Category: Los Angeles

Art Garfunkel says he’s rekindling his bond with estranged Simon & Garfunkel bandmate Paul Simon, after decades of on-and-off tensions. The 83-year-old singer reflected on his partnership with Simon, saying in a recent interview that he had shed tears upon reconnecting with Simon over lunch. “First time we’d been together in many years. I looked at Paul and said, ‘What happened? Why haven’t we seen each other?,’ ” Garfunkel told the (U.K.) Times in an interview published Sunday. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, the two musicians rose to fame for their contributions to Simon & Garfunkel. The duo was best known for songs “The Sound of Silence,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Mrs. Robinson.” Despite the group’s growing popularity and seven Grammy wins , Simon and Garfunkel went their separate ways after a bitter split in 1970. Since then, the musicians have endured a fractious relationship, occasionally coming together for the rare reunion shows over the years. According to Garfunkel, Simon, 83, took issue with an “old interview where I said some stuff.” “I cried when he told me how much I had

Months after sporting a fake baby belly in the music video for Machine Gun Kelly and Jelly Roll’s “Lonely Road,” Megan Fox is showing off her bona fide bump. The “Jennifer’s Body” star took to Instagram on Monday to reveal her pregnancy with her fourth child, her first with Machine Gun Kelly (whose real name is Colson Baker). Fox shares three sons with ex-husband Brian Austin Green, while Kelly has a daughter from another relationship. “Nothing is ever really lost. Welcome back,” Fox captioned a pair of photos — one, a maternity portrait, and another, a black and white shot of a positive pregnancy test. Representatives for Fox and Kelly did not reply immediately Monday to The Times’ request for comment. Fox’s Instagram caption seemingly references her previous miscarriage, which she wrote about in her 2023 poetry collection, “Pretty Boys Are Poisonous.” In one poem, Fox writes, “I want to hold your hand / hear your laugh … but now / I have to say / goodbye,” while later begging, “I will pay any price / Tell me please / what is the ransom /

California drivers may see gas prices climb next year after state regulators voted to toughen fuel standards in an effort to cut pollution and reliance on fossil fuel. While environmental officials back the plan as a step toward a cleaner environment, opponents argue it’ll hit Californians in the wallet. The updated standards approved Friday by the California Air Resources Board set new goals for slashing emissions from fuel by 30% by 2030 and 90% by 2045. “The low carbon fuel standard has already successfully created lower-cost, lower-carbon alternatives, and the benefits of the proposal vastly outweigh those costs,” Steven Cliff, the agency’s executive officer, said last month. CARB acknowledges that the changes could add around 47 cents per gallon by 2025. However, a study from the University of Pennsylvania warns the impact could be closer to 65 cents a gallon in 2025, reaching 85 cents by 2030 and nearly $1.50 by 2035. Only a few states offer 85-octane gas: Here’s why Critics, including the state’s Republican minority, didn’t hold back. “Today’s vote is nothing short of blatant price gouging by the Newsom Administration,” said Senate

Increasing numbers of older U.S. men with prostate cancer are undergoing treatments that carry risks of side effects that can significantly reduce the quality of life without extending life, according to a Cedars-Sinai study out Monday. Researchers said these men might not have life expectancies that would allow them to receive the benefits of more aggressive treatments. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine, and can be read at jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2825764. Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in the United States, exceeded only by breast cancer. About one-eighth of U.S. men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a median age of 67, according to the National Cancer Institute. Most patients have slow-growing, localized tumors, confined to the prostate gland, that are unlikely to threaten their lives. Instead of immediate treatment, these low-risk patients can be monitored through “active surveillance,” in which examinations and tests are performed on a regular schedule to make sure the disease is not progressing. “Conservative management,” which includes active surveillance or watchful waiting, is also recommended for men with limited life expectancies who likely will not live

Riverside Fire Department crews started rolling out collection boxes at firehouses throughout the city Monday, asking residents for toys to make the holidays a little brighter for underprivileged children in the area. The city is joining in the region-wide Spark of Love Toy Drive, now in its 32nd year. “The campaign collects any new, unwrapped toys, sports equipment, blankets and gift cards for underserved children and teens in Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura counties,” according to a fire department statement. “Over the past two-and-a half decades, the Spark of Love Toy Drive has successfully collected more than nine million toys.” The donation drive will run until from Monday until Dec. 13. All gifts collected in Riverside go to city residents younger than 18, officials said. The following stations will have collection boxes available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily: — Station No. 1, 3401 University Ave.; — Station No. 2, 9450 Andrew St.; — Station No. 3, 6395 Riverside Drive; — Station No. 4, 3510 Cranford Ave.; — Station No. 5, 5883 Arlington Ave.; — Station No. 6, 1077 Orange St.;

The price of a bitcoin soared to a record high of more than $87,000 on Monday, continuing its surge in value since Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the presidential election spurred excitement about the digital currency. Unlike President Biden, whose administration has sought to rein in cryptocurrencies, Trump has done an about-face from earlier skepticism to embrace them, having even promoted a crypto-based business in September, World Liberty Financial. There are reports that Trump’s sons will run it, but the company’s website says otherwise. The president-elect vowed on the campaign trail to put the country at the center of the digital-asset industry and to oversee the accumulation of a bitcoin stockpile. Crypto backers who spent more than $100 million promoting crypto-friendly political candidates are now celebrating the promise of a pro-crypto White House. Bitcoin was trading at about $87,740, up 9% for the day, around 1:30 p.m. Pacific time Monday and has risen 98% this year, in part thanks to demand for U.S. exchange-traded funds and interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Giddy crypto investors have added to the run with bets that the

Beverly Hills-based Endeavor announced Monday it will sell sports betting firm OpenBet, in a management buyout backed by Chief Executive Ari Emanuel. Endeavor said it will sell OpenBet, along with sports data provider IMG Arena, to OB Global Holdings LLC for $450 million in cash and debt, an amount much less than what Endeavor paid for OpenBet two years ago. The move comes as Endeavor is taking steps to be taken private by its largest investor, private equity firm Silver Lake, about three years after it began trading on the public market. Endeavor executives in the past have expressed frustration about the company’s stock price not reflecting the value of its assets — a mixture of entertainment- and sports-related businesses that the company believes add value to each other. Endeavor had purchased OpenBet from Light & Wonder Inc. in 2022 in a deal worth around $800 million. At the time, Emanuel said the acquisition would “enable us to further capitalize on the massive tailwinds in the fast-evolving sports betting ecosystem and lead the way in defining the future of sports betting entertainment.” Endeavor said it

An Argentine waiter accused of supplying Liam Payne the drugs that led to his fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires is speaking out for the first time. Braian Nahuel Paiz, 24, is one of three suspects charged last week for their alleged involvement in the former One Direction member’s Oct. 16 death. Charges included abandonment of a person followed by death, and supply and facilitation of narcotics, per a Nov. 7 statement from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina. But while Paiz in a Friday interview with Telefe Noticias admitted to two hotel meetings with Payne prior to the singer’s death, he insisted he never supplied the 31-year-old with drugs or accepted any money from him. Paiz first met Payne on Oct. 2, he told the outlet, when the singer was dining with girlfriend Kate Cassidy and two others at the Puerto Madero restaurant where Paiz worked. Payne seemed to already be under the influence of drugs at that point and didn’t eat anything, Paiz said. At the restaurant, Paiz continued, Payne asked him for his contact details: “I

An inmate serving a life sentence for trafficking a minor was found dead inside his California prison cell over the weekend, and his cellmate is suspected of being responsible for his death. Darius J. Swaim, 41, was found unresponsive in his cell at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano Saturday afternoon, according to a release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Darius J. Swaim, 41, is shown in this June 28, 2021 mugshot provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Swaim was found dead in his cell at Kern Valley State Prison on Nov. 9, 2024. Swaim was taken to the prison’s medical facility and was later pronounced dead from his wounds about 30 minutes after the grisly discovery. Prison officials said Swaim’s cellmate, Gregory Clark, 58, was found in the cell with blood on his clothing. Clark has since been transferred to restrictive housing while officials investigate Swaim’s death, which is being treated as a homicide. Swaim had been housed at Kern Valley since March 2019 after receiving a life sentence in Alameda County for human trafficking a minor with

California Gov. Gavin Newsom granted five pardons to veterans who served in America’s Armed Forces on Monday while also beginning one posthumous pardon process.  The pardons come as America celebrates Veterans Day.  Gubernatorial clemency documents identified the five pardoned service members as: Don Archibald: Archibald, who served in the Army and now lives in Georgia, was sentenced to five years in prison in L.A. County for robbery in Oct. 1964. The county Superior Court granted him a Certificate of Rehabilitation in 2010. Marcus Page: Page was sentenced to three years of probation and 240 days in jail in San Diego County for transport or sale of a controlled substance in April 1994. The former United States Marine was granted a Certificate of Rehabilitation in 2018 by the San Diego County Superior Court. Robert Teagle: Teagle was sentenced in San Bernardino County to three years of probation and 69 days in jail for transport or sale of a controlled substance in Sept. 1981 after serving in the U.S. Army. Now a resident of Utah, Teagle formally submitted an application for clemency and “provided evidence that he

Video courtesy of SpaceX. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — SpaceX launched two rockets from Florida’s Space Coast on Monday afternoon, just hours apart. In the first launch, SpaceX sent up a South Korean communication satellite called KoreaSat-6A. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center, sent the satellite into geosynchronous orbit, and then landed at Cape Canaveral Space Station. This rocket booster tied the record for most SpaceX flights. Nearly 80,000 pounds of Costco butter recalled over undeclared, somewhat obvious ingredient In the second launch, a Falcon 9 rocket sent 24 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. It was the rocket’s 12th flight. There was a short delay after the launch window opened, but the rocket launched at roughly 4:29 p.m. ET. After deploying the satellites, the rocket landed on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

New data on pandemic-era drinking persisting Pandemic-era drinking increases persist, study shows 01:51 The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths , and new research suggests drinking didn’t stop as things returned to normal.  In the study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found drinking increases from 2018 to 2020 persisted into 2022. The population-based study used data from adults 18 years and older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 2018 to 2022. The survey, which used complex sampling, was nationally representative and had more than 20,000 respondents each year. “Potential causes of this sustained increase include normalization of and adaptation to increased drinking due to stress from the pandemic and disrupted access to medical services,” the authors wrote.  Regardless of cause, the findings highlight an “alarming public health issue,” the authors note, as alcohol is a leading cause of illness and death in the United States. Dr. Divya Ayyala, with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, told CBS News more patients are coming in with alcohol-related health problems like  severe liver disease .  “Originally, the

Pandemic-era drinking increases persist, study shows – CBS News Watch CBS News Alcohol is a leading cause of illness and death in the United States, and new research suggests an alarming increase in alcohol use since the pandemic is persisting. CBS News’ Stephanie Stahl reports. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles become first woman to hold position Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles become first woman to hold position 04:10 Last week,  President-elect Donald Trump  announced his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff, the first woman — Republican or Democrat — ever to hold that position. Calling her “tough, smart, innovative…, universally admired and respected,” Trump credited her with helping him win both the 2024 and 2016 elections. File: Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles listen as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks after being declared the winner during an election night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images Behind the scenes Wiles is known as a formidable political operative who prefers to work behind the scenes, rather than on any stage — or in front of cameras. In keeping with that, when Trump  declared victory  in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, he invited her to come

By Kathryn Watson Updated on: November 11, 2024 / 4:29 PM EST / CBS News Trump makes early administration picks Trump picks Tom Homan as “border czar,” offers U.N. ambassador post to Elise Stefanik 03:09 President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that he’s appointing a “border czar,” former Immigrations and Customs Enforcement director and immigration hardliner Tom Homan , to join his administration. Homan, however, may not be the only such “czar” in the Trump administration.  “I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders (“The Border Czar”), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.  The term “czar” is shorthand for a high-level executive branch official in charge of a specific policy focus. They aren’t Senate-confirmed positions The “czar” role is one that allows a president to step over the pesky checks and balances of the three branches of government. “Czar” roles aren’t Senate-confirmed cabinet positions, like say, the secretary of state

A man who oversaw a scheme to launder millions of dollars of narcotics money from the U.S. to drug organizations was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Daniel Shaun Zilke, who went by the nickname “the Englishman,” was also fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Zilke, 49, was arrested last year in May and pleaded guilty months later to conspiracy to aid and abet drug distribution, launder money and obstruction of an official government proceeding for stealing and attempting to cover up the theft of $150,000 in DEA undercover funds. He was sentenced Nov. 4. Federal authorities accused Zilke of laundering money on behalf of drug cartels for five years starting in 2015. The case against Zilke and his associates began that year when an undercover DEA agent posing as a money launderer made contact with Zilke. As part of a guilty plea, federal officials said, Zilke admitted telling the undercover agent that he had a client in Europe who needed hundreds of millions of dollars to move to

Trump nominates former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency Former President Trump welcomes Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) at a campaign event in Concord, N.H., in January. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press) Nov. 11, 2024 Updated 1:45 PM PT President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continues to build out his future administration with loyal supporters. Trump, in a statement, said Zeldin, who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, would “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Laura Deehan, state director of Environment California, said she was optimistic that Zeldin will work to protect the environment in his new role. “When Lee Zeldin was in Congress he opposed dumping toxic waste into the Long Island Sound, took action to protect Americans from forever chemicals, and supported permanent conservation funding in

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of appeals has issued an emergency stay stopping work on the installation of more than 100 units of modular housing on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles campus. The stay blocks purchase of the modular units and prohibits a development team assembled by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter from accessing three parking lots on the 388-acre campus to begin the site preparation. After a four-week trial in August, Carter ordered the VA to produce 1,800 new supportive housing units on the campus and 750 temporary housing units. His ruling also invalidates leases of VA property, including to UCLA and Brentwood School, and ordered the VA to increase its outreach staff. He subsequently backed off that number of temporary units, while issuing an emergency order to immediately build up to 200, including 32 on the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson baseball stadium. The order suspended the VA’s extensive procurement requirements and ordered the agency to pick up the bill. Plaintiffs’ expert witnesses Steve Soboroff and Randy Johnson, the developers of Playa Vista, worked with VA officials

When the television company that airs Angels games filed for bankruptcy last year, the team appeared to be faced with a stark choice: take less money to stay on its longtime broadcast home, or take much less money now in the hope that a streaming-first alternative would pay off later. Either way, the prospect of lower revenue raised the prospect of a lower payroll. That would not be optimal for any team, but it could be particularly ominous for a last-place team coming off the worst record in franchise history. On that front, then, the Angels have scored a much-needed victory. They have reached a new television deal and retained enough revenue that payroll will not be cut. “One hundred percent,” Angels owner Arte Moreno said Monday. “We are raising our payroll.” Under the deal, the Angels remain on FanDuel Sports Network, the recently renamed Bally Sports channels. “It’s just a name change,” Moreno said. For the first time, local fans that do not have a cable or satellite subscription will be able to purchase a streaming-only subscription. “We’re going to be working a little

Michael Strahan has not yet publicly responded to critics who said he disrespected military members during Fox Sports’ NFL coverage on Sunday. At least not directly. He may have done so indirectly, though, with a Veterans Day-themed Instagram post Monday morning. The Pro Football Hall of Fame player and current analyst for the “Fox NFL Sunday” studio show posted a photo of his late father as well as a tribute to him and others who have served in the nation’s armed forces. “Thank you to all veterans and active service members who courageously risk their lives to protect us every day,” wrote Strahan, who spent much of his youth living on a military base in Germany. “Your selfless service is beyond measure. “This is my hero, it is also my father, Maj. Gene W. Strahan, Sr. He served for 23 years in the army and was a proud member of the 82nd Airborne Division. “Just as I honor my father, I keep all of you in my thoughts each and every day as we would not have the safety and freedoms we cherish without you.

Livestream courtesy of SpaceX. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — SpaceX is aiming to launch two rockets from Florida’s Space Coast on Monday afternoon, just hours apart. In the first launch, SpaceX sent up a South Korean communication satellite called KoreaSat-6A. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Kennedy Space Center, sent the satellite into geosynchronous orbit, and then landed at Cape Canaveral Space Station. This rocket booster tied the record for most SpaceX flights. Nearly 80,000 pounds of Costco butter recalled over undeclared, somewhat obvious ingredient In the second launch, a Falcon 9 rocket will send 24 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. It will be the rocket’s 12th flight. After deploying the satellites, the rocket will land on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch window opens at 4:02 p.m. ET on Monday with a backup opportunity available later that evening. With no potential for severe weather, conditions are not expected to interfere with the scheduled launches, according to forecasters at Patrick Space Force Base.