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LOS ANGELES — At first, when he joined Cincinnati’s staff in 2020, Perry Eliano was confused by the Bearcats’ director of recruiting. Well – not by him. More by the fact, really, that nobody inside the building called Chad Bowden by his first name.Back then, they all called Bowden “GM.”Perhaps, on the surface, it was a unique moniker for a 20-something kid just a couple of years removed from college life and a GA job. But Eliano quickly found it was an unofficial title of respect, given to a football mind and a recruiter who Eliano called “relentless.” For one junior…

By SETH BORENSTEINWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has nominated Neil Jacobs to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, turning to the man who was his acting NOAA chief in 2019 when Trump altered an expected hurricane impact map in what became known as the “Sharpiegate” scandal.After Alabama meteorologists had contradicted an earlier Trump tweet warning of Alabama being in a storm’s path, the Jacobs-led agency chastised them. That eventually drew criticism of Jacobs and his political higher-ups in a Department of Commerce inspector general’s report on Sharpiegate.NOAA oversees the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, the National…

Luka Doncic hardly is the first superstar to be traded to or from a local team, but the newest Laker brings with him such a rare combination of a sensational track record and so much promise for the future that this feels different.Doncic, who was acquired Saturday from the Dallas Mavericks, was introduced Tuesday at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo, sparking comparisons to other game-changing players who arrived in the region via trade.Here’s a chronological look at 15 trades that shook the local sports scene, starting with the first by the Lakers that led to a championship and…

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and STEPHEN GROVESWASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate was heading towards a confirmation vote for Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general Tuesday evening, potentially putting a longtime ally of Donald Trump at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president. Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him. She would enter with the FBI,…

By COLLIN BINKLEY and BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESSWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is preparing to gut the U.S. Education Department to the full extent of his power, directing his administration to slash spending while pressuring employees to quit. Yet his promise to close the department is colliding with another reality: Most of its spending — and its very existence — is ordered by Congress.An executive order in preparation by the White House appears to recognize the limits of the president’s power. The planned order would direct his education chief to start winding down the agency but urge Congress to pass…

California Democrats in the state Legislature passed two bills Monday intended to “Trump-proof” the state, ending a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom after the November election.A spokesperson for Newsom did not respond when asked if the governor plans to sign the bills. When calling the session, Newsom sought more funding for state lawsuits against the new administration of President Donald Trump. On Monday, Democrats in the state Assembly passed a bill sending an additional $25 million to the state Department of Justice, which has already sued the federal government over its attempts to freeze trillions of dollars in…

By MORIAH BALINGITWASHINGTON (AP) — Some Head Start preschools around the country could be at risk of closing temporarily because they remain locked out of their federal funding, a problem that first surfaced last week during President Donald Trump’s aborted effort to freeze federal grants.Center directors around the country last week were locked out of the online payment management system where they submit invoices and access grant money for Head Start, which serves some of the nation’s neediest kids and families. Medicaid administrators reported similar problems.The website went back online for many operators. But a week later, some administrators said…

EL SEGUNDO — On this date in history, Feb. 4, 2025, the Lakers introduced Luka Doncic as one of theirs, the man who could very well earn his place among the legends who have played for the franchise.You could feel the weight of it at Tuesday morning’s news conference at the Lakers’ training facility, a crowded affair befitting this “seismic” pairing, as Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka called his trade that brought Doncic to L.A. in exchange for Anthony Davis.Reports of the big deal on Saturday night gave us all a delicious where-were-you-when moment, maybe the first of many more…

It was almost like a contest to see who could promise the quickest rebuilding when President Trump and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass sat down together barely two weeks after the hugely damaging Palisades fire, possibly the most expensive natural disaster in American history.With more than 6,000 Pacific Palisades homes in ashes and most of the area’s business district destroyed, all this odd couple wanted was to make survivors feel they could soon be back in their homes, just as before.They ignored issues that affect not only California, but Texas, Idaho, Arizona and the Pacific Northwest, where homes are often…

Electric vehicles have rapidly grown in popularity over the last several years as they’ve gotten cheaper, more powerful and easier to charge. But in some cases, say traffic safety experts, they’ve also gotten more dangerous.In particular, the proliferation of heavier electric trucks in recent years has raised concerns among safety experts who fear their increased speed and weight will lead to deadlier incidents, even as Bay Area governments work to reverse record-setting traffic fatalities and pedestrian deaths in the region. From March 2023 on, half of all new retail registered vehicles in the Bay Area are electric, according to S&P…