From Los Angeles Times

  • 'He's turned into a weapon.' How Michael Grove became a high-leverage Dodgers reliever

    Daniel Hudson was the same age (27) when he moved from the Arizona rotation to the bullpen in 2014 as Dodgers right-hander Michael Grove is today, and even though the transition was more by necessity than design — Hudson had Tommy John surgeries in 2012 and 2013 and had to ease the stress on his elbow — it was still a blow to his ego. “In the beginning, it’s kind of tough, it almost seems like a demotion, especially when you’re young and you’ve been starting your whole career,” said Hudson, now...

  • Man allegedly armed with a knife and violating restraining order fatally shot in Monrovia

    Coroner officials identified a man, suspected of wielding a knife, who was fatally shot outside the Monrovia home of a woman who had a restraining order against him. The Los Angeles Medical Examiner identified the man as 42-year-old Thanh Cong Le. Le was fatally shot about 9:20 p.m. Friday in the 400 block of South Shamrock Avenue. Monrovia police officers found his body in the driveway of a home, according to coroner officials. In a written statement, the Monrovia Police Department said...

  • Behind a prosecutor’s push to arrest Israeli and Hamas leaders

    Over the course of Israel’s devastating 7-month-long war with Hamas, a fierce parallel battle has been playing out over various international legal mechanisms for holding individuals accountable. On Monday, Karim Khan, the lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced that he would request arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, the country's defense minister and three senior figures from the militant Palestinian group Hamas in connection with alleged war crimes and...

  • Katy Perry says goodbye to 'American Idol' as reality show crowns another winner

    As one of the "California Gurls" is crowned the winner of "American Idol" Season 22, another is closing her chapter on ABC's reality singing competition. Abi Carter, a 21-year-old musician from Indio, was declared the victor on Sunday night finale, the final episode of Katy Perry's seven-season judging stint alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. The pop star announced in February that she was leaving her post as a judge to focus on other artistic endeavors. During the finale, Perry was sent...

  • Kevin Costner's 'Horizon: An American Saga' should have been a TV show

    To anyone worried that "Megalopolis" would be the only risky, expensive late-career epic from a Hollywood legend to premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival, breathe easy. With "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1" (three more parts are planned), Kevin Costner has you covered. The "Dances With Wolves" Oscar winner, accompanying his fourth feature behind the camera, arrived at the movie's Cannes festival premiere Sunday as cool as a cucumber, sporting shades, a wry smile and a neat...

  • Jim Otto, Hall of Fame Raiders center who never missed a game, dies at 86

    Jim Otto, the Hall of Fame center who never missed a game during his 15 seasons with the Raiders in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 86, the team announced Sunday night. No cause of death was given. “The Raiders Family is in deep mourning following the passing of Jim Otto,” the Las Vegas Raiders said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The Original Raider. The personification of consistency, Jim’s influence on the American Football League and professional football as a whole cannot...

  • 'Pathetic': Cassie slams Sean 'Diddy' Combs' apology for 2016 assault caught on video

    Disgraced music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs said over the weekend that he had "hit rock bottom" at the time of 2016 video footage showing him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie. Her legal team doubts the sincerity of his apology. “Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt," attorney Meredith Firetog, who represents Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, said in a statement to The Times. "When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and...

  • The other Angelenos: What a naturalist's survey of Los Angeles wildlife reveals

    Los Angeles tends to strike outsiders as a borderless mishmash of suburbs spread over an unfriendly landscape with no significant natural source of water. When it’s not on fire, it seems to be sliding into the ocean or collapsing under the weight of its own untamable development. And yet Los Angeles transplants will still brag to their loved ones across the country that they could go skiing and surfing in the same day (if for some reason they felt so inclined). As the conservationist Craig...

  • Skeletal remains of an unidentified person found in Loma Linda

    Investigators are trying to determine the identity of a person whose skeletal remains were discovered on a property in Loma Linda over the weekend. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department responded to a call Sunday at approximately 11:29 a.m. to investigate the unpleasant find, said Mara Rodriguez, spokesperson for the sheriff's department. The remains were found on the perimeter of a property in the 11400 block of San Timoteo Canyon Road in Loma Linda. The remains were determined to be...

  • Four family members accused of a string of retail thefts across Southern California

    Sheriff's investigators arrested a Riverside County family in connection with a string of retail robberies and for allegedly stealing goods worth more than $7,000. The investigation started April 24, when Riverside County deputies were called to an undisclosed business in the 32100 block of Temecula Parkway in Temecula, authorities said in a news release. There, a group of suspects had allegedly conspired to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise. Investigators learned that the group was linked...

  • Judge reopens Paul Pelosi attacker sentencing after making 'clear error'

    A federal judge reopened the sentencing of a man who assaulted the husband of former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying the attacker was not given the opportunity to speak before he was sentenced last week. The decision came Saturday — a day after Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley sentenced David DePape to 30 years in prison for his violent 2022 attempted kidnapping of Nancy Pelosi, during which he used a hammer to bludgeon her husband, Paul. At sentencing hearings in federal court, judges typically...

  • Lauren Halsey unveils the design for a monumental sculpture park in South L.A.

    For 17 years Lauren Halsey has dreamed of creating a monumental work of installation art for — and about — her South Los Angeles neighborhood, and on Monday she released the first renderings for the project, which has grown into a public sculpture park scheduled to open next spring. Construction has already begun on the project, titled "sister dreamer, lauren halsey's architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles," which will rise on a vacant lot whose exact location has...