate categories, as follows: 1. Engine External Component Repair 2. Glass and Upholstery 3. Mobile Air Conditioning 4. Allison Transmission Overhaul and Repair

Legal Notices REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS (RFSQ) FIRE FLEET FRAME, BODY, GLASS REPLACEMENT, UPHOLSTERY, AND PAINT REPAIR SERVICES The Los Angeles County Fire Department is issuing an RFSQ to obtain a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) from qualified firms interested in providing Fire Fleet Frame, Body, Glass Replacement, Upholstery, and Paint Repair Services The anticipated Master Agreement term will be for an initial three (3) years, with two (2) possible oneyear extensions, and twelve (12) possible one-month extensions, for a potential maximum master agreement term of six (6) years.

To obtain the RFSQ documents, please contact Jenny Carney by email at Jenny.Carney@fire.lacount y.gov. CN978874 Jul 7,8,9,10,11,12, 2021

Name Change

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) SOLICITATION FORPROP A - FIRE FLEET MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES NONEMERGENCY VEHICLES ONLY The Los Angeles County Fire Department is soliciting proposals from qualified companies interested in providing fire fleet maintenance and repair services for its fleet of non-emergency vehicles only.

The anticipated Contract term will be for an initial three (3) years, with two (2) possible one-year extensions, and twelve (12) possible one-month extensions, for a potential maximum contract term of six (6) years.

To obtain solicitation documents, please contact Carlos Santiago by email at carlos.santiago@fire.lacoun ty.gov. CN978873 Jul 7,8,9,10,11,12, 2021

Name Change ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR A CHANGE OF NAME CASE NO. 21CMCP00073 Petitioner or Attorney (name, state, bar, and address): Maurice Donnell Levingston Wright 828 East 118th Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90059 TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED: Petitioner Maurice Donnell Levingston Wright filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present Name Maurice Donnell Levingston Wright Proposed Name Maurice Donnell Levingston THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted.

If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING DATE: 08/05/2021 TIME: 8:30am DEPT: A ROOM: 904 The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA County of Los Angeles 200 W Compton Blvd, Compton, CA 90220 A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county.

Dated: 06/03/2021 Sherri R. Carter Executive Officer/Clerk Published in the Los Angeles Times July 02, 09, 16 & 23 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR A CHANGE OF NAME CASE NO. 21PSCP00274 Petitioner or Attorney (name, state, bar, and address): CYNTHIA LINDA COBOS 2341 SINGINGWOOD AVE, POMONA, CA 91767 TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED: Petitioner CYNTHIA LINDA COBOS filed a THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

DNEUU HDCIE TOTIUF LCASLU ©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Yesterday’s

Legal Notices

Present Name Keaver Brenai Patterson Proposed Name Keaver Brenai-Patterson THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted.

If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING DATE: July 19, 2021 TIME: 10:00 A.M. DEPT: 74 ROOM: 735 The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA County of Los Angeles 111 N Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county.

Dated: June 9, 2021 N. Alvarez Deputy Published in the Los Angeles Times June 25, 2021 July 2, 2021 July 9, 2021 July 16, 2021

DBE SUBCONTRACTORS/SUPPLIER BIDS/PROPOSALS REQUESTED: RFP # PS76258 - Contracted Transportation Services for East and South Regions, Los Angeles, CA. Bid/proposal submittal date – 8/12/2021 by 1:00 pm (PST). Owner: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA). This advertisement is in response to LACMTA ‘s DBE program. MV Transportation, Inc. (MV) intends to conduct itself in “good faith” with DBE firms regarding participation on this project. Documents/plans and specifications are available from our office or directly from LACMTA at https://business.metro.net/VendorPortalQuotes.

A virtual outreach event will be held on 7/12/2021.

Quotes are required by COB, 7/30/2021, so that all bids/proposals can be fairly evaluated. Please submit bids/proposals for the following work (but not limited to): Uniforms, Revenue Vehicle Interior Cleaning and Detailing, Revenue Vehicle Exterior Cleaning, Janitorial Services, Plumbing Services, Autobody Repair, Oil & Lubricants, Vehicle Parts, Non-Revenue Vehicles, Non-Revenue Fuel, Security Gate Installation and Security Cameras. For more information, bonding, lines of credit, insurance, RFP and scope of work details, or register for the outreach event, please contact Lynn Spradlin at lynn.spradlin@mvtransit.com or (707) 337.6580.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR A CHANGE OF NAME CASE NO. 21STCP01872

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

”

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: KNOWN ODDLY INDOOR OUTLAW Answer: Some birds have such big egos because it’s easy for them to — LOOK DOWN ON YOU

PETS Dogs LABRADOR RETRIEVER Pups Available Now Health

Guarantee www.silveroselabs.com Charcoal Silver Champagne email infosilveroselabs@gmail.com 559 246-0676

Legal Notices

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD ON JULY 19, 2021 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Rosemead Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing at a Planning Commission Regular Meeting on Monday, July 19, 2021, at 7:00 PM, at Rosemead City Hall, located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead. To adhere to the Los Angeles County Health Officer’s, updated June 11, 2020, Revised Safer at Home Order, this City Council Meeting will be held via teleconference and the public will have access to observe the meeting telephonically and to watch online at www.cityofrosemead.org. Please note that, in accordance with Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-08-21, there will not be a physical location from which the public may attend, except for the Public Hearing item, scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Remote public comments will be received by calling (626) 569-2100 or via email at publiccomment@cityofrosemead.org by 5:00 p.m. by July 19, 2021. A live phone call option may also be requested by calling the number provided above. All comments are public record and will be recorded in the official record of the City. If you have a request for an accommodation under the ADA, please contact Ericka Hernandez, City Clerk, at (626) 569-2100.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: MCA 21-02 is not a project pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guideline 15378, because the activity undertaken involves general text amendments that would not cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and does not meet the definition of a “Project” under CEQA. The proposed Code Amendment is also exempt from CEQA under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because CEQA only applies to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. As a series of text amendments, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance will have a significant effect on the environment.

Petitioner or Attorney (name, state, bar, and address): Keaver Brenai Patterson 269 S Beverly Dr 645, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED: Petitioner Keaver Brenai Patterson filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows:

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

CASE NO.: MUNICIPAL CODE AMENDMENT (MCA) 2102 – MCA 21-02 consists of City initiated amendments to Title 17 (Zoning) of the Rosemead Municipal Code by adding definitions related to live/work units to Section 17.04.050, adding live/work as a permitted use in all residential/commercial mixed-use land use designations in the City, adding live/work as a permitted use to Section 17.28.030.C.1 permitted uses, and adding Section 17.30.210 live/work, which establishes development standards for live/work units. In addition, MCA 21-02 will revise Section 17.28.030.C.4 (Permitted Uses) to require an Administrative Use Permit for any eating establishment with outdoor seating within a residential/commercial mixed-use development.

Legal Notices

SUMMONS CITACION JUDICIAL Case Number (Numero del Caso): 20CMCV00273

Pursuant to Government Code Section 65009(b), if this matter is subsequently challenged in court, the challenge may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Rosemead at, or prior to, the public hearing.

For further details on this project, please contact Lily Valenzuela, Planning and Economic Development Manager, at (626) 569-2142 or ltrinh@cityofrosemead.

NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: org. In addition, the Planning Commission Agenda (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): and Staff Report will be available on the City’s webINSTACO, LLC, a California limited liability com- site under “City Calendar” (www.cityofrosemead.org) pany; DRAGON CROWD GARMENT, INC., a California by the end of the day on Thursday, July 15, 2021.

Corporation; TEMOC GONZALEZ, an individual; and Any person interested in the above proceedings may DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, provide comments in support of, or in opposition to, the item(s) indicated in this notice by submitting in YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: writing through email at publiccomment@cityofrose(LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): mead.org or by calling (626) 569-2100.

STEPHANIE PARK, an individual,

NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web Site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. іAVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede decider en su contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informacion a continuacion.

Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que le entreguen esta citacion y papeles legales para presenter una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefonica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y mas informacion en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentacion, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.

The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es): Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, Compton Courthouse 200 West Compton Blvd., Compton, California 90220

-

“

Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present Name CYNTHIA LINDA COBOS Proposed Name CYNTHIA LINDA COBOS LONG THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.

Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted.

If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING DATE: 08/03/2021 TIME: 8:30 AM DEPT: J ROOM: 418 The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA County of LOS ANGELES, CA 400 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA (SOUTH TOWER) ROOM 101 A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county.

Dated: 06/09/2021 L. OLMOS DEPUTY Published in the Los Angeles Times 6/25/21, 7/2/21/ 7/9/21, 7/16/21

Name Change

The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): Sheryl L. Marx, Esq., Law Offices of Jake D. Finkel, APC, 3470 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 830, Los Angeles, CA 90010 2137877411 Date: (Fecha) 10/23/2020 Sherri R. Carter Clerk (Secretario) D. Luu Deputy (Adjunto)

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Legal Notices

Business Names

Business Names

Fictitious Business Name Statement NO.: 2021 125433 The following person is doing business as: Fictitious Business Name(s) RANFLAS CAR CLUB 15584 SIERRA HWY, CANYON COUNTRY, CA, 91390 .

Registered Owner (S): PEDRO HARO 15584 SIERRA HWY, CANYON COUNTRY, CA, 91390 . Business is conducted by: an Individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 05/2021.

I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime) REGISTRANT/CORP/LLC NAME: PEDRO HARO, President . Signature: PEDRO HARO. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on June 04, 2021. NOTICE- in accordance with subdivision (a)of section 17920 A Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal state or common law (see section 14411 et seq. Business and Professions code). BY: /s/ Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Clerk. BY: /s/ Heide Aguilar, Deputy. Published 7/1, 7/8, 7/15 & 7/22/2021.

SUMMONS CITACION JUDICIAL Case Number (Numero del Caso): 20STCV41501 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): MEREKE RAMADANOVA, an individual AVEDIS CHKHLYAN, an individual; LUSINE CHKHLYAN, an individual; AVEDIS CHKHLYAN, and LUSINE CHKHLYAN, as trustees of the CHKHLYAN FAMILY TRUST dated May 23, 2020; and DOES 1-50, inclusive, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: (LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): BANK OF AMERICA, N.A. NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web Site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. іAVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede decider en su contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informacion a continuacion.

Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que le entreguen esta citacion y papeles legales para presenter una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefonica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y mas informacion en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentacion, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.

The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es): Los Angeles Superior Court- Stanley Mosk Courthouse 111 North Hill St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Case Management Conference: July 27, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 71, Los Angeles County Superior Court, 111 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): Akerman LLP, Parisa Jassim and Joseph Yoon 601 W. Fifth St., Suite 300 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: Los Angeles, CA 90071 (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): WYNDHAM HOTEL MANAGEMENT, INC.,TRAVELODGE, (213) 688-9500 SEVEN SPRINGS PARTNERS GP, dba TRAVELODGEDate: (Fecha) 10/29/2020 PALM SPRINGS, and DOES 1 to 50 Inclusive

SUMMONS CITACION JUDICIAL Case Number (Numero del Caso): PSC2003985

YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: (LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): JANE JOHANSKY NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web Site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. іAVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede decider en su contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informacion a continuacion.

Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO despues de que le entreguen esta citacion y papeles legales para presenter una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefonica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y mas informacion en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentacion, pida al secretario de la corte que le de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podra quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.

The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es): Palm Springs Courthouse - Superior Court of California, County of Riverside 3255 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs , CA 92262 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): Siamak Vaziri, Esq.{SBN: 242447} 5757 Wilshire Blvd, Suite #670 Los Angeles, CA 90036 (310) 777-7540 Date: (Fecha) Sept 02, 2020 N/A Clerk (Secretario) E. Fajardo Deputy (Adjunto)

Sherri R. Carter Clerk (Secretario) R. Perez Deputy (Adjunto) SUMMONS CASE NUMBER: 20C015808 Department No.: 04 JUSTICE COURT, LAS VEGAS TOWNSHIP Clark County Nevada Farmers Insurance Exchange, Subrogee Pedro Alvarez, Jr, Plaintiff (s) vs.

Bong Soo Lim, Chris Suh, Defendant (s) NOTICE: YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. THE COURT MAY DECIDE AGAINST YOU WITHOUT YOUR BEING HEARD UNLESS YOU RESPOND WITHIN 20 DAYS. READ THE INFORMATION BELOW. TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT: You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon Plaintiff's attorney, whose address is set forth below, an Answer to the Complaint which is herewith served upon you, within 20 days after service of this Summons upon you, exclusive of the day of service.

If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. * If you intend to defend this lawsuit, within 20 days after this Summons is served on you, exclusive of the day of service, you must do the following: a. File with the Clerk of the Court, whose address is shown below, a formal written response (Answer) to the Complaint in accordance with the rules of the Court. A $71.00 filing fee is required, or you must file an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and request a waiver of the fee.

(You may obtain forms and information at the Civil Law Self-Help Center located in the Regional Justice Center or at its website at http://www.civillawselfhelpcenter.org/. ) b. Serve a copy of your response upon the attorney whose name and address is shown below. * Unless you respond, your default will be entered upon application of the Plaintiff, and this Court may enter a judgment against you for the relief demanded, which could result in the taking of money or property or other relief. * If you intend to seek the advice of an attorney, you should do so promptly so that your response will be timely.

The name and address of the court is: Justice Court, Las Vegas Township Regional Justice Center 200 Lewis Avenue PO Box 552511 Las Vegas, NV 89155-2511 Attorney Name, Address and Phone: Qualey, Robert S. SBN 3570 Qualey Law Group Inc 2320 Paseo Del Prado Bldg B Ste 205 Las Vegas, NV 89102 702-474-6677 Date: 09/21/2020 By: /s/ Lilileth Sepulveda, Deputy Clerk Published in the Los Angeles Times

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L AT I M E S . C O M

F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

B5

L.A. County’s virus positivity rate has shot up [Transmission, from B1] isy chain. A portion of those infected will eventually fall sick enough that they have to go the hospital. Some of them will ultimately die.

And L.A. County is once again tracking an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

On Wednesday, 320 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized countywide — up 51% from June 12, when 212 were in hospitals, state data show.

Deaths remain low at this point, at about five per day.

But, Ferrer noted, “as hospitalizations continue to increase, we anticipate that deaths might also.”

Other counties are also seeing increases in COVID19 hospitalizations. San Diego County has seen its number of hospitalizations rise from 56 on June 23 to 96 on Wednesday; Orange County, from 40 on June 26 to 79 on Wednesday; Riverside County, from 27 on June 12 to 68 on Wednesday; San Bernardino County, from 41 on June 10 to 105 on Wednesday; and Ventura County, from nine on June 14 to 22 on Wednesday.

“The rate of this increase is concerning,” Dr. Nicholas Moss, the health officer of Alameda County, Northern California’s second most populous county, said in a

Jay L. Clendenin Los Angeles Times

ON JUNE 15, the day California officially relaxed its pandemic-related regula-

tions, many people at Universal CityWalk continued to wear face coverings. statement. Hospitalizations there rose from 20 on June 8 to 71 on Wednesday. The growth in cases is occurring in areas where vaccination rates are lowest, including in neighborhoods that have already suffered the most during the pandemic. In L.A. County, hospitalization rates are highest among racial and ethnic groups with the lowest vaccination rates.

Though overall coronavirus metrics still remain low, particularly when compared with the devastating surge that struck the region over the fall and winter, L.A. County’s Ferrer said the rapid increases in case and positivity rates indicate that the virus is spreading more widely.

That’s probably the product of a few factors.

The county, like the rest of the state, fully reopened its economy on June 15 — presenting many new opportunities for residents to mix at businesses and venues without most capacity restrictions and masking or physical distancing requirements. Many officials and experts predicted this would trigger some increased transmission, par-

Hurdles to beach OBITUARY access still remain NOTICES [Shyong, from B1] much to park, you’ll feel ripped off if you leave early.

If you don’t pay to park you’ll exhaust yourself spending hours circling.

If you take the Expo line to Santa Monica, you can avoid all that. But then you’ll be at Santa Monica Beach, one of the most crowded tourist attractions in the city.

At least 12 Metro bus lines run to the beach, and there’s also a county-run beach bus that you can reserve in advance with stops in San Gabriel Valley, the Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley and East Los Angeles. But it can be a difficult ride if you’re carrying a surfboard or chairs.

Then there’s the long, sweaty hike across hot sand as you attempt to triangulate via lifeguard and cellphone tower where your friends and family are. Even then, the fickle whims of the marine layer might blot out the sun and leave you shivering.

This is why I believe packing a morning picnic for the beach in Los Angeles is utter folly. Get some food, coffee and water before the journey, or you might never make it.

The beach exerts an upward influence on all of our rents and home prices, and we all pay for our proximity to it in some way. At least 80% of Californians live within an hour’s drive of a beach. According to a recent UCLA survey, the average cost for traveling to and from the beach is $22.09 — not including the cost of parking, food and activities.

Homeowners engineer myriad ways to block access to our beaches, erecting fake no-parking signs, painting curbs red, installing their own gates and staircases and hiring private security.

The California Coastal Commission fights back constantly, but there are fewer than a dozen enforcement officers for the whole state, and a caseload of more than 2,000.

“Once you get to Malibu and park your car, you’re now allowed to be there. You should feel comfortable,” said Linda Locklin, director of the commission’s beach access program. “But the fact is you have so many roadblocks and pinch points on your way out there.”

The pandemic brought the inequities of beach access into sharp focus.

Beach parking lots were closed for months, during which only those in affluent, mostly white communities near the beach had ready access.

It was a reminder of the coast’s history of segregation, when there were only two beaches that Black people could visit: Inkwell Beach and Bruce’s Beach.

Anyone at Inkwell Beach who attempted to wade over the color line was met with

truncheons and police dogs.

The city of Manhattan Beach condemned Bruce’s Beach and seized it through eminent domain, as chronicled recently by my colleague Rosanna Xia. Restricting access to the beach was and still is a common strategy of homeowners expressing racial bias. In the 1980s, wealthy Palos Verdes residents successfully petitioned the Rapid Transit District to forbid buses from entering the peninsula. A former Metropolitan Transportation Authority official testified that bus officials even added a transfer to bus lines running between Manhattan Beach and South-Central Los Angeles so that there would be no direct route.

These measures were effective. In a UCLA survey, 1 of every 3 African Americans said they visited the beach less than once a year.

Perhaps their families remember when traveling to the beach meant passing through hostile communities and enduring routine verbal abuse and violence.

Three out 10 African Americans surveyed cited not knowing how to swim as a reason they didn’t go to the beach more often. Perhaps that’s because their parents were banned from swimming pools and beaches for so many years.

Protecting and regulating access to coasts is one thing. But it’s much harder to democratize access to the waves for surfing, body boarding and other water sports, said Lizelle Jackson, a surfer who grew up in Palmdale.

Jackson, 36, started surfing after the film “Blue Crush” came out when she was in high school, but she didn’t hit her stride until she found waves and other surfers of color in places like Costa Rica, France and South Africa. Last year, when she came back to her home beaches, she was unpleasantly surprised by the aggressive, bullying and white-dominated culture sometimes found in local surf spots.

“I understand respect.

But these are all unspoken rules. How do you know what the rules are if no one explains that to you?” she said. “We didn’t have parents who grew up surfing, because they weren’t allowed to go to the beach.”

She and her friends started a group called Color the Water to help other people of color learn to enjoy the ocean. They give free surfing lessons, provide wetsuits and take photos of beginners catching their first waves.

Recently, she and a co-founder of the organization found an apartment near the Venice Pier. Inside, they store about 20 surfboards for surfers who can’t bring their own boards.

The sand is just steps away.

ticularly among the unvaccinated.

And while roughly 59% of Angelenos are at least partly vaccinated to this point, millions more have yet to roll up their sleeves.

“We’re a large county, and so the numbers are staggering in terms of people who are at risk of being able to get infected,” Ferrer said.

Hanging over all this is continued circulation of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has health officials throughout the world sounding the alarm.

Delta is now California’s most identified variant, accounting for 42.9% of cases analyzed in June, according to new figures the state Department of Public Health released Thursday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also estimates that the Delta variant, believed to be twice as transmissible as the conventional coronavirus strains, now comprises 51.7% of cases nationally.

Despite the dangers posed by the Delta variant, officials stress that the available vaccines hold up well — affording high levels of protection both against infection and the more serious health effects of COVID-19.

“We are seeing that communities and counties that

have high vaccine coverage and low case rates are getting back to normal,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a briefing Thursday. “Turning the corner on this pandemic, getting back to normal and stopping the Delta variant requires all of us to do our part and to get vaccinated.”

Ferrer said she’s confident that the county won’t regress to the point seen last fall, when hospitals were deluged with COVID-19 patients and daily death tolls were in the hundreds.

But the pandemic’s path is largely tied now to the success of the vaccine rollout.

The best-case scenario, Ferrer said, is that L.A. County makes steady progress in inoculating more residents and is able to achieve herd immunity by early fall.

The other side of that coin, though, is “we see a drop-off in people getting vaccinated and we continue to see a proliferation of the Delta variant, which means that, for unvaccinated people, the risk just keeps going up as there’s more community transmission.”

“And that would mean, unfortunately, we would have increased illness amongst many communities that have already been hit hard,” she said.

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FONTANA , Joseph September 27, 1924 - July 2, 2021

Joe Fontana, of Redondo Beach, was born in 1924 in Hamden, Connecticut to William Fontana and Ancella Variani Fontana. He attended Lewis High School in Southington, CT, along with his brothers Willie and Jack and many Fontana cousins. He also attended St. Thomas Church in Southington throughout his childhood.

CROW, Bobbie Lee Growing up during the depression he worked many jobs to help out his January 25, 1936 - June 21, 2021 Service will be grave side on July 21, family. From an early age he was very 2021 at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 interested in cars and purchased an old E. Florence Ave, Inglewood, CA 90301. car that didn’t run when he was 17, and together with his brother Willie got it working.

DICKMAN, Morrie After high school he attended December 16, 1936 - July 7, 2021 Glendale Aeronautical Institute in Survived by his sister, Sharry (Fred) Glendale, CA, studying to be an Fern; Nieces Stacie (David) Fletcher, aeronautical engineer. In 1943 he Kathy (Randy) Conner; Nephew Ted enlisted in the navy and served on an (Catherine) Fern. aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, and then May Morrie’s memory always be a remained in the reserves until 1948. blessing.

On the GI Bill he attended Columbia Malinow and Silverman Mortuary University in New York, earning www.malinowandsilverman.com an electrical engineering degree in 1948. He belonged to the Theta Tau Fraternity and learned many songs, many “off-color”, that he sang throughout his life. He loved his time at Columbia and in New York City.

Following graduation, he worked for Manning, Maxwell and Moore in Danbury, CT. His main hobby was auto car racing at many of the circular tracks throughout Connecticut. He attended reunions on the east coast up until the year prior to his death. In 1950 he met Pauline Zuhusky from Springfield, MA HORWITZ, Merle and they married in 1952. Daughter Merle Horwitz, age 92, passed away Mary Anne was born in 1954 followed on July 4 at home in Los Angeles. He by Christine in 1956. was born in St. Louis and a year later In 1957, Joe and Pauline moved the family moved to Los Angeles. He to California to open a division of is survived by his spouse of 35 years, Manning, Maxwell and Moore, (later Mary Bradley Horwitz, daughter called Consolidated Controls), to Jacqueline Hurwitz, son Charles supply the fast-growing aerospace Horwitz, daughter-in-law Carmel industry. In 1958 their youngest O’Mara Horwitz, grandchildren Jeremy daughter Elizabeth was born. Joe Horwitz, Amber Abbott, Lauren Daney, loved and excelled at both fatherhood Marc Hurwitz, Julian Horwitz, Lisa Joy and his job. He grew the company Bellamy and 9 great-grandchildren. to the point of 500 plus employees.

He attended Pasadena Junior College, They supplied parts for airplane graduated from USC and attended builders and for spacecraft in the NASA Hastings Law School. He practiced law programs during the time of the race in Los Angeles for over 60 years. to the moon. They supplied ignition Merle was often referred to switches to the space shuttles. as a renaissance man. He was a He retired from CCC in 1986 and voracious reader and book collector, opened Fontana Automotive where his an entrepreneur many times over, team built racing engines for midgets a writer, and painter. His first book and sprint cars. He sold his engines “Love is Love and Business is Business” throughout the US and in Australia, published in 1982 came out of his court and he and his wife traveled the U.S., briefs for domestic rights of unmarried Australia and New Zealand attending persons cohabiting. This was followed races and making friends. His by a series of mystery novels featuring knowledge about engines and racing Harvey Ace a detective with a love for was vast, and he was well known in the race track. “The Augers Affair”, the racing circuits. the fourth in the series was released He also built many engines and in 2020. He wrote the “Great Deli raced them at the Bonneville Salt Flats Cookbook” with Marvin Saul, owner of in Utah. The achievement he was most the Junior’s Deli of West Los Angeles., proud of was setting a record in a gasand a novel “The Judgment Hours”. He powered engine that he built at the was working on a family history for his age of 82. He went 255 miles per hour. descendants. In his spare time Merle Some of the records he set still stand. loved to paint. Music – classical and Joe sold Fontana automotive when the American Songbook – were his he was 86, and then devoted his time joys. Friendly and approachable, he to traveling, gardening, and restoring a never met a stranger.

1953 GMC truck, and attending races.

Above all else, Merle valued He is remembered as a kind, family, learning whether through generous, intelligent man, with a quick formal education or experience (even wit, joie di vivre and the ability to make mistakes), and the gift of life itself. everyone feel comfortable and like an Memorial Services will be held instant friend. He never let setbacks Mount Sinai Memorial Park, 5950 get him down. He provided guidance Forest Lawn Drive Los Angeles, CA throughout life to his daughters and 90068, on Sunday, July 25 at 12 noon. then to his grandchildren, Katie and CJ In lieu of flowers, donations may and Larry, Matt, Joey and Will. He was be made to Southern Poverty Law a faithful man and loved his country.

Center, www.splc.org or by mail at 400 He will be missed by all who had the Washington Avenue, Montgomery, pleasure and honor to know and love Alabama 36104. him. He was preceded in death by his wife Pauline and his brothers, and is survived by daughters, Mary Anne (Christopher Warmuth), Christine, Elizabeth (Larry Hall), as well as all his grandchildren.

A Mass will be held Tuesday July To sign a guest book 13th at 10 am at St. Lawrence Martyr please go to Catholic Church in Redondo Beach latimes.com/guestbooks with a viewing on Monday, July 12th from 6-8:30 pm and with a vigil at 7pm at Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions - Rice Center in Torrance.

Burial at Holy Cross Cemetery will be private. Please go to www.LAfuneral. com, the website for Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions, to send the family messages, share memories, or to obtain directions to the services.

Check back to view the online video tribute.

POLAK, Teodor November 9, 1928 - June 8, 2021

Dr. Teodor Polak of Los Angeles, CA, passed away peacefully with the love of his life and wife of 66 years, Maria, nearby. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he worked as a surgeon in Poland and California. He was awarded a Cross of Valor and the Bronze Cross of Merit for his brave contributions during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising to help fight for his country’s freedom against Nazi Germany. He served as Chairman of the Polish American Defense Committee for 38 years and was honored with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, bestowed upon him by then-President of Poland, Lech Walesa. He is survived by wife Maria; daughters Ivona and Eva; grandchildren Alexa and Julia; brother Joseph; and many relatives.

Donations in Teodor’s memory may be made to the Polish American Defense Committee, the Kosciuszko Foundation or the Alzheimer’s Association.

TABAK, Esther Knell March 1, 1930 - June 28, 2021

A devoted mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, she lived life to the fullest. In addition to being a selfless volunteer for numerous Jewish, cultural and civic organizations, she was a supporter of L.A.’s vibrant art scene and served as a docent for many years at the Orange County Art Museum. Her strong Jewish faith and identity were deep and heartfelt. She made friends easily and will be remembered for her kindness, exuberant personality, intellectual curiosity and fun-loving spirit. Esther is survived by her grateful children Steven (Linda), Stewart (Fran) and Marlene Maier (Gadi), eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Sharon Helene Dowlan August 2, 1938 - June 20, 2021 Sharon Helene (Wigle, Leary) Dowlan, age 82, died on June 20 in her home in Dana Point, surrounded by her husband Jim and her children Suzanne and Michael. She is also survived by her grandchildren Kristen and Chelsea, and an extended family of inlaws and great-grandchildren. Sharon is preceded in death by her parents, brother Donny, and daughter Debbie.

Sharon was born in Peoria, Illinois to Nathan and Helen Wigle. Helen later married Donald Leary.

The Leary family moved to San Bernardino where Sharon met Jim Dowlan in high school.

Jim and Sharon married in August 1957. They had three children, Debbie, Michael, and Suzanne.

They lived in San Bernardino, Bakersield, Costa Mesa, La Canada, and Anaheim Hills before moving to Laguna Niguel in the late 1980s. They moved to Dana Point in 2019.

Sharon made her family the center of her life.

She took great joy in creating special memories for her children and supporting their activities. Sharon adored her grandchildren, Kristin and Chelsea, and her great-grandchildren AJ, Ben, Ryan, William, and Georgia.

She enjoyed needlework, playing bridge, and tending to her garden. She and Jim were avid golfers and dixie-land and jazz band enthusiasts.

Sharon was very proud of Jim’s successful career in inancial services. She was proud of her own 15 plus year career in banking.

FUNERAL SERVICES Memorial Services will be held for Sharon on Sunday, July 11, at 2 pm, at Paciic View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar. Burial will take place directly after services.

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FR I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M

Today in North America Elsa lashes the Northeast: Elsa will spread heavy rain and gusty wind from New York City through eastern New England. Flooding rainfall will persist in southern and coastal Texas. Intense heat will continue to grip much of the West away from the Pacific Coast.

5-day forecasts

Pressure:

L

H

Low

High

◗

Today in Southern California Mostly sunny. Hot inland: Upper-level high pressure building westward across the region will promote high heat across interior areas today. Temperatures along the coast will remain closer to average thanks to an onshore flow. Any low clouds and fog to start the morning will be limited to the immediate coast. The dangerous heat will continue across the interior through the weekend.

▲

Warm Front

Cold Front

Jet Stream

Trough

High/low temperatures are average forecasts for entire zone.

Today

L.A. Basin 89/69

Valleys 95/63

Beaches 74/66

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday

Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny

Sunny and warm Mostly sunny 93/64 Mostly sunny 94/64 Mostly sunny 93/65 Mostly sunny 92/64

Partly sunny Partly sunny Partly sunny Mostly sunny Mostly sunny

86/69 87/70 86/69 85/69

Air quality

Good

SANTA BARBARA CO.

Moderate

Unhealthful for:

Deserts 115/88

A stray thundershower Sunny 86/56 Sunny; warm 87/57 Mostly sunny 88/57 Mostly sunny 85/52

Mostly sunny; hot Very hot 118/86 Very hot 118/88 Hot 117/85 Very warm 111/84

Sensitive people

All

1-3’ 2-4’ 2-4’ 2-4’ 2-4’

9 sec 9 sec 9 sec 10 sec 10 sec

W SW SW SW WSW

63 65 68 68 69

Today’s rise/set Los Angeles Co. Orange Co. Sun 5:49a/8:07p 5:49a/8:05p Moon 5:18a/8:19p 5:17a/8:17p

10:54a 9:22p 11:28a 9:57p

3.7 Hi 6.1 Hi 3.7 Hi 6.2 Hi

4:14a -0.5 Lo 3:06p 2.5 Lo 4:47a -0.6 Lo 3:43p 2.5 Lo

Poway 80/66

July 17

July 23

San Diego 77/68

July 31

Almanac Thursday Downtown readings Temperature Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura High/low 84/68 83/67 74/60 Normal high/low 83/63 83/64 73/57 High/low a year ago 84/64 84/67 69/56 Record high/date 98/2018 97/2018 87/2018 Record low/date 50/2019 60/2010 48/1948

UV index Minutes to burn for sensitive people Las Vegas, 10 Los Angeles, 10

July 9

Phoenix, 10 San Francisco, 25

Ramona 94/64

Escondido 87/66

Ventura Co. 5:53a/8:12p 5:21a/8:24p

Tides L.A. Outer Harbor, in feet.

Sat.

Rain T-storm Snow Ice

Not Available

Hesperia Santa Paula LOS ANGELES CO. 103/70 90/66 Simi Valley Chatsworth SAN BERNARDINO CO. Burbank Monrovia 92/63 94/65 Camarillo Ventura 92/67 97/63 81/67 73/65 Yucca Valley Pomona/ UCLA 104/86 Fairplex Oxnard San Bernardino Westlake Ontario 79/66 L.A. Downtown 96/64 74/64 Woodland 104/71 89/69 Village 99/70 Hills Whittier 91/68 Chino 98/69 Santa Monica Hills Riverside 99/67 RIVERSIDE CO. Fullerton 92/77 74/66 99/67 Surf and sea 86/68 Torrance POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICO Santa Ana 79/65 ORANGE CO. Palm Hemet Long Inner waters: Winds variable 5-10 81/69 Springs 102/69 Irvine knots, becoming southwest 10-15 Beach Newport knots. Wind waves 2 feet or less 84/68 115/88 82/66 Beach with mixed swells west and south of Mission Viejo 77/68 Temecula 1-4 feet.

87/69 Laguna 97/71 Surf zone: Moderate risk for strong Beach San rip currents at Los Angeles, Ventura, 77/68 Clemente S.D. and O.C. beaches and low risk 77/68 SAN DIEGO CO. at Santa Barbara County beaches.

Oceanside 83/67 County Height Period Direction Temp Sun and moon

Today

0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+

Ojai 94/65

Santa Barbara 75/63

Santa Barbara Ventura Los Angeles Orange San Diego

–0

South Coast Air Quality Management District forecasts air quality

Santa Clarita 99/67

VENTURA CO.

73/67 74/67 74/68 73/67

Temps

Mountains 83/54

Precipitation Los Angeles Fullerton Ventura 24-hour total (as of 4 p.m.)

0.00 0.00 0.00 Season total (since Oct. 1) 5.82 4.75 3.16 Last season (Oct. 1 to date) 14.83 12.43 12.17 Season norm (Oct. 1 to date) 14.64 13.58 16.28 Humidity (high/low) 78/52 84/52 93/65

California cities City Anaheim Avalon/Catalina Bakersfield Barstow Big Bear Lake Bishop Burbank Camarillo Chatsworth Chino Compton Dana Point Death Valley Del Mar Escondido Eureka Fallbrook Fresno Fullerton Hemet Hesperia Huntington Beach Idyllwild Irvine

Thursday Today Saturday Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo 88 67 78 60 103 75 114 84 86 56 109 66 89 66 83 64 96 67 99 65 80 66 72 63 126100 71 62 xx xx 63 53 87 63 106 73 83 67 104 66 xx xx 76 63 93 63 80 66

--------------xx Tr ----xx ----

88 68 80 66 111 85 113 87 83 54 107 70 92 67 81 67 94 65 99 67 84 66 76 67 126105 70 67 87 66 62 56 88 67 111 82 86 68 102 69 103 70 81 70 94 72 84 68

87 66 79 63 111 85 116 89 86 56 108 71 90 67 79 67 91 66 98 65 81 66 76 69 128101 72 68 88 64 61 54 88 65 113 84 85 67 100 65 104 72 80 71 95 73 83 69

City

Thursday Today Saturday Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo

L.A. D’ntown/USC 84 L.A. Int’l. Airport 74 Laguna Beach xx Lancaster 107 Long Beach 78 Mammoth Lakes 91 Mission Viejo 87 Monrovia 89 Monterey 72 Mt. Wilson xx Needles 115 Newport Beach 70 Northridge 94 Oakland 79 Oceanside 77 Ojai xx Ontario 99 Palm Springs 110 Pasadena 89 Paso Robles 106 Redding 107 Riverside 100 Sacramento 102 San Bernardino 104

68 64 xx 72 65 52 61 65 56 xx 94 65 65 57 61 xx 68 89 66 57 67 66 57 69

--xx ------xx -----xx ---------

89 75 77 108 82 89 87 97 73 85 119 77 98 78 83 94 99 115 101 102 112 99 106 104

69 65 68 81 66 57 69 63 58 65 95 68 70 58 67 65 70 88 66 65 73 67 67 71

86 73 76 111 81 91 85 97 72 86 121 75 94 80 84 93 98 118 101 108 116 99 110 102

69 65 70 84 65 58 68 64 59 64 95 71 70 59 67 68 69 86 66 66 76 65 70 70

City 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

Thursday Today Saturday Hi Lo Prcp. Hi Lo Hi Lo 76 77 xx 86 86 81 76 97 75 92 94 92 88 96 xx 81 82 94 74 89 98 89 91 104

67 59 xx 56 54 68 59 65 64 58 50 64 49 65 xx 66 64 67 60 65 63 67 63 64

-- 77 -- 78 xx 95 -- 89 -- 84 -- 81 -- 75 -- 99 -- 74 -- 90 -- 93 -- 92 -- 89 -- 97 xx 88 -- 79 -- 79 -- 97 -- 73 -- 92 -- 98 -- 90 -- 88 -- 100

68 78 59 78 64 94 65 91 60 83 69 80 63 72 67 98 66 73 66 89 54 96 63 89 52 91 71 96 67 86 65 79 66 78 68 94 65 71 77 91 69 93 70 90 68 87 71 101

67 59 64 67 59 69 61 66 67 67 55 63 55 67 67 64 67 68 64 76 69 69 67 72

U.S. cities High 126 in Death Valley, Calif.

Low 30 in Brimson, Minn.

City Albany Albuquerque Anchorage Aspen Atlanta Austin Baltimore Boise Boston Buffalo Burlington, Vt. Charleston, S.C. Charlotte Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Columbia, S.C. Columbus Dallas/Ft.Worth Denver Detroit El Paso Eugene Fort Myers Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville, Fla. Kansas City Knoxville Las Vegas Louisville Medford Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York Norfolk Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland, Ore. Providence Raleigh/Durham Reno Richmond St. Louis Salt Lake City

Thursday Hi Lo Prcp.

68 96 59 91 85 88 90 99 71 76 72 88 88 68 83 80 87 86 94 102 79 93 81 92 71 87 81 81 91 85 88 114 91 96 92 90 66 73 91 91 84 85 92 82 89 90 112 79 78 76 76 100 83 87 103

58 70 51 56 71 70 76 66 65 63 58 71 73 63 70 70 73 71 76 69 70 72 50 75 68 72 75 71 76 65 68 92 74 60 74 79 60 54 72 80 74 78 69 60 76 76 92 66 58 67 75 65 76 75 75

.67 -.08 .10 .18 .02 .41 -.26 .81 .07 4.12 .33 Tr Tr 1.59 1.31 .42 -.12 .28 ---1.00 .02 .23 .79 Tr -.02 -.08 --Tr .03 --Tr 2.29 .75 --.42 .23 -.79 -.20 2.52 -2.32 ---

Today Hi Lo Sky 78 98 59 89 86 82 88 97 76 72 75 90 90 75 80 70 92 78 86 99 76 97 91 91 81 87 84 78 87 91 86 114 86 103 90 90 74 76 89 86 86 92 90 91 90 88 113 76 87 81 89 102 89 90 103

63 72 53 50 71 74 68 68 68 62 62 74 69 64 65 57 72 62 76 62 58 74 55 75 65 74 78 65 73 73 71 93 69 64 73 79 61 63 73 79 69 76 72 70 74 70 93 57 60 68 69 70 69 73 69

Ts Pc Cy Su Ts Ts Ts Su R Cy Ts Ts Ts Pc Pc Pc Ts Cy Pc Su Pc Su Su Ts R Pc Ts Su Sh Ts Ts Su Pc Su Ts Ts Cy Cy Ts Ts R Pc Pc Cy Ts Ts Pc Ts Su R Ts Su Ts Pc Su

Thursday Hi Lo Prcp.

City Seattle Tampa Tucson Tulsa Washington, D.C. Wichita

Today Hi Lo Sky

74 90 108 93 86 90

53 80 77 72 79 68

-.02 .06 -.23 --

80 90 105 93 87 95

57 77 84 74 70 73

Su Ts Pc Pc Ts Pc

88 72 95 95 79 71 91 95 107 66 91 87 91 82 88 59 91 67 71 86 103 70 82 66 86 88 106 73 76 87 87 90 97 76 70 99

76 54 82 81 72 59 76 77 95 54 73 76 82 72 68 45 78 61 58 59 87 58 67 57 64 83 91 55 59 72 73 80 81 73 57 66

.16 .01 -.40 .01 -----.12 .07 .10 .03 --.57 -.04 --.77 .22 .75 -.34 .01 -.70 -.08 -.04 .47 ---

89 71 93 88 79 67 87 98 106 66 91 85 91 84 86 64 88 66 72 94 105 72 81 74 87 88 98 74 69 85 84 87 99 81 72 76

76 56 77 79 69 59 78 76 91 52 75 78 82 71 67 44 76 62 57 64 82 58 60 59 70 81 84 60 55 63 73 77 82 74 58 60

Pc Sh Su Ts Su Ts Su Su Su Cy Ts Ts Pc Su Su Su Ts Su Cy Su Su Ts Su Pc Su Ts Ts Pc Ts Su Ts R Su Sh Su Ts

World Acapulco Amsterdam Athens Bangkok Barcelona Berlin Cabo San Lucas Cairo Dubai Dublin Havana Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Istanbul Jerusalem Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Lima London Madrid Mecca Mexico City Milan Montreal Moscow Mumbai New Delhi Paris Prague Rome Seoul Singapore Taipei City Tokyo Vancouver Vienna

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 exclude Alaska and Hawaii. Missing data indicated by “xx”.

Forecasts by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

All-Star Walsh brings hitting artistry to Angels [Walsh, from B10] After a strong finish to the shortened 2020 campaign, he has soared through the first half of 2021 with a .282 batting average, .571 slugging percentage, 22 home runs and 64 RBIs, cementing himself in the Angels’ long-term plans.

And for the first time since that series last September, Walsh will return to Coors Field next week — this time to play in his first AllStar game, the biggest honor yet in his burgeoning young career.

“Slowly but surely, that’s what I’ve been working my way toward,” he said. “It wasn’t something that happened overnight.” :: Walsh propped up one leg on a field-side fence, ran his fingers through his thick, wavy beard, and rattled off a list of names like they were comic book superheroes.

Asked recently about his biggest baseball influences, the 27-year-old had more than a few idols come to mind.

“I loved Josh Hamilton,” he said.

“I was a big Lance Berkman fan,” he added.

He mentioned other stars from the past, such as Alfonso Soriano, and present, including Nolan Arenado and J.D. Martinez.

“Even on this team,” he continued, “you’ve got guys like [Mike] Trout and [Anthony] Rendon who really control the zone. That’s something I like, the guys that know, ‘You have to get me out in the zone.’ ” He paused and shyly chuckled before revealing another, even more prominent slugger.

“Barry Bonds is my favorite hitter of all time,” Walsh said. “I understand that’s not the most popular answer, but it was art. Watching him swing a baseball bat was art.”

For Walsh, it’s one of baseball’s greatest appeals — the craft and beauty of a perfectly constructed swing, the process of mastering of what he calls “the art and

the science of hitting.”

“Even though this is the era of the strikeout, the walk and the home run, everybody wants to be able to take a backside single, everybody wants to put the ball in play and drive the baseball as well,” Walsh said. “Watching other great hitters, I kind of molded my game in the hope it will carry over.”

It’s something that has guided Walsh since his professional career began six years ago, when the Angels took a chance on the college senior whose potential wasn’t realized as a two-way player at the University of Georgia.

“I always had this dream built up in my head that once I got to pro baseball, I was going to get more reps and become a better player and a better hitter and get better mechanically,” Walsh said. “When I was in college, I battled some injuries, I pitched. I was never really a full-time hitter. Once I got to the minor leagues and got to play on a daily basis and got to play against other good players, it really helped me.”

Indeed, despite hitting only seven home runs during his four years in school, the 6-foot, 210-pound lefthanded slugger began unlocking previously untapped raw power early in his pro career.

He hit seven home runs and 30 doubles during his first full season at Class A in 2016. Then 11 and 32 the next year while rising to double A. Then 29 and 34 the year after that as he reached triple A. His MLB debut came in 2019, splitting the season between the majors, where he hit .203 in 34 games, and triple A, where he occasionally played both ways again but more importantly hit 36 home runs as his stock began to climb. Yet, as Walsh went into the following offseason, “I knew deep down that there’s some adjustments I need to make if I’m going to be the hitter that I aspire to be,” he said.

And after beginning the shortened 2020 campaign with a hitless first week, hampered in part by a positive COVID-19 test that had

::

Ashley Landis Associated Press

THE ANGELS ’ Jared Walsh hit seven home runs in his four-year career at the

University of Georgia but hit 47 in his first three full seasons of professional ball. cost him a chunk of the already abbreviated preseason training camp, he was optioned to the alternate site last August to polish his game. :: The work would begin every day around noon, Walsh and a handful of Angels hitting instructors stepping into a batting cage at Long Beach State and not emerging until hours later, grinding away until their work was complete.

It was like a baseball laboratory. An individualized workshop. An atelier for mechanical alterations.

And during his monthlong stint at the alternate training site, the slugger’s development took its most influential step yet — the seeds he’d planted throughout his career finally blossomed into a more refined, consistent swing.

“He knew he wasn’t able to do certain things at the big-league level,” said Angels minor league hitting coordinator Damon Mashore, who oversaw hitters at the team’s alternate site last year. “Him being open-

minded enough to attack it, I don’t think people realize how difficult that is.”

For Walsh, the key was his strong, quick hands, the thing that he said earlier this year “drives my swing.” The problem was that the rest of his movement had too many inefficiencies, leaving his hands in a less than optimal position to cover all parts of the plate against big-league pitching.

So, when he showed up in Long Beach, where Angels prospects were training in lieu of the canceled minor league season, he spent hours every day either in the hitting cage or taking atbats in intrasquad games.

His goal: trying to eliminate the little flaws and unnecessary extra movements to better utilize his hands and simplify the motion of his swing.

“I was spending every bit of 2½ hours in the cage on a daily basis, just to rewire the way I approached hitting,” Walsh said.

The improvements weren’t immediate. During the first couple of weeks while he was adjusting to the changes, there were times Walsh went dozens of at-

bats in scrimmages without a hit.

But after a month, the adjustments started to click. His process, from drill work to self-evaluation to his mental approach during atbats, finally felt complete.

“You just want guys to understand themselves, not try to be somebody else,” said Angels hitting coach Jeremy Reed, who helped plan and coordinate Walsh’s alternate site program from afar. “That’s what Jared’s done very well.”

After returning to the Angels during the last week of August, Walsh immediately caught fire, hitting .326 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs over his final 25 games.

And while he’d already had a few signature moments in his first couple of weeks back, it was after that home run in Colorado that a sense of belonging began to set in.

“I felt like it was where the adjustments mechanically showed up,” Walsh said.

“Where in the past, I don’t really know if I would have gotten that swing off. So that was a really special moment for me. And just tried to keep the ball rolling.”

Those special moments haven’t stopped coming for Walsh this season.

He had two home runs, including a walk-off blast, in a nationally televised “Sunday Night Baseball” game during the first series of the year.

He’s had three more multi-home run games since, including last week’s comeback at Yankee Stadium when he hit a tying, ninth-inning grand slam, and Wednesday’s performance in the Angels’ rubbermatch win over the Boston Red Sox. Last Sunday, he was informed of his All-Star selection during a surprise clubhouse meeting called by general manager Perry Minasian — the same man who, two months ago, repeatedly declared Walsh as the Angels’ first baseman of the future after the club released Albert Pujols. And once the Angels finish a three-game series in Seattle on Sunday, Walsh will board a plane and travel to Denver for the Midsummer Classic.

“I’m really pleased,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “This is a guy that was a low draft choice, killed the minor leagues, had to wait for his turn, no one wanted to give him a chance. Finally he gets here, we give him an opportunity and he’s taken full advantage of it.”

Which leads to the next challenge. After climbing to the mountaintop of the sport, Walsh is now trying to make sure he stays there.

Figuring out a formula for big-league success was one thing. Now, he’s trying to learn the art and science of constructing a long career too.

“When I was 12 years old, all I dreamed about was being a big-league player, so it’s just appreciating every day as an opportunity,” Walsh said. “It sounds cliche, but the more I’ve simplified it and blocked out the external stuff of what people are saying or where I am on the stat boards, it’s been so much more fun just playing the game.”

S

LAT I M E S . C O M / S P O RT S

F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

B7

BASEBALL

DODGERS MARLINS

NL STANDINGS W

54 32 .628

L10

GB

Pct.

L

West

San Francisco

—

Dodgers AB R H BI Avg. Miami AB R H BI Avg. Betts rf 5 1 2 0 .248 Chisolm 2b 4 1 1 1 .254 Muncy 1b 5 1 2 0 .262 Marte cf 4 0 0 0 .279 Beaty lf 4 2 2 1 .255 Cooper rf 4 0 2 0 .288 Bellinger cf 5 0 1 0 .187 Aguilar 1b 3 0 1 0 .268 Smith c 4 0 0 1 .254 Rojas ss 4 0 2 0 .255 Taylor 2b 5 1 2 2 .276 Sanchez lf 4 0 0 0 .230 Lux ss 3 0 1 0 .236 Leon c 3 0 0 0 .184 McKstry 3b 4 0 0 0 .248 Berti 3b 4 0 0 0 .218 Urias p 4 1 1 0 .229 Alcantara p 1 0 0 0 .063 Treinen p 0 0 0 0 --- Hess p 0 0 0 0 --Clvngr p 0 0 0 0 .000 Sierra 1 0 1 0 .245 Totals 39 6 11 4 Neidert p 1 0 0 0 .000 Duvall 1 0 0 0 .228 Totals 34 1 7 1

Phila.

Segura 2b Knapp c Miller 1b Suarez p Harper rf L.Willms rf Realmto c Grgrius ss Herrera cf Bohm 3b Jankowski lf Eflin p Torreyes 2b Totals

Chicago AB R H BI Avg. Pederson lf 4 0 0 0 .226 Morgan p 0 0 0 0 --Wisdom 3b 4 0 1 0 .274 Rizzo 1b 4 0 0 0 .246 Heyward rf 4 0 1 0 .204 Chirinos c 2 0 0 0 .250 Ortega cf-lf 4 0 1 0 .234 Hoerner 2b 3 0 1 0 .337 Alcantara ss 3 0 1 0 .179 Alzolay p 0 0 0 0 .045 Happ 1 0 0 0 .183 Abbott p 0 0 0 0 --Marisnick cf 1 0 0 0 .245 Totals 30 0 5 0

Cincinnati India 2b Winker lf Cstellns rf Votto 1b Naquin cf Suarez 3b Barnhart c Farmer ss Mahle p c-Stphnsn Totals

Colorado Hmpsn cf Tapia lf Story ss Rodgers 2b McMhn 3b Cron 1b 1-Gray f-Owings Daza rf Nunez c Gonzalez p b-Blkmn c-Fntes 1b Totals

5-5

Dodgers Miami

Philadelphia Chicago

011 020 400 —8 000 000 000 —0

a-singled for Hess in the 5th. b-struck out for Neidert in the 9th.

Walks—Dodgers 2: Beaty 1, Lux 1. Miami 2: Aguilar 1, Leon 1.

Strikeouts—Dodgers 7: Betts 1, Bellinger 1, Smith 1, Taylor 2, McKinstry 1, Urias 1. Miami 11: Chisholm Jr. 3, Marte 2, Cooper 1, Rojas 1, Sanchez 1, Berti 1, Alcantara 1, Duvall 1.

E—Lux (9), Berti (9), Chisholm Jr. (13). LOB—Dodgers 10, Miami 8. 2B—Taylor (15). HR—Chisholm Jr. (10), off Urias. RBIs—Taylor 2 (45), Beaty (29), Smith (31), Chisholm Jr. (32). SB—Beaty (1).

SF—Smith.

Runners left in scoring position—Dodgers 5 (Smith, McKinstry, Urias, Bellinger 2); Miami 4 (Sanchez 2, Leon). RISP—Dodgers 5 for 14; Miami 0 for 5.

Runners moved up—Beaty, Sanchez. GIDP—Berti.

DP—Dodgers 1 (Lux, Taylor, Muncy).

Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Urias W,11-3................7 5 1 1 2 9 101 3.64 Treinen ........................1 2 0 0 0 1 17 2.78 Cleavinger....................1 0 0 0 0 1 9 1.80 Miami IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Alcantara L,5-8 ............4 7 5 3 1 5 98 3.09 Hess...........................1 1 1 0 1 0 14 0.00 Neidert........................4 3 0 0 0 2 65 4.50 Inherited runners-scored—Hess 3-3. HBP—Neidert (Lux).

WP—Neidert.

U—Sam Holbrook, Mike Muchlinski, Carlos Torres, Nestor Ceja.

T—3:05. Tickets sold—12,031 (36,742).

a-grounded out for Suter in the 7th. b-struck out for Williams in the 8th. c-struck out for Perez in the 9th.

Walks—Cincinnati 4: India 1, Winker 1, Votto 1, Naquin 1.

Milwaukee 6: Urias 2, Adames 1, Narvaez 1, Peterson 1, Bradley Jr. 1. Strikeouts—Cincinnati 12: India 2, Winker 2, Castellanos 1, Votto 1, Naquin 1, Barnhart 1, Farmer 1, Mahle 2, Stephenson 1.

Milwaukee 7: Yelich 1, Adames 1, Garcia 1, Hiura 1, Houser 2, Pina 1. E—Peterson (1). LOB—Cincinnati 8, Milwaukee 8. 2B—Votto (10), Narvaez (11), Hiura 2 (8). HR—Garcia (16), off Brach.

RBIs—Barnhart (27), Garcia 3 (54), Peterson (20), Hiura (18).

SB—Urias (4). DP—Cincinnati 1 (Suarez, India, Votto); Milwaukee 1 (Adames, Peterson, Hiura).

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Mahle .........................6 4 3 3 4 6 103 3.68 Osich..........................2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 9 1.00 4 1.93 Warren........................1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 18 3.48 Brach, L, 0-1 ...............1⁄3 3 2 2 0 0 9 7.20 Perez ..........................2⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 93 3.74 Houser......................41⁄3 5 3 0 4 6 20 0.00 Cousins ....................12⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 Suter ..........................1 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.61 Williams, W, 6-1 ...........1 0 0 0 0 2 14 3.06 Hader, S, 21-22 ...........1 0 0 0 0 2 14 0.78 HBP—Mahle (Yelich), Houser (Farmer). WP—Houser, Cousins(2).

T—3:16. Tickets sold—22,948 (41,900).

54 34 .614

1

7-3

4

5-5

Colorado

38 50 .432

17

7-3

Arizona

25 64 .281

301⁄2

3-7

Central

W

Pct.

GB

L10

Milwaukee

53 36 .596

Cincinnati

45 42 .517

7

6-4

7-3

Chicago

43 45 .489

91⁄2

1-9

St. Louis

43 45 .489

91⁄2

6-4

Pittsburgh

32 54 .372

191⁄2

3-7

East

W

Pct.

GB

L10

New York

45 38 .542

—

Philadelphia

42 43 .494

4

6-4

Washington

42 44 .488

41⁄2

5-5

Atlanta

42 44 .488

41⁄2

6-4

Miami

38 48 .442

81⁄2

5-5

Thursday’s results DODGERS 6, at Miami 1 Colorado 9, at Arizona 3 Philadelphia 8, at Chicago 0 at Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 3 at San Diego 9, Washington 8 Pittsburgh at New York, rain

AL STANDINGS West

W

Houston

54 34 .614

Oakland

50 39 .562

41⁄2

4-6

Seattle

46 42 .523

8

5-5

ANGELS

44 42 .512

9

8-2

Texas

34 53 .391

191⁄2

5-5

Pct.

GB

L10

L

000 150 000 —6 100 000 000 —1

11 7

1 2

AB 5 0 5 0 4 1 2 5 5 4 3 2 1 37

R 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 8

H 1 0 3 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 11

BI 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7

Avg. .321 .179 .260 .000 .281 .302 .261 .232 .241 .237 .323 .000 .246

11 5

0 0

a-grounded out for Alzolay in the 5th. b-flied out for Bradley in the 8th. c-struck out for Abbott in the 8th. d-singled for Harper in the 9th.

Walks—Philadelphia 4: Realmuto 3, Jankowski 1. Chicago 3: Chirinos 2, Alzolay 1. Strikeouts—Philadelphia 8: Segura 1, Realmuto 2, Herrera 2, Bohm 2, Jankowski 1. Chicago 9: Pederson 1, Wisdom 1, Rizzo 2, Heyward 2, Chirinos 1, Ortega 1, Marisnick 1.

LOB—Philadelphia 7, Chicago 6. 2B—Gregorius (6), Harper (13).

HR—Miller 2 (8), off Alzolay; Miller (9), off Abbott; Gregorius (7), off Abbott. RBIs—Miller 5 (25), Gregorius 2 (26). SB—Heyward (4), Gregorius (2), Realmuto (5). S—Eflin. Runners left in scoring position—Philadelphia 6 (Jankowski, Bohm, Eflin, Herrera); Chicago 3 (Chirinos, Pederson). GIDP—Hoerner, Happ.

DP—Philadelphia 2 (Segura, Gregorius, Miller; Miller, Gregorius, Miller).

Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Eflin W,4-6...................6 5 0 0 1 5 96 3.88 Bradley .......................1 0 0 0 1 0 15 3.86 Neris ..........................1 0 0 0 0 2 14 4.96 Suarez ........................1 0 0 0 1 2 19 0.83 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Alzolay L,4-9 ................5 5 4 4 1 5 73 4.66 Abbott ........................3 5 4 4 2 2 65 6.35 Morgan .......................1 1 0 0 1 1 20 4.50 Tickets sold—30,727 (41,649).

AB 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 3 1 33

R 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3

H 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 6

BI 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Avg. .274 .301 .334 .260 .250 .177 .273 .220 .036 .279

Milwaukee Urias 3b Yelich lf Adames ss Narvaez c Garcia rf Peterson 2b Hiura 1b Bradley Jr. cf Houser p a-Taylor b-Pina Totals

Cincinnati Milwaukee

AB 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 2 1 1 30

R 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

H 1 0 1 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 8

000 030 000 —3 200 001 02x —5

BI 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 5

Avg. .243 .237 .290 .302 .252 .260 .168 .167 .100 .229 .126

6 8

0 1

AB 6 5 4 5 5 2 0 1 4 4 2 1 2 41

R 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 9

H 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 13

BI 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 8

Avg. .247 .291 .252 .263 .258 .251 .148 .286 .299 .174 .192 .269 .236

Colorado Arizona

Arizona Rojas lf-rf VanMeter 2b P.Smith 1b Escobar 3b Reddick rf-cf Fairchild cf e-Cabrera Ahmed ss Holaday c d-Varsho c Faria p a-Young Peralta lf Totals

AB 5 4 4 3 3 3 1 4 2 1 1 1 2 34

R 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3

010 102 401 —9 000 120 000 —3

H 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7

BI 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Avg. .251 .179 .263 .252 .276 .250 .245 .217 .000 .147 .333 .220 .253

13 7

1 1

a-doubled for Faria in the 5th. b-singled for Gonzalez in the 6th. c-flied out for Lawrence in the 7th. d-walked for Holaday in the 7th. e-struck out for R.Smith in the 8th. f-flied out for Estevez in the 9th.

1-ran for Cron in the 7th.

Walks—Colorado 3: Story 1, Daza 1, Nunez 1. Arizona 3: Escobar 1, Reddick 1, Varsho 1. Strikeouts—Colorado 8: Hampson 4, Rodgers 1, McMahon 1, Cron 1, Gonzalez 1. Arizona 8: Rojas 1, VanMeter 1, Fairchild 1, Cabrera 1, Ahmed 2, Holaday 1, Faria 1.

E—Fuentes (8), VanMeter (5). LOB—Colorado 10, Arizona 7.

2B—Nunez 2 (9), Tapia (20), Story (17), Daza (11), Young (3).

HR—VanMeter (2), off Gonzalez. RBIs—Nunez (21), Gonzalez (1), Blackmon (39), Story (42), McMahon (47), Daza 2 (28), Fuentes (32), VanMeter 2 (12). DP—Colorado 1 (Story, Rodgers, Cron).

Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gonzalez, W, 3-5...........5 6 3 3 1 5 70 5.51 Lawrence, H, 2 .............1 0 0 0 1 1 13 4.97 Chacin ........................1 1 0 0 1 0 26 5.01 Estevez........................1 0 0 0 0 1 11 5.08 Almonte ......................1 0 0 0 0 1 14 10.67 Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Faria...........................5 5 2 2 2 4 86 4.76 Weems, L, 0-1, BS, 0-1 .1 1 2 2 1 2 20 18.00 R.Smith.......................2 5 4 4 0 1 53 6.20 Bukauskas...................1 2 1 1 0 1 17 7.15 IBB—by Weems (Nunez). HBP—Weems (Cron), R.Smith (Cron).

WP—Weems. T—3:23. Tickets sold—7,740 (48,686).

L10

GB

Pct.

L

ROCKIES 9 DIAMONDBACKS 3 Light-hitting Dom Nunez, who began the day batting .159, doubled twice and singled as Colorado avoided a three-game sweep. Nunez scored twice, drove in a run and drew a walk.

52 38 .578

L

5 3

Avisail Garcia hit a tie-breaking, tworun homer in the eighth inning as Milwaukee beat Cincinnati. Reliever Devin Williams (6-1) recorded the win and Josh Hader earned his 21st save.

San Diego

—

Streak Won 1 This month 5-3 Home 29-13 Road 26-21 Division 22-11 Interleague 9-6 Next: Tonight vs. Arizona, Dodger Stadium, 7 TV/Radio: SportsNet LA/570, 1020

BREWERS REDS

8 0

Brad Miller hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career, and Philadelphia routed sinking Chicago. With a chance for a fourth homer, Miller popped up in the ninth.

4-6

DODGERS

L

PHILLIES CUBS

6 1

—

6-4

INDIANS ROYALS

7 4

Franmil Reyes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning as Cleveland ended its nine-game losing streak — its longest under manager Terry Francona — with the victory.

Central

W

Chicago

51 35 .593

Cleveland

43 42 .506

71⁄2

1-9

Detroit

40 48 .455

12

6-4

Minnesota

36 50 .419

15

3-7

Kansas City

36 51 .414

151⁄2

3-7

East

W

Pct.

GB

L10

Boston

54 34 .614

Tampa Bay

51 36 .586

21⁄2

5-5

Toronto

44 40 .524

8

6-4

Kansas City Cleveland

Walks—Kansas City 1: C.Santana 1. Cleveland 6: Hernandez 1, Ramirez 1, Reyes 1, Bradley 2, B.Zimmer 1. Strikeouts—Kansas City 11: Merrifield 1, Benintendi 1, Perez 3, C.Santana 1, O’Hearn 2, Dyson 2, Taylor 1. Cleveland 9: Hernandez 1, Rosario 1, Ramirez 2, Reyes 1, Ramirez 2, Mercado 1, B.Zimmer 1. E—Rosario (6). LOB—Kansas City 4, Cleveland 7. 2B—Taylor (7), Dyson (5), Dozier (15), Mercado (1), Hernandez (13). HR—C.Santana (14), off Plesac; Dozier (8), off Plesac; C.Santana (15), off Karinchak; Bradley (9), off Duffy; Perez (4), off Barlow; Reyes (14), off Holland. RBIs—Merrifield (46), C.Santana 2 (50), Dozier (26), Bradley (18), Perez 3 (12), Reyes 3 (38). SB—Merrifield (24). CS—Merrifield (1).DP—Kansas City 1 (Lopez, Dozier, Merrifield, Lopez); Cleveland 2 (Rosario, Hernandez, Bradley; Rosario, Bradley).

L

—

7-3

—

Kansas City Merrifield 2b Benintendi lf Perez c C.Sntna 1b O’Hearn dh Dozier 3b Dyson rf Taylor cf Lopez ss Totals

7-3

New York

44 42 .512

9

4-6

Baltimore

28 58 .326

25

4-6

Thursday’s results Oakland 2, at Houston 1 at Seattle 4, New York 0 at Cleveland 7, Kansas City 4 at Minnesota 5, Detroit 3 Toronto at Baltimore, rain

Jim Mone Associated Press

TODAY’S GAMES

A BAGFUL OF TAG

NATIONAL LEAGUE >> MATCHUP ARI/Widener (R) DODGERS/TBD STL/LeBlanc (L) CHI/Hendricks (R) ATL/Morton (R) Miami/Thompson (R) PIT/TBD NY/Stroman (R) CIN/Miley (L) MIL/Lauer (L) WAS/Espino (R) SF/Webb (R) COL/Freeland (L) SD/Snell (L)

W-L 1-0 — 0-1 10-4 7-3 2-2 — 6-6 6-4 3-3 2-2 4-3 1-2 3-3

ERA TIME 2.63 7 p.m.

— SNLA 4.24 11:15 a.m.

3.83 MLB 3.91 4 p.m.

2.25 — 4 p.m.

2.60 3.06 5 p.m.

4.11 2.48 6:45 p.m.

3.86 5.50 7 p.m.

4.99

AMERICAN LEAGUE >> MATCHUP ANGELS/Cobb (R) SEA/Gonzales (L) CHI/Keuchel (L) BAL/López (R) KC/Keller (R) CLE/McKenzie (R) TOR/Stripling (R) TB/McClanahan (L) OAK/Irvin (L) TEX/Lyles (R) DET/Manning (R) MIN/Maeda (R) NY/TBD HOU/Odorizzi (R)

W-L 6-3 1-5 6-3 2-11 6-9 1-3 3-4 3-3 6-7 4-5 1-2 4-3 — 3-3

ERA 4.60 5.82 4.48 6.02 6.39 6.38 4.06 4.18 3.56 4.98 7.94 5.03 — 3.70

TIME 7 p.m.

BSW 4 p.m.

W-L 3-3 4-5

ERA 4.50 4.88

TIME 4 p.m.

4 p.m.

4 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m.

MLB

ODDS Major League Baseball NATIONAL LEAGUE Favorite at DODGERS at Chicago Cubs Atlanta at N.Y. Mets Cincinnati at San Francisco at San Diego AMERICAN LEAGUE Favorite ANGELS Chicago White Sox at Cleveland at Tampa Bay Oakland at Minnesota INTERLEAGUE Favorite at Boston

-526 -141 -142 -250 -107 -200 -229

Underdog Arizona St. Louis at Miami Pittsburgh at Milwaukee Washington Colorado

+340 +110 +127 +185 -107 +155 +194

-132 -142 -141 -156 -132 -198

Underdog at Seattle at Baltimore Kansas City Toronto at Texas Detroit

+117 +127 +110 +125 +117 +172

Underdog -132 Philadelphia

+117

No odds information was provided for the Yankees-Astros game

LEADERS NATIONAL LEAGUE >>> Player G N. Castellanos, Cincinnati ...80 A. Frazier, Pittsburgh ..........85 T. Turner, Washington..........81 Winker, Cincinnati..............78 Reynolds, Pittsburgh ..........83 J. Turner, DODGERS ...........81 Tatis Jr., San Diego ............70 Tapia, Colorado.................85 Soto, Washington ..............75 B. Harper, Philadelphia.......64

AB 319 334 328 302 302 294 256 323 259 231

R 56 52 53 56 48 49 66 51 50 45

H 107 109 104 92 92 89 76 94 73 65

Avg. .335 .326 .317 .305 .305 .303 .297 .291 .282 .281

AB 305 271 310 295 326 296 260 270 314 319

R 68 42 54 43 48 50 37 53 59 49

H 104 90 100 94 103 91 79 82 94 95

Avg. .341 .332 .323 .319 .316 .307 .304 .304 .299 .298

AMERICAN LEAGUE >>> Player G Guerrero Jr., Toronto...........84 Brantley, Houston ..............66 Bogaerts, Boston...............82 Gurriel, Houston................81 Mullins, Baltimore .............85 T. Anderson, Chicago..........71 Cruz, Minnesota ................74 Alvarez, Houston ...............72 Martinez, Boston ...............81 D. Fletcher, ANGELS...........81

ATHLETICS ASTROS

2 1

MARINERS YANKEES

4 0

TWINS TIGERS

5 3

Jed Lowrie and Matt Olson drove in a run each to back a strong start by Frankie Montas (8-7). Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. (6-2) lost for the first time in 10 starts since April 14.

Rookie Logan Gilbert pitched one-hit ball over seven innings, Kyle Seager and Dylan Moore both homered, and Seattle salvaged the final game of its three-game set with New York.

Ryan Jeffers and Miguel Sano homered and Minnesota took advantage of a replay reversal to score three runs in the seventh. Jeffers’ homer in the fifth marked the Twins’ first baserunner.

Oakland Laureano cf Andrus ss Olson 1b Lowrie dh Chapman 3b Piscotty rf Brown lf Kemp 2b A.Garcia c Totals

New York LeMahieu 2b Judge rf Sanchez c Stanton dh Voit 1b Torres ss Urshela 3b Gardner cf Locastro lf a-Odor Totals

Detroit AB R H BI Avg. Minnesota AB Goodrum cf 4 0 0 0 .211 Polanco 2b 3 Schoop 1b 4 2 2 0 .276 Dnldsn 3b 3 Haase lf 4 1 2 2 .250 Cruz dh 4 Cabrera dh 4 0 2 0 .246 Larnach lf 4 Cndlrio 3b 4 0 1 0 .269 Jeffers c 3 Short ss 3 0 0 1 .214 Sano 1b 4 W.Castro 2b 4 0 0 0 .215 Kepler rf 3 Mazara rf 3 0 1 0 .215 Celestino cf 3 J.Rogers c 3 0 0 0 .233 Simmons ss 2 Totals 33 3 8 3 Totals 29

AB 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 36

5 p.m.

INTERLEAGUE >> MATCHUP PHI/Velasquez (R) BOS/Richards (R)

Twins second baseman Jorge Polanco tags out Detroit Tigers baserunner Miguel Cabrera to complete a double play after Jeimer Candelario flied out. Cabrera was originally called safe, but after a review he was ruled out. The Twins scored three runs in the seventh and won 5-3.

R 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

H 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 8

BI 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2

Avg. .241 .237 .283 .257 .230 .210 .186 .247 .205

Houston AB R H BI Avg. Altuve 2b 4 0 0 0 .282 Brantley dh 4 0 0 0 .332 Correa ss 4 0 0 0 .288 Alvarez lf 4 0 1 0 .304 1-Straw 0 0 0 0 .273 Gurriel 1b 4 0 2 0 .319 Tucker rf 3 1 1 0 .265 McCrmk cf 3 0 2 1 .248 Toro 3b 3 0 0 0 .230 Mldndo c 2 0 0 0 .173 a-Castro c 0 0 0 0 .231 Totals 31 1 6 1

Oakland Houston

200 000 000 —2 000 000 100 —1

8 6

0 1

a-walked for Maldonado in the 8th. 1-ran for Alvarez in the 9th.

Walks—Oakland 2: Brown 1, Kemp 1. Houston 2: Tucker 1, Castro 1.

Strikeouts—Oakland 10: Laureano 1, Olson 2, Chapman 2, Piscotty 2, Kemp 1, A.Garcia 2. Houston 10: Altuve 2, Brantley 1, Correa 2, Alvarez 2, Tucker 1, McCormick 1, Toro 1.

E—Toro (2). LOB—Oakland 9, Houston 5. 2B—Andrus (18), Olson (19), Laureano (13), Tucker (18), McCormick (6). RBIs—Olson (57), Lowrie (38), McCormick (33). CS—McCormick (1).

Runners left in scoring position—Oakland 3 (Andrus 2); Houston 2 (Toro 2). RISP—Oakland 2 for 5; Houston 1 for 4.

Runners moved up—A.Garcia. GIDP—Gurriel.

DP—Oakland 1 (Andrus, Kemp, Olson).

Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 95 4.41 Montas, W, 8-7 ..........62⁄3 5 1 1 1 10 5 3.22 Petit, H, 14..................1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 Trivino, H, 6 .................1 0 0 0 1 0 13 1.96 Diekman, S, 7-11 .........1 1 0 0 0 0 7 3.12 Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA McCullers Jr., L, 6-2 ......7 7 2 2 2 8 107 2.94 Scrubb........................1 0 0 0 0 2 12 5.60 J.Smith........................1 1 0 0 0 0 11 5.89 Inherited runners-scored—Petit 1-0. WP—Montas, McCullers Jr..

U—Ben May, Bill Welke, Pat Hoberg, Chris Conroy. T—2:52. Tickets sold—29,243 (41,168).

AB 3 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 1 27

R 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

H 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

BI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Avg. .270 .284 .218 .274 .243 .236 .269 .189 .273 .217

New York Seattle

Seattle AB R H BI Avg. Crawford ss 4 0 0 0 .279 Haniger rf 4 1 2 1 .253 Seager 3b 4 1 1 1 .216 France 1b 4 0 0 0 .264 Murphy c 3 0 0 0 .198 Fraley cf 3 0 0 0 .238 Torrens dh 2 1 1 0 .209 Moore 2b 2 1 1 2 .180 Bauers lf 3 0 0 0 .241 Totals 29 4 5 4 000 000 000 —0 120 000 01x —4

1 5

0 0

a-flied out for Locastro in the 9th.

Walks— Seattle 2: Torrens 1, Moore 1.

Strikeouts—New York 10: LeMahieu 1, Judge 1, Stanton 1, Voit 1, Torres 1, Urshela 1, Gardner 2, Locastro 2. Seattle 10: Crawford 1, Haniger 2, Seager 3, France 1, Murphy 1, Fraley 2.

LOB—New York 2, Seattle 3. 2B—Stanton (9). HR—Seager (16), off Montgomery; Moore (8), off Montgomery; Haniger (19), off Peralta. RBIs—Seager (50), Moore 2 (28), Haniger (48). SB—Moore (14).

Runners left in scoring position—New York 1 (Gardner); Seattle 2 (France, Bauers). RISP—New York 0 for 3; Seattle 0 for 3.

Runners moved up—Torres. GIDP—Judge.

DP—Seattle 1 (Seager, Moore, France).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Montgomery, L, 3-4.....62⁄3 4 3 3 2 9 105 4.16 Wilson ........................1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 8 8.59 Peralta ........................1 1 1 1 0 1 14 5.19 Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gilbert, W, 3-2..............7 1 0 0 0 8 103 3.51 Sewald, H, 7 ................1 0 0 0 0 2 12 1.46 Graveman....................1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.99 Inherited runners-scored—Wilson 1-0. HBP—Gilbert (Voit), Graveman (LeMahieu). WP—Montgomery.

U—Chad Whitson, Jim Reynolds, Tony Randazzo, Todd Tichenor.

T—2:27. Tickets sold—17,524 (47,929).

Detroit Minnesota

R 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 5

000 201 000 —3 000 011 30x —5

H 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 6

BI 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4

Avg. .249 .249 .299 .262 .193 .201 .214 .146 .229

8 6

1 0

Walks—Detroit 1: Short 1. Minnesota 2: Donaldson 1, Jeffers 1.

Strikeouts—Detroit 10: Goodrum 2, Cabrera 2, Candelario 1, Short 2, W.Castro 1, Mazara 1, J.Rogers 1. Minnesota 8: Donaldson 2, Cruz 1, Larnach 2, Jeffers 1, Kepler 1, Celestino 1.

E—W.Castro (9). LOB—Detroit 4, Minnesota 4. 2B—Candelario (20). HR—Haase (13), off Happ; Jeffers (6), off Skubal; Sano (15), off Skubal. RBIs—Haase 2 (27), Short (8), Jeffers (16), Larnach (20), Sano (35), Polanco (35). SF—Polanco. S—Simmons.

Runners left in scoring position—Detroit 1 (W.Castro); Minnesota 1 (Jeffers). RISP—Detroit 1 for 5; Minnesota 1 for 3.

Runners moved up—Candelario. GIDP—W.Castro.

DP—Minnesota 2 (Celestino, Polanco, Celestino; Polanco, Simmons, Sano).

Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Skubal, L, 5-8 ..............6 6 5 3 1 5 93 4.36 Cisnero .......................1 0 0 0 0 1 11 2.58 Farmer ........................1 0 0 0 1 2 16 7.83 Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Happ, W, 5-4 ...............7 8 3 3 1 8 102 5.90 Duffey, H, 11................1 0 0 0 0 1 15 3.58 T.Rogers, S, 8-10 ..........1 0 0 0 0 1 6 2.45 Inherited runners-scored—Cisnero 2-2. WP—Cisnero.

U—Will Little, Rob Drake, Dan Merzel, Greg Gibson. T—2:23.

Tickets sold—18,192 (38,544).

AB 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 34

R 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 4

H 1 0 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 8

BI 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 4

Avg. .275 .268 .278 .252 .225 .174 .247 .246 .263

Cleveland AB R H BI Avg. Hernndz 2b 4 1 1 0 .223 Rosario ss 5 0 1 0 .263 Ramirez 3b 4 1 0 0 .259 Reyes dh 4 2 1 3 .273 Ramirez rf 4 0 1 0 .269 Bradley 1b 2 2 2 1 .237 Perez c 4 1 1 3 .145 Mercado lf 4 0 1 0 .200 B.Zimmer cf 3 0 1 0 .211 Totals 34 7 9 7 001 200 001 —4 000 100 033 —7

8 9

0 1

Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Duffy ..........................5 4 1 1 3 5 77 2.53 Staumont H,3 ..............1 2 0 0 0 1 22 3.63 Brentz H,9 ...................1 0 0 0 0 1 8 2.75 Barlow BS,4-7..............1 1 3 3 2 1 25 2.95 9 4.89 Holland L,2-4 ..............2⁄3 2 3 3 1 1 Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Plesac.........................4 5 3 3 0 4 55 4.31 Maton.........................1 0 0 0 0 2 21 4.93 Wittgren ......................1 0 0 0 1 1 14 4.70 Shaw ..........................2 1 0 0 0 2 20 3.08 Karinchak W,5-2 ...........1 2 1 1 0 2 28 2.58 IBB—by Holland (Ramirez).

U—James Hoye, Tripp Gibson, Quinn Wolcott, Nick Mahrley. T—3:10.

Tickets sold—13,272 (34,788).

PADRES NATIONALS

9 8

San Diego’s Trent Grisham singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, capping a rally from an 8-0 deficit. Reliever Daniel Camarena hit a grand slam.

Wash.

Escobar 2b Turner ss Soto rf Bell 1b Castro 3b Gomes c Harrison lf Robles cf Scherzer p Hernandez Zimmerman Totals

Washington San Diego

AB 5 5 3 5 3 4 4 4 2 1 1 37

R 1 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8

H 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 11

BI 0 3 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 8

Avg. .346 .321 .286 .248 .272 .268 .278 .210 .000 .234 .245

San Diego AB R H BI Avg. Pham lf 5 2 3 1 .257 Tatis Jr. ss 5 1 2 2 .299 Crnwrth 2b 5 0 0 0 .274 Mchdo 3b 3 1 0 0 .271 Grisham cf 5 1 2 1 .277 Hosmer 1b 3 1 1 0 .261 Myers rf 3 2 1 1 .253 Caratini c 2 0 1 0 .221 Rivas c 2 0 0 0 .196 Mateo 1 0 0 0 .195 Camrna p 1 1 1 4 .500 Profar 1 0 0 0 .234 Kim 1 0 0 0 .208 Totals 37 9 11 9 303 200 000 —8 000 701 001 —9

11 11

0 2

Strikeouts—Washington 7: Escobar 1, Gomes 2, Harrison 1, Robles 2, Scherzer 1. San Diego 9: Pham 2, Tatis Jr. 1, Cronenworth 1, Machado 1, Myers 2, Caratini 1, Mateo 1. E—Grisham (4), Tatis Jr. (19). LOB—Washington 5, San Diego 6. 2B—Castro (19), Bell (14), Pham 2 (12), Myers (12). HR—Turner (16), off Darvish; Turner (17), off Camarena; Tatis Jr. (28), off Scherzer; Camarena (1), off Scherzer.

RBIs—Turner 3 (42), Gomes 2 (33), Bell (42), Castro (38), Harrison (31), Tatis Jr. 2 (60), Myers (36), Camarena 4 (4), Pham (30), Grisham (34).

Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Scherzer....................32⁄3 5 7 7 1 7 91 2.66 Finnegan...................11⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 22 3.58 Suero H,4 ...................2⁄3 1 1 1 0 0 12 3.96 Voth BS,0-2 ...............11⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 22 3.43 Hudson .......................1 1 0 0 0 1 13 2.49 Clay L,0-2 ...................2⁄3 2 1 1 1 0 13 4.97 San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Darvish .......................3 8 6 6 0 2 64 3.09 Camarena....................2 2 2 2 0 2 28 9.64 Stammen ....................1 0 0 0 0 0 10 2.84 Johnson ......................1 1 0 0 1 1 19 3.25 Pagan .........................1 0 0 0 0 2 14 3.19 Melancon W,2-1 ...........1 0 0 0 1 0 16 2.15 T—3:40. Tickets sold—29,434 (40,209).

NOTES

Mattingly to return as manager of Marlins associated press

Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly will return for a seventh season in 2022, general manager Kim Ng said Thursday during the team’s game against the Dodgers.

Mattingly and the club agreed to the mutual option in his contract that allows him to manage next season.

“There was a deadline in the contract by which we had to make our feelings known, and that was coming up real soon,” Ng said. “We just decided to make sure to get it done. A little bit early but, nonetheless, we wanted to make sure to tell you guys.”

The Marlins ended a 17-year playoff drought when they reached the postseason in 2020. That accomplishment earned Mattingly NL manager of the year honors.

Giving it back to them The Astros have planned a weekend of giveaway items at Minute Maid Park that’s sure to pique

the interest of the visiting New York Yankees.

Star second baseman Jose Altuve and his Houston teammates were loudly heckled in May when they played at Yankee Stadium for the first time since their sign-stealing was revealed. The Astros beat New York in the 2017 AL Championship Series on their way to the World Series championship, and topped them again in the 2019 ALCS on Altuve’s game-ending home run.

Fans attending the series opener in Houston this weekend will get a replica 2019 AL champions trophy. The Saturday game includes a 2019 AL champions replica ring and the Sunday matchup offers an Altuve jersey. The promotions were announced last month.

Altuve and Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, meanwhile, will not play in Tuesday’s All-Star game.

Both players were chosen as reserves for the showcase in Denver.

A good buy?

The Chicago Cubs might be

viewing the July 30 trade deadline a little differently after an 11-game losing streak dropped them from first place to below .500.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledges the team could be a seller rather than a buyer going into the July 30 date to make deals.

Stars Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo are set to become free agents after this season.

Hoyer hinted that, barring a resurgence, the club’s marquee names might be available in the right deal.

“I think turnover is inevitable,” Hoyer said Thursday. “We’ve probably been as stable as anyone, but at some point there is going to have to be some turnover with the roster, in part because we’re not seeing the results we need to.”

On the mend White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez starts his rehab assignment with Class-A WinstonSalem, working his way back from a torn pectoral muscle that’s sidelined him since spring training.

There is no timeline for when the AL Central-leading White Sox expect to have Jimenez back in the lineup. When he returns, it’s likely he’ll see time at DH as well as the outfield. The 24-year-old Jimenez hit 31 home runs as a rookie in 2019 and batted .296 with 14 homers and 41 RBIs during the pandemicshortened season. Despite a rash of injuries and a lack of power, the White Sox own the biggest division lead in the majors. ... Orioles ace John Means is scheduled to throw three or four innings in a rehab start for double-A Bowie as he comes back from a strained left shoulder. If all goes well, the 2019 All-Star will have a final rehab start with triple-A Norfolk next week and join the team after the All-Star break in Kansas City. “I’m projecting that his next start with us will be early on in the Rays series [July 19-21],” manager Brandon Hyde said. Means, 28, is 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 12 starts, including a no-hitter at Seattle. He departed in the first inning against Cleveland on June 5 and went on the injured list.

B8

F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M / S P O RT S

All-around effort lifts Suns in Game 2 With little help for Antetokounmpo, Bucks can’t match versatility of Phoenix.

NBA FINALS Phoenix vs. Milwaukee Suns lead series 2-0

Gm 1 Gm 2 Gm 3 Gm 4 Gm 5 Gm 6 Gm 7

PHOENIX 118 MILWAUKEE 108 associated press

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have never been closer to an NBA title.

Devin Booker scored 31 points, Chris Paul had 23 and the Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 on Thursday to take a 2-0 NBA Finals lead.

The Suns surged ahead late in the first half, withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s all-around effort to bring the Bucks back, and walked off winners again as fans swung orange rally towels all around them.

Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back after missing two games because of a hyperextended left knee.

The Suns never had a lead in their previous NBA Finals until their 118-105 victory in Game 1. They dropped the first two games in 1976 and 1993, their only other appearances, and didn’t win more than two games in either series.

They’ve already got two this time and will go after a third Sunday in Milwaukee, which will host the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.

“We know it gets rowdy in Milwaukee, but I think we’re ready for it,” Booker said.

Booker made seven three-pointers and the Suns went 20 for 40 behind the arc.

Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and Paul finished with eight assists.

Jrue Holiday played more aggressively but didn’t shoot a whole lot better than in Game 1, scoring 17 points but hitting only seven for 21.

Khris Middleton was five for 16, forcing Antetokounmpo to carry an even heavier load on his sore left leg.

Phoenix 118, Milw. 105 Phoenix 118, Milw. 108 Sunday at Milwaukee, 5 Wednesday at Milwaukee, 6 July 17 at Phoenix, 6* July 20 at Milwaukee, 6* July 22 at Phoenix, 6*

TV: Channel 7 Times PDT, p.m. *Games 5-7 if necessary

Suns 118, Bucks 108 MILWAUKEE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T G.Antetknmpo ....40 15-22 11-18 4-12 4 3 42 Tucker ...............34 3-5 0-0 4-5 1 2 7 Lopez................27 4-10 0-0 3-9 0 2 8 Holiday..............39 7-21 2-3 2-5 7 4 17 Middleton..........41 5-16 0-0 0-6 8 3 11 Connaughton .....33 5-10 0-0 4-7 1 3 14 Teague ..............12 1-4 2-2 0-0 0 0 4 Forbes ................5 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Portis..................4 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 2 Bryant.................0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 42-93 15-23 18-46 21 17 108 Shooting: Field goals, 45.2%; free throws, 65.2% Three-point goals: 9-31 (Connaughton 4-9, Tucker 1-1, Forbes 1-3, Holiday 1-3, G.Antetokounmpo 1-5, Middleton 1-6, Portis 0-1, Teague 0-1, Lopez 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 7 (G.Antetokounmpo 3, Holiday 2, Lopez 2). Turnovers: 9 (G.Antetokounmpo 3, Connaughton 2, Middleton 2, Holiday, Tucker). Steals: 8 (Holiday 2, Lopez 2, Middleton 2, G.Antetokounmpo, Portis). Technical Fouls: None.

PHOENIX Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Bridges .............37 8-15 8-8 2-7 1 1 27 Crowder.............37 4-8 0-0 0-10 3 4 11 Ayton ................42 4-10 2-3 4-11 4 4 10 Booker ..............44 12-25 0-0 2-5 6 4 31 Paul..................41 10-20 0-1 2-4 8 3 23 Johnson ............18 2-4 2-2 1-3 2 2 8 Payne .................9 1-3 0-0 0-3 2 0 2 Craig ..................7 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 6 Kaminsky ............0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Nader .................0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 43-88 12-14 11-43 26 19 118 Shooting: Field goals, 48.9%; free throws, 85.7% Three-point goals: 20-40 (Booker 7-12, Crowder 3-5, Paul 3-5, Bridges 3-9, Craig 2-3, Johnson 2-4, Payne 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Ayton 2). Turnovers: 12 (Paul 6, Booker 3, Bridges, Craig, Payne). Steals: 7 (Ayton 3, Bridges, Crowder, Paul, Payne). Technical Fouls: None.

Christian Petersen Getty Images

DEVIN BOOKER drives past Giannis Antetokounmpo during the first half in Phoenix’s Game 2 win.

It adds up to the Bucks having to overcome a 2-0 deficit for the second time this postseason.

They did it against the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals but had some help when first James Harden and then Kyrie Irving were injured for Brooklyn.

Now they are facing a Suns team loaded with weapons all over the lineup, and showed off all of them in the prettiest play of this se-

ries.

The Suns whipped the ball all around the perimeter for the final basket of the first half. It went from Paul to Booker to Jae Crowder to Bridges, back to Crowder to Paul, then over to Crowder and once again Bridges. He then finally fed it inside to Deandre Ayton, who scored while being fouled with 14.9 seconds left for a 56-45 lead at the break.

The Bucks could only dream of having that many

players involved. Antetokounmpo’s 15 field goals were more than twice as many as any other Milwaukee player.

Phoenix opened a 65-50 lead with a good start to the third, but Antetokounmpo kept the game from getting away from the Bucks.

He scored 20 of the Bucks’ 33 points in the third, the first 20-point period in the finals since Michael Jordan against the Suns in 1993.

Milwaukee got the deficit down to six in the fourth, but

Paul nailed a three-pointer and Bridges had a basket to quickly push the lead back to double digits.

Milwaukee outscored Phoenix 20-0 in the paint in the first quarter, but eight of the Suns’ nine baskets were three-pointers and they were behind just 29-26.

Only two fouls — both on the Suns — were called in a clean quarter. Antetokounmpo took the only two free throws, making one and shooting an air ball on the

Milwaukee Phoenix

29 16 33 26 30 32

30— 108 30— 118

A—16,583. T—2:22.

second as fans counted, as they have in Bucks’ road games during the playoffs since he often doesn’t appear to shoot them within the allotted 10 seconds.

The score was tied at 41 with just under five minutes left in the half before the Suns surged ahead with precision offense and some shutdown defense.

They finished with a 15-4 run, the Bucks managing just two baskets by Antetokounmpo.

Punishment precedent does not favor Bauer

Photographs by

Wilfredo Lee Associated Press

MOOKIE BETTS makes a play in right field on a ball hit by Miami’s Sandy Leon.

The Dodgers went 5-3 on their trip, though they lost three of four to Miami.

Dodgers to lean again on bullpen [Dodgers, from B10] readily available rotation replacement, to roll out a bullpen game Friday for the third time in six days. David Price will open Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Roberts said Price could cover up to three innings.

“It’s going to be as long as it has to be,” Roberts said of the strategy’s sustainability.

“There’s certain things that we can’t plan for.”

Dodgers relievers logged 35 innings over the previous week. Before the game, lefthander Darien Núñez became the seventh reliever added to the bullpen in seven days. The four-day AllStar break starting Monday will help buy the Dodgers time to reset and exhaust other options. As will performances like the one Urías delivered Thursday.

The only damage the Marlins (38-48) inflicted on the left-hander was Chisholm’s leadoff home run in the first inning. Urías gave up five hits and walked two as his innings count for the season reached 106 1⁄3, more than 20 innings beyond his previous career high.

He’ll have at least seven

CODY BELLINGER

strokes a single in the first inning at Miami, one of 11 Dodgers hits. days of rest before his next start after becoming the first pitcher to reach 11 wins in the majors.

“I feel strong,” Urías said in Spanish. “I feel healthy.”

The Dodgers scored their final five runs in the fifth inning. Urías sparked the outburst with a leadoff single, the first of four straight singles to start the inning. Matt Beaty supplied the fourth hit to drive in Urías to give the Dodgers the lead.

The Dodgers have scored at least five runs in an inning 19 times this season. No other team has more than 13 such innings. Beaty, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor each contributed two hits as the Dodgers chased right-hander Sandy Alcántara before he recorded an out in the fifth.

Urías, meanwhile, threw 95 pitches, one shy of his career high, through six innings. He was sent out for the seventh and needed just six pitches for the three outs.

He hit for himself in the eighth inning but didn’t take the mound again. After the game, Roberts said he chose not to use a pinch-hitter because he wanted to give his four bench players a complete day off to rest.

It was the end of a demanding eight-game trip that the Dodgers finished 5-3. There were rain delays and extra innings and abnormally early start times.

There was a White House trip and sexual assault allegations against Bauer looming over the organization.

And, in the bullpen, there was an exhausted group happy to shoulder a lighter load.

[Bauer, from B10] evidence of domestic violence to impose sanctions or it can invoke a domestic policy provision that allows for paid suspension during pending resolution of a criminal matter if allowing the player to return to the field “would result in substantial and irreparable harm to either the Club or Major League Baseball.”

If history is a guide, Bauer, who was placed on a seven-day paid administrative leave on July 2, could face harsh punishment if MLB investigators deem any of the allegations in a temporary restraining order obtained by the alleged victim in Los Angeles County Superior Court to be true.

MLB on Thursday extended Bauer’s leave another seven days.

Since MLB implemented its domestic violence policy in the summer of 2015, 14 players — five of whom were placed on paid administrative leave — have been suspended for violating it, with suspensions ranging from 15 to 162 games.

The most egregious offender is former Pittsburgh All-Star closer Felipe Vázquez, who was found guilty of sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by a Westmoreland (Pa.) County jury in May and is awaiting a likely lengthy prison sentence. Vázquez was placed on MLB’s restricted list after charges were filed in 2019, and he hasn’t been eligible to play since.

Free-agent reliever Sam Dyson was suspended for 162 games last winter after his former girlfriend, Alexis Blackburn, painted a pattern of verbal and emotional abuse and provided photos of her bruised arms to Jupiter, Fla., police. Dyson, however, was not criminally charged.

Former San Diego Padres reliever Jose Torres was suspended for 100 games in June 2018 after being charged with assault with a deadly weapon. He was accused of pointing a semiautomatic handgun at his wife.

He pleaded guilty in November 2018 to attempted aggra-

vated assault. He was released by the Padres and is pitching in Mexico.

Philadelphia outfielder Odubel Herrera was suspended for 85 games on July 5, 2019, two days after an assault complaint against him was dropped in Atlantic City Municipal Court when his 20-year-old girlfriend declined to press charges.

Herrera was arrested two months earlier and charged with simple assault after his girlfriend told security at a casino that she had been attacked. A police report contained photos of handprint markings and scratches on her neck. Herrera returned to the Phillies this season after missing all of 2020.

Former Atlanta outfielder Hector Olivera, a bust after signing a six-year, $62.5-million deal with the Dodgers in 2015, was suspended for 82 games in 2016 after he was charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery for allegedly assaulting a woman at a Virginia hotel.

Olivera was traded to the Padres in July 2016, released that August and last played for the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters in 2017.

Former Toronto closer Roberto Osuna was suspended for 75 games in 2018 after his arrest on suspicion of assaulting the mother of his 3-year-old child. Prosecutors eventually withdrew the assault charge as part of a plea agreement.

Osuna, now 26, was traded to Houston during his suspension and had an American League-leading 38 saves in 2019. He missed most of 2020 because of an elbow injury, became a free agent last winter and is pitching in Mexico.

If there is a common thread to the suspensions, it is that MLB’s threshold for what constitutes domestic violence appears lower than that of most states.

Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías was not charged with a crime stemming from a 2019 incident in which he was accused of shoving his girlfriend in a Beverly Center parking lot, but he still accepted a 20-game suspen-

sion for “my inappropriate conduct during the incident.”

New York Mets reliever Jeurys Familia, who was arrested on a misdemeanor violence charge that was later dismissed, and former Boston pitcher Steven Wright, who had misdemeanor charges of domestic assault dropped, still received 15game suspensions.

The Bauer case could hinge on the credibility of the pitcher and the woman who accused him of assault along with any new evidence that is uncovered.

Pictures of the woman’s face included in the restraining order request, which show swelling on her jaw and cheekbone, bruising under her eyes and a scab on her lip, could influence MLB. Bauer, 30, was already one of baseball’s most polarizing figures — he has harassed women online, mocked transgender people and spread an antisemitic conspiracy theory. This domestic violence allegation adds more fuel for Bauer’s supporters and critics.

“I am mindful,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said last week, “that there are a lot of people with very strong feelings about this.”

Bauer, in the first year of a three-year, $102-million contract, is also one of baseball’s best pitchers, with an 8-5 record, 2.59 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 17 starts this season. A lengthy suspension of the right-hander would hurt the team’s chances of repeating as World Series champions.

The Dodgers appear to be bracing for a stiff punishment.

“I know what has been in the public domain,” Kasten said. “Apparently, there is plenty more information that I have not been told and I am not privy to, that I do not know anything about, and so I’m going to wait until all of the fact-gathering is complete and a decision is made.”

The National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached 24 hours a day at (800) 656-4673.

S

L AT I M E S . C O M / S P O RT S

Barty survives obstacles to reach Wimbledon final

PRO CALENDAR FRI 9

SAT 10

SUN 11

ARIZONA 7 SNLA

ARIZONA 7 SNLA

ARIZONA 1 SNLA

MON 12

DODGERS

at Seattle at Seattle at Seattle 7 1 7 BSW BSW BSW

The Aussie holds off Kerber to reach the title match, where she will take on Pliskova.

B9

F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

ANGELS

TUE 13 All-Star game at Colorado 4:30 Ch. 11 All-Star game at Colorado 4:30 Ch. 11

NEXT: JULY 17 VS. VANC. AT SALT LAKE CITY, 7, SPECSN

associated press

GALAXY WIMBLEDON, England — It was difficult for Ash Barty to imagine that a trip to her first Wimbledon final was just around the corner when she stopped playing at last month’s French Open with a hip injury.

Or even when she was two points from being pushed to a third set by Angelique Kerber in their semifinal at the All England Club.

Barty, 25, does not let obstacles trouble her for too long. She figures out a way and pushes forward.

That’s why she’s ranked No. 1 and it’s why she stands one win from a second Grand Slam title after beating 2018 champion Kerber 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Thursday.

“I’ve had ups and downs and everything in between and I wouldn’t change one day or one moment or one, kind of, road that we’ve taken in my path and my journey,” said Barty, who was the 2011 junior champion at the All England Club and stepped away from tennis for almost two years starting in 2014 because of burnout.

“It’s been unique. It’s been incredible. It’s been tough.

There have been so many things that led to this point.”

Her opponent in Saturday’s final is No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova, who emerged from a power-hitting and serving display to rally to defeat No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

“Super proud about the way how I handled the situation out there,“ Pliskova said. Pliskova, 29, produced 14 aces, Sabalenka 18, and the combined total was the most in a women’s match at Wimbledon since they started keeping such stats in

NEXT: JULY 17 VS. REAL SALT LAKE, 7:30, CH. 13 LAFC

MINN. 6 SpecSN SPARKS

Shade denotes home game.

TODAY ON THE AIR Kirsty Wigglesworth Associated Press

KAROLINA PLISKOVA acknowledges the crowd after rallying to beat Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals. She will face Ash Barty on Saturday.

RESULTS $48-MILLION WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS At London Surface: Outdoor-Grass WOMEN’S SINGLES (semifinals)—Ashleigh Barty (1), Australia, d. Angelique Kerber (25), Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (3); Karolina Pliskova (8), Czech Republic, d. Aryna Sabalenka (2), Belarus, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

MEN’S DOUBLES (semifinals)—Nikola Mektic-Mate Pavic (1), Croatia, d. Rajeev Ram, and Joe Salisbury (6), Britain, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5); Marcel Granollers, Spain-Horacio Zeballos (4), Argentina, d. Simone Bolelli, Italy-Maximo Gonzalez, Argentina, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

MIXED DOUBLES (third round)—Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic-Kevin Krawietz (9), Germany, d. Rajeev Ram and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (5), walkover.

(Quarterfinals)—Zhang Shuai, China-John Peers (17), Australia, d. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France, and Nicole Melichar (4), 6-2, 6-4; Neal Skupski, Britain, and Desirae Krawczyk (7), d. Jean-Julien Rojer, Netherlands-Andreja Klepac (14), Slovenia, 7-6 (6), 6-2; Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic-Kevin Krawietz (9), Germany, d. Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada-Mate Pavic (2), Croatia, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 9-7; Harriet Dart-Joe Salisbury, Britain, d. Jeremy Chardy, France-Naomi Broady, Britain, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

1977. The difference in this match, ultimately: Pliskova was broken just once, Sabalenka twice.

After going 0 for eight on break points in the first set, the first set she dropped in six matches, Pliskova “got a bit frustrated,“ she acknowledged afterward.

But she went one for one in that category in each of the last two sets.

“She just returned like

Featured matches Today’s singles matches at Wimbledon: MEN

Semifinals 8 No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs.

No. 10 Denis Shapovalov 8 No. 7 Matteo Berrettini vs.

No. 14 Hubert Hurkacz crazy — like, really good — and I couldn’t do anything,” said Sabalenka, the only top-20 seed in the draw without a major quarterfinal appearance until now.

Neither Pliskova — whose coach, Sascha Bajin, used to work with Naomi Osaka and was Serena Williams’ hitting partner — nor Barty had been past the fourth round at the grasscourt Grand Slam tournament.

“Coming into this tournament, the dream was to make the second week.

Sascha was super confident

GOLF LEADERS $6.2-MILLION JOHN DEERE CLASSIC At Silvis, Ill.—Par 71 TPC Deere Run—7,268 yards 18-hole leaders Sebastian Munoz ............................33-30—63 Chesson Hadley..............................31-32—63 Chez Reavie ...................................32-32—64 Camilo Villegas...............................31-33—64 Hank Lebioda.................................33-31—64 Ryan Moore ...................................31-34—65 Luke List .......................................33-33—66 Kevin Tway .....................................34-32—66 Cameron Champ.............................31-35—66 Michael Gellerman..........................33-33—66 Doug Ghim ....................................33-33—66 Sam Ryder ....................................32-35—67 Bronson Burgoon ............................32-35—67 Cam Davis.....................................34-33—67 Sung Kang.....................................34-33—67 Harold Varner III .............................34-33—67 Alex Smalley ..................................33-34—67 Adam Schenk ................................34-33—67 J.J. Spaun......................................32-35—67 Jhonattan Vegas .............................33-34—67 Henrik Norlander ............................33-34—67 Kevin Na .......................................34-33—67 Nick Taylor .....................................35-32—67 Russell Henley................................32-35—67 Brandon Hagy ................................34-33—67 Fabian Gomez ................................34-33—67 Patrick Rodgers ..............................33-34—67 Chris Baker....................................33-34—67 D.J. Trahan.....................................33-35—68 Chase Seiffert ................................37-31—68 Scott Harrington .............................33-35—68 Pat Perez.......................................33-35—68 Dylan Frittelli..................................33-35—68 Sungjae Im ....................................34-34—68 Jim Herman ...................................34-34—68 Keith Mitchell.................................35-33—68 Michael Thompson..........................33-35—68 Lucas Glover ..................................34-34—68 Seamus Power ...............................32-36—68 Scott Stallings................................32-36—68 Will Gordon ...................................35-33—68 John Huh.......................................33-35—68 Mark Wilson...................................33-35—68 Mark Hubbard ................................32-36—68 Kyle Stanley...................................34-34—68 Zach Johnson.................................32-36—68 Martin Laird ...................................31-37—68 C.T. Pan.........................................34-34—68 Richy Werenski ...............................34-34—68 Jason Dufner..................................33-35—68 Wes Roach ....................................34-34—68 Sean O’Hair ...................................32-37—69 Danny Lee .....................................37-32—69 Brian Gay ......................................36-33—69 Robert Streb ..................................34-35—69 Jonas Blixt .....................................35-34—69 Ben Martin ....................................34-35—69 Doc Redman..................................35-34—69

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in me,” said Pliskova, who was the runner-up at the 2016 U.S. Open to Kerber.

“He said, ‘I told you, you were going to make the final.’”

Barty won the 2019 French Open and has been atop the WTA rankings for 11⁄2 years. She is the first woman from Australia to reach the title match at Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong won the trophy 1980; Barty has been wearing an outfit intended as a tribute to Goolagong.

“Now to kind of give myself a chance to create some history, almost in a way that’s a tribute to her, is really exciting,” Barty said.

She arrived in England not having competed since June 3, when she withdrew from her second-round match in Paris, her left hip in too much pain to continue.

“To be honest, it was going to be touch and go. Everything had to be spot on to give myself a chance to play painfree and to play knowing that I could trust my body,” Barty said.

TIME EVENT AUTO RACING 6 p.m.

NASCAR, Truck Series, Race at Knoxville BASEBALL 11:15 a.m. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs 5 p.m.

New York Yankees at Houston 7 p.m.

Angels at Seattle 7 p.m.

Arizona at Dodgers

BASKETBALL 4 p.m.

WNBA, New York at Indiana 4 p.m.

WNBA, Atlanta at Connecticut 6 p.m.

WNBA, Seattle at Phoenix CYCLING 3:30 a.m. Tour de France, Stage 13 GOLF 4:30 a.m. PGA European Tour, Scottish Open, second round 10 a.m.

U.S. Senior Open Championship, second round Noon John Deere Classic, second round 2 p.m.

American Century Championship, first round 3 p.m.

U.S. Senior Open Championship, second round 6 p.m.

Marathon LPGA Classic, second round HORSE RACING 9 a.m.

Trackside Live!

11 a.m.

America’s Day at the Races 6 p.m.

The Quarters, Los Alamitos SOCCER 5 p.m.

Copa America, Colombia vs. Peru, third place

8 p.m.

Uruguay, Liverpool vs. Montevideo TENNIS 3 a.m.

WTA, Hamburg European Open, quarterfinals 5 a.m.

Wimbledon Championships, men’s semifinals TRACK AND FIELD 11 a.m.

Diamond League meet, Monaco 4 p.m.

American Track League

ON THE AIR

TV: FS1

TV: MLB TV: MLB TV: BSW R: 830 TV: SNLA R: 570, 1020

TV: NBA TV: CBSSN TV: ESPN, ESPND

TV: NBCSN

TV: Golf TV: Golf TV: Golf TV: NBCSN TV: Golf TV: Golf

TV: TVG TV: BSSC TV: TVG

TV: FS2, TUDN, UniMas, KFTR R: 1330 TV: GOLTV

TV: Tennis TV: ESPN, ESPND

TV: NBCSN TV: ESPN2

GOLF

Gregory Shamus Getty Images

NASA HATAOKA stud-

ies the sixth green at the Marathon LPGA Classic.

Matthew NeSmith ...........................35-34—69 Eric Cole .......................................34-35—69 Andres Romero...............................37-32—69 Rhein Gibson .................................34-35—69 Luke Kluver....................................35-34—69 Brian Stuard ..................................33-36—69 Scott Brown ...................................34-35—69 K.J. Choi........................................34-35—69 Tom Lewis......................................32-37—69 Daniel Berger .................................33-36—69 Hudson Swafford ............................35-34—69 Satoshi Kodaira..............................35-34—69 Greg Chalmers ...............................32-37—69 Patton Kizzire .................................34-35—69 Vaughn Taylor .................................34-35—69 Rob Oppenheim .............................37-32—69 Alex Noren.....................................35-35—70 Harry Higgs....................................36-34—70 Bo Hoag........................................37-33—70 Brian Harman.................................36-34—70 Steve Stricker.................................32-38—70 Andrew Landry ...............................33-37—70 Andrew Putnam ..............................36-34—70 Rafa Cabrera Bello..........................35-35—70 Nick Watney...................................34-36—70 Ben Taylor......................................33-37—70 Mark Anderson...............................36-34—70 Mito Pereira ...................................34-36—70

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$2-MILLION LPGA MARATHON CLASSIC At Sylvania, Ohio—Par 71 Highland Meadows Golf Club—6,578 yards 18-hole leaders Nasa Hataoka ................................29-32—61 Lauren Stephenson .........................31-34—65 Matilda Castren..............................32-34—66 Mina Harigae .................................32-34—66 Ariya Jutanugarn .............................33-33—66 Yealimi Noh ...................................33-33—66 Ssu-Chia Cheng..............................32-34—66 Mirim Lee ......................................33-34—67 Amy Yang ......................................31-36—67 Jennifer Song .................................32-35—67 Brittany Lincicome...........................32-35—67 Alison Lee .....................................31-36—67 Elizabeth Szokol .............................31-36—67 Katherine Perry-Hamski....................34-34—68 Megan Khang.................................32-36—68 Stacy Lewis....................................31-37—68 Jasmine Suwannapura.....................31-37—68 A Lim Kim .....................................32-36—68 Brianna Do ....................................33-35—68 Lauren Coughlin .............................31-37—68 Min Lee.........................................34-34—68 Cristie Kerr ....................................33-35—68 Chella Choi....................................33-35—68 Linnea Strom .................................33-35—68 Caroline Masson.............................33-35—68 Christina Kim .................................33-35—68 Ana Belac .....................................32-37—69 Pajaree Anannarukarn .....................34-35—69 Gerina Piller...................................35-34—69 Jennifer Kupcho..............................33-36—69 Cheyenne Knight.............................33-36—69 Yu Liu ...........................................34-39—73 Emma Talley...................................36-37—73 Tiffany Joh .....................................36-37—73 Sydnee Michaels ............................35-38—73 Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras ............33-40—73 Bronte Law ....................................35-38—73 Ashleigh Buhai ...............................34-39—73 Wichanee Meechai..........................37-36—73 Paula Reto.....................................36-37—73

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$4-MILLION U.S. SENIOR OPEN At Omaha—Par 70 Omaha Country Club—6,798 yards 18-hole leaders Stephen Ames................................33-32—65 Billy Andrade .................................33-32—65 Wes Short Jr...................................33-33—66 Robert Karlsson..............................35-32—67 Alex Cejka .....................................33-34—67 Miguel Angel Jimenez ......................34-34—68 Fran Quinn ....................................35-33—68 Lee Janzen ....................................36-33—69 Jay Haas .......................................35-34—69 Colin Montgomerie..........................36-33—69 Ted Tryba.......................................35-34—69 Rod Pampling ................................36-33—69 Fred Couples..................................35-34—69

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Andrade, Ames share U.S. Senior Open lead associated press

A new putter has helped give Billy Andrade a new outlook on his golf game.

Andrade, 57, changed out his flat stick a week ago, managed the undulating Omaha (Neb.) Country Club greens with no problem Thursday and shot a bogeyfree five-under 65 to share the first-round lead with Stephen Ames at the U.S. Senior Open.

Andrade’s best finish this season is a tie for fifth, and he has only one other top-10 in 22 events. Two weeks ago he had his worst tournament since 2014, finishing 18 over and tying for 63rd in the Senior Players Championship at Firestone.

“I didn’t feel too marvelous when I left there,” he said.

Andrade had five birdies and no bogeys on an OCC

course that dried out after the sun broke through and the wind came up in the afternoon.

Wes Short Jr. shot 66. Alex Cejka, looking for his third victory in a senior major this year, and Robert Karlsson followed at 67.

PGA Sebastian Munoz never knows when the switch will come on and the putts start to fall, but he recognized it happening in the John Deere Classic.

Munoz closed with five straight birdies at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., for an eight-under 63, turning a solid day into a share of the lead with Chesson Hadley.

Hank Lebioda, who finished one shot out of the playoff last week in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, was poised to join them. He was seven under through 12 holes and tied the lead with a

tee shot on the 213-yard seventh hole that stopped 20 inches from the cup.

But he missed the fairway to the right on the parfour ninth, chose to pitch back to the fairway and hit a wedge to six feet below the cup.

He missed the par putt and had to settle for a 64.

Chez Reavie and Camilo Villegas, who played in the morning, also were at 64.

LPGA Nasa Hataoka parred the final two holes to miss a chance for the second 59 in LPGA Tour history, finishing with a 10-under 61 and a four-stroke lead in the Marathon LPGA Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

Lauren Stephenson was second after a 65. She missed a chance to go lower on her final two holes, finishing with pars on the par-five 17th and 18th.

THE DAY IN SPORTS

Nevada won’t ban boxers, MMA fighters for marijuana wire reports

Nevada athletic regulators voted this week to remove penalties for boxers and MMA fighters who test positive for marijuana.

The decision follows the controversial move by the United States Anti-Doping Agency to suspend American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson after she tested positive for marijuana, forcing her to miss the Olympics this month.

The Las Vegas ReviewJournal reported that the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to immediately remove any penalties for a fighter who tests positive for the chemicals found in marijuana. A fighter who appears to be under the influence of the drug on a fight night could still be sanctioned.

Before the change, a pos-

itive test for marijuana could leave a competitor facing a suspension of up to nine months and a fine of their purse.

Fighters will continue to be tested for the drug for six months, the newspaper reported. The commission will decide whether to continue screening for marijuana.

ETC.

Tarasenko wants out of St. Louis Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko asked the St. Louis Blues for a trade, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press.

The Blues declined to comment when asked about Tarasenko’s trade request, which was first reported by

TOUR DE FRANCE 12th Stage A 99-mile ride from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Nimes 1. Nils Politt, Germany, Bora-Hansgrohe, 3 hours, 22 minutes, 12 seconds. 2. Imanol Erviti, Spain, Movistar Team, 0.31 behind. 3. Harry Sweeny, Australia, Lotto Soudal, same time. 4.

Stefan Kung, Switzerland, Groupama-FDJ, 1:58 behind. 5. Luka Mezgec, Slovenia, Team BikeExchange, 2:06.

STANDINGS (after 12 stages)—1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates, 47 hours, 22 minutes, 43 seconds. 2.

Rigoberto Uran, Colombia, EF Education-Nippo, 5:18 behind. 3.

Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Jumbo-Visma, 5:32. 4. Richard Carapaz, Ecuador, Ineos Grenadiers, 5:33. 5. Ben O’Connor, Australia, AG2R Citroen Team 5:58.

the Athletic. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the request was not made public.

Tarasenko is a five-time 30-goal scorer, but injuries have limited him to seven in 34 games the last two seasons. He has undergone three shoulder surgeries in three years, most recently a second operation on his left shoulder last fall.

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway added Hall of Famer Larry Brown to the Tigers’ staff as an assistant, reuniting the former New York Knicks player and coach. Brown, 80, is the only coach to win championships in both the NCAA (with Kansas in 1988) and the NBA (Detroit Pistons, 2004) over a 42-year career.

postponed likely until the fall. Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) and Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) were scheduled to meet July 24 in Las Vegas.

Dawson Garcia, who led Marquette in scoring and rebounding as a freshman last season, has indicated on social media he is transferring to North Carolina. Garcia released an Instagram post that showed him in a North Carolina uniform.

Rafael Nadal will return to competition by making his debut at the hard-court tournament in Washington.

The Citi Open said that the 20-time Grand Slam champion is in the field for the July 31 to Aug. 8 event that serves as a U.S. Open tuneup.

A person with knowledge of the situation said heavyweight champion Tyson Fury tested positive for COVID-19, and his third bout with Deontay Wilder will be

Nils Politt posted his first Tour de France stage win after pulling away from a breakaway group. The German rider from the BoraHansgrohe team attacked

Russia fired coach Stanislav Cherchesov, two weeks after the national team was eliminated from the group stage of the European Championship.

from a reduced group of three riders with about 71⁄2 miles left and reached the finish in the southern city of Nimes on his own. Race leader Tadej Pogacar rode with all other main contenders well behind the breakaway.

Naomi Osaka said former first lady Michelle Obama and sports stars Novak Djokovic, Michael Phelps and Stephen Curry were among those who reached out to offer support after she withdrew from the French Open to take a mental health break. In an essay in Time magazine’s Olympic preview issue, Osaka wrote that at she hopes “we can enact measures to protect athletes, especially the fragile ones,” and suggests they be allowed to sometimes skip media obligations without punishment.

B10

SPORTS F R I D A Y , J U L Y 9 , 2 0 2 1 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / S P O R T S

Just what the doctor ordered Urías goes seven innings for a stressed Dodgers staff as Bauer leave is extended.

DODGERS 6 MIAMI 1

By Jorge Castillo

Wilfredo Lee Associated Press

JULIO URÍAS went seven innings Thursday, allowing five hits and one run as he won his 11th game this season against three losses.

Bauer could face harsh league punishment Even if Dodgers ace isn’t charged, assault allegations may bring extensive suspension.

By Mike DiGiovanna The following article contains graphic details of sexual assault and domestic violence allegations.

Former Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell was not criminally charged for the domestic violence al-

legations levied on him by his ex-wife, Melisa Reidy, who in a 2018 blog post detailed physical, mental and emotional abuse during a two-year marriage that ended in divorce.

But that did not stop MLB from suspending Russell, then 24 and two years removed from helping the Cubs win the 2016 World Series, for 40 games without pay in October 2018 for violating its Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

MLB is in the process of

determining whether the alleged actions of Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner, should warrant a suspension under its domestic violence policy.

Bauer is under investigation by Pasadena police for alleged felony assault after a woman accused him of choking her to the point of losing consciousness during two sexual encounters and punching her repeatedly.

She described the encounters as initially consensual but added Bauer later ig-

nored her objections and performed violent sex acts without her consent. Bauer, through his representatives, has said the encounters were “wholly consensual” and supplied text messages The Times has not authenticated indicating the woman asked to be choked and punched.

The league does not need Bauer to be charged or found guilty in court. It can suspend him without charges being filed. MLB can determine it has enough [See Bauer, B8]

D. Ross Cameron Associated Press

TREVOR BAUER had

his leave extended another week on Thursday.

MIAMI — Julio Urías dropped his left arm down, almost to a sidearm delivery, to fire a perfectly placed 95mph strike to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 6-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday afternoon.

His momentum pushed him to his left, toward the Dodgers’ dugout, and he didn’t stop. He swaggered off the mound at LoanDepot Park. His 101st and last pitch may have been his best one, and Chisholm could only watch.

The sinker completed a three-pitch strikeout — Urías’ ninth punch-out of the day. It marked the first time Urías, protected from injury by the Dodgers in recent years, topped 100 pitches in his major league career. It was exactly what the Dodgers, down to three healthy and available starting pitchers, needed to avoid a four-game sweep and rest an exhausted relief corps.

The Dodgers (54-34) had already been without Dustin May since May 1 when Major League Baseball placed Trevor Bauer on a seven-day paid administrative leave July 2 after a woman accused him of sexual assault. The leave, with approval from the players union, was extended Thursday for another seven days, effective Friday.

On Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw was put on the 10-day injured list with left forearm inflammation. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw would undergo an MRI exam when the team returned to Los Angeles, probably on Friday.

“Not a whole lot,” Roberts said when asked about his level of concern Thursday morning. “I think it’s just more of to skip a start, to leverage the break. I’m not too concerned about it.”

The absences will force the Dodgers, without a [See Dodgers, B8]

MOMENT OF CLARITY Once an overlooked prospect and a 39th-round draft pick, Walsh has found the formula to become an All-Star-caliber hitter for the Angels

By Jack Harris

Ross D. Franklin Associated Press

A RISING SUN The Suns’ Deandre Ayton shoots over the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. Phoenix won 118-108 to take a 2-0 NBA Finals lead. B8

Barty, Pliskova in women’s final

Olympics won’t be open to fans

Ash Barty wins in straight sets and Karolina Pliskova rallies to advance at Wimbledon. B9

Surge in coronavirus cases in Japan prompt officials to say spectators won’t be able to attend events. A1

Jared Walsh loaded his hands, planted his front foot and lashed the barrel of his bat at a pitch over the plate.

His swing was quick, powerful, mechanically sound. It was also rhythmically smooth, with a leg kick and hip turn and one-handed follow-through that looked like poetry in motion, culminating in Walsh’s skyward stare at a ball flying deep into the night.

Sometimes, there’s no telling when a moment of affirmation will arrive. When the realization of belonging sets in. When years of work and lessons forged through struggle will crystallize.

For Walsh, it happened on Sept. 12 of last season, when he hammered a gamewinning three-run home run on the road against the Colorado Rockies.

“That,” Walsh said recently, “was a huge moment for me.”

Part of it was the situation, with two runners on base and two out in the 11th inning of a tie game. Part of it was the opponent, a pitcher in Tyler Kinley who had the kind of wicked stuff Walsh had struggled to handle in the past.

Kyusung Gong Associated Press

JARED WALSH has 22 home runs and a .282 average going into the final week-

end before the break. He is one of three Angels headed to the All-Star game.

From when he was picked in the 39th round of the 2015 draft, Walsh had visualized a breakthrough like that. Not just a clutch blast in a crucial situation. But the feeling of mastering the art and science of hitting at the major league level, of delivering on demand at the perfect time.

“We ended up winning

the game and I had a lot of texts from people,” Walsh said. “It was just one of those things where I started to feel a little bit more like a big leaguer, a little more comfortable.”

Ever since that ball dropped into the vacant right-field section at Coors Field, Walsh has ridden that

confidence in himself and his swing to a breakout performance over the last 10 months.

Once an overlooked prospect without a clear path to MLB stardom, Walsh is playing like one of the best first basemen in the sport.

[See Walsh, B6]

E

CALENDAR F R I D A Y , J U L Y 9 , 2 0 2 1 :: L A T I M E S . C O M / C A L E N D A R

A new twist in pay-TV movie deals Amazon Prime Video to stream Universal’s live-action films after they run on Peacock.

By Ryan Faughnder

Marvel Studios

SCARLETT JOHANSSON finally gets a solo adventure as Natasha Romanoff in the first film in Phase Four of the MCU.

Universal Pictures’ new live-action movies will stream on Amazon’s video service after they’re available on the studio’s sibling service Peacock, a complicated pact that upends the traditional pay-TV output deal for films.

Comcast Corp.-owned Universal earlier this week disclosed a five-year deal starting in 2022 to send its movies — including “Jurassic World: Dominion” — to Peacock no later than four months after they hit theaters.

After four months on Peacock, the live-action films will head to Amazon Prime Video for 10 months.

Following that period, they will circle back to Peacock for the next four months.

The unusual deal is an overhaul of the typical arrangement studios make with streaming services like Netflix and pay-TV networks like HBO. Such deals usually mean the movies are available on the chosen streaming service or network for 18 months for a period that begins six to nine months after their theatrical release. Generally, such deals are worth $200 million [See Universal, E6]

MOVIE REVIEW

ASSASSIN’S NEED B

efore it settles into its familiar, diverting, rather wearying rock-’em-sock-’em-blast’em-all-to-kingdom-come groove, the new Marvel movie “Black Widow” opens with a startling evocation of loss. We’re in Ohio in 1995, and a seemingly normal American family has just sat down to a dinner that will be their last together for a while. Soon they’re on the run, firing bullets, dodging pursuers and jetting off to Cuba, where they are greeted by ominous-looking Russian contacts and given a fresh set of marching orders. Mom and Dad always knew this day might come, but Natasha and Yelena, the two young girls they’ve raised as their own, are shocked as the only family they’ve ever known is torn apart.

The trauma of that rupture ripples through “Black

‘Black Widow’ arms the fallen hero with a long overdue backstory but misses the mark

BY JUSTIN CHANG FILM CRITIC

Widow,” if never as deeply or resonantly as that prologue seems to promise. Part origin story, part swan song, part Marvel-ized riff on “The Americans,” the movie, directed by the Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (“Lore”), zips us through the brutal education of the young Natasha Romanoff (Ever Anderson) as she’s separated from the only family she’s known and transformed into a ruthless Russian spying/fighting/killing machine. Eventually, of course, after growing up to be played by Scarlett Johansson, Natasha will defect to the U.S. and find an even weirder adopted clan in the Avengers, becoming one of the few women to join their world-saving ranks and one of the few people to do so without immortal powers or a mechanized supersuit.

All Natasha has are her killer [See ‘Widow,’ E6]

L.A. poets’ big moment in the sun Young voices rejoice in the spoken word in the narrative film ‘Summertime.’

By Carlos Aguilar Spoken word poetry transmits messages through a singular language: deft prose molded into a visceral performance by rhythm, intonation and physicality. The delivery turns words into daggers of truth, for soul-searching or external confrontation.

In the spring of 2019, this potent conduit for liberating one’s innermost struggles and yearnings worked itself in the psyche of Carlos López Estrada. The Mexican-born director behind the indie breakthrough “Blindspotting” and this year’s Disney release “Raya and the Last Dragon” attended a showcase of young poets from across Los Ange[See ‘Summertime,’ E2]

Getting life with autism right ‘Atypical’ cements its legacy as one of the best shows on topic.

LORRAINE ALI TELEVISION CRITIC

As a protective parent and fan of Netflix’s “Atypical,” I admit that I’m not ready for Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) to leave the nest — or for the streamer’s sharp, poignant dramedy about a family dealing with autism to leave me for good.

I’ve been watching “Atypical” since its premiere in 2017, when Sam, who’s high on the spectrum, was just 18 and facing the realities of every teen’s life: dating, the struggle for independence, impending adulthood. Now the series’ fourth and final season, premiering Friday, finds Sam leaving the safety of his Connecticut home and venturing into a perplexing world that often seems perplexed by him.

Watching one’s child strike out on their own is bittersweet for most parents. But for those of us who spent every waking hour [See ‘Atypical,’ E3]

In search of a signature song In a moving new documentary, Joshua Zeman seeks “The Loneliest Whale.” E3 Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times

“SUMMERTIME” cast and creators Marquesha Babers, from left, Tyris Winter, Austin Antoine, producer

Kelly Marie Tran, Madyson Park, director Carlos López Estrada, Marcus James, Jason Alvarez, Raul Herrera.

Comics ................... E4-5 What’s on TV .......... E6

E2

FR I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

L AT I M E S . C O M / CA L E N DA R

L.A. poets rejoice in the spoken word [‘Summertime,’ from E1] les at Get Lit — Words Ignite, a nonprofit in Koreatown founded by Diane Luby Lane to promote literacy through self-expression.

Get Lit operates in tandem with LAUSD high schools to introduce a curriculum into English classes that integrates classic and contemporary poetry, from Yeats to Kendrick Lamar, in order to encourage students to generate their own pieces.

The artists he witnessed, some seasoned, others just coming into their own, embodied fearlessness in their openness and the kind of determined hope that can be life-altering. It was for him.

The encounter led López Estrada to his second feature, “Summertime,” an omnibus narrative film celebrating 27 spoken word storytellers and the corners of the city they most identify with.

“I left that showcase feeling impossibly optimistic.

Here was a diverse community of young artists who turned to poetry as a way of coping with hardship. My only reason for wanting to make this movie,” López Estrada says, “was to allow other people to experience what I experienced when I first heard the poets perform.”

That pivotal night, Marcus James, a poet and educator who was then part of the Get Lit staff, hosted the event. Now in charge of managing the impact campaign tied to the film’s Friday release, James can attest to the profound relationship young people develop with the form and why it became unshakable to the filmmaker.

“You have an idea, you write your first draft, you edit it, and then once it’s done you get to memorize it, to put it in your body and then you share it when you perform it,” James says. “The process of taking an idea from your head and then transitioning that all the way to having a finalized performance piece is the reason that that makes spoken word so interesting.”

Galvanized by the community he discovered, López Estrada worked hard to ensure “Summertime” was a collective process between himself and the student poets.

This wasn’t easy. With some of the poets starting college in fall 2019 or finding new jobs, the only time to bring the venture to fruition was during the students’ summer break. In just a few months they conceived, developed, wrote, pre-produced and shot a full production with scenes in numerous locations.

“We knew that the heart of the movie wouldn’t be how perfectly rehearsed and how perfectly executed it would be,” López Estrada says, “but in allowing these poets to have the room to express themselves in whatever form they may need.”

Each poet brought one or

Photographs from Good Deed Entertainment

“I REALLY loved how much acting felt like poetry on a screen,” says Marquesha Babers of “Summertime.”

‘Summertime’ Rated: R, for language throughout and sexual references Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Playing: The Landmark, West L.A.

EXECUTIVE producer Kelly Marie Tran and direc-

tor Carlos López Estrada bonded ahead of the film. two previously written poems they wished to explore in the film. Some preferred to find new material specifically for the screen. Starting with their Koreatown office as headquarters, they first tried to decipher the geographic path the movie would follow.

MAP OF WORDS Taking restaurant critic Jonathan Gold’s experiment of trying to eat in every eatery on Pico Boulevard as a reference, the group devised a route that swiftly takes the viewer from one region of the city to the next. The start line is on the beach in Venice, and then the story heads to downtown and East L.A. Together they crafted maps of the neighborhoods each poet wanted to celebrate. The next challenge was turning the poems and maps and life experiences into a narrative, connecting the dots based on which stories spoke to each other, which poem complemented another and which characters were best suited for a certain moment or transition.

Austin Antoine and Bryce Banks, for instance, play Rah and Anewbyss, two aspiring rappers who go from humble beginnings to riches overnight and learn that their most authentic tracks, such as one on being grateful toward their mothers, con-

nected with audiences more than lyrics flaunting an outlandish lifestyle.

For Antoine, freestyle was just a pastime in his adolescence and even at CalArts, where the environment wasn’t conducive to growing his voice. It wasn’t until he was offered to partake in Get Lit that his own perception about the meaning of his work shifted.

“I wasn’t sure I was equipped because I don’t particularly do poetry. I rap. I write lyrics. I write words that convey my thoughts and emotions and things that I go through. Come to find out at Get Lit that I am a poet,” Antoine says. “And thank goodness that I’m able to claim that because that opened so many more doors.”

Tyris Winter, fashion icon in the making, was a later addition to the ensemble. That may come as a surprise since he is the de facto captain of this ship named “Summertime” — he helps the viewer navigate the serpentine narrative. Early on in the film, he offers a denunciation of the overpriced menu items at a trendy restaurant and its disconnection with the average person living on a low income.

Later in the film, his unforgettable performance as a queer youth experiencing homelessness broadens the layers of this group effort.

“When we filmed that moment I was still going through it. It wasn’t a character. It was my life story, which shows how honest the film is,” Winter says. “All our poems are what we want to express as people for others to witness.

It also goes to show that Carlos was just so diligent to really stay true to our stories.

It was quite difficult to perform, especially knowing that so many other queer teens have experienced that or are still going through it. It’s a story that is not uncommon.

It’s so disheartening.”

Korean American poet Madyson Park focuses her screen time on capturing an unseen moment of the everyday triumphs and defeats of her community. Shot inside a kitchen at a Koreatown restaurant, the chapter shows several women of varying ages, Park included, dancing to lessen the burden of their jobs.

“Los Angeles is such a mobile city and I wanted to have my scene be almost like a buffer in between all the movement to show that joy and cultures exist in really small corners that we might not always be privy to,” Park explains.

“I love the movie because it shows the side of L.A. that normal movies in normal Hollywood try to cover up,” adds Marquesha Babers, a poet who gives a showstopping performance. “In this film we intentionally show the grit and the grime and the other side of reality and what it is really like to live here and all of the different cultures, people and spaces. I just think that’s really beautiful.”

Her scene uses a poem she

wrote years ago confronting a man who’d degraded her size and physical appearance.

Through tears, she executes the earth-shattering text that stuns with its sorrowful rage.

This was an emotional moment for her to film. She felt as if she were actually recreating the scenario and finally dealing with the situation in a way she hoped she had done off camera. “It gave me an opportunity to confront some things that I had never confronted in my real life, using the film as, for lack of a better word, a therapy session,” she says.

Babers wants to continue pursuing acting and is finishing a sci-fi fantasy script that she expects to cast herself in someday.

“I really loved how much acting felt like poetry on a screen. I used to think that there was such a disconnect between the actor and the character that they were playing,” Babers says. “I didn’t understand how real it was and how much of yourself you actually have to put into a character to bring it to life.”

REDIRECTING TRAUMA As in Babers’ case, intimate tragedies were the fuel for many of the poets’ entries.

Inspired by the inability to process loss after the death of a close uncle, Raul Herrera thought of the core line that would later yield a poem titled “Clouds.”

“I woke up the day after his passing and I had that chorus in my head, ‘I’m headed towards the clouds.’

Originally it said, ‘I’m headed toward the clouds and one day I’ll see you.’ I was never able to flesh out the rest of that first version of the poem but I really did like that chorus,” says Herrera, whose first relationship with the written word as venting mechanism was in hip-hop.

With time, the piece changed to speak more broadly about the fleeting and finite quality of our existence. “We plan out our life because of time. We lose people because of time. We gain people because we have the

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time,” he says. “I was just deciphering that for myself and breaking that down.”

“Clouds” becomes a summation of the many parts of “Summertime.”

Herrera, who detested school as a boy, is proud of his accomplishment and is now a mentor figure, educating students who lack the resources to find their own identity through spoken word.

In the aftermath of the whirlwind production, “Summertime” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 with all the poets in attendance. When the pandemic pushed “Summertime’s” release for a year, López Estrada finished work on the other project he had going, “Raya and the Last Dragon.” The Disney animated action saga inspired

by Southeast Asian folklore is his highest-budgeted endeavor to date, During production of “Raya,” López Estrada developed a friendship with actress Kelly Marie Tran, known for her role as Rose Tico in the recent “Star Wars” trilogy and who voices the title heroine in “Raya.”

In March, on the night of “Raya’s” premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, the director and Tran agreed to have dinner. Even though the filmmaker was already certain he and Tran were kindred spirits, it wasn’t until that one-on-one heartto-heart that they engaged on a personal level.

“We were talking about the type of art that we wanted to see in the world, the types of things that inspired us. We both have had a similar experience of being two individuals from communities that have not been given space in the entertainment industry,” Tran says.

“We had very similar ideas of the types of things we wanted to be involved in.”

After their dinner, López Estrada sent her “Summertime.” Tran watched the vibrant ode to speaking one’s unabashed truth and soon came on board as an executive producer.

“Watching ‘Summertime’ was a transformative experience,” she says. “It was the first time that I felt poetry was accessible to me. To hear the powerful words coming out of the mouths of these incredible artists changed my perception of what poetry was and made it feel like I could also take part.”

Over the last few weeks, López Estrada and Tran have amped up their efforts to be meaningfully involved in the poets’ future — whether that means helping those tickled by acting get headshots or introducing them to industry professionals who would appreciate their talents.

“We want to create a sustainable support system for this community of poets.

Kelly and I are trying to figure out how we can remain present,” says López Estrada.” I feel what films do often with these kinds of communities is they come in, they document them, put it out into the world and then move on to the next thing.”

“To this day I can’t believe it’s real and that I’m in a movie and that I’m doing poetry, because when I was young I didn’t think too much about dreams,” says Jason Alvarez, one of the youngest members of the cast. Until he found spoken word, he notes that his economic circumstances and machismo in Latinx culture held him back from expressing his most complex feelings. “I grew up in the hood and my mentality was, ‘I’m going to be in a gang,’ you know?’ Now I’ve found my light. Poetry is my light right now.”

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Netf lix

A SUMMER CAMP built where a witch was ex-

ecuted is no safe space in “Fear Street Part 2: 1978.”

MOVIE REVIEW

Bloody sequel ranks a cut above the first ‘Fear Street Part 2’ adds more dimension and scares as it goes back to the late ’70s.

By Michael Ordoña

Bleecker Street

THE DOCUMENTARY not only chronicles the search for 52 but also explores what whales mean to humans.

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Whale’s’ song resonates ‘Search for 52’ follows filmmaker’s quest for a sea creature with a unique sonic call.

By Katie Walsh “The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52” is not your average nature documentary. In the hands of Joshua Zeman, who has tackled urban legends and serial killers in his work (“Cropsey,” “The Killing Season”), this film is a nature mystery, an unanswered question that needs to be solved. Zeman sets out to answer this question despite unbelievable odds, and like most incredible explorations into the deep, the journey is surprising, though not without reward.

As with many mysteries, this one starts with a news item that caught the documentarian’s eye. In 1989, an underwater sonar system developed and used by the Navy captured the biological sonic signature of a whale registering at 52 hertz of frequency, which is unlike any other whale song. In 2004, after the death of Bill Watkins, one of the lead scientists working on tracking

this whale, a paper was published that brought this curious creature to the attention of the public. Knowing only that its calls didn’t register with other whales, writers speculated that this one was roaming the seas without response. And thus, “The Loneliest Whale,” a.k.a. “52,” was born, at least in the human imagination.

52 indeed captured the collective unconscious, becoming something of a metaphor or meme for the internet generation, those feeling disconnected the more and more we connected online.

Behind computer screens, aren’t we all lonely whales, sending out our unique signatures, hoping someone might hear them and maybe even respond? “The Loneliest Whale” is a “big mood,” as some might say.

The documentary is a chronicle of Zeman’s seemingly impossible journey to find his white whale. With a little data and a lot of hope, Zeman sets sail for the Channel Islands with a team of oceanographers and biologists in tow, using Navy sonar equipment, drone cameras and tracking tags to try and find 52.

Zeman doesn’t just offer a depiction of his quest but also examines what whales

‘The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52’ Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Rated: PG, for some unsettling whaling images, language and brief smoking Playing: In limited release; available July 16 on digital and VOD

For your safety The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials.

have meant to humans throughout history, how that’s changed and why. In the 20th century, whales evolved in our imaginations from a source of fuel into conscious creatures with

whom we could empathize.

There’s so much more to learn from interacting with whales, speaking to our own existential questions.

Zeman finds that the key is to really listen and locate the quiet places where messages can come through.

If there’s an environmental message in “The Loneliest Whale” (how can there not be?), it’s that our world has become too noisy for whales. As container ships crisscross the oceans carrying our cars and clothes and consumer goods, the songs of whales are being drowned out beneath the surface. There’s both devastation and resonance to that fact. Has our own world become too clogged with noise for us to truly hear one another?

Zeman’s voyage into the heart of the sea, a modern day “Moby-Dick” with a conservationist bent, surprises, delights and will keep you on the edge of your seat. You’ll never again think of whales and their songs in the same way, and that’s a good thing, as our understanding of these amazing creatures rapidly evolves.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

That’s more like it.

With its second installment, “Fear Street Part 2: 1978,” Netflix’s R.L. Stine movie trilogy finds its cinematic footing. Though it still relies too much on jump scares and clunky dialogue, “1978” feels more assured, looser than the first installment, “Fear Street Part 1: 1994.” Where “1994” hearkened a bit to the meta horror of its story’s time (think “Scream”), “1978” feels right at home in the “Friday the 13th” universe, but with better production values and as part of a larger, more interesting story than a simple slasher flick.

“1978” picks up immediately after “1994,” with the first film’s survivors pressing reclusive C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs) for the lowdown on her teen encounter 16 years earlier with Sarah Fier, the Shadyside Witch of local legend who was hanged in the 1600s. The summer camp Berman and her sister attended in the 1970s was built over the settlement where Fier lived and was executed. Oh, and there’s a long history of mass murders in Shadyside. What could possibly go wrong?

C.’s tale made headlines in its day, spun as “just another Shadysider going crazy and killing people.”

Amid the teen dramas of summer camp, she and her sister witnessed the horrific massacre up close. It’s no spoiler to say the inside details C. provides link those 1978 murders to the “1994” teens’ current witchy predicament.

Apart from the fun of seeing younger versions of

A deft picture of life on the spectrum [‘Atypical,’ from E1] helping our sons or daughters acclimate to a neurotypical world — from decoding mysterious social cues to tolerating the tactile assault of clothing tags to constantly standing guard against those who might try and tear them down because of their differences — it’s particularly heartbreaking and terrifying.

The concluding 10 episodes of “Atypical” deftly tackle those fears and more, cementing the show’s legacy as one of the best series to deal with autism and its butterfly effect on family, friends and loved ones. At once hilarious and moving, irreverent and reaffirming, Season 4 aptly chronicles the final stages of Sam’s move toward self-determination — and the South Pole.

Sam would be the first to tell you that certain species of Antarctic penguins leave the nest within weeks of their birth, and he sees his journey more like a migration than a matter of flying the coop.

Sam has always filtered his understanding of the neurotypical world through his deep obsession with impenetrable glaciers, enigmatic sea life and the complex social order of penguin rooks. Surviving an inhospitable cli-

mate is all about adaptation.

“Unlike most animals, the lens of a penguin’s eye changes shape,” he says during one of many internal monologues in “Atypical.”

“When it’s on land, it becomes flatter, like a human’s.

When it’s underwater, it becomes round, like a fish. So no matter where a penguin goes, everything’s seen in focus. ... Sometimes I wish I had penguin eyes. Then I could see clearly no matter where I am.”

The beauty, heart and wit of the show has always been centered in how deeply it mines Sam’s unique challenges, as well as those of his family, as they navigate life on the spectrum together.

Sam’s fiercely protective mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), would do anything to help her son, and though his move away is a good thing, it’s setting off all her alarms.

His reticent father, Doug (Michael Rapaport), has learned how to be more present, but it’s an ongoing process. And his snarky younger sister, Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine), a natural leader who once took up less space because her brother required more, needs to step back in and take charge of her destiny.

The Gardners have been

Netf lix

KEIR GILCHRIST , left, plays Sam Gardner and Brigette Lundy-Paine plays his

sister, Casey, in “Atypical,” whose fourth and final season is streaming.

‘Atypical’ Where: Netflix When: Any time, starting Friday Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

Greg Gayne Netf lix

DOMONIQUE BROWN plays Jasper in “Atypical.”

His character is part of Sam’s college peer group. shaped by one another, which of course is true of any family. But “Atypical” reframes coming-of-age themes, the rigors of parenting and the pressures of keeping a family together by throwing disability in the

mix. Emotional intensity is amplified on one end with Casey and Elsa and muted on the other with Sam and Doug. Common ideas about selfishness and selflessness are turned on their head.

Sacrifice abounds, yet no one

is a saint. In the past, the kids got in knock-down, drag-out fights on the kitchen floor.

The parents cheated on each other in order to escape the pressures of their household.

They fell apart to come back together; their cohesiveness was forged by fire.

Created by Robia Rashid (“How I Met Your Mother”), “Atypical” was initially criticized for failing to feature performers on the spectrum.

By Season 2, though, the show had hired consultants

‘Fear Street Part 2: 1978’ Rated: R for bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity, drug use and language throughout Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes Playing: Available on Netflix some characters from the first film, “1978” simply seems to be enjoying itself more than “1994” did. For horror fans, the killings are more frequent and “Whoa”inducing. The filmmakers, led by trilogy director and co-writer Leigh Janiak, cinematographer Caleb Heymann and Scott Kuzio’s production design team, capture the late-’70s summer haze of the films to which they’re paying tribute, aided by music supervision that gleefully sinks its teeth into the era. Co-lead Sadie Sink notably crafts a rebellious girl with believable emotions, attractions and loyalties as one of the teen Berman sisters.

More importantly, in this second film, the series’ themes are coming into focus. The Shadyside/Sunnyvale class divide introduced in the first installment takes on clearer contours, which will pay off in the third movie. The persistence of strong female leads and bonds of sisterhood (here, literally) also delineate the gendered commentary of the trilogy — something that will also be elevated in the final episode.

“Fear Street Part 2: 1978” is no classic, but it’s a clear improvement on “1994,” with more tension and excitement (and generous gore).

Its thematic concerns and adding of dimension to the trilogy’s story lift it above average genre fare. In this case, the first cut was definitely not the deepest.

such as Elaine Hall of the Miracle Project and “The Journal of Best Practices” author David Finch. The series also brought in several actors with disabilities to play characters like Jasper (Domonique Brown) and Sid (Tal Anderson) — and scenes in which the characters meet for student peer groups or at the college’s Disability Services office became revealing discussions about the trials of navigating the everyday while on the spectrum. They’re loaded with comedic moments too: “What are you a master of?”

Sam asks his peer for a college survey. “Preventing tooth decay,” replies Jasper frankly.

“Atypical” has been masterful at avoiding the preciousness that has often plagued other shows or films that have tried dramatize autism stories or create characters with developmental disabilities. The series cuts the tension and taboo with keen humor, often bordering on the impertinent, but Sam is never the butt of the joke.

The risk paid off, and has allowed for ongoing gags that remind viewers that the Gardners are not the Cleavers. After Casey mails her brother a handmade award — “In recognition of your extreme lameness” it reads — it hangs on Sam’s fridge for all of Season 4.

I’d like to give “Atypical” an award for capturing the bittersweet journey of raising a kid who’s different, from a mom like Elsa who has seen herself as a retaining wall between a cruel world and the complex soul that is her son.

And with the series’ end, maybe I can loosen my grip just a little, as Elsa has, and let his journey of adulthood begin.

E4

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COMICS

BRIDGE

SUDOKU

By Frank Stewart A player complained about his wife: “Look at a text exchange we had.

“Wife: Where r u? Me: In the kitchen.

“Wife: Feed the cat. Me: I mean the garage.

“Wife: Bring in the laundry. Me: I’m really in the bathroom.

“Wife: Clean the toilet.

Me: I’m in Idaho.

“Wife: Buy potatoes.

“On top of that,” my friend said, “she expects flawless defense from me.”

Against four hearts, my friend’s wife led the ace of clubs and shifted to a diamond. He took the ace and returned a diamond. West won and led a low diamond.

“South ruffed with dummy’s queen, and I threw a

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.

spade,” East said. “He drew trumps, took the A-K of spades and ruffed a spade to drop my queen. The jack won his 10th trick.

“My wife was irate. She said I had to ‘discard’ a trump on the third diamond.”

West was right, but I wouldn’t have been criticizing East. Almost any defense except the one West chose beats four hearts.

You hold: ♠ Q 10 7 4 ♥ 8 7 6 ♦ A 2 ♣ Q 10 9 5. Your partner opens one diamond, and the next player overcalls one heart. What do you say?

Answer: This is a position where negative doubles help. By agreement, a double would show enough strength to respond and four cards in spades. (It would also imply length in clubs or diamond support.)

A response of one spade would promise five or more spades. Discuss negative doubles with your partner.

South dealer N-S vulnerable NORTH ♠AJ32 ♥Q42 ♦87 ♣KJ42 WEST ♠965 ♥53 ♦KJ954 ♣A83

SOUTH 1♥ 2♦ 4♥

EAST ♠ Q 10 7 4 ♥876 ♦A2 ♣ Q 10 9 5

SOUTH ♠K8 ♥ A K J 10 9 ♦ Q 10 6 3 ♣76 WEST NORTH Pass 1♠ Pass 3♥ All Pass

EAST Pass Pass

Opening lead — ♣ A

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ASK AMY

Not sold on this friend

7/9/21

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis Aries (March 21-April 19): If you stayed where you belong all of the time, your life would feel small and stale.

New things are inherently uncomfortable. Your zone of comfort is expanding.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Your body adapts to your moods. Today your body’s unconscious language will express what you want to convey and what you may wish to keep silent.

Gemini (May 21-June 21): Courage isn’t something you need to find or develop. You have an entire swimming pool of it inside you. Dip your cup in and draw some up.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): You’ll learn a lot about someone through typical questioning. Playful questions teach you even more about their humor (or lack of it).

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Imagining what it’d look like if the next 24 hours were a lot

like your life, only happier, shows where you could make a small but effective shift.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The opportunities will be swept up by those with a responsive attitude. Put yourself in the mindset to be decisive and swiftly act.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): Your mind is open, and your appetites are hearty. You’re primed to listen, learn and discover the outside world.

Trust your intuition.

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): An engaged audience will bring curiosity and more to the room. If you want the good ones, don’t pander and provide for the lesser ones.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22Dec. 21): The thick of the drama is not an actionable position. From a higher vantage, you’ll see what the situation needs and get ideas of how to serve those involved.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): People tend to do what is easy. Those who do more are experienced and versatile

yet still doing what’s easy.

When people risk for you, it’s worth acknowledging.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your fears and doubts are seductive. Ignore them.

Keep coming back to your plan instead. Revisit; tweak; revel in it.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): People in relationships will direct attention to their contributions, talents and beneficial qualities, which is a small subfocus of all there is to be seen and known.

Today’s birthday (July 9): Do you feel helpers seen and unseen nearby? You’ll use your charm to carve out strategic advantages. April brings vivacious new energy.

Friends have spectacular proposals in April and August. Capricorn and Aquarius adore you. Lucky numbers: 2, 22,14,16, 33.

Dear Amy: “Sophie” is a very close friend. I love her dearly. We have had a couple of difficult conflicts over the years but have always recovered.

I vowed that I would never hire Sophie as my Realtor because of how it would affect our friendship, but I didn’t discuss this with her.

Recently, I put my home on the market and, against my better judgment, asked Sophie to be my agent.

Within 10 days, I realized that working with her was a bad decision.

We had not yet signed the contract when I told her that I love her dearly and that she might even be the best Realtor for me, but that the stress would not be healthy for our friendship.

She told me I was disloyal, abusive, that she had never had anyone in her career do something so cruel to her. I asked her how I could make it up to her and she told me the only thing that would “fix this” would be for her to be my Realtor.

I told her that wouldn’t be healthy for me. She said, “Goodbye.” I am left wondering when, if and how to reach out to her?

Feeling Horrible Dear Horrible: Realtors’ income depends entirely on

their success in selling houses, often through selling the properties of people in their personal circle, which then can lead to referrals for future business.

So yes, Sophie assumes that her closest friends will use her as their agent. Her volatility, however, results in extreme stress for you.

Even though you had huge misgivings, you asked Sophie to be your agent.

Then, in order to get out, you essentially had to “fire” her.

Oops. Her response was outrageous. It is not the behavior of someone who wants to win, and keep, your business.

You could apologize one more time, but you should not give in to her demand and use her as your agent.

You also should ponder why you want to try to continue a friendship with her. She’s a bully.

Dear Amy: I have always been a quiet gal and a good listener. Because of that, people seem to gravitate toward me as a sounding board if they have a problem or want some advice or a shoulder to cry on.

I’ve never minded this. I try to be helpful. There are times in my own life, though, when I might have a problem and would like to talk to

someone, but these same people won’t give me the time of day. I might get a sentence or two out, but it is like I’ve never been heard; they just go on talking about themselves.

Why are some people like that?

Quiet Dear Quiet: Some people are like that because people are like that. What you describe is so common, you — the quiet and thoughtful listener — are the true “outlier,” at least in my opinion.

And what you have to offer the world overall is a large helping of grace. I’m going to guess that a lot of the people who use you as a “sounding board” aren’t actually listening all that closely to the very advice and comfort they have solicited.

You can try to educate your friends about how their behavior makes you feel: “You often ask me to listen to you, and I’m happy to do that, but sometimes I need someone to take that same kind of time for me. I value your point of view. Can you pay closer attention during those times when I need to talk?”

Send questions to Amy Dickinson by email to ask amy@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

SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly

Mathis writes her column for Creators Syndicate Inc. The horoscope should be read for entertainment.

CROSSWORD Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

By Kevin Christian and Tracy Bennett ACROSS 1 Motel arrival?

6 Amazed 11 One of three in the opening scene of “Macbeth” 14 The Jetsons’ boy 15 Saw 16 Radio host Shapiro 17 Clear for better viewing 18 River to the Caspian Sea 19 Zip 20 Longing at a dull lecture? (N.Y., Atlanta) 23 How J.Lo performs 26 Where flight attendants often work 27 Declines to 28 Gated water channel 31 Humpty Dumptyshaped 32 Talented meteorologists?

(Seattle, Las Vegas) 35 WC 36 “Rappa Ternt Sanga” artist 37 Granola morsel 38 Lightning? (Chicago, 7 Compost emanation L.A.) 8 Mickey’s maker 41 Clerical home 9 Like quiche 43 “See you later” 10 Something taken by an 44 Hair-coloring style archer 45 __ double 11 What hungry diners 47 Popular cider apple often do 48 Feature of a Roman 12 If you don’t like it, you god’s boots? (Phoenix, can go to Helvetica Dallas) 13 Tot’s “Mine!”

52 Plus 21 Three-ingredient 53 Interminably sammie 54 Mario’s brother 22 Costa __ 58 Employ 23 Beloved stars 59 “How about that!”

24 Tennis ace Djokovic 60 Pillow stuffing 25 Considerable load 61 __-Z 28 Investment 62 “The Gold-Bug” name 29 Two-time Newbery 63 Took badly?

Medal winner Lowry 30 Buffet server DOWN 32 Nimble 1 Great American Ball 33 GPA booster Park player 34 Expensive 2 Fútbol cheer 36 Generous pickup 3 Canine alert 39 Bring together 4 Most suave 40 Hanging basket 5 Keep-it-clean routine bloomer 6 Ripple-patterned 41 Associates (with) 42 Jungle film costume hairstyle

© 2021 Tribune Content Agency

44 Cacophony 45 “The Hobbit” dragon 46 Not cool at all 47 Expand 49 Sushi prep verb 50 Shout 51 Org. that includes each part of four puzzle answers 55 Promising words 56 Dab that’ll do your do 57 Dander ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

7/9/21

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F R I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

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

JUMP START By Robb Armstrong

9 CHICKWEED LANE By Brooke McEldowney

LIO By Mark Tatulli

BLONDIE By Dean Young & John Marshall

ZITS By Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

GET FUZZY By Darby Conley

TUNDRA By Chad Carpenter

BIZARRO By Wayno and Piraro

PRICKLY CITY By Scott Stantis

DRABBLE By Kevin Fagan

FRAZZ By Jef Mallett

MUTTS By Patrick McDonnell

NON SEQUITUR By Wiley

PEANUTS By Charles M. Schulz

E5

E6

FR I DAY , J U LY 9 , 2 0 21

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TV Highlights The prime-time TV grid is on hiatus in print. You can find more TV coverage at: latimes.com/whats-on-tv.

SERIES Secret Celebrity Renovation Wayne Brady returns to his roots in Orlando, Fla., to give his Aunt Lilly the home makeover of her dreams. 8 p.m. CBS Gossip Girl This rebooted series explores how social media has changed from the perspective of a new generation of entitled Upper East Side private-school students. HBO Max any time, the premiere episode airs on the CW at 8 p.m.

Love Island (N) 9 p.m. CBS Great Performances Gloria Estefan explores three of Brazil’s most influential cities and looks at the origins of its music. 9 p.m.

KOCE Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (N) 9 p.m. Food Network

Marvel Studios

YELENA (Florence Pugh) takes a walk during one of director Cate Shortland’s intense set-pieces that aren’t anything to scoff at.

‘Widow’ is too little, too late [‘Widow,’ from E1] instincts, her spectacular martial-arts moves and a billboard-ready arachnoid pose that comes in for some gently calculated mockery. Cheeky, self-aware humor is by now an expected fixture of the Disney/Marvel brand, and as strenuous as it can be — look how serious these movies are about not taking themselves too seriously! — a little levity admittedly goes a long way in “Black Widow,” steeped as it is in elements of torture, mind control, murder and espionage.

(Natasha Romanoff, the comic-book brainchild of Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck, first emerged in 1964 amid rampant Cold War anxieties, which the screenwriter Eric Pearson has effectively updated for the present day.)

Grim as it sounds, the movie is nonetheless par for the Marvel course: The Avengers may be taking a breather, but the violence remains predictably PG-13 bloodless, the moral ambiguity close to nil. Clever audience-tested jokes and oneliners wait attentively in the wings, quick to defuse any tension that might last more than a few minutes. It probably comes as little surprise that Natasha’s gravest Russian-agent misdeeds are either left offscreen or shown briefly in flashback; an edgier character portrait might have confronted the worst head-on and dared risking your sympathies — or trusted Johansson to carry them, given how capably she’s done so in a franchise that hasn’t always made it easy for her.

When Natasha strolled onto the big screen 11 years ago, making a memorable first impression in the otherwise unmemorable “Iron Man 2,” she turned heads with her beauty before unleashing a panoply of lethal moves. It was a familiar Hollywood bait-and-switch, objectification masked as empowerment. (“I want one!”

Tony Stark famously said of her after their first meeting, while Pepper Potts warned of “a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that.”) Johans-

Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith This new episode revisits the case of the South Carolina woman convicted in 1995 of murdering her two little boys by driving her car into a lake with the children strapped into their car seats. 10 p.m.

Lifetime Beyond the Canvas Mexican chef Gabriela Cámara.

10:30 p.m. KOCE Betty (N) 11 p.m. HBO SPECIALS State of our Union: Kamala Harris (N) 8 p.m. BET SHARKFEST When Sharks Attack: Deep Dives Shark attacks in the Bahamas. (N) 8 p.m. National Geographic When Sharks Attack Sharks terrorize the coast of New South Wales, Australia.

9 p.m. National Geographic

Marvel Studios

THE MOVIE introduces Taskmaster, whose mission targets the errant widows Natasha and Yelena.

‘Black Widow’ Rated: PG-13, for intense sequences of violence/action, some language and thematic material Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes Playing: In general release; also available as PVOD on Disney+ son would later call out her character’s early, over-sexualized depictions, and in time those depictions improved.

Deployed early on as a multipurpose Avengers love interest, Natasha gradually emerged a tough, credible action hero and a fiercely loyal ally, the mortal glue holding this fractious superhero family together.

Having met a nobly tragic end in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Natasha lives again here, though you can’t help but wonder how her story might have played out years ago, back when Marvel fans started clamoring for a Black Widow movie and the character’s fate was still unwritten. As it is, the knowledge that her days are numbered lends this solo adventure a bittersweetness that’s moving and disorienting by turns. Most of the oddly timed story unfolds in the past, immediately after the

events of “Captain America: Civil War,” with the Avengers torn asunder and Natasha facing downtime at a gorgeous Norwegian retreat. Or so she thinks, until a fiery attack draws her back into her troubled past and propels her toward an overdue reunion with Yelena, the woman she grew up knowing as her sibling.

Herself a recently deprogrammed Russian assassin who’s just as deadly as Natasha, Yelena is played by the superb English actress Florence Pugh — who, between this and her stellar recent turn as Amy in “Little Women,” clearly has the market cornered on bratty younger sisters. Yelena and Natasha have some baggage, to say the least, a history marred by separation, betrayal and geopolitical warfare. Picking up the baton from the recent “F9,” they renew ties the only way long-estranged siblings can: with a visceral slugfest, full of pummeling fisticuffs, nasty knifework and a touching mutualstrangulation stalemate. It’s nicely choreographed if rather too mechanical by half; once they’ve gotten all that comically exaggerated violence out of their systems, it’s time to put differences aside, join forces and pour on the crowd-pleasing sisterly banter.

No family reunion would be complete without Mom

and Dad, or rather Melina (Rachel Weisz, underplaying nicely) and Alexei (a boisterous, bighearted David Harbour), whose journeys have led them and their vaguely Russian accents in wildly different directions since 1995. I won’t divulge much more, except to note that the residual feelings of guilt, awkwardness, estrangement and affection pinballing among these four characters are awfully rich in emotional potential. It might even have made for a pretty terrific movie if the filmmakers had been allowed to slow down and fully develop that dynamic, rather than simply dragging this oddball foursome through one noisy set-piece after another.

Those set-pieces are admittedly nothing to scoff at, and Shortland brings an unusual intensity and muscularity to the explosive, frequently airborne action. But as it progresses, “Black Widow” doesn’t seem to be telling its own story so much as perfunctorily bridging the gaps between other stories. You never quite forget that it’s busily connecting this phase of the overarching Marvel narrative to that one, or conveniently installing Pugh’s scene-stealing Yelena as Natasha’s likely successor.

The plot piles up without really cohering: As Natasha digs into the past, aided by a flirty private contractor (O-T

Fagbenle) who hooks her up with personal helicopters and the like, she comes faceto-face with her old enemy Dreykov (Ray Winstone, sinister), who’s produced an entire global army of deadly female assassins. Like Natasha and Yelena before them, these are Russian orphans who had their minds invaded, their bodies violated and their free will taken, all in service of one man’s megalomania.

Shortland, whose previous feature, “Berlin Syndrome,” was an agonizingly tense thriller about a woman in captivity, would seem the right filmmaker to tell that story, and also to tease out what it says about the mass subjugation of women. But as with so many smart filmmakers fed through the Marvel machinery, her talents feel whittled down to size, bent in service to a corporate vision that looks grand and sweeping but ultimately homogenizes everything it touches.

Something similar befalls Johansson, a terrific actress who’s often been treated as a franchise afterthought and whose long-awaited solo adventure is both an overdue treat and a missed opportunity. Like the young Natasha herself, “Black Widow” feels as though it’s been programmed into submission — and scarcely allowed to live and breathe before it’s suddenly over.

World’s Most Dangerous Shark Jacques Cousteau regarded the oceanic whitetip as the most dangerous of all sharks. This new documentary follows teams of experts as they take a deep dive into the world of these sharks. 10 p.m. National Geographic SPORTS Baseball The Angels visit the Seattle Mariners, 7 p.m.

BSW; the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Dodgers, 7 p.m. SportsNetLA 2021 Tour de France Stage 13 (Tape), 5 p.m. NBCSP; Stage 14 (Live), Saturday, 5 a.m. NBC TALK SHOWS CBS This Morning (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Duran Duran performs. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC Good Morning America Pitbull performs. (N) 7 a.m.

KABC Kelly and Ryan Daniel Radcliffe. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Regina Hall. 10 a.m. KABC Washington Week Foreign policy; withdrawal from Afghanistan; the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse; Jan. 6 insurrection; former President Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter and Facebook.

Haiti: Moderator Yamiche Alcindor, who is Haitian American, discusses her coverage of the Caribbean nation. (N) 7 p.m. and 1 a.m.

KOCE The Issue Is (N) 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. KTTV Amanpour (N) 12:05 a.m.

KCET; 1 a.m. KLCS Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m.

KABC MOVIES

Universal, Amazon sign streaming deal [Universal, from E1] to $300 million in annual licensing revenue.

Instead, Universal is splitting its so-called Pay 1 window into three sections.

The hybrid approach could help Comcast and its subsidiary NBCUniversal boost Peacock’s subscriber base.

Peacock, which launched a year ago, has signed up 42 million accounts, according to the company, but the vast majority aren’t paying.

According to estimates

by MoffettNathanson, based on data from analytics firm Antenna, Peacock has only about 3 million domestic users who pay for either its ad-supported $5-a-month plan or its $10-a-month adfree offering. Comcast does not disclose paid subscriber numbers for Peacock.

Giles Keyte Universal Pictures

“F9,” with Vin Diesel, is among the Universal titles

that’ll eventually appear on Amazon’s IMDb TV. The complicated approach also shows that NBCUniversal isn’t as willing as competitors to aban-

don the hundreds of millions in licensing fees they can get for selling their movies to streamers.

The deal for live-action movies replaces Universal’s longtime agreement with HBO, owned by WarnerMedia, which is using films to fuel growth at streaming service HBO Max. Not included in Amazon’s 10-month streaming window are Universal’s upcoming animated movies from in-house studios DreamWorks Animation and Illumination Entertainment, which will go to yet another undisclosed partner.

Amazon, however, will receive the animated titles through an additional, later window.

Additionally, Amazon’s free, ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV will have the network rights to Universal titles that came out in 2020 and 2021, includ-

ing the recently released “F9: The Fast Saga,” the companies said.

The pact benefits Amazon, which has been spending billions on content to bolster its online video business.

The Seattle e-commerce giant in March signed a 10year deal with the NFL to stream a certain number of games a season, agreeing to pay about $1.2 billion a year.

Amazon has also said it will pay $8.45 billion to buy MGM Studios, home of the James Bond and Rocky films.

The Amazon-NBCUniversal deal is the latest between the two companies.

Last month, Amazon and NBCUniversal signed an agreement to make Peacock available on Amazon’s Fire TV platform.

Body Brokers Writer-director John Swab’s offbeat 2021 crime thriller stars Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert as junkies living in rural Ohio who have what they think is a random encounter with a stranger (Kenneth Williams). He offers to help them get clean but they are victims of fraud. 8 p.m.

Cinemax

Lisa Tanner CBS

WAYNE BRADY in the

premiere of “Secret Celebrity Renovation.”

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Friday, July 9, Prime-time: Broadcast 7:30 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm

Friday TV Highlights

9:00 pm

Entertainment Secret Celebrity Renovation

NBC

Brad Pitt vs. Angelina Jolie; “Black Widow.” (N) Å TBA (5)

(TVPG) (Premiere) Wayne Brady returns to his roots in Orlando, Fla., to give his Aunt Lilly the home makeover of her dreams. (N) Å American Ninja Warrior (TVPG) Å

CW

2 & 1/2 Men

Gossip Girl (TV14) (Premiere) The start of

(TV14) Å

ABC KCAL FOX MyNet KCET

9:30 pm

Love Island (TVPG) (N) Å

CBS

10:00 pm

10:30 pm

Blue Bloods (TV14) Å

11:00 pm

11:30 pm

News Å

The Late Show: Stephen Colbert (TVPG) Wanda Sykes; Craig Melvin.

(11:35) Å

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Dateline NBC (N) Å News Å Sports Final

a new school year at the Upper East Side’s (N) (10:45) elite Constance St. Jude’s ushers in the ar- (TV14) Å Å rival of a newcomer. (N) Å Wheel of For- Shark Tank (TVPG) Sausage 20/20 Interviews with daughters of Karl Karlsen, who nearly got away with murdering his wife and son. Å tune (TVG) Å making. Å Family Feud News Å News Å News Å Sports Central Extra (TVPG) WWE Friday Night SmackDown (TVPG) (N) News Å The Issue Is (N) Å (N)

Big Bang Å California’s Gold (TVG)

EE1

News Å News Å

News Å

Tonight Show Friends (TVPG) (11:35) Å

Jimmy Kimmel (11:35) Å

black-ish Å black-ish Å Extra (TVPG) TMZ (TVPG) Å

Å

Big Bang Å Schitt’s Creek King of Queens King of Queens Seinfeld Å Seinfeld Å The Simpsons L&O: CI The Accidental Tourist ››› (1988) William Hurt, Kathleen Some Like It Hot ›››› (1959) Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon.

Turner. A numb travel-writer takes up with his dog trainer To evade gangsters, two men don skirts and makeup and after his son dies and his wife leaves. (PG) Å join an all-girl band with a sizzling singer. Å UNIVISION La Rosa de Diseñando tu amor (TVPG) Si nos dejan (N) La hija del embajador (N) Noticias Noticiero Uni(N) Guadalupe vision KOCE Beyond Great Estates of Scotland Great Performances (TVG) Gloria Estefan: Firing Line The Latino Experience (TV14) Sangre Yoruba. Singer Gloria Estefan is A boy tries to help his ill the Canvas With Margaret (TVG) Å exploring three of Brazil’s most influential (TVPG) Mod- grandfather; women grapHoover (N) Å cities and looks at the origins of its music ern Mexico. ple with life on the border; through its people. (N) Å LGBTQ dance couple. Å (N) Å KDOC News (N) Botched (TV14) Dateline (TVPG) Å Family Guy Family Guy Seinfeld Å Seinfeld Å KLCS World News Å News Å Live From the Artists Den Austin City Limits (TVPG) Sun Studio Antiques Road- Bluegrass (TVPG) Singer-songwriter Leon Russell; Luther Dick- Puerto Rican rapper Resishow (TVG) Shawn Mendes performs at Vintage the Nitty Grit- inson, Jimbo dente. Å 99 Scott, an industrial space Austin. Mar- ty Dirt Band; Mathus and in Brooklyn. Å Alvin Youngilyn Monroe Old Crow blood Hart. photos from Medicine Show. Å 1953. (7) Å Å (7) Å

Lisa Tanner CBS

SABRINA SOTO AND WAYNE BRADY in the

premiere of “Secret Celebrity Renovation” on CBS. SERIES Secret Celebrity Renovation Nischelle Turner hosts this new summer series that gives celebrities from the worlds of sports, music and entertainment a chance to show their appreciation to someone who had a significant impact on their life by surprising them with a home renovation.

Among the stars showing their gratitude in the first season will be Paula Abdul, Anthony Ramos, Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Jason Cameron and Sabrina Soto are the renovation design team. In the premiere Wayne Brady returns to his roots in Orlando, Fla., to give his Aunt Lilly the home makeover of her dreams. 8 p.m.

CBS. Gossip Girl Showrunner Joshua Safran developed this new update and reboot of his 2007-12 teen drama. This new series explores how social media has changed from the perspective of a new generation of entitled Upper East Side private-school students. Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Emily Alyn Lind and Tavi Gevinson star. 8 p.m. The CW Great Performances Gloria Estefan explores three of Brazil’s most influential cities and looks at the origins of its music. 9 p.m. KOCE

Friday, July 9, Prime-time: Premium Cable Channels 7:30 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm 9:00 pm 9:30 pm Cinemax

Beyond the Canvas Mexican chef Gabriela Cámara discusses Mexico’s emergence as a global art center and the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s creative innovators. 10:30 p.m. KOCE Betty A Halloween party serves as a backdrop for some emotional revelations and hidden feelings. Moonbear, Rachelle Vinberg, Nina Moran, Dede Lovelace and Ajani Russell star. 11 p.m. HBO SPECIALS State of our Union: Vice President Kamala Harris (N) 8 p.m. BET Pete Lee: Tall, Dark, and Pleasant A standup special taped at the Tempe Improv. 9 p.m. Showtime SHARKFEST When Sharks Attack: Deep Dives Shark attacks in the Bahamas. (N) 8 p.m. National Geographic When Sharks Attack Sharks terrorize the coast of New South Wales, Australia. 9 p.m. National Geographic World’s Most Dangerous Shark Many regard the great white shark as the scariest predator in the ocean, but oceanographer Jacques Cousteau regarded the oceanic whitetip to be the most dangerous of all sharks. This new documentary follows teams of experts as they take a deep dive into the world of these lesser-known sharks to reveal what makes this species deserve so much respect. 10 p.m. National Geographic SPORTS Baseball The St. Louis Cardinals visit the Chicago Cubs, 11 a.m. MLB; regional coverage, 5 p.m. MLB; the Angels visit the Seattle Mariners, 7 p.m. BSW; the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Dodgers, 7 p.m. SportsNetLA

Encore

EPIX

HBO

Showtime

Starz

TMC

CSPAN CSPAN2

Rosen and acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. (5) Å After Words After Words In Depth (8:59)

CNBC CNN

Fox B Fox News MSNBC NEWSNTN SN-1

A&E AMC Animal P BBC A

BET

Bravo CMT Comedy

E!

Disney

TALK SHOWS Freeform FX

The Wendy Williams Show Dermatologist Sandra Lee. (N) 11 a.m. KTTV The Talk Michelle Buteau; Rabbi Steve Leder; Deborah Norville. (N) 1 p.m. KCBS

Hallmark HGTV History IFC Lifetime

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Adrienne Houghton; Tate McRae; BluPrint and Taylor Pierce; guest host Stephen tWitch Boss. (N) 3 p.m. KNBC Washington Week Foreign policy; withdrawal from Afghanistan; the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse; Jan. 6 insurrection; former President Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter and Facebook. Haiti: Moderator Yamiche Alcindor, who is Haitian American, discusses her coverage of the Caribbean nation. (N) 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. KOCE

OWN

The Issue Is ... With Elex Michaelson (N) 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. KTTV

TCM

The Tonight Show Kathryn Hahn; director Jon M. Chu; Polo G performs. 11:34 p.m. KNBC

TNT

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Wanda Sykes; Craig Melvin. 11:35 p.m. KCBS

Toon

Nickelodeon

Sundance Syfy TBS

TLC

Travel TruTV TV Land

MOVIES Body Brokers Writer-director John Swab’s offbeat 2021 crime thriller stars Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert as junkies living in rural Ohio who have what they think is a random encounter with a stranger (Kenneth Williams). He offers to help them get clean and takes them to a facility in Los Angeles, but they are victims of fraud. Melissa Leo and Frank Grillo also star. 8 p.m. Cinemax

11:30 pm You Can Count on Me ›››

10:00 pm

11:30 pm

10:30 pm

meets young enthusiasts. Å Å

Don Lemon Tonight Å Newsroom (N) Å Politics and Public Policy Today (9:50) Å

Kennedy Å News Å The Rachel Maddow Show NewsNation Prime Å News

The Evening Edit Å Tucker Carlson Å The Last Word Å NewsNation Prime Å News

9:00 pm

10:00 pm

9:30 pm

11:00 pm

Daybreak: Middle East Front Row Post-Pandemic Jay Leno’s Garage (TVPG) Jay Dateline (TVPG) Infatuation.

10:30 pm

The First 48 (TV14) Å The First 48 (TV14) Å The First 48 (TVPG) Å True Lies ››› (1994) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis. A Washington wife dis-

In Depth Inheritance Inheritance Hannity Å The 11th Hour Å Banfield Å News

11:00 pm

11:30 pm

The First 48 (TVPG) Å Total Recall ››› (1990) Ar-

covers her computer-salesman husband is a spy out to stop nuclear terrorists. (R) Å nold Schwarzenegger. (R) Å River Monsters: Deadliest Man-Eaters (TVPG) (N) River Monsters (TVPG) River Monsters (TVPG) Blazing Saddles ››› (1974) Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder. A Planes, Trains and Automobiles ››› (1987) Steve Martin.

Black railroad worker is appointed sheriff of a town marked An ad exec and a shower-curtain-ring salesman become co-travelers on the way to Thanksgiving in Chicago. (R) Å for destruction by a scheming politician. (R) Å State of our Celebrity Family Feud (TVPG) Celebrity Family Feud (TVPG) Tyler Perry’s Sistas (TV14) Zac The Encore reveals his feelings for Fati- (TV14) Å Union: Kamala Å Å (5:35) Å ma to Karen. Å Harris (N) Å Fast & Furious Fast Five ›› (2011) Vin Diesel, Paul Walker. Fast Five ›› (2011) Vin Diesel, Paul Walker. (PG-13) Å (2009) Å (PG-13) (6:30) Å Last Standing Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14) Mom (TV14)

The Office Å Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek Schitt’s Creek Jim Gaffigan: Quality Time Bering Sea Gold (TV14) Å Bering Sea Gold (TV14) (N) Å Gold Rush (7) Gold Rush (TV14) (N) Å Hotel Transyl- Bunk’d (TVG) Gabby Duran & The Owl House Bluey Animat- Bluey (TVY) Big City Greens Bunk’d (TVG) Gabby Duran & ed. (9:40) Å (10:05) Å (TVY7) (11:05) Å vania 3 (6:15) (N) Å the Unsittables (8:50) Å the Unsittables Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ››› (2001) Daniel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ››› (2002) Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint. (PG) (9:35) Å

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

(TVG) Å

(TVG) Å

(TVG) Å

(TVG) (N) Å

(TVG) Å

(TVG) Å

Family Guy Spider-Man: Homecoming ››› (2017)

Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Family Guy Deadpool ››› (2016) Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin. Armed with ac-

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

Diners, DriveIns and Dives

(TVG) Å

(TVG) Å

(TVG) Å

Family Guy The 700 Club Å Venom ›› (2018) Tom Hardy, Michelle Wil-

celerated healing powers and a twisted sense of humor, mercenary Wade liams. Journalist Eddie Brock develops suWilson adopts the alter ego Deadpool and hunts down the man who nearly perhuman strength when his body merges destroyed his life. (R) Å with the alien Venom. (PG-13) Å

The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons Christmas Next Door (2017) Jesse Metcalfe,

The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons A Christmas Detour (2015) Candace Cameron Bure, Paul

The Simpsons The Simpsons Christmas Town (2019) Can-

Fiona Gubelmann. (7) Å

Greene. Å

dace Cameron Bure. Å

My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery My Lottery Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Dream Home Ancient Aliens (TVPG) (11:05) Ancient Aliens (10:05) Å Ancient Aliens (TVPG) Å Ancient Aliens Ancient Aliens (TVPG) Å Grease ››› (1978) John Travolta. (PG) (7) Å Grease ››› (1978) John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John. (PG) Å Rizzoli & Isles Doomsday Mom: The Lori Vallow Story: Enhanced Edition (2021) Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith Doomsday Mom: The Lori (TV14) (7) Å Lauren Lee Smith, Marc Blucas. Å Susan was convicted of kill- Vallow Story: Enhanced Edition (2021) Å

Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness Ridiculousness (TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

When Sharks Attack (7) Middlemost Post (TVY7) Ready to Love

When Sharks Attack: Deep Dives (TV14) (N) Å The Patrick Middlemost Post (TVY7) Star Show Ready to Love (TV14)

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

When Sharks Attack (TV14) (N) Å

Friends

Friends

(TVPG) Å

(TVPG) Å

Ready to Love (TV14) (N)

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

World’s Most Dangerous Shark? When Sharks Attack: Deep (TV14) (N) Å Dives (TV14) Å Friends Friends Friends Friends (TVPG) Å

(TVPG) Å

Put a Ring on It (TV14) (N)

(TVPG) Å

(TVPG) Å

Ready to Love (TV14)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith ›› (2005) Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie. (PG-13) (7) Å Red 2 ›› (2013) Bruce Willis, John Malkovich. (PG-13) Å Law & Order (TV14) Å Law & Order (TV14) Å Law & Order (TV14) Å Law & Order Law & Order (TV14) Å Hellboy (5:30) Captain America: Civil War ››› (2016) Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. (PG-13) Å Futurama Å Futurama Å Bob’s Burgers Suicide Squad ›› (2016) Will Smith, Jared Leto. (PG-13) Å The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) (R) (10:40) Movie The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) (R) (7) Chinatown ›››› (1974) Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway. (R) Å 90 Day (6) 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? (TV14) (N) 90 Day Fiancé You, Me & My Ex (TV14) 90 Day Fiancé Bones (TV14) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ››› (2017) Chris Pratt. The team struggles Thor: Ragnarok ››› (2017) Chris (7) Å

Amanpour (N) 12:05 a.m. KCET; 1 a.m. KLCS

Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m. KABC

11:00 pm

(TV14) (7) Paramount

Jimmy Kimmel Live! 11:35 p.m. KABC

The Late Late Show With James Corden Tracy Morgan; Kings of Leon perform. 12:37 a.m. KCBS

10:30 pm

ing her two sons. (N) Å

MTV Nat Geo

Late Night With Seth Meyers Peyton Manning; Bowen Yang; Edgar Wright; Stevie Nistor performs. 12:36 a.m.

KNBC

The First 48 Kindergarten Cop (5:30) River… (7) Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (6) Å All About the Benjamins

(5) Å

FXX

The View Regina Hall. 10 a.m. KABC Rachael Ray (N) 10 a.m. KTTV

WSJ at Large Roundtable Gutfeld! (N) Å The 11th Hour (N) Å The Donlon Report Å News News

Radcliffe, Rupert Grint. (PG) (6) Å

Food

Live With Kelly and Ryan Daniel Radcliffe (“Miracle Workers”). (N) 9 a.m. KABC

Wall Street Å Ingraham (7) The Last Word Banfield (7) News

Friday, July 9, Prime-time: Cable 7:30 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm

2021 Tour de France Stage 13: Nîmes to Carcassonne (Tape), 5 p.m. NBCSP; Stage 14: Carcassonne to Quillan (Live), Saturday, 5 a.m. NBC

Good Morning America Pitbull performs. (N) 7 a.m.

KABC

9:30 pm

Paid Program Paid Program Paid Program Bloomberg (7) Front Row Undercover Undercover Boss (TVPG) The News With Shepard Smith Loehmann’s. Å Boss (7) Å Å Don Lemon (7) Anderson Cooper (TVPG) Å Cuomo Prime Time Å Testimony on January 6 Capitol Attack Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey

Bloomberg

Discovery

Today Duran Duran performs; Ocean Ramsey. (N) 7 a.m.

KNBC

10:00 pm

The Good Liar ›› (2019) Helen Mirren, Ian

Los Angeles for treatment, a recovering junkie soon learns McKellen. Career con artist Roy Courtnay (2000) Laura that the rehab center is not about helping people — it’s can hardly believe his luck when he meets merely a cover for a multibillion dollar fraud operation that well-to-do widow Betty McLeish online. (R) Linney. (R) enlists addicts to recruit other addicts. (R) Å (9:53) Å (11:44) Å Ned Kelly ››› (2003) Heath Cape Fear ››› (1991) Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte. A tatRunaway Jury ››› (2003) John Cusack, tooed psychopath preys on a Southern lawyer, his wife and Ledger. In 19th century AusGene Hackman. A juror, a lawyer and a tralia, the son of Irish immitheir teenage daughter. (R) Å mysterious woman stand in the way of a grants becomes a folk hero man trying to manipulate an explosive trial. outlaw. (R) (11:11) Å (PG-13) (6:49) Å Sweeney Todd: William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet ››› (1996) Leonardo Rocketman ››› (2019) Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell. Set to DiCaprio, Claire Danes. Twentieth century teenagers fall in his most beloved songs, it’s the epic musical story of Elton The Demon John, his breakthrough years in the 1970s and his fantastiBarber of Fleet love, despite feuding families, in an update of the classic tragedy. (PG-13) Å cal transformation from shy piano prodigy to international Street ››› superstar and pop icon. (R) Å (2007) (6) Å Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself ›› (2009) Tyler Perry, Betty (TVMA) The Legend Clueless ››› Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl InterTaraji P. Henson. When Madea catches three siblings loot- Everyone’s in of the Un(1995) Alicia rupted (TV14) The comic ing her home, she delivers the youths to their boozy aunt, their feelings derground discusses highly personal Silverstone, Stacey Dash. experiences in a new perfor- who is sorely in need of an attitude adjustment. (PG-13) Å at the squat (2021) DisHalloween mance at the Wilbur Theatre (PG-13) crimination in party. (N) Å Nigeria. in Boston. Å (6:20) Å Indiana Jones and the Raiders All Access Pete Lee: Tall, Dark, and Pleas- Moneyball ››› (2011) Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill. Faced with a of the Lost Ark ›››› (1981) (TV14) (N) Å ant (TVMA) Standup comedy tight budget, a baseball manager and his partner recruit Harrison Ford, Karen Allen. special. (N) Å bargain-bin players that scouts have labeled as flawed, but (PG) (6:30) Å have game-winning potential. (PG-13) Å Bring It On Step Up: High Water The danc- Ice (TVMA) Freddy attempts Monster Hunter ›› (2020) Milla Jovovich.

Run the World Transported to a strange world, Lt. Artemis (TVMA) What ers prepare for the big open- to cut the Anastasia Di›› (2000) Kirsten and her team of elite soldiers join forces ing night; Poppy’s mother amond look-alike; Jake You Wish Dunst, Eliza visits High Water; Zo gives confronts the Chinese Triad. with a mysterious hunter to battle dangerFor. Å Dushku. (PG- Tal shocking news; Rigo re- (8:49) Å ous and powerful monsters that rule their 13) (6:18) Å ceives unexpected help. Å domain with deadly ferocity. (9:46) Å Spring Breakers ››› (2012) Wet Hot American Summer ›› (2001) JaHow to Talk to Fast Times at Ridgemont High ››› (1982) James Franco, Vanessa HudGirls at Parties Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh. The teen neane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce. After scene includes a party-animal surfer, a their charges have left, staff members of a gens. (R) (11:10) Å ›› (2017) Elle Fanning. pregnant girl and a fast-food worker. (R) Å children’s camp pursue romances that have been brewing all season. (R) Å (6:15) Å

Friday, July 9, Prime-time: Cable News Channels 7:30 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm 9:00 pm

WNBA Basketball The Seattle Storm visit the Phoenix Mercury, 6 p.m. ESPN

CBS This Morning (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Body Brokers (2021) Jack Kilmer, Frank Grillo. Brought to

(2016) (R) (6:07) Å

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (N) 9 p.m. Food Network Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith This new episode revisits the case of the South Carolina woman convicted in 1995 of murdering her two little boys by driving her car into a lake with the children strapped into their car seats. Alfred Rowe — a former correctional officer disciplined for having sex with Smith — and two of Smith’s former cellmates, Stephanie Hulsey and Christie Smith, offer fresh insights into Smith’s life behind bars. 10 p.m. Lifetime

The Girl With All the Gifts

USA VH1

to keep its newfound family together as it tries to unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage in the outer reaches of the galaxy. (PG-13) Å

Apple & Onion American Dad

American Dad

American Dad

American Dad

Family Guy

(7:45) Å

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

(TV14) Å

Animated. Å Animated. Å (TV14)

(TV14) Å

BSW ESPN ESPN2 FS1 MLB NBC Sports SNLA

Family Guy

Rick and Morty Tuca & Bertie (TV14) Å

Ghost (7) Å Ghost Adventures (TVPG) Å Ghost Adventures (TVPG) (N) Å Ghost Adventures (TVPG) Å Jokers (TV14) Jokers (TV14) Jokers (TV14) Jokers (TV14) Jokers (TV14) Let’s Be Cops ›› (2014) Jake Johnson. (R) Å Andy Griffith Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å Raymond Å King of Queens King of Queens Pretty Woman (1990) (R) (6) Waiting to Exhale ››› (1995) Whitney Houston. (R) Å Chicago P.D. (TV14) (10:45) Å The Day After Tomorrow ›› (2004) Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal. (7) Å American Gangster ››› (2007) Denzel Washington. (R) Å

Friday, July 9, Prime-time: Cable Sports Channels 7:30 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm 9:00 pm BSSC

Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston. (PG-13) (10:45) Å

9:30 pm

10:00 pm

10:30 pm

11:00 pm

11:30 pm

Tennis Classics The Ten Strokes of Genius (TVPG) Fight Sports: Boxing MLB Baseball Angels at Seattle Mariners. From Seattle. (Live) (7) Postgame Angels Weekly Poker WNBA Basket- SportsCenter (N) Å SportsCenter (N) Å SportsCenter (N) Å SportsCenter (N) Å ball (6) UFC Main UFC Countdown (TV14) UFC Main Event (TV14) Dustin Around the Pardon the UFC Sound UFC Flashback (TV14) Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje.

Event (7) Interruption Waves Horn Å PokerStars Championship PokerStars Championship NASCAR Truck 2021 Copa America Colombia vs. Peru. Third Place. Å (N) Å (N) Å Series (6) Å Baseball (5) MLB Tonight (N) Å Quick Pitch (N) Å Quick Pitch Å 2021 Tour de NHL Overtime (N) Å 2021 Tour de France Stage 13. Nîmes to Carcassonne, 220 km, flat stage. Å France (5) MLB Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodgers. (Live) (7) Dodgers Postgame (N) Dodgers (N) MLB Baseball

EE2

FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2021

LOS ANGELES TIMES

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