Running back Sony Michel returns for 2nd stint with Rams

• June 20, 2023

THOUSAND OAKS — The Rams have re-signed running back Sony Michel, a member of their Super Bowl championship team.

The Rams announced their reunion Tuesday with Michel, a two-time Super Bowl winner and five-year NFL veteran.

Michel rushed for 845 yards and four touchdowns while also catching 21 passes during the 2021-22 season for the Rams, who acquired him from New England in a preseason trade. Cam Akers was sidelined for most of the season by an Achilles injury that year, and Michel added 78 yards rushing in the postseason as the team won the Super Bowl in February 2022 at SoFi Stadium.

Michel, 28, spent the ensuing offseason with the Dolphins before Miami cut him last August. He then signed with the Chargers and had 36 carries for 106 yards in 10 games as a backup to Austin Ekeler last season.

Michel spent his first three NFL seasons with the Patriots, and he rushed for a career-high 931 yards as a rookie on New England’s 2018-19 championship team. He rushed for six postseason touchdowns as a rookie, including the only touchdown in the Pats’ 13-3 Super Bowl victory over the Rams.

Now back with the Rams, Michel will compete for a role to again back up Akers. Other running backs on the depth chart include second-year pro Kyren Williams, rookie sixth-round pick Zach Evans and Ronnie Rivers.

Michel has started 35 of his 65 career games and has accounted for 3,682 total yards and 20 touchdowns (18 rushing, two receiving).

Michel is the sixth Georgia product on the Rams’ current roster, joining quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Stetson Bennett.

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‘They killed my daughter’: Mother of 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody says pleas for hospital care were denied

• June 20, 2023

By Valerie Gonzalez | Associated Press

McALLEN, Texas — The mother of an 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody said Friday that agents repeatedly ignored pleas to hospitalize her medically fragile daughter as she felt pain in her bones, struggled to breathe and was unable to walk.

Agents said her daughter’s diagnosis of influenza did not require hospital care, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks said in an emotional phone interview. They knew the girl had a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia.

“They killed my daughter, because she was nearly a day and a half without being able to breathe,” the mother said. “She cried and begged for her life and they ignored her. They didn’t do anything for her.”

The girl died Wednesday on what her mother said was the family’s ninth day in Border Patrol custody. People are to be held no more than 72 hours under agency policy, a rule that is violated during unusually busy times.

The account is almost certain to raise questions about whether the Border Patrol properly handled the situation, the second child migrant death in two weeks in U.S. government custody after a rush of illegal border crossing severely strained holding facilities.

Roderick Kise, a spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, said he could not comment beyond an initial statement because the death was the subject of an open investigation. In that statement, CBP said the girl experienced “a medical emergency” at a station in Harlingen, Texas, and died later that day at a hospital.

“No parent should have to beg for their child to get basic medical attention and be forced to watch as their child’s health worsens to the point where they cannot be saved,” Jennifer Nagda, chief programs officer at the nonprofit Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, said in a statement Saturday.

Nagda urged the Biden administration to create “welcoming centers” at the border where immigration officials can process asylum-seeking families with children while non-governmental groups can offer food, clothing and medical care.

“The only way to stop these preventable deaths is to stop jailing families. To stop jailing children,” Nagda said.

Alvarez Benedicks, 35, said she, her husband and three children, ages 14, 12 and 8, crossed the border to Brownsville, Texas, on May 9. After a doctor diagnosed the 8-year-old, Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, with influenza, the family was sent to the Harlingen station on May 14. It was unclear why the family was held so long.

Anadith woke up her first day in the Harlingen station with a fever and had a headache, according to her mother, who said the station was dusty and smelled of urine.

When she reported her daughter’s bone pain to an agent, she said he responded, “’Oh, your daughter is growing up. That’s why her bones hurt. Give her water.’”

“I just looked at him,” Alvarez Benedicks said. “How would he know what to do if he’s not a doctor?”

She said a doctor told her the pain was related to influenza. She asked for an ambulance to take her daughter to the hospital for breathing difficulties but was denied.

“I felt like they didn’t believe me,” she said.

Anadith received saline fluids, a shower and fever medication to reduce her temperature, but her breathing problems persisted, her mother said, adding that a sore throat prevented her from eating and she stopped walking.

At one point, a doctor asked the parents to return if Anadith fainted, Alvarez Benedicks said. Their request for an ambulance was denied again when her blood pressure was checked Wednesday.

An ambulance was called later that day after Anadith went limp and unconscious and blood came out of her mouth, her mother said. She insists her daughter had no vital signs in the Border Patrol station before leaving for the hospital.

The family is staying at a McAllen, Texas, migrant shelter and seeking money to bring their daughter’s remains to New York City, their final destination in the U.S.

Anadith, whose parents are Honduran, was born in Panama with congenital heart disease. She received surgery three years ago that her mother characterized as successful. It inspired Anadith to want to become a doctor.

Her death came a week after a 17-year-old Honduran boy, Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, died in U.S. Health and Human Services Department custody. He was traveling alone.

A rush to the border before pandemic-related asylum limits known as Title 42 expired brought extraordinary pressure. The Border Patrol took an average of 10,100 people a into custody a day over four days last week, compared to a daily average of 5,200 in March.

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The Border Patrol had 28,717 people in custody on May 10, one day before pandemic asylum restrictions expired, which was double from two weeks earlier, according to a court filing. By Sunday, the custody count dropped 23% to 22,259, still historically high.

Custody capacity is about 17,000, according to a government document last year, and the administration has been adding temporary giant tents like one in San Diego that opened in January with room for about 500 people.

On Sunday, the average time in custody was 77 hours.

Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

2nd jury to decide if Garden Grove man attempted to rape, then killed 68-year-old neighbor

• June 20, 2023

A Garden Grove man is once again on trial for the attempted rape and brutal, fatal beating of an elderly woman who was out on an early morning walk in their neighborhood, as the defendant’s attorney argued that he is an innocent bystander who found himself caught up in suspicious circumstances.

Nearly a year after his first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, Michael Aon Varela, now 36, was back in an Orange County Superior courtroom in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning facing a special circumstances murder while committing a rape charge for the fatal attack on 68-year-old Dzung Thi Nguyen on Sept. 9, 2017.

Deputy District Attorney Casey Cunningham told jurors that a drunken Varela committed a “brutal, horrific and senseless murder” after returning home following a night out drinking. Nguyen lived with her husband in the same neighborhood as Varela — near the 22 Freeway and Beach Boulevard — and she had a habit of waking up early to go on long walks and collect recyclables.

“He beat her and he brutalized her, ripped her clothes off and when she didn’t submit he continued to beat her until she went unconscious, became unresponsive and ultimately died several days later,” the prosecutor said.

Varela’s father opened the door to his home shortly after 5 a.m. to find a shirtless, blood-covered Varela with a nearly-naked Nguyen on his front lawn. Varela told his father that he had arrived home to find a half-naked and injured Nguyen in the street, Cunningham said. When the father continued asking questions about what happened, an “agitated and defensive” Varela asked “What, you think I did this?”

Nguyen’s DNA was found on Varela’s penis, the prosecutor said, and his DNA was found on her clothing. Varela had scratches on various parts of his body, the prosecutor added, including portions of an arm, his knee and above an eye. While surveillance cameras from nearby homes didn’t capture the attack on Nguyen, they did show the headlights of Varela’s car apparently parking at 4:38 p.m. and recyclables believed to have been collected by Nguyen in the street at 5:09 a.m., leading police to believe the assault occurred within that time frame.

Varela’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Arlene Speiser, denied that Varela was the one who attacked Nguyen. The defense attorney described Varela as “the guy people knew as the person who would always jump in and help others in need.”

“Michael Varela, my client, came home to anyone’s worst nightmare,” Speiser told jurors. “An innocent person trying to help another human being that placed him in suspicious circumstances.”

The defense attorney acknowledged that Varela was drunk, having been out the previous night into the early morning hours at dive bars in Stanton and Fullerton. Varela had tripped and fallen facedown on pavement while leaving the second bar at closing time, the defense attorney said, and then he vomited on himself in his car before eventually driving home.

Varela arrived home still in a haze, Speiser said, and saw the unresponsive body of Nguyen across the street. He clumsily carried her toward his home, knowing that his father was home to help and that they could call 911, the defense attorney added.

“He has nothing to hide,” Speiser said. “He brings her from the darkness of the street to the light of the front yard.”

Both Varela’s father and his father’s girlfriend looked Varela in the eyes and didn’t believe he was responsible for attacking Nguyen, Speiser said. Neither saw any indication that his knuckles were damaged or swollen, the defense attorney added.

Other people were out in the neighborhood during the early morning hours that day, Speiser said, including a man from the Czech Republic who was visiting from overseas at the time, returned days later and hasn’t been back in the United States since, as well as an unidentified man seen walking in the neighborhood shortly before police arrived.

If convicted as charged, Varela faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Judge strikes down Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors

• June 20, 2023

By Andrew DeMillo | Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge struck down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.

U.S. District Judge Jay Moody issued a permanent injunction against the Arkansas law, which would have prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18.

Arkansas’ law, which Moody temporarily blocked in 2021, also would have prohibited doctors from referring patients elsewhere for such care.

In his order, Moody ruled that the prohibition violated the due process and equal protection rights of transgender youth and families. He said the law also violated the First Amendment rights of medical providers by prohibiting them from referring patients elsewhere.

“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing,” Moody wrote in his ruling.

Republican lawmakers in Arkansas enacted the ban in 2021, overriding a veto by former GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson, who left office in January, said the law went too far by cutting off treatments for children currently receiving such care.

The ruling affects only the Arkansas ban but may carry implications for the fates of similar prohibitions, or discourage attempts to enact them, in other states.

“This decision sends a clear message. Fear-mongering and misinformation about this health care do not hold up to scrutiny; it hurts trans youth and must end,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas. “Science, medicine, and law are clear: gender-affirming care is necessary to ensure these young Arkansans can thrive and be healthy.”

The ACLU challenged the law on behalf of four transgender youth and their families and two doctors.

At least 19 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors following Arkansas’ law, and federal judges have temporarily blocked similar bans in Alabama and Indiana. Three states have banned or restricted the care through regulations or administrative orders.

Florida’s law goes beyond banning the treatments for youth, by also prohibiting the use of state money for gender-affirming care and placing new restrictions on adults seeking treatment. A federal judge has blocked Florida from enforcing its ban on three children who have challenged the law.

Children’s hospitals around the country have faced harassment and threats of violence for providing such care.

The state has argued that the prohibition is within its authority to regulate the medical profession. People opposed to such treatments for children argue they are too young to make such decisions about their futures. Major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, oppose the bans and experts say treatments are safe if properly administered.

The state is likely to appeal Moody’s decision to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which last year upheld the judge’s temporary order blocking the law.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Hutchinson’s successor, in March signed legislation attempting to effectively reinstate Arkansas’ ban by making it easier to sue providers of gender-affirming care for children. That law doesn’t take effect until later this summer.

A roughly two-week trial before Moody included testimony from one of the transgender youths challenging the state’s ban. Dylan Brandt, 17, testified in October that the hormone therapy he has received has transformed his life and that the ban would force him to leave the state.

“I’m so grateful the judge heard my experience of how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life and that of countless other transgender people,” Brandt said in a statement released by the ACLU. “My mom and I wanted to fight this law not just to protect my health care, but also to ensure that transgender people like me can safely and fully live our truths.”

​ Orange County Register 

Disneyland announces virtual queue for Avengers musical — What you need to know

• June 20, 2023

The new Avengers musical coming to Disney California Adventure will use a virtual queue system that will be optional but essential for any visitor who wants to snag a seat to see the Broadway-style show.

“Rogers: The Musical” will take over DCA’s Hyperion Theater on June 30 for a limited-time engagement set to run through Aug. 31.

SEE ALSO: What to expect when ‘Rogers: The Musical’ opens at Disney California Adventure

The 30-minute one-act live theater production will be performed several times daily Tuesdays through Saturdays on most weeks during the run.

Complimentary spots in the “Rogers: The Musical” virtual queue will be distributed via the Disneyland app on show days at 10:30 a.m. for the first two performances and 2 p.m. for the remaining shows.

If you’re lucky enough to snag a seat you’ll get notified via your smartphone to join the physical queue 30 to 45 minutes before showtime, according to WDW News Today.

You don’t need to join the virtual queue to see “Rogers: The Musical” — but Disneyland highly recommends it. Stop by the Hyperion Theater main entrance to check on walk-up availability if you forget to join the virtual queue or it sells out quickly.

SEE ALSO: Why Disney’s new Marvel musical has a Universal problem

The musical’s backstory will follow the journey of Steve Rogers from his service in World War II to becoming Earth’s first known superhero to the birth of the Avengers.

Marvel fans were introduced to the fictional “Rogers: The Musical” in the first episode of the Disney+ series “Hawkeye.” In the show, Hawkeye attends a performance of the Broadway musical about the life of Rogers, the first Captain America.

“In the show, all the Avengers are invited to New York for the premiere of the brand new, showstopping musical but only Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, shows up,” according to Marvel.com. “The MIA Avengers don’t know what they’re missing, though, as viewers are treated to a musical number based on The Battle of New York … though a few creative liberties have been taken here and there.”

SEE ALSO: Mickey’s Toontown troubles plague Disneyland 3 months after land reopens

Disney cryptically teased the upcoming run of “Rogers: The Musical” at the Hyperion during a live performance at the D23 Expo in September at the Anaheim Convention Center. D23 attendees watched a surprise live performance of “Save the City” from the musical during the Marvel Studios panel.

The new “Rogers” musical coming to DCA’s Hyperion will feature “Save the City,” “Star Spangled Man” from the 2011 film “Captain America: The First Avenger” and five new original songs written for the show.

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Disney Live Entertainment has been auditioning actors, singers and dancers for the Broadway-caliber theatrical production. In addition to Rogers as Captain America, the cast of Marvel characters will include SHIELD founder Peggy Carter, Avengers founder Nick Fury and members of the Avengers.

“It’s a classic tale of heroes, time travel and romance,” according to the Disney Parks Blog. “Oh, and Nick Fury sings.”

The new show will be written by Tony-nominee Hunter Bell with music by Grammy-winner Christopher Lennertz. Bell wrote the book for “Villains Tonight” on the Disney Cruise Line, according to Broadway World. Lennertz served as music director on Disneyland’s new “Wondrous Journeys” fireworks show.

“Frozen: Live at the Hyperion” was the last show to play at the 2,000-seat Hyperion before the theater went dark in 2020 during the yearlong pandemic closure of DCA and Disneyland. The theater has stood vacant since the parks returned in 2021.

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Galaxy forward Preston Judd confident heading into expanded role

• June 20, 2023

With Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez sidelined for the remainder of the season and Dejan Joveljic away with the Serbian national team, Preston Judd is the next forward in line for the Galaxy.

Judd, 24, has appeared in 10 games.

“He’s going to get a run,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of Judd. “It’s a great opportunity for Preston to step in and show his value. He’s a hard forward to deal with for center-backs and we’ve seen that. I thought he had a solid performance against Portland when he started earlier in the season. So it’s another opportunity for him.”

Without Hernandez, Joveljic and Judd will get more opportunities as they pick up the slack left by Hernandez’s injury.

In his only start this season, Judd went 90 minutes against Portland (March 25) and had five shots. His lone goal came on May 6 against Colorado.

“The past few years and even in college, I based myself off of confidence and how I’m training and being consistent in those training sessions,” Judd said. “So when I do get an opportunity like this, I’m ready to go and ready to help my team and hopefully win the game.

“I’m not really nervous, I’m more excited because I’m confident about the work I’ve put in and I’m confident of what I can do Wednesday.”

Confidence is part of Judd’s journey.

“It comes from just putting in the work every day,” he said. “My coach in college always told me that if you work hard every day and you never have any regrets on the field, then you’re always confident in yourself and your talent and your work.”

Judd was drafted by the Galaxy in 2021 out of the University of Denver. In his first season with Galaxy 2, he scored 17 goals. Last season, he scored 13.

“Being behind two great players like Javier (Hernandez) and Dejan (Joveljic), in practices or games, watching their movement off of the ball, that’s something I need to work on and they’re two of the best in the league,” Judd said. “It’s been great to watch and learn and now I’m trying to put their best attributes into my game.”

Judd and the Galaxy (3-9-4, 13 points) will be hosting Sporting Kansas City (5-9-5, 20 points) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). Kansas City has lost only once in its last nine games (5-2-2).

“They’ve found their stride and momentum since they’ve gotten healthy,” Vanney said. “We know we have a team coming in that has some confidence and some clarity in themselves. To be fair, they had players out, but when you’re missing difference-makers, it’s going to impact you on the results side of things.”

Jalen Neal reports for USMNT duty

Neal, who has become a consistent starter on the back line, will be away with the U.S. men’s national team for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The first game for the U.S. is Saturday against Jamaica. Neal would miss as many as six games if the U.S. advances to the final (July 16).

“These moments for us aren’t great in our current situation,” Vanney said. “But for him, they’re great experiences. He’s going to be playing international soccer in a tournament environment with another set of experienced players.

“The national team is his future and whenever you’re a young player and you get this exposure at international levels, they’re only going to help you learn and grow.”

Neal has made 16 appearances so far this season. Chris Mavinga is in line to replace him at one of the center-back spots.

Aaron Bibout gets a look

Bibout, 18, has opened the MLS Next Pro season with Galaxy 2 with eight goals. He’s spent the last week or so training with the first team.

“He’s been excellent in training,” Vanney said. “He’s been really good. Hard-working, very good at his hold-up play, his movements in and around the box are smart. Out here, he’s been banging in goals with us which has been impressive to watch. He’s young and he needs more experience and some subtleties to continue to grow in his game. He has some really interesting qualities.”

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Delicious Little Tokyo will hold ‘tasting experiences’ in downtown LA on Saturday, June 24

• June 20, 2023

Delicious Little Tokyo, a food festival celebrating the flavors of one of the three remaining Japantowns in the country, will host a series of tasting experiences in the DTLA district on Saturday, June 24.

Since 1884, Little Tokyo in Los Angeles has served as the cultural center for Southern California’s Japanese American community. The Tasty Time Hop self-guided walking tour highlights the neighborhood’s food history. Bites include skewered chewy rice dumplings glazed in sweet soy from the 55-year old Mitsuru Cafe, a Delicious Little Tokyo-exclusive hōji-cha tea-flavored custard-filled donut, a cilantro garnished green tea soba salad from AZAY, a mini tempura roll from Oomasa, and mochi from Fugetsu-Do. The family-owned Japanese confectionery celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, making it one of the oldest businesses in the area.

These hōji-cha tea-flavored custard-filled donuts are being offered exclusively during Delciious Little Tokyo. (Photo by Jenn Tanaka)

The walking tour also includes an LTCC limited edition tote bag and enamel pin. The pin designs include a  Fugetsu-Do logo, soy sauce bottle, a vintage camera, lucky cats, a Japanese doll, homages to Rafu Shimpo, a bilingual, daily Japanese American newspaper that started publishing in 1903, and more.

Sips include Sanzo sparkling water flavored with lychee or calamansi. Wolf & Crane will also host an introduction to Japanese whisky and spirits with House of Suntory. (The Japanese distiller celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and recently announced a partnership with actor Keanu Reeves, and directors Sofia and Roman Coppola, which includes a special limited release of Yamazaki and Hakushu 18-year old single malts.) Wolf & Crane tasting tickets are $40.

For more information, visit littletokyola.org/delicious-little-tokyo-events

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Retailers, online marketplaces to work together to fight organized retail crime

• June 20, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Retailers and online marketplaces throughout California have signed an information-sharing agreement that targets organized retail crime, which causes billions of dollars in losses each year, officials announced Tuesday.

Organized retail crime refers to large-scale theft and fraud by individuals or groups that steal retail goods with the intent to resell, distribute or return stolen merchandise for financial gain. In some cases, resale may occur through eBay and other online platforms.

According to a 2020 survey, retailers nationwide lose about $700,000 to organized retail crime per every $1 billion in sales. In the agreement, the parties agree to take steps aimed at increasing the detection and reporting of organized retail crime, as well as improved collaboration with law enforcement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

“The fact is, we are stronger when we work together as a united front,” Bonta said in a statement.

“Organized retail crime costs businesses, retailers and consumers — and puts the public at risk. This new partnership signals a robust and genuine commitment shared by the retail marketplace and law enforcement to crack down on these crimes. Today’s announcement demonstrates California’s resilience and tenacity in tackling these challenges within our state. Whether it is law enforcement, online marketplaces or retailers — we will not tolerate organized retail crime in our state.”

In recent years, organized theft groups have targeted Apple Store and Home Depot locations, cargo trucks that have departed from Microsoft shipping facilities and cargo containers on idle trains in downtown Los Angeles.

In 2022, California passed into law a package of legislation to address retail crime. Bonta said the new agreement advances the intent and purpose of the legislation, which includes:

Senate Bill 301, which provides threshold requirements for marketplaces to collect and store information related to third party high-volume sellers and consistent with California privacy laws, and requires online marketplaces to suspect future sales activities of high-volume third-party sellers who are not in compliance with these reporting requirements
Assembly Bill 1700, which creates an online reporting tool managed by the AG’s office that provides the public with a mechanism for reporting organized retail theft

“eBay is committed to providing a secure online shopping experience to millions of people globally and has been very serious about battling stolen goods,” said Zhi Zhou, the chief risk officer for eBay.

“We have zero tolerance for criminal activity on our platform and are proud to support Attorney General Bonta and other online marketplaces in this effort to curtail organized retail theft and support criminal prosecutions against those who try to use our platform to sell stolen goods.”

The online portal for the public to submit complaints and tips can be found at oag.ca.gov/retailtheft.

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