Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of an independent commission to draw California’s congressional districts, returns to state voters’ TV sets on Tuesday in a new ad opposing a November ballot measure by state Democrats to boost their party’s ranks in Congress.
A committee opposing Proposition 50, which would replace districts drawn by an independent commission with ones crafted by partisans, plans to spend $1 million per day airing the ad statewide. Schwarzenegger describes the ballot measure as one that does not favor voters but is in the interest of entrenched politicians.
“That’s what they want to do is take us backwards. This is why it is important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” the Hollywood celebrity and former governor says in the ad, which was filmed last week when he spoke to USC students. “The Constitution does not start with ‘We, the politicians.’ It starts with ‘We, the people.’ … Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.”
Redistricting is the redrawing of congressional boundaries that typically occurs once a decade following the U.S. census to account for population shifts. The process rarely attracts the attention it has this year because of a heated battle to determine control of a closely divided Congress in the final two years of President Trump’s tenure.
After Trump urged Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional districts earlier this year to boost the number of Republicans in the House, California Democrats, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, countered by putting a rare mid-decade redistricting on a special-election November ballot that would likely boost the number of Democrats in the body.
Schwarzenegger, long a champion of political reform, is not part of any official Proposition 50 campaign. Since leaving office, he has prioritized good governance at his institute at USC and campaigned for independent redistricting across the nation.
His remarks were filmed, and the ad is being aired by the most well-funded effort opposing Proposition 50, which is bankrolled by Charles Munger Jr., a major GOP donor who underwrote the ballot measures that created California’s independent commission.
Munger has already donated $30 million to a campaign opposing the November ballot measure, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office. The other large opposition effort has raised more than $5 million. The main group supporting Proposition 50, led by Newsom, has raised more than $54 million.
These fundraising figures are based on required disclosures of large contributions. More complete fundraising numbers must be filed with the state on Thursday.
The man accused of opening fire on the lobby of a Sacramento ABC television station cited the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case as a motive and promised several members of the Trump administration would be “next,” according to a federal court filing made public Monday.
Anibal Hernandez-Santana, 64, is charged with multiple weapons offenses and interfering with a radio or communication station for firing several bullets at the window of ABC10’s offices in Sacramento around 1 p.m. on Friday, according to a criminal complaint.
Hernandez-Santana was arrested the same day as the shooting. During a search of his car, detectives found a note that read “For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags,” according to the complaint filed by prosecutors in the Eastern District of California.
The note referenced FBI Director Kash Patel, his second-in-command Dan Bongino and U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, reading “They’re next. — C.K. from above.”
Sacramento Dist. Atty. Thien Ho said he believed the “C.K.” portion of the note was a reference to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed by a sniper in Utah this month. In an interview on Monday, Ho said police also found a book titled “The Cult Of Trump” in Hernandez-Santana’s vehicle.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento said she could not comment beyond what was contained in court documents.
Patel said “targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” in a post on X.
Hernandez-Santana was born in Puerto Rico and was not registered as a Republican or Democrat, according to voting records. The Trump administration has faced increasing criticism from both sides of the political spectrum to disclose more information about those who did business with Epstein, the financier charged with trafficking young girls to rich and powerful men before his death by suicide in a federal lockup in 2019.
Hernandez-Santana was a retired lobbyist, according to Ho, who said the shooting was clearly “politically motivated.”
Hernandez-Santana first registered as a lobbyist in 2001. His clients included an environmental justice group, the California Catholic Conference and the California Federation of Teachers, according to state lobbying records.
The day of the shooting, Ho said, a protest was scheduled to take place outside ABC10’s offices over their parent company’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about the way Republicans have reacted to Kirk’s killing. Kimmel’s suspension was lifted Monday and he is expected to return to the air Tuesday,
Ho said it was clear the TV station was not a “random target.”
“When it comes to public safety it’s not about going right or left, it’s about moving forward … clearly he was motivated by current political events,” Ho said.
Hernandez-Santana did not have a significant criminal history and was not known to local law enforcement before the incident, according to the prosecutor.
Prosecutors said Hernandez-Santana fired four times at the ABC station, once near the building and three additional times at a window in the station’s lobby, according to court records. No one was injured, but there were employees inside at the time.
In addition to the message invoking members of Trump’s Cabinet, Sacramento Police detectives also found a day planner that contained a handwritten note to “Do the Next Scary Thing,” on the date of the attack, court records show.
In a court filing seeking to deny Hernandez-Santana bail, federal prosecutors said the note referencing Patel, Bongino and Bondi “indicates that he may have been planning additional acts of violence.”
Ho has also charged Santana-Hernandez with assault with a firearm and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. He was expected to make court appearances in both cases on Monday. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
Santana-Hernandez faces five years in federal prison and an additional 17 years in state prison if convicted as charged, according to Ho.
“When someone brazenly fires into a news station full of people in the middle of the day, it is not only an attack on innocent employees but also an attack on the news media and our community’s sense of safety,” Ho said in a statement.
Times staff writer Laura Nelson and researcher Cary Schneider contributed to this report.
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert doesn’t generally agree with political parties redrawing congressional maps to gain power.
But after President Trump persuaded Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw his state’s maps in order to improve Republican chances of retaining control of Congress in 2026, Von Wilpert said she decided California’s only option was to fight back with new maps of its own, favoring Democrats.
There’s too much at stake for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized Californians to do otherwise, said Von Wilpert — who is bisexual and running to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa, a Trump ally whose district in San Diego and Riverside counties will be redrawn if voters approve the plan.
“We can’t sit on the sidelines anymore and just hope that the far right will play fair or play by the rule book,” said Von Wilpert, 42. “If we don’t fight back now, I don’t know what democracy is going to be left for us to fight for in the future.”
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa, whose Southern California district would be redrawn if voters approve the redistricting plan of California Democrats.
They are running to counter those efforts, but also to resist other administration policies that they believe threaten democracy and equality more broadly, and to advocate around local issues that are important to them and their neighbors, said Elliot Imse, executive director of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.
The institute, which has trained queer people on running for and holding political office since 1991, has already provided 450 people with in-person training so far this year, compared with 290 people all of last year, Imse said. It recently had to cap a training in Los Angeles at 54 people — its largest cohort in more than a decade — and a first-of-its-kind training for transgender candidates at 12 people, despite more than 50 applying.
“LGBTQ+ people have been extremely motivated to run for office across the country because of the attacks on their equality,” Imse said. “They know the risk, they know the potential for harassment, but those fears are really overcome by the desire to make a difference in this moment.”
“This isn’t about screaming we are trans, this is about screaming we are human — and showing that we are here, that we are competent leaders,” said Josie Caballero, voting and elections director at Advocates for Trans Equality, which helped run the training.
Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington on March 26, 2025. The summit brings together policymakers and influencers to discuss important issues facing the crypto industry.
(Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Across the country
Queer candidates still face stiff resistance in some parts of the country. But they are winning elections elsewhere like never before — Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first out transgender member of Congress last year — and increasingly deciding to run.
Some are Republicans who support Trump and credit him with kicking open the political door for people like them by installing gay leaders in his administration, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Ed Williams, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ+ organization, said his group has seen “a surge in interest” under Trump, with “new members and chapters springing up across the country.” He said that “LGBT conservatives stand with President Trump’s fight for commonsense policies that support our schools and parents, put America first, and create opportunities for all Americans.”
Ryan Sheridan, 35, a gay psychiatric nurse practitioner challenging fellow Republican incumbent Rep. Ann Wagner for her House seat in Missouri, said Trump has made the Republican Party a “more welcoming environment” for gay people. He said he agrees with Trump that medical interventions for transgender youth should be stopped, but also believes others in the LGBTQ+ community misunderstand the president’s perspective.
“I do not believe that he is anti-trans. I do not believe he is anti-gay,” Sheridan said. “I understand the fear might be real, but I would encourage anybody that is deeply fearful to explore some alternative points of view.”
Many more LGBTQ+ candidates, however, are Democrats or progressives — and say they were driven to run in part by their disdain for Trump and his policies.
LGBTQ+ candidates and prospective candidates listen to speakers at an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute training in downtown Los Angeles in September.
(David Butow / For The Times)
JoAnna Mendoza, a bisexual retired U.S. Marine, said she is running to unseat Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) because she took an oath to defend the U.S. and its values, and she believes those values are under threat from an administration with no respect for LGBTQ+ service members, immigrants or other vulnerable groups.
Mike Simmons, the first out LGBTQ+ state senator in Illinois, is running for the House seat of retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and leaning into his outsider persona as a gay Black man and the son of an Ethiopian asylum seeker. “I symbolize everything Donald Trump is trying to erase.”
Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who is a lesbian, said she is running for the House seat of the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), in a historically Black district being redrawn in Houston, because she believes “we need more gay people — but specifically Black gay people — to run and be in a position to challenge Trump.”
Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, who is running for Colorado treasurer, said it is critical for LGBTQ+ people — especially transgender people like her — to run, including locally. Trump is looking for ways to attack blue state economies, she said, and queer people need to help ensure resistance strategies don’t include abandoning LGBTQ+ rights.
“We’re going to be extorted, and our economy is going to suffer for that, and we’re going to have to withstand that,” she said.
Rep. Brianna Titone speaks during the general assembly at the Colorado State Capitol on April 23, 2025.
(AAron Ontiveroz / Denver Post via Getty Images)
Jordan Wood, who is gay, served as chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County before co-founding the Constitution-backing organization democracyFIRST. He’s now back in his native Maine challenging centrist Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.
Collins, who declined to comment, has supported LGBTQ+ rights in the past, including in military service and marriage, and has at times broken with her party to stand in Trump’s way. However, Wood said Collins has acquiesced to Trump’s autocratic policies, including in recent budget battles.
“This is a moment with our country in crisis where we need our political leaders to pick sides and to stand up to this administration and its lawlessness,” Wood said.
Candidates said they’ve had hateful and threatening comments directed toward them because of their identities, and tough conversations with their families about what it will mean to be a queer elected official in the current political moment. The Victory Institute training included information on how best to handle harassment on the campaign trail.
However, candidates said they also have had young people and others thank them for having the nerve to defend the LGBTQ+ community.
Kevin Morrison, a gay county commissioner in the Chicago suburbs who is running for the House seat of Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running for Senate, recently had that experience after defending a transgender high school athlete at a local school board meeting.
Morrison said the response he got from the community, including many of the school’s alumni, was “incredibly positive” — and showed how ready people are for new LGBTQ+ advocates in positions of power who “lead from a place of empathy and compassion.”
Maebe Pudlo, 39, is an operations manager for the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and an elected member of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. She is also transgender, and running for the Central and East L.A. state Senate seat of María Elena Durazo, who is running for county supervisor.
Pudlo, who also works as a drag queen, said that simply existing each day is a “political and social statement” for her. But she decided to run for office after seeing policy decisions affecting transgender people made without any transgender voices at the table.
“Unfortunately, our lives have been politicized and trans people have become political pawns, and it’s really disgusting to me,” Pudlo said.
Like every other queer candidate who spoke to The Times, Pudlo, who has previously run for Congress, said her platform is about more than LGBTQ+ issues. It’s also about housing and healthcare and defending democracy more broadly, she said, noting her campaign slogan is “Keep Fascism Out of California.”
Still, Pudlo said she is keenly aware of the current political threats to transgender people, and feels a deep responsibility to defend their rights — for everyone’s sake.
“This whole idea of rolling back civil rights for trans people specifically — that should be concerning for anybody who cares about democracy,” Pudlo said. “Because if they’ll do it to my community, your community is next.”
Former Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton speaks at a training event for LGBTQ+ candidates and prospective candidates in L.A. in September. Also in the photo are, from left, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President Evan Low, West Hollywood City Councilmember Danny Hang, Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish and Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem.
(David Butow / For The Times)
Juan Camacho, a 44-year-old Echo Park resident also running for Durazo’s seat, said he feels a similar responsibility as a gay Mexican immigrant — particularly as Trump rolls out the “Project 2025 playbook” of attacking immigrants, Latinos and LGBTQ+ people, he said.
Brought to the U.S. by his parents as a toddler before becoming documented under President Reagan’s amnesty program, Camacho said he understands the fear that undocumented and mixed-status families feel, and he wants to use his privilege as a citizen now to push back.
Veteran California legislative leader Toni Atkins, who has long been out and is now running for governor, said the recent attacks on LGBTQ+ and especially transgender people have been “pretty disheartening,” but have also strengthened her resolve — after 50 years of LGBTQ+ people gaining rights in this country — to keep fighting.
“It’s what it’s always been: We want housing and healthcare and we want equal opportunity and we want to be seen as contributing members of society,” she said. “We have a responsibility to be visible and, as Harvey Milk said, to ‘give them hope.’”
A Sacramento man suspected of shooting into the ABC10 television station on Friday has been arrested, police said. Anibal Hernandezsantana, 64, was arrested at a residence in the 5400 block of Carlson Drive in River Park, police said early Saturday. He was being booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on charges that include assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm. KCRA 3 saw police activity at the River Park Apartments around 6:15 p.m. on Friday, which included several police cars and a SWAT team. A witness at the scene reported seeing a man being tackled and then taken into custody. Asked for comment at the time, police called their presence a planned operation. Earlier Friday, police said they responded to reports of shots being fired at the ABC10 building at 400 Broadway after 1:30 p.m. No one was injured in the shooting despite the building being occupied.See the press conference with Sacramento PD in the video player below Three bullet holes were seen in one of the building’s windows. A person was in the lobby at the time of the shooting, but not physically harmed, the station said. There were protests outside of the station on Friday morning, but none were active at the time of the shooting, police told KCRA 3. Tegna, which owns ABC10, issued the following statement: “We can confirm that shots were fired into our station at KXTV earlier today. While details are still limited, importantly all of our employees are safe and unharmed. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees.”Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on the shooting. “While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” the governor’s office shared in a post on X. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”Sacramento police thanked the FBI for providing resources in its investigation. They asked anyone with information to contact them. 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
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A Sacramento man suspected of shooting into the ABC10 television station on Friday has been arrested, police said.
Anibal Hernandezsantana, 64, was arrested at a residence in the 5400 block of Carlson Drive in River Park, police said early Saturday. He was being booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on charges that include assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm.
KCRA 3 saw police activity at the River Park Apartments around 6:15 p.m. on Friday, which included several police cars and a SWAT team. A witness at the scene reported seeing a man being tackled and then taken into custody. Asked for comment at the time, police called their presence a planned operation.
Earlier Friday, police said they responded to reports of shots being fired at the ABC10 building at 400 Broadway after 1:30 p.m. No one was injured in the shooting despite the building being occupied.
See the press conference with Sacramento PD in the video player below
Three bullet holes were seen in one of the building’s windows. A person was in the lobby at the time of the shooting, but not physically harmed, the station said.
Hearst Owned
Three bullet holes can seen in a window at ABC10’s television station after a shooting.
There were protests outside of the station on Friday morning, but none were active at the time of the shooting, police told KCRA 3.
Tegna, which owns ABC10, issued the following statement: “We can confirm that shots were fired into our station at KXTV earlier today. While details are still limited, importantly all of our employees are safe and unharmed. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on the shooting.
“While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” the governor’s office shared in a post on X. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”
Sacramento police thanked the FBI for providing resources in its investigation. They asked anyone with information to contact them.
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Thanks to the prompt and diligent work of our responding officers and investigators, the suspect vehicle was identified, leading officers to a residence in the 5400 block of Carlson Drive. The suspect, 64-year-old Anibal Hernandezsantana of Sacramento, was arrested on charges of… https://t.co/49OSEEM95k
A federal prosecutor in Virginia whose monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James has not resulted in criminal charges resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration.Erik Siebert confirmed his departure in an email to colleagues, reviewed by The Associated Press, in which he praised them as the “finest and most exceptional” of Justice Department employees but made no mention of the political turmoil that preceded his resignation.The replacement of Siebert as U.S. attorney for the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia office comes amid a push by Trump administration officials to indict James, a perceived adversary of the president who has successfully sued him for fraud. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he wanted Siebert “out” and multiple people familiar with the matter later told the AP that Siebert had informed his colleagues of his plan to resign from the position.The administration’s effort to oust him from the job represents a further erosion of norms meant to insulate the Justice Department from White House influence on prosecutorial decisions. The move is likely to deepen concerns that the department — already investigating other public figures Trump regards as foes — is being weaponized by a White House seeking to have its prosecutorial powers used for purposes of retribution.It was not immediately clear Friday afternoon who would replace Siebert, who was nominated by Trump to the top job in the office this year after having worked there for more than a decade. Siebert’s top deputy, Maya Song, is also leaving her position as first assistant U.S. attorney and will work as a line prosecutor, one of the people familiar with the matter said.Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment.Trump administration officials have been aggressively pursuing allegations against James arising from alleged paperwork discrepancies on her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home. The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence that could support bringing an indictment.Asked about the issue at the White House Friday, Trump, without citing any evidence, said, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.” Trump also said he was bothered that Siebert had been supported by the state’s two Democratic senators.James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.ABC News was first to report that Trump administration officials were pressuring prosecutors to bring charges and that the Republican administration was preparing to oust Siebert.James has long been a particular source of outrage for Trump, in part because of a lawsuit she filed against him and his company that resulted in a massive financial penalty last year. That penalty was thrown out last month by an appeals court that narrowly upheld a judge’s finding that Trump had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades.The case has taken a series of unorthodox turns. It emerged last month that Ed Martin, who leads the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group and is helping coordinate the investigation, had sent a letter urging James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. He later turned up outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a “Columbo”-esque trench coat. A New York Post writer at the scene observed him tell a neighbor: “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house.”James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Martin in a letter that the request for James’ resignation defied Justice Department standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics.The Justice Department “has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” Lowell wrote. “This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party.”A former District of Columbia police officer, Siebert joined the Eastern District of Virginia, an elite Justice Department prosecution office with a history of sophisticated national security and criminal cases, in 2010. He was nominated to the role of U.S. attorney by Trump this year with the backing of the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.The office has separately been involved in investigating matters related to the years-old investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a longstanding grievance of the president. No charges have been announced as part of that work.Although U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees, they are rarely fired. But the Trump administration has repeatedly disregarded norms and traditions meant to protect Justice Department prosecutors from White House political influence.Prosecutors and other support personnel who worked on the special counsel team of Jack Smith that investigated and prosecuted Trump have been fired, as was Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was terminated by Trump months into his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.Martin’s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had “falsified bank documents and property records.”Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited “media reports” claiming James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence, and he suggested she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to second homes.Records show James was listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023. Lowell said records and correspondence easily disproved Pulte’s allegation. While James signed a power-of-attorney form that, Lowell said, “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” she sent an email to her mortgage loan broker around the same time that made clear the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”____ Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON —
A federal prosecutor in Virginia whose monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James has not resulted in criminal charges resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration.
Erik Siebert confirmed his departure in an email to colleagues, reviewed by The Associated Press, in which he praised them as the “finest and most exceptional” of Justice Department employees but made no mention of the political turmoil that preceded his resignation.
The replacement of Siebert as U.S. attorney for the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia office comes amid a push by Trump administration officials to indict James, a perceived adversary of the president who has successfully sued him for fraud. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he wanted Siebert “out” and multiple people familiar with the matter later told the AP that Siebert had informed his colleagues of his plan to resign from the position.
The administration’s effort to oust him from the job represents a further erosion of norms meant to insulate the Justice Department from White House influence on prosecutorial decisions. The move is likely to deepen concerns that the department — already investigating other public figures Trump regards as foes — is being weaponized by a White House seeking to have its prosecutorial powers used for purposes of retribution.
It was not immediately clear Friday afternoon who would replace Siebert, who was nominated by Trump to the top job in the office this year after having worked there for more than a decade. Siebert’s top deputy, Maya Song, is also leaving her position as first assistant U.S. attorney and will work as a line prosecutor, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment.
Trump administration officials have been aggressively pursuing allegations against James arising from alleged paperwork discrepancies on her Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home. The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence that could support bringing an indictment.
Asked about the issue at the White House Friday, Trump, without citing any evidence, said, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.” Trump also said he was bothered that Siebert had been supported by the state’s two Democratic senators.
James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
ABC News was first to report that Trump administration officials were pressuring prosecutors to bring charges and that the Republican administration was preparing to oust Siebert.
James has long been a particular source of outrage for Trump, in part because of a lawsuit she filed against him and his company that resulted in a massive financial penalty last year. That penalty was thrown out last month by an appeals court that narrowly upheld a judge’s finding that Trump had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades.
The case has taken a series of unorthodox turns. It emerged last month that Ed Martin, who leads the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group and is helping coordinate the investigation, had sent a letter urging James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. He later turned up outside James’ Brooklyn townhouse in a “Columbo”-esque trench coat. A New York Post writer at the scene observed him tell a neighbor: “I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house.”
James’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, told Martin in a letter that the request for James’ resignation defied Justice Department standards and codes of professional responsibility and legal ethics.
The Justice Department “has firm policies against using investigations and against using prosecutorial power for achieving political ends,” Lowell wrote. “This is ever more the case when that demand is made to seek political revenge against a public official in the opposite party.”
A former District of Columbia police officer, Siebert joined the Eastern District of Virginia, an elite Justice Department prosecution office with a history of sophisticated national security and criminal cases, in 2010. He was nominated to the role of U.S. attorney by Trump this year with the backing of the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
The office has separately been involved in investigating matters related to the years-old investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a longstanding grievance of the president. No charges have been announced as part of that work.
Although U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees, they are rarely fired. But the Trump administration has repeatedly disregarded norms and traditions meant to protect Justice Department prosecutors from White House political influence.
Prosecutors and other support personnel who worked on the special counsel team of Jack Smith that investigated and prosecuted Trump have been fired, as was Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York whose father, former FBI Director James Comey, was terminated by Trump months into his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.
Martin’s investigation stems from a letter Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi in April asking her to investigate and consider prosecuting James, alleging she had “falsified bank documents and property records.”
Pulte, whose agency regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cited “media reports” claiming James had falsely listed a Virginia home as her principal residence, and he suggested she may have been trying to avoid higher interest rates that often apply to second homes.
Records show James was listed as a co-borrower on a house her niece was buying in 2023. Lowell said records and correspondence easily disproved Pulte’s allegation. While James signed a power-of-attorney form that, Lowell said, “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” she sent an email to her mortgage loan broker around the same time that made clear the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
____
Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
These are dark times, the average cynic might argue.
But do not despair.
If you focus on the positive, rather than the negative, you’ll have to agree that the United States of America is on top and still climbing.
Yes, protesters gathered Thursday outside “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in Hollywood to denounce ABC’s suspension of the host and President Trump’s threat to revoke licenses from networks that criticize him, despite repeated vows by Trump and top deputies to defend free speech.
You can call it hypocrisy.
I call it moxie.
And by the way, demonstrators were not arrested or deported, and the National Guard was not summoned (as far as I know).
Do you see what I mean? Just tilt your head back a bit, and you can see sunshine breaking through the clouds.
Let’s take the president’s complaint that he read “someplace” that the networks “were 97% against me.” Some might see weakness in that, or thin skin. Others might wonder where the “someplace” was that the president discovered his TV news favorability rating stands at 3%, given that he could get caught drowning puppies and cheating at golf and still get fawning coverage from at least one major network.
But Trump had good reason to be grumpy. He was returning from a news conference in London, where he confused Albania and Armenia and fumbled the pronunciation of Azerbaijan, which sounded a bit more like Abracadabra.
It’s not his fault all those countries all start with an A. And isn’t there a geography lesson in it for all of us, if not a history lesson?
We move on now to American healthcare, and the many promising developments under way in the nation’s capital, thanks to Trump’s inspired choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as chief of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Those who see the glass half empty would argue that Kennedy has turned the department into a morgue, attempting to kill COVID-19 vaccine research, espousing backwater views about measles, firing public health experts, demoralizing the remaining staff and rejecting decades worth of biomedical advances despite having no medical training or expertise.
But on the plus side, Kennedy is going after food dyes.
It’s about time, and thank you very much.
I’m not sure what else will be left in a box of Trix or Lucky Charms when food coloring is removed, but I am opposed to fake food coloring, unless it’s in a cocktail, and I’d like to think most Americans are with me on this.
Also on the bright side: Kennedy is encouraging Americans to do chin-ups and pushups for better health.
Are you going to sit on the radical left side of your sofa and gripe about what’s happened to your country, or get with the program and try to do a few pushups?
OK, so Trump’s efforts to shut down the war on cancer is a little scary. As the New York Times reported, on the chopping block is development of a new technique for colorectal cancer prevention, research into immunotherapy cancer prevention, a study on improving childhood cancer survival rates, and better analysis of pre-malignant breast tissue in high-risk women.
But that could all be fake news, or 97% of it, at least. And if it’s not?
All that research and all those doctors and scientists can apply for jobs in other countries, just like all the climate scientists whose work is no longer a national priority. The more who leave, the better, because the brain drain is going to free up a lot of real estate and help solve the housing crisis.
Thank you, President Trump.
Is it any wonder that Trump has been seen recently wearing a MAGA-red hat that says “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!”
Well, mostly everything.
Climate change appears to be real.
The war in Ukraine didn’t end as promised.
The war in the Middle East is still raging.
Grocery prices did not go down on day one, and some goods cost more because of tariffs.
As for the promise of a new age of American prosperity, there’s no rainbow in sight yet, although there is a pot of gold in the White House, with estimates of billions in profits for Trump family businesses since he took office,
But for all of that, along with an approval rating that has dropped since he took office in January, Trump exudes confidence. So much so that he proudly wears that bright red hat, which he was giving out in the Oval office, and which retails for $25.
It’s another ingenious economic stimulation plan.
And there’s an important lesson here for all of us.
Never admit defeat, and when things don’t go your way, stand tall, adjust your hat, and find someone to blame.
We should all have our own hats made.
Doctors could wear hats saying they’ve never gotten a diagnosis wrong.
Dentists could wear hats saying they’ve never pulled the wrong tooth.
TV meteorologists could wear hats saying — well, maybe not — that they’ve gotten every forecast right.
I’m having hats made as you read this.
LOPEZ IS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!
Please don’t have me fired, Mr. President, if you disagree.
As for Jimmy Kimmel, I’m offering this idea free of charge:
If you ever get your job back, you, your sidekick Guillermo, and the entire studio audience should be wearing hats.
We want grief to only be for long, full lives, not short, sweet ones that have barely just begun. Tonight at 10, breaking news out of Washington state tonight with ties to Wisconsin, *** vigil there for three young girls found dead. Their father now charged with killing them, and tonight his family says he’s from Pewaukee. Travis Decker is *** wanted man at this hour. Investigators just updated us to say that they are still actively searching for him. 12 News Kendall Keyes leads us off with the court documents and the mystery about what happened. Whitney Decker speaking to *** Seattle news crew Monday about the father of her three girls, Travis Decker. I don’t personally think that he’s dangerous. I think that he is impulsive and he loves his children very much. The girls reported missing Friday by their mother after they did not return from *** scheduled visit with Decker. I think that he’s having *** Hard time and just needs something to make him feel better and for him that’s the girls. Her words haunting in hindsight. Decker now charged in the murder of his three daughters, 9-year-old Peyton, 8-year-old Evelyn, and 5-year-old Olivia. Family 12 News spoke to in Wisconsin say the 32-year-old grew up in Pewaukee. Monday, investigators found Decker’s truck abandoned at *** campground in Chelan County, Washington. According to court documents, 12 news obtained approximately 75 to 100 yards past where the vehicle was located and down *** small embankment, CCSO deputies located the bodies of three school-aged children. Investigators saying each has *** plastic bag over the head. The likely cause of death was *** fixation, and their wrists were also zip tied. Kendall Keys joins us from the newsroom tonight. Kendall Decker’s on the run right now, right, Diana, and they say he could be dangerous because he’s former military with extensive training. Within the hour, law enforcement in Washington held *** news conference calling for Decker to turn himself in. Travis, if you’re listening, this is your opportunity to turn yourself in. Do the right thing, do what you need to do and take accountability for your actions. We’re not going to go away. We’re not going to rest, and we’re going to make sure we find you. Pewaukee police say they’re not involved in the search. We have yet to hear back from the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office if they’ve been asked to assist in the investigation given Decker’s ties to Pewaukee.
Officials find remains they believe are Travis Decker, wanted in killings of his 3 young daughters in Washington
Authorities say they have found remains they believe are Travis Decker, an ex-soldier wanted in the deaths of his three daughters, in the mountains of Washington state.The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday that it was processing the site with the help of the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team. They will follow up with DNA analysis, it said.Video above: Wisconsin native on the run after death of his three daughters in Washington“While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,” the statement said.Decker, 32, has been wanted since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campground outside Leavenworth.Three days earlier, he failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014. He had training in navigation, survival and other skills, authorities said, and once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.More than 100 officials with an array of state and federal agencies searched hundreds of square miles, much of it mountainous and remote, by land, water and air during the on and off search. The U.S. Marshals Service offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his capture.Last September, Decker’s ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable. He was often living out of his truck, and she sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with their daughters until he found housing.An autopsy determined the girls’ cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff’s office said. They had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads.
LEAVENWORTH, Wash. —
Authorities say they have found remains they believe are Travis Decker, an ex-soldier wanted in the deaths of his three daughters, in the mountains of Washington state.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday that it was processing the site with the help of the Washington State Patrol crime scene response team. They will follow up with DNA analysis, it said.
Video above: Wisconsin native on the run after death of his three daughters in Washington
“While positive identification has not yet been confirmed, preliminary findings suggest the remains belong to Travis Decker,” the statement said.
Decker, 32, has been wanted since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — at a campground outside Leavenworth.
Three days earlier, he failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.
Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014. He had training in navigation, survival and other skills, authorities said, and once spent more than two months living in the backwoods off the grid.
Wenatchee Police Department via AP, File
FILE – This undated photo provided by the Wenatchee Police Department shows Travis Caleb Decker, who is wanted in connection with the deaths of his three daughters.
More than 100 officials with an array of state and federal agencies searched hundreds of square miles, much of it mountainous and remote, by land, water and air during the on and off search. The U.S. Marshals Service offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his capture.
Last September, Decker’s ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable. He was often living out of his truck, and she sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with their daughters until he found housing.
An autopsy determined the girls’ cause of death to be suffocation, the sheriff’s office said. They had been bound with zip ties and had plastic bags placed over their heads.
A 911 call released Tuesday shows how frantic a couple was as they were trapped inside a car sinking in a canal in Florida.Listen to the 911 call in the video player above. Investigators said the couple was driving in a remote section of northwestern Martin County when they were hit by another car, sending them off the road where they landed upside down in the canal.The other car did not stop.The woman in the car was able to get to her phone and call 911.“Please! We need you!” she said to the dispatcher.The woman, whose name has not been released, explains the situation to the dispatcher who asks if the car is sinking.“Yes!” the woman replied. “That’s what it feels like. The car is sinking, sir.”“Where’s the water now?” the dispatcher asked.“We’re in the ditch outside,” she said.“Is the water in the car and how high is it?” the dispatcher asked.“It’s up to my stomach,” she said. “We don’t know how much time we have!”The woman explained to the dispatcher that the power in the vehicle was out, and they could not open the doors nor the windows.“How far in the water are you?” the dispatcher asked.“We’re deep in the water!”“And there’s no way to get that window down?”“No. We tried everything! We’re scared!”After about 10 minutes, the call appears to drop.“You still there, sir? Ma’am?” the dispatcher asked.There was no reply.Deputies arrived a short time later and were able to bust out the car’s windows and pull the couple to safety.Both people were injured, but investigators said both are expected to recover.The sheriff’s office said they are still looking for the other driver involved in the crash.
MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. —
A 911 call released Tuesday shows how frantic a couple was as they were trapped inside a car sinking in a canal in Florida.
Listen to the 911 call in the video player above.
Investigators said the couple was driving in a remote section of northwestern Martin County when they were hit by another car, sending them off the road where they landed upside down in the canal.
The other car did not stop.
The woman in the car was able to get to her phone and call 911.
“Please! We need you!” she said to the dispatcher.
The woman, whose name has not been released, explains the situation to the dispatcher who asks if the car is sinking.
“Yes!” the woman replied. “That’s what it feels like. The car is sinking, sir.”
“Where’s the water now?” the dispatcher asked.
“We’re in the ditch outside,” she said.
“Is the water in the car and how high is it?” the dispatcher asked.
“It’s up to my stomach,” she said. “We don’t know how much time we have!”
The woman explained to the dispatcher that the power in the vehicle was out, and they could not open the doors nor the windows.
“How far in the water are you?” the dispatcher asked.
“We’re deep in the water!”
“And there’s no way to get that window down?”
“No. We tried everything! We’re scared!”
After about 10 minutes, the call appears to drop.
“You still there, sir? Ma’am?” the dispatcher asked.
There was no reply.
Deputies arrived a short time later and were able to bust out the car’s windows and pull the couple to safety.
Both people were injured, but investigators said both are expected to recover.
The sheriff’s office said they are still looking for the other driver involved in the crash.
WASHINGTON — President Trump appealed to the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the independent board that can raise or lower interest rates.
The appeal “involves yet another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s removal authority — here, interference with the President’s authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for cause,” Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer wrote.
The appeal is the second this month asking the court to give Trump broad new power over the economy.
The first, to be heard in November, will decide if the president to free to impose large import taxes on products coming into this country.
The new case could determine if he is free to remake the Federal Reserve Board by removing a Democratic appointee who he says may have broken the law.
Trump’s lawyers argue that a Fed governor has no legal right to challenge the president’s decision to fire her.
“Put simply, the President may reasonably determine that interest rates paid by the American people should not be set by a Governor who appears to have lied about facts material to the interest rates she secured for herself — and refuses to explain the apparent misrepresentations,” Trump’s lawyer said.
Trump has chafed at the Federal Reserve board for keeping interest rates high to fight inflation, and he threatened to fire board Chairman Jerome Powell, even though Trump appointed him to that post in 2018.
But last month, Trump turned his attention to Cook and said he had cause to fire her.
Congress wrote the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 intending to give the central bank board some independence from politics and the current president.
Its seven members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and they serve staggered terms of 14 years, unless “removed for cause by the president.”
The law does not define what amounts to cause.
President Biden appointed Cook in 2023 and she was confirmed to a full term.
In August, however, Bill Pulte, Trump’s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged Cook committed mortgage fraud when she took out two housing loans in 2021. One was for $203,000 for a house in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the second was for $540,000 for a condo in Atlanta. In both instances, he said she signed a loan document saying the property would be her primary residence.
Typically, borrowers obtain a better interest rate for a primary residence. But lawyers say charges of mortgage fraud are extremely rare if the borrower makes the required regular payments on the loan.
About 30 minutes after Pulte posted his allegations, Trump posted on his social media site: “Cook must resign. Now!!!”
Cook has not responded directly to the allegations, but her attorneys pointed to news reports that said she told the lender her Atlanta condo would be a vacation home.
Trump, however, sent Cook a letter on Aug. 25. “You may be removed, at my discretion, for cause,” citing the law and Pulte’s referrral. “I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position,” he wrote.
Cook filed a suit to challenge the decision. She argued the allegation did not amount to cause under the law, and she had not been given a hearing to contest the charges.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, agreed she made a “strong showing” the firing was illegal and blocked her removal.
She said Congress wrote the “for cause” provision to punish “malfeasance in office,” not conduct that pre-dated her appointment. She also said Cook had been denied “due process of law” because she was not given a hearing.
The U.S. appeals court in Washington, by a 2-1 vote, refused to lift her order Monday.
Judges Bradley Garcia and J. Michelle Childs, both Biden appointees, said Cook had been denied “even minimal process — that is, notice of the allegation against her and a meaningful opportunity to respond — before she was purportedly removed.”
Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, dissented. He said the “for cause” removal provision was broader than misconduct in office. It means the president may remove an officer for “some cause relating to” their “ability, fitness, or competence” to hold the office, he said.
And because a government position is not the property of office holders, they do not have a “due process” right to contest their firing, he said.
THIS STORY. A MAN COVERED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, WEARING A PAIR OF SWIM GOGGLES IS WANTED FOR ROBBING A RESTAURANT AT DISNEY SPRINGS. WESH TWO MICHELLE MEREDITH IS LIVE AT DISNEY TODAY. AND MICHELLE, JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN IT ALL. WELL, YOU KNOW THIS GUY DID NOT HAVE A GUN, NOR DID HE IMPLY HE DID. BUT THE WAY HE WAS DRESSED, NO DOUBT CAUGHT THESE EMPLOYEES BY SURPRISE. WHO OR WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE? WITH A MENACING GOOGLY LOOKING EYES, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, LOCH NESS MONSTER COMING OUT OF A SWAMP. NO, HE’S THE SUSPECT IN A ROBBERY THAT HAPPENED AROUND MIDNIGHT MONDAY AT DISNEY SPRINGS. THE RESTAURANT THAT GOT HIT, THE PADDLEFISH, LOOKS LIKE A BIG MISSISSIPPI RIVER STYLE PADDLE BOAT. ACCORDING TO THE ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, THE SUSPECT, COMPLETE WITH SWIMMING GOGGLES, A MASK, CAP, GLOVES, AND WHO LOOKS LIKE HE’S ABOUT TO SPRAY PAINT THE SURVEILLANCE CAMERA, MADE HIS WAY INTO THE MANAGER’S OFFICE WHILE THEY WERE DEPOSITING CASH INTO THE SAFE. PUSHED TWO EMPLOYEES INTO THE CORNER OF THE OFFICE. TOLD THEM TO GO DOWN, PUT THEM ON THEIR KNEES, AND DEMANDED THEY CLOSE THEIR EYES. THE TWO RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES WERE NOT HURT, AND THE REPORT INDICATES THE REST OF THE CREW WAS UPSTAIRS CLEANING. JUST RIDICULOUS. I MEAN, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIND THIS DUDE? VISITORS AND LOCALS WE TALKED TO NEAR DISNEY SPRINGS PROCESSED IT ALL WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ASTONISHMENT. I THINK THIS WORLD IS SICK LATELY. I SAID, THAT’S INSANE. WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO? THE SUSPECT, WHO WITNESSES SAY WAS COVERED FROM HEAD TO TOE, IS DESCRIBED AS A MAN ABOUT 510 WITH A SLIM BUILD. AND AS AN ADDED TOUCH ON HIS FEET, HE WAS WEARING SOCKS. JUST SOCKS. AND NO SHOES. LI
Suspect in swim mask robbed restaurant at Florida’s Disney Springs
At first glance, the picture of a robbery suspect might look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Or even the Loch Ness Monster.But actually, he’s the suspect in a robbery that happened on Monday around midnight at Disney Springs in Florida. The restaurant, Paddlefish, looks like a big Mississippi River paddleboat. According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect, complete with swim goggles, a mask, cap and gloves, made his way to the manager’s office while employees were depositing cash into the safe, pushed two employees into the corner, instructed them to kneel, and demanded they close their eyes.The two restaurant employees were unharmed, and the report indicates the rest of the crew was upstairs cleaning.Jeanne Rose, who lives near Disney Springs, was in disbelief, saying, “Just ridiculous, I mean how are you going to find this dude.”Her husband, Allan Rose, commented, “I think this world is sick lately.” Dagmar Morales, who is visiting Orlando, added, “I said that’s insane… what is this world coming to.”Witnesses described the suspect as a man about 5’10” with a slim build, covered from head to toe, and notably wearing socks, just socks, with no shoes. If you have any information that can help investigators catch the suspect call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. —
At first glance, the picture of a robbery suspect might look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Or even the Loch Ness Monster.
But actually, he’s the suspect in a robbery that happened on Monday around midnight at Disney Springs in Florida.
The restaurant, Paddlefish, looks like a big Mississippi River paddleboat.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect, complete with swim goggles, a mask, cap and gloves, made his way to the manager’s office while employees were depositing cash into the safe, pushed two employees into the corner, instructed them to kneel, and demanded they close their eyes.
The two restaurant employees were unharmed, and the report indicates the rest of the crew was upstairs cleaning.
Jeanne Rose, who lives near Disney Springs, was in disbelief, saying, “Just ridiculous, I mean how are you going to find this dude.”
Her husband, Allan Rose, commented, “I think this world is sick lately.”
Dagmar Morales, who is visiting Orlando, added, “I said that’s insane… what is this world coming to.”
Witnesses described the suspect as a man about 5’10” with a slim build, covered from head to toe, and notably wearing socks, just socks, with no shoes.
If you have any information that can help investigators catch the suspect call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Isadore Hall, a former state legislator and Compton City Council member, launched a campaign Monday to challenge Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia.
Hall, who is backed by a slew of prominent endorsers, argues that Mejia has been more focused on “social media theatrics” than protecting tax dollars.
He said he would bring common sense leadership and accountability, citing his lengthy track record in elected office and master’s degrees in management and public administration, as well as experience weeding out government waste and fraud in Compton.
Hall, who moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and represented parts of the city in both the Assembly and the state Senate, said he launched his bid after being asked by “some elected officials,” along with several pastors and labor leaders, though he declined to provide specifics.
Hall’s endorsements include L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger, L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, California Treasurer Fiona Ma, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and five state legislators. If elected, Hall would be the city’s first Black controller; Mejia, who is Filipino American, previously made history as the first Asian American elected to citywide office in L.A.
“It’s one thing to be a great finance person or an auditor or a person who understands numbers … but you also have to have a temperament. You also have to understand the importance of governance,” Hall said, arguing that Mejia’s office is poorly managed and lacks good communication with city department heads and other local leaders.
It’s still unclear whether other candidates will enter the race for controller — a coveted role that is one of three citywide offices, along with mayor and city attorney.
L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez has been rumored to potentially be interested in a bid for either mayor or controller, though she declined to discuss her plans with The Times last week.
Hall and Mejia represent vastly different flanks of the Democratic Party, and the coming race will almost certainly pit L.A. establishment politics against the city’s ascendant left.
Three years ago, despite being heavily outspent, Mejia made political mincemeat of Paul Koretz, who had held elected office since before he was born. Young voters who were previously unaware that L.A. even had a controller were galvanized by Mejia’s unorthodox campaign, which directed an unprecedented spotlight toward L.A.’s chief accounting officer, auditor and paymaster.
Mejia’s successful campaign coincided with a moment where faith in L.A. City Hall was at a nadir amid numerous criminal scandals and an explosive leaked recording of some City Council members frankly discussing politics in sometimes racist terms. The question in 2026 will be whether the civic pendulum has shifted and if the phrase “veteran politician” still doubles as an effective slur. Mejia will also now be running as the incumbent rather than an outsider.
Hall, 52, has spent roughly 15 years in elected office, beginning with the Compton school board in his mid-20s.
Like Mejia, who is now 34, Hall found success in politics relatively young. But his career ascended the old-fashioned way — through incrementally higher offices and with the support of the pastors, labor and community groups who have long powered the Democratic political machine in South L.A. and surrounding cities.
After losing a hard-fought bid for Congress in 2016, Hall was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Agricultural and Labor Relations Board. Hall was originally seen as a shoo-in victor during his congressional campaign, but underdog challenger Nanette Barragán succeeded, in part, by hammering him on his ties to special interests in the oil, alcohol and tobacco industries, according to prior Times reporting.
Mejia first made his name with unsuccessful runs for Congress as a Green Party candidate. He found his stride and exploded as a political pied piper of sorts during the 2022 election, where his energetic TikTok videos, sharp billboards and occasional dances in a Pikachu costume helped fuel the energy of the moment.
Attempts by critics to paint Mejia in 2022 as too “extreme” because of his anti-police positions and past bombastic tweets largely fell flat.
As the race heats up, Mejia will almost certainly attack Hall for a number of controversies involving campaign finance.
During his 2014 campaign for state Senate, rivals attacked Hall for his use of campaign funds to pay for expensive dinners, limousine rentals, luxury suites at concerts and trips — expenses he defended as legitimate campaign costs.
Hall said last week that he hadn’t been an expert in the complex rules of congressional campaign finance but held his accountant accountable for the error and learned from the experience.
A student shot two of his peers Wednesday at a suburban Denver high school before shooting himself and later dying, authorities said.The handgun shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, about 30 miles west of Denver in the Rocky Mountain foothills.Shots were fired both inside and outside the school building, and law enforcement officers who responded found the shooter within five minutes of arriving, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting fired any shots, Kelley said.More than 100 police officers from the surrounding area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. A 1999 school shooting at Jefferson County’s Columbine High killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.The teens were originally listed in critical condition, St. Anthony Hospital CEO Kevin Cullinan said. Their ages were not released.By early evening, one teen was in stable condition with what Dr. Brian Blackwood, the hospital’s trauma director, described as non-life threatening injuries. He declined to provide more details.The high school with more than 900 students is largely surrounded by forest. It is about a mile from the center of Evergreen, which has a population of 9,300 people.After the shooting, parents gathered outside a nearby elementary school waiting to reunite with their children.Wendy Nueman said her 15-year-old daughter, a sophomore at Evergreen High School, didn’t answer her phone right away after the shooting, The Denver Post reported. When her daughter finally called back, it was from a borrowed phone.“She just said she was OK. She couldn’t hardly speak,” Nueman said, holding back tears. She gathered that her daughter ran from the school.“It’s super scary,” she said. “We feel like we live in a little bubble here. Obviously, no one is immune.”Eighteen students who fled from the shooting took shelter at a home just down the road, after an initial group of them pounded on the door asking for help, resident Don Cygan told Denver’s KUSA-TV. One student said he heard gunshots while in the school’s cafeteria and ran out of the school, Cygan said.Cygan, a retired educator familiar with lockdown trainings to prepare for possible shootings, said he took down the names of all the students and the names of the parents who later arrived there to pick them up. His wife, a retired nurse, was able to calm the teens down and treat them for shock, he said.“I hope they feel like they ran to the right house,” he said._____Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
DENVER —
A student shot two of his peers Wednesday at a suburban Denver high school before shooting himself and later dying, authorities said.
The handgun shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, about 30 miles west of Denver in the Rocky Mountain foothills.
Shots were fired both inside and outside the school building, and law enforcement officers who responded found the shooter within five minutes of arriving, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting fired any shots, Kelley said.
More than 100 police officers from the surrounding area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. A 1999 school shooting at Jefferson County’s Columbine High killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.
The teens were originally listed in critical condition, St. Anthony Hospital CEO Kevin Cullinan said. Their ages were not released.
By early evening, one teen was in stable condition with what Dr. Brian Blackwood, the hospital’s trauma director, described as non-life threatening injuries. He declined to provide more details.
The high school with more than 900 students is largely surrounded by forest. It is about a mile from the center of Evergreen, which has a population of 9,300 people.
After the shooting, parents gathered outside a nearby elementary school waiting to reunite with their children.
Wendy Nueman said her 15-year-old daughter, a sophomore at Evergreen High School, didn’t answer her phone right away after the shooting, The Denver Post reported. When her daughter finally called back, it was from a borrowed phone.
“She just said she was OK. She couldn’t hardly speak,” Nueman said, holding back tears. She gathered that her daughter ran from the school.
“It’s super scary,” she said. “We feel like we live in a little bubble here. Obviously, no one is immune.”
Eighteen students who fled from the shooting took shelter at a home just down the road, after an initial group of them pounded on the door asking for help, resident Don Cygan told Denver’s KUSA-TV. One student said he heard gunshots while in the school’s cafeteria and ran out of the school, Cygan said.
Cygan, a retired educator familiar with lockdown trainings to prepare for possible shootings, said he took down the names of all the students and the names of the parents who later arrived there to pick them up. His wife, a retired nurse, was able to calm the teens down and treat them for shock, he said.
“I hope they feel like they ran to the right house,” he said.
Three teens were critically wounded in a shooting at a suburban Denver high school, including the suspected shooter, on Wednesday, authorities said.The shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, about 30 miles west of Denver, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.It is not clear what led up to the shooting or how the suspected shooter, believed to be a student at the school, was shot. None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting is believed to have fired any shots, Kelley said.The shooting happened on school grounds but it wasn’t immediately known whether it was inside the school building, she said.All three teens taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, were shot, CEO Kevin Cullinan said.Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. The sheriff’s office is the same agency that responded to the school shooting at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.”This is the scariest thing that could ever happen, and these parents were really frightened, and so were the kids,” Kelley said. “And I know we say ‘never again,’ and here we are.”FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the FBI is on scene and “in full support of local authorities.”
DENVER —
Three teens were critically wounded in a shooting at a suburban Denver high school, including the suspected shooter, on Wednesday, authorities said.
The shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, about 30 miles west of Denver, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
It is not clear what led up to the shooting or how the suspected shooter, believed to be a student at the school, was shot. None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting is believed to have fired any shots, Kelley said.
The shooting happened on school grounds but it wasn’t immediately known whether it was inside the school building, she said.
All three teens taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, were shot, CEO Kevin Cullinan said.
Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. The sheriff’s office is the same agency that responded to the school shooting at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.
“This is the scariest thing that could ever happen, and these parents were really frightened, and so were the kids,” Kelley said. “And I know we say ‘never again,’ and here we are.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the FBI is on scene and “in full support of local authorities.”
The services of a life-preserving, ego-boosting retinue of intimidating protectors — picture dark glasses, earpiece, stern visage — were cited by more than one Harris associate, past and present, as a factor in her deliberations. These were not Trumpers or Harris haters looking to impugn or embarrass the former vice president.
According to one of those associates, Harris has been accompanied nonstop by an official driver and person with a gun since 2003, when she was elected San Francisco district attorney. One could easily grow accustomed to that level of comfort and status, not to mention the pleasure of never having to personally navigate the 101 or 405 freeways at rush hour.
That is, of course, a perfectly terrible and selfish reason to run for governor, if ever it was a part of Harris’ thinking. To her credit, the reason she chose to not run was a very good one: Harris simply “didn’t feel called” to pursue the job, in the words of one political advisor.
Now, however, the matter of Harris’ personal protection has become a topic of heated discussion and debate, which is hardly surprising in an age when everything has become politicized, including “and” and “the.”
There is plenty of bad faith to go around.
Last month, President Trump abruptly revoked Harris’ Secret Service protection. The security arrangement for vice presidents typically lasts for six months after they leave office, allowing them to quietly fade into ever greater obscurity. But before vacating the White House, President Biden signed an executive order extending protection for Harris for an additional year. (Former presidents are guarded by Secret Service details for life.)
As the first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president, Harris faced, as they say in the protective-service business, an elevated threat level while serving in the post. In the 230-odd days since Harris left office, there is no reason to believe racism and misogyny, not to mention wild-eyed partisan hatred, have suddenly abated in this great land of ours.
The president could have been gracious and extended Harris’ protection. But expecting grace out of Trump is like counting on a starving Doberman to show restraint when presented a bloody T-bone steak.
“This is another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation in the form of firings, the revoking of security clearances and more,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass angrily declared.
True.
Though Bass omitted the bit about six months being standard operating procedure, which would have at least offered some context. It wasn’t as though Harris was being treated differently than past vice presidents.
Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly stepped into the breach, providing Harris protection by the California Highway Patrol. Soon after, The Times’ Richard Winton broke the news that Los Angeles Police Department officers meant to be fighting crime in hard-hit areas of the city were instead providing security for Harris as a supplement to the CHP.
Not a great look. Or the best use of police resources.
All well and good, until the conservative-leaning Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file officers, saw fit to issue a gratuitously snarky statement condemning the hasty arrangement. Its board of directors described Harris as “a failed presidential candidate who also happens to be a multi-millionaire, with multiple homes … who can easily afford to pay for her own security.”
One person in the private-security business told Winton that a certain household name pays him $1,000 a day for a 12-hour shift. That can quickly add up and put a noticeable dent in your back account, assuming your name isn’t Elon or Taylor or Zuckerberg or Bezos.
Setting aside partisanship — if that’s still possible — and speaking bluntly, there’s something to be said for ensuring Harris doesn’t die a violent death at the hands of some crazed assailant.
The CHP’s Dignitary Protection Section is charged with protecting all eight of California’s constitutional officers — we’re talking folks such as the insurance commissioner and state controller — as well as the first lady and other elected officials, as warranted. The statutory authority also extends to former constitutional officers, which would include Harris, who served six years as state attorney general.
Surely there’s room in California’s $321-billion budget to make sure nothing terrible happens to one of the state’s most prominent and credentialed citizens. It doesn’t have to be an open-ended, lifetime commitment to Harris’ protection, but an arrangement that could be periodically reviewed, as time passes and potential danger wanes.
Serving in elected office can be rough, especially in these incendiary times. The price shouldn’t include having to spend the rest of your life looking nervously over your shoulder.
Or draining your life savings, so you don’t have to.
AS IS REQUIRED BY LAW. TONIGHT, AN ORANGE COUNTY WOMAN FACES FIVE FELONIES ACCUSED OF REGISTERING HER DOG TO VOTE, ACCORDING TO THE ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 62 YEAR OLD LAURA YORK OF COSTA MESA, CAST BALLOTS IN HER DOG’S NAME, AND THOSE BALLOTS WERE FOR THE RECALL OF THE GOVERNOR IN 2021 AND THE 2022 PRIMARY. THE DOGS VOTE WAS SUCCESSFULLY COUNTED IN 2021, BUT IT WAS REJECTED IN 2022. PROSECUTORS SAY YOUR NEXT POSTED A SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE OF HER DOG WEARING AN I VOTED STICKER. IF CONVI
California woman accused of registering dog to vote, casting mail-in ballots
A Southern California woman has been charged with multiple felonies after she allegedly registered her dog to vote and cast mail-in ballots in her pet’s name, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.Officials said Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, had registered her dog, Maya Jean, to vote and successfully cast a ballot in the dog’s name in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election. She tried to cast another ballot in the dog’s name in the 2022 primary election, but that ballot was rejected.Yourex was also open about her actions on social media, officials said. She allegedly posted a photo of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker with a ballot in January 2022, and in a post from October 2024, shared a photograph of her dog’s tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption: “Maya is still getting her ballot,” after the dog’s death.The district attorney’s office said Yourex self-reported the voter fraud to the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ Office. The registrar’s office then contacted the district attorney’s office.Yourex is charged with one count of perjury, one count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, and one count of registering a non-existent person to vote.”According to the California Elections Code, in order to vote, a person must be registered as a voter by filling out and submitting an Affidavit of Registration, which includes the voter’s name, residence, mailing address, date of birth, political party preference, and a certification that the voter is a citizen of the United States. The affidavit must be signed under penalty of perjury,” the district attorney’s office stated in a news release.In California state elections, an ID is not required to cast a ballot. However, proof of residence and registration is required for first-time voters in a federal election, which is why the 2022 ballot was rejected.Voter identification laws in recent years have become a heated topic, often brought up in discussions of voter fraud or immigration legal status. In fall 2024, California enacted a law prohibiting local governments from enforcing a voter ID requirement. That law came after voters in Huntington Beach, which is in Orange County, approved a measure that would let the city require voters to show their ID when casting ballots.The 2021 election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom was voted down by 61.9% of voters, so Maya’s alleged vote would not have swayed the outcome.However, anyone who suspects any voter fraud is urged to contact their county.
A Southern California woman has been charged with multiple felonies after she allegedly registered her dog to vote and cast mail-in ballots in her pet’s name, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Officials said Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, had registered her dog, Maya Jean, to vote and successfully cast a ballot in the dog’s name in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election. She tried to cast another ballot in the dog’s name in the 2022 primary election, but that ballot was rejected.
Yourex was also open about her actions on social media, officials said. She allegedly posted a photo of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker with a ballot in January 2022, and in a post from October 2024, shared a photograph of her dog’s tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption: “Maya is still getting her ballot,” after the dog’s death.
The district attorney’s office said Yourex self-reported the voter fraud to the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ Office. The registrar’s office then contacted the district attorney’s office.
Yourex is charged with one count of perjury, one count of procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, and one count of registering a non-existent person to vote.
“According to the California Elections Code, in order to vote, a person must be registered as a voter by filling out and submitting an Affidavit of Registration, which includes the voter’s name, residence, mailing address, date of birth, political party preference, and a certification that the voter is a citizen of the United States. The affidavit must be signed under penalty of perjury,” the district attorney’s office stated in a news release.
In California state elections, an ID is not required to cast a ballot. However, proof of residence and registration is required for first-time voters in a federal election, which is why the 2022 ballot was rejected.
Voter identification laws in recent years have become a heated topic, often brought up in discussions of voter fraud or immigration legal status. In fall 2024, California enacted a law prohibiting local governments from enforcing a voter ID requirement. That law came after voters in Huntington Beach, which is in Orange County, approved a measure that would let the city require voters to show their ID when casting ballots.
The 2021 election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom was voted down by 61.9% of voters, so Maya’s alleged vote would not have swayed the outcome.
However, anyone who suspects any voter fraud is urged to contact their county.
A 44-year-old Inglewood man allegedly killed and robbed two men he met through a dating website before savagely beating a third, prosecutors said Monday.
Rockim Prowell was charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and multiple counts of carjacking and burglary in a string of attacks from 2021 to 2025, according to a criminal complaint made public Monday. In each case, Los Angeles County prosecutors said, Prowell met his victims through online dating.
“Imagine the terror and horror these victims felt after being duped into believing they were meeting for one reason, only to face inexplicable violence,” Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “These were predatory acts that showed a total disregard of life.”
In July 2021, Prowell met up with Miguel Angel King, 51, after they connected on a dating app, according to a news release issued Monday by the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors allege that Prowell shot King and stole his car, which was found a week later. Forensic evidence collected from the vehicle linked Prowell to the killing, according to the district attorney’s office. King’s remains were found in the Angeles National Forest the next month.
At the time of King’s death, Prowell was awaiting trial on multiple counts of burglary and theft. He was arrested in May 2021, court records show, and allegedly killed King two months before the district attorney’s office offered him a plea deal that placed him on probation.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on the prior plea agreement or identify the dating app used in each attack.
The L.A. County public defender’s office, which last represented Prowell in 2021, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Prowell was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, but his hearing was delayed to Oct. 16, according to a district attorney’s office spokesperson.
In August 2023, prosecutors said Prowell met up with Robert Gutierrez, 53, after again using a dating website to connect.
Gutierrez’s family reported him missing a week later and his body was never found, prosecutors said. But when Prowell was arrested last week, prosecutors said they found Gutierrez’s vehicle in his garage.
This year, prosecutors say Prowell also lured a 40-year-old man to meet him through the same dating website, after which he “bound the victim, stole his wallet and beat him with a baseball bat,” according to the news release. The man escaped, but Prowell chased after him in a car, running him over and breaking his leg.
Prosecutors could pursue the death penalty against Prowell, but a decision on whether to do so must be approved by a committee within the district attorney’s office.
I also spoke to John Gallucci, a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer who specializes in treating symptoms from poor office posture, and he confirmed much of what Egbert said. Closed case, right? Well, it’s certainly not just marketing speak so that office chair manufacturers can charge you extra. But there are some important factors to consider.
Not All Lumbar Support Is Equal
Gallucci was quick to point out the benefits of lumbar support, but he also issued some warnings about how to proceed. Turns out, not all lumbar support is equal. “The most important thing to look for in a chair is ergonomic adjustability,” he says, referencing the need for adjustable lumbar support. “A good chair should support your posture for long periods without causing discomfort or fatigue. That means it should allow you to adjust the seat height, seat pan depth, armrests, lumbar support, and backrest tilt.”
Chairs with fixed lumbar support mean it isn’t adjustable to your body. Lumbar support and adjustments come in different forms these days. For example, some chairs have lumbar height adjustment but not depth, also known as “two-way” adjustment. Some use a dial for adjustment, and others use a ratchet or lever system. Other chairs let you adjust the entire backrest to find the right position, and some cheaper chairs resort to just a simple pad that can be manually moved. These can, in theory, all be good solutions, so long as you’re able to find the right position.
“That curve has to be adjustable as to where it is,” Egbert says. “My butt might be lower than your butt, and you want it to match where that curve in your lower back is. You want to be able to slide it up and down.”
A good example of an ergonomic chair with “two-way” lumbar adjustment is the Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro. We’ve tested dozens of chairs, and this excellent lumbar support is one of the reasons WIRED’s office chair reviewer, Julian Chokkattu, found it so comfortable. It also doesn’t cost over a thousand dollars like so many high-end office chairs.
If you aren’t ready to shell out $500 on an ergonomic chair, that doesn’t mean you have to be doomed to lower back pain. Some DIY solutions can even be better than a chair with inadequate lumbar adjustment. We’ve even tested some add-on lumbar cushions that we like, such as this LoveHome model you can find on Amazon.
When it comes down to it, though, lumbar support isn’t the first thing to tackle when setting up your workspace. If you’re sitting at an old desk working from only a laptop, lumbar support is never going to solve your posture issues. Fix that first, with either a laptop stand or a height-adjustable monitor.
After that, yes, lumbar support is a good thing. It needs to be adjustable and well-implemented, but it’s something you’ll want to make sure is available on your next office chair. If you’re sitting for eight hours a day, your back deserves it.
Los Angeles police Metropolitan Division officers, meant to be working crime-suppression assignments in hard-hit areas of the city, are instead providing security for former Vice President Kamala Harris, sources told The Times.
The department is “assisting the California Highway Patrol in providing protective services for former Vice President Kamala Harris until an alternate plan is established,” said Jennifer Forkish, L.A. police communications director. “This temporary coordinated effort is in place to ensure that there is no lapse in security.”
A dozen or more officers have begun working a detail to protect Harris after President Trump revoked her Secret Service protection as of Monday. Sources not authorized to discuss the details of the plan said the city would fund the security but that the arrangement was expected to be brief, with Harris hiring her own security in the near future.
Trump ended an arrangement that had extended Harris’ security coverage beyond the six months that vice presidents are usually provided after leaving office. California officials then put into place a plan for the California Highway Patrol to provide dignitary protection for Harris. At some point, the LAPD was added to the plan, according to the sources, as California law enforcement scrambled to take over from the Secret Service on Monday.
A security detail was captured outside Harris’ Brentwood home by a FOX 11 helicopter as the station broke the story of the use of L.A. police.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, criticized the move.
“Pulling police officers from protecting everyday Angelenos to protect a failed presidential candidate who also happens to be a multi-millionaire, with multiple homes and who can easily afford to pay for her own security, is nuts,” its board of directors said in a statement to The Times. Mayor Karen Bass “should tell Governor Newsom that if he wants to curry favor with Ms. Harris and her donor base, then he should open up his own wallet because LA taxpayers should not be footing the bill for this ridiculousness.”
Newsom, who would need to sign off on CHP protection, has not confirmed the arrangement to The Times. Izzy Gordon, a spokesperson for Newsom, simply said, “The safety of our public officials should never be subject to erratic, vindictive political impulses.”
Newsom’s office and Bass’ office had discussions last week on how best to address the situation, according to sources not authorized to talk about the details.
Bass, in a statement last week, commented on Trump scrapping the security detail for Harris, saying, “This is another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation in the form of firings, the revoking of security clearances, and more. This puts the former Vice President in danger and I look forward to working with the governor to make sure Vice President Harris is safe in Los Angeles.”
Her office did not respond to comment on the LAPD deployment on Thursday.
Two law enforcement sources told The Times that the Metro officers had been slated to go to the San Fernando Valley for crime-suppression work before their assignment changed.
Deploying LAPD officers to protect Harris was a source of controversy within the department in years past.
During L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck’s tenure, when Harris was a U.S. senator, plainclothes officers served as security and traveled with her from January 2017 to July 2018. It was an arrangement that then-Mayor Eric Garcetti said he was unaware of until Beck’s successor ended it. Beck said at the time through a spokesman that the protection was granted based on a threat assessment.
Beck’s successor, Michel Moore, ended the protection in July 2018 after he said a new evaluation determined it was no longer needed. The decision came as The Times filed a lawsuit seeking records from Garcetti detailing the costs of security related to his own extensive travel.
Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday ending Harris’ protection as of Monday, according to sources not authorized to discuss the security matter.
Former vice presidents usually get Secret Service protection for six months after leaving office, while former presidents are given protection for life. But before his term ended, then-President Biden signed an order to extend Harris’ protection beyond six months, to July 2026. Aides to Harris had asked Biden for the extension. Without it, her security detail would have ended last month, according to sources.
The Secret Service, the CHP and Los Angeles police do not discuss details of dignitary protection in terms of deployment, numbers, or travel teams. CNN first reported the removal of Harris’ protection detail.
The curtailing of Secret Service protection comes as Harris is about to begin a book tour for her memoir, titled “107 Days.” The tour has 15 stops, which include visits to London and Toronto. The book title references the short length of her presidential campaign. The tour begins next month.
Harris, the first Black woman to serve as vice president, was the subject of an elevated threat level — particularly when she became the Democratic presidential contender last year. The Associated Press reports, however, a recent threat intelligence assessment by the Secret Service conducted on those it protects, such as Harris, found no red flags or credible evidence of a threat to the former vice president.
Kristianne Egbert has worked in occupational ergonomics for nearly 20 years and is now a senior corporate ergonomist at Briotix Health, a workplace injury prevention company. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Egbert also says that repeated use of a laptop alone on a desk is going to have a huge effect on your overall posture.
Egbert referred to what’s known as the 20-degree rule. If you’re holding your neck at an angle of 20 degrees or more, you’re officially crossing the risk threshold. “You’re probably bending over because you’re leaning forward to see that screen and be able to reach the keyboard,” she says.
Sitting back farther in your chair might seem like a fix to the problem temporarily, but in reality, bending beyond 20 degrees isn’t the real issue. Most people aren’t comfortable holding that position for long periods of time, which means it’s what else your body does to compensate that’s problematic.
“Nobody really wants to bend their head that much more than 20 degrees,” Egbert says. “So, when you don’t want to bend your neck forward, then the rest of your body is going to try and accommodate.”
You might tilt your whole back forward to avoid that extreme neck posture to type on the keyboard and see the screen of your laptop. That’s where bad posture habits really form. It’s not that you need to just suck it up and have better posture. You need to change the way you’re working, not necessarily your discipline.
“The other thing that ends up happening when your back starts getting tired is you’re like, ‘OK, well, I’m gonna scoot back a little bit to keep my back a little straighter,’” she says, demonstrating the position over the Zoom call. “But then, my arms are going to come out a little bit more, and I’m anchoring my wrist down while I’m typing.” This position can cause all sorts of other problems.
It’s even worse for shorter people, who are often working from chairs that aren’t tall enough. Egbert often recommends putting the laptop down on the lap, so that your arms can be down “where they belong.” You can tilt the laptop screen and look down at it, cutting the risk of leaning forward too much.
What to Do Instead
Hansker Productivity Mouse
Photograph: Henri Robbins
Fortunately, there are some simple (and even affordable!) solutions to this ergonomic disaster. Both experts I interviewed indicated that your office chair is a good place to start for better posture and office ergonomics. (We have an excellent guide that can help.)
8-year-old boy bitten by shark while snorkeling in Florida, officials say
FOOTBALL PLAYER IS RECOVERING THIS MORNING. A FORMER SEMINOLE HIGH SCHOOL STAR AND FSU PLAYER WAS SHOT TODAY. WE’RE HEARING FROM HIS FAMILY. PLUS, IT IS DECISION DAY IN ORANGE COUNTY FOR TWO SPECIAL ELECTIONS, THE KEY RACES AND OPEN SEATS AS POLLING LOCATIONS ARE NOW OPEN. PLUS, WE WANT TO GRAB YOUR UMBRELLA. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SOME COASTAL SHOWERS THIS MORNING AND THERE’S MORE RAIN ON THE WAY. HOW LONG WE’RE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH A SOGGY STRETCH. AND YOUR POWERBALL DREAMS ARE STILL ALIVE. NO WINNER IN LAST NIGHT’S BILLION-DOLLAR DRAWING. WE SHOW YOU THE NUMBERS. AND WHO WOKE UP A MILLIONAIRE RIGHT HERE IN FLORIDA. SUNRISE ON CW 18 STARTS RIGHT NOW. GOOD MORNING. ON THIS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND. THANKS FOR STARTING IT WITH YOUR SUNRISE TEAM HERE AT 8:00 AM JASON GUY AND I’M MEREDITH MCDONOUGH. LOTS TO GET TO THIS MORNING. FIRST WARNING METEOROLOGIST KELLIANNE KLASS WILL HAVE A CHECK OF THOSE TEMPERATURES AND SOME SHOWERS IN JUST A MOMENT. LET’S BEGIN THOUGH, WITH TRAFFIC EXPERT MEAGHAN MACKEY. MEGAN, I KNOW YOU’RE FOLLOWING A CRASH EARLIER TODAY, BUT. AND IT’S REALLY, THOUGH STILL LEADING TO A BIG BACKUP. YEAH, ALL THOSE LANES ARE BACK OPEN. HARD TO BELIEVE, THOUGH. LOOKING AT THIS CAMERA. THE CRASH ITSELF WAS RIGHT NEAR MILL. SO JUST BEFORE YOU GET TO I-4. BUT WESTBOUND BACKING UP PAST GOLDENROD. SO STILL THIS MORNING, HEADING OUT THE DOOR ALONG STATE ROAD FOUR WAYNE, IT’S PROBABLY BEST TO AVOID THOSE WESTBOUND LANES, BUT WE’LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS CRASH. OF COURSE, IT IS THE FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL AND WORK FOR MANY PEOPLE AFTER THE LONG WEEKEND. KELLIANNE HOPEFULLY A DRIER FORECAST IN STORE, ESPECIALLY FOR INLAND SPOTS. OUR COASTLINE. WE’RE TRACKING A COUPLE OF SHOWERS, BUT IT’S NOT AN ALL DAY WASHOUT. ALTHOUGH IF YOU DO HAVE SOME BEACH PLANS, JUST KEEP IN MIND NOT THE BEST BEACH DAY BECAUSE WE’RE GOING TO HAVE GUSTY CONDITIONS AND A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. PLUS ON AND OFF SHOWERS FOR I-95 LOCATIONS. ALL RIGHT, LET’S GET YOU OUT THE DOOR WITH A LOOK AT OUR TOWER CAMERA NETWORK OUT AT PORT CANAVERAL. MIX OF SUN AND CLOUDS TO START. AND AT TIMES WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE CLOUD COVER THAN SUNSHINE. THAT’S JUST THE FORECAST FOR THE DAY AHEAD. ALREADY THIS MORNING, TRACKING SOME RAINFALL, WORKING AWAY FROM COCOA BEACH OVER TOWARDS MERRITT ISLAND, DOWN TO INDIAN HARBOR BEACH AND SATELLITE BEACH, JUST A FEW SPRINKLES AND A FEW MORE HEAVIER DOWNPOURS ON THE WAY TOWARDS SCOTTSMOOR. COUPLE OF SHOWERS AROUND OAK HILL AS WELL. IT’S ALL THANKS TO THIS FRONT THAT STALLED OUT IN SOUTH FLORIDA. PLUS, THERE’S AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE. IT’S A NON-TROPICAL LOW THAT’S OFF OF OUR COASTLINE AND WITH A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WE GET COUNTERCLOCKWISE WINDS. SO TODAY OUR WIND IS OUT OF THE NORTH NORTHEAST, WHICH IS WHY WE’RE GOING TO HAVE ON AND OFF SHOWERS ACROSS OUR COAST THIS MORNING. AND THIS AFTERNOON FOR INLAND SPOTS. I THINK THAT’S WHEN WE’LL SEE MAYBE A COUPLE OF PASSING SHOWERS AS WELL. COMING UP IN A FEW MINUTES, WE’LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT TODAY’S FORECAST PLUS THE TROPICS. BUT FIRST LET’S GET BACK TO MEGAN WITH A CHECK ON THE 408. YEAH. KELLIANNE. YOU CAN SEE HERE THE DELAYS HERE REALLY BAD. STILL THIS MORNING WESTBOUND IT IS BACKED UP PAST THE 417 IN GOLDENROD. STATE ROUTE FOUR WESTBOUND. THIS IS GOING TO IMPACT THOSE DRIVERS FOR THE MOST PART TRAVELING FROM THE WATERFORD LAKES AREA TOWARDS DOWNTOWN ORLANDO ALONG STATE ROAD FOUR WESTBOUND. SO I WOULD PERSONALLY AVOID THOSE LANES. AND ALSO YOU’RE STILL PAYING THOSE TOLLS TO SIT IN THIS TRAFFIC, SO YOU’RE BETTER OFF THIS MORNING USING COLONIAL DRIVE AS THAT DETOUR. YOU’RE GOING TO BE SITTING IN SOME STOPLIGHTS. YOU STILL NEED TO ADD AN EXTRA 20 TO 25 MINUTES FOR THAT MORNING DRIVE, BUT IT’S GOING TO BE A LOT BETTER THAN SITTING IN THIS TRAFFIC, BECAUSE WE REALLY DON’T SEE THESE DELAYS START TO IMPROVE UNTIL RIGHT WHEN YOU GET TO THAT I-4 INTERCHANGE, YOU CAN SEE THAT PURPLE AND RED HERE, SHOWING JUST HOW LONG THE BACKUP IS. SO SEVERAL MILES OVER TEN MILES THIS MORNING IMPACTING YOU WESTBOUND ALONG THE 408. NO OTHER BIG CRASHES RIGHT NOW, THOUGH. ONCE YOU GET TO I-4 THIS NICE AND QUIET FOR THAT TUESDAY MORNING DRIVE. HEADING OUT THE DOOR AFTER THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND, WE’LL CHECK BACK IN WITH THOSE TRAVEL TIMES ALONG THE FOUR WAY COMING UP IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, IN ORANGE COUNTY, A COW WAS TO BLAME FOR A CRASH ALONG COLONIAL DRIVE NEAR BITHLO. THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THAT THIS HAPPENED NEAR EAST RIVER HIGH SCHOOL AROUND 330 THIS MORNING. TRAFFIC WAS DELAYED FOR QUITE A BIT HERE, BUT THINGS ARE FLOWING ONCE AGAIN AT THIS HOUR. NO ONE WAS HURT. IN ORANGE COUNTY, VOTERS HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE POLLS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR NOW. THERE. IT’S PART OF A SPECIAL ELECTION. NOW THERE ARE TWO BIG ONES. YES, STATE SENATE DISTRICT 15 AND STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 40 ARE BOTH ON THE BALLOT. WESH 2’S PAOLA TRISTAN ARUDA IS IN WINTER PARK AT ONE OF THE POLLING LOCATIONS. MORE THAN 15,000 PEOPLE HAVE CAST THEIR BALLOTS EARLY, SO NOW WE’RE JUST WAITING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP TO POLLING LOCATIONS LIKE THIS ONE. THE ACTUAL POLLING LOCATION IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, AND WE HAVE SEEN A COUPLE OF CARS SO FAR. OF THOSE VOTES, OVER 10,000 WERE CAST BY MAIL AND ABOUT 5000 BY EARLY VOTING, MARKING THE CURRENT VOTER TURNOUT AT ABOUT 5.62%. STATE SENATE DISTRICT 15 IS THE SEAT LEFT VACANT WHEN GERALDINE THOMPSON DIED. IT COVERS AREAS OF WEST ORANGE COUNTY LIKE WINTER GARDEN, APOPKA, AND ZELLWOOD. STATE REPRESENTATIVE LAVONNE BRACY DAVIS WON THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR THE SEAT, SO SHE’S FACING OFF AGAINST REPUBLICAN WILLIE MONTAGUE FOR THIS ELECTION. THE OTHER RACES FOR BRACY DAVIS’S SEAT IN STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 40, WHICH COVERS COLLEGE PARK, PINE HILLS, ROSEMONT AND OCOEE. RASHAWN YOUNG WON THE PRIMARY AGAINST FORMER STATE REP TRAVIS MCCURDY, AND TODAY, YOUNG FACES OFF AGAINST REPUBLICAN JUAN LEE. THE POLLS ARE NOW OPEN UNTIL 7 P.M., AND IF YOU ARE COMING OUT TO VOTE, MAKE SURE THAT YOU BRING A PHOTO AND SIGNATURE ID WITH YOU. COVERING ORANGE COUNTY IN WINTER PARK, PAOLA TRISTAN ARUDA WESH TWO NEWS. NEW. THIS MORNING WE’RE STAYING IN ORANGE COUNTY AND FOLLOWING UP ON A SCENE WHERE WE WERE LIVE AS POLICE WERE INVESTIGATING LAST NIGHT. WE NOW KNOW THIS IS PART OF A SHOOTING. IT’S ON EDGEMOOR STREET, JUST OFF NORTH IVEY LANE AND OLD WINTER GARDEN ROAD. THIS IS IN THE MALIBU GROVES NEIGHBORHOOD THERE. ORLANDO POLICE TELL US A MAN WAS SHOT. HE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND IS EXPECTED TO SURVIVE. POLICE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH THIS INVESTIGATION. ALSO THIS MORNING, A MAN IS IN THE HOSPITAL IN VOLUSIA COUNTY AFTER AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING. THIS WAS IN PORT ORANGE. AND POLICE SAY IN THE AREA OF CAREY COURT, RIGHT IN THE WILLOW RUN NEIGHBORHOOD, AUTHORITIES TELL US OFFICERS WERE FIRST CALLED OUT FOR A WELL-BEING CHECK ON SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HARM THEMSELVES. POLICE DIDN’T SAY WHAT LED UP TO THE GUNFIRE, BUT ONE MAN WHO DIDN’T WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED TOLD WESH TWO NEWS HE HEARD MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS. WHEN I CAME AROUND TO THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE, THERE WERE POLICE CARS EVERYWHERE, ALL UP AND DOWN THE STREET, SO I WALKED OUT FRONT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON AND I SAW POLICE POLICEMEN ALONGSIDE MY HOUSE, WAVING EMPHATICALLY FOR ME TO GET BACK IN THE HOUSE. POLICE HAVEN’T SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE EXTENT OF THE MAN’S INJURIES, ONLY THAT HE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IS NOW INVESTIGATING. RIGHT NOW, FLORIDA STATE FOOTBALL PLAYER FROM CENTRAL FLORIDA IS RECOVERING AFTER BEING FOUND SHOT NEAR TALLAHASSEE. AND SOME OF YOU MAY RECOGNIZE HIM. ETHAN PRITCHARD WAS FROM SANFORD. NOW, GADSDEN COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES SAY THAT PRITCHARD WAS FOUND IN A CAR SUNDAY IN HAVANA. THAT’S ABOUT 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF TALLAHASSEE. THE FLORIDA STATE LINEBACKER WAS SHOT JUST ONE NIGHT AFTER THE SEMINOLES PULLED OFF A BIG UPSET AGAINST THE NUMBER EIGHT RANKED ALABAMA. PRITCHARD DID NOT PLAY, BUT THAT’S NOT UNUSUAL FOR FRESHMAN HEAD COACH MIKE NORVELL IS ASKING EVERYONE TO KEEP PRITCHARD IN THEIR THOUGHTS AS HE FIGHTS TO RECOVER. I GOT A CHANCE TO BE THERE LAST NIGHT WITH HIM AND HIS DAD AND FAMILY AND YOU KNOW, GRATEFUL, YOU KNOW, FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AND, YOU KNOW, MEDICAL, YOU KNOW, SUPPORT THAT HE WAS ABLE TO RECEIVE. PRITCHARD PLAYED FOOTBALL FOR SEMINOLE HIGH AND WAS A FOUR STAR RECRUIT. HE WAS IN DEMAND FROM A NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, INCLUDING UCF, BUT HE CHOSE FSU. NO ONE ANSWERED AT THE PRITCHARD HOME. WHEN WE WENT TO TALK TO THEM IN A TEXT MESSAGE FROM HIS FATHER, EARL. THE FAMILY TOLD WESH TWO NEWS THAT WE ARE REQUESTING PRIVACY AT THIS TIME. IF YOU CAN, PLEASE PRAY FOR ETHAN AND OUR FAMILY. NOW, ONCE WE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE SITUATION, WE WILL REACH OUT. ETHAN IS A FIGHTER, BUT HE NEEDS SOME EXTRA HELPFUL PRAYERS RIGHT NOW. DEPUTIES SO FAR HAVE NO MOTIVE IN THE SHOOTING. TODAY, POLICE NEED YOUR HELP FINDING WHOEVER SHOT AND KILLED A TWO YEAR OLD GIRL AND SENT HER GRANDPARENTS TO THE HOSPITAL WITH CRITICAL INJURIES. MELBOURNE POLICE OFFICERS WERE STILL OUT AT THE HOME ON POPLAR LANE YESTERDAY AS A MEMORIAL FOR THIS LITTLE GIRL GROWS RIGHT THERE ON THE SIDEWALK. THE DEADLY SHOOTING WAS FRIDAY NIGHT. IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, CALL THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE OR CRIMELINE. A MAN IS IN JAIL ACCUSED OF BREAKING INTO HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND’S HOME IN DELTONA AND THEN PULLING A GUN ON HER. DEPUTIES SAY THE WOMAN WAS HOME WITH HER FRIEND AND SISTER WHEN DAREN SINGLETARY BROKE IN THROUGH A WINDOW. DEPUTIES SAY HE THEN ATTACKED THE WOMAN BEFORE PULLING A GUN AND FIRING A ROUND INTO THE CEILING. EVENTUALLY, DEPUTIES SAY THAT HE TOOK HIS EX’S PHONE AND JUMPED OUT THE BACK WINDOW. DEPUTIES THEN TRACKED HIM DOWN TO NEAR LAKE HELEN. CRAWL OUT NOW. GOOD BOYS. WHAT A DOG! CRAWL TO YOUR RIGHT. YOU’RE RIGHT. I GOT. THEY EVENTUALLY FOUND SINGLETARY HIDING UNDER AN ABANDONED RV. THE GUN BURIED IN THE DIRT. HE’S NOW FACING HOME. INVASION, ROBBERY AND ASSAULT CHARGES. AS OF THIS MORNING, ALL PROTESTERS ARRESTED BY FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL FOR CHALKING ON THE CROSSWALK NEXT TO PULSE ARE OUT OF JAIL. THE BREWING LEGAL BATTLES. JUST THE LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN THE BACK AND FORTH SINCE FDOT ERASED THE RAINBOW CROSSWALK. UNDER NEW STATE REGULATIONS. WESH TWO DAVID JONES HAS MORE ON THE ARREST. THIS ISSUE IS BECOMING BIGGER. ATTORNEY BLAKE SIMONS SAYS IT’S ABOUT MORE THAN JUST A CROSSWALK. HIS CLIENTS, SOME OF WHICH WERE RECENT ARRESTEES, TOOK THE MESSAGE TO ORLANDO CITY HALL. THIS ISSUE NEEDS TO BE IN FRONT OF OUR POLITICIANS. IT NEEDS TO BE IN FRONT OF OUR GOVERNMENT. IN CITY HALL IS AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO CONTINUE EXERCISING OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. DONOVAN SHORT, WHO GOES BY MELODY ZAPORIZHZHIA, WHO GOES BY KATE AND MARY JANE EAST, ALL FACED AN ORANGE COUNTY JUDGE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON LABOR DAY. SHANE SHANE. SHAME. ALL ARRESTED BY THE STATE HIGHWAY PATROL FOR PUTTING CHALK ON THE CROSSWALK LATE LAST WEEK. ANOTHER PERSON, SEBASTIAN SUAREZ, WAS ARRESTED FOR THE SAME OFFENSE. GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS SAYS ARTWORK AND MARKINGS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR MESSAGING, NEED TO GO. BASED ON NEW FDOT REGULATIONS. SO I WOULD REFER YOU TO THE DOT MEMO. THE PULSE MEMORIAL BEING ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES PAINTED OVER WITH THESE NEW ALLEGED FDOT REGULATIONS, WAS THE FIRST BLOW IN THIS FIGHT. THIS FIGHT HAS NOW BECOME BIGGER WITH SEBASTIAN’S ARREST AND NOW THE ARREST OF THE THREE INDIVIDUALS. LAST NIGHT. THE JUDGE FOUND PROBABLE CAUSE FOR THE ARRESTS OF THE THREE BECAUSE THE STATE GAVE A SPECIFIC AMOUNT FOR HOW MUCH IT COST TO REPAINT THE CROSSWALK, WHICH IT CALLED A TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE. SIMONS ARGUES A CROSSWALK DOES NOT MEET THE DEFINITION FOR A TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE. I DON’T THINK THE FDOT REGULATIONS ARE INFRINGING ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. I THINK FHP CHOOSING TO TARGET PEOPLE FOR PERFORMING CONDUCTIVE SPEECH IN A CROSSWALK, WHICH IS AN EXTENSION OF THE SIDEWALK, A TRADITIONALLY HELD PUBLIC FORUM FOR FREE SPEECH. I THINK THAT IS THE ISSUE. DAVID JONES, NOW, TO GIVE YOU SOME CONTEXT, THE STATE FIRST PAINTED THE RAINBOW CROSSWALK BACK IN 2017, IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE 49 VICTIMS OF THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING. AND FDOT PAINTED IT OVER A WEEK AND A HALF AGO, IN THE EARLY MORNING OF AUGUST 21ST. WITHIN 24 HOURS, PROTESTERS AND SOME CITY OFFICIALS USED CHALK TO COLOR IN THE CROSSWALK AGAIN. BUT BY SUNDAY, FDOT CREWS REPAINTED THE CROSSWALK BACK TO BLACK AND WHITE. ORLANDO POLICE OFFICERS IN FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPERS STARTED GUARDING THE CROSSWALK LAST MONTH, THE SAME DAY SOMEONE FOUND A SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE THERE AT PULSE. IT TURNED INTO AN INVESTIGATION AND IT WAS DEEMED SAFE. NOW, THAT PACKAGE WAS ACTUALLY CHALKED. SOMEONE SENT TO HELP THOSE PROTESTERS. THE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN PROTESTERS AND FDOT THEN CONTINUED UNTIL LAST FRIDAY, WHEN THE FIRST PERSON THERE WAS ARRESTED, SEBASTIAN SUAREZ. MORE ARRESTS HAPPENED SUNDAY, SETTING OFF MULTIPLE LEGAL BATTLES BETWEEN PROTESTERS AND THE STATE. MEANWHILE, TODAY, THIS RAINBOW CROSSWALK IN DELRAY BEACH WILL BE UP FOR DISCUSSION HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. FDOT SAYS THE ARTWORK MUST BE REMOVED BY TOMORROW, BUT THE CITY REQUESTED A HEARING. IT’S BEING HELD AT FDOT. S TURKEY LAKE PLAZA OFFICES RIGHT THERE ALONG THE TURNPIKE IN ORLANDO. LOOKING AHEAD TO TOMORROW. ANOTHER BATCH OF STARLINK SATELLITES WILL LAUNCH FROM OUR SPACE COAST. SPACEX IS EXPECTED TO LAUNCH AT 706 TOMORROW MORNING FROM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION. AND YOU CAN WATCH IT RIGHT HERE ON CW 18 WHEN IT LIFTS OFF. PICKLEBALL IS A VERY POPULAR SPORT. YEAH, BUT IN ONE CENTRAL FLORIDA NEIGHBORHOOD, IT’S CREATING A LOT OF NOISE. THE NEW LIMITS IN WHY SOME PLAYERS IN WINTER PARK SAY THE WHOLE THI
8-year-old boy bitten by shark while snorkeling in Florida, officials say
An 8-year-old boy was hospitalized after he was bitten by a shark in Key Largo, according to reports from WFLA. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office explained the incident happened while the boy was snorkeling around 3:24 p.m. off Key Largo on the oceanside, WFLA reports. >> Top headlines for Sept. 2 in Central FloridaThe boy was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Details about the boy’s condition are unknown. WFLA said the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were notified of the incident.
KEY LARGO, Fla. —
An 8-year-old boy was hospitalized after he was bitten by a shark in Key Largo, according to reports from WFLA.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office explained the incident happened while the boy was snorkeling around 3:24 p.m. off Key Largo on the oceanside, WFLA reports.
>> Top headlines for Sept. 2 in Central Florida
The boy was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Details about the boy’s condition are unknown.
WFLA said the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were notified of the incident.
