Air National Guard member arrested in leak of classified military documents

• April 13, 2023

By ERIC TUCKER, TARA COPP and MICHAEL BALSAMO

WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member who has emerged as a main person of interest in the disclosure of highly classified military documents was taken into custody Thursday by federal agents, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced.

Investigators believe that the guardsman, who specializes in intelligence, led the online chat group where the documents were posted. Garland identified the guardsman as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, and said he would be charged with the unauthorized removal of classified national defense information.

FBI agents converged Thursday at Teixeira’s Massachusetts home and heavily armed tactical agents took Teixeira, who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, into custody outside the property, “without incident,” Garland said.

He will have an initial court appearance in federal court in Massachusetts, Garland said.

It was not immediately clear if Teixeira had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf, and a phone message left at a number believed to belong to his mother was not immediately returned.

Law enforcement officials roped off the street near the home. The New York Times, which first identified Teixeira on Thursday, said that a man who had been standing outside the Teixeira home earlier said that “he needs to get an attorney if things are flowing the way they are going right now. The Feds will be around soon, I’m sure.”

The emergence of Teixeira as the apparent primary suspect is bound to raise questions about how the highest-profile intelligence leak in years, one that continues to unfold with almost daily revelations of highly classified documents, could have been caused by such a young, low-ranking service member.

The Biden administration has scrambled for days to contain the fallout from the leaked information, which has publicized potential vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and exposed private assessments by allies on an array of intelligence matters.

The National Guard did not confirm his identity but said in a statement that, “We are aware of the investigation into the alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents.”

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, referred all questions about the case to the Justice Department. But he said: “We have rules in place. Each of us signs a nondisclosure agreement. This is a criminal act, a willful violation of those.”

The Biden administration has been working to assess the diplomatic and national security consequences of the leaked documents since they were first reported last week. A top Pentagon spokesman told reporters earlier this week that the disclosures present a “very serious risk to national security,” and the Justice Department opened an investigation to identify the person responsible.

“We’re getting close,” President Joe Biden told reporters in Ireland on Thursday. He said that though he was concerned that sensitive government documents had been disclosed, “there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”

The Justice Department declined to comment Thursday.

It’s possible the leak may have started on a site called Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. The Discord site hosts real-time voice, video and text chats for groups and describes itself as a place “where you can belong to a school club, a gaming group, or a worldwide art community.”

In one of those forums, originally created to talk about a range of topics, members would debate the war in Ukraine. According to one member of the chat, an unidentified poster shared documents that the poster claimed were classified, first typing them out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, uploading images of folded papers.

Discord has said it was cooperating with law enforcement.

There are only a few ways the classified information that was leaked could have been accessed, which may provide critical clues as to who is responsible. Typically in classified briefings, as with the slides that were placed on Discord, the information is shared electronically.

That is done either through secure computer terminals where users gain access based on their credentials or through tablets that are distributed for briefings and collected afterward. If the slides need to be printed out instead, they can only be sent to secured printers that are able to handle classified documents — and that keep a digital record of everyone who has requested a printout.

It’s those digital clues like the record of printouts that may help investigators hone in on who took the documents. In most of the photographs of documents posted online the pictures are of paper copies that look like they had been folded into quarters — almost as if they’d been stuffed into someone’s pocket.

In the days since the leaks came to light, the Pentagon has deferred questions on the investigation to the Justice Department, stating that it’s a criminal matter. Even if the person who leaked the files is an active duty member of the U.S. military, the Justice Department would likely still have the lead in the prosecution until it was ready to turn the matter over to the Defense Department, a defense official told the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

This has been the case in previous criminal cases, such as when two Marines based at Camp Pendleton in California were arrested on drug trafficking charges in 2020, the official said. If the person responsible turns out to be a civilian, the Justice Department will be responsible, the official said.

Associated Press writers Michelle R. Smith in Swansea, Massachusetts, Nomaan Merchant and Zeke Miller in Washington, Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston and Colleen Long and Darlene Superville in Dublin contributed to this report.

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​ Orange County Register 

The wrong kind of security guarantee for Ukraine

• April 13, 2023

One of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s core demands for a political settlement is that his country receive internationally backed security guarantees to resist future Russian aggression. For the most part, this vision largely aligns with the emerging consensus in Western capitals: Ukraine’s partners will support Kyiv’s self-defense capabilities over the long-term without providing a security commitment similar to Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty.

However, some analysts have gone further and suggested that an international military coalition composed of NATO and non-NATO troops be deployed to Ukraine to “act as a tripwire to prevent fresh Russian aggression.” Writing in Foreign Affairs recently, Brookings Institution military strategist Michael O’Hanlon and Georgetown University professor Lise Morj́e Howard argued that such a force would “legitimize the indefinite presence of Western military troops on Ukrainian soil” and “must include U.S. troops.” Despite Russia’s military being continually stonewalled by dogged Ukrainian resistance, O’Hanlon and Howard declared that “[n]othing short of American boots on the ground can ensure Ukraine’s future.”

By any reasonable standard, deploying U.S. troops in Ukraine to serve as a “tripwire” is a nonstarter.

Deploying U.S. forces on Ukrainian soil would significantly increase the chances of a direct NATO-Russia conflict—an outcome President Joe Biden and his advisors have all sought to avoid. O’Hanlon and Howard admit this “would virtually guarantee that the United States and the rest of NATO would enter any future war if Russia were to renew its to attacks on Ukraine or its other neighbors.” For all the clandestine measures the United States and its allies have taken in Ukraine, they have avoided direct involvement in the fighting and sought to minimize the risk of the conflict expanding beyond Ukraine’s borders. It is hard to see Washington discarding this basic risk aversion to support what will be an uneasy post-war settlement.

In Russia’s view, the presence of NATO forces and military infrastructure in Ukraine would cross a long-standing redline that will not be erased as part of a postwar settlement. Absent in O’Hanlon and Howard’s proposal is any discussion of why Russia would peacefully accept these conditions. Given the imbalance of resolve between Russia and the West, it is reasonable to instead assume that Moscow would resort to escalatory measures to deny NATO forces a foothold in Ukraine.

Then there is the question of how the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine would affect the prospects for salvaging the West’s relations with Russia over the long term. O’Hanlon and Howard correctly recognize that “[i]f after the war ends Russia is permanently banished from the international community, it will emerge, furious and humiliated, as a renewed threat.” But they stipulate that readmitting Russia into the international system should only occur “[o]nce [Vladimir] Putin’s regime falls and is replaced by a government committed to peace.” A cursory review of the Russian domestic political scene reveals that this outcome is extremely unlikely. The ministers and officials most well-positioned to take power after Putin are stridently anti-Western, and the Kremlin’s loudest critics are not reform-minded liberals but hardline nationalists aggravated at the Russian military’s failures in Ukraine.

The long-term result would be a Russia even more isolated from the Euro-Atlantic order with no incentive to improve its relations with the West, virtually guaranteeing a prolonged militarized standoff over Ukraine and the continued development of an anti-U.S. Sino-Russian bloc.

Fortunately, there are better options available to Ukraine and its Western partners.

The guiding principle for a post-war security framework should be to ensure that Ukraine can defend the territory under its control without dragging its partners into a direct conflict with Russia. While Zelenskyy has proposed establishing a NATO training and exercise regimen on Ukrainian territory, this should be rejected to keep NATO forces out of what could potentially become an active war zone again. More importantly, Ukraine’s partners should explicitly state that they will not intervene directly on Kyiv’s behalf to defeat renewed Russian aggression. A critical corollary is ruling out the transfer of long-range weapon systems able to strike targets beyond Ukraine’s borders, potentially leading to Russian escalation.

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However, the Russo-Ukrainian War has also exposed the limitations of Western defense industrial bases. Although U.S. firms are expanding their production lines following years of reduced demand, European contributions to Ukraine’s post-war defense will be essential. The reality of strategic scarcity means that the United States cannot sustain an indefinite large-scale commitment to Ukraine without greater assistance from its wealthy European allies. The European Union, or self-organized national blocs within it, should ramp up the manufacturing and purchase of armaments and munitions to shoulder far more of a burden that has largely fallen on U.S. taxpayers so far.

Finally, ensuring the viability of a post-war settlement will be a difficult task for the United States and its allies. This difficulty, however, could be alleviated through direct post-war negotiations with Russia to address broader Euro-Atlantic security issues that disincentivize further aggression. In the long run, the stability of Eastern Europe will hinge on reciprocal diplomacy with a wounded Russia as much as it will on the strength of Ukraine’s defensive posture.

Matthew C. Mai is a research associate at Defense Priorities.

​ Orange County Register 

Disneyland will hold first official gay Pride events in June

• April 13, 2023

Disneyland announced Thursday, April 13 that it will hold its first officially sanctioned Pride Nite as an after-hours ticketed event.

This is a departure for Disneyland Anaheim, which has allowed unofficial events such as the annual “Gay Days” celebration, but has never held an official event on its own.

“I’m happy Disney is finally doing something, especially in the wake of what is going on in Florida,” said Eddie Shapiro, organizer of the annual unofficial Gay Days event in Anaheim.

Shapiro was referring to a dispute in Florida between Disney and the governor, over HB 1557, a new law dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” that bans discussion of gay issues in public K-3 classrooms. After then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek criticized the proposed law, Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to assert control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which oversees land use and maintenance for Walt Disney World.

The Anaheim Pride events are scheduled for 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on June 13 and 15 as part of a series of “Disneyland After Dark” parties.

Tickets cost $139 and will go on sale Thursday, April 20. The nights will include dance parties, a cavalcade (sort of like a parade but not exactly), photo opportunities, special food and more. Costumes can be worn, with stipulations.

In 2022, Disneyland Anaheim offered special food and décor for the annual June Pride Month, such as special cookies, pretzels and floral displays, but this is the first official event in the park.

Disneyland hasn’t always welcomed the LGBTQ community. Beginning in 1957, Disneyland banned same-sex dancing and security guards warned and ejected gay couples from the dance floor. However, the policy changed after a series of lawsuits in the 1980s.

In France, Disneyland Paris now holds a well-attended annual Pride event in June.

“Disneyland Resort drew on inspiration from events like Disneyland Paris Pride for the first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite event in honor of Pride Month in June,” Disneyland officials said in a statement. This will be one of the specially ticketed events this year that patrons can purchase in advance and attend.

Based on the immediate response to the Disneyland Anaheim announcement on Twitter, it seems likely to sell out.

However, Shapiro predicted a backlash to the decision.

Not everyone was thrilled about Wednesday’s announcement.

“No Thanks! Would keep my kids away from this,” @kaliwada wrote on Twitter.

“Perverts!” tweeted Random_Woman @Paused_Thoughts.

In 2022, Focus on the Family spokesman Paul Batura wrote in an essay entitled “The Sad Collapse and Corruption of Disney’s (Woke) World” that Disney’s disagreement with the Florida law banning discussion of gays in classrooms show the company “is anything but wonderful today.”

Batura added that he believes Disney has a “desire to embrace an agenda that deliberately and blatantly rejects a Christian worldview of the family, as well as God’s view of human sexuality.”

Disney officials declined to say whether this new Anaheim Pride event is a response to issues in Florida.

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Shapiro said the unofficial Gay Days celebration at Disneyland is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Many supporters wear red T-shirts to identify their affiliation.

While it is now a familiar annual event, Shapiro said that in the early days, Disneyland would post signs at the park entrance “warning” guests about Gay Days and also offered white T-shirts on request to people who didn’t want to be identified with the event by wearing red.

Immediately after Thursday’s announcement, one Twitter follower said she was in favor of the event, but expressed cynicism.

“Remember when Disney wanted to make it abundantly clear that they were not associated with ‘Gay Days’ and gave us a script to answer guests asking why everyone was wearing red shirts?” she wrote. “Then they realized they could make money and started selling pins and rainbow cake slices?”

​ Orange County Register 

Festival Pass:🎡🏜️🎉Who to see, what to eat and where to go at Coachella

• April 13, 2023

Festival Pass is a newsletter that lands in your inbox weekly. But during prime festival season you get bonus editions, too! Subscribe now.

Happy Thursday!

Welcome to the all Coachella edition of the Festival Pass Newsletter!

We’ve talked about it for months and it’s finally here. Our fearless crew will be heading out to the desert to bring you extensive coverage of both weekends of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 14-16 and April 21-23) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

No one on our team has been to every single Coachella, but several of us have been to over well over a dozen of the festival weekends.

With all of our experience combined, we wanted to share a few non-music options to explore on-site, our favorite festival eats, survival tips and call out which artists we believe are worth seeing this year for anyone attending the festival in-person or tuning into the livestream on YouTube.

Let’s meet the team!

The Ferris wheel is a staple at Coachella and it has become tradition for a lot of fans to pose for selfies or group photos in front of it or make a point hop on for a ride at some point during the three-day fest. (File photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Kelli Skye Fadroski, editor. Follow her @kelliskye.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Gabriels, Blondie, Blackpink, boygenius, and Remi Wolf.

Pro tip: Bring hand sanitizer and/or baby wipes because you are bound to touch things that are sticky all day long.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Grabbing a cold agua fesca just before sunset and cruising around the venue to take a peek inside all of the branded activations. Last year, I just happened upon a pop-up nail bar and got my nails done by Harry Styles’ personal nail technician for free.

Richard Guzman, reporter. Follow him @richworld.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Chemical Brothers, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Cannons, The Linda Lindas and Los Bitchos.

Pro tip: Drink water, a lot, a lot of water. And don’t start drinking alcohol too early; nothing worse than passing out on the dirt in the middle of the day.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: The hidden bars are always fun and you feel like you’ve accomplished something when you find one.

The Do Lab is one of the places the SCNG festival crew recommends stopping by during Coachella. Located inside the festival grounds under a brightly colored tent, Do Lab offers a variety of activities, shade and misters to cool off, special guest artists and DJs and aerial and acrobatic performers. (File photo by Watchara Phomicinda, San Gabriel Valley Tribune/SCNG)

Watchara Phomicinda, photographer. Follow him @watcharaphotog.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts:  Björk, Frank Ocean, FKJ, Blakpink and Kaytranada.

Pro tip: Sun protection: Bring sunscreen, SPF lip balm, a hat or shading device. To stay cool, try dipping a bandana in ice water, adding a few drops of peppermint oil, then wrap it around your neck or on the top of your head.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: The branded activations at Coachella have been the hidden gems of the festival. They always offer delightful surprises and free swag, which is a real treat. For the ultimate hangout spot at Coachella, you can’t go wrong with the Do Lab.

Peter Larsen, reporter. Follow him @PeterLarsenBSF.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Björk, Gorillaz, Jai Paul, The Comet Is Coming, Domi & JD Beck.

Pro tip: Good shoes. And a roll of gaffer’s tape if your shoes aren’t good. Seriously, you’re going to be on your feet a lot.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Don’t miss the all-night Del Taco in Palm Desert where the only thing you ever need to eat at 1:30 a.m. every night is a large vanilla milkshake and a single chicken soft taco. Trust me, you’ll sleep like a baby after this.

Charlie Vargas, reporter. Follow him @CharlieVargas19.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Angèle, Bratty, Eladio Carrión, SG Lewis and Sunset Rollercoaster.

Must-pack festival items: The pandemic may be slowing down, but you should still bring a mask and bandana to cover your face because that Coachella dust is no joke.

Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía (left) performed at Coachella in 2019 and she’s back in 2023 and high up on the roster, set to perform just before Day Two headliner Blackpink on Saturday, April 15 and April 22. (File photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Holly Alvarado, reporter. Follow her @hollytheewriter.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Bad Bunny, Kaytranada, Noname, Porter Robinson and Rosalía.

Pro tip: Make some friends wherever you go. I’ve met some incredible people who are still longtime friends, even if they live in different parts of the world. Greet someone standing next to you!

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Grabbing a huge slice of watermelon and sitting over by the Ferris wheel to catch the sunset with friends.

James Williams, reporter. Follow him @JHWreporter.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Bad Bunny, Gorillaz, Latto, Frank Ocean and Rae Sremmurd.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Getting Spicy Pie Pizza at least once or twice is a must for me. I also enjoy walking around the campsite a little bit to see the creative setups folks have.

Across the board, the SCNG festival crew loves Spicy Pie Pizza out at Coachella. It’s quick, portable, tasty and we all grab a slice at some point during the long weekend. (File photo by Watchara Phomicinda, SCNG)

David Brendan Hall, photographer. Follow him @DBrendanHall.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Björk, Metro Boomin, Yves Tumor, Dinner Party and Blackpink.

Must-pack festival items: I recommend packing a light hoodie or long sleeve shirt. The weather can get significantly cooler after sunset. Also my favorite hack: Face wipes. When the sun finally dips behind the mountains, the removal of sunscreen and dust buildup feels almost like taking a quick, rejuvenating shower.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Don’t skimp on the art experiences. They’ve become increasingly immersive over the years and while the inclusion of these sorts of installations have waned at many other fests, they’ve remained integral at Coachella.

Drew A. Kelley, photographer.

Favorite part about Coachella: For me, going to music festivals was always about the lineup and whether or not my favorite bands were playing, but Coachella changed that. Now what I look forward to the most is stumbling into a tent to hear a band that I can’t pronounce the name of and falling in love with them.

 Jessica Shalvoy, reporter. Follow her @Its_Shalvoy.

Top 5 2023 Coachella acts: Wet Leg, 070 Shake, MUNA, Rosalía and Ethen Cain.

Pro tip: Cell service gets dicey within the festival grounds as the day goes on, so pick a meeting spot (and time) if you plan on separating from your group.

Favorite non-music Coachella adventure: Meeting people! There’s something here for everyone and that attracts an array of fans from all walks of life. Don’t be afraid to make new friends, dance with a stranger, or lean into someone’s story over a cold beer. Just don’t take drugs from strangers.

The latest Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival news

Coachella 2023: Where to go for breakfast, lunch or late-night snacks pre-and post-festival

 How Day Club Palm Springs’ poolside parties offer a unique concert experience 

 Desert Gold’s free music event returns to Palm Springs during both Coachella weekends

Coachella 2023: How to livestream performances from all of the festival stages

Coachella 2023: 5 Southern California artists making their festival debut 

What to pack for the 2023 Coachella and Stagecoach fests — and what to know before you get there.

Coachella 2023: The Glitch Mob, Disco Wrek, Mr. Carmack to play the Do Lab

Coachella 2023: Heineken House reveals its hip-hop, R&B and dance music lineup

Coachella 2023: Weekend Two hasn’t sold out yet. Here’s why that’s good for you

See ya again next week!

As always, thanks for reading and keep rockin’.

Get Festival Pass delivered to your inbox weekly.

​ Orange County Register 

His Iranian grandma told him stories. Now Kiyash Monsef’s written ‘Once There Was’

• April 13, 2023

When Kiyash Monsef was a child, his grandmother, who had come to the United States from Iran, would tell him stories that began with the phrase, “Yeki bud, yeki nabud” – an invocation that translates as “once was, once wasn’t.”

On a recent video call, the San Francisco Bay Area-based author talked about the phrase and its impact upon his first novel, fittingly titled “Once There Was.”

Related: Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and more

“When I was a little kid, that phrase by itself, regardless of what came after it, that phrase would kind of blow my mind,” Monsef says of the traditional opening to Persian fairy tales. “It was this almost existential tone. Is it or isn’t it?”

He adds, “It’s an amazing place to receive a story because you’re open to anything at that point.”

That’s the feeling that Monsef wanted to bring to his debut novel. In “Once There Was,” Marjan is a seemingly ordinary California teenager who, following the death of her father, inherits his veterinary office and learns that the family’s legacy is quite extraordinary.

With her father gone, she’s tasked with healing creatures thought to exist only in fairy tales while trying to solve the mystery of her dad’s death. Throughout the novel, Monsef has interspersed short stories in the style of fairy tales, each of which will guide Marjan as she encounters a new challenge. 

Nearly a decade ago, Monsef began writing a series of connected short stories about fantastic creatures. The first was about a griffon, which at that point he viewed as a “heraldic, very classic sign of British nobility.”

But as he began his research, he learned that the oldest representation of this creature was found on a rug in a cave that, while not located in the Iran of today, was within the lands of the Iranic people.

“Then you come a little bit more recent and you start to see griffons are stone statues and ornaments all over ancient Persia,” he explains. “The Greeks took it from there and they brought this idea of this creature to Greece and then from there it’s become this Western heraldic symbol.”

That wasn’t the only connection that Monsef uncovered while researching the book.

“I started to discover that a lot of these creatures that are very iconic within Western lore and mythology have these origins that either come from Ancient Persia or traveled through Ancient Persia,” he says. 

In one of Monsef’s short stories, “The Falconer and the Shah,” a falconer with the ability to heal creatures from all over the world explains to the Shah, “It is fortunate that our borders touch so many others. It is fortunate that the greatest roads in the world run through the heart of our land.”

It’s a line that speaks to the meeting point of the many cultures that existed in the region and intersected with each other, even going back to antiquity. 

“I’ve been doing a fair amount of research about these really old stories that inspired the stories that I wrote and are inspiring things that I’m writing now,” says Monsef. “At a certain point, the origins get very muddled because there was so much interplay between these different cultures, what was going on in India and what was going on in Iran. Everything has been passed back and forth in that region for a long time.”

As Monsef saw the growing connections to Iran in his research, the overarching story within “Once There Was” began to take shape.

“I started to approach this idea that maybe I do have a story to tell about the experience of growing up in America with American culture inputs and social inputs, but having this other side to my upbringing that I wasn’t sure how to integrate into my identity for a very long time,” he explains. 

Fittingly, the short stories that are woven into the plot of “Once There Was” are presented as fairy tales passed down to Marjan by her father, who was born in Iran. 

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Much like tales told throughout human history, Monsef’s stories also relay greater messages about society and caring for the world around us, all of which also reflect the book’s major plot points. 

“I wrote this over a long period of time. I would say that I definitely put my heart into it, in terms of my feelings about the world,” says Monsef. 

And without spoiling a plot that’s full of twists, there are some parallels to contemporary issues.

“There’s a villain who has a monomaniacal belief that he can solve the world’s problems, no matter what the cost,” says Monsef. “There are also a metaphor about accumulation of wealth and resources and what the consequences of that might be.”

Currently, Monsef is writing a follow-up to “Once There Was,” which he says will have many of the same characters and is set in the same world.

“I have hesitated to call it a sequel, though it does take place after this one,” he says. “I’m trying to write something that’s self-contained because I personally have a hard time sticking with series. I think that readers deserve to have a complete experience with the story with every book that they read, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

​ Orange County Register 

Healthy, productive Anthony Davis is key to Lakers’ playoff success

• April 13, 2023

One glance at him on the basketball court and you just know Anthony Davis was born to play the game, and play it well. His arms seem to extend to the heavens. His legs carry him with the speed and certainty of a much smaller man. He can beat opponents inside and outside.

One problem when you stand 6-foot-10 and weigh more than 250 pounds, as Davis does, the body tends to break down under the stress of the game, of the constant running and jumping and twisting and turning and the relentless pressure from opponents just as big and strong.

When he’s healthy, all is right in the Lakers’ world.

When he’s not, well, it’s going to be a struggle.

Davis has been on the floor for each of the Lakers’ past 13 games, including their play-in tournament victory Tuesday over the Minnesota Timberwolves that sent them into a first-round matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies that begins Sunday afternoon. It’s his longest streak of games played this season.

He’s also played in 30 of the past 32 games, sitting out twice for the second game of back-to-backs.

His impact down the stretch has been enormous, as the Lakers stormed into the playoffs with victories in 10 of their past 12 games after starting the season with losses in 10 of their first 12 games. He averaged 26.2 points and 12.5 rebounds as the Lakers went 14-6 in games in March and April.

But it’s come at a price.

Davis soaks his feet in an enormous bucket of ice as he rests and recuperates while seated at his locker stall after each game, the better to ease the pain of what the Lakers officially describe as a “right foot stress injury.” LeBron James soaks his aching feet in a similar ice bucket at the next locker.

“We wanted to get this rest, let our bodies heal, recover,” Davis said after the Lakers rallied for a 108-102 overtime victory Tuesday over the Timberwolves. “I mean, we’ve been going at it in playoff mode since the All-Star break trying to get in. So, it’s good to have four days to recover, let our bodies heal, get some mental preparation for Memphis and go in kind of fresh on Sunday.”

The Lakers played eight games, winning all but one, during a 14-day span. Their connectedness has been obvious, despite occasional lapses that included falling behind the Timberwolves by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. But they meshed well when it mattered most in recent games.

They even managed to rebound after Davis’ ill-advised foul on Mike Conley’s 3-point attempt that resulted in Conley sinking three clutch free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that sent the game to OT tied at 98-98. James later referred to it as a “brain fart” during a TV interview.

James joked that Davis’ foul and Conley’s free throws deprived teammate Dennis Schroder of the game-winning shot, off James’ assist, with 1.4 seconds remaining. A laughing Davis, standing nearby, offered a heartfelt apology to Schroder and James in front of the TNT camera.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham said the Lakers talked it over during the timeout before the five-minute overtime period began and quickly put it behind them. They went on to outscore the Timberwolves by 10-4 in OT, holding Minnesota to 2-for-8 shooting and forcing three turnovers.

“I think the biggest thing for us is our resiliency, fighting, being down in certain games and taking it one possession at a time, guys not getting frustrated, guys not arguing with each other, getting flustered, staying on that positive energy and manifesting like we were winning,” Davis said.

“We were going to win these games,” he added after Tuesday’s game. “Everybody plays that way, being in the moment, next-play mentality. It’s fun. We got to have fun with it. Guys are having fun, enjoying the moment and it’s showing on the court. So, obviously all that plays into chemistry, but not having as much practice time as we would like, just because it’s been full steam ahead since the All-Star. We’re finding ways to win basketball games and now we kind of get four days off and get a chance to practice and really lock in and prep and be even scarier.”

Can the Lakers keep it going? Can the seventh-seeded Lakers upset the second-seeded Grizzlies and become the first team from the play-in tournament to win a first-round playoff series and advance to the second round, where they would meet the winner of the Golden State-Sacramento series?

Some, but certainly not all of the burden will fall on Davis’ shoulders. He averaged 25.9 points, second behind James’ 28.9 points, plus a team-leading 12.5 rebounds in 56 games during the regular season. He had 24 points and 15 rebounds in 43 minutes Tuesday against Minnesota.

Ham said late Tuesday the Lakers can still do more to free Davis, to make him a greater and more valuable player offensively. Davis had back-to-back games with 38 points followed by a 40-point outburst during the first three games of a four-game road winning streak earlier this month.

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But he closed the regular season with modest outputs of 21 points against the Utah Jazz, 17 against the Clippers, 14 against the Phoenix Suns and 16 against the Jazz this past Sunday. He bounced back with a productive game against Minnesota despite suffering what Ham called “a stinger.”

Keeping him healthy and on the floor is only the first step.

“We’ve got to be able to move him around and that falls on my staff and I because, in the isolation, he’s going to get double-teamed,” Ham said. “So, trying to get him in more pick-and-rolls, more second shot actions, move him to different areas on the floor. Not so much on the side. Maybe more in the middle.

“There’s a plethora of things we can do that we have in our treasure chest that we can try to allow the game to be a little easier and force the defense into compromising positions. Just got to go back and look at the film because they double-teamed on every angle on the baseline and on the dribble from the top, on the catch, when the pass was in the air.

“We’ve got to do our due diligence to see how we can best serve our player.”

​ Orange County Register 

Edison monthly bills could jump for many customers due to new state law

• April 13, 2023

Customers for California’s three major power companies — including PG&E ratepayers — can expect to see some big changes in their monthly electricity bills in the coming years as compliance with a new state law begins to unfold.

PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, the three major California utilities whose services include electricity, have filed a joint proposal with the state Public Utilities Commission that sketches out proposed changes in monthly bills.

At present, those bills are primarily based on how much electricity and gas customers consume.

A new proposal would add a fixed monthly charge that would be based on the household income levels of the respective customers.

The tradeoff: The three utilities are proposing a reduction of 33% in electricity rates, which means it’s possible that segment of the bill could be less expensive.

Put another way, customers would be able to reduce a portion of their bill if they can control their electricity usage.

“This proposal aims to help lower bills for those who need it most and improves billing transparency and predictability for all customers,” said Marlene Santos, PG&E’s chief customer officer.

The primary effect could be to help reduce monthly bills for low-income customers,  according to PG&E.

But the shift could mean jumps in monthly bills for some customers.

The changes would affect only those customers who receive electricity services from PG&E and its sibling power companies.

Here’s how the fixed charges would work in the PG&E service territory. The numbers are based on a four-person household:

Households earning less than $28,000 a year would pay a fixed charge of $15 a month on their electric bills.
Households with annual income from $28,000 to $69,000 would pay $30 a month.
Households earning from $69,000 to $180,000 would pay $51 a month.
Those with incomes above $180,000 would pay $92 a month.

“These are not new charges, but a restructuring of the components of providing and delivering power,” PG&E stated in a post in the Currents section of the utility’s website.

The monthly bills of the future would have two components: the fixed charge based on household income levels and the electricity charge at a reduced rate that would fluctuate based on monthly energy consumption.

PG&E says many customers would ultimately pay less for electricity — although the distinct possibility remains that an unknown and potentially significant number of more affluent customers might wind up with even higher electric bills.

“On average, low- and moderate-income customers would see lower bills,” PG&E stated in the Currents post. “Of those who have a bill increase, many would have a relatively small bill impact.”

It also appears that a formal effort will be made by state officials to confirm the household income declarations of utility ratepayers.

“The proposal recommends a qualified, independent state agency or third party be responsible for verifying customers’ total household incomes,” PG&E said in an emailed statement.

The state Public Utilities Commission will have to craft a final rate and billing structure for the three utilities. The PUC is due to make a final decision by July 2024.

Oakland-based PG&E hopes a new structure for calculating monthly electricity bills will help customers navigate a fast-changing energy landscape in California.

Utility customers statewide could feel a brutal financial squeeze as a result of California’s push to transition to a green energy state that depends more on electricity and less on natural gas. Plus, the state intends to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles in a shift to electric cars.

The big problem with PG&E bills, however, is that there’s no limit to how quickly they can rise, in the view of Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group that’s also known as TURN.

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“The problem is the sky’s the limit for how much PG&E can request for electricity and gas rates, and the sky’s the limit for what the PUC can approve,” Toney said. “We need to limit rate increases to the annual consumer price index.”

​ Orange County Register 

Drought dwindles from 99% to less than 9% of California

• April 13, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Only remnants of California’s three-year drought remain after winter’s epic storms.

The U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday that areas of drought cover less than 9% of the state, down from more than 99% at the Oct. 1 start of the water year.

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Those areas, in the far north and southeast, are surrounded by areas of abnormal dryness amounting to just over 25% of the state.

California’s winter was marked by numerous atmospheric rivers that dumped enormous amounts of rain and blanketed mountains with an extraordinary snowpack.

​ Orange County Register