2 Republicans including JD Vance’s half brother challenge Cincinnati’s Democratic mayor

• May 6, 2025

By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval faces two challengers Tuesday in the city’s nonpartisan primary, including Vice President JD Vance’s half brother.

The top two vote-getters in the contest to lead Ohio’s third-largest city will go on to compete in November’s general election.

Cory Bowman, Vance’s half brother, is an evangelical pastor and coffee shop owner. Neither he nor fellow Republican challenger Brian Frank, a procurement professional, have held public office before but said they didn’t want to see the incumbent Democrat’s reelection bid go unchallenged in the heavily Democratic city.

Were Bowman to pull an upset, he would be the latest family member of a president or vice president to serve in office. That includes the brother of Mike Pence, President Donald Trump’s first vice president, who was elected to Congress during Trump’s previous administration.

Bowman, 36, has said that he wants to improve his city, not get involved in national politics. He says his half brother’s inauguration in January inspired him to get involved in politics, but that Vance is just his brother, not his political counselor.

Pureval is viewed as a Democratic up-and-comer. A former special assistant U.S. attorney, congressional candidate and Hamilton County clerk of courts, the 42-year-old won the 2021 mayor’s race with nearly 66% of the vote.

Perennially low turnout in Cincinnati’s off-year mayoral primaries has led to surprising results for some candidates who were favored going in. Democrat John Cranley, a former City Council member, topped a former mayor of the city, Roxanne Qualls, in the 2013 mayoral primary, and parlayed the momentum into a win that fall. Four years later, Cranley came in second in the primary to Yvette Simpson, then a member of City Council. The incumbent mayor nonetheless won reelection that fall.

Voters in Cincinnati and across Ohio will also be voting Tuesday on State Issue 2. It seeks to reauthorize a program that would provide $2.5 billion for roads, bridges and other needed local infrastructure projects over the next decade.

​ Orange County Register 

LA man who killed 3 Orange County rideshare passengers in crash sentenced to 26 years

• May 6, 2025

A Los Angeles man who killed two Orange County sisters and their childhood friend in a 2023 high-speed crash was sentenced to 26 years in state prison on Monday, May 5.

Gregory Black, 34, accepted a plea deal that includes him serving 18 years in prison for violating probation and eight years for three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Family members of the victims expressed frustration with the plea agreement, saying they wanted a lengthier sentence of 25 years to life for each person who died.

“I want justice,” said Araceli Izquierdo, who lost two daughters in the crash. “I want him to pay for life just like we have.”

The fatal collision occurred on Aug. 26, 2023, on South Vermont Avenue and West Century Boulevard in South LA. The defendant already was on probation for a 2021 attempted murder case when he sped through a red light and T-boned the occupants of a Honda sedan Uber rideshare. Black struck the Uber with such force that LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said the Honda spun five times counter-clockwise before it slammed into a wall.

Two sisters, Kimberly Izquierdo, 27, Veronica Amezola, 23, of Santa Ana, and their childhood friend Juvelyn Arroyo, 23, of San Juan Capistrano died in the crash. Three other occupants suffered critical injuries.

“We were under the impression this was going to trial up until two weeks ago”, said Kimberly and Veronica’s older brother, Jose Izquierdo. “They didn’t consider us. We feel that part of justice is letting the public see the evidence.”

At the Compton courthouse Monday, family members and loved ones of the deceased donned matching shirts memorializing those lost as they shared victim impact statements.

“I’m here today to say how disappointed I am with the outcome of the charges and sentence that will be given to the defendant. I trust that in time life will do justice for us,” said Marlen Izquierdo.

“My sisters won’t be able to see me graduate high school, won’t be able to wish me good luck in college, won’t be my bridesmaids when I get married,” said Valeria Amezola, Kimberly and Veronica’s younger sister. “How is that fair?”.

“Veronica wasn’t just my best friend. She was the person I called when everything fell apart. The one who never judged me. The one who carried me through the hardest years of my life. She was my peace. My protector. My laughter. She was the safe place I could always return to…Now she’s gone and I’m not the same,” said Sheila Blancarte, who was childhood friends with all three victims.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks will pick 10th in first round of NHL draft

• May 6, 2025

The Ducks will select 10th overall in next month’s NHL draft, which will be held at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater on June 27-28.

The Ducks had the eighth-worst record in the NHL this season but slid back two spots thanks to leaps by the New York Islanders, who will pick first overall, and Utah HC, which will select fourth, in Monday’s draft lottery.

“It is always frustrating to fall back in the lottery,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “We believe there is a strong group of players that will be available within the top 10 of this draft. We are confident with our scouting we will add an exciting young player to what we believe is already one of the best young group of players in the NHL.”

This will be the Ducks’ seventh straight year selecting in the top 10 of the draft, having missed the playoffs in each of those campaigns to accumulate the third-longest active playoff drought behind Detroit and Buffalo. Four of their prior six top-10 picks are on the roster now – Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov and Trevor Zegras – with another in juniors (last’s year third prospect taken, Beckett Sennecke) and a sixth who was traded for an even higher-profile prospect when Jamie Drysdale was shipped to Philly as part of a deal for Cutter Gauthier.

In their 31-year history, the Ducks have selected in the top 10 on 17 prior occasions, most notably taking Paul Kariya fourth overall in their very first entry draft back in 1993.

In this upcoming draft, the Ducks own nine picks, one in each of the seven rounds plus an additional selection in the third and fifth rounds.

The Islanders vaulted nine teams, including the last-place San Jose Sharks, in winning the opportunity to have the No. 1 pick.

The Islanders, who finished 10th in the standings and are in the midst of a front-office change, overcame having just a 3.5% chance to winning the lottery. New York has the right to pick first for the fifth time in team history, and first since selecting John Tavares with the No. 1 pick in 2009.

The San Jose Sharks will pick second after entering the day with the best odds, 18.5%, to win the lottery and a 25.5% chance of landing the No. 1 choice. San Jose, which finished last for a second consecutive year, was seeking to become the NHL’s first team to win the lottery and pick first in consecutive years.

The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-best chances to win the lottery and will pick third.

Utah won the second lottery drawing and made the jump from 14th to fourth under the rules limiting teams from moving up no more than 10 spots in the draft order.

The lottery was held at the NHL Network studios in New Jersey, and conducted live for the first time in the event’s 30-year history. Previously, the lottery was held shortly before the broadcast in front of a limited audience of sequestered observers, followed by the draft selections being revealed in reverse order.

The remaining 14 draft spots will be determined following the playoffs.

​ Orange County Register 

Disneyland honors fire heroes with a parade and free tickets

• May 6, 2025

Disneyland threw a parade on Main Street U.S.A. for first responders who tackled the devastating wildfires that destroyed swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena to thank them for their heroic efforts.

Disneyland hosted a Heroes Salute Cavalcade on Monday, May 5 along the entry promenade of the Anaheim theme park to mark the first day of the free Heroes Ticket offer for first responders who fought on the front lines of the Los Angeles County fires in January.

“Disneyland really stepped up, not only for the people who responded, but for their families as well,” Los Angeles Fire Department’s Adam VanGerpen said after the cavalcade.

The L.A. Fire public information officer spent 28 days as the face and voice of the department in the weeks following the devastating fires.

VanGerpen rode down Main Street U.S.A. with his brother, Ian, a fellow L.A. firefighter, in the back of the Disneyland firetruck next to Mickey and Minnie. The brothers — dressed in matching LA Strong t-shirts and Mouseketeer hats — waved to the thousands of fans along the parade route who cheered for the first responders.

“At first we thought it was because of us,” Adam VanGerpen said during an interview in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. “But then we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re sitting right next to Mickey.’”

First responders from the Los Angeles, Pasadena and the Sierra Madre fire departments and officers from the Los Angeles Police Department filled Main Street U.S.A. vehicles as they paraded through the park.

ALSO SEE: Mickey and Minnie are still the stars of Disneyland’s newest kids show

Dozens of Disney characters waving ribbons marched alongside the procession, including Peter Pan, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Pinocchio and the Mad Hatter.

Members of the Disneyland Fire Department gathered in front of the Main Street Cinema to pay tribute to their fellow firefighters.

Among them were Dave and Mark McLean, father and son firefighters who work together in the Disneyland Fire Department. Mark McLean spent 23 days battling the devastating wildfires with his fellow Los Angeles City firefighters.

Disneyland is offering two free one-day Park Hopper tickets to first responders from Monday through Aug. 7. First responders need to make a theme park reservation in advance to use the free tickets that are good on Mondays through Thursdays.

The Disneyland Heroes Ticket offer is good for California firefighters, Los Angeles law enforcement officers, Los Angeles emergency medical technicians and other mutual aid assistance departments who helped combat the Los Angeles fires in January.

Disneyland has sent information directly to qualifying fire, police and sheriff’s departments on eligibility, verification and registration requirements.

Disney is donating $25 to the American Red Cross from the sale of every LA Strong t-shirt featuring Mickey Mouse to help those impacted by the Southern California wildfires.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland to fix curved Eiffel Tower in Soarin’ Around the World

Disney donation drives have collected more than 200,000 essential items for victims of the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires.

The Walt Disney Company has donated $15 million to fire relief efforts in the Los Angeles area.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Crazy Rich Asian’ actress Lisa Lu becomes oldest Walk of Fame honoree

• May 6, 2025

Actress Lisa Lu became the oldest recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday when she was honored at age 98 for a movie career which has included appearances in such films as “The Last Emperor” and “The Joy Luck Club.”

Awkwafina, a castmate of Lu’s in “Crazy Rich Asians,” and Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, were among those joining Lu at the ceremony at 1708 Vine St., near the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

The star is near those honoring James Stewart, whom Lu co-starred with when she made her film debut in the 1960 war film, “The Mountain Road,” and Anna May Wong, the first Asian woman to be honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. Wong’s star was among the initial 1,558 stars when the walk was completed in 1961.

Lu noted that she originally declined to have a star on the famed walk at an earlier age.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone walking on my name,” she told the crowd. “Today, it’s 98 years old. I embrace the star as a testament to resilience and perseverance.”

Lu’s family selected Monday for the ceremony because it is a “Square Root Day” — 5/5/25 — when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year, the “date just rolls off the tongue is a lyrical way” and is easy to remember, Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, told City News Service.

The star is the 2,811th on the walk.

The previous oldest star recipient was actor James Hong, who was 93 when he received his star in 2022. Coincidentally, Lu and Hong appeared together on such television shows as the Ronald Reagan-hosted anthology “General Electric Theater,” the detective drama “Richard Diamond, Private Detective,” and the comedy “Bachelor Father,” which all aired on CBS.

Born on Jan. 19, 1927, in Beijing, Lu was the adopted daughter of noted Chinese opera (Kunqu) performer Mei Lanfang. Her mother, Li Guifen, was also a Kunqu singer. Lu followed in her parents footsteps and began performing in Kunqu as a teenager.

Lu moved with her family to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War when she was in college. She studied business administration at National Chiao Tung University and financial management at the University of Hawai’i, as well as drama and speech.

Lu and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1956, and she joined the Pasadena Playhouse. She made her professional stage debut in 1958, in a production of “The Teahouse of the August Moon.” She made her television debut in a 1958 episode of the CBS comedy, “The Gale Storm Show.”

Lu won three Golden Horse Awards — Taiwan’s version of an Oscar — in the 1970s. She won for best actress in 1970 for her performance in “The Arch” and in 1972 for her portrayal of Empress Dowager Cixi in “The Empress Dowager.”

Lu won a best supporting actress Golden Horse Award in 1972 for portrayal of She Saihua, the legendary heroine from ancient China’s Northern Song Dynasty, in “The 14 Amazons.”

Lu also portrayed Cixi in the 1976 Hong Kong-made drama, “The Last Tempest” and in “The Last Emperor,” which won nine Oscars in 1988, including best picture.

​ Orange County Register 

William W. Bedsworth: Don’t let the Flyers and the moles win

• May 6, 2025

In 1974, the Philadelphia Flyers won the championship of the National Hockey League, the prize known as the Stanley Cup. In 1975, they repeated that championship. They were known as the Broad Street Bullies, after the location of their arena and their unique style of play.

So why is a 50-year-old hockey team showing up in an opinion piece in the editorial pages? Because they gained control of the NHL in the exact same way the Trump administration is trying to gain control of this country.

The Flyers won their championships in large measure by simply ignoring the rules. Their avowed strategy was to commit fouls all over the ice on the theory that “the refs won’t dare call them all.”

And they were right. Even while they were setting individual records for fights and penalties, they got away with murder. The refs simply couldn’t keep up with their rule violations.

That’s exactly the strategy the Trump administration is employing right now. Every week, this newspaper is forced to publish editorials decrying a new lie, a new abuse of power, a new blatant violation of the Constitution that augurs “the type of strongman rule common in distressed countries such as El Salvador.” 

And every week, the courts order him to stop. His response? Just ignore the courts. 

His answer to a direct question about his administration’s apparent flaunting of a Supreme Court order requiring it to facilitate the return of a man it admits was mistakenly deported was classic Trump. He said the focus shouldn’t be on ignoring the Supreme Court order, it should be on keeping criminals out of the United States.

That’s right: “Forget the Supreme Court’s order, I’m in charge here, and I say this man is a criminal.” This with regard to a man who’s never been convicted of anything and was not only deported but imprisoned in a foreign country

If this heinous transgression were standing alone, it would be front-page news every day and would elicit outrage from everyone until it was corrected. But it’s not, any more than the Flyers’ fouls were.

It’s surrounded by other unconstitutional excesses: executive orders barring specific lawyers from courthouses. Orders refusing funds to states, agencies, and universities that didn’t comply with the Trump agenda. Refusal of emergency disaster relief law to states that didn’t embrace the Trump agenda. Ordering names of people here legally removed from the Social Security rolls and declared dead without warning, hearing or explanation. Arrest and deportation without explanation of college students here on valid visas, an anti-people-of-color abuse completely unrelated to the legality of their presence and found nowhere in any legitimate reading of the Constitution.

And why is all of this happening so fast? Because the administration is betting that the courts can’t call them all.

You ever play Whac-A-Mole, the arcade game where rodent puppets pop up out of holes, and you try to knock them down with a stick? That’s what’s going on here. (It shouldn’t be surprising that any analysis of the Trump administration’s governance comes down to the level of hockey matches and arcade games.)

But instead of one mole at a time, you have a dozen. You still have just one stick: the courts. And now the head mole wants to impeach your stick. 

Legislation has been introduced by a Tennessee congressman to impeach a federal judge for the “high crime and misdemeanor” of blocking an administration action until they show why it isn’t, as it patently is, unconstitutional.

I was a judge for 37 years. I was appointed to the Court of Appeal by a Republican governor. I’ve taken several oaths to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” which I still feel bound bound by.

So I’ve had a lot of experience evaluating unconstitutionality. I don’t always know it when I see it. Sometimes it’s difficult to recognize. This time it couldn’t be more clear.

This is the biggest constitutional crisis since Fort Sumter. At issue is, as this newspaper has recognized, “whether the United States remains a constitutional republic.”

The courts are fighting for that constitutional republic. They’re fighting to maintain “the great democratic experiment” that has endured for almost 250 years. They need your support.      

Don’t let the Flyers and the moles win. 

Grab a stick, pal; it’s time to fight for your freedoms

William W. Bedsworth was an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal from 1997-2024. Prior to that, he served as an Orange County Superior Court judge from 1987–1997.

​ Orange County Register 

Procession through streets returns Camp Pendleton Marine killed in rollover home to Riverside

• May 6, 2025

First responders and community members in Riverside County gave a final salute to a 22-year-old local Marine who died in a vehicle rollover on a New Mexico road while on deployment to the United States border.

Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera of Riverside, a combat engineer with the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, was deployed as part of the Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the command overseeing the troop deployment at the U.S. border with Mexico following President Donald Trump’s order in January.

Aguilera died on April 15, when the vehicle he was in crashed down a 10-foot ditch along a road while traveling in a caravan to El Paso, Texas. Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino of Fresno, also a combat engineer in the same unit, was also killed. A third Marine in the vehicle was injured.

No further information on results of an investigation into the accident or the condition of the third Marine were provided by officials.

A homecoming ceremony for Gamino was set to be held in Fresno on Tuesday, May 6, said Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen, a nonprofit that helps military families deal with the loss of their loved ones. Herzog worked with civilian and military officials to get the word out to local first responders and the community that Aguilera was coming home to be laid to rest.

On Monday, members of Aguilera’s unit, the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, were with his family and waited at the airport for the casket to arrive, Herzog said.

Patriot Guard riders accompanied the procession to a mortuary in Menifee while members of the Riverside county and city fire departments saluted the hearse and procession from several freeway overpasses. Other groups involved in the procession were the Riverside County Sheriff Department, the Ontario Police Department and representatives from the USO.

“Today is a very emotional day for the family as they receive their loved one home at such a tragic and difficult time,” Herzog said. “We’re thankful for the support from all of the agencies who honored the father’s wishes as his son makes his final journey home to be laid to rest.”

Aguilera and the other two Marines were part of Task Force Sapper, a military unit supporting the southern border mission. The unit is responsible for reinforcing existing border barriers and fortifications, such as concertina wire and other physical barriers, to deter illegal crossings and enhance security.

​ Orange County Register 

Newport Beach attorney sentenced to more than a year in prison for scamming investors

• May 6, 2025

A Newport Beach attorney who admitted that she swindled investors out of $8.7 million in order to bankroll her lavish lifestyle and high-rolling gambling habit was sentenced Monday, May 5 to one year and nine months in federal prison.

A luxuriant lifestyle of high-end jewelry, luxury cars, a six-month stay at a opulent Las Vegas resort and millions of dollars in gambling losses — all financed on the back of unsuspecting well-heeled investors — ended with Sara Jacqueline King pleading guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering.

Citing the large monetary loss and the lavish lifestyle it paid for, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied a defense request for a shorter prison sentence.

“This is a lot of money,” Carter said. “There has always been a tremendous sense of betrayal.”

King opted not to speak during the sentencing hearing at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana. But her defense attorney, Sam Cross, cited alcohol, drug and gambling issues as having pushed King — both physically and emotionally — away from her family and toward the multimillion dollar fraud.

“She has been humbled,” Cross told the judge. “She has lost everything. She has to rebuild from nothing at the age of 41. She is really starting from zero.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Waier acknowledged that King, in a separate criminal case, provided the government assistance in convicting another man — John McCabe — of defrauding a 78-year-old Irvine man out of nearly $2 million. But the prosecutor noted that even after pleading guilty in her own case, King described herself as “Lady Mafia” during an appearance on a podcast.

“It was brazen,” Waier said of King’s scam. “It went on for a long time.”

“This defendant is a lawyer,” the prosecutor added. “She had the trust of the public.”

In a letter to the court, one of the defrauded investors who had been friends with King’s husband accused King of using her legal knowledge to “destroy the lives of those who trusted her.” The investor described receiving phony documents from King that included fake photos of cars and luxury watches King apparently claimed they were going to lend against in order to “give the illusion of security and legitimacy…”

“This wasn’t a mistake,” the investor wrote. “It was an elaborate, sustained scheme built on lie after lie. What she did took planning, effort, and cold disregard for the damage it would cause. She took not only my money, but my peace, my trust in others, and my ability to feel safe in my relationships.”

King’s eye-popping lifestyle and tales of around-the-clock gambling drew headlines when she was first accused in a federal civil lawsuit in early 2023 of scamming a lender out of more than $10 million.

King — through her Newport Beach-based King Family Lending LLC — provided short-term, high-interest loans to professional athletes, celebrities and other wealthy individuals, she acknowledged in a written plea deal. The loans were supposed to be secured by the borrowers, whose assets included designer handbags, watches, luxury cars, yachts an earnings from guaranteed sports contracts.

Investors, whom King recruited from January 2022 to January 2023, were told that their funds were secured by the same collateral as the loans themselves. If a borrower defaulted, King assured them she would sell the collateral to pay the investor in full.

King claimed to the investors that she would keep a percentage of the interest earned from their loans and would pass along the remaining percentage of the interest to the investors, along with their initial investment.

Those promised loans, however, never actually existed.

King spent the majority of the funds on a six-month stay at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, where she gambled “24/7” and lost an estimated $6 million to $7 million, according to a lawsuit investors have filed against her. As part of her plea deal, she also admitted to buying a $132,156 Porsche Taycan electric sports car, prosecutors allege.

In all, King in her plea deal admitted to defrauding five investors out of $8.7 million.

One of the investors — British Virgin Islands-based LDR International Limited — has sued King in federal court for breach of contract, fraud and theft.

LDR International alleges that King provided phony title documents, appraisals, photographs and contracts, according to court filings. At one point, LDR alleges, King sent them a photo of herself with NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen on a Las Vegas golf course in June 2022 to demonstrate her connection to high-profile athletes.

Ronald Richards, a Beverly Hills attorney who represented LDR International, ultimately took matters into his own hands in order to prevent King from gambling away what was left of the investor funds. Richard alerted various Las Vegas casinos and asked employees to let him know if they spotted King.

A cocktail waitress who allegedly had been victimized by King snapped a photo of her seated at a gaming table at Resorts World Las Vegas. Richards sent the photo to casino security, who used facial recognition technology to confirm King’s identity and then escorted her from the property.

King has previously accused her now ex-husband, Kamran Abbas-Vahid — a French citizen who lives in Morocco — of pressuring her to gamble loan proceeds in order to recoup the money she owed LDR International.

King, in her own court filings, has alleged that Abbas-Vahid did not work and had no money and claimed that she purchased two Long Beach buildings valued at $5 million to house his failed cannabis business. She also claimed her husband would accompany her as she played in the high-limit slot room at the Wynn Las Vegas and would collect her winnings when she hit a large jackpot.

Staff writer Scott Schwebke contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register