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The Derby Dolls are Leading a Roller Revival in L.A.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

Nestled within one of the smallest cities in the country, near a 5-mile stretch of primarily industrial buildings, lies an underground competition like no other. The nightlife in the city of Vernon is all but non-existent, so you’d never simply stumble upon it unless you got lost on your way to downtown L.A., but the Derby Dolls have given Angelenos a reason to descend on the uneven Vernon streets and run-down railroad crossings regularly. One Saturday a month, hundreds gather in an unassuming sports complex, aptly nicknamed “Dollhalla,” to watch 30 athletes whip around and jam each other on one of the few remaining banked-track roller derby leagues in the U.S.Born from punk rock feminist origins and an early culture of fishnet stockings and rebellious pseudonyms, the Derby Dolls have a 20-year history of not just national championships and raucous home crowds, but creating a unique competitive outlet for women of all ages and backgrounds. As the pastime of roller skating enjoys a r...

Containment nearing 100% for Wonder Fire near Shasta Lake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

SHASTA COUNTY — The Wonder Fire, which burned across 162 acres just south of Shasta Lake for about five days, was nearing complete containment as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire.The Friday morning update, which the Cal Fire Shasta-Trinity Unit said would be the final one for the Wonder Fire, revealed that the blaze was 95% contained and that “no fire behavior” was observed within the perimeter of the area.The final update confirmed that the fire resulted in no injuries or damaged structures. About 100 personnel remained at the scene on Friday, down from 200 at the peak of the fire.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Three-alarm fire torches homes, trees in Bay Point on Thursday Crashes and Disasters | PG&E will buy downtown Oakland HQ tower in two years Crashes and Disasters | PG&E profits hop higher in latest quarter Crashes and Disasters | How many dead trees there are in California might...

Mega Millions jackpot now $910 million after months without big winner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

Lottery players will have another shot at a huge Mega Millions jackpot Friday night and a chance to break a stretch of more than three months without a big winner of the game.The estimated $910 million prize has been building since someone last matched all six numbers and won the jackpot April 18. Since then, there have been 28 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.The jackpot is now the eighth-largest ever in the U.S. It comes a little over a week after someone in Los Angeles won a $1.08 billion Powerball prize that ranked as the sixth-largest in U.S. history. It’s still a mystery who won that prize.Lottery jackpots grow so large because the odds of winning are so small. For Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 302.6 million.Related ArticlesNational News | Mega Millions lottery jackpot nears $1 billion ahead of Friday drawing National News | $820 million Mega Millions jackpot is the 8th largest in the US National N...

Pac-12 survival: Time for commissioner George Kliavkoff and the presidents to take swift, bold action (i.e., the “Costanza plan”)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff has experienced an astounding number of bad weeks since taking charge of the conference in the summer of 2021. This was one of his worst.It began last Friday at the Pac-12’s preseason showcase in Las Vegas, where he did not unveil a new media rights deal and instead uttered a few comments that were questionable in the moment and looked clueless few days later.His problems grew exponentially Thursday, when Colorado announced its departure for the Big 12, becoming the third school to exit under Kliavkoff’s watch.Granted, Kliavkoff inherited a difficult situation because of massive strategic mistakes made by his predecessor, Larry Scott. But Colorado’s defection was a clear vote of no confidence in the current leadership.The next month likely will determine whether the 108-year-old conference survives past the coming college sports season.Nobody asked, but the Hotline has a few strategic suggestions.1. Get a winKliavkoff has fewer victories in the p...

Ethan Slater’s wife regrets slamming Ariana Grande as ‘not a girl’s girl,’ happy to co-parent baby: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

In the latest fallout from Ariana Grande’s shock romance with her married “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, sources close to the Broadway actor have suggested that his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lilly Jay regrets making angry comments about the pop star and about her role in the end of her seemingly happy marriage.Of course, some would say that Jay has every right to be distressed and angry about the situation, including the possibility that Slater cheated on her with a globally famous pop star. But Jay has supposedly assured her estranged husband that she hasn’t been leaking comments to TMZ and to other outlets about how she’s “devastated that her family’s been torn apart” or that she feels the actor has “abandoned his family,” TMZ reported, citing sources close to Slater.LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: Ariana Grande is seen at the GRAMMY Charities Signings during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020 in Los A...

Summer brings COVID-19 uptick amid renewed travel, socializing. How bad will it get?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

By Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles TimesSummer has brought an uptick in coronavirus transmission, but experts say it is still too early to tell whether the upswing represents a significant public health concern.The U.S. recorded a 10% increase in new COVID-19 hospital admissions for the week that ended July 15 compared with the previous seven-day period. Still, hospitalizations remain near a record low for the pandemic.RELATED: New record lows for California COVID hospitalizations. Will it stick?Hospitalizations are rising fastest in the South, Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states. California, so far, has fared better.“There’s no doubt compared to our nadirs, or the stability that we’ve enjoyed, that there’s a slight increase in test positivity,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, told The Times in an interview.“And the question is going to be: How sick do people really get, now that we’ve had a deg...

Despite health concerns, Sen. McConnell vows to finish term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

By Mary Clare Jalonick | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said he is “fine” since he froze up midsentence during a press conference on Wednesday. And now his office is trying to tamp down speculation that he might not fill out his term as leader because of his health.In a statement, his office said McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues and “plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do.”The statement, first reported by Politico, comes after McConnell, 81, has suffered health problems in recent months. At his weekly press conference, he froze and stared vacantly for about 20 seconds before his GOP colleagues standing behind him grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office. He later returned to the news conference and answered questions as if nothing had happened.When asked about the episode, he said he was “fine,” a stat...

Grateful Dead to celebrate 50th anniversary of “Wake of the Flood”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

After a nearly three-year break in studio recordings, the Grateful Dead returned in 1973 with the mighty “Wake of the Flood.”The band’s sixth studio outing was a strong follow-up to the twin 1970 masterpieces — “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty” — and featured such fan favorites as “Eyes of the World,” “Stella Blue” and “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.”The album was released in October of 1973, which means that it’s 50th anniversary is right around the corner.To celebrate the milestone occasion, the Grateful Dead family and Rhino Records are releasing “Wake of the Flood (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)” on Sept. 29.It will be available as two-CD and digital sets, which offer up a remastered version of the original album as well as previously unreleased demo recordings of “Eyes Of The World” and “Here Comes Sunshine.” The sets also feature live material from the last night of a short co...

Tupperware shares, latest meme stock darling, up 140%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

By Nicole Goodkind | CNNThe meme traders are back. Shares of Tupperware(TUP) have exploded by about 140% this week and nearly 300% over the last month for no discernible reason.The Florida-based container company has been in hot water for some time. Sales are on the decline and Tupperware even warned that it was on the brink of bankruptcy in April.In early June, the New York Stock Exchange even notified Tupperware that it was in noncompliance with the exchange’s rules because its market capitalization was too low, less than $50 million, over a period of 30 trading days. Tupperware’s average closing price, the notification said, was also less than $1 for that period – below the exchange’s threshold.In early July, Blackrock stepped in as an investment partner to Tupperware, possibly to help them manage their debt load. But no new material announcements or changes have been made since then.The surge in stock price would make some sense if there was any indication that the company had b...

$2 million “wedding nightmare” in Aspen due to audio malfunction, lawsuit says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:13 GMT

As he reflected on the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously referred to Dec. 7, 1941, as “a date which will live in infamy.”As he reflected on cold food and a concert by Nelly in court documents, real estate developer Craig Spencer less famously referred to March 26, 2022, as “a day that will go down in infamy.”That is the day that his daughter married her husband. Or, in Spencer’s words, the day that his family endured “a horrific wedding nightmare costing over two million dollars.”On Tuesday, Spencer and his wife, Barbara, sued Alchemy Concert Systems, a company in the small Western Slope town of Carbondale, for its alleged role in that nightmare.The nuptials of Arielle Spencer and Caleb Hodge last March were to be a spare-no-expense dream wedding atop Aspen Mountain, complete with a gondola ride, a 12-piece band flown in from Los Angeles and a private performance by a once-prominent rapper. The event was overseen by Mindy Weiss, wedding planne...