Democrats seeking California governor strut their stuff for powerful union leaders

• May 13, 2025

Given California’s daunting — even existential — array of social, economic and fiscal crises, it’s remarkable that anyone would volunteer to become its governor.

However, Gavin Newsom will vacate the office 19 months hence, with most of those crises still in place, and at least seven Democratic politicians yearn to succeed him.

Former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Rep. Katie Porter, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former State Controller Betty Yee put themselves on display Monday evening during a legislative conference of the state’s major union organizations.

It was what politicians call a “beauty contest,” in which candidates are given opportunities to briefly strut their stuff without any deep oratory. It was also an opportunity for the union leaders to pin them down on their top bread-and-butter issues, such as granting unemployment insurance benefits to striking workers, mandatory use of union labor in construction projects and more money for those projects, including the financially troubled bullet train.

With Lorena Gonzalez, head of the California Labor Federation, and Chris Hannan, president of the building trades, shooting the questions, the candidates were asked to wave flags indicating whether they supported the various union objectives.

Most toed the union line, although Villaraigosa, who sparred with education unions during his mayoralty, demurred on the unemployment insurance issue, citing its cost and the state’s chronic budget deficits.

That and some other issues were indirect potshots at Newsom, who has occasionally bucked the unions. He rejected striker unemployment benefits and his crusade to wean California from oil, which is beginning to shut down its refineries, drew opposition from the candidates when queried by refinery union members. Several said the campaign against oil would raise Californians’ already high costs of living and, as Yee put it, “cannot be on the backs of workers.”

As the “salon” continued, it was obvious that two people not in the ballroom of Sacramento’s downtown Sheraton Hotel were looming over the event: President Donald Trump and the woman he defeated last fall, former Vice President (and California senator) Kamala Harris.

Surprisingly, only Kounalakis brought up Trump without being prompted, since opposing Trump is a sacred tenet of California’s Democratic politicians. She vowed unrelenting resistance and others later followed her lead. However, Villaraigosa continued to somewhat set himself apart, saying “we can’t just take on Trump” but must address California’s many problems.

Harris was an even more powerful specter as she plays it coy on whether to rekindle her political career by running for governor. She apparently is weighing whether to do that or resume her quest for the White House in 2028, when Trump presumably will end his second term and depart.

A presidential rerun could put her in direct conflict with Newsom, who continues to emit indications of considering a White House campaign himself, while publicly denying such ambitions.

Were Harris to seek the governorship, polls indicate that she would be the immediate frontrunner, particularly in a crowded field of primary election hopefuls. However, it’s also likely that some of the seven current political samurai would drop out should Harris run. With a smaller field, one of the remaining Democrats might make the November runoff in the top-two primary, setting up a two-person duel.

Until Harris decides, however, everything is tentative and unsettled, including efforts to raise the many millions of dollars needed to campaign for statewide office in California. The union leaders who staged Monday’s event will also be major sources of campaign money for whomever they finally endorse.

​ Orange County Register 

José Mujica, Uruguay’s humble president who changed his country and charmed the world, dies at 89

• May 13, 2025

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Former Uruguayan President José Mujica, a onetime Marxist guerilla and flower farmer whose radical brand of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people around the world, has died. He was 89.

His death was announced by Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi. In a post on social media platform X, Orsi called Mujica a “president, activist, guide and leader.”Mujica had been under treatment for cancer of the esophagus since spring 2024, when the affliction was diagnosed.

Even as the treatment left him weak and hardly able to eat, Mujica reappeared on the political stage in fall of 2024, campaigning for his left-wing coalition in national elections that vaulted his preferred candidate and protégé, Orsi, to the presidency.

In September of 2024, his doctor reported that radiation had succeeded in eliminating much of the tumor. But in January of 2025, Mujica’s doctor announced that the cancer in his esophagus had returned and spread to his liver. His autoimmune disease and other underlying medical problems led Mujica to decide not to pursue further treatment.

“Honestly, I’m dying,” Mujica told weekly magazine Busqueda in what he said would be his final interview. “A warrior has the right to rest.”

During his 2010-2015 presidency, Mujica, widely known as “Pepe,” oversaw the transformation of his small South American nation into one of the world’s most socially liberal democracies. He earned admiration at home and cult status abroad for legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage, enacting the region’s first sweeping abortion rights law and establishing Uruguay as a leader in alternative energy.

​ Orange County Register 

Family of US-born child deported to Honduras drops lawsuit against Trump administration

• May 13, 2025

By MEGAN JANETSKY

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lawyers for a 2-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported with her mother to Honduras said on Tuesday that the family was lifting its lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The girl -– one of three U.S.-born children who were deported alongside their Honduran-born mothers -– had been at the heart of one of the mounting legal battles playing out in the United States weighing if the Trump administration broke the law in implementing its new deportation policies.

“Given the traumatizing experiences the families have been through, they are taking a step back to have full discussions about all their options, the safety and well-being of their children, and the best ways to proceed so the harms they have suffered can be fully addressed,” said Gracie Willis, one of the family’s lawyers.

The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Project and several other allied groups, which said the deportations were a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.”

Willis and the group of lawyers had argued that the families did not have a fair opportunity to decide whether they wanted the children to stay in the United States. Willis said the family of the 2-year old girl and their lawyers jointly decided to dismiss the case to give the family “space and time to consider all the options that are available to them.”

A federal judge in Louisiana had raised questions about the girl’s deportation, saying the government did not prove it had done so properly.

The Honduran-born mother — who is pregnant — was arrested in April on an outstanding deportation order along with the girl and her 11-year-old Honduran-born sister during a check-in appointment at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans, lawyers said. The family lived in Baton Rouge.

Lawyers for the girl’s father insisted he wanted the girl to remain with him in the U.S., while ICE said the mother had wanted the girl to be deported with her to Honduras.

In a court filing, lawyers for the father said ICE indicated that it was holding the girl in a bid to induce the father to turn himself in.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana had scheduled a hearing for the case later this week, saying it was “in the interest of dispelling our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process.”

​ Orange County Register 

Judge strips NYC of full authority over Rikers Island, citing ‘unprecedented’ violence

• May 13, 2025

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will no longer fully control its jail system, including the long-troubled Rikers Island complex, after a federal judge found the city had failed to stem spiraling dysfunction and brutality against those in custody.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she would appoint an outside manager to “take all necessary steps” toward restoring order inside the jails and bringing the city into compliance with previous court orders.

The official, known as a “remediation manager,” will report directly to the court. While the city’s corrections commissioner will remain responsible for much of the day-to-day operations of the jail system, the remediation manager will have broad powers to address long-standing safety problems, including authority over hiring and promotions, staff deployment and disciplinary action regarding the use of force

The extraordinary intervention, outlined Tuesday by Swain in a 77-page order, comes nearly a decade after the city’s jail system was placed under federal oversight as part of a class-action lawsuit brought by detainees.

In the years since, rates of violence have continued to increase, creating a “grave and immediate threat” that violates the constitutional rights of those in custody, according to Swain.

“Worse still, the unsafe and dangerous conditions in the jails, which are characterized by unprecedented rates of use of force and violence, have become normalized despite the fact that they are clearly abnormal and unacceptable,” Swain wrote Tuesday.

This past November, she found the city in contempt for failing to comply with 18 separate provisions of court orders pertaining to security, staffing, supervision, use of force and the safety of young detainees.

The contempt ruling opened the door to a federal receivership of Rikers Island, a remedy long supported by detainee advocates, strongly opposed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and characterized by the court as an option of last resort.

In her order on Tuesday, Swain said the remedial manager would have “broad authority” similar to a federal receiver, but would be expected to work closely with the city-appointed commissioner of the Department of Correction to implement a reform plan.

At a press conference Tuesday, Adams said the city would follow the judge’s order, while also suggesting the appointment of an outside manager was not necessary.

“Remediation manager? I don’t know the definition of that,” he said. “We have this oversight and that oversight. How much oversight are you going to do before you realize there are systemic problems?”

Benny Boscio, the president of the union that represents correction officers, said the union was willing to work with the outside manager, but it would maintain “our fierce advocacy for the preservation of our members’ employment rights and improving their working conditions.”

Advocates for detainees, meanwhile, celebrated the judge’s order as a turning point in a decades-long effort at reform.

“This has the potential to finally change the culture of violence and brutality in the city’s jails that we’ve seen for decades,” said Debbie Greenberger, an attorney with the Emery Celli law firm, which represents detainees, along with the Legal Aid Society.

“Nothing is going to change overnight, but I’m more hopeful today that we have a path to transformational change,” she added.

​ Orange County Register 

Long Beach State sweeps UCLA for its 4th NCAA men’s volleyball title

• May 13, 2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is back atop the sport after capping a dominant season with one of its best performances.

Top-seeded LBSU defeated third-seeded UCLA, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21, on Monday night at Ohio State’s Covelli Center to win its fourth national championship and avenge a loss to the Bruins in the 2024 title match, which was played at Long Beach State.

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov, the AVCA National Player of the Year, had six kills, four aces, two blocks and 27 assists to pace Long Beach (30-3), which hit .354 and held UCLA to .192.

“Not for one second did we think we were going to lose that game,” said the 6-foot-10 Nikolov, who was named the tournament MVP. “Before the game in the locker room we told each other we were here. We were born for this (expletive) game.”

The animated Nikolov, 18, paused and apologized for his faux pas before adding: “We were built for this game. Even when we were down five (in the second set), we trusted each other because we knew we were the better team.”

Alex Kandev had a team-high 13 kills and four blocks for Long Beach while hitting .450. Nato Dickinson added seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage, Skyler Varga had five kills and Diaeris McRaven added five blocks.

Long Beach had five aces, tying the NCAA single-season record (237) in the rally-scoring era, and 9.5 blocks, leading UCLA in every statistical category.

Cooper Robinson had 10 kills and hit .381 to lead the Bruins (22-7), while Zach Rama had eight kills and five blocks.

Long Beach won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2018 and 2019 and had finished as the runner-up twice since then (2022 and 2024) – there was no 2020 tournament because of the COVID pandemic. LBSU’s only other national championship came in 1991.

UCLA was chasing its 22nd national championship and trying to become the first program to win three in a row since the Bruins won four straight under longtime coach Al Scates from 1981-84.

The first set was close early until Long Beach used a quick 3-0 surge to open an 11-7 lead. LBSU extended its lead to 20-14 following back-to-back blocks by Isaiah Preuitt and Kandev and hit .688 in the frame on its way to a 25-17 win.

UCLA seized control early in the second set behind kills from Robinson and Sean McQuiggan, eventually building its largest lead at 18-13 after an Ido David ace. Long Beach responded and took advantage of some costly UCLA errors (two attack errors from Rama and service errors from David and Rama), winning seven of the next nine points to draw even at 20-all on a pair of Nikolov aces. Long Beach scored three straight points for a 24-22 lead, then closed the set on a McRaven kill.

The third set remained close until LBSU created some separation for a 16-11 lead. UCLA mounted one final charge behind consecutive kills from Rama to get within 21-20, but Long Beach withstood the pressure. A kill from Kandev sent the match to championship point, and a Nikolov kill completed the sweep and kicked off the celebration.

LBSU, which had a 20-match winning streak earlier this season, spent the past 14 weeks ranked No. 1 on the strength of a deep roster. Long Beach did lose a pair of matches to Big West Conference rival Hawaii last month, including the Big West Tournament final, but won nine of 10 sets in the NCAAs to leave little doubt as to who the best team in the country was.

Long Beach won all three of its matches against UCLA this season, beating the Bruins twice in February (a four-set victory at home, and a sweep at Pauley Pavilion) before Monday’s title match.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament will be played at UCLA.

​ Orange County Register 

Motorist, 79, dies in Norco carjacking when suspect drives off, dragging the victim from his vehicle

• May 13, 2025

A 79-year-old motorist carjacked near downtown Norco on Monday was fatally injured when the perpetrator dragged the victim while making his getaway, authorities said.

The deadly carjacking was reported at about 12:20 p.m. Monday at the ARCO gas station at 675 Hidden Valley Parkway, less than a mile east of the 15 Freeway, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The agency said witnesses observed a man forcibly taking the victim’s silver SUV, jumping into the driver’s seat and speeding away on the four-lane corridor with “the vehicle owner partially inside the rear seat.”

“The victim was dragged and ejected from the vehicle,” according to a sheriff’s statement.

Broadcast reports said the victim was vacuuming his SUV behind the passenger seat when the thief drove the vehicle away.

During the investigation, officers from the Corona Police Department told deputies from the sheriff’s Norco station that they located a man suffering from traumatic injuries consistent with being ejected from a vehicle. James Norman of Corona was located on Hidden Valley Parkway east of the initial incident and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives found the victim’s unoccupied SUV near Polk Street and Magnolia Avenue in Riverside. Investigators began working with the Riverside Police Department and eventually detained 29-year-old Ryan Hewitt of Corona near Magnolia and Tyler Street.

Hewitt was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of carjacking and murder.

Sheriff’s officials said no additional suspects were believed to be involved.

​ Orange County Register 

Servite boys golf squeezed out of division finals despite being Trinity co-champs

• May 13, 2025

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An accomplished boys golf program will be missing when the CIF-SS Division 1 and 2 team championships tee off May 19 at courses in Long Beach and Victorville, respectively.

Servite, co-champion of the Trinity League, didn’t make either field of 20 schools.

“This was a gut-punch,” veteran Friars coach Dane Jako said. “I almost retired after this one.”

Servite didn’t qualify for the team championships, coaches and section officials said, for a few reasons.

First, the seven-time section champion lost a league tiebreaker with co-champion Santa Margarita for the Trinity League’s sole automatic playoff berth in Division 1.

After both teams went 8-2 in league, the Eagles won the tiebreaker on the first day of league finals.

Secondly, Servite’s power rating of 3.513 fell just above Edison’s 3.492 for the seventh and final at-large bid in the field of 20 teams in Division 1.

For the first time, the section used in-season power ratings from iWanamaker to construct its playoff brackets.

Servite finished ranked No. 21 in the section, or the last team left out of Division 1.

Finally, as an at-large candidate, Servite couldn’t start Division 2 because of the section’s practice of having automatic playoff entries lead a division.

Apple Valley, an automatic playoff entry with a 4.131 power rating at No. 24, received the top seed in Division 2. The division also features 20 teams.

No. 22 Chaminade (3.764) and No. 23 Northwood (3.833) also came up empty as at-large candidates.

“We recognize that may be a flaw in this year’s system but we wanted to stay consistent with how we did it with the girls,” section commissioner Mike West, who oversees boys golf, said of the practice of starting divisions with automatic qualifiers.

“Pretty much all the other sports, by and large, have done the same thing. That whole thing may be a discussion but that’s how we went this first year.”

Four other Trinity League teams earned at-large bids to the team championships, leaving Servite as the lone member not to advance.

Orange Lutheran (Division 1), Mater Dei and JSerra (Division 2) and St. John Bosco (Division 5) each received at-large spots and will compete May 19.

Servite’s resume includes winning the Sierra Nevada Invitational.

“It’s difficult to grasp, as a group of student-athletes who have poured their time, energy and heart into this sport, why success on paper and on the course no longer seems to translate into opportunity,” Servite co-captain William Gim wrote in a letter to the section.

​ Orange County Register 

Reports: Kings expected to name Ken Holland their new GM

• May 13, 2025

Ken Holland, who won four Stanley Cup titles as an executive with the Detroit Red Wings, is expected to become the Kings’ next general manager, according to multiple reports on Monday night.

Holland would replace Rob Blake, the Kings’ GM and vice president of hockey operations whose contract was not renewed after a fourth straight first-round playoff exit.

An announcement is expected later this week, possibly as early as Tuesday.

Holland, 69, began his career as an amateur scout with the Red Wings in 1985, later serving as assistant GM for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1955, which came in 1997, and as GM for subsequent championships in 1998, 2002 and 2008. Kings president Luc Robitaille was a player on the 2002 Red Wings team.

After departing Detroit in 2019, Holland headed to Edmonton, where he solidified a wayward Oilers group that had won just one playoff series between 2007 and 2022. That’s not unlike the Kings, who haven’t advanced beyond the first round since their Stanley Cup triumph in 2014.

In 2022, the Oilers’ third season under Holland, they went to the Western Conference finals against eventual champion Colorado, having beaten the Kings in the process. They repeated that last feat in 2023 (a second-round exit against another eventual champion Vegas) and in 2024, when they came within one victory of reverse-sweeping the Florida Panthers after falling behind 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.

As assistant GM in Detroit, Holland was instrumental in bringing in the vaunted “Russian Five” – Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Fetisov and Igor Larionov – and as GM he plucked international steals from the draft like Pavel Datsyuk (No. 171 overall) and Henrik Zetterberg (No. 210 overall) that ushered in another era of excellence.

During his tenure as Detroit’s GM, the franchise won more regular-season and postseason games than any other franchise, also tying Chicago and Pittsburgh for the most championships in that period with three.

In all, the Wings made the playoffs in 25 consecutive seasons with Holland in their front office but have not returned since he left the Motor City. The Oilers qualified for the postseason in each of Holland’s five campaigns with Edmonton.

Holland’s five-year contract with the Oilers expired on July 1, 2024. Edmonton eventually hired former Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to replace him. Since then, Holland had been working as a consultant to the NHL’s hockey operations department.

In 2020, Holland was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders’ category. As a player, he was a goaltender who played in a modest four career games, three with Detroit and another with the Hartford Whalers.

Holland will now determine the fate of Jim Hiller, who finished his first full season as Kings head coach after serving on an interim basis in 2023-24. Hiller was an assistant coach with the Red Wings for one season (2014-15) during Holland’s time in Detroit.

​ Orange County Register