Massachusetts man charged with cyberstalking podcaster and former Trump official Katie Miller

• October 1, 2026

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man was arrested Thursday in a federal case alleging he cyberstalked conservative podcaster and former Trump administration official Katie Miller, targeting her dozens of times with menacing phone calls and messages, according to court papers.

Authorities say the man contacted Katie Miller at least 40 times over the course of several weeks, sometimes leaving disturbing voicemails and text messages about her and her husband, Stephen Miller, who serves as White House deputy chief of staff. He also sent messages to phone numbers for her parents, according to prosecutors.

John Anthony Proia III, 41, is charged with one count of cyberstalking. An attorney listed for him didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday.

The court documents do not identify the victim by name, but a person familiar with the matter confirmed that it is Katie Miller. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss non-public parts of the investigation.

“Those who use technology to harass, intimidate or torment others should understand that attempts to anonymize their criminal conduct will not shield them from prosecution,” Leah Foley, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, said in an emailed statement. “We will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”

The investigation contributed to upheaval inside the FBI’s Washington field office, where two top counterterrorism supervisors were recently reassigned by the office’s leader in part because of dissatisfaction over their handling of and approach to the Miller probe, according to multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public personnel changes.

Darren Cox, the assistant director in charge of the Washington office, said in a statement that the reassignments were not ordered by Director Kash Patel and that the moves were a personnel decision “based on our constant evaluation of mission needs. Any suggestion otherwise is false.”

​ Orange County Register 

Federal panel gives final approval to new design for White House security screening center

• October 1, 2026

By MEG KINNARD

A federal panel has approved final design and building plans for an underground facility to screen visitors to the White House, the latest advancement in the Trump administration’s efforts to amp up security while also reshaping the aesthetics of the complex.

The National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday advanced the proposal for the screening facility, which the administration has said would be an improvement over temporary structures long used for security, such as tents and bicycle racks fashioned into barriers. The White House wants it open by July 2028, six months before President Donald Trump would finish out his second term.

The administration says the permanent facility, which it wants open by July 2028, will replace a series of temporary tents that have been used for years, improve security on the White House complex and enhance the experience for visitors.

The project — a collaboration of the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds — comes as security for Trump is a top concern. He has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, including two during the 2024 campaign and a third this past April as he attended a Washington dinner with White House journalists.

Those concerns were heightened in May after U.S. Secret Service officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House security checkpoint.

The 33,000-square-foot facility, which will provide security screening for public tour participants, guests attending large events, staff and contractors going to the White House, would be built beneath Sherman Park, located southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building.

The park had long been the place where White House tourists and guests lined up for security checks before clearing a series of trailer-like structures and walking to the East Wing entrance.

After Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build a ballroom, visitors have been lining up near Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. An architect for the screening facility said Thursday that some of the design had been tweaked to match elements of the massive White House ballroom currently under construction where the East Wing used to stand.

The panel, which has oversight over the design of construction on federal land in Washington, granted initial approval for the facility’s revised design earlier this year. Commission member Evan Cash suggested a tour of the site, to which other members agreed.

Part of that tour, members said, could include the White House ballroom site, where construction has been allowed to continue as lawsuits over it play out, under a ruling a month ago by a divided Supreme Court.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register 

Federal report says pilots weren’t warned about wind before Amazon cargo plane crashed in Miami

• October 1, 2026

By DAVID A. LIEB

Despite regulations requiring it, an air traffic controller failed to tell the pilots of an Amazon cargo plane about the potential for strong tail winds as they landed in Miami, careening off the runway and killing five people last month, according to a preliminary report Thursday from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Just four minutes before clearing the plane for landing, an air traffic controller had provided a wind advisory to a different flight, noting gusts of up to 25 mph (40 kph) from the south. But the controller “did not issue information about the wind” to the pilots of the Amazon cargo plane, the report said.

According to federal regulations, “both wind direction and velocity were required to be stated when authorizing use of a runway when a tail wind component exists,” the NTSB report said.

The airplane, carrying packages of contact lenses for Amazon, came in fast after a flight from Puerto Rico and barreled roughly 1,200 feet (366 meters) past the end of the runway at Miami International Airport on Sept. 6. It smashed into a van carrying workers for a company that cleans airplanes. Five people who were in the van died. Two others in the van sustained serious injuries, as did the driver of a car that was hit by the plane. The two pilots had minor injuries.

A summary of cockpit voice recordings previously released by the NTSB said one of the pilots repeatedly warned his counterpart that they were going too fast as they approached for landing and after touchdown. But the fellow pilot never gave “a consistent verbal response” to the warnings, the NTSB has said. The two pilots had flown together for the first time just earlier that day, according to the preliminary NTSB report.

The cockpit audio recordings also captured a series of automated warnings from the plane about the speed of descent and the approaching terrain.

The plane was well down the runway when its right and nose landing gear first touched down, reducing how much distance it had on the runway to stop. Experts have said strong winds from approaching storms could have created a tail wind that helped propel the plane forward.

After the crash, Amazon suspended its partnership with 21 Air, which operated the plane. The North Carolina carrier had flown packages for Amazon since 2024. The Boeing 767 that crashed was 32 years old and originally built to carry passengers. It was converted to a cargo plane in June 2016, the preliminary NTSB report said.

The Miami crash came less than a year after a UPS cargo plane crashed at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport after losing its engine while accelerating down the runway. That crash killed all three pilots and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured.

​ Orange County Register 

Photos: Valencia boys water polo tops Laguna Hills to win nonleague matchup

• October 1, 2026

The Valencia, of Placentia, boys water polo team beat Laguna Hills 21-12 in a nonleague matchup Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Laguna Hills High School.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks sign Tristan Luneau to 6-year, $43.2 million extension

• October 1, 2026

The Ducks have signed defenseman Tristan Luneau to a six-year contract extension that will run through 2033, the team announced Thursday.

Luneau’s agreement, which starts next season, will carry an annual average value of $7.2 million.

That figure, which is commensurate with Pavel Mintyukov’s salary-cap hit, reflects the market value of a top-four NHL defenseman. That’s a role Luneau is set to step into for the first time however, having skated in just 14 NHL games across the past three seasons for the Ducks.

Yet given what happened with Mintyukov and, more prominently, top scorers Leo Carlsson ($18 million AAV) and Cutter Gauthier ($13.5 million AAV) over the summer, general manager Pat Verbeek put owners Henry and Susan Samueli’s money where his mouth was. He had vowed to take a more aggressive approach with pending restricted free agents in order to obviate competition and salary-cap bloating.

Luneau’s contract value shatters the record sum committed to a player with so little experience.

“Signing Tristan to a long-term contract was a priority as we see him as a top-four defenseman for years to come,” Verbeek said in a statement. “Getting the deal done before the season started was a key part of our planning for now and the future.”

Luneau told reporters at practice he was amenable to a deal now because he wanted to show he was committed to the organization and to lock himself in long-term, even before he assumed a steady role with the parent club. Luneau was dominant offensively in the AHL two seasons ago to put an injury-plagued 2023-24 campaign behind him. He further rounded out his game in the minors last year, dressing just once for the parent club.

“It’s a great moment for me and my family. This is a group I want to be a part of for a long time,” said Luneau, adding that “I believe in what we’re all working for here.”

Luneau, 22, was the top defenseman in the QMJHL and was part of a promising crop that also included Mintyukov, No. 1 rearguard Jackson LaCombe and the since-traded Olen Zellweger. They all entered 2023’s training camp as rookies, three of them being the top defenders in their respective junior leagues and LaCombe being one of the most electric blue-liners at the NCAA level.

Though ostensibly Luneau was the slowest to develop from the group, his physique and skating have always been the most powerful among that quartet. When he arrived at training camp in 2023, then-coach Greg Cronin was most enthused with Luneau, though he saw discernible potential in all four players.

The summer saw an outright evacuation of the right side of the Ducks’ defense as they bid adieu to John Carlson, Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba, as well as Zellweger, who’d occasionally played right defense as a left shot. Then in the fall, Ian Moore and Drew Helleson sustained injuries.

Luneau was already set to take on a substantial role, and those developments cleared the way for him to start the year in a top-pairing slot with big minutes, carrying over his heavy duty from the preseason.

“It’s a lot of trust, obviously,” said Luneau of his lucrative pact after so few NHL games. “Now it’s time to live up to those expectations and the trust they put in you, and I’m ready to do the work for that.”

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County boys water polo: Newport Harbor seeded first for Elite 8

• October 1, 2026

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

The Orange County boys water polo rankings as of Thursday, Oct. 1:

BOYS WATER POLO TOP 10

School, record, previous rank

1. Newport Harbor 9-1 (1): The Sailors are seeded first for the Elite 8 tournament at Harvard-Westlake this week. Newport Harbor is the two-time defending champion of the event. The Sailors open against Corona del Mar on Thursday. The match will be the 100th Battle of the Bay clash for the schools.

2. JSerra 9-1 (2): The Lions are seeded fourth for the Elite 8 and open against Santa Margarita on Thursday.

3. Santa Margarita 11-4 (3): The Eagles are seeded fifth for the Elite 8 tournament. They lost to JSerra 13-9 in the fifth-place match at the South Coast Tournament.

4. Laguna Beach 13-6 (4): Zachary Hornstein scored five goals and Finn Leverty netter four in a 16-10 win against University on Tuesday. The Breakers are 2-0 in the Pacific Coast League.

5. Corona del Mar 12-5 (5): Willian Weir had four goals and two assists in an 11-8 win against Huntington Beach on Wednesday.

6. San Clemente 8-9 (6): The Tritons edged San Juan Hills 14-13 on Tuesday to move to 2-0 in the South Coast League.

7. Huntington Beach 11-11 (7): The Oilers have developed another sharp-shooting attacker in Jackson Holmes. The junior scored five goals in an 11-8 loss against Corona del Mar on Wednesday.

End 3: CdM 9, HB 7, Jackson Holmes ballin’ Weir four goals pic.twitter.com/PjSjhe85h0

— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) September 30, 2026

8. Beckman 8-6 (8): The Patriots play host to San Clemente on Thursday in a South Coast League showdown. On Saturday, Beckman plays two matches at the inaugural The Bishop’s Invitational in La Jolla. The Patriots face The Bishop’s and De La Salle.

9. Mater Dei 5-13 (9): The Monarchs dropped their fourth consecutive match with a 14-4 loss against JSerra on Wednesday in the Trinity League. Mater Dei plays at Sage Hill on Friday in a key match for county rankings.

10. Foothill 10-6 (10): The Knights went 2-2 at their S & R Sport Foothill Invite last weekend. They play at Huntington Beach on Friday.

Also considered: Orange Lutheran 13-2; Sage Hill 10–4.

​ Orange County Register 

The groundbreaking and troubling history of Six Flags’ X2 coaster

• October 1, 2026

A revolutionary roller coaster beloved by thrill seekers that had a troubled start nearly a quarter century ago will leave behind an even more troubling legacy amid allegations of brain injuries and death linked to the now-shuttered ride.

Six Flags Magic Mountain has permanently retired X2 amid mounting lawsuits involving the fourth-dimension wing roller coaster at the Valencia amusement park.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain retires X2 coaster amid mounting lawsuits

The first-of-its-kind $55 million wing coaster featured 360-degree rotating seats that extended on either side of the track.

The 200-foot-tall X2 reached a top speed of 76 mph while navigating a pair of raven turn inversions over a 3,600-foot-long track, according to Roller Coaster Database.

Rising anticipation

Ride enthusiasts swooned over the groundbreaking coaster design when X was first introduced in 2000 by Magic Mountain and ridemaker Arrow Dynamics.

“No one had built a ride like this one before,” Theme Park Insider wrote in 2002. “Roller coaster fans around the world started counting the days until they could ride it.”

Anticipation turned to concern when the planned summer 2001 opening date came and went.

ALSO SEE: 3 lawsuits allege brain injuries on X2 coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain

The first rider finally got to climb aboard X in December 2001 during Magic Mountain season passholder previews ahead of an official grand opening in January 2002.

“The ride drew enthusiastic reviews,” according to Theme Park Insider. “Many who rode on its opening day predicted huge crowds for the ride throughout the summer.”

Plagued by mechanical issues, X barely made it to Memorial Day and was closed for most of summer 2002.

Mechanical issues

The ride was a maintenance nightmare. The trains were too heavy. The coaster was going through 18 to 20 wheels a day. On many days, the ride opened late or not at all.

“When the ride did run, the park often sent out just one train at a time, pushing wait times up to four and five hours,” according to Theme Park Insider. “Many visitors collapsed from heat exhaustion while waiting in X’s uncovered, outdoor queue. Many more stormed into Magic Mountain’s guest relations office, complaining and demanding refunds.”

ALSO SEE: Niles: Magic Mountain was right to retire X2, but risks remain

Adding to the troubles, Arrow Dynamics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just as X opened with the ridemaker claiming to have lost millions on the project.

Six Flags filed a $5.8 million claim against Arrow Dynamics over delays and difficulties with X, according to Theme Park Insider.

Arrow Dynamics was acquired in 2002 by S&S Power, which continued to use some of Arrow’s coaster designs.

Arrow Dynamics

The modern theme park landscape of roller coasters, dark rides and water rides would not be possible without the constant innovation and reinvention of Arrow Dynamics.

Through a series of tremendous successes and dramatic failures, Arrow created an impressive collection of world’s first and record-setting rides over a half century despite a crippling string of bankruptcies and ownership changes.

Without Arrow, there would be no log rides, mine trains, dark rides, looping coasters, suspended coasters, hyper coasters, fourth-dimension coasters and, most importantly, no Disneyland.

Walt Disney turned to Arrow to modify a carousel for a first-of-its-kind theme park he was building in Anaheim. Arrow went on to build the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Casey Jr. Circus Train and Autopia in advance of Disneyland’s 1955 grand opening.

ALSO SEE: Meet the legendary ride maker that invented the modern theme park

In 1959, Arrow answered another challenge from Walt Disney when the company built the world’s first tubular steel roller coaster inside a faux mountain. Virtually every roller coaster since the Matterhorn Bobsleds can trace its lineage to Arrow’s breakthrough innovation on the now-classic Disneyland ride.

By the second-half of the 1960s, Arrow was churning out one success after another — from It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean to Adventures through Inner Space and Haunted Mansion.

Arrow built the world’s first modern inverting roller coaster for Knott’s Berry Farm. The 1975 Corkscrew changed the way coasters were designed for the next two decades.

Following a bankruptcy in the 1980s, Arrow built the seven-inversion Viper at Magic Mountain that raised the bar for modern coasters.

X Becomes X2

Magic Mountain finally closed X in 2007 due to design issues without setting a reopening date.

The rechristened S&S Arrow manufactured and built lighter trains for the coaster that was renamed X2 when it reopened in 2008 with fog, flame and mister effects and an audio soundtrack.

“X2 remains one stunning ride,” Theme Park Insider wrote in 2008. “Magic Mountain might finally have the revolutionary coaster that it envisioned.”

Six Flags filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 with $2.4 billion of debt.

Allegations and lawsuits

A CNN investigation in August found X2 was linked to two deaths and more than a dozen reports of serious injuries over two decades after a review of legal filings, depositions and medical records.

Hilda Farias, 28, died in 2010 from a brain abnormality that ruptured allegedly because of the intensity of X2, according to the CNN investigation. A lawsuit by the family was settled for an undisclosed amount, according to CNN.

Selena O’Neill, 17, allegedly suffered a life-threatening subdural hematoma in 2014 after riding X2, according to CNN. O’Neill settled a case with the X2 trainmaker in 2017, according to CNN.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain’s X2 coaster responsible for fatal brain injury, lawsuit alleges

Sheila Katerelos, 50, allegedly suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2020 after riding X2, according to CNN. Her lawsuit against the X2 trainmaker is awaiting trial, according to CNN.

Lucy Alvarez, 46, allegedly suffered a traumatic subdural hematoma in 2021 after riding X2, according to CNN. A trial is scheduled for October 2027, CNN reported.

Anne and William Hawley of Garden Grove alleged in a 2024 lawsuit that the “unreasonably dangerous” X2 coaster caused their 22-year-old son Christopher’s fatal brain injury. The family settled the case with Magic Mountain and X2 trainmaker S&S Worldwide in August before the trial started, according to KTTV Fox 11 News.

Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, of Los Angeles, and Pamela Guillen, 40, of Hawaii, were both treated for severe brain hemorrhages within days of each other in July after riding X2, according to Dordick law firm attorney Christopher Bulone.

Michael Wilk, a 68-year-old insurance defense attorney from Calabasas, was treated for an acute brain bleed and underwent multiple surgeries after riding X2 in February, according to Bulone.

Permanently closed

Magic Mountain temporarily closed X2 on July 12 following an incident involving the coaster that is under investigation by state safety officials.

Magic Mountain President Brian Oerding announced on Sept. 29 that X2 will be permanently retired.

“While X2 consistently passed a multitude of safety tests, we have decided to close the ride because we believe it’s the right thing to do,” Oerding said in a Six Flags blog post. “Ride safety is a cornerstone of our business and when we see guest confidence affected, we take it seriously.”

ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain unveils first-of-its-kind coaster for 2027

X2 has welcomed 16 million riders and earned a passionate following among ride enthusiasts since opening in 2008, according to Oerding.

“Our purpose is to create fun, thrills and a lifetime of memories by creating unforgettable experiences that are underpinned by comprehensive safety policies,” Oerding said in the Six Flags blog post.

Six Flags does not comment on pending litigation.

Every Six Flags ride undergoes extensive inspections by state, insurance, engineering, safety and third-party inspectors designed to meet or exceed manufacturer requirements and industry standards, according to the company website.

​ Orange County Register 

Douglas Schoen: Nobody won the gubernatorial debate, but Californians lost

• October 1, 2026

Watching Wednesday’s California gubernatorial debate, one could be forgiven for assuming the contest was between President Trump and incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom and that the issues facing California were merely an afterthought. 

Indeed, Xavier Becerra, the Democratic front-runner to replace Newsom repeatedly tried tying Republican candidate Steve Hilton to the president, including four times in one sentence. 

According to a CNN count, Becerra, who served Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration, used Trump’s name “at least 40 times in one hour.” 

He also did not discriminate when it came to issues he hoped to pin on Trump.

When asked about Hilton’s goal to eliminate state taxes for middle-class Californians, Becerra invoked Trump. He did the same when the topic was artificial intelligence, oil drilling, housing, and even homelessness – decidedly a state-level issue.

One exchange captured this perfectly. Asked about immigration, Hilton said to Becerra, “All you say is Trump, Trump, Trump.” Becerra’s response? Repeating “Trump, Trump, Trump.”

For his part, Hilton doubled down on attacking Becerra by invoking his connections to Newsom, including a well-timed critique for the “A grade” he gave Newsom for handling homelessness. 

Hilton landed other impressive punches as he attempted to portray himself as the change candidate.

One came on the question of recent job losses in the state’s film industry. He rhetorically asked, “Who’s been in charge when all these jobs have gone?” referring to the over 40,000 jobs lost from 2022-2024. 

When Becerra blamed Trump, Hilton retorted, “Democrats” given their dominance of virtually all of the state’s layers of government.

Another came when Becerra slammed Hilton’s proposed tax cuts that resemble Reaganomics to grow the state’s economy, saying “the definition of insanity” is doing the same thing expecting different results, Hilton shot back, “Like voting Democrat.”

For a state that has become increasingly unaffordable for all except the top 1% and struggled with quality of life issues under decades of Democratic leadership, that was an extremely well-timed response.

It was one Hilton returned to often, using it to bash Democratic governance for saddling the state with suffocating regulations on businesses and housing, as well as declining academic performance.

Unfortunately, with the two candidates constantly retreating to their own partisan corners, it’s impossible to say who won, though it’s clear Californians lost. 

Voters heard little to nothing over pressing issues such as the state’s runaway budget deficit, which Newsom and the Democratic-controlled state legislature have refused even to attempt to address. 

Or, as a CalMatters headline described it: “Hilton blames Democrats. Becerra blames Trump. Little was learned in governor’s race debate.”

To be sure, the debate likely mattered little in terms of shaping November’s general election. 

California has not elected a Republican for governor since 2006, and the most recent survey showed Becerra with a 25-point lead (58% to 33%). 

However, the debate was telling for what it revealed about our political climate and the future of California.

In a state where two-thirds (66%) of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing, Becerra’s strategy of nationalizing the election is a sound one. 

It allows Becerra to avoid promoting policies that would sit well with the far-left base but alienate moderates, all while reminding them that Hilton belongs to the same political party as a president many Californians despise.

Likewise, it is a particularly effective way of distracting from the fact that, despite his polling advantage, Becerra does not excite voters, in stark contrast to Newsom’s charisma.

According to Politico polling, just 44% of likely voters have a favorable view of Becerra, and roughly one-fifth (18%) of Democrats have an unfavorable view, hardly an endorsement.

As Jon Cohen, the pollster behind that survey remarked, “This is rather tepid, even among Democrats.”

That being said, given Democrats’ dominance and nearly 2:1 registration advantage, Hilton needed to use the first, and likely only, debate to come out swinging, which he largely did. 

On everything from attacks on Democratic governance to Becerra’s own record at HHS – he kept mask mandates in place for children much longer than other states and his department was accused of mishandling minor migrants – Hilton was fiery and sharp in an otherwise dull contest.

His repeating criticisms of Becerra from Democratic heavyweight Susan Rice – national security advisor to former President Obama and director of the Domestic Policy Council under former President Biden – including Rice calling Becerra expletives will likely go viral.

Finally, Hilton disarmed a key Becerra attack. When accused of welcoming “immigrants who look like you but deport immigrants who look like me,” Hilton, an immigrant from the United Kingdom, refused to get into the fray, simply saying the remark was “disgraceful.”

At the same time, Becerra is fully aware that this is his election to lose, thus the safest thing to do was to stick to his “blame Trump” talking points, avoid getting into specifics on policy, and do everything possible not to alienate millions of likely voters. 

To his credit, Becerra did take a decidedly tougher stance on California’s homeless problem than many Democrats have. He promised to clear every encampment in the state, even if he did not say how he would prevent them from returning aside from “investments” in services, presumably the same ones Newsom has promised yet have not fixed the problem.

Ultimately, even if debates often have little genuine impact on the outcome of an election, it’s a chance for voters to hear from people who hope to govern them. 

Wednesday was an opportunity for two politicians with vastly different views to explain how they plan to govern the country’s largest – and world’s 4th largest – economy, and a state struggling with a myriad of issues.

To that end, while neither candidate could claim a legitimate victory from the debate, at least Hilton attempted to focus on the key issues. 

Conversely, Becerra’s refusal – or unwillingness – to seriously debate those issues suggests that the biggest losers are California voters, who will almost certainly send Becerra to Sacramento with no idea how he will lead their state for the next four years.

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant

​ Orange County Register