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  • LA Olympics leader Wasserman will sell talent agency in wake of Epstein emails discovery

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    Casey Wasserman, the chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, is selling his eponymous talent agency in the wake of the release of emails between himself and Ghislaine Maxwell.Wasserman’s emails with Maxwell were revealed by his appearance in recently released government files on Jeffrey Epstein. Wasserman, whose agency represents some of the top pop music artists in the world, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.The recently released documents revealed that in 2003 he swapped flirtatious emails with Maxwell, who would years later be accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse his victims. Wasserman said in a Friday evening memo to his staff that he has begun the process of selling the company, according to a company spokesperson who provided the memo to The Associated Press.Wasserman’s memo to staff said that he felt he had become a distraction to the company’s work.”During this time, Mike Watts will assume day-to-day control of the business while I devote my full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city,” the memo stated.The memo arrived days after the LA28 board’s executive committee met to discuss Wasserman’s appearance in the Epstein files. The committee said it and an outside legal firm conducted a review of Wasserman’s interactions with Epstein and Maxwell with Wasserman’s full cooperation.The committee said in a statement: “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.” The statement also said Wasserman “should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful games.”Wasserman has said previously that he flew on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein’s private plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation in 2002. Exchanges between Wasserman and Maxwell in the files include Wasserman telling Maxwell: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”His agency, also called Wasserman, has lost clients over the Maxwell emails. Singer Chappell Roan and retired U.S. women’s soccer legend Abby Wambach are among them.Wasserman said in his memo to staff that his interactions with Maxwell and Epstein were limited and he regrets the emails.”It was years before their criminal conduct came to light, and, in its entirety, consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa and a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending. And I’m heartbroken that my brief contact with them 23 years ago has caused you, this company, and its clients so much hardship over the past days and weeks,” the memo said.

    Casey Wasserman, the chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, is selling his eponymous talent agency in the wake of the release of emails between himself and Ghislaine Maxwell.

    Wasserman’s emails with Maxwell were revealed by his appearance in recently released government files on Jeffrey Epstein. Wasserman, whose agency represents some of the top pop music artists in the world, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

    The recently released documents revealed that in 2003 he swapped flirtatious emails with Maxwell, who would years later be accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse his victims. Wasserman said in a Friday evening memo to his staff that he has begun the process of selling the company, according to a company spokesperson who provided the memo to The Associated Press.

    Wasserman’s memo to staff said that he felt he had become a distraction to the company’s work.

    “During this time, Mike Watts will assume day-to-day control of the business while I devote my full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city,” the memo stated.

    The memo arrived days after the LA28 board’s executive committee met to discuss Wasserman’s appearance in the Epstein files. The committee said it and an outside legal firm conducted a review of Wasserman’s interactions with Epstein and Maxwell with Wasserman’s full cooperation.

    The committee said in a statement: “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.” The statement also said Wasserman “should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful games.”

    Wasserman has said previously that he flew on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein’s private plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation in 2002. Exchanges between Wasserman and Maxwell in the files include Wasserman telling Maxwell: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

    His agency, also called Wasserman, has lost clients over the Maxwell emails. Singer Chappell Roan and retired U.S. women’s soccer legend Abby Wambach are among them.

    Wasserman said in his memo to staff that his interactions with Maxwell and Epstein were limited and he regrets the emails.

    “It was years before their criminal conduct came to light, and, in its entirety, consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa and a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending. And I’m heartbroken that my brief contact with them 23 years ago has caused you, this company, and its clients so much hardship over the past days and weeks,” the memo said.

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  • ‘Doomsday Plane’ appearance at LAX sparks online worry

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    The federal government’s Boeing E-4B Nightwatch — a military aircraft known, somewhat alarmingly, as the “Doomsday Plane” — touched down at Los Angeles International Airport this week, in what may be the famed aircraft’s first-ever LAX landing.

    Aviation enthusiasts spotted the plane Thursday on its approach to LAX. It is billed by the U.S. Air Force as a “highly survivable command, control and communications center.”

    The plane is equipped to serve as an airborne operations center for the president, the Defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the event of a disaster that wipes out command centers on land.

    Its sudden appearance at a busy commercial airport sparked a flurry of online speculation.

    “WAR IMMINENT?” one X user posted, in one of several anxious social media responses to the plane’s appearance.

    In this case, the plane was ferrying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Southern California as part of his monthlong “Arsenal of Freedom” tour.

    Hegseth spoke Thursday at a Long Beach manufacturing plant, Rocket Lab, the second stop on what the Department of Defense described as a monthlong tour of U.S. industrial defense companies.

    The Defense Department later posted images on social media of Hegseth working out with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at UCLA.

    Far-right activist Laura Loomer, Breitbart News reporter Olivia Rondeau and media figure L. Todd Wood accompanied Hegseth on the trip and shared photos of themselves with the plane online.

    The E-4B is a militarized version of Boeing’s 747 aircraft, and is designed to withstand electromagnetic pulses and the heat of a nuclear attack. The Air Force keeps at least one at the ready at all times in case of an emergency.

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    Corinne Purtill

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  • Prosecutor dismisses charges against Trump and others in Georgia election interference case

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    The prosecutor who recently took over the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others said in a court filing Wednesday that he has decided not to pursue the case further.Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case.After Skandalakis’ filing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety.It was unlikely that legal action against Trump could have moved forward while he is president. But 14 other defendants still faced charges, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.After the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis said last month that he reached out to several prosecutors, but they all declined to take on the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set a Nov. 14 deadline for the appointment of a new prosecutor, so Skandalakis chose to appoint himself rather than allowing the case to be dismissed.

    The prosecutor who recently took over the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others said in a court filing Wednesday that he has decided not to pursue the case further.

    Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case.

    After Skandalakis’ filing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety.

    It was unlikely that legal action against Trump could have moved forward while he is president. But 14 other defendants still faced charges, including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

    After the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis said last month that he reached out to several prosecutors, but they all declined to take on the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set a Nov. 14 deadline for the appointment of a new prosecutor, so Skandalakis chose to appoint himself rather than allowing the case to be dismissed.

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  • Tickets go on sale for Sacramento Republic FC’s appearance in the USL Jägermeister Cup Final

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    The Sacramento Republic FC will have the chance to raise a cup before the season ends.The club will compete in the final of the USL Jägermeister Cup against the Hartford Athletic at Cal Expo’s Heart Health Park on Oct. 4. Tickets went on sale on Tuesday. The USL Cup began in 2024, featuring USL League One teams, which is a division below the Republic’s USL Championship. This year, all USL Championship teams joined the inter-league competition. For the Republic, the final will represent the first championship opportunity in Sacramento since the team won its league cup a decade ago in its inaugural season. Sacramento also made the final of another inter-season tournament, the U.S. Open Cup in 2022. That tournament featured the Republic besting three higher division Major League Soccer teams before losing in Orlando in the final. Captain Rodrigo “RoRo” López has been with Sacramento Republic FC for all three milestone moments. “We have the best fans in the league,” he said. “This is the best organization in the league and to be able to host the cup final is just very special for me, in particular. I’ve been here since the beginning and I was able to lift the cup and so many years have gone by and this club deserves more.” The Republic’s run in the USL Jägermeister Cup this year has succeeded in large part due to the performance of backup goalkeeper Jared Mazzola, who provided key saves in the last two matches, including when both went to penalties. “It’s been really, really fun being able to step into the role that is laid out for me,” Mazzola said. “So being able to do my part and help the team get to the final is really important and something that I hold in a high regard.” Meanwhile, the Republic remain in second place in their Western Conference in league play with just seven matches left in the regular season.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    The Sacramento Republic FC will have the chance to raise a cup before the season ends.

    The club will compete in the final of the USL Jägermeister Cup against the Hartford Athletic at Cal Expo’s Heart Health Park on Oct. 4. Tickets went on sale on Tuesday.

    The USL Cup began in 2024, featuring USL League One teams, which is a division below the Republic’s USL Championship. This year, all USL Championship teams joined the inter-league competition.

    For the Republic, the final will represent the first championship opportunity in Sacramento since the team won its league cup a decade ago in its inaugural season.

    Sacramento also made the final of another inter-season tournament, the U.S. Open Cup in 2022. That tournament featured the Republic besting three higher division Major League Soccer teams before losing in Orlando in the final.

    Captain Rodrigo “RoRo” López has been with Sacramento Republic FC for all three milestone moments.

    “We have the best fans in the league,” he said. “This is the best organization in the league and to be able to host the cup final is just very special for me, in particular. I’ve been here since the beginning and I was able to lift the cup and so many years have gone by and this club deserves more.”

    The Republic’s run in the USL Jägermeister Cup this year has succeeded in large part due to the performance of backup goalkeeper Jared Mazzola, who provided key saves in the last two matches, including when both went to penalties.

    “It’s been really, really fun being able to step into the role that is laid out for me,” Mazzola said. “So being able to do my part and help the team get to the final is really important and something that I hold in a high regard.”

    Meanwhile, the Republic remain in second place in their Western Conference in league play with just seven matches left in the regular season.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Fitness guru Richard Simmons dead at 76

    Fitness guru Richard Simmons dead at 76

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    Richard Simmons, the colorful fitness guru who turned aerobic dancing and positive energy into decades of fame, died Saturday, law enforcement sources said. He was 76.

    Simmons was found at his home, and there was no evidence of foul play, sources told The Times.

    Simmons specialized in helping obese people lose weight, starting with a Los Angeles fitness studio and eventually making appearances on TV shows, including a popular stint on “General Hospital.”

    In his biography, he said struggling with being overweight himself inspired him to help others.

    Over the years, he hosted a variety of shows, produced fitness videos and even had a chain of fitness studios. All the while, he made regular appearances in movies and TV shows.

    In recent years, Simmons had become the subject of fascination, some of it unwanted. He retreated from public view, and some worried about his health.

    In 2017, the “Missing Richard Simmons” podcast revisited the speculation behind Simmons’ welfare, although he refuted many of the rumors.

    Simmons’s representative, Tom Estey, recently told Entertainment Tonight that he was celebrating his 76th birthday by working on a new Broadway musical.

    Simmons, who was active on social media, appeared to be in good spirits in recent days. He posted a black-and-white photograph of himself next to a cake on his birthday to mark the occasion.

    “I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life!” Simmons wrote on Facebook. “I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday.”

    It was a marked change of pace from earlier in the year when Simmons had posted cryptic messages ruminating over his mortality.

    “I am … dying,” Simmons wrote on Facebook. “Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death. Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to enjoy your life to the fullest every single day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky … count your blessings and enjoy. “

    Simmons had shared in March that he’d been diagnosed with skin cancer. He noted a “strange looking bump” underneath his right eye. He said a dermatologist found it to be basal cell carcinoma, one of the most common forms of skin cancer that can form due to long-term exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light.

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    Richard Winton, Tony Briscoe, Hannah Wiley

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