Met Gala: Fashion’s biggest night of the year is here. Here’s how to follow along

• May 5, 2025

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Pharrell Williams has high hopes for the Met Gala, the first to focus exclusively on Black designers, and the first in more than 20 years to have a menswear theme.

“I want it to feel like the most epic night of power, a reflection of Black resiliency in a world that continues to be colonized, by which I mean policies and legislation that are nothing short of that,” he recently told Vogue.

“It’s our turn.”

Indeed. And welcome to the first Monday in May.

How to watch the 2025 Met Gala

Vogue will livestream the gala starting at 6 p.m. Eastern on Vogue.com, its YouTube channel and across its other digital platforms. Teyana Taylor, La La Anthony and Ego Nwodim will host the stream. Emma Chamberlain will also do interviews on the carpet.

The Associated Press will livestream celebrity departures from the Mark Hotel beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern and will stream the gala carpet on delay beginning at 6:30 p.m. The feeds will be available on YouTube and APNews.com.

E! will begin live coverage at 6 p.m. on TV. The livestream will be available on Peacock, E! Online and YouTube, along with the network’s other social media feeds.

Who’s hosting the 2025 Met Gala?

This year, the fundraising gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosted by a group of Black male celebrities, including Williams, the musical artist and Louis Vuitton menswear director, and Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, and A$AP Rocky, with NBA superstar LeBron James as honorary chair. They’re joined by Vogue’s Anna Wintour, the mastermind behind the gala, considered the year’s biggest and starriest party.

Also guaranteed to show up is a second tier of hosts from a variety of worlds: athletes Simone Biles and husband Jonathan Owens; Angel Reese and Sha’Carri Richardson; filmmakers Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Regina King; actors Ayo Edebiri, Audra McDonald and Jeremy Pope; musicians Doechii, Usher, Tyla, Janelle Monáe and André 3000; author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; artists Jordan Casteel, Rashid Johnson and Kara Walker; playwrights Jeremy O. Harris and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; and fashion figures Grace Wales Bonner, Edward Enninful, Dapper Dan and Olivier Rousteing.

The gala raises the bulk of the curation budget for the museum’s Costume Institute.

This year’s Met Gala dress code is…

It’s more like a firm suggestion. From Wintour. This year, it’s about tailoring and suiting as interpreted through the history and meaning of Black dandyism across the Atlantic diaspora. The theme is inspired by the annual spring exhibition, which this year is based in large part on “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,” a book written by Monica L. Miller. She is guest curator of the exhibit.

“Historical manifestations of dandyism range from absolute precision in dress and tailoring to flamboyance and fabulousness in dress and style,” Miller writes in the exhibit catalog. “Whether a dandy is subtle or spectacular, we recognize and respect the deliberateness of the dress, the self-conscious display, the reach for tailored perfection, and the sometimes subversive self-expression.”

How the dress code goes, in terms of taste and style, is anyone’s guess. Wintour has a hand in virtually all things gala, so the presumption is things can’t go too far off the rails. She recently knocked down the rumor that she approves all looks, telling “Good Morning America” she’ll weigh in if asked.

The exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” draws on other sources beyond Miller’s book. It’s organized into 12 sections. Each symbolizes a characteristic of dandy style as defined by Zora Neale Hurston in her 1934 essay, “Characteristics of Negro Expression.”

Among them: ownership, presence, distinction, disguise, freedom, respectability and heritage. Presumably, for gala guests who do deep-dive research (or have stylists to do it), some of these factors will play out on the museum steps that serve as the event’s red carpet.

Who else is going to show up?

The guest list amounts to about 450 high-profile people from tech, sports, art, entertainment and more. The mix, Williams said, is a must.

“It’s so important to me to have successful Black and brown people of every stripe in the room: not just athletes and actors and actresses, entertainers, but also authors, architects, folks from the fintech world,” he told Vogue. “We’ve got to invest in each other. We’ve got to connect with each other, because it’s going to take everybody to coalesce the force of Black and brown genius into one strong, reliable force.”

​ Orange County Register 

Trump directs Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. Can he do that?

• May 5, 2025

President Trump said Sunday that he was ordering the FBI to reopen the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the historic prison on an island off of San Francisco that has been closed since 1963.

“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. “When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

RELATED: If Trump really wants to reopen Alcatraz, he’ll have to go through California’s environmental laws

Once fortified with the goal of becoming the world’s most secure prison, the government closed Alcatraz because it was too expensive to run — costing three times as much as most other federal prisons.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, in a statement posted Sunday to social media, said that Trump’s proposal “is not a serious one.”

“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago,” she wrote. “It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction.”

The federal government would have some major challenges to overcome if it does want to make Alcatraz into an operating prison again, said local historian John Martini.

“It’s nowhere near a functioning island by any means,” said Martini, who has written about the military history of the San Francisco Bay. “God, it’s a wreck.”

The main prison has been deteriorating for years, save for some seismic upgrades that made it safe for visitors. Back in 1962, the Bureau of Prisons weighed making upgrades to the prison, but it would have cost $5 million — or $52 million today.

Were Trump to raze the existing structure and build anew, that too could be prohibitively expensive, Martini said. The island has no source of fresh water, which means that contractors have to ship their own water to make concrete.

The island is also a rock, with no soil to drill into. On top of that, there’s no electricity on the island, except what’s generated from a small system of solar panels. Many contractors operate on generators, so their fuel has to be brought over by boat. Bad sea conditions make it nearly “impossible” for them to land, too, Martini said.

“The reason it is not a prison now is because of the daunting challenges from six decades ago,” Martini said. “The idea that we’re going to forget all that and pick up where we left off during the JFK administration — let’s just say there will be a lot of challenges.”

The federal penitentiary opened in August 1934 and was in operation for less than 30 years. Inmates included notorious criminals such as Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, who had a history of prior escapes from prison.

In 1962, three of Alcatraz’s prisoners escaped — John Anglin, his brother Clarence, and Frank Morris. They planted dummies in their beds, climbed out via rooftop ventilators, and launched a raft with the aim of crossing the Bay. They were never found and are believed not to have survived.

Who controls Alcatraz?

As of 1972, Alcatraz has been owned by the National Park Service. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which manages the island, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Can Trump really rebuild?

Alcatraz is on the National Register of Historic Places. If Trump is serious about rebuilding a prison on Alcatraz, it would likely have to remove its designation.

He could also end up getting held up by California’s strong environmental protection laws. Current contractors using heavy equipment must work around nesting sea birds, since the island is considered a protected environment, Martini said. Nearly a third of the island is closed much of the year so that Western gulls and cormorants can make their nests.

What’s on the island now?

Since 1973, Alcatraz has been open to the public, operating as a tourist destination and a museum looking back at its time as a federal penitentiary. The museum welcomes more than 1.4 million visitors each year.

The National Park Service has been in the midst of redesigning the museum and visitor experience, with the launch slated for later this summer, according to a social media post by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Vice President Sean Kelley.

The annual Escape from Alcatraz Island is hosted on the island each year, which requires a 1.5-mile swim through the Bay’s choppy waters to the San Francisco shore.

The island is also popular with birdwatchers — it hosts over 20,000 birds, including murres, grebes and ducks.

Where do federal prisoners go now?

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates three high-security penitentiaries in California and six medium-security federal correctional institutions. In 2024, the government closed the scandal-plagued women’s prison, FCI Dublin, where several guards were found to have sexually abused multiple inmates.

​ Orange County Register 

Federal Reserve likely to defy Trump, keep rates unchanged this week

• May 5, 2025

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will likely keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, despite weeks of harsh criticism and demands from President Donald Trump that the Fed reduce borrowing costs.

After causing a sharp drop in financial markets two weeks ago by saying he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump subsequently backed off and said he had no intention of doing so. Still, he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said the Fed should cut rates.

They argue that inflation has steadily cooled and high borrowing costs are no longer needed to restrain price increases. The Fed sharply ramped up its short-term rate in 2022 and 2023 as pandemic-era inflation spiked.

Separately, Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, last Wednesday suggested that DOGE should look more closely at the Fed’s spending on its facilities.

The heightened scrutiny shows that even as the Trump administration backs off its threats to fire Powell, the Fed is still subject to unusually sharp political pressures, despite its status as an independent agency.

Even so, the Fed will almost certainly leave its key rate unchanged at about 4.3% when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday. Powell and many of the other 18 officials that sit on the Fed’s rate-setting committee have said they want to see how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy before making any moves.

Trump, however, on Friday said on the social media platform Truth Social that there is “NO INFLATION” and claimed that grocery and egg prices have fallen, and that gas has dropped to $1.98 a gallon.

That’s not entirely true: Grocery prices have jumped 0.5% in two of the past three months and are up 2.4% from a year ago. Gas and oil prices have declined — gas costs are down 10% from a year ago — continuing a longer-running trend that has continued in part because of fears the economy will weaken. Still, AAA says gas prices nationwide average $3.18 a gallon.

Inflation did drop noticeably in March, an encouraging sign, though in the first three months of the year it was 3.6%, according to the Fed’s preferred gauge, well above its 2% target.

Without tariffs, economists say it’s possible the Fed would soon reduce its benchmark rate, because it is currently at a level intended to slow borrowing and spending and cool inflation. Yet the Fed can’t now cut rates with Trump’s broad tariffs likely to raise prices in the coming months.

Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY, said that the Fed is “scarred” by what happened in 2021, when prices rose amid supply snarls and Powell and other Fed officials said the increase would likely be “transitory.” Instead, inflation soared to a peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

This time they will be more cautious, he said.

“That’s a Fed that is going to have to wait for evidence and be slow to adjust on that evidence,” Reinhart said.

Plus, Trump’s badgering of Powell makes it harder for the Fed chair to cut rates because doing so anytime soon would be seen as knuckling under to the White House, said Preston Mui, an economist at Employ America.

“You could imagine a world where there isn’t pressure from the Trump administration and they cut rates … sooner, because they feel comfortable making the argument that they’re doing so because of the data,” he said.

For his part, Powell said last month that tariffs would likely push up inflation and slow the economy, a tricky combination for the Fed. The central bank would typically raise rates — or at least keep them elevated — to fight inflation, while it would cut them to spur the economy if unemployment rose.

Powell has said that the impact of the tariffs on inflation could be temporary — a one-time price increase — but most recently said it “could also be more persistent.” That suggests that Powell will want to wait, potentially for months, to ensure tariffs don’t sustainably raise inflation before considering a rate cut.

Some economists forecast the Fed won’t cut rates until its September meeting, or even later.

Yet Fed officials could move sooner if the tariffs hit the economy hard enough to cause layoffs and push up unemployment. Wall Street investors appear to expect such an outcome — they project that the first cut will occur in July, according to futures pricing.

Separately, Musk criticized the Fed Wednesday for spending $2.5 billion on an extensive renovation of two of its buildings in Washington, D.C.

“Since at the end of the day, this is all taxpayer money, we should certainly look to see if indeed the Federal Reserve is spending $2.5 billion on their interior designer,” Musk said. “That’s an eyebrow raiser.”

Fed officials acknowledge that the cost of the renovations have risen as prices for building materials and labor have spiked amid the post-pandemic inflation. And former Fed officials, speaking on background, say that local regulations forced the Fed to do more of the expansion underground, rather than making the buildings taller, which added to the cost.

Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and a potential candidate to replace Powell as chair when Powell’s term expires next year, said recently that the Fed has attracted greater scrutiny because of its failure to keep prices in check.

“The Fed’s current wounds are largely self-inflicted,” he said in a speech during an International Monetary Fund conference in late April, in which he also slammed the Fed for participating in a global forum on climate change. “A strategic reset is necessary to mitigate losses of credibility, changes in standing, and most important, worse economic outcomes for our fellow citizens.”

Powell, for his part, said last month that “Fed independence is very widely understood and supported in Washington, in Congress, where it really matters.”

​ Orange County Register 

Cinco de Mayo celebrates resilience and culture of Mexican people

• May 5, 2025

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Cinco de Mayo festivities are taking place across the U.S. with music, tacos, tequila and colorful displays of Mexican culture — even if they’re not always the most authentic.

The day falls on a Monday this year, meaning the bulk of the celebrations took place over the weekend. In California, a state with a large Mexican American population, there was a mix of art displays, classic car shows, parades and food truck offerings.

In Austin, Texas, events included an opportunity for children to get their photo taken with characters from the Disney animated musical “Encanto,” which is itself a celebration of Mexican culture. A luncheon with speakers talking about the significance of the Mexican holiday and Mexican Americans in Austin was planned for Monday.

Here’s a look at the celebration and its roots:

What the day celebrates

Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The triumph over the better-equipped and much larger French troops was an enormous emotional boost for Mexican soldiers led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza.

In Mexico, historical reenactments are held annually in the central city of Puebla to commemorate the victory. Participants dress as Mexican and French troops, and as Zacapoaxtlas — the Indigenous and farmer contingent that helped Mexican troops win.

In the United States the date is seen as a celebration of Mexican American culture, stretching back to the 1800s in California. Festivities typically include parades, street food, block parties, mariachi competitions and baile folklórico, or folkloric ballet, with whirling dancers wearing bright, ruffled dresses and their hair tied with shiny ribbons.

Latino activists and scholars say that disconnect in the U.S. is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo, and marketing that plays on stereotypes that include fake, droopy mustaches and gigantic, colorful sombreros. The day often is mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, which is in September.

It’s not all about tequila and tacos

For many Americans with or without Mexican ancestry, the day is an excuse to toss back tequila shots and gorge on tortilla chips, nachos and tacos.

The celebrations in the U.S. started as a way for Mexican Americans to preserve their cultural identity, said Sehila Mota Casper, director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation.

“Since then we’ve seen a shift to more commercialization and commodification and mockery over the years,” Mota Casper said. “I think that has a lot to do with the commercialization of products and especially Latino heritage.”

Mota Casper encourages people to learn about that day in history and its importance in Mexico.

Jacob Troncoza, 49, said he celebrates Cinco de Mayo in his household because he’s proud of his Mexican ancestry.

“I try to make sure that the kids understand what it’s about, which was the revolution, the war, and the battles that our grandfathers fought on,” said Troncoza, who was born in east Los Angeles.

Others, like Andrea Ruiz don’t because her Mexican dad never did. But she noted what she deemed the irony in widespread celebrations.

“I think it’s funny Trump … and all of his supporters want to get Mexicans out, call them criminals, but then on Cinco de Mayo, they want to go and eat tacos and drink tequila,” the 23-year-old Ruiz said.

Political rhetoric

Since returning to the White House, Trump has continued to label Mexican immigrants as criminals and gang members. He’s also sought to end birthright citizenship, renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and ended the federal government’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Trump acknowledged Cinco de Mayo during his first term, posting on X, “Happy #CincoDeMayo!” and “I love Hispanics!” as he sat with a “taco bowl.” In the last presidential election, data showed more young Hispanic men moved to the right and voted for Trump.

It’s unclear if the current administration will acknowledge Cinco de Mayo — designated a holiday in Mexico but not in the United States. The Associated Press sent an email to the White House Press Office late Friday seeking comment.

Trump’s handling of immigration remains a point of strength as he ramps up deportations and targets people living in the U.S. without legal status, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While Trump’s actions remain divisive, there’s less of a consensus that the Republican president has overstepped on immigration than on other issues, the poll found.

Organizers of Chicago’s Cinco de Mayo parade said they canceled it because the city has become a target for immigration agents.

Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump’s trade demands go beyond tariffs to target perceived unfair practices

• May 5, 2025

By DAVID McHUGH, CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Business Writers

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The Trump administration says the sweeping tariffs it unveiled April 2, then postponed for 90 days, have a simple goal: Force other countries to drop their trade barriers to U.S. goods.

Yet President Donald Trump’s definition of trade barriers includes a slew of issues well beyond the tariffs other countries impose on the U.S., including some areas not normally associated with trade disputes. Those include agricultural safety requirements, tax systems, currency exchange rates, product standards, legal requirements, and red tape at the border.

He’s given countries three months to come up with concessions before tariffs ranging from 10% to more than 50% go into effect. Tariffs on China are already in effect.

On many issues it will be difficult, or in some cases impossible, for many countries to make a deal and lower their tariff rates.

In addition, many trade officials from targeted countries say privately that it isn’t always clear what the Trump administration wants from them in the negotiations.

Vice President JD Vance announced that India has agreed to the terms of trade talks with the United States, but other countries are still trying to set the contours for any negotiations. The White House has highlighted conflicting goals for its import taxes: It’s seeking to raise revenues and bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but it also wants greater access to foreign markets and massive changes to other nations’ tax and regulatory policies.

Here are several non-tariff areas the administration is targeting:

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES

Trump has accused Germany, China and Japan of “global freeloading” by — in his view — devaluing their currencies to make their exports cheaper.

The European Central bank has been cutting interest rates to support growth. That could also weaken the euro, which has strengthened sharply against the dollar since Trump took office. The ECB says it doesn’t target the exchange rate.

In Japan’s case, the Bank of Japan has been gradually raising rates anyway after keeping them at zero or in negative territory for years, which should drive the yen up against the dollar. The U.S. dollar has fallen recently to 140-yen levels, down from about 160 yen last summer. Shrikant Kale, a strategist at Jefferies, believes the dollar will fall to 120 yen over the next 18 months.

FARM PRODUCTS

Agricultural safeguards against importing pests or health hazards have been a sticking point with U.S. trade partners for years. They include Japan’s restrictions on rice and potato imports, the EU’s ban on hormone-treated beef or chlorine-disinfected chickens and Korea’s ban on beef from cows more than 30 months old.

Yet changes face stiff political resistance from voters and farm lobbies in those countries.

For years, U.S. potato growers have sought access to Japan’s potential $150 million market for table potatoes. Japan has engaged in talks but taken years simply to supply a list of concerns to U.S. negotiators. The delay is “pure politics,” intended to protect domestic growers, says National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles. If Japanese politicians perceive the pain from Trump’s tariffs might be worse than from their own potato growers, “that makes it more likely to make a deal,” Quarles said.

But “if they perceive the pain domestically will be worse than the Trump administration can bring to them … we’re going to be stuck where we are.”

Korea’s beef restrictions started as a measure to keep out bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The 30-month rule has been maintained in the wake of mass protests in 2008, even as the U.S. has become the largest beef exporter to Korea.

“It’s still politically controversial because of the scar at the time in 2008. I think the government will be very cautious,” said Jaemin Lee, professor of law at Seoul National University and an expert on trade issues.

TAXATION

Trump has railed against value-added tax as a burden to U.S. companies, although economists say this kind of tax is trade-neutral because it applies equally to imports and exports. Value-added tax, or VAT, is paid by the end purchaser at the cash register but differs from sales taxes in that it is calculated at each stage of the production process.

Trump’s view could mean higher tariffs for Europe, where individual countries levy VAT of 20% or more depending on the type of good, and for the more than 170 countries that use this kind of tax system. The U.S. is an outlier in that it doesn’t use VAT; instead, individual states levy sales taxes.

There’s little chance countries will change their tax systems for Trump. The EU for one has said VAT is off the table.

“The domestic taxation system has not been a conventional topic in trade negotiation because domestic taxation is directly related to national sovereignty or the domestic economic regime,” trade expert Lee said. “It’s very hard to understand why VAT has become an important topic in the trade discussion.”

PRODUCT STANDARDS

U.S. officials have complained about Japan’s non-recognition of U.S vehicle safety standards and its different testing procedures for car equipment.

Japan also provides subsidies for the Japanese-designed ChaDeMo plug standard for electric cars, requiring foreign makers to use an outdated technology if they want the subsidy.

BUREAUCRACY

Concerns about excessive or baffling bureaucratic procedures to get goods into a country are mentioned repeatedly in the administration’s latest trade assessment. The U.S. has complained about expensive delays getting permission to export seafood to Japan. Meanwhile, Japan requires wheat imports to be sold to a government entity and has “highly regulated and intransparent” quota system that keeps rice imports from the U.S. to a minimum.

Most of these issues are years old, raising questions about whether 90 days is enough to make a deal over them.

U.S. pharmaceutical companies have complained about Korea’s system for drug imports, while automakers say environmental equipment standards are unclear and expose only importers to criminal penalties in case of violations.

BUY AMERICAN

Analysts say that despite the long list of non-tariff issues, the administration’s main focus may lie elsewhere: on Trump’s desire to reduce trade deficits, cases where a country sells more to the U.S. than it buys.

And the solution may be other countries buying more U.S. products, from energy to soybeans, and builingd more plants in the U.S.

U.S. energy is already a major export to Europe. Trump has mentioned a figure of $350 billion for potential EU gas imports. The EU does need imported gas. But Trump’s figure would be a stretch given that last year’s exports of liquefied natural gas to the EU were around $13 billon, and that Europe is seeking to reduce its use of fossil fuels over the longer term.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER?

Discussions about non-tariff issues may simply be leverage to underpin Trump’s stiff tariff levels.

“It’s just a thing that’s there to justify my tariffs,” said Tobias Gehrke, senior policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations.

While lower level trade officials and industry representatives are acutely aware of non-tariff issues like agricultural safety, “Trump and his cabinet… don’t really care about chlorinated chicken regulations in Europe and food standards,” Gehrke said. “They have much bigger thinking.”

“They want to have European companies significantly move production to America… and to export from America to Europe. That would change the trade balance.”

“And if that’s the main logic, then there’s no real deal to be had on non-tariff barriers.”

Rugaber contributed from Washington DC and Kageyama from Tokyo.

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy fall to Sporting KC on own goal

• May 5, 2025

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Los Angeles Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida had the only score on Sunday night, unfortunately, it was an own goal that led to a 1-0 victory for Sporting Kansas City — continuing the worst start by a defending champion in league history.

The Galaxy (0-8-3) are still looking for their first victory 11 matches into the season and even a 3-0-2 record in five previous matchups with Sporting KC (3-7-1) didn’t help.

Yoshida’s own goal came in the 13th minute.

John Pulskamp had to make one save and it came in the first half on the way to his second clean sheet in his 11th start of the season for Sporting KC. His save came just before halftime on a right-footed shot from the center of the box by John Nelson.

John McCarthy did not have a save for the Galaxy.

It was sweet revenge for Dejan Joveljic, who came to Sporting KC in the first cash-for-player trade in league history after helping the Galaxy win their sixth MLS Cup last season. He leads the team with five goals — all at home.

The Galaxy have missed Riqui Puig, who hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury in the playoffs. And Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec, who combined for 50 goals contributions in the championship run, have just four so far this season.

Sporting KC interim coach Kerry Zavagnin and the Galaxy’s Greg Vanney were teammates on the U.S. men’s national team. The two coaches represented their current teams when the two clubs squared off in the conference final of the 2000 MLS Cup — won by the then-Kansas City Wizards, who went on to beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 in the championship match.

The Galaxy travel to play the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Sporting KC travels to play the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ rally falls short in loss to Braves

• May 5, 2025

ATLANTA — The last team bus left Truist Park for the Dodgers’ hotel at 2:20 a.m. Sunday, after the longest day of the season – a three-hour rain delay followed by a three-hour game that didn’t even start until after 10 o’clock Saturday night.

Late nights like that often lead to hangovers, and the Dodgers managed just four hits in the first six innings Sunday night, coming up short in a 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

The loss (their first in six meetings with the Braves this season) snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Dodgers.

“That’s an excuse. We’re not going to do that,” Freddie Freeman said of the late night leading to sluggish offense. “First game (a 2-1 win on Friday), they pitched good against us too. Yesterday we scored a lot but we’re not going to score 10 runs every game. I thought we gave ourselves a good chance.”

The Dodgers didn’t score 10 runs every night during that winning streak — but close. They scored 63, reaching double figures in three of four games before Saturday. And they hit .423 (33 for 78) with runners in scoring position. Sunday, they were 0 for 10 in those situations and got off to a slow start against Braves starter Bryce Elder and his 5.33 ERA.

“I think you’ve got to give Elder credit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The slider was really good. We did come to life later with the bat. But the first few innings were pretty lackluster.”

Elder retired the first eight Dodgers in order, five on strikeouts – including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman in order to start the game. The Dodgers’ only hit in the first three innings was an Austin Barnes double that fell on the warning track in right field after Braves right fielder Eli White misjudged the fly ball over his head.

Those first three hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup went 8 for 13 with two home runs in Saturday’s late-night romp past the Braves. But Elder neutralized them over his five innings, walking Ohtani once and giving up a single to Freeman before leaving in the sixth.

“It’s a different arm slot. It’s a little bit higher,” Freeman said of Elder. “Sinkers (down) and four-seamers up. The slider never seems to get there and he’s also got the changeup. He’ll front door some sinkers too. He can go to all four quadrants. He had it going a little bit tonight.

“You have to attack and he attacked and got ahead and got us out tonight.”

The Dodgers did touch Elder for single runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Max Muncy and a scratch run in the sixth.

But Dustin May’s Austin Riley problem put the Dodgers in a hole they couldn’t quite escape.

May hung a sweeper to Riley in the first inning and it landed 426 feet away, over the center field wall. In the third inning, he did it again and Riley repeated the feat, driving that one 416 feet over the wall.

The pair of two-run home runs were all the scoring the Braves managed. May had a pretty good night against the rest of their lineup, holding everyone but Riley to 3 for 19 with six strikeouts.

“It’s pretty frustrating. Giving up two homers to him on kind of the same pitch, not really how I drew it up,” said May who headed back to the hotel early Saturday in order to avoid the late night. “I thought the execution was a little better tonight, except for those.”

Riley’s power show blurred the bounceback performance by May who allowed 10 runs in 10 1/3 innings over his previous two starts, leaving him dissatisfied and short with reporters after those games.

“Ups and downs. Couple good moments. Couple really bad ones,” May said, assessing the first month of his comeback season. “Definitely need to be more consistent.”

The bullpen provided 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of May and the Dodgers made it a one-run game – their 11th in the past 26 games – in the seventh inning when Roberts pinch-hit for a deeply-slumping Michael Conforto, sending Miguel Rojas up to bat against lefty reliever Dylan Lee. Rojas launched his first home run of the season.

Hyeseong Kim’s speed gave the Dodgers a chance to tie the game in the ninth inning. After Andy Pages reached on an infield single, Kim pinch-ran and stole second base. He advanced to third on the throw to first when Smith struck out on a pitch in the dirt.

With the tying run on third, Braves closer Raisel Iglesias struck out Rojas on three changeups.

“We put ourselves in a great position,” Rojas said. “Kim did an amazing job coming off the bench stealing that bag, and I couldn’t deliver.”

Neither could Barnes who struck out to end the game, Roberts choosing not to put on a safety squeeze bunt with the speedy Kim 90 feet away.

“I just felt that with the drawn-in infield, I just thought that Miguel could put the ball in play and give us a chance to tie the game up,” Roberts said. “But yeah, the traditional suicide squeeze, certainly with a guy like that that’s got such high-end stuff, I didn’t feel comfortable doing it.”

​ Orange County Register 

Any day is a good day for tacos

• May 5, 2025

By Carla Vigos

Laguna Woods Globe cooking columnist

Who remembers the times in our younger years when we were challenged to create a new way to serve ground beef? Instead of the same old meatballs, meatloaves, hamburgers or chili, I gambled on trying tacos, and my family loved them.

Today there are many bougie ways to make tacos.

Back in the old days, though, when there was no such thing as seasoning packets, I made the following version for my young family, and I still make it the same way today.

For the upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebration or any Taco Tuesday, try this simple recipe. You can use the leftovers for a taco salad the next day.

For questions or comments, email me at [email protected].

Tacos

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground round

8 ounces tomato sauce

8 ounces water

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

11/2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

Corn tortillas

Oil

Lettuce, shredded

Tomato, diced

Cheddar cheese, grated

Optional radishes, avocado, pickled jalapenos, salsa, taco sauce, cilantro, sour cream

DIRECTIONS

In a skillet on medium heat, place the 1 pound of ground beef. No oil is needed.

Brown to a crumbly consistency and drain the fat from the pan. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices, and simmer until desired consistency.

In a smaller fry pan, fry the corn tortillas to your liking in some oil and drain.

Assemble your tacos, ground meat, cheese, tomato and lettuce, even sliced radishes (my boyfriend’s favorite) and any other optional toppings you would like.

​ Orange County Register