Despite myriad efforts by homeowner Ken Johnson and California Fish and Wildlife personnel, the huge male bear remains under Johnsons home, so far largely unfettered by radios blasting, ammonia and caramel and cherry scented-lures placed outside the home.

'Hes a nuisance and hes living under my house rent-free,' Johnson said. 'We call him… unbearable, but he’s so cute. Once he gets out, we’ll call him bearable, but for now it’s unbearable.'

Johnson first spotted the bear on a camera he installed to check on his cat and keep track of wildlife in the area. In June, he noticed the entrance to his crawl space was damaged, but it was not top of mind for him until Nov. 25, when he checked his footage and saw the massive bear leaving the crawl space.

Nearly two weeks after Johnson, 63, first spotted him, the creature, tagged number 2120, is still holed up the crawl space, returning day after day, now approaching the record he had previously set under another neighbor’s house, where Johnson said a bear neighbors that’s believed to be the same one stayed underneath another property for 18 days.

Since the bears arrival, Johnson, who is a photographer and graphic designer, has been woken up by growls and thumps in the night and has become worried about what damage the bear may be inflicting under his house, and what may happen with so many people gathered outside his home, which has become the case since the public learned of the bear.

'Its been getting more and more stressful,' said Johnson of the bears residency under his home, an experience that has been 'dreadful.'

California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel visited Johnsons home last week, a response he had been eagerly awaiting. This particular bear had been relocated from the Altadena area he is currently in to a “more suitable” spot about 10 miles away within the past year, according to the department, but has since returned and situated himself in the crawl space under Johnson’s house.

'I heard this really nasty hissing, growly, dragon sound coming from underneath the house right inside the opening so that terrified me. I ran into the house, called the sheriff, they gave me the fish and wildlife number and I called, but it said we’re out for the holidays call back in normal operating hours,' Johnson said.

Johnson filled out a form and indicated the bear was under his home. Fish and Wildlife biologists were able to visit his home and set up cameras and place sweet scented lures to try and coax the bear out of the crawl space.

As he waited for professionals, Johnson tried a few DIY bear-repelling tactics, blasting radios loudly, flooding the vents with air from a blower and tossing ammonia drenched towels into the crawl space to drive the animal away from his home. The bear has stayed put, with the noise and air scaring Johnsons cat, Boo. Another neighbor in Johnsons east Altadena area that dealt with a bear in their crawl space was able to board it up when the bear left, which he plans to do if the creature leaves his property for long enough.

The bear has been coming and going at times, but largely staying near Johnsons home. He does not want to go near the crawl space if the behemoth bear is close by.

Fish and Wildlife biologists have not seen movement on the additional cameras they set up near the access point to the crawl space, Kort Klopping, a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said.

The increased attention on Johnsons home, which is near Eaton Canyon, from the media and the public intrigued by the bear, may be part of why the bear is staying put.

'The current thinking is that the bear is still very stressed from all the activity around the home and afraid to come out. Were continuing to closely monitor via the camera that our crew set up last week and are in contact with the homeowner. The current strategy is to monitor to see if the bear will come out to inspect the ‘lure (highly saturated chemical compound that releases the potent aroma of caramel and cherries) that our team left there the last time they visited the site,' Klopping said.

However, the commotion around the property may be an advantage when the bear does decide to leave, as Fish and Wildlife biologists 'believe that the stress of the activity around the home will act as a deterrent from the bear wanting to go back into the crawlspace once it does come out,' Klopping said.

Growing up in Altadena, Johnson was no stranger to wildlife, but he hadnt seen bears in the area until around 2017. Now having a bear underneath his house, under his kitchen floorboards as he walks around, is far closer than he ever imagined.

He hopes that the animal will make an exit soon, so he can return to a more peaceful existence.

'He (the bear) looks cute, you know, he’s adorable as a big, giant teddy bear. But when you see the footage of the media, when I got close to the hole and he pushed his nose out and breathed and stomped his foot, it’s terrifying,' Johnson said.

Carli Skaggs, Tyler’s widow, was asked repeatedly about her husband’s alleged drug use during his 2018 bachelor party and around the couple’s wedding, as the eighth week of the trial got underway.

According to testimony, someone may have brought cocaine to the bachelor party, which was attended by Tyler Skaggs’ high school friends. Carli said she didn’t know if her husband took any of the cocaine at his bachelor party, or another person’s bachelor party he attended a week prior. But an attorney for the ball club showed a text exchange with a trainer in which Tyler Skaggs referenced having “major sinus stuff” and added “A little too much white girl the last two weekends doesn’t help.” Carli said she had “no idea” if that was a reference to cocaine.

The defense attorney showed jurors a video taken from the wedding showing Tyler Skaggs and his groomsman taking a shot of Fireball Whisky — and Skaggs putting something in his mouth — just before Skaggs walked down the aisle. Carli said she believed it was a breath mint, not a pain pill. She testified that she didn’t know what Tyler was referencing in a text in which he wrote about having “crushed that whole bag” at the wedding and adding “I’m a savage.” In a text message to his groomsmen the day after the wedding, Tyler wrote “I blacked hard the kid is a mess right now.”

An attorney for the team indicated the text indicated Skaggs had blacked out.

In a text to Tyler from 2017, Carli acknowledged writing “You lie so nonchalant it’s crazy,” adding it “scares me sometimes.” In a different text, in 2016, Carli wrote “I promise u I won’t be around much longer.”

During her testimony, Carli said she had been “acting a little crazy” when she wrote those texts.

“I will admit I overreact at times,” Carli testified. “With Tyler it was a maturity thing. He never lied about anything serious.”

“You accused Tyler of living a double life because of all the lying he did in the relationship?” asked Stephen Ladsous, an attorney for the Angels.

“Tyler was somebody who would definitely avoid confrontation,” Carli said. “So if he said something that wasn’t 100 percent accurate it was to avoid confrontation, to protect my feelings and make me happy. It was never anything serious.”

Family members of Tyler Skaggs have acknowledged that he admitted having an issue with Percocets during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013, but say they had no idea his use of opioids continued after he was traded to the Angels in 2014. Skaggs died in a Texas hotel room at the start of a team road trip in July 2019. Percot tablets contain oxycodone and acetaminophen.

Testimony on Monday seemed to indicate that Skaggs’ drug use started before 2013. A photo he apparently took in 2012 showed what appeared to be a line of crushed drugs and a snorting straw. And in testimony from a deposition video, Eric Smith, a former pitcher, described using opioids recreationally with Skaggs and another teammate starting in 2011.

Also under questioning, Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, acknowledged that she kept a close eye on her son’s finances. He spent thousands of dollars on sneakers, she admitted, and at one point bought what the defense attorney referred to as a “tricked out” Porsche from a teammate that was four years old and had more than 100,000 miles on it.

“It was the stupidest purchase of his life,” Hetman said of the car. “It was unimaginable. I was so mad at him.”

Attorneys for the Angels argue that Skaggs kept his drug use a secret, making it impossible for them to get him help and to save his life.

A former Angels communications staffer, Eric Kay, provided Skaggs and other players with illicit opioids, including a pill containing fentanyl that Skaggs snorted prior to his death. Kay is serving a prison sentence for his role in Skaggs death. What the Angels knew, or at least should have known, about Skaggs drug usage or his drug ties to Kay are a key issue in the current civil wrongful death trial.

The defense attorneys have raised repeated concerns with Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover about fitting all their remaining witnesses into the current week. But the judge has repeatedly told jurors that they should expect to begin their deliberations next week.

Testimony continues Tuesday in an Orange County Superior Courtroom in Santa Ana.

Jan. 1, 2026, will be yet another of those years, another one of those transformations as thousands gather to see the beloved Rose Parade first-hand.

Its still 5.5 miles beginning to end. Still, theres a certain freshness to it every year, with new crowds, new grand marshals, Rose royal courts, and new floats converging on Colorado Boulevard every year.

This Jan. 1, thatll happen once again, starting at 8 a.m.

Get your notebook out. Here’s the plan.

The Rose Parade route begins at the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena.

It travels north for short stretch on Orange Grove at a 2 1/2-miles-per-hour pace and then, in what’s called “The Turn,” turns east onto Colorado where the bulk of the parade viewing takes place moving east on Colorado passing all your favorite businesses – and certain landmark museum – in Old Town.

Near the end of the route, the parade turns north onto Sierra Madre Boulevard and concludes at Villa Street.

Be advised: Officials note that Colorado Boulevard will close early for parade staging. Colorado will close beginning at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, and will remain closed through the clean-up following the parade – until 2 p.m. Jan. 1.

This closure impacts Colorado Boulevard, from Orange Grove Boulevard to Sierra Madre Boulevard, and Sierra Madre Boulevard, north to Paloma Street.

The closer of the route means that residents and merchants hosting watch parties or receiving deliveries during the closure should let their guests or vendors know to arrive before 10 p.m. Otherwise they’ll be caught up in the crowd. Access will be restricted, and guests and vendors may need to park in nearby areas with unrestricted parking.

You can camp curbside along the parade route starting at noon on the day before the parade, Dec. 31. At 11 p.m. the night before, you can move up to the 'blue honor line,' but not past it. In other words, all persons and property, such as blankets, chairs and personal items, must remain on the curb until 11 p.m.

Remember, something new the last three years, before the parade, is the New Years Lululemon 5K, which happens on a stretch of Colorado Boulevard in Old Town. The race begins at midnight to ring in the new year.

The route will be transformed back into a regular street for vehicle traffic by 2 p.m. Jan. 1.

And life will go back to four-wheeled vehicles not adorned with roses and people waving as they go by.

Travel back to 1773 and dump a chest of tea off the stern of a boat into a makeshift Boston Harbor.

Take a close look at an 1820 engraving of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams when the original document was becoming faded and difficult to read.

Read, in his own handwriting, a letter President Abraham Lincoln sent to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, detailing what needed to be done to end the Civil War.

Watch the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy” and discuss how television became an integral part of American lives.

These interactive and carefully curated activities are just a few parts of the Nixon Library’s “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit that highlights various points of American history: from colonial America and the Revolution to the Civil War and the country’s growing pains, to two world wars and innovation that still impacts daily lives today, to the Cold War, to finally a retrospective on the country’s bicentennial in 1976.

“You’ll learn a lot about some of the most important events in American history that have shaped our country and have helped advance our founders’ original vision for a more perfect union,” said the exhibit’s author and curator Bob Bobstock, who first worked for the presidential library in 1990.

Bobstock pointed to the country’s 200th celebration ' commemorated in the new exhibit as the final of its six sections ' and the collective mood in the mid-1970s in the U.S. Between the resignation of President Richard Nixon and the fall of Saigon, the country was not particularly optimistic, Bobstock noted.

But before his resignation, Nixon encouraged the whole country to participate in bicentennial celebrations, rather than just one city hosting a world fair-type celebration.

“We wanted to end on that note because as we are about to enter next year, 2026, the U.S. is also kind of, in terms of the mood of the country, in the same place,” said Bobstock.

“Let’s remind people that this can be an opportunity to reflect on our history, on all of the things that we’ve achieved and all of the progress we’ve made over the past 250 years to be a more perfect union,” he said.

Several parts of the exhibit are hands-on, Bobstock noted, including an activity at the beginning that allows visitors to participate in the Boston Tea Party political protest by pushing a lever and dropping a chest of tea off the stern of a boat. Visitors can also view one of Thomas Edison’s earliest motion pictures or strike gold at Sutter’s Mill during the Gold Rush.

And there are also artifacts borrowed from all over the country, from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet ' this lets visitors explore one of America’s cultural exports, jazz, said Bobstock ' to a welder’s mask that women who went to work at factories during World War II, credited with the beginning of modern feminism, would have worn.

Visitors might also enjoy seeing one of Mickey Mantle’s New York Yankees hats or viewing the sword presented to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower by the city of London for his role in World War II.

And that’s not to mention an original portrait of George Washington by American painter Gilbert Stuart, Bob Dylan’s harmonica and other artifacts Bobstock is keeping mum about, so visitors have a bit of a surprise.

To borrow a line from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus ' another American product ' the exhibit will be fun for “children of all ages,” said Bobstock.

“As we’re all thinking about the 250th anniversary of the country, it’s important to reflect on where we are, how we got our start and how we got to where we are today,” Bobstock said.

“By knowing more about parts of our history that really helped change the character and direction of the U.S., that will give people a greater understanding and appreciation for how this country was at its beginning: very unique in the world, and it continues to be very unique in human history.”

The Nixon Library is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission to the special exhibit is included with admission to the Nixon Library. The “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit will be open through 2026.

Nixon holiday: The Nixon Presidential Library & Museum will host Stars, Stripes & Christmas Lights from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9. There will be patriotic-themed holiday decor, a 5 p.m. tree lighting, photos with Santa Claus and his reindeer, entertainment and more.

Visitors will be able to stroll the gardens, which will be lit with candles. There will be food trucks for getting something to eat. General admission is $45. Tickets and information: nixonfoundation.org.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trumps executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was 'arbitrary and capricious' and violates U.S. law.

Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trumps Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful.

Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that challenged Trumps Day One order that paused leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.

Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and prioritizes fossil fuels to produce electricity.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell hailed the ruling as a victory for green jobs and renewable energy.

'Massachusetts has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind, and today, we successfully protected those important investments from the Trump administrations unlawful order,' Campbell said in a statement.

'This critical victory also preserves well-paying green jobs and access to reliable, affordable energy that will help Massachusetts meet our clean energy and climate goals,″ she added.

The coalition that opposed Trump’s order argued that Trump doesnt have the authority to halt project permitting, and that doing so jeopardizes the states economies, energy mix, public health and climate goals.

The government argued that the states claims amount to nothing more than a policy disagreement over preferences for wind versus fossil fuel energy development that is outside the federal courts jurisdiction. Justice Department lawyer Michael Robertson said in court that the wind order paused permitting, but didnt halt it, while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reviews the environmental impact of wind projects.

A previous judge in the case allowed it to proceed against Burgum, but dismissed an action against Trump and other Cabinet secretaries. Judge William Young allowed the states to proceed with claims that blocking permits for wind energy projects violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which outlines a detailed process for enacting regulations, but not the Constitution.

Wind is the United States’ largest source of renewable energy, providing about 10% of the electricity generated in the nation, according to the American Clean Power Association. The coalition includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington, D.C.

The Interior Department and the White House didnt immediately respond to requests for comment, but the White House previously accused the Democratic attorneys general of using lawfare to stop the presidents energy agenda.

Marguerite Wells, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, said wind energy is a key component of powering the nation’s electric grid.

Wind 'is currently one of the most cost-effective ways to generate power and is being used successfully not only in the United States, but across the world,” she said. 'With this ruling behind us, projects can now be judged on their merits. We thank the attorneys general who helped us get this case over the finish line.'

Kit Kennedy of the Natural Resources Defense Council called the decision a win for consumers, union workers, U.S. businesses, clean air and the climate.

'From the beginning of its time in office, the Trump administration put a halt to the wind energy projects that are needed to keep utility bills in check and the grid reliable,” Kennedy said.

The wind order 'has been a devastating blow to workers, electricity customers, and the reliability of the power grid,” she said, adding that the Trump administration “should use this (ruling) as a wake-up call, stop its illegal actions and get out of the way of the expansion of renewable energy.”

But not so, if you’re a band geek. You think of horns, drums, flag teams and the like, marching for 5.5 miles to throngs of spectators.

Any marching band lover or participant — but not many viewers — knows that each school or community marching band comes front-loaded with complex logistics, preparation plans greased in sweat and powered by fundraising cash that can well, beat the band — or sometimes total enough to get someone elected.

Just the cost is mind bending. That averages out at $2,000 to $2,500 per band member. For example, if a band has 300 members, that equals $600,000 to $750,000, said Terry Madigan, executive vice president of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Heck, design and construction of a high quality float runs $275,000, according to the Tournament of Roses.

Why do these high school, college and community bands do it?

“Just marching down Colorado Boulevard in front of 700,000 people is more than most of these bands will ever do,” said Madigan, who is in charge of the Jan. 1, 2027 parade. Madigan has put out the invitations, processed the yeses, and booked those bands who can prove they can afford to pay their way. He has already chosen the 21 bands that will march in the 2027 parade.

Again, if you think like a band geek, you’ll know that the Rose Parade is at the top of all parades. It’s seen on television by 40 million to 50 million viewers. It’s previewed a few days before parade day in a Bandfest competition held at Pasadena City College. It is an overall experience and a half for a 16-year-old. Especially for those escaping cold weather, it’s a chance to be in sunny Pasadena and take in Southern California sites such as Universal Studios, Disneyland and dip their toes in the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s an opportunity these kids are never going to have again. They really want to come,” Madigan said. “The world really does look at us that way, ” he added. “It’s not like to most of us, where it is just January 1st.”

Band members and directors tell the TofR folks that this is a moment in a student’s life that is truly unforgettable. It’s a cliche steeped in truth.

“What we hear from people in these smaller towns is for many of these students, this is the first time they’ve left their city or state,” said Mark Leavens, president of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, in an interview on Dec. 4. “So, the experience of coming out here to Pasadena is a huge step in their lives.”

The bands are chosen by their musical ability, their sound, marching prowess and yes, whether they have enough support to make the trip and march. Usually that means putting up hundreds of kids, staff and chaperones in hotels, paying for meals, and oh yeah, those Disneyland tickets don’t come cheap.

After vetting hundreds of applications, Madigan as well as Leavens in charge of the upcoming parade, have chosen their bands. How? Usually by presenting the invite via a Zoom call. What’s the band leaders or student’s first reaction to hearing they’ve been accepted?

“They start crying,” Madigan said. “Because this parade is the pinnacle of a marching band’s career, particularly for the high school students. When I get on the Zoom calls and present the formal invitation, tears are not at all unusual. Plus, there are a lot of shocked faces.”

The bands are chosen about 18 months before the parade day and the vetting starts two years out. That’s so the bands can have time to fundraise using sales of everything from pizza to popcorn to mattresses. The administration also prepare all the travel logistics, Madigan said.

What if a band has trouble raising the money?

It happens, Madigan said, often with the international bands.

Leavens said the TofR has a fund to help pay for some students but can’t possibly pay for the bulk of them. That’s up to the parents and school and local community.

If the band bows out, they usually try again next year. Getting to the Rose Parade is like a minor league baseball player who can take years to make it to the big dance, the Major Leagues. Bands need to raise the money. But also, bands need to increase their stamina to be able to march 5.5 miles, which grows to 7 miles when figuring in pre- and post-staging, he said. That includes practice marching with a backpack full of books.

“So yeah, part of it is physical conditioning,” Madigan said.

Take Clovis High School’s band. The small city in central California outside of Fresno has applied five times. They were recently accepted for the 2027 parade on the fifth try, Madigan said.

“They are finally in shape enough and have raised the money to be in the 2027 parade,” he said. “We are so excited about them coming.”

For this band, they won’t fly but they’ll need to find enough buses to drive the hundreds of miles to Pasadena. And hotels cost big bucks. “Just being in Pasadena for a week before New Year’s is not an inexpensive time to be in Pasadena. They often take over entire hotels,” Madigan said.

Arcadia High School’s Apache Marching Band and Color Guard will be one of 19 bands marching on Jan. 1, 2026. This will be their 19th appearance. So they know the drill. And they also help many other visiting bands. A few years back, band parents took in students from an all-girls band from Denmark. Many years ago, band families opened their homes to band members from Australia, said Kevin Sherrill, band director, on Dec. 5.

For several years, AHS provided space for other bands’ to rehearse. They will cordon off Campus Drive for marching, he said. A few years ago, an honor band from Taiwan rehearsed at Arcadia High, he said. Last year the Ohio State University band rehearsed there.

“When a group comes in it is always exciting for our high school students to see college students at the level they perform,” Sherrill said.

Arcadia High’s band has a legacy of experience, from playing in two presidential inaugurations, to being in a Super Bowl commercial in 2015. On July 4, they’ll play at the Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C. marking the 250th anniversary of the nation.

For July 4, they’ve been raising money through walk-a-thons, band events, popcorn sales and much more, he said. About 200 members are participating and it costs about $2,000 each, he said.

When bands travel from out-of-state, it raises the cost. That’s true for the Allen Eagle Escadrille Band from Allen, Texas, a city of about 112,000 population north of Dallas. They’ve come to the Rose Parade in 2006, 2016 and will be here for the 2026 parade. Every 10 years seems right.

Playing in this parade will cost them $1.6 million, said Philip Obado, director of bands, during an interview on Dec. 5. “It is a large dollar amount,” he said. About 515 of the 615 student band members will be performing at the Rose Parade. Most cover the cost from their parents, sponsorships, donations and fundraising revenues, he said.

“We’ve also had people sponsor students who needed help paying for the trip,” Obado said.

They are taking seven plane flights and filling two semi-trucks hauling equipment and instruments halfway across the country. Once in Southern California, they’ll ride in 11 charter buses to the venues. They’re staying at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills, in the San Fernando Valley. They’ve secured permission to practice at Calabasas High School, Obado said.

The band benefits from playing in Friday Night Lights football games at Allen High School’s 19,000-seat stadium. That’s where the band gets practice and exposure to the community, who lends tremendous support, from sponsorships to donations from businesses like flower shops, Obado said.

The sheer size — one of the largest high school bands in the country — makes this behemoth a presence, both in Texas and in Pasadena on Jan. 1.

“It’s a freak of nature when you see us. We like to say we are the biggest band in the land, well, one of the biggest bands in the land,” said an upbeat Obado, who appeared calm. “I deal with stress pretty well,” he added.

Some bands go beyond raising money for their own expenses.

When Leavens visited a top band performing on Jan. 1, the Mino Jiyu Gakuen 'Golden Bears' Green Band, from Mino Jihy Gakuen High School in a Toyonaka, Japan, the band’s director said the students should recognize the severe hardship of those who lost their homes in the Palisades and Eaton fires on Jan. 7-Jan. 8 2025.

“They said to them when they perform in the Rose Parade they should pay tribute to those people because of all they’ve gone through. So, those students raised $7,000 and gave that to us from out of their own pockets to help out the fire victims,” Leavens said.

Aside from their generosity, this band will include acrobatics from its cheerleader squad who will be coming with the band. The squad has receive 40 national titles.

“There are so many amazing stories” of bands who help others get to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, or in the case of Mino Jiyu Gakuen, helping those in Altadena, Pasadena and the Palisades, added Madigan.

The Enhanced City Resources Master Agreement was supposed to be completed by October 1, but city officials remain in negotiations with LA28 over which expenses beyond “normal and customary” city services LA28 will compensate the city for.

The council’s ad hoc committee on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, during a special meeting Monday, also approved resolutions by Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez requesting “LA28 provide a detailed presentation on the new federal Olympics task force, its purpose, jurisdiction, anticipated activities, and the implications for the City’s planning and preparation for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This should also include guidance on what guardrails the City can enact to ensure that the City’s most vulnerable communities are protected.”

Council members’ concerns about the task force and how federal security funding will be allocated come against the backdrop of a series of threatening and disparaging comments by President Trump about Los Angeles and California and other blue state cities hosting World Cup matches.

Trump signed an executive order in August establishing a federal task force on the Olympics for the Los Angeles Games. Similar task forces have been established for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, as well as for next summer’s World Cup.

Trump has made repeated threats to move the Games and World Cup matches out of Los Angeles and other blue state cities, as well as threats to deploy military or National Guard troops to the city during the Olympics. The threats have heightened concerns about the role of the task force in the planning and implementation of the Games among state and local officials.

'Well do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military,' Trump said during the August 5 ceremony in which he signed the executive order establishing the Olympic task force.

Trump will serve as chairman of both the Olympic and World Cup task forces.

During the August ceremony, which was attended by LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman and Gene Sykes, the USOPC chairman and an IOC member, Trump also referred to Mayor Karen Bass as 'not very competent.'

The $1 billion federal funding for Olympic security was part of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this year by Congress.

Council members pressed city administrative officer Matthew W. Szabo on who decides how that $1 billion will be allocated.

“We don’t have complete clarity yet,” Szabo said.

The Olympics and World Cup have been designated as National Special Security Events (NSSE) by the federal government. At previous NSSEs, the Secret Service has coordinated security with state and local officials.

City officials also acknowledged they missed the October 1 deadline to reach an agreement with LA28 that would establish the framework on determining the reimbursement to the city for Olympic and Paralympic costs above normal and customary services provided by the city. The deadline for the agreement was October 1.

The agreement, Szabo said, has “great significance to the city and getting it right takes precedent.”

The agreement will essentially create the rules for determining compensation in the Venue Services Agreements between the city and LA28. After the Venues Services Agreements are completed between the City of Los Angeles and LA28, the local organizing committee will negotiate similar agreements with other cities hosting Olympic and Paralympic events.

But council members raised concerns about the transparency of those negotiations and locking down city costs if LA28 continues to shift Games venues.

“It seems like every couple of months there’s a change in venue sites,” said Councilwoman Imelda Padilla.

Rodriguez said she also had concerns about negotiations between the city and LA28.

“We know the biggest nut in that conversation is public safety, why wouldn’t we include that?” Rodriguez asked Szabo, referring to negotiations with LA28. “And if (contract language is) so broad, and yet it excludes that one really large portion of it, it would seem to me that everything else is negligible in comparison. So I’m confused, and I don’t know if any of my colleagues are, I’m a little upset that I also have a report that was transmitted to my office on Friday afternoon at three o’clock from the city attorney’s office that was originally dated September 9. So I’m trying to understand.

“But when we had a deadline and expectation that October 1, this agreement was going to be done, city attorney transmitted their report to us September 9. But I know my office wasn’t even providing this copy until Friday, and I don’t know who was in these conversations for the negotiation, but something stinks around here in terms of who’s involved, who’s letting us know or withholding information. And I don’t know if you want to have that conversation in closed session, or at least let the public know.

“But you know, I have some real reservations about the way this is all going.”

“He loved him so much,” Ahmadi’s wife, Mojgan Manafi, 48, said Monday, Dec. 8.

The 55-year-old father was credited with saving his 7-year-old boy’s life after their kayak capsized and the two spilled into the water on Saturday at the Lake Perris State Recreation Area. But Ahmadi lapsed into unconsciousness, and even though Artin kept his father afloat, Ahmadi died at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley after being pulled from the water.

Doctors believe he had a heart attack, Manafi said.

“He was a very good swimmer,” she said.

What’s more, Manafi added, her husband exercised frequently. He worked out at a gym three times each week.

More than a dozen family members and friends went to the lake on Saturday for a day of fun.

For Artin, it was his first time in a kayak, his mother said.

California State Parks peace officers were called to the Moreno Beach area around 4:15 p.m., after the accident. They found Ahmadi unconscious and partially submerged, a State Parks news release said. Artin 'was in distress, but conscious and holding his father, helping to keep himself above water,' the release said. 'Investigators noted that the father heroically kept his son afloat throughout the ordeal, supporting him until rescue personnel arrived.'

Officers performed CPR on Ahmadi before he was taken to the hospital. Doctors also evaluated Artin, who his mother said was also a good swimmer.

Neither father nor son was wearing a lifejacket, though one was in the kayak, the release said, noting that state law requires boaters 12 and younger to wear one.

Ahmadi was born in Iran. His father died when he was 9, Manafi said, and he had to take care of his family.

“He suffered a lot. His worry was that it (would) happen to his son,” she said.

The couple met when she came to the United States from South Africa and a friend introduced them. Manafi is Iranian as well. They had been married for 10 years. She described her husband as thoughtful and kind and hoped he would be remembered for his humanity.

“He was a very loving person,” she said. “If he didn’t have anything, he was still willing to help people. He was such a great dad. He was such a great husband. He was such a great brother.”

WASHINGTON (AP) ' President Donald Trump on Monday justified the U.S. militarys decision to fire a second missile in a heavily scrutinized attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea by claiming that two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the vessel after it had capsized in the initial strike.

Trump also backtracked on whether he was open to releasing the video footage of the second strike. Last week, Trump told reporters he saw 'no problem' in releasing the footage, but on Monday he said he would leave the decision to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The Republican administration is facing calls from Democratic lawmakers to release footage of the Sept. 2 operation in the Caribbean Sea, which killed nine people aboard the boat in an initial strike and then two more who managed to survive.

'They were trying to return the boat back to where it could float, and we didnt want to see that because that boat was loaded up with drugs,' Trump said on Monday.

When asked by a reporter about his comments last week suggesting he was open to releasing footage of the second strike, Trump denied that was his position and bitterly attacked the reporter as 'obnoxious' and 'terrible.'

'Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me,' Trump said.

Trump, however, last Wednesday in an exchange with reporters about the strike footage said: 'Whatever they have wed certainly release.'

The Sept. 2 operation was the first in what has become a monthslong series of American strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that the administration says are targeting drug smugglers working on behalf of cartels, including some controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. At least 87 people have been killed in 22 known strikes.

Trump has broadly justified the campaign as necessary for his administration to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States. He claims the U.S. is in armed conflict with narco-terrorists.

Hegseth said in a Fox News interview Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California that officials were reviewing the video, but he did not commit to releasing it. 'Whatever we were to decide to release, wed have to be very responsible' about it,' Hegseth said.

The Pentagon on Monday did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of Hegseths review or confirm Trumps assertion that the suspects appeared to be trying to turn over the vessel before the second strike was fired.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are demanding that the Pentagon hand over 'unedited video of strikes' against drug cartels to Congress, threatening to withhold a quarter of Hegseths travel budget if it doesnt. The provision is included in the $900 billion defense bill the House is expected to vote on later this week.

Over the weekend, Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he would not oppose public release of the footage.

But Cotton, among the top lawmakers on national security committees who were briefed by the Navy admiral commanding those strikes, is splitting with Democrats over whether military personnel acted lawfully in carrying out the second strike to kill the two survivors.

'Its not gruesome. I didnt find it distressing or disturbing,' he said, explaining why he does not have a problem with releasing all the footage. 'It looks like any number of dozens of strikes weve seen on jeeps and pickup trucks in the Middle East over the years.'

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the video 'was profoundly shaking.' And Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said it 'did not appear that these two survivors were in any position to continue the fight.' Both Himes and Smith, who spoke separately on Sunday talk shows, have viewed the video.

The classified sessions on Capitol Hill came after a report that Adm. Frank 'Mitch' Bradley had ordered the follow-on attack to comply with Hegseths demands.

Bradley told lawmakers there was no 'kill them all' order from Hegseth, but a video of the entire series of attacks left some lawmakers with serious questions. Legal experts have said killing survivors of a strike at sea could be a violation of the laws of military warfare.

AP writers Konstantin Toropin, Ben Finley and Bill Barrow contributed reporting.

A federal judge investigating whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should face a contempt charge over flights carrying migrants to El Salvador said Monday he wants to hear from a whistleblower and top Justice Department official.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ordered the government to make Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign available for testimony on Dec. 16. Boasberg wants to hear a day earlier from fired Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni.

The order for testimony ratchets up the extraordinary clash between the judicial and executive branches.

In March, Boasberg ordered the Republican administration to turn around two planes carrying Venezuelan migrants.

Instead, the planes landed in El Salvador hours later, touching off the contempt probe. Boasberg is trying to determine whether the administration willfully ignored his order and should be referred for prosecution on a contempt charge.

Reuveni has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging a Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members. The administration has said the allegations are untrue.

The Justice Department has said Ensign conveyed Boasbergs oral order and a subsequent written order to the Department of Homeland Security.

In a written declaration submitted to the court Friday, Noem said she made the decision not to return the planes to the U.S. after receiving 'privileged legal advice' from the Homeland Security Departments acting general counsel and 'through him from the senior leadership of the Department of Justice.'

Boasberg, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, called Noems declaration 'cursory.'

'As this declaration does not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Courts Order, the Court cannot at this juncture find probable cause that her actions constituted criminal contempt,' the judge wrote in Mondays order.

The administration has said it did not violate Boasbergs order. The judges directive to return the planes was made verbally in court but not included in his written order, government attorneys said in a court filing in November.

That order blocked the administration from removing 'any of the individual Plaintiffs from the United States for 14 days,' but said nothing about the flights already airborne, they said.

The two planes had already departed U.S. territory and airspace, so the migrants aboard them had already been 'removed' and therefore fell outside of the courts order, Justice Department lawyers said in the court filing.

Justice Department attorneys in a court filing Friday objected to any 'live testimony,' urging Boasberg instead to 'proceed promptly' with a criminal contempt referral if he believed his order was 'sufficiently clear in imposing an obligation to halt the transfer of custody for detainees who had already been removed from the United States.'