WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy protection to eliminate debt burden

• May 7, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — WeightWatchers said Tuesday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to eliminate $1.15 billion in debt and focus on its transition into a telehealth services provider.

Parent WW International Inc. said it has the support of nearly three-quarters of its debt holders. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy within 45 days, if not sooner.

WeightWatchers, which was founded more than 60 years ago, has struggled recently. In 2023, the company moved into the prescription drug weight loss business — particularly with the $106 million acquisition of Sequence, now WeightWatchers Clinic, a telehealth service that helps users get prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity.

Its latest earnings report Tuesday showed that first-quarter revenue declined 10% while its loss on an adjusted basis totaled 47 cents per share. However, clinical subscription revenue — or weight-loss medications — jumped 57% year over year to $29.5 million.

In September, WW International CEO Sima Sistani resigned, and the New York company named Tara Comonte, a WeightWatchers board member and former Shake Shack executive, interim chief executive.

Comonte, now CEO, said in a statement Tuesday that, “As the conversation around weight shifts toward long-term health, our commitment to delivering the most trusted, science-backed, and holistic solutions —grounded in community support and lasting results — has never been stronger, or more important.”

Shares of the company have traded at under $1 since early February. In after-hours trading, the stock plunged by half to 39 cents.

The bankruptcy filing was made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

​ Orange County Register 

Harry Styles’ bandmates list Pasadena Queen Anne home for $2.8M

• May 7, 2025

A Queen Anne Victorian-style mansion owned by Harry Styles’ band members, songwriter and guitarist Mitch Rowland and his wife, drummer Sarah Jones, is on the market for $2.8 million.

The 3,009-square-foot home, known as the George E. Hutchins House, features a wraparound front porch and a historic plaque indicating it is a city cultural heritage landmark. It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms with a finished attic used by the musician couple as a creative space.

Records show it sold through a trust in Rowland’s name in November 2023 for $2.25 million, 12% less than the $2.55 million it sought in July of that same year.

Rowland and Jones have kept the house just as it was when they bought it, except for sourcing restored lighting fixtures from Pasadena Architectural Salvage.

The house was built between 1895 to 1899. Around 1906, movers transported it in its entirety using horses and wagons from around the corner to the quarter-acre lot where it now stands in the historic, tree-lined Arroyo Terrace neighborhood.

While the house maintains its historic charm, it also includes modern updates. A standout feature is the gourmet kitchen, which includes Viking appliances, a custom tin ceiling and granite countertops.

The checkerboard space transitions into a breakfast room filled with light, overlooking the gardens and gazebo.

Period-appropriate wallpaper decorates the interior of the house with nature motifs, including white rabbits, deer, birds, dragonflies and spider webs.

Large windows enhance the living and formal dining rooms. According to the listing agent, the space staged as the dining room is officially a bedroom.

The foyer staircase leads up to four bedrooms on the second floor.

Not included in the overall square footage is the 1,131-square-foot attic, accessible by a pull-down ladder, the detached carriage house featuring a two-car garage and a 351-square-foot loft, as well as the 131-square-foot  separate office with storage behind it.

Nina Kurtz of Compass has the listing.

Rowland, 35, went from a dishwasher at a Highland Park pizza parlor to co-writing and touring with Styles. Since 2016, he has collaborated with the former One Direction star on three albums and their hits. He co-wrote “Watermelon Sugar,” which won won the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance in 2021. He also contributed to the singles “Sign of the Times,” “Golden” and “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.”

In 2023, Rowland won an Album of the Year Grammy for his role as a songwriter and performer on “Harry’s House.” He also released his solo debut album, “Come June,” featuring Jones, 39, on drums.

The couple have two children.

​ Orange County Register 

This week’s bestsellers at Southern California’s independent bookstores

• May 7, 2025

The SoCal Indie Bestsellers List for the sales week ended May 4 is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of Southern California, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Great Big Beautiful Life: Emily Henry

2. James: Percival Everett

3. Audition: Katie Kitamura

4. Broken Country: Clare Leslie Hall

5. All Fours: Miranda July

6. Onyx Storm (Deluxe Limited Edition): Rebecca Yarros

7. The Wedding People: Alison Espach

8. Wild Dark Shore: Charlotte McConaghy

9. Small Things Like These: Claire Keegan

10. Intermezzo: Sally Rooney

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Abundance: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

2. The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About: Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins

3. Notes to John: Joan Didion

4. The Creative Act: A Way of Being: Rick Rubin

5. The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life: Suleika Jaouad

6. The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward: Melinda French Gates

7. Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them: Admiral William H. McRaven

8. Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service: Michael Lewis (Ed.)

9. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism: Sarah Wynn-Williams

10. Matriarch: A Memoir: Tina Knowles

MASS MARKET

1. Animal Farm: George Orwell

2. 1984: George Orwell

3. The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger

4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams

5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou

6. The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

7. The Name of the Wind: Patrick Rothfuss

8. Lord of the Flies: William Golding

9. And Then There Were None: Agatha Christie

10. Mistborn: The Final Empire: Brandon Sanderson

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures: Shelby Van Pelt

2. Orbital: Samantha Harvey

3. The Paris Novel: Ruth Reichl

4. Martyr!: Kaveh Akbar

5. Parable of the Sower: Octavia E. Butler

6. Table for Two: Fictions: Amor Towles

7. Tom Lake: Ann Patchett

8. The Handmaid’s Tale: Margaret Atwood

9. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: Gabrielle Zevin

10. The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ slumping Taylor Ward gets extra work against live pitching

• May 7, 2025

ANAHEIM — Long before any of his Angels teammates hit the field for pregame work on Tuesday, Taylor Ward was out there grinding at-bats against an Angels minor-league pitcher.

Ward has been in a deep slump. He wanted some extra work in game-like conditions, so the Angels brought in one of their low-level minor leaguers to face him.

Manager Ron Washington said Ward saw about 35 to 40 pitches.

“He hit some of them pretty good and some of them he got beat,” Washington said. “That happens, whether you’re swinging good or not. … It was just to get him some extra stuff. Instead of seeing 45 or 50 (mph, from a coach), he saw some 90, 92, 93, 94 with some breaking stuff and some changeups. He didn’t know what was coming. He had to make adjustments. That’s what it’s all about.”

After Ward hit, he had a “skull session, thinking process,” Washington said.

Washington said Ward will go through a similar routine on Wednesday afternoon.

Washington said the Angels did similar workouts with their hitters three times last year, but this was the first time this season.

“If you ask me, we should have had the whole team out here,” Washington said.

Perhaps if this works to get Ward going, more hitters will see the value in the extra work.

The Angels are trying anything with Ward. The left fielder came into this season with a career .758 OPS, which is better than the major league average. He came into Tuesday’s game with a .578 OPS. That included an 0-for-27 slump.

Ward acknowledged last week that he was not seeing the ball well at the plate, which he said was evident from the number of times he was taking called third strikes over the heart of the plate.

Washington has continued hitting him in key spots in the lineup throughout. He started the season in the leadoff spot, and lately he’s been hitting fourth.

“He’s still Taylor Ward,” Washington said. “Even though he’s not doing well, he’s still Taylor Ward. It’s just a matter of Taylor Ward finding it.”

MONCADA RETURNS

The Angels activated third baseman Yoán Moncada, who had been out for more than three weeks because of a sprained right thumb.

Moncada played just two games at Class-A in his rehab assignment, going 0 for 5 with four walks.

Moncada didn’t play much at the end of spring training because of the thumb injury, and then he played just eight major-league games before aggravating it.

Moncada acknowledged through an interpreter that “timing obviously is not going to be there,” when he first returns to action, but he said it would come with reps.

Washington said he believes Moncada can have a positive impact on the lineup by working good at-bats and seeing a lot of pitches.

“I think he will figure out what he has to do in due time,” Washington said. “The only way he can get in trouble is if you go up there chasing. If he doesn’t chase, he’ll take his walks, and the more pitches he sees, the better off he’ll be when it’s time to swing the bat. We know there’s going to be some rough times with him because he hasn’t had any at-bats, but we like to have his presence.”

The Angels optioned first baseman Niko Kavadas to make room for Moncada.

BULLPEN SHUFFLE

The Angels swapped out two relievers for the fourth time in the last two weeks, as they continue to churn through the bottom of the bullpen.

This time they optioned right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks and designated right-hander Touki Toussaint for assignment. They called up veteran right-handers Hector Neris and Connor Brogdon.

Neris, 35, has pitched parts of 12 seasons in the majors, including a 4.10 ERA in 59⅓ innings last season. He was unsigned until early March, and then he pitched briefly for the Atlanta Braves, who released him. The Angels signed him last month. He pitched four innings at Triple-A, allowing two runs, striking out eight and walking one.

Brogdon, 30, pitched parts of five seasons in the majors. In 2021 and 2022, he had a 3.36 ERA in 101⅔ innings with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Brogdon had a 12.89 ERA in Triple-A this season, but over his last five games he had a 1.42 ERA with 14 strikeouts and two walks in 6⅓ innings.

NOTES

Mike Trout was riding a stationary bike on Tuesday. Trout (left knee bone bruise) said he was hoping to miss the minimum 10 days. “I’m not a medical person,” Washington said. “I certainly hope the optimism Mike has is true.” …

The Angels still don’t have a set day for relief pitcher Ben Joyce (shoulder inflammation) to resume throwing. He’s expected to throw sometime this week. …

Right-hander Sam Bachman (thoracic outlet syndrome) was set to begin a rehab assignment at Class-A Inland Empire on Tuesday, weather permitting. Bachman has not pitched in the majors since July 2023. …

Right-hander Robert Stephenson (rehab from Tommy John surgery) was set to face hitters in live batting practice for the second time on Tuesday. He is set to do it again on Friday.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays (RHP José Berrios, 1-1, 3.98) at Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 0-4, 4.21), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Tuesday, May 6

• May 7, 2025

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Tuesday, May 6

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

TUESDAY’S SCORES

GIRLS LACROSSE

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Quarterfinals

DIVISION 3

Trabuco Hills 14, Cate 7

SOFTBALL

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Cypress 1, Pacifica 0

Esperanza 3, Canyon 2

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Fullerton 7, Kennedy 0

Segerstrom 13, Ocean View 1

FREEWAY LEAGUE

El Dorado 1, Sonora 0

Villa Park 11, Sunny Hills 2

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE

Buena Park 6, Valencia 2

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE

Troy 5, Foothill 0

Yorba Linda 19, Crean Lutheran 9

OLYMPIC LEAGUE

Heritage Christian 16, Whittier Christian 7

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Santa Ana 16, Costa Mesa 15

Tustin 4, Godinez 0

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Rosary 14, University 0

El Toro 4, Woodbridge 4

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

San Clemente 9, Trabuco Hills 5

San Juan Hills 4, Beckman 3

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Capistrano Valley 3, Aliso Niguel 2

Dana Hills 2, Mission Viejo 1

SUNSET LEAGUE

Huntington Beach 8, Edison 4

Los Alamitos 10, Fountain Valley 1

Marina 10, Newport Harbor 0

TRINITY LEAGUE

JSerra 6, Santa Margarita 0

Mater Dei 5, Orange Lutheran 4

605 LEAGUE

Riverside Prep 13, Oxford Academy 4

NONLEAGUE

Southlands Christian 19, Savanna 3

​ Orange County Register 

Trump administration abruptly removes the vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board

• May 7, 2025

By HALLIE GOLDEN, Associated Press

The vice chair of the National Transportation Safety Board has been abruptly removed from his position, the White House confirmed Tuesday, a rare move that comes as the agency investigates more than 1,000 cases.

The Trump administration removed ​​Alvin Brown a little more than a year after he was sworn in. The White House didn’t say why he was removed.

The decision comes as NTSB investigates nearly 1,250 active cases across the U.S., while supporting more than 160 foreign investigations, according to March testimony by NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.

The investigations include the deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January and the medical transport plane that plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January, killing eight people.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former National Transportation Safety Board and FAA accident investigator, said he has never seen an administration remove a member of the board.

Board members have been known to stay on after their term is over if the administration hasn’t appointed anyone yet and then they leave once the next administration selects someone, he said.

“That happens a lot over the years, but that’s normal and expected because you served your term and now it’s time for someone else to serve in there,” he said. “But this wasn’t that. This was just more abrupt and directly from the administration,n and I don’t know what the impetus is.”

By Tuesday evening, Brown’s photo and biography had already been removed from NTSB’s website.

The agency includes five board members who serve five year terms, according to the NTSB website. They are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The chairman and vice chairman are both designated by the president and serve for three years. By Tuesday evening, the website only showed four members of the board.

Brown was sworn in as a member of the board in April 2024 after being nominated by then-President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate to fill one of two vacancies. His term was expected to run through 2026, according to an NTSB press release at the time. He was the only Black member of the board.

He was the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, from 2011 to 2015 and joined the board after serving as senior adviser for community infrastructure opportunities for the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to the release.

NTSB typically works on about 2,200 domestic and 450 foreign cases each year, according to Homendy. She said she expects “the number of cases annually to remain high and continue to increase in complexity.”

Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump plans to announce the US will call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, officials tell AP

• May 7, 2025

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the U.S. will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The White House and National Security Council didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf of Arabia” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.

On Google Maps in the U.S., the body of water appears as Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.

Trump can change the name for official U.S. purposes, but he can’t dictate what the rest of the world calls it.

The International Hydrographic Organization — of which the United States is a member — works to ensure all the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Trump is also set to visit Doha, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which also lie on the body of water. Originally planned as Trump’s first trip overseas since he took office on Jan. 20, it comes as Trump has tried to draw closer to the Gulf countries as he seeks their financial investment in the U.S. and support in regional conflicts, including resolving the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and limiting Iran’s advancing nuclear program.

The U.S. president also has significant financial ties to the countries through his personal businesses, over which he has retained ownership from the Oval Office.

The move comes several months after Trump said the U.S. would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

The Associated Press sued the Trump administration earlier this year after the White House barred its journalists from covering most events because of the organization’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” within the United States.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled last month that the First Amendment protects the AP from government retaliation over its word choice and ordered the outlet’s access to be reinstated.

AP writers Zeke Miller and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

A man with an open asylum case was deported. His lawyers want to know if there are others

• May 7, 2025

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia has become a household name as the Trump administration is engaged in an intense legal campaign to keep him locked up in an El Salvador prison despite his mistaken deportation. But his case isn’t the only one of its kind inching through the U.S. court system.

Nearly two months have passed since a 20-year-old Venezuelan native, known only as Cristian in court filings, was deported to El Salvador despite having a pending asylum application. Now his lawyers want to know if there are others like him.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher stopped short of ordering the Trump administration to produce a list of any others who are in the same legal situation as Cristian. But the judge made it clear during a hearing Tuesday that she won’t second-guess her earlier order for the Trump administration to facilitate Cristian’s return to the U.S.

Gallagher, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, said it is a “fair inference” that the administration has done nothing to comply with her April 23 decision. She gave the government until Thursday to appeal her ruling before she considers ordering specific steps to comply with the order.

Gallagher said the case isn’t about whether Cristian is entitled to asylum if he is able to return to the U.S.

“The issue is and always has been one of process,” the judge said. “People are entitled to that.”

How does Cristian’s case compare to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s?

Abrego Garcia and Cristian both were deported on March 15. Dozens of other people were flown from the U.S. to El Salvador after Trump issued a proclamation calling for the arrest and removal of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law.

Cristian had been transferred into federal custody from a jail in Harris County, Texas, in January. Abrego Garcia was arrested in Maryland, where he lived with his wife — a U.S. citizen — and their children.

Unlike Cristian, Abrego Garcia is a native of El Salvador. A U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 protected him from being sent there because he likely faced persecution by local Salvadoran gangs that terrorized him and his family.

Gallagher ruled that the government violated a 2019 settlement agreement when it deported Cristian. She said she was guided by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ ruling that Trump’s Republican administration must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

“Standing by and taking no action is not facilitation,” Gallagher wrote. “In prior cases involving wrongfully removed individuals, courts have ordered, and the government has taken, affirmative steps toward facilitating return.”

Gallagher said her order requires the government to make “a good faith request” for the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to U.S. custody.

What’s the latest on Abrego Garcia’s case?

Xinis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. The judge set May deadlines this month for administration officials to testify under oath about what they have done to comply.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said the administration was moving toward bringing him back when it asked for a pause in the court case last month.

“We agreed to that request because we understood it to be made in good faith,” the lawyers said in a news release. “Unfortunately, one week later, it remains unclear what, if anything, the government has done in the past seven days to bring our client home to his family.”

What’s next in Cristian’s case?

The Justice Department is likely to appeal Gallagher’s rulings in Cristian’s favor. Any appeal would be heard by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the meantime, Gallagher refused Tuesday to suspend her April 23 decision.

The judge scheduled Tuesday’s hearing to find out what, if anything, the government has done to comply with her order to facilitate Cristian’s return. Justice Department attorney Richard Ingebretsen merely told her that the State Department was notified of her ruling.

“That is the extent of the information,” Ingebretsen added.

One of Cristian’s attorneys, Kevin DeJong, dismissed that response as a “non-answer” and expressed concern that the administration is trying to avoid complying with the judge’s order.

Ingebretsen said immigration officials have determined that Cristian isn’t entitled to asylum. But the man’s lawyers said he has a right to get a ruling on the merits of his asylum application by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Meanwhile, Cristian’s lawyers want to know if the U.S. has deported other people who are covered by the same settlement that benefited him.

“There may well be other class members removed and we don’t know about it,” DeJong said. “It’s not acceptable.”

​ Orange County Register