Spirit cancels more than 40 flights at Orlando International, grounds 25 jetliners for mandatory inspections

• October 21, 2023

An unknown number of Spirit Airlines passengers saw their travel plans disrupted on Friday as the discount carrier grounded up to 25 jetliners for what the Federal Aviation Administration called “mandatory inspections,” and more than 40 flights were canceled at Orlando International Airport.

According to data provided by FlightAware, an online tracker of worldwide daily commercial airline activity, the Miramar-based discount carrier led the industry with 98 flight cancellations as the day unfolded.

“We’ve canceled a portion of our scheduled flights to perform a necessary inspection of a small section of 25 of our aircraft,” Spirit said in a statement. “While this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, the impact to our network is expected to last several days as we complete the inspections and work to return to normal operations.”

Neither the FAA nor Spirit identified what the inspections entailed.

Passengers on Friday wait at Spirit Airlines’ ticket counter at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

“The FAA is aware that Spirit Airlines removed approximately 25 of its Airbus airplanes from service to conduct a mandatory maintenance inspection,” the agency said in a statement provided to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “The FAA will ensure that the matter is addressed before the airplanes are returned to service.”

It remained unclear how broadly the cancellations are affecting Spirit’s route network, which includes destinations across the U.S., in Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

The FlightAware data showed flight cancellations in general were nominal Friday morning at South Florida’s three international airports in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

What customers should do next

In its statement, airline management encouraged passengers to “monitor their email and check their flight status on spirit.com or the Spirit Airlines App before heading to the airport.”

Travelers whose Spirit flights are canceled can accept a rebooking on the next available flight. Or, they can cancel their booking entirely and ask for a refund, “which may be credited back to your original form of payment or as a Spirit Airlines flight credit,” according to the personal finance website NerdWallet.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says if a traveler’s flight is canceled, and an airline cannot rebook the flier or the person decides not to travel, the customer is entitled to a full refund of the unused portion of the trip. That also includes fees charged for services such as seat selection and baggage checking.

Spirit, known as an ultra low-cost carrier, is poised to be taken over by discounter JetBlue Airways of New York for $3.8 billion.

But the Biden Administration has sued to stop the combination. An antitrust trial on the matter is scheduled to start Monday before a federal judge in Boston.

​ Orange County Register 

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High school football live updates: Friday’s games for Week 9 in Southern California

• October 21, 2023

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Follow along tonight, Friday, October 20, as our Southern California News Group reporters provide scores, stats, videos and much more from the sidelines at tonight’s Week 9 games.

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FRIDAY

CIF-SS

ALMONT LEAGUE

Alhambra at Montebello, 7 p.m.

San Gabriel at Bell Gardens, 7 p.m.

Schurr at Keppel, 7 p.m.

ANGELUS LEAGUE

Paraclete at Loyola, 7 p.m.

St. Francis at Crespi, 7 p.m.

St. Paul at Cathedral, 7 p.m.

BASELINE LEAGUE

Rancho Cucamonga at Damien, 7 p.m.

Upland at Chino Hills, 7 p.m.

BAY LEAGUE

Culver City at Palos Verdes, 3 p.m.

Mira Costa at Peninsula, 3:30 p.m.

Santa Monica at Redondo, 7 p.m.

BIG WEST-LOWER LEAGUE

Corona Santiago at Great Oak, 7 p.m.

King at Temecula Valley, 7 p.m.

Murrieta Mesa at Corona, 7 p.m.

BIG WEST-UPPER LEAGUE

Chaparral at Norco, 7 p.m.

Corona Centennial at Murrieta Valley, 7 p.m.

Vista Murrieta at Eastvale Roosevelt, 7 p.m.

CAMINO REAL LEAGUE

Bishop Montgomery vs. Verbum Dei at Los Angeles Southwest College, 7 p.m.

Bosco Tech at Salesian, 7 p.m.

Cantwell-Sacred Heart vs. St. Monica at Santa Monica College, 7 p.m.

CANYON LEAGUE

Agoura at Thousand Oaks, 7 p.m.

Camarillo at Moorpark, 7 p.m.

Newbury Park at Oak Park, 7 p.m.

CHANNEL LEAGUE

Channel Islands at Ventura, 7 p.m.

Oxnard at San Marcos, 7 p.m.

Oxnard Pacifica at Rio Mesa, 7 p.m.

Santa Barbara at Dos Pueblos, 7 p.m.

CITRUS 4 LEAGUE

Glendora vs. South Hills at Citrus College, 7 p.m.

Los Osos at Colony, 7 p.m.

CITRUS BELT LEAGUE

Redlands at Beaumont, 7 p.m.

CITRUS COAST LEAGUE

Carpinteria at Fillmore, 7 p.m.

Nordhoff at Santa Paula, 7 p.m.

COTTONWOOD LEAGUE

Anza Hamilton at Vasquez, 7 p.m.

Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian at Maranatha, 7 p.m.

Whittier Christian vs. Santa Rosa Academy at Whittier College, 7 p.m.

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Brea Olinda vs. Foothill at Tustin, 7 p.m.

Yorba Linda vs. Villa Park at El Modena, 7 p.m.

DEL REY LEAGUE

St. Anthony vs. La Salle at Clark Field, 7 p.m.

St. Pius X-St. Matthias vs. St. Genevieve at Valley College, 7 p.m.

DEL RIO LEAGUE

Whittier vs. Santa Fe at Pioneer, 7 p.m.

DESERT EMPIRE LEAGUE

La Quinta at Rancho Mirage, 7 p.m.

Palm Desert at Shadow Hills, 7 p.m.

Xavier Prep at Palm Springs, 7 p.m.

DESERT SKY LEAGUE

Silverado at Barstow, 7 p.m.

DESERT VALLEY LEAGUE

Coachella Valley at Cathedral City, 7 p.m.

Desert Hot Springs at Twentynine Palms, 7 p.m.

Yucca Valley at Desert Mirage, 7 p.m.

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Garden Grove Pacifica vs. Tustin at Garden Grove, 7 p.m.

La Palma Kennedy vs. Placentia Valencia at Western, 7 p.m.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Hart at Valencia, 7 p.m.

Saugus vs. Canyon Country Canyon at College of Canyons, 7 p.m.

FREEWAY LEAGUE

La Habra at Fullerton, 7 p.m.

Sonora vs. Troy at La Habra, 7 p.m.

Sunny Hills at Buena Park, 7 p.m.

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Loara vs. Garden Grove Santiago at Glover Stadium, 7 p.m.

Rancho Alamitos vs. Westminster La Quinta at Bolsa Grande, 7 p.m.

GATEWAY LEAGUE

Downey vs. Mayfair at Bellflower, 7 p.m.

La Mirada at Warren, 7 p.m.

Norwalk at Dominguez, 7 p.m.

GOLD COAST LEAGUE

Rio Hondo Prep at Brentwood, 7 p.m.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Eastside at Knight, 7 p.m.

Highland at Palmdale, 7 p.m.

Lancaster at Antelope Valley, 7 p.m.

HACIENDA LEAGUE

Nogales at Ontario, 7 p.m.

Walnut at Diamond Bar, 7 p.m.

INLAND VALLEY LEAGUE

Rancho Christian at Canyon Springs, 7 p.m.

IRONWOOD LEAGUE

Heritage Christian vs. Village Christian at Glendale City College, 7 p.m.

IVY LEAGUE

Elsinore at Riverside North, 7 p.m.

Heritage at Rancho Verde, 7 p.m.

MANZANITA LEAGUE

California Military at Webb, 7 p.m.

San Jacinto Valley Academy at Nuview Bridge, 7 p.m.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Bishop Diego at Westlake, 7 p.m.

Calabasas vs. St. Bonaventure at Ventura College, 7 p.m.

Simi Valley at Oaks Christian, 7 p.m.

MESQUITE LEAGUE

Arrowhead Christian vs. Riverside Prep at Redlands, 7 p.m.

Western Christian at Linfield Christian, 7 p.m.

MID-CITIES LEAGUE

Bellflower at Lynwood, 7 p.m.

Paramount at Gahr, 7 p.m.

MIRAMONTE LEAGUE

Garey at Bassett, 7 p.m.

La Puente at Ganesha, 7 p.m.

MISSION LEAGUE

Alemany at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 7 p.m.

Bishop Amat at Chaminade, 7 p.m.

Serra at Sierra Canyon, 7 p.m.

MISSION VALLEY LEAGUE

Arroyo at South El Monte, 7 p.m.

Gabrielino at Rosemead, 7 p.m.

MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE

Apple Valley at Ridgecrest Burroughs, 7 p.m.

Hesperia at Serrano, 7 p.m.

Sultana at Oak Hills, 7 p.m.

MONTVIEW LEAGUE

Azusa at Duarte, 7 p.m.

MOORE LEAGUE

Long Beach Jordan at Cabrillo, 7 p.m.

Long Beach Poly vs. Compton at Veterans Stadium, 7 p.m.

Long Beach Wilson at Lakewood, 7 p.m.

MOUNTAIN VALLEY LEAGUE

Indian Springs at Rubidoux, 7 p.m.

Jurupa Valley at Pacific, 7 p.m.

San Bernardino at Miller, 7 p.m.

MT. BALDY 4 LEAGUE

Baldwin Park at Sierra Vista, 7 p.m.

Montclair at Hacienda Heights Wilson, 7 p.m.

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE

El Modena vs. El Dorado at Placentia Valencia, 7 p.m.

Esperanza vs. Anaheim Canyon at Yorba Linda, 7 p.m.

OCEAN LEAGUE

Compton Centennial at Morningside, 7 p.m.

Hawthorne at Beverly Hills, 7 p.m.

Leuzinger vs. Inglewood at El Camino College, 7 p.m.

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Orange at Costa Mesa, 7 p.m.

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel at Estancia, 7 p.m.

St. Margaret’s at Saddleback, 7 p.m.

PAC 4 LEAGUE

Godinez at Laguna Beach, 7 p.m.

Westminster at Ocean View, 7 p.m.

PACIFIC-UPPER LEAGUE

Crescenta Valley at Burbank Burroughs, 7 p.m.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Woodbridge at Irvine University, 7 p.m.

PACIFIC HILLS LEAGUE

Dana Hills at Portola, 7 p.m.

Northwood vs. Laguna Hills at Irvine, 7 p.m.

PIONEER LEAGUE

North Torrance at Lawndale, 7 p.m.

South Torrance at El Segundo, 7 p.m.

Torrance at West Torrance, 7 p.m.

RIO HONDO LEAGUE

La Canada at South Pasadena, 7 p.m.

Temple City at San Marino, 7 p.m.

RIVER VALLEY LEAGUE

Hillcrest vs. La Sierra at Norte Vista, 7 p.m.

SAN ANDREAS LEAGUE

Kaiser at Rialto, 7 p.m.

Rim of the World at Carter, 7 p.m.

SAN ANTONIO LEAGUE

Chaffey at Claremont, 7 p.m.

Don Lugo at West Covina, 7 p.m.

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Aliso Niguel at El Toro, 7 p.m.

Trabuco Hills at San Juan Hills, 7 p.m.

SIERRA LEAGUE

Chino at Rowland, 7 p.m.

Covina at Pomona, 7 p.m.

SKYLINE LEAGUE

Arroyo Valley at Colton, 7 p.m.

Fontana at San Gorgonio, 7 p.m.

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Mission Viejo at Tesoro, 7 p.m.

San Clemente at Capistrano Valley, 7 p.m.

SUNBELT LEAGUE

Vista del Lago at Lakeside, 7 p.m.

SUNKIST LEAGUE

Jurupa Hills at Grand Terrace, 7 p.m.

Summit at Eisenhower, 7 p.m.

SUNSET LEAGUE

Corona del Mar at Newport Harbor, 7 p.m.

Edison vs. Fountain Valley at Orange Coast College, 7 p.m.

Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach, 7 p.m.

TRINITY LEAGUE

Servite vs. Santa Margarita at Cerritos College, 7 p.m.

St. John Bosco at JSerra, 7 p.m.

VALLE VISTA LEAGUE

Northview vs. Los Altos at Covina District Field, 7 p.m.

San Dimas at Diamond Ranch, 7 p.m.

NONLEAGUE

Desert Chapel at Grace Brethren, 3:30 p.m.

Harvard-Westlake at Mary Star, 7 p.m.

Viewpoint vs. Hoover at Calabasas, 7 p.m.

L.A. CITY

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Belmont at Roybal, 7 p.m.

Contreras at Bernstein, 7 p.m.

Mendez at Hollywood, 7 p.m.

COLISEUM LEAGUE

Dymally vs. Dorsey at Rancho Cienega Park, 7:30 p.m.

King/Drew at Fremont, 7:30 p.m.

Washington at Crenshaw, 7:30 p.m.

EAST VALLEY LEAGUE

Arleta at North Hollywood, 7 p.m.

Sun Valley Poly at Chavez, 7 p.m.

Verdugo Hills at Monroe, 7 p.m.

EASTERN LEAGUE

Bell at Huntington Park, 7:30 p.m.

Legacy at Garfield, 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Roosevelt at South Gate, 7:30 p.m.

EXPOSITION LEAGUE

Jefferson at Manual Arts, 3 p.m.

MARINE LEAGUE

Carson at Gardena, 7:30 p.m.

Wilmington Banning at San Pedro, 7:30 p.m.

METRO LEAGUE

Rancho Dominguez at Hawkins, 7 p.m.

View Park at Locke, 7:30 p.m.

NORTHERN LEAGUE

Franklin at Los Angeles Marshall, 3:30 p.m.

Lincoln at Eagle Rock, 7 p.m.

Torres at Los Angeles Wilson, 7 p.m.

SOUTHERN LEAGUE

Angelou at Sotomayor, 7:30 p.m.

Rivera at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.

WEST VALLEY LEAGUE

Birmingham at Cleveland, 7 p.m.

El Camino Real at Granada Hills, 7 p.m.

Taft at Chatsworth, 7 p.m.

WESTERN LEAGUE

Los Angeles Hamilton at Los Angeles University, 7:30 p.m.

Palisades at Venice, 7:30 p.m.

Westchester at Fairfax, 7:30 p.m.

8-MAN

CIF-SS

Lancaster Baptist at Faith Baptist, 6:30 p.m.

Santa Clarita Christian vs. Lancaster Desert Christian at Lancaster, 7 p.m.

Hillcrest Christian at Cornerstone Christian, 7 p.m.

Flintridge Prep at Sage Hill, 6 p.m.

Windward at Chadwick, 3 p.m.

Entrepreneur at Malibu, 6:30 p.m.

Santa Clara at Thacher, 2 p.m.

Vista Meridian vs. Avalon at Avalon, 5 p.m.

L.A. CITY

New Designs University Park at Animo Robinson, 7 p.m.

USC Hybrid vs. New Designs Watts at Daniels Field, 7 p.m.

Discovery at East Valley, 7 p.m.

Sherman Oaks CES at North Valley Military Institute, TBA

Valley Oaks CES at Fulton, 3 p.m.

Football

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) September 1, 2023

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High school football: Scores from Thursday’s games, Oct. 19

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A hair-raising effort at St. Mary’s School

• October 21, 2023

Emily and Thomas Glicksman laughed as they left more than 8 inches of their hair behind on the stage during an assembly at St. Mary’s School.

But their reason for doing so was serious.

Students and parents at St. Mary’s School volunteered to have their hair cut off and donated to the nonprofit Children With Hair Loss to make wigs for kids going through cancer treatments or who have alopecia or other aliments.

This was Thomas Glicksman’s first time volunteering, while his sister marked her fifth donation. It takes her about two years to grow enough to have the 8 inches to cut off.

The siblings said they were donating in memory of their grandmother, who died from cancer.

This is the 12th year the school has held the cancer awareness assembly and hair donation.

“Service is at the heart of everything we do,” said Heather Wilkins, director of marketing and communications at the school. “Throughout October we focus on cancer awareness and this is one way students can really give back, by giving their hair.”

The school also collects items for adults fighting cancer and holds fundraisers to make a donation to the American Cancer Society.

St. Mary’s School in Aliso Viejo serves more than 700 students in preschool through eighth grade.

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​ Orange County Register 

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Kings captain Anze Kopitar on the cusp of franchise history

• October 20, 2023

It’ll be a grand occasion for Anze Kopitar when he becomes the Kings’ all-time leader in games played Saturday, as the club he captains will welcome the Boston Bruins following a wildly successful two-game road trip.

Kopitar will surpass longtime confidant Dustin Brown for sole possession of the team record with 1,297 games. It’ll be the latest etching in the annals for Kopitar, part of a season during which he should also leapfrog Marcel Dionne for the franchise lead in assists and Luc Robitaille for second behind Dionne in career points as a King.

“What can I say? There’s so much to say, so much good to say about him,” said Kevin Fiala to reporters about Kopitar, who began his career as a King in 2007. “He’s an idol for everybody. An icon. He does everything well, the small details. He comes to the rink every day and works hard. Just, wow!”

Yet away from home, where the Kings produced a pair of victories and a dozen goals in two games, mostly fresher faces buoyed Kopitar’s group. Pierre-Luc Dubois deposited his first three goals in black and silver, all of which came off assists from Fiala. They included two tallies in a 12-second flurry, the third-fastest back-to-back markers in team history, that swung a tie game in the Kings’ favor en route to a 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

“That’s perfect. We need (Dubois), and he’s going in the right direction,” defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said. “He feels comfortable, he’s got some chemistry with Kev, which is huge for us. Hopefully they can do that again and again, every single game.”

Gavrikov’s arrival came between Fiala’s and that of Dubois, as he was acquired via trade right before last season’s deadline and then re-signed to a two-year extension this summer. Coveted primarily for his defensive prowess, Gavrikov has also shown some scoring touch as he deposited his second goal of the season Thursday.

“He understands the balance; he knows when to go. He darts in and he darts back out, so rarely is he caught deep, hanging around and not being able to cover his defensive responsibility,” coach Todd McLellan said. “His instincts have taken over and they’ve been quite accurate.”

As Kopitar, who is tied for second on the roster in scoring behind Fiala with the suddenly combustible Trevor Moore and his four goals in three games, hones in on becoming the Kings’ most-capped and longest-tenured player, the Kings’ outlook has improved rapidly.

The Kings began the campaign hemmed into icing an awkwardly constructed and undermanned roster, having had Arthur Kaliyev suspended, Viktor Arvidsson injured and less than enough salary-cap space for a complete 23-man group to begin with. Then, they lost Arvidsson, a vital component, for the foreseeable future following back surgery.

But they’ve now been steadied by the emergence of preseason standout Alex Laferriere, whose vibe with Dubois and Fiala was instantaneous. That also transplanted Kaliyev onto a line with hard-driving Phillip Danault and the Kings’ pace car, Moore, giving that duo a new finisher in Arvidsson’s stead and offering the often inconsistent Kaliyev an incentive to move his feet more.

Yet trajectories can turn on a dime, and if any team knows how quickly life in pro hockey can come at you, it’s the Bruins.

They followed up a 2022-23 campaign that saw them win the Presidents’ Trophy en route to setting NHL records for regular-season victories and single-season points with a crushing first-round exit.

Boston took a 3-1 series lead and a one-goal edge late in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers, but crumbled, in part due to a virus that went through its locker room. Pouring a full shaker of salt into that wound was the reality that last season was the final one for two Bruins that made the franchise’s All-Centennial team this year, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

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Their departures haven’t slowed David Pastrnak, who has four goals in three games. He and newly christened team captain Brad Marchand form a leadership group that includes defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Last year’s Vezina Trophy winner, Linus Ullmark, and backup Jeremy Swayman have continued their miserly ways this season. Veteran free-agent signing James van Riemsdyk has been a tremendous value in the early going and rookie center Matthew Poitras has enjoyed a meteoric rise from being a bubble candidate to make Boston’s roster to holding a tentative place in their top six.

Boston at Kings

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Crypto.com Arena

How to watch: Bally Sports West

​ Orange County Register 

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Rams CB Derion Kendrick apologizes for distraction following arrest

• October 20, 2023

THOUSAND OAKS – Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick returned to practice on Friday for the first time since he was arrested early Monday morning and charged Wednesday with two misdemeanor gun counts.

Kendrick declined to discuss his ongoing legal proceedings with reporters, as he’s been charged with one count of carrying a concealed firearm and one of carrying a loaded firearm with arraignment scheduled for Dec. 5.

But the second-year player said he has spoken with teammates and apologized for drawing attention away from game preparations for this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Apologized for anything that I may have distracted them for this week, leading up to this,” Kendrick said. “Every game is a big game for us this year. We got something that we’re always focused on and we’re cued in on, making it bigger than what we were expected to do. And I feel like on my end, I slowed that down just a little bit.”

Kendrick said that he was in custody until Wednesday following his Monday morning arrest and lost a couple of pounds during his stay in jail. He said his focus since has been on hydrating and getting back in shape, but added that he feels ready to play in Sunday’s game.

Head coach Sean McVay spoke with Kendrick on Thursday after he returned to the team facility for walk through and team meetings. McVay said that after going over the situation and hearing Kendrick’s side, he felt comfortable with the second-year player returning to the team.

“Based on the information that I got, the conversation that we were able to have, use it as a learning opportunity,” McVay said. “I think there’s certain circumstances and situations that arise that you always use your values and principles to make decisions. I trust this kid’s heart. I believe in him. I also believe in forgiveness and understanding.”

Asked what he had learned from the situation, Kendrick said, “Just teaching me how to move out here anyways. Get my own security or go get a driver to drive me around, stuff like that, so I won’t be followed or whatever the case may be.”

In 2021 after he left Clemson, Kendrick was found by police officers in his hometown of Rock Hill, S.C., asleep in his car with a handgun in his lap and marijuana in the vehicle. He was charged with gun and drug violations, counts that were later expunged after completing a pretrial intervention program.

“It was a similar type of situation but there were some different dynamics that existed in this one,” McVay said. “Those are things that are important to us. I think some of these things, when you look at it as a whole, and you say, ‘Do I think this makes him a bad person?’ No, I do not. I trust based on the relationship that’s been built.”

Kendrick said that his teammates have been supportive since he returned, asking not about football but rather how he is doing mentally while offering encouragement.

McVay added that Kendrick’s mother and girlfriend have been pillars for him as he’s navigated this situation this week, and Kendrick expressed gratitude for everyone’s support.

“Anything bad happens, it’s always someone that’ll be like, ‘I told you,’ or, ‘I knew he would do this.’ And then someone that’s like, ‘I’m behind you 100%,’ ” Kendrick said. “You don’t know what happened, what led up to it, the situation or stuff like that. Just staying beside me and standing by me through that whole process, and standing by me right now as we keep going through it, that’s big.”

Asked if he expected Kendrick to be disciplined by the NFL, McVay said he did not.

“They trust the teams to be able to say, ‘Ok, how do you measure the information that you have and what are the guidelines for your values and principles that dictate and determine how you want to be able to move forward?’ ” McVay said. “And I do feel like it’s a mistake we can learn from, but not exclusively to Derion. There were a lot of things that I learned about the California laws that I didn’t even know in regards to just checking all the boxes.”

For now, Kendrick is taking some solace being back on the football field and in the locker room.

“I feel good, strong mentally,” Kendrick said. “Can’t let nothing like this affect me, for real, for real, just keep my head up, keep pushing and keep working forward and just try to stay focused on what me and this team got going on.”

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Chargers pass rusher Khalil Mack letting actions speak louder than words

• October 20, 2023

COSTA MESA — Please don’t ask Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Nothing personal, but he would rather let his actions, his remarkable ability to toss aside offensive linemen on the way to menacing opposing quarterbacks, speak for themselves.

“I don’t want to say nothing,” he said. “I don’t want to say nothing.”

Six sacks against the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 1, breaking the franchise record of five set by Leslie O’Neal in a Nov. 16, 1986 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

One sack against the Cowboys this past Monday night.

Seven sacks overall through five games, tied for third in the NFL, putting the franchise single-season record of 17½, set by Gary Johnson in 1980, within sight.

“I don’t want to say nothing,” Mack said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Mack went on to praise the play-calling of Chargers coach Brandon Staley and defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley for enabling him to wreak havoc on the opposition. He was a constant presence in the opposition’s backfield and then broke out with a monster game against Las Vegas.

“I’m not saying nothing,” he said, prompting laughter from a group of reporters. “Do me a favor and look at the film from the first two games and the last three games and you’ll be able to tell the difference. But I’m not saying nothing. I’m not saying nothing. I’m not saying nothing.”

Superstitious?

“I am,” Mack said, laughing, as he thanked reporters for their time.

“Appreciate, y’all,” he said.

LIMITED IMPACT

So far, depending on how you gauge the impact of first-round draft pick Quentin Johnston, the numbers are either modest at best or meager at worst. Johnston, a wide receiver, has played five games since the Chargers took him with the 21st pick in the draft out of TCU and he’s caught six passes for 44 yards.

That’s it.

He hasn’t caught more than two passes in a game.

He hasn’t been targeted more than three times in a game.

He hasn’t scored a touchdown.

Johnston was on the field for 35 of 73 offensive plays during the Chargers’ loss to the Cowboys on Monday night. Despite not catching a pass in two targets by quarterback Justin Herbert, Johnston was on the field for the most snaps of his career, topping the 33 he played against the Raiders.

Johnston figured to get more playing time after Mike Williams’ season-ending knee injury. But there’s a bond that must develop between a quarterback and a wide receiver, especially a rookie with limited NFL experience, and in the words of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, “We’re really close.”

“We certainly have to give him some more opportunities, and that’s on me,” Moore said. “We have to find those. He’s been working hard. He’s been doing a really good job. I think that we’re close. It doesn’t take a whole lot to get the thing going with him. He has done a nice job out here. Certainly, Keenan (Allen) and Josh (Palmer) have gotten a lot of targets, and that’s part of the process.

“Certainly, we’d like to get ‘Q’ going a little bit more, as well.”

KEY INJURY UPDATES

Edge rusher Joey Bosa revealed he suffered a broken left big toe when it was stepped on accidentally during the Chargers’ victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. He also said the bye week and limited practice participation aided his injured hamstring, an unrelated ailment.

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“It’s been tough,” Bosa said. “The first couple of weeks were tough. I was definitely disappointed after having a couple of good weeks getting the hamstring back (to full strength). I get stepped on. Obviously, it was an accident. It was tough dealing with that the first week or so where I wasn’t able to do much.”

Derwin James Jr. suffered an ankle injury during Thursday’s practice and didn’t join his teammates on the field Friday. He was listed as questionable to play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Fellow safety Alohi Gilman was ruled out for Sunday because of a nagging heel injury.

Of the possibility of facing tight end Travis Kelce without a healthy James available, Staley said, “You’ve got to defend Travis with your whole team, anyway, so it’s not going to be one person. We know that Derwin is one of the few guys that has gone toe-to-toe with him and can meet that matchup. …

“We’ll have to make adjustments if he can’t go.”

Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack praised the play-calling of Coach Brandon Staley and defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley for enabling him to wreak havoc on the opposition this season. With seven sacks through five games, the franchise single-season record of 17½, set by Gary Johnson in 1980, is within sight. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)

​ Orange County Register 

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Wrongly convicted, they ‘lost hope’ after 17 years in prison. Then an OC mom helped prove their innocence

• October 20, 2023

They seemed destined to die in prison, but two men serving life sentences were set free because the daughter of a Laguna Beach lawyer needed a driving lesson.

When attorney Annee Della Donna hired driving instructor Daniel Mulrenin, she was unaware he had another set of skills. He was a private investigator and retired Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant haunted by the case of two Black teenagers who he believed were wrongly convicted on multiple charges of attempted murder.

Mulrenin couldn’t stop thinking about it. And in Della Donna’s kitchen, he couldn’t stop talking about it.

“I couldn’t let it go, because I know they didn’t do it,” Mulrenin recalled. “How could I come home to my wife and live by the beach when those guys are serving 11 consecutive life sentences?”

Della Donna had a full calendar of civil cases and no experience as a criminal lawyer. But she listened as Mulrenin told how he was hired by a defense firm to look into the Los Angeles County conviction of Juan Rayford with Dupree Glass. Rayford’s family, however, ran out of money and the firm dropped the case, Mulrenin said.

Attorneys Annee Della Donna and Eric Dubin, who are working with UCI Law School students to exonerate people who have been wrongly convicted, stand together outside the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

“I took the opportunity to tell her about Juan and Dupree because I was stuck in limbo and I had no lawyer who could pick it up and run,” Mulrenin said.

He found a sympathetic ear in Della Donna, an aficionado of Russian ballet and the wife of a hospital emergency room doctor. A self-described crusader, Della Donna liked nothing more than to champion underdogs.

Mulrenin knew she was hooked when her eyes lit up and she asked to hear more.

“I had prayed and prayed about it, I didn’t know a lot of attorneys,” said Mulrenin, a devout Catholic whose experience had shown him that cops can make mistakes. “She was the answer to my prayers.”

In that kitchen, the gumshoe/driving instructor and the attorney/mom forged a partnership in 2011 determined to prove the innocence of Rayford and Glass, despite a prosecutorial team intent on preserving their convictions.

Help from law students

Mulrenin dropped off stacks of boxes containing evidence at Della Donna’s house. Those files detailed the Jan. 2, 2004, shooting that was quickly blamed on two teenagers who had no idea what they were in for.

Della Donna enlisted the aid of students at the UC Irvine School of Law, who helped tear through the documents, track down witnesses, review legal theories and prepare court challenges. Their work would blossom into a university project dubbed Innocence OC, which today works on behalf of others thought to be wrongly convicted.

In all, they have won the release of 13 people through a reversal of convictions or clemency petitions.

“Most lawyers go their entire careers and never have something like Annee is doing,” said Anna Davis, who runs the pro bono program at the UC Irvine School of Law. “I think the students just love Annee, she’s got energy and passion that you just don’t see.”

Said Della Donna: “I’ve always been a bit of a Nancy Drew.”

Nine years after Della Donna and Mulrenin joined forces, the case against Rayford and Glass collapsed on appeal and they were released in October 2020 — after spending nearly 17 years behind bars. Earlier this year, a judge declared Rayford and Glass were not the shooters.

And in November, the state is expected to give them nearly $900,000 apiece in compensation for their time in prison.

In recent interviews with the Southern California News Group, Rayford and Glass discussed what happened the day of the shootings, their gratitude for those who secured their release and how they have rebuilt their lives since they walked out of prison.

Night of the shooting

On Jan. 2, 2004, Juan Rayford was an 18-year-old with NFL dreams, having played wide receiver for the Antelope Valley High School football team.

He was at a party that night, shooting dice in the back room, when he heard his friend, Dupree Glass, 17, was heading to another house to fight a guy who had challenged him. Rayford drove with Glass to the second house; both said they didn’t have any guns.

When they arrived, 15 to 20 other kids were already milling around the front yard, waiting to see the fight. But the other combatant never showed up. Sheila Lair, who owned the house, walked out the front door to tell everybody to go home, there wasn’t going to be a fight that night.

And that’s when the shooting started. Eight bullets were fired from outside the house, piercing windows and walls, according to court records. Two people were injured, but no one was killed.

Glass, in an interview, remembered hugging the ground, “trying to figure out who was doing this dumb-ass (stuff) because we all knew each other.” Glass had shared several meals with Lair’s family at the house.

After the shooting, he and Rayford went home and forgot about it. “I was a kid, like, no harm, no foul,” Glass said.

But Lair, angry that her home had been shot up, didn’t forget about it. Neither did Los Angeles County sheriff’s Detective Christopher Keeling.

Eleven days after the shooting, Rayford and Glass were at a Highland High School basketball game. A teacher walked up to Glass and took him to a deputy. Rayford walked over to see what was happening. Both teenagers went to jail that night and didn’t get out for nearly two decades.

At the sheriff’s station, Glass remembered seeing a bulletin for his arrest on the wall, devil horns drawn with red ink on his photo. He said there were darts in the poster.

“It was beyond devastating. When you’re young, you’re naive,” he said. “I didn’t grow up going to court or visiting prisons. I knew nothing about that world.”

He was about to find out.

‘Excited to start trial’

Glass and Rayford thought it was all a misunderstanding that would get cleared up, at least when they got to trial. “The whole time we were actually excited to start trial, because we didn’t do nothing,” Glass said.

The trial came in September 2004. It was a two-day affair that Della Donna said was before an all-White jury. Forensics showed the shots came from two directions and from two different calibers. No guns were recovered.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake called two eyewitnesses, Lair and her 15-year-old daughter, Donisha Williams.

Both identified Rayford and Glass as the shooters. Another person, Douglas Bland — who went by the moniker “Fat Man” — had also been identified as a shooter. According to court records submitted by Della Donna, forensics had shown there were only two gunmen. So how could both Rayford and Glass be implicated?

Prosecutor Blake argued there must have been three shooters.

Blake also used the then-novel “kill zone” theory of law, which was adopted in California in 2002 under the case of People vs. Bland. Since there were 11 people in the house at the time of the shooting — all in the so-called “kill zone” — Rayford and Glass were charged by Blake with 11 counts of attempted willful murder.

A jury convicted them of all 11 counts, each carrying a consecutive life sentence. The judge also tacked on 220 years apiece for gang enhancements.

At the time Glass was 5-feet-7, 120 pounds, and looking at hard time.

‘Shocked, confused, scared, nervous’

“It was like being snatched from heaven and going to hell without no good reason,” Glass said.

Rayford couldn’t wrap his brain around the idea that he wasn’t free to leave.

“I was shocked, confused, scared, nervous. I couldn’t see myself going to jail for something I hadn’t done,” he said. “I always assumed … everything was going to iron itself out. I would have bet a million dollars I was going home that day.”

Prison was tough on the two lifers. As a juvenile, Glass started in county jail and eventually was sent to a Level 4, high-security, state correctional facility. There were nights that Glass went to sleep praying he wouldn’t wake up.

“Murders, rapes, whatever you can think of, I’ve witnessed it,” he said. “I lost hope.”

Juan Rayford was barely an adult — a terrified teenager — when he entered prison. After the first frightening year, Rayford acclimated to prison life, studying in the law library and working as a janitor of sorts. He became a middleman for prisoners, passing notes while sweeping the floors, delivering food or hot water for tea, working somewhat as a prison porter.

New attorney takes case

In that capacity, he met another prisoner known only to him as “Sugar Bear.” For some reason that Rayford still doesn’t know, “Sugar Bear” hooked up Rayford with his attorney, who took Rayford’s case and hired private investigator Mulrenin.

But Rayford’s family ran out of money for the attorney and Mulrenin was left with no lawyer to pursue the case. And that’s when he found Della Donna, who had a soft spot for charity work. As a teen, she once labored for a week in the kitchen of a Tijuana poor house.

Della Donna was intrigued, but first wanted to meet Rayford before signing on to working for free. She and Mulrenin drove the 4 1/2 hours to the men’s prison in San Luis Opisbo; it was Della Donna’s first time in a correctional institution. After talking to Rayford, she believed his story.

“From there she jumped in with both feet,” remembered Mulrenin. “From that point, I had to keep up with her. … Annee is a bulldog.”

Criminal law novice

Della Donna knew little, if anything, about criminal law. Her background was in civil injury. In the 1980s, she was an associate for retired California Supreme Court Justice Marcus Kaufman, working on appellate cases. The experience stoked Della Donna’s scrappy spirit

“When people tell me ‘no,’ I don’t listen,” she said.

Della Donna started boning up on criminal law, talking to every criminal attorney she could find and eventually turning to UCI Law School. She put together a group of five students to work through the case of Rayford and Glass.

Della Donna and the students debated, wrote briefs, tore the case apart. Discrepancies appeared. The “kill zone” theory seemed overly broad. And no one had interviewed the 20 or so other people present during the shooting, she said.

Attorney Annee Della Donna, center, with Dupree Glass, far left, and Juan Rayford, far right, and her team who helped get the falsely convicted men freed from prison after they served nearly 17 years for attempted murder. Retired detective Daniel Mulrenin, from left, Innocence OC co-CEO Eric Dubin, and lawyer Madeline Knutson, who was a UC Irvine law student at the time, gather in Laguna Beach onSaturday, August 5, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Della Donna and her students went to work, tracking down 12 other witnesses and sending Mulrenin to interview them. Each person they interviewed said Rayford and Glass were not the shooters. Della Donna also found Lair’s other daughter, Shadonna, who said she could see Rayford and Glass and they were not armed.

Confronted by Mulrenin with those statements, Lair said she was angry that Rayford and Glass wouldn’t tell her the names of the actual shooters.

“She said something to the effect, ‘Well, if they weren’t the shooters, they should have told me who the shooters were,’ ” Mulrenin said.

Despite the growing evidence that Rayford and Glass were innocent, prosecutors fought to preserve the convictions and keep them in prison.

‘Kill zone’ theory challenged

Before Della Donna got involved, an appellate court dropped the gang enhancements, citing insufficient evidence that the two young men belonged to a gang. Della Donna went to work on the “kill zone” theory, filing brief after brief to the appeals court that the theory was overly broad and improperly applied.

In 2019, the state Supreme Court changed the game in People v. Canizales, ruling the theory requires that the shooter intend to murder one specific person in the kill zone and be willing to take down all the others in the zone to accomplish that goal. Such was not the case with Rayford and Glass, and, the next year, appellate justices overturned their 11 convictions. The district attorney’s office ultimately decided not to retry the case.

But Rayford and Glass weren’t out of the woods. Because of red tape and bureaucratic mix-ups, it took months for Della Donna to get both of them out of prison.

“Annee had to do what Annee does, piss people off to get me home,” Rayford said. “I was living the dream that day.”

Before Glass left the facility in Kern Valley, he gave his shoes to a fellow prisoner and then walked out of the gates to call his mother.

“I’m beyond grateful,” he said. “Every time I see (Della Donna and Mulrenin), it’s like I’m meeting Lebron James.”

But Della Donna wasn’t finished. She and civil lawyer Eric Dubin wanted a judge to declare Rayford and Glass factually innocent  — and the attorneys wanted the state to pay the pair for their time in prison after being wrongfully convicted.

DA stands by convictions

Della Donna won a hearing on their innocence, which was opposed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office under reformist George Gascon. A response submitted by prosecutors said they still believed Rayford and Glass shot at Lair’s home.

“The defendants are not actually innocent,” said the D.A.’s opposition papers. “The motion’s principal claim — that two key trial witnesses lied under oath — is false. … Respondent has not lost confidence in this conviction.”

Testifying during the innocence hearing in April, Lair stayed the course, giving the same testimony as in the trial — Rayford and Glass were the shooters. Only this time, her credibility was damaged by what she had earlier told Mulrenin. Her daughter, Donisha, didn’t show up to testify, Della Donna said.

When it was their turn, Della Donna and Dubin had a new witness, Chad McZeal, a gang member serving 90 years to life for another shooting. McZeal confessed on the witness stand to being the second shooter at Lair’s home, clearing Rayford and Dupree. McZeal had earlier reached out from prison to Rayford’s family, wanting to clear his conscience.

What sealed the deal for Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke was the courtroom reaction of Rayford and Glass to McZeal’s confession.

Rayford jumped to his feet in court and began yelling, “Why?” Glass sobbed at the defense table.

Judge: Not the shooters

“Now, that is what I call newly discovered evidence,” Jacke said, adding, “Mr. Rayford and Mr. Glass were not shooters, nor did they aid and abet the actual shooters, who the court believes were Mr. Bland and Mr. McZeal.”

Still, Della Donna and Dubin had one more task. They continued to fight for Rayford and Glass to get paid out of a state fund for victims of crime.

In September, the state Attorney General’s Office said it would not oppose the California Victim Compensation Board’s decision to award Rayford and Glass $867,020 each for 6,136 days of incarceration. The board is scheduled to consider the payment Nov. 16.

Both Rayford and Glass now work for Walmart and have small children. Rayford’s high school sweetheart had waited for him.

Meanwhile, Della Donna’s Innocence OC has become one of the most popular volunteer projects on the UC Irvine Law School campus, with 52 students going through it over the years. She and Dubin now are taking aim at dismantling the “kill zone” theory overall, saying it is overused by prosecutors to avoid having to prove intent in attempted murder cases.

“There’s a lot more Juan and Duprees out there, a lot more stories to be told,” Dubin said.

And Della Donna’s daughter, Eliana, now 28, did, indeed, get her driver’s license — although her skill behind the wheel is questionable, says her mother.

​ Orange County Register 

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Sidney Powell guilty of lying to America

• October 20, 2023

 

On Thursday, attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty in Georgia to charges related to her role in the bizarre scheme to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.

Powell is best known for promising to produce “the kraken” to once and for all prove that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

Then, and now, this editorial board understood this to be completely fanciful. And that’s being generous.

On Dec. 8, 2020, this editorial board wrote:

“By now, we’ve heard it all.

Attorney Sidney Powell was going to “release the kraken” and prove that Donald Trump was in fact the victim of widespread election fraud.

Ballots were allegedly illegally altered. Large numbers of questionable votes were counted. There were affidavits that spoke to widespread wrongdoing.

This was all going to be proven in court. Right?

Well, when it finally came time for the president’s campaign and his allies to go to court, they not only failed to deliver on their claims but have been called out for using litigation not to address actual problems but for cynical political ends.”

There was never any serious evidence, none, that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” in any coherent sense of the term.

Sidney Powell, President Trump, Rudy Guiliani and countless pundits and politicians unfortunately instilled in the minds of upset and angry Republicans an utter mythology. Namely, that “they” — whoever “they” are — “stole” — with alleged ballot stuffing/Venezuelan voting machines/whatever — the election.

This editorial board warned, on Nov. 23, 2020, that “It will be a stain on the republic, the American right and the Republican Party if such messages are how the outcome of the Nov. 3 election is understood.”

Unfortunately, three years later, the American right has remained intellectually impaired by the falsehoods perpetuated by the likes of Sidney Powell and former President Trump.

We remain hopeful that, in time, the American conservative movement can regain some sobriety and find itself again. The nation faces serious problems that cannot be solved as long as the GOP remains captive to lies.

​ Orange County Register 

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