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The Dodgers paid the cost for their success in 2024.The World Series champions topped Major League Baseball with a $353 million payroll and a $103 million bill for exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax threshold. In both cases, the New York Mets were a close second – a $347.15 million payroll and $97.12 million luxury tax bill.The Dodgers’ payroll (and luxury tax) would have been much higher if not for deferred salaries included in several contracts (most notably Shohei Ohtani’s). The deferred salaries lower the average-annual value of those contracts as figured for CBT purposes.A record nine teams topped the CBT…

By JOSH BOAK, Associated PressWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The smooth economy that Donald Trump was poised to inherit suddenly looks a bit rockier — with critics saying the president-elect is contributing to the uncertainty.The Dow Jones stock index essentially ended Thursday flat after having posted 10 days of losses. The Federal Reserve now sees inflation as staying stubbornly elevated as it has become cautious about further interest rate cuts planned for next year.On Wednesday, Trump blew up a bipartisan budget deal, which means the government could shut down after midnight Saturday. He then promoted a deal reached with…

The Galaxy made three of their four selections in Friday’s MLS SuperDraft, traded one for General Allocation Money and picked one player from LAFC’s second team.Just a normal day in MLS.With the 20th pick in the first round, the Galaxy picked Michigan midfielder/defender Jason Bucknor. The 22-year-old made 19 appearances last season, scoring six goals. In four seasons, he played in 59 games, with nine goals and five assists.The Galaxy sent their second pick in the first round (No. 30) to Real Salt Lake for $50,000 in GAM. Thursday, MLS announced the amount of GAM that each team had heading…

By Anne D’Innocenzio | The Associated PressDiscount chain Big Lots is conducting going–out-of-business sales at its remaining locations after a sale of the company didn’t materialize.The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer, which sells furniture, home decor and other items, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early September and said private equity firm Nexus Capital Management LP had agreed to acquire “substantially all of the company’s assets.”Also see: Party City closing all stores nationwide, at least 80 of them in CaliforniaBut on Thursday, the chain said it didn’t anticipate completing the purchase agreement. It said it continues to work toward completing an alternative…

By JOCELYN GECKERThe U.S. Department of Education said Friday it has reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring over the war in Gaza.The department’s Office for Civil Rights said it investigated nine complaints against University of California schools in Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Barbara, San Diego, Davis and Santa Cruz. The complaints alleged the schools failed to respond effectively to antisemitic and anti-Arab harassment.The civil rights office concluded the universities “appear not to have responded promptly or effectively” to allegations of discrimination and…

Here are the IE Varsity first-team selections for the 2024 high school football season.Grand Terrace’s Exzavior Oliver stiff arms San Gorgonio’s John Rubio in a CIF Southern Section Division 11 football quarterfinal game on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)FIRST TEAM, OFFENSEQB: Bryson Beaver, Vista Murrieta, Jr.QB: Husan Longstreet, Centennial, Sr.RB: Logan Barbour, Yucaipa, Sr.RB: Dorian Hoze, Murrieta Valley, Sr.RB: Exzavior Oliver, Grand Terrace, Sr.WR: Cory Butler Jr., Centennial, Sr.WR: Travon Garrison, Damien, So.WR: Sean McCullough, Vista Murrieta, Jr.WR: Amarion Orange, Rancho Verde, Sr.OL: Roman Angulo, Beaumont, Sr.OL: Derrick Cooper, Rancho Cucamonga, Sr.OL: Drew Hill, Centennial,…

By DAVID KOENIG, Associated Press Airlines WriterDrivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S.The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day, which would top the previous holiday-season high set in 2019. The two weekends on either side of Christmas look to be some of the most crowded times on the road and at airports.Trade group Airlines for America also foresees record travel, saying it…

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE, Associated PressALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They warned about him. Now they’ll have to work with him.A handful of prominent Democratic governors are quickly adjusting their approach to President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office, hoping to avoid antagonizing him to ensure they’ll have a working relationship with his new administration.They’re in a precarious position: adopting caution while also weighing their party’s desires to stake out early, and often combative, positions against Trump’s agenda.“It’s a combination of fighting like hell if your values are attacked or if your innocent communities or innocent people are attacked. And then on…

The Kings can see the finish line and feel the fresh linens on their own beds as their second seven-game road trip of the season will come to a close with a back-to-back set against the NHL’s worst team by points percentage and, then, its best.Their weekend will consist of a pair of matinees about 28 hours apart. First, they’ll visit the vastly disappointing Nashville Predators on Saturday before traveling to Washington to face former Kings Pierre-Luc Dubois and Matt Roy, who are now plying their trade with the Capitals.Friday was a well-deserved day off after Thursday’s 7-3 win over…

By ADRIANA MORGA, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The holidays are meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends. But they can also bring pressure to spend money on gifts, gatherings and plane tickets home, exacerbated by brand emails, social media influencers and family expectations. With credit card debt rising and prices for many items still high due to inflation, overspending during the holiday season can add to the financial stress many Americans are already experiencing, said Dr. Marketa Wills, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association. “The idea that one is on the…