Fire shuts down London’s Heathrow Airport, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands

• March 21, 2025

By BRIAN MELLEY, DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A large fire near London’s Heathrow Airport knocked out power Friday to Europe’s busiest flight hub, forcing it to shut all day and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their travel and airlines work to get planes and crew to the right places.

Authorities do not know what caused the fire but so far found have no evidence it was suspicious.

Residents in west London described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when the blaze ripped through the electrical substation near the airport.

Some 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, with some turned around and others diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris or Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. “Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston, but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year.

Still, the disruption Friday fell short of the one caused by the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and created trans-Atlantic air travel chaos for months.

Fire under control but impact to last days

It was too early to determine what sparked the huge blaze about 2 miles from the airport, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

Still, the Metropolitan Police force said counterterrorism detectives are leading the investigation into the cause because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure. The force said counterterrorism command has “specialist resources and capabilities” that can help find the cause quickly.

They are working with the London Fire Brigade.

Miliband said the fire, which took seven hours to control, also knocked out a backup power supply to the airport. Heathrow said in a statement that it had no choice but to close the airport for the day.

“We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” the airport said.

Heathrow was at the heart of a shorter disruption in 2023 when Britain’s air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Anita Mendiratta, an aviation consultant, said the impact of the closure will be felt over two to four days as airlines, cargo carriers, and crews are moved into position and passengers rebooked.

“As soon as the airport opens up at midnight tonight, it’s not only about resuming with tomorrow’s flights, it’s the backlog and the implications that have taken place,” Mendiratta said. “Crew and aircraft, many are not where they’re supposed to be right now. So the recalculation of this is going to be intense.”

Diverted, canceled and in limbo

At Heathrow, a family of five traveling to Dallas showed up in the hopes their flight home — still listed as delayed — would take off.

But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.

“It was a waste of time. Very confusing,” said Sri, who lives in London. “We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.”

Travelers who were diverted to other cities found themselves trying to book travel onward to London. Qantas airlines sent flights from Singapore and Perth, Australia, to Paris, where it said it would bus people to London, a process likely to also include a train shuttle beneath the English Channel.

Budget airline Ryanair, which doesn’t operate out of Heathrow, said it added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, to transport stranded passengers Friday and Saturday.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Flights normally begin landing and taking off at Heathrow at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. But the skies were silent Friday morning.

“Living near Heathrow is noisy, there are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing,” said James Henderson, who has lived next to the airport for more than 20 years. “Today is different, you can hear the birds singing.”

Blaze lit up the sky and darkened homes

Matthew Muirhead was working Thursday night near Heathrow when he stepped outside with a colleague and noticed smoke rising from an electrical substation and heard sirens crying out.

“We saw a bright flash of white, and all the lights in town went out,” he said.

The London Fire Brigade sent 10 engines and around 70 firefighters to control the blaze and about 150 people were evacuated from their homes near the power station.

“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Yirmiyan Arthur in Kohima, India, contributed.

​ Orange County Register 

UCSD men see NCAA Tournament run end with first-round loss to Michigan

• March 21, 2025

DENVER – They had one player with March Madness experience, and that was 14 seconds, 46 seconds and 1:47 of garbage time (and no points) in three games with St. Mary’s.

They were playing in the largest venue in school history, seating 15,099 more than their modest home.

They had no one on the roster taller than 6-foot-8, and the other team started a pair of 7-footers.

They are in the first year of full NCAA Division I membership. Their opponent was playing its 97th NCAA Tournament game.

Cinderella didn’t slay Goliath. But she made him blink.

UC San Diego’s men’s basketball team acquitted itself well in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, fighting back from 15 down and taking one of college basketball’s most storied programs to the brink before succumbing 68-65 against Michigan in the first round Thursday night at Denver’s Ball Arena.

“They just keep coming at you, keep coming at you,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “They believe as well. They have older guys. Man, they put on a performance in the second half.”

After looking like they might never score and lose 100-0 — they trailed 10-0 after opening the game with four turnovers and four missed shots — the Tritons, yes, actually led 65-63 with 2:29 to go.

Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson responded with a deep 3 to give the Wolverines the lead back.

Both teams missed chances at the hoop with no foul whistled, then 7-foot-1 center Vlad Goldin grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws for a three-point margin with 19 seconds left.

Both teams missed chances at the rim with no foul whistled, then 7-1 center Vlad Goldin grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws for a three-point margin with 19 seconds left.

UCSD coach Eric Olen had a decision to make. Call timeout and diagram a play, or let them figure it out on the floor.

“The way Ty was playing,” Olen said of senior guard Tyler McGhie, “we knew we weren’t going to call timeout to say. ‘Get the ball to Ty, let him go one-on-one.’ (That) didn’t feel necessary. I try not to do that in those moments. I try not to overcoach them. I think everyone on our team knew exactly what we were trying to do.

“We got the (defensive) switch we wanted, the matchup we wanted, the guy we wanted with the ball.”

McGhie dribbled off a ball screen and drew 7-0 Danny Wolf as his teammates cleared out to give him space to operate. It was one-on-one now.

On the opposite bench, May also had a decision to make: foul intentionally, as the Wolverines usually do when they’re up three inside 10 seconds to go, or play it out.

“I was trying to get Danny to (foul),” May said. “I don’t have my voice. He couldn’t see me. He was locked into playing defense. He actually forced him inside the line, popped back out. I thought Danny stayed in the space fairly well.”

McGhie stepped inside the 3-point line, then stepped back moving to his left – his preferred motion – and fired.

“I got the shot I wanted,” McGhie said. “I thought it was in. Hit the back rim. I still can’t believe it. Hit the back rim.”

An inch shorter, and they’re going to overtime.

“We had a shot, man,” senior guard Hayden Gray said. “We had a shot at the end. Put it in our best player’s hands. Hit the back rim. It is what it is.”

No good.

Buzzer.

Game over.

Fifteen-game win streak over.

Season over.

Magical journey over.

“Seasons are hard when they finish,” said Olen, in his 21st season at UCSD and 12th as head coach. “Everyone is emotional in the locker room. I don’t think I have a full appreciation for what the last six months have done. It’s a special group. I told those guys it’s been the best basketball experience of my life.”

McGhie finished with 25 points despite shooting 3 of 15 behind the arc. Nordin Kapic added 15, and Hayden Gray had 10. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, their leading scoring and the Big West Player of the Year, had just seven before fouling out with 6:57 to go.

Michigan (25-9) struggled against UCSD’s matchup zone and switching man-to-man defenses, shooting just 42.1% — 28% in the second half — and turning it over 14 times.

The Tritons (30-5) trailed 41-27 at the half, but in a way that was somewhat OK considering what it could have been after the opening five minutes.

Olen took the unusual step of calling timeout just 2:49 into the game to settle down a team that starts two juniors and three fifth-year seniors. It took until 14:53 left in the first half – and seven misses and four turnovers – before they finally made a basket, a jumper in the lane by McGhie.

“I did think the nerves maybe affected us early in the game,” Olen said. “I just thought we found our rhythm, and we played more of the way that honestly we’ve been playing all year. I was glad that we found that and gave ourselves an opportunity.”

The crazy part was, it came with Tait-Jones on the bench in foul trouble for most of it. The Tritons outscored the Wolverines by 16 points in the 15 minutes he wasn’t on the floor.

A 12-0 run got them within three and won over the sellout crowd in Ball Arena, each cheer for a Tritons basket louder than the last, each boo for a questionable call louder than the last.

The Tritons got within a point at 45-44 … only for an 11-2 Michigan run to push the margin back to double figures … only for the Tritons to battle back and take a 65-63 lead.

It was their first and, it turned out, only lead of the game.

Win or lose, though, simply being here, in an NBA arena, rubbing shoulders with college basketball royalty, amounts to a major victory for a still young university known for nerdy students and not for school spirit generated through athletics.

That changed in the four days since Selection Sunday, when the Tritons heard their name called for the first time.

The athletic department received 1,500 requests for their NCAA allotment of 350 tickets at Ball Arena. Those fortunate enough to get them jammed into a bar near the arena Thursday afternoon, with signs like: “Nobel Laureates: UCSD 16, Michigan 10.”

Chancellor Pradeep Khosla posed for a photo with this one: “Flight: $500. Train $10. 30-year wait for March Madness: Priceless.”

Back home, students took notice as well.

Borrowing a tradition from Ohio State before its annual rivalry game in football against Michigan, they crossed out capital Ms on signs across campus. Thurgood Marshall College had an X through the M. So did Muir College. So did Mandeville Center.

A university, transformed.

Said Gray: “It’s been real cool just to see the culture kind of shifting around campus.”

​ Orange County Register 

With stars out, Bronny James scores 17 in Lakers’ blowout loss to Bucks

• March 21, 2025

LOS ANGELES — A rare sixth game in eight nights for the Lakers meant Thursday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks would feature opportunities for players who don’t usually get them.

And with six rotation players unavailable because of injuries, including starters Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, the chances for players to step up expanded.

Enter rookie Bronny James, who seized his opportunity in the Lakers’ 118-89 blowout loss to the Bucks in his best NBA game since being selected in the second round of the NBA draft last June.

“I’ve gained my confidence and gave my comfortability over just reps and getting out there and taking advantage of my opportunity if it’s given,” Bronny said. “So just being ready at all times. That’s the biggest thing for me … staying in the stay-ready games and practice and stuff like that and taking advantage like I did [on Thursday].”

The son of Lakers star LeBron James, Bronny had career highs of 17 points and five assists to go with three rebounds and a blocked shot in 30 minutes – nearly double the amount of playing time he had in any previous NBA game and the the first time he scored in double figures (22 games).

“We’ve monitored him in the G [League] and feel like in those sort of end-game situations, when he’s gotten a chance to play with us, he’s been really good,” Coach JJ Redick said. “So not surprised by [Thursday]. His confidence is growing. You mentioned the word comfort, that’s certainly there for him.”

Bronny shot 7 for 10 from the field, including 2 for 4 from behind the arc.

“The next step is just becoming an elite-conditioned athlete,” Redick said. “Because when he does that with his physical tools and just his burst and his handle, we think he’s gonna be an above-average to really good NBA shooter. He’s gonna have a chance to really make an impact.”

Fellow rookie Dalton Knecht also scored 17 points against the Bucks.

Veteran center Alex Len was the only other Laker to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks, who were without Damian Lillard, with 28 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

Gary Trent Jr. had 23 points off the bench for Milwaukee and former Laker Kyle Kuzma added 20 points.

Most of Bronny’s playing time since being drafted has come with the Lakers’ G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. He’s averaged 17.4 points, 4.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 16 games with South Bay.

“Since day one, I’ve just been impressed with the person that he is,” Redick said. “And to deal with … frankly, [expletive] because of who his dad is and just keep a level head about it and be a class act says a lot about him, says a lot about that family and the way LeBron and Savannah have raised him.

“Was obvious to me from the moment I started spending time with him on the court this summer that he was certainly going to be an NBA player and I still believe that he’ll be an NBA player.”

Bronny said he’s been able to block out the noise surrounding him by “just putting my head down and working.”

“I feel like that’s the only thing that I can control right now is going in every day and staying ready to play, staying ready to learn, getting the work in after hours, early mornings, stuff like that,” he added. “Just all the controllables that I can do myself. There’s not really much I can do [about] people, random people, talking about me every day. Can’t really do much about that, so I just go in the gym and work, put my head down and try to get better.”

The Lakers’ loss was their first at Crypto.com Arena since falling to the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 19, ending a nine-game home winning streak.

The defeat also ended the three-game win streak they were on since returning from a winless four-game road trip.

But the Lakers went 3-3 in the stretch of three consecutive back-to-backs that started with road losses to the Bucks and Denver Nuggets last Thursday and Friday, respectively.

“Big picture … feel good that you go 3-3 in this stretch,” Redick said. “It was going to be tough no matter what. The added game made it harder. I don’t think the game that exists today in the NBA and the modern NBA player is like [built to do this]. I wouldn’t be either if this was what I came up in and this was the game that I had to play every night. It’s different than when I first started. You’re not built to play six games in eight nights. The game doesn’t allow you to play six games in eight nights. It’s just impossible. That’s why we, I don’t think, have four in five anymore.

Redick added: “What our guys just went through, it’s difficult. And the old-heads are gonna talk about how physical it was in the [1980s] and [1990s] and that’s fine. But the level of physicality in our game and the way that the court has to be covered and all the movement, it’s tough. And I’m just glad to be on the other side of it and hopefully going forward we are healthy and can make a push here.”

The Lakers (43-26) are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of the fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies (43-27).

The Lakers close their five-game homestand on Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls.

​ Orange County Register 

Can Trump secure a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war?

• March 21, 2025

President Donald Trump came into office with bold plans to secure an end to the Russia-Ukraine war “within 24 hours.” While that timeframe may have been hyperbolic, Trump was clearly very intent on getting a peace deal signed quite early in his second term.

Unfortunately, recent weeks have clearly thrown a wrench into that plan. 

As such, it is now reasonable to ask whether the war is any closer to ending than it was prior to inauguration day. 

That being said, there are strategic steps that Trump can take to bring the fighting to an end.

To Trump’s credit, he is attempting out-of-the box strategies that former President Biden refused. Specifically, Trump directly spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin last Tuesday, whereas Biden and Putin had not spoken since the war began in 2022.

Moreover, Trump’s rhetoric has lit a long overdue fire under European countries, who are finally taking steps to boost the bloc’s military spending and end its dependence on American security guarantees. 

In that same vein, even after the chaotic Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, American and Ukrainian officials have remained in contact, including attending a bilateral summit in Saudi Arabia.

However, as the Wall Street Journal reported following the Trump-Putin call, “strip away the diplomatic pieties and the main result is that Mr. Putin didn’t agree to Mr. Trump’s 30-day ceasefire.”

The Journal continued, noting that Putin’s demands for a ceasefire – let alone ending the war – are simply “terms Ukraine can’t accept.”

Namely, Putin is demanding a “complete cessation of foreign military aid” and intelligence sharing, and to negotiate only with the United States, not Europe and more importantly, not Ukraine. 

And while Putin did agree to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, prisoner exchanges, and a willingness to a deconfliction mechanism in the Black Sea, those agreements were superficial at best.

Shortly after Putin and Trump spoke, and following Trump’s call with Zelensky – who agreed to pausing energy infrastructure attacks – Russian drones slammed into civilian areas in Ukraine. 

Similarly, pausing attacks on energy infrastructure is clearly more advantageous to Russia, as is demilitarizing the Black Sea, given Russia’s dependence on the waterway and the Russian Navy’s extreme – and one-sided – vulnerability to Ukrainian attacks.

To that end, while President Trump is pursuing a morally and ethically correct outcome in trying to end a war that has taken too many lives and consumed vast resources, its unclear whether Trump is beginning to lose the political cards.

Indeed, whereas earlier this month, I noted a Gallup poll showing that, for the first time, more Americans supported a quick end to the war (50%) rather than wanting U.S. support to continue until Ukraine regains lost ground (48%), that has now shifted.

A majority (53%) of Americans now want to see support continue until Ukraine can reclaim its territory, versus 45% who prefer a quick end to the war in Gallup’s latest poll.

Further, there are signs that Trump’s efforts are increasingly out of step with the American public.

Asked whether they support Ukraine or Russia, roughly 6-in-10 (61%) registered voters said Ukraine, compared to just 2% who say Russia in a new NBC News poll. 

However, when asked where they believe Trump’s sympathies lie, nearly one-half (49%) of registered voters believe Trump’s lie with Russia, while less than 1-in-10 (8%) said Ukraine.

To be clear, this is not to suggest that Trump actually does favor Moscow over Kyiv. The President has been extremely clear that in pursuit of a peace deal, he wants to see America recoup some of its investment from Ukraine, particularly in a mineral deal. 

Nor is it to say that Trump is necessarily wrong to push for a deal that may leave Ukraine short of everything it wants. 

The reality is that for as much as Biden promised to support Ukraine until it reclaimed all of its territory, that was never realistic given Russian nuclear power and significant manpower advantage.

Rather, it is to say that in attempting to reach a deal at any cost, Trump may be misreading both Putin and domestic American politics. 

Ultimately, Trump must find a way to end the war without leaving Putin emboldened to either try again in a few years, or to invade a NATO country. But he also must do so in a way that preserves America’s standing as the leader of the free world.

In order to achieve that, Trump should do what to this point he has largely shied away from. Specifically, he should make it clear to Putin that continued intransigence and refusal to agree to a deal will be met with continued U.S. military and economic assistance to Ukraine.

Of course, he does not have to be as idealistic as Biden was, but Trump uniquely has the ability to make Putin believe that dithering and further aggression will not produce the results Moscow wants, and will only make an eventual deal less friendly to Russia.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Aday Mara leads the way for UCLA in NCAA Tournament win

• March 21, 2025

LEXINGTON, Ky. — One thing above all others was apparent in UCLA’s triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament here Thursday night: Good things happen for the Bruins when Aday Mara is in the game.

The 7-foot-3 sophomore from Zaragoza, Spain, had his fingerprints all over the Bruins’ 72-47 first-round victory over Utah State, even after a scare early in the second half when he went limping to the bench to have his left ankle re-taped.

Ordinarily, the plus-minus statistic can be deceptive in basketball. But this one had some significance: Mara was a plus-21 against the Aggies, with the Bruins outscoring Utah State 31-10 when he was on the court. And this was a game that turned in the first half on his actions, some little, some big.

Mara didn’t start. He seldom does, and Coach Mick Cronin has noted that Mara is still building up strength and stamina – and, additionally, has been battling some sort of sinus infection since the team got to Lexington. But Cronin isn’t afraid to bring him in early, and he did so Thursday night, just 3½ minutes in. He wound up playing 20 minutes, with 10 points (on 4-for-5 shooting, all in the first half), six rebounds, two assists and five blocked shots.

Three of those blocks came in rat-a-tat-a-tat succession on consecutive Utah State possessions, and while the Aggies don’t have much of an interior game anyway, this was even more reason for them to keep bombing away – or should we say, flailing away – from the outside.

The Aggies were 2 for 17 from behind the arc in the first half, making their first two and missing their next 15, and finished the game 4 for 31 from 3-point country and shooting 30% overall.

And his visible contributions, like the blocks and a pair of sweet offensive moves for baskets – an up-and-under move for a dunk and a left-handed hook, starting a 16-5 run at the end of the first half – go along with the stuff you don’t see in the box score, like the way he defends screens and makes sure he gets back to his man. Or the passes that indirectly lead to scores, even if they don’t wind up as assists.

They helped the Bruins get past the first round and into a Saturday meeting with No. 2 seed Tennessee, deep in the heart of Southeastern Conference country, for a spot in the Sweet 16.

There is the downside, maybe what was feared when he rolled his ankle against Wisconsin last week in the Big Ten Tournament. Mara checked in briefly to start the second half and limped to the sideline a minute and a half later to have his ankle re-taped. When he returned to the game, the rout was on and not even a 10-0 Utah State outburst in the final minutes could change it.

Part of succeeding at this point of the season, Cronin said, is having that feeling that you belong here, that you can handle the moment and the ebbs and flows of tournament basketball.

For instance, Eric Dailey Jr. faced early foul trouble and sat out a chunk of the first half, but he finished with 14 points and four rebounds and provided a couple of key baskets in the final 10 minutes.

“I knew we had to win this game and stay locked in in the second half,” the transfer from Oklahoma State said. “Just got myself going and some things were falling for me. So that’s all I can say about that, keep playing hard.”

Said Cronin: “Look, it scared me when Eric went out with the second foul (10 minutes in). He’s a guy – him and Sebastian (Mack), they’re not afraid to say something to their teammates. They’re not quiet. And you saw – Eric, in his 22 minutes, he was all over the damn place. You’ve got to have a guy – confidence matters.

“You have to have a confidence about you. … You know, you’ve got to believe that you’re supposed to win in this damn tournament. The (seeding) number next to your name was given to you by a bunch of people that never played basketball, in a room, so what the hell do they know?”

Some already have that air about them. Is Mara developing it?

Yes, his coach said.

“He’s come such a long way in two years. And that’s a credit to him,” Cronin said. “A lot of guys quit. I tell guys, my speech is, guys get to college and it’s really hard unless you’re name is Michael Jordan or Cooper Flagg, Lonzo Ball or Kevin Love. (For) 99.9% of them, it’s harder than they think it’s going to be. And you either quit, transfer, blame others, or you get to work. And that’s what life is about.

“… So, Aday, he put his head down and he has really, really worked hard, for a young kid that never really worked hard until he got to UCLA. He was just a prodigy of size and skill.

“I’m really proud of him. Look at his numbers – five blocks, 10 points, six rebounds in 20 minutes. And I’m telling you he is sick. He was our high deflection guy (in the team’s internal statistics) because of the blocked shots.”

But here’s the thing: Once you do it, you have to keep doing it. If Mara can pull that off, starting Saturday and continuing over the next two weeks, this could be a story that goes down in Bruin lore. And that is saying something.

Because, as Cronin noted:

“They’re the only one in this tournament that practices under 11 banners, championship banners, only one. And when we walk out there with them uniforms on, everybody knows them uniforms. So you have to have an air about you.”

jalexander@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

Republicans may regret undermining judicial independence

• March 21, 2025

Under the U.S. Constitution, federal judges “hold their Offices during good Behaviour” and receive salaries that “shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.” Like other “civil Officers of the United States,” they can be removed from office by Congress only if they are impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Those provisions aim to protect judicial independence, which is essential to the rule of law. But Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who unofficially runs the federal cost-cutting initiative known as the Department of Government Efficiency, seems to think “good Behaviour” precludes any ruling that obstructs his efforts, which he views as an impeachable offense.

That attitude jibes with President Donald Trump’s longstanding resentment of judicial interference with his agenda, which he reflexively portrays as politically motivated. It is especially troubling in light of Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion that the Trump administration would be justified in defying court orders that arguably impinge on “the executive’s legitimate power,” a position that is blatantly at odds with the judicial branch’s vital role in making sure that government officials respect statutory and constitutional limits on their authority.

“We are witnessing an attempted coup of American democracy by radical left activists posing as judges!” Musk complained on X, his social media platform, last month. “There need to be some repercussions above ZERO for judges who make truly terrible decisions,” he added later that day. “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

In other posts, Musk spelled out what he had in mind. “When judges egregiously undermine the democratic will of the people, they must be fired or democracy dies!” he declared on Feb. 25, referring to a temporary restraining order that U.S. District Judge Amir Ali had issued against Trump’s 90-day freeze on foreign aid.

As Musk sees it, “the only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges.” Congress must “Impeach the CORRUPT judges,” he says, because “the people have spoken.” When judges “repeatedly abuse their authority to obstruct the will of the people via their elected representatives,” he thinks, they “should be impeached.”

Musk seems oblivious to the fact that judges are supposed to “obstruct the will of the people” when it is inconsistent with the law. In the foreign aid case, for example, aid recipients argued that Trump had violated the separation of powers by unilaterally deciding not to spend money that Congress had appropriated.

In granting a preliminary injunction on Monday, Ali concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on that claim. The appropriate response to that “terrible decision” is an appeal arguing that Ali got it wrong, a question that the Supreme Court may ultimately resolve.

The response that Musk prefers, firing any judge who dares to disagree with him, is a naked attempt to intimidate the judicial branch. Musk applauded when Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee, announced that he was drafting articles of impeachment against Ali, and he hopes that threat will deter other judges from ruling against the Trump administration.

For good reason, that strategy has provoked objections even from reliable Trump allies. “You can’t always get what you want,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. “I’m not a big fan of impeaching somebody because you don’t like their decision. They have to actually do something unethical.”

Since Republicans hold thin majorities in the House and Senate, such vindictive impeachments are unlikely to get far. But as Chief Justice John Roberts warned in December, threatening judges with impeachment based on unpopular decisions is one facet of a broader attempt to delegitimize judicial review.

Although Republicans routinely rely on that principle to challenge the policies of Democratic presidents, they may view it as dispensable now that their team is in charge. But since “the democratic will of the people” can change from one election to the next, they may have cause to regret that calculation.

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @jacobsullum

​ Orange County Register 

NCAA Tournament: UCLA men dominate Utah State in opener

• March 21, 2025

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The UCLA men’s basketball team kicked off the NCAA Tournament by showing off its depth.

Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. each scored 14 points and seventh-seeded UCLA got contributions from up and down the roster, routing 10th-seeded Utah State, 72-47, on Thursday night to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.

Aday Mara, a 7-foot-3 reserve center, shook off an injury scare and added 10 points for Coach Mick Cronin’s Bruins (23-10), who will face second-seeded Tennessee on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PT in the Midwest Region as they seek their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in the past five editions of March Madness. The Volunteers also cruised to an easy win, 77-62 over Wofford.

UCLA – which was coming off a blowout loss to Wisconsin in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal – broke this game open by holding its Mountain West Conference opponent to just two free throws during a 12-2 run for a 39-27 halftime advantage. Then the Bruins had a 17-7 surge early in the second half to build a 20-point lead.

The Bruins finished at 48% from the field after shooting 55% in the first half. They shot 10 for 24 from 3-point range, eight of 10 players scored, and they had 22 assists on 26 baskets.

“The guys just did a great job,” Cronin said. “And it helped us to have three days because against a matchup zone defense you have to score on passing and cutting. You can’t dribble your way into it. They’re going to steal the ball. So guys just did a great job.”

Dylan Andrews had eight points and eight assists with just one turnover, while playing lockdown defense on Utah State’s Ian Martinez (two points on 1-for-11 shooting). Tyler Bilodeau added nine points and seven rebounds, Kobe Johnson scored eight points and Lazar Stefanovic had seven points and four assists for the Bruins.

UCLA turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season.

“Defensive effort was awesome,” Cronin said. “Their spirit and their mind to be a great defensive team tonight just took Utah State out of their comfort zone. And uncomfortable teams shoot a low percentage.”

Indeed. Utah State (26-8) shot 30% while committing 11 turnovers, leading to 20 UCLA points. The Aggies outscored UCLA 17-10 in second-chance points, 28-22 in the paint and 16-9 on the fast break, but none of that could offset their 4-of-31 shooting from 3-point range.

“I thought in the first half, they made shots,” Calhoun said. “So much this time of year is about shot-making, right? And when you don’t make shots, it affects your defense.”

Mason Falslev scored 17 points and Deyton Albury had 12 for Utah State, which reached its third consecutive NCAA Tournament – this time under Jarrod Calhoun, the Aggies’ third coach in that span.

UCLA guard Sebastian Mack left midway through the second half with what Cronin said was a groin injury. The Bruins were safely ahead by then but stayed aggressive to put away an offense that ranked 14th in the country in shooting at nearly 49%.

“If you just let them come back in the game, they will,” said Clark, who shot 4 for 7 from 3-point range when not aiding the defensive effort. “And so just doing everything we could to try to get them out of rhythm and not let them run their offense, that was the key.”

The Bruins won for the 12th time in 16 games and edged Utah State 38-35 on the glass, including a 29-19 advantage on the defensive end.

Cronin was happy with his team’s effort but knows they need to raise their level against one of the SEC’s top teams this weekend.

“We’ve been preparing all year to play Saturday,” he said. “We don’t get to take any of these points with us. Whole new ball game. It’s different when you change weight classes. We’ll see. They used to say everybody thought they were tough until they walked in the ring with Mike Tyson. Everybody had a lot to say until the guy with no socks walked in and crushed him.

“It’s a different animal. Hopefully a lot of the Big Ten battles we’ve had will prepare us, because my respect for Coach [Rick] Barnes is off the charts. Because he does it the right way. He cares about kids. He’s not a phony. He is who he is. And Tennessee got really lucky when somebody else let him go.”

​ Orange County Register 

John Gibson, Trevor Zegras lead Ducks past Predators

• March 21, 2025

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Ducks got John Gibson back in goal and found their way back into the win column.

Gibson returned after missing seven games with an injury and made 33 saves, and Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist on his 24th birthday to lead the Ducks to a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Jackson LaCombe, Troy Terry and Alex Killorn also scored, and Mason McTavish had two assists as the Ducks (30-31-8, 68 points) won for just the second time in six games – both coming against the Predators.

It was just Gibson’s fourth appearance since a 26-save performance in a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Feb. 4 and his first since suffering a lower-body injury in a March 5 road loss to Vancouver.

“Amazing,” Zegras told NHL.com when asked about Gibson’s performance. “Mr. Orange County. He’s got that nickname for a reason. I don’t know how much time he missed, but it looked like none at all tonight. We’re always very happy to have him between the pipes.”

The Ducks are nine points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference with a game in hand.

Steven Stamkos scored and Justus Annunen made 30 saves for the Predators (25-35-8, 58 points), who have managed only three goals while going 0-3-1 in their past four games.

The Ducks were getting outshot 4-0 when Nashville went on its first power play at 6:18 of the first period. Stamkos scored 49 seconds into the man-advantage on a one-timer from the top of the left circle, off a feed from Filip Forsberg. It was the 578th goal of Stamkos’ career, passing Mark Recchi for 22nd place in NHL history.

The Ducks evened the shot totals at 10-10 entering the second period and then tied the score at 7:29. McTavish took a sharp-angle shot off a rush, and the rebound came out to the front of the crease, where LaCombe was there to shoot it into the net.

“It was kind of an even hockey game in the first period, and then I think we capitalized on our chances in the second,” McTavish told NHL.com. “Just kind of hung on to the lead in the third. It was a big win for us.”

At 13:19 of the second period, Terry received a pass from Zegras above the left circle, cut into the middle and scored with a wrist shot from above the hash marks for a 2-1 lead.

“I think when we’re on our game and we’re getting pucks back on the forecheck, it leads to offensive zone time, which as I’ve shared with you guys has been a process with this group,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin told NHL.com. “They’re getting more comfortable with it. And then we built off of that throughout the game.”

The Ducks kept the pressure on, and Zegras knocked in a rebound in front of the crease to stretch the lead to 3-1 at 15:36.

“I thought we got it in behind them and kind of just wore them down a bit,” Zegras told NHL.com. “(Ducks forward Brett Leason and McTavish), they’re big bodies and they’re great on the forecheck. I just tried to help out as much as I can.”

Killorn scored into an empty net with 36 seconds left to make it 4-1.

After scoring in each of the previous two games, Ducks rookie forward Nikita Nesterenko sat out with an illness and defenseman Oliver Kylington made his Ducks debut in a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

The Ducks swept Nashville for the first time since 2015.

UP NEXT

The Ducks host Carolina on Sunday at 5 p.m.

​ Orange County Register