Bogdan Bogdanovic becoming an X-factor for Clippers

• March 20, 2025

INGLEWOOD — The drive to succeed in sports comes from many sources. It could be parents or coaches, teammates or simply from within. Then there are outside influences, such as shame and embarrassment.

Newly acquired Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic knows the latter well. As a teenager playing basketball in Serbia, a loss in a big game had consequences. Nothing as mundane as running lines or extra practices, though.

“People who know me know that I’ve been playing big games since I was 18, starting with (Serbian club teams) Partizan and then at Fenerbahce,” Bogdanovic said. “If you don’t win a game (there), you can’t go out in the city. You can’t have a normal dinner. You can’t have fun.”

As harsh as it sounds, Bogdanovic, 32, said that type of pressure shaped him, first in club play then for five seasons in the EuroLeague and now the NBA, where he has solidified himself as the backup point guard on the Clippers.

“I don’t feel it anymore. Now, I’m just reading the game,” Bogdanovic said.

Bogdanovic’s ability to read the floor, knowing where to pass or when to shoot, has elevated the Clippers’ offense, giving them a high-level passer and another long-range shooter behind 11-time All-Star James Harden.

“Bogey, him coming to our team really gave us a shot in the arm and helped us out in all of those areas,” assistant coach Brian Shaw said. “(His) spacing, being able to handle the ball takes some of the pressure off of James … and then when we want to seek out mismatches, they have to account for him out on the 3-point line and that leaves the paint and everything open.”

Bogdanovic came to the Clippers on Feb. 6 in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, where he played for four-plus seasons. In his last full season with the Hawks in 2023-24, he averaged career-highs of 16.9 points and 1.2 steals per game and shot 92.1% from the free-throw line and averaged 3.1 assists.

In 17 games with the Clippers (39-30), Bogdanovic is averaging 12.6 points and 3.2 assists and shooting 40% from 3-point range. He made all eight of his shots (four 3-pointers) for 20 points to go with seven assists and two steals in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Center Ivica Zubac said Bogdanovic has been playing at this level for his entire career, but few have noticed because many believe he’s just a shooter.

“The man’s been playing, doing everything on the offensive end throughout his whole career for the national team in Europe and now people can see he’s more than a shooter,” Zubac said. “He’s a great pick-and-roll player. He’s very smart. His IQ is off the charts, and he works really hard so he’s a really good addition to our team.”

Zubac and Bogdanovic have developed a fast friendship, one bonded by the same language. While Zubac is from Croatia and Bogdanovic is Serbian, their native Balkan language is the same but spoken with different dialects.

Zubac said Bogdanovic has helped with more than just words, although it helps during games when the two communicate on plays.

“He gives me a lot of confidence, and I try to return the favor by pushing him to be aggressive,” Zubac said. “He does the same for me, and we’ve developed some chemistry in the pick-and-roll. We’re playing off each other, reading the game, and it’s really easy. So, I’d say him coming here has really made a difference for me.”

Zubac isn’t the only Clippers player happy to have Bogdanovic in the fold.

Following their victory against the Miami Heat, when Bogdanovic had 30 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and Harden had 24 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, the veteran point guard took to social media comparing himself and Bogdanovic to an iconic movie duo, the stars of “White Men Can’t Jump” with the comment Bad Boys 25’ and hashtag #UNO.

Bogdanovic responded with “Unović” and a saluting face emoji.

“I didn’t know what to write,” Bogdanović said of his response, adding that he wears Harden’s shoes and they play similar games. “So, it was a good thing.”

He added that Harden and Zubac “are the two most guys that are helping me with adjustments.”

Harden said he quickly noticed Bogdanovic’s hesitation on offense and got “on his (butt). He needed to be aggressive. He’s so good, especially offensively, that if he’s reluctant or not shooting the basketball or not being aggressive, it hurts our team.”

While Bogdanovic was quick to make alliances in the locker room, the karma on the court wasn’t instant. His integration was a slow process as the team initially viewed him solely as a shooter.

In his first five games, Bogdanovic shot 37.5% from the field (21 for 56). His 3-point shooting was a dismal 22.8%, which included a horrendous 1-for-12 night in a loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Still, no one gave up on him, he said.

“They have trusted me and not only when it’s going well, when I was shooting 1 for 12, they keep trusting me and they see probably how much I’m putting in work,” said Bogdanovic, who is now at 48.5% from the field and 40% from 3-point range with 3.2 assists per game for a team that has won seven of its past eight games.

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said he used to look at Bogdanovic “as a shooter, a guy who can handle a little bit. … I didn’t think he could be that good in pick-and-roll situations. But he really has been.”

For Bogdanovic, his emergence as a go-to in pick-and-roll situations and a versatile threat with the ball in his hands was simply a matter of time.

“It’s a little bit different playing with different guys, different tendencies, so it takes time for everybody,” he said. “I was in good shape, but still playing with a new team, new stuff, new role, it’s a little bit different and no matter how good you are, it takes time.”

MEMPHIS AT CLIPPERS

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Intuit Dome

TV/radio: FDSN SoCal/570 AM

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Amazon ends privacy feature that let Echo users opt out of sending recordings to company

• March 20, 2025

Amazon is ending a little-used privacy feature that let some users of its Echo smart speaker prevent their voice commands from going to the company’s cloud.

Beginning on March 28, Amazon is ending the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” option that kept audio from being sent to Amazon’s cloud and had it process locally on the device instead.

In an email sent to customers who’d been using the option, Amazon said it made the decision to “no longer support this feature” as it expands Alexa’s capabilities with generative artificial intelligence features that rely on being processed in the cloud.

While the change may sound alarming to some privacy-minded users, it was not widely used or available. It only worked on three devices: the 4th generation Echo Dot, the Echo Show 10 and the Echo Show 15 — and only for customers in the U.S. with devices set to English. Amazon said less than 0.03% of customers use it.

People still have the option to prevent Alexa from saving voice recordings. Those who’d been using the “Do Not Send” feature as of March 28 will automatically be opted into the “Don’t save recordings” option, Amazon said.

“The Alexa experience is designed to protect our customers’ privacy and keep their data secure, and that’s not changing. We’re focusing on the privacy tools and controls that our customers use most and work well with generative AI experiences that rely on the processing power of Amazon’s secure cloud,” Amazon said in a statement.

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Judge calls Trump administration’s latest response on deportation flights ‘woefully insufficient’

• March 20, 2025

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge instructed the Trump administration on Thursday to explain why its failure to turn around flights carrying deportees to El Salvador did not violate his court order in a growing showdown between the judicial and executive branches.

U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg demanded answers after flights carrying Venezuelan immigrants alleged by the Trump administration to be gang members landed in El Salvador after the judge temporarily blocked deportations under an 18th century wartime law. Boasberg had directed the administration to return to the U.S. planes that were already in the air when he ordered the halt.

Boasberg had given the administration until noon Thursday to either provide more details about the flights or make a claim that it must be withheld because it would harm “state secrets.” The administration resisted the judge’s request, calling it an “unnecessary judicial fishing” expedition.

In a written order, Boasberg called Trump officials’ latest response “woefully insufficient.” The judge said the administration “again evaded its obligations” by merely repeating “the same general information about the flights.” And he ordered the administration to “show cause,” as to why it didn’t violate his court order to turn around the planes, increasing the prospect that he may consider holding administration officials in contempt of court.

The Justice Department has said the judge’s verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed and that it couldn’t apply to flights that had already left the U.S. A Justice Department spokesperson said Thursday that it “continues to believe that the court’s superfluous questioning of sensitive national security information is inappropriate judicial overreach.”

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told the judge Thursday the administration needed more time to decide whether it would invoke the state secrets privilege in an effort to block the information’s release.

Boasberg ordered Trump officials by Friday to submit a sworn declaration by a person “with direct involvement in the Cabinet-level discussions” about the state secrets privilege and to tell the court by next Tuesday whether the administration will invoke it.

In a deepening conflict between the judicial and executive branch, Trump and many of his allies have called for impeaching Boasberg, who was nominated to the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. In a rare statement earlier this week, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected such calls, saying “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

​ Orange County Register 

WATCH: Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano resumes on-and-off again eruption that has dazzled park visitors

• March 20, 2025

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s most active volcano resumed erupting Wednesday after a weeklong pause.

Kilauea began continuously releasing lava from its summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at 9:26 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said. The molten rock was contained within the park and wasn’t threatening residential areas.

The volcano began its current eruption on Dec. 23. It has stopped and resumed more than a dozen times since. The shortest episode lasted 13 hours, while the longest lasted eight days.

Each time, the volcano has sent lava shooting high into the sky from caldera vents, creating a dramatic sight for park visitors.

The eruption is the sixth recorded at Kilauea’s summit since 2020.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park encompasses the summits of two of the world’s most active volcanoes: Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Kilauea also erupted in June and September 2024.

The park, on Hawaii’s Big Island, is about 200 miles south of Honolulu.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Friday, March 21, 2025

• March 20, 2025

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Eddie Wilson, Kevin Modesti and Mark Ratzky. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Friday, March 21, 2025.

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Venus passes between the Earth and sun this weekend — but don’t count on seeing it

• March 20, 2025

By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN

NEW YORK (AP) — Venus will pass between the Earth and sun on Saturday during what’s called an inferior conjunction.

But don’t plan on seeing the linkup. The sight is extremely difficult to spot without special equipment and a trained eye.

“The glare from the sun makes it really, really difficult to see,” said Michelle Nichols with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

A conjunction happens when two celestial bodies appear close together in the sky. It could be two planets, or a planet and the sun. An inferior conjunction of Venus happens when the planet swings between the sun and Earth.

Such an alignment happens about every 19 months because of how Venus and Earth orbit the sun. The moment of inferior conjunction happens around 9 p.m. EDT.

“Some people call that a Venus kiss because we’re extremely close together,” said astronomer Geary Albright with James Madison University.

Venus has phases just like the moon. Before and after the conjunction, Venus looks like a thin crescent — though only telescopes can see it. Those looking for signs of the transition can watch Venus move from the evening to morning sky Sunday.

In the nights leading up to the conjunction, find a flat area and look near the horizon just after sunset to glimpse Venus before it sets. It appears as one of the brightest objects in the sky.

After the conjunction, Venus will be visible in the morning sky just before sunrise. Take precaution to not stare directly at the sun.

While this weekend’s event isn’t much of a visual spectacle, scientists say it’s an opportunity to track how the planets shift in space.

“Get a chance to get to know Venus,” said Nichols.

Paul McCartney’s “The Kiss of Venus” was partly inspired by a book chapter describing the inferior conjunction. And two upcoming NASA missions will put a spotlight on Venus, investigating how it formed and why it turned out so different from Earth.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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The LA-area wildfires in their rearview, LA Marathon runners get a boost from a social media maven

• March 16, 2025

Nobody’s more powered up than Pamela Price on Marathon Day.

For four years, Price, 38, has taken over the Los Angeles Marathon’s social media as its rolling reporter, able to run 26.2 miles throughout the course, talk and coax stories from fellow runners and roadside cheerleaders alike, and still be Instagram-ready at the finish line.

Sunday was no different.

There she was, nearing Mile 11 in Hollywood, her trusty selfie camera in hand, the sounds of a Bee Gees tune in the background.

She catches up to a man running for his wife, a cancer survivor. As the run together, he shares his story, and how he hoped to finish in time to see her by 1 p.m.

Then, as the man moves on, she turns to gives props to the various running clubs running among the 25,000 participants. And she sends cheers to those who amid the loss of the wildfires, ran.

“We’re here!  “We’re so proud of … all the people that are running today in memory of someone and for someone,” she tells her audience, her enthusiasm still cutting through her heavier breathing as she herself ran. “Guys, I’m here to shout out to your mothers, and brothers, your husbands, your sisters, your wives, your cousins, and maybe you’ll see them here on the course. Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Price arrived at Dodgers Stadium in the predawn hours of Race Day ready to encourage runners, admire roadside cheerleaders, both human and canine, and give tips and point out landmarks. This year, Price was also determined to honor first responders and survivors of the Palisades and Eaton wildfires with one message: forward is the only way to go.

Yes, Price has the endurance and athleticism of a marathoner, but when on Jan. 7 both wildfires sparked 30 days of loss and destruction across the city, Price called on another superpower: compassion.

The athlete and formally-trained dancer called Michael Ramos, president of the Pasadena Pacers and told him, “We’re going to do this.” They scoured the 6,000-strong club’s database and confirmed which members lost their homes or were displaced. Price organized the needs of each member and their family, including the size of their shoes and clothes.

During three weekends in January and February, she turned her Highland Park home into a boutique, allowing 40 Altadena families to gather enough for brand new closets. Price’s network of running influencers got the word out to shoes and apparel companies such as Hoka, New Balance, and Dagner Dover suitcases. She even gathered sponsors to provide food for the wildfire victims as they shopped.

“It was three weekends of shopping, and the best part was neighbors were running into each other there and seeing each other for the first time since their homes burned out,” Price said. “They needed a light, there was so much mental stress on these families.”

The Eaton Fire Run Family Drive helped so many get back to running as soon as possible.

“I cannot say enough great things about Pamela. She is absolutely amazing,” Ramos said. The Pacers, more than 300 strong at this marathon, stood out among the crowd in their red shirts. They were running for themselves as well as the 27 in their number who lost their homes or remain displaced.

The Eaton Fire disrupted the months-long training Victoria Barrera, 38, of Altadena, had completed to prepare for the marathon. After she lost her home in the fire, and her 8-year-old daughter lost her Pasadena school, Barrera had to focus on starting from scratch. Price held her hand and made sure she could still compete, Barrera said.

Price knows something about adversity. Diagnosed with Behçet’s disease in 2013, Pamela is a dedicated activist for the rare disease community, founding We Care When, a care package and resource program supporting those living with chronic illness. Behçet’s disease is a rare, inflammatory disorder.

She competed in NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” show and later reached the finals in TBS’ “Wipeout.”

When she’s not running, Price serves as the senior executive producer of the Hollywood Beauty Awards and Daytime Beauty Awards.

Price, who is half-Filipino and part Polish American, is happy to run and talk the whole racecourse.

“The energy is indescribable,” she said of mingling with the elites, the para-athletes and then the rest of the 26,000 runners this year. “The LA Marathon is one big celebration and it’s a party for the city of Los Angeles. Most everybody is running or volunteering or on the sidelines, and everyone cheering for everyone.”

Her life philosophy is mind over matter, something she espoused to fellow marathoners on the course Sunday.

“All athletes, whether you’re a weekend warrior or not, you run because you love it and the feeling in the end is unlike any feeling you can ever have proving to yourself you can go the distance literally and figuratively,” she said. “When you cross that finish line, the energy and pride you fell is so well-deserved.”

After the fires, Price said she’s proud that Los Angeles-based award shows, races and other big events honor the first responders and victims of the disaster. The 40^th Los Angeles Marathon is no different: “It’s going to be an uplifting moment for the city.”

The scars from the two wildfires are still fresh in the Los Angeles landscape, and the trauma survivors feel are still deeply felt, Price said.

“We have to remember it just happened yesterday basically, and it’s still ongoing,” she added.“The processing has only just begun, and for some, the marathon is where they can process it.”

Price will finish her fourth LA marathon in a little over 5 hours. She will celebrate her city and her passion for running, which she said for so many people is the place they go when they feel stressed or worried.

“No one regrets going for that run,” she said, because you feel so much better after. Well, maybe not today. A lot of body parts hurt today, But also, everything feels pretty darn great.

​ Orange County Register 

Matthew Richtman wins the 2025 Los Angeles Marathon, first American since 1994

• March 16, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Matthew Richtman ran away from the competition and made history in his Los Angeles Marathon debut Sunday.

Richtman, a former All-American at Montana State, won the men’s race by nearly three minutes, in a personal best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 56 seconds (4:53 per mile) and the $10,000 Marathon Chase bonus.

“I put my foot on the gas and went with it,” Richtman said.

The 2028 L.A. Olympic hopeful is first American to win the race since 1994, when Paul Pilkington finished first in 2:12:13.

“That’s a huge reason to come here,” Richtman said. “We do have a lot of time but the course, I know they haven’t planned it out yet but you’re right, it’s probably something similar or at least on similar parts, so just to have that experience three years out, that’s really important to me and something to train for, for sure.”

Halfway into the race, the 25-year-old laid down a decisive surge and never looked back.

“That wasn’t super planned out,” said Richtman, who would like to defend his title in 2026. “It was more it kind of just happened. It was right after a (water) bottle or something like that where we did split up a little bit and I said I feel good and I can push the pace a little bit here. We were past the hour mark and I said we’ll make a move a little bit and see if people go with and really no one did quite at first.”

Kenya’s Athanas Kioko, 30, finished second in 2:10:55. Kenya’s Moses Kiptoo Kurgat, 33, finished third in 2:13:12.

“It is a big accomplishment,” said Kioko, a former All-American runner for Campbell University, who made his marathon debut in Los Angeles. “I have worked so much for it. It is not the end of it. I have to get back to work and focus on my next event. I’m excited for what comes next … stepping into the next marathon, I am expecting to do even better.”

Meanwhile, Ethopia’s Tejinesh Gebisa Tulu, 30, won the women’s race in 2 hours, 30 minutes and 16 seconds (5:44 per mile). Kenya’s Antonina Kwambai, 32, was second in 2:30:19. USA’s Savannah Berry, 29, led for the majority of her L.A. Marathon debut but finished third in 2:30:31.

“I just kept thinking in my head how much I wanted it,” Berry said. “Even if I didn’t come up with the win that’s what I wanted and that’s what I wanted to give in effort. The whole time I was just thinking, you can do it. You haven’t lost yet. You can win, type thing. Even when you fall short, it’s not a bad result. A third place finish is still an amazing result.”

The Bakersfield native said the L.A. Marathon has been instrumental in her desire to be a professional distance runner.

“It’s kind of a dream because it’s a race that I’ve watched since I was a kid on TV,” Berry continued. “It’s one of the things that’s inspired me to do marathons and things like that is seeing people finish on that big podium years ago. It’s fun. This is my first L.A. Marathon to be able to actually put it into practice and hopefully, I’m an inspiration for some of those other people watching on the TV at home.”

The 40th running of the Los Angeles Marathon began before sunrise at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. The 26.2-mile course traversed through Downtown, Echo Park, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and ended on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City.

In the men’s race, Richtman was among the top eight runners through Mile 6, pacing around a 5 minutes per mile.

Richtman broke away from the pack at Mile 15 in Beverly Hills. Sammy Rotich, Boniface Kibiwott, and Kioko went with him, as they ramped up the pace to 4:46 per mile.

Richtman extended his lead to a few seconds at Mile 17 on Wilshire Boulevard and a few minutes before entering the homestretch near the Avenue of the Stars.

RELATED: 26,000 compete in 40th L.A. Marathon

It was a five-woman race at Mile 6 (10k) with American Savannah Berry leading Mamitu Balchu Hey, Rita Jelagat, Tejinesh Gebisa Tulu, and Antonina Kwambai. Hey dropped off the lead pack by Mile 12.

Berry, an Olympic hopeful heading into the L.A. 2028 Summer Games, said it was important to prove to herself that she could run the entire race with the lead pack.

“I’m hoping that they actually do hold it similarly on this course because then it’s like I’m practicing,” Berry said. “It’s just getting ready for when it happens in 2028.”

Meanwhile, the Marathon Chase challenge gave the elite women’s field at 16:05 head start over the men. A $10,000 bonus was on the line for the first runner to cross the finish line. However, Richtman tracked the women down by Mile 18 and secured the five figure sum.

“It was still something that was on my mind,” Richtman said. “It’s that competitive nature.”

Luis Francisco Sanclemente won the wheelchair marathon for the third consecutive year. He finished in 1:38:10.

​ Orange County Register