Rams prepare for punishing Eagles rushing attack

• January 18, 2025

LOS ANGELES — The Rams wrapped up their short week of practices Friday ahead of Sunday’s divisional-round matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. Short because of the Monday night win over Minnesota, and short because of a coach’s decision not to practice Wednesday.

Sean McVay leaned on his experience from the last time the Rams won in the wild-card round, three years ago. That game too was on a Monday, and the Rams opted to give their players a day off and coaches an extra day to game plan before practicing twice.

And given how the Rams would go on to win that game, and then a couple more that winter …

“We felt like that schedule worked out,” McVay said. “I think the most important thing is, let’s allow our players to be able to get recovered and turned over. They came in, they lifted, they got themselves refreshed and recharged … but also the coaches to not feel like you’re just throwing a plan together but you’re diligent about that.”

Fresh bodies and fresh minds could come in handy against an opponent like this.

It was eight weeks ago that the Eagles ran through the Rams, quite literally. Saquon Barkley set a franchise record with 255 rushing yards. Quarterback Jalen Hurts added 39 more, including a 3rd-and-3 scramble for 11 yards.

And the conditions Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia – expected highs near freezing and some form of precipitation, frozen or otherwise – could call for a heavy emphasis on that run game at Lincoln Financial Field.

“They’re as good as it gets up front. They’re incredibly well-coached. They’ve skill position weapons all over the place,” McVay said. “They’ve got a quarterback that can beat you with his arm or his legs and then Saquon is doing some really special things even for his standards that he set over the course of his career.”

Which makes the news of the Rams’ relatively clean bill of health that much more important.

The Rams are listing cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (thigh), defensive tackle Bobby Brown III (shoulder), left tackle Alaric Jackson (chest/knee) and offensive lineman Justin Dedich (illness) as questionable for Sunday, but McVay said all four are expected to play. Tight end Tyler Higbee (chest) did not receive a game status designation for Sunday, removing any doubt about his status.

Witherspoon and Brown make a big difference in this matchup. Witherspoon has taken on most of the work against opposing team’s top targets late in this season. He mostly spent his day Monday matched up with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and allowed two catches for eight yards on three targets.

The Eagles didn’t have their No. 2 receiver, DeVonta Smith, in the Week 12 matchup, so a full complement of corners is necessary for the Rams, especially as they decide how much to prioritize stopping the run. Which is where Brown, one of the Rams’ primary run stoppers, comes in.

The fourth-year nose tackle has yet to miss a tackle this season, and 17 of the 45 run tackles he’s made have been “stops”, per Pro Football Focus, constituting a failed play for the offense.

“It’s huge. I think he’s been one of the unsung heroes of the defense,” Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “He’s kind of become a lynchpin of the front. His smarts, his ability to move around, his ability to play stout with his hands at the line of scrimmage is going to be something that’s key and critical this week, as it is every week for him.”

​ Orange County Register 

Roki Sasaki makes his decision – he’s joining Dodgers

• January 18, 2025

One year after committing over $1 billion to two Japanese stars, the Dodgers have added a third at a bargain price.

Right-hander Roki Sasaki ended the suspense about where he would make the jump to MLB by posting on Instagram on Friday afternoon that he had signed with the Dodgers.

“I have signed a minor(-league) contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Sasaki posted. “It was a very difficult decision but I will do my best to make it the right decision when I look back after my baseball career.”

The 23-year-old Sasaki will join teammates from the 2023 WBC Samurai Japan team Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a deep Dodgers’ rotation also expected to include Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and, eventually, Clayton Kershaw.

Because he opted to leave NPB before his 25th birthday with less than six years professional experience, Sasaki was included in the 2025 international free agent class. As such, he was limited to signing a minor-league contract for a signing bonus within the signing team’s international bonus pool. That meant no bidding war like the one that led to Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing a 12-year contract for $325 million with the Dodgers last winter.

Instead, the Dodgers had just $5.1 million in a signing bonus to offer Sasaki, one of the smallest international bonus pools in MLB this year. However, the opportunity to play for a perennial contender coming off a World Series title with a sophisticated support system for pitchers and two countrymen already on the roster made the Dodgers the favorites to land Sasaki even before he was posted by his Japanese team, the Chiba Lotte Marines last month.

When Ohtani made the jump to MLB at age 23, he fell into the same international free agency category as Sasaki. The Angels gave Ohtani a $2.3 million signing bonus in December 2017 and paid him roughly the major-league minimum for each of his first three MLB seasons before he became eligible for arbitration.

Considered one of the best pitchers in the world with the potential to dominate MLB hitters at the front of a big-league rotation, Sasaki has touched 102 mph with his fastball and has a devastating splitter to go with it.

In four NPB seasons, Sasaki was 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in 394⅔ innings. Last season, he was 10-5 with a 2.35 ERA and missed time with shoulder inflammation which caused his fastball velocity to dip.

When he was posted by Chiba Lotte last month, 20 teams reached out to his agent, Joel Wolfe. That was eventually trimmed to three finalists – the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. The Padres were seen as the Dodgers’ most significant competitor based on Sasaki’s close relationship with Yu Darvish.

Early on Friday, though, it was reported that the Padres were out of the running. The Blue Jays were always considered a long shot but did acquire $2 million in additional international signing bonus money in a trade before Sasaki announced his decision.

​ Orange County Register 

For vendors at the annual Flower Festival in Little Saigon, preparing for Lunar New Year is a family affair

• January 18, 2025

Outside the Asian Garden Mall in Little Saigon, dozens of vendors sell flowers, fruits, sweets, gifts and traditional clothing throughout January to help families prepare for Tết, the Lunar New Year.

For many of them, the business is a family affair. And, it’s tradition.

Eleven months out of the year, Nathan Wiwatniwong, 19, of Garden Grove, is a waiter. But in January, he takes time off from that job to help his aunt, uncle and grandmother sell willows, cherry blossoms and mai flowers for the Vietnamese holiday. The bouquets symbolize luck, youthfulness, joy and prosperity, he said.

“Spending time with family is my favorite part of the holiday season,” Wiwatniwong said. “I cherish this time of year. It’s fun to be here.”

While the flower festival opened on Jan. 9, Wiwatniwong said the weekends ahead will be the busiest time of all since the Lunar New Year is on Jan. 29.

Starting at noon on the day of the new year, based off the lunar calendar, the mall will host music, dance performances and festivities leading up to its annual firecracker show to ring in the Year of the Snake.

“I’m not afraid of the snake,” said flower vendor Thuyai Truong. “My son was born in the Year of the Snake and so was my sister.”

Truong has been selling orchids at the Asian Garden Flower Festival for more than two decades.

“I’ve always had a passion for flowers,” she said. “The bright colors represent love and happiness. They make me smile.”

Truong, born in Vietnam, raised her children in Little Saigon. For her, the flower market has been a means to share traditions with her son and daughter.

“My daughter is 18 now,” she said. “Her whole life she’s helped me set up this stand.” Her son, a medical student at Stanford, still flies home once at the beginning of January to help Truong set up her festival booth and again just before the Lunar New Year to help her pack up.

“I feel so blessed,” Truong said. “Not only to have their help, but after all this time to have so many customers who return to me year after year for their flowers.”

Truong sources her orchids from a farm in California. She also sells pomelos, a large citrus fruit that symbolizes good fortune.

Other vendors get their produce from near and far.

Jackie Nguyen has sold fruit at the flower market for 25 years. Now, her son helps her, too. The two of them also sell pomelos from California, as well as sweet green Vietnamese grapefruits and cherimoyas, heart-shaped tropical fruits symbolizing hope and popular for their creamy texture and sweet flavor.

Nearby, Khanh Hua sells Tết decor with his father, Quoc.

“We sell simple decorations,” Hua said modestly.

But they also sell hand-painted lanterns in bright pastel colors. Their hues of blue and pink differentiate these lanterns from the luminous red ones associated with Chinese New Year, Hua said.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time — many years,” Hua said. “This tradition has been passed down. It’s great to be here with my dad. The holiday is all about family.”

​ Orange County Register 

Northern California lithium battery storage plant catches fire — and it’s not the first time

• January 18, 2025

MOSS LANDING — A major fire at a lithium battery storage plant flared up again early Friday afternoon after authorities said it smoldered most of the morning.

The blaze continued to send smoke over the community of Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough area in northern Monterey County Friday, but firefighters sounded a note of optimism.

Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection District said at a Friday morning press conference that the fire, which forced evacuations around the facility, had died down significantly by 8:30 a.m., down from its peak about 12 hours earlier.

“I’m happy to announce at this point that most of the fire is out,” Mendoza said at 10 a.m. Friday. “We have very little active fire, very little products of combustion being released into the atmosphere.”

MORE BATTERIES ON FIRE: Burning Teslas, fried battery storage systems add to toxic mix hindering LA wildfire cleanup

The evacuations remained in place at 11 a.m. for about 1,200 residents, who were evacuated from areas of Moss Landing south of Elkhorn Slough, north of Molera Road and Monterey Dunes Way, and west of Castroville Boulevard and Elkhorn Road to the ocean.

The fire closed Highway 1 and raged out of control Thursday night, sending up huge flames and clouds of hazardous black smoke. It was reported around 3 p.m. at the plant, Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said. Authorities said the highway remained closed Friday morning and likely would not be opened again until the evacuation order was lifted.

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said there had been no injuries reported and that none of the air quality monitoring systems picked up on any dangerous gasses in the air. Despite that, she said the county wanted to await the arrival of a more advanced monitoring system Friday afternoon before lifting the evacuation order.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: Drone images display stunning devastation from Palisades fire

At 11 p.m. Thursday, Monterey County’s emergency alert system advised residents to stay indoors, keep their windows and doors closed, turn off their ventilation systems and limit outdoor exposure. There were no other updates after that.

Fire crews did not engage with the fire but rather waited for it to burn out on its own. Lithium battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. They burn at high temperatures and can emit toxic gases that can cause respiratory problems, skin burns and eye irritation.

Mendoza said the fire suppression system, which had worked in prior situations, wasn’t sufficient and the fire overtook the system.

The county set up an evacuation center at the Castroville Recreation Center. The Red Cross set up an overnight shelter that housed 37 people, three dogs and a cat.

Highway 1 was closed in both directions between Highway 183 and Struve Road. There was no estimated time to reopen the roadway.

“We are taking this incredibly seriously,” said state assemblyperson Dawn Addis, the area’s representative in the state legislature. She said she planned to visit the evacuation center again Friday.

On Thursday night, Pasculli said the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office had called other agencies in the county to help with the emergency.

“It’s a major incident,” he said. “All the resources in the county and our neighboring jurisdictions have been deployed to assist with this incident.”

The facility, owned by Vistra Energy, a Texas company, is one of the largest battery storage plants in the world. It holds tens of thousands of lithium batteries, which are used to store electricity from solar power and other sources generated during the day for use at night. Such battery storage plants are a key part of California’s efforts to shift most of its electricity generation to renewable sources.

Vistra sells the electricity stored there to PG&E, which also owns a separate 182-megawatt battery storage plant on the north side of the site that has 256 Tesla battery “Megapacks”. That facility did not appear to be burning Thursday evening.

The California ISO, which operated the state’s electrical grid, said the agency was working with officials to determine what consequences there may be as a result of the blaze.

“The power grid remains stable,” ISO spokesperson Anne Gonzales wrote in an email. “There are no impacts to system operations or reliablity.”

The cause of the fire is still unknown and Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church called for a full independent investigation.

“This is the fourth fire since 2019,” Church said. “This has got to be the last one.”

The facility is located on the site of a now-shuttered 1950s-era PG&E Moss Landing natural gas plant visible for its huge smokestacks near Moss Landing Harbor. The first phase, comprising 300 megawatts, was completed in 2020, and it was expanded to 750 megawatts in 2023.

Personnel at the Vistra plant called the North Monterey County Fire Protection District for assistance Thursday afternoon after a fire was detected in the Phase I energy storage facility, company spokesperson Jenny Lyon said in an email to this news organization.

All personnel were safely evacuated, according to Lyon.

“Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel,” she said, “and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders.”

Lyon said the cause of the fire has not been determined, but an investigation will begin once it is extinguished.

The facility has been the site of other fires before.

Fires broke out at the Vistra plant on Sept. 4, 2021, and Feb 14, 2022. Investigations showed that they were caused by a malfunction in a fire sprinkler system, which released water and caused several of the units to overheat.

Then in September 2022, a fire broke out at the PG&E Elkhorn battery plant. Police closed Highway 1 for 12 hours. An investigation found it was caused by an improperly installed vent shield on one of the 256 units, which allowed rainwater to get in and short out the batteries. There were no injuries to firefighters, PG&E employees or the public.

Afterward, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring battery storage plants in California to draw up emergency response plans with local fire departments and increase fire safety.

“Increasing the state’s battery storage is essential to reaching our clean energy goals,” State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who wrote the bill, said in an interview last year. “But we also have to ensure that these facilities have safety systems in place to protect the health and well-being of workers and surrounding communities.”

Battery storage has increased sevenfold in the past five years in California, from 1,474 megawatts in 2020 to 10,383 megawatts this past summer. A megawatt is enough electricity to run 750 homes.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks to tangle with reigning champs to close 6-game trip

• January 18, 2025

The Ducks will wrap up their six-game road trip against the same opponent that will get their upcoming homestand rolling, the Florida Panthers, as their interconference home-and-home set begins on Saturday in Sunrise.

Florida won the Stanley Cup last season and the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champs in each of the past two campaigns. If the Panthers can repeat, they will have replicated the achievements of their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, by reaching three consecutive Stanley Cup Final series and twice quaffing the bubbly. Tampa did so between 2020 and 2022.

The Lightning beat the Ducks, 4-3 in a shootout, behind a pair of power-play goals and a four-on-four tally on Thursday night. The Ducks got a goal from top producer Troy Terry, who missed four games (personal) and went scoreless in another in the Ducks’ past five outings. Terry now has 22 points in as many games since Nov. 25.

Though they only slipped one point into their back pockets, the Ducks managed to hang with the NHL’s highest-octane offense, something that didn’t seem feasible as they scored a mere five goals in the first four games of the road trip, including a pair of shutout losses.

“As a staff, we keep thinking about ways to generate more offense without sacrificing defense,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin told reporters after a 3-0 loss in Washington on Tuesday. “It’s frustrating. I’m sure (the players) feel it, we feel it as a staff. We’ve got to find a way to generate more goals without giving up goals.”

Leo Carlsson also scored by way of a sharp-angled snipe that Mason McTavish, who moved to Carlsson’s wing, assisted on to give the Ducks sound production from their young pivots. Getting a little more from the back end beyond the noticeable contributions of Jackson LaCombe would also be a boost to the NHL’s most anemic group offensively.

Of late, two of the Ducks’ other most gifted young blue-liners offensively, left defensemen Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, have been alternating games in the pressbox. On Thursday, Zellweger slid to the right side in lieu of Drew Helleson, creating space for both scoring-savvy rearguards on the lineup sheet.

Mintyukov, skating in his 100th NHL game, registered an assist and two shots as he looked sharp for much of the night.

“It’s exciting to have that many young ‘D’ that are that good that we have the ability to interchange them and not really affect anything,” Ducks assistant coach Brent Thompson told Victory+. “They work extremely hard, they’re working on details within their game. Each one has something they need to work on, and they’re attacking it with enthusiasm.”

The challenges ahead might be daunting whether for a young defenseman or a veteran as the Panthers await Saturday before the second and final meeting of the season on Tuesday at Honda Center.

Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk have been a three-headed monster for the Panthers while Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling have continued to anchor the back end. Ekblad (undisclosed) has been out with an injury since Jan. 8.

Early in the season, a seven-game winning streak served as a springboard, but since then the Panthers have been pedestrian, barely eclipsing a .500 points percentage with a 15-14-2 record from Nov. 12 onward.

DUCKS AT FLORIDA

When: Saturday, 3 p.m. PT

Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Fla.

How to watch: Victory+

​ Orange County Register 

Amazon pauses drone deliveries after devices crash in rain

• January 18, 2025

By Matt Day | Bloomberg

Amazon.com is pausing all commercial drone deliveries after two of its latest models crashed in rainy weather at a testing facility.

The company said Friday it was immediately suspending drone deliveries in Texas and Arizona to fix the aircraft’s software. It’s the latest setback for a program inching toward widespread commercial service more than 11 years after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced an initiative to build drones capable of delivering products to customers in less than half an hour.

In a previously unreported December incident, two MK30 drones crashed during flights at the Pendleton, Oregon, airport Amazon uses for testing, with one catching fire on the ground. The company later discovered a software issue was to blame, related to the light rain the aircraft were flying through at the time.

The MK30 drones, cleared to commence operations by the Federal Aviation Administration in October, have been delivering packages to customers’ homes in College Station, Texas, and Tolleson, Arizona, a suburb near Phoenix. The six-propeller machine is designed to be lighter and quieter than its predecessor, the MK27-2, and fly in light rain.

“We’re currently in the process of making software changes to the drone and will be voluntarily pausing our commercial operations,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson said in a statement after Bloomberg inquired about the recent crashes. Deliveries will resume once the updates are completed and approved by the FAA, Stephenson said. Employees at the drone sites, who were told of the action Friday, will continue to be paid during the pause.

“Safety underscores everything we do in Prime Air and our MK30 drone is safe and compliant,” Stephenson added. “It’s designed to safely respond to unknown events in a known way, and the overall architecture of the drone has performed as expected.”

Amazon’s drone operation, called Prime Air, aims to deliver some 500 million packages a year by the end of the decade. The unit reached a key regulatory milestone in the US last year, receiving authorization from the FAA to fly its craft beyond their remote operators’ visual line of sight. But Prime Air’s reach remains limited to narrow trials in Arizona and Texas.

A test site in California was shuttered last year. Last month, the company completed its first test flight in Italy and aims to launch wider service this year. The company is also seeking clearance to begin making deliveries in the UK.

During another previously unreported episode, in early September, two aircraft collided in an apparent case of operator error. The company was testing how the MK30 would perform if one of the vehicle’s propellers failed, according to an FAA account of the incident.

Operators launched one drone at the Pendleton test range, had it complete a mock delivery and then triggered a planned motor failure.

The drone began to fly to an alternate landing pad. But Amazon operators launched another test flight in error while the first was still en route to the pad. The second drone, programmed to suffer its own motor failure during its initial ascent, started flying to the same alternate landing pad.

An Amazon manager on site recognized the sound of the second motor failure and shouted an order for the operator to land the second craft, the FAA account said. Someone relayed the command to the designated pilot, who was monitoring both craft. It was too late. The drones collided about 130 feet over the alternate landing pad, their wings interlocked, and spiraled to the ground.

Amazon says it changed its operating procedures and training following the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating the September and December crashes and didn’t immediately provide comment.

“The purpose of these tests is to push our aircraft past their limits – it would be irresponsible not to do that,” spokesperson Stephenson said. “We expect incidents like these to occur in those tests, and they help us continue to improve the safety of our operations.”

The drone crashes aren’t Amazon’s first. A Bloomberg investigation chronicled five incidents over a four-month period in 2021, including one that sparked a brushfire at the Pendleton airport and prompted federal regulators to question the airworthiness of the MK27-2.

Former employees told Bloomberg at the time that Amazon had cut corners on safety protocols in the interests of keeping tests going, including by running trials with team members who had to jump between multiple roles during a flight. Amazon has denied this.

There were at least four additional crashes in 2022, three of which were the result of sudden power loss, according to FAA records. And in November 2023, Amazon temporarily paused operations after an MK27-2 crashed in Pendleton when its battery ran out of juice, according to an NTSB account. The company subsequently began requiring drone operators to measure battery pack voltage as a backup to the craft’s automated monitoring.

​ Orange County Register 

LA sports teams hand out clothing, supplies to fire victims

• January 18, 2025

The L.A. area’s 12 professional sports organizations, in conjunction with Fanatics and the Fanatics Foundation, distributed $3 million worth of merchandise on Friday to area residents who were forced out of their homes due to the area wildfires.

The distribution events were at Dodger Stadium, SoFi Stadium and BMO Stadium.

Impacted residents with proof of residency in evacuated ZIP codes were eligible to attend. Those who attend were also be able to collect personal hygiene kits, school supplies, sneakers and more items.

Last week, Fanatics, professional leagues and L.A. sports organizations launched the “LA Strong” collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts, with all proceeds benefiting the L.A. Fire Department Foundation and the American Red Cross.

Fans can visit fanatics.com/lastrong to purchase the items and support communities in need.

L.A. sports teams earlier pledged more than $8 million in donations.

The combined donations of the Dodgers, Angels, Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, Kings, Ducks, Galaxy, LAFC and Angel City FC will benefit the American Red Cross, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, California Fire Foundation, Eaton Canyon Fire Relief and Recovery Fund, World Central Kitchen, California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, Team Rubicon and various local animal rescue organizations, the Dodgers said.

In the weeks and months ahead, individual teams will also unveil their own relief initiatives, the Dodgers said.

On Friday, NASCAR announced it has partnered with Fanatics to offer NASCAR-branded “LA Strong” merchandise to benefit the Red Cross and L.A. Fire Department Foundation. The merchandise is available at https://store.nascar.com/c-15941?_s=BM-NAScom-social-1080×1920-NASCAR-LA-Strong-1.15.25.

​ Orange County Register 

LA County renters who take in people displaced by wildfires granted some eviction protections

• January 18, 2025

Renters who have taken in people displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires now have some eviction protections due to a new executive order.

The new order, from Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, Jan. 17, prohibits landlords from evicting tenants who violate an occupancy provision of their lease because they are sheltering at least one person due to the ongoing emergency.

“At a time when so many have been suddenly displaced, we need more housing and shelter than ever,” Newsom said in a statement. “Opening your place of residence to help shelter those in need is not only encouraged and generous, but deserves to be protected.”

The order does not prohibit landlords from enforcing other lease terms, particularly those that deal with criminal activity or property damage, according to the governor’s office.

The recent order is in effect until March 8.

Friday’s executive order is just the latest in a series issued by the governor in the aftermath of the fires. Most have dealt with housing, from fast-tracking the building of temporary structures to prohibiting Los Angeles County landlords from evicting a tenant and then re-letting that unit at a higher price.

​ Orange County Register