Brigitte Macron et Maëva Coucke se sont rencontrées à l’Elysée jeudi 5 juillet, elles ont pris la pose le temps d’une photo, resplendissantes d’une bonne humeur communicative.

Quand une Première dame et une Miss France se réunissent, cela provoque forcément des étincelles. L’étonnante rencontre a eu lieu à l’Elysée jeudi 5 juillet. Maeëva Coucke a pris la pose au bras de Brigitte Macron, tout sourire. Resplendissantes de bonne humeur, l’épouse d’Emmanuel Macron était tout en noir, un T shirt à motifs avec un pantalon sobre, tandis que la reine de beauté portait une chemise couleur vert d’eau et un pantalon plus foncé signé Elisabetta Franchi. Le cliché a été posté sur instagram sur le compte officiel de Miss France 2018.

“Merci Brigitte Macron pour cet après-midi au cœur de l’Elysée ! Une magnifique rencontre pour Miss France 2018“, peut-on lire en légende. Les internautes ont encensé la Première dame et Miss France. “Top”, “T’es trop belle”, “Deux belles femmes”, “Elle est si belle“, peut-on notamment lire parmi les commentaires.

Maëva Coucke a célébré son anniversaire le jeudi 28 juin, en compagnie de ses collègues anciennes Miss France. Laury Thilleman, Camille Cerf, Sylvie Tellier, Marine Lorphelin ou encore Malika Menard étaient présentes sur la terrasse de la péniche le Bain de Mer amarrée à deux pas du pont de l’Alma, face à la Tour Eiffel, pour la jeune femme qui célébrait ses 24 ans. Une Miss décidément baignée d’amour.

Crédits photos : BESTIMAGE

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ORLANDO, Fla. — 

The Rev. Gabriel Salguero paced the stage, his voice booming into a microphone as 3,000 faces tipped toward him.

He spoke in Spanish of how Latinos came to the U.S. to escape political corruption. His wife, the Rev. Jeanette Salguero, picked up the thread in English: Immigrants came here to escape natural disasters, hunger, violence, she told the congregants of Calvario City Church.

“God brought us here,” Jeanette thundered, “to be a blessing.”

“Our people, our immigrants, our refugees, deserve to be respected now,” the evangelical pastors declared in turn, as the crowd’s rumbling of assent grew.

The plight of immigrants and refugees resonates deeply with Calvario’s mainly Latino congregation. The New Testament, particularly Jesus welcoming the stranger, has taken on a new political significance in the Trump era.

Many at Calvario and elsewhere are disturbed by President Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, reductions in the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. and his divisive and sometimes racist rhetoric about people of color. But when Latino evangelicals go to the ballot box, they also consider their positions on abortion, gay marriage and criminal justice.

“Because we’re evangelical, people assume we’re Republican, and because we’re Latino, people assume we’re Democrats,” said Gabriel Salguero, who is Puerto Rican.

White evangelicals, whose numbers are declining, have long been a reliable voting bloc for Republicans, and a large majority continue to support Trump. Black evangelicals have historically leaned Democratic. But among Latino evangelicals, who often identify as politically independent, support for the parties, and for Trump, is more ambiguous.

Latinos are expected to make up the largest minority voting bloc for the first time in 2020 and could play a key role in the presidential election. A majority tends to vote Democratic, but Latino evangelicals — a growing group now at 2% of the national population — tend to be more conservative than their nonreligious and Catholic counterparts.

In Florida, Republicans have long tapped into religious communities for presidential elections, said Fernand Amandi, a political strategist based in Miami. But this year, Amandi said, Latino evangelical voters conflicted over Trump are up for grabs.

“I think there is an opportunity there now for the Democrats to come in and basically make the case that not only is this the most impious man on the planet, he’s also the most anti-Hispanic president in U.S. history,” he said.

The Salgueros preach religious harmony and at times openly advocate for social justice policy in sermons at their church nestled along Florida’s Interstate 4 corridor, but they urge congregants to remain immune to partisan politics. They do not endorse political parties or candidates.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to make a decision, but at least it’s not blind allegiance or blind endorsement,” said Salguero, who served on advisory councils for former Presidents Obama and George W. Bush. “You make tough choices. You pray, you deliberate.”

It has not been easy. Trump advocates for religious freedoms and appointed two Supreme Court justices who are like-minded on issues like abortion, just as some Latino evangelicals had hoped. But his treatment of asylum seekers and others and his behavior in general, make some at Calvario say there’s no chance they will vote for him.

Isael López says Trump is arrogant and “not a genuine person.” But like many others in the congregation, López said that does not necessarily mean he will support a Democrat.

The graphic designer said he voted for a third-party candidate in 2016. Now he’s waiting to see who more closely represents his faith-based views, Democrat or not, saying, “For now, I’m holding my vote.”

Celeste Marzan, 49, a volunteer at the church, said Trump’s behavior is inconsistent with the Christian values he proclaims. When she thinks about the way he treats women, the accountant said, “It makes me gag.”

Marzan said she did not vote in 2016 because she couldn’t stand either candidate. She could support a Democrat in 2020 — if the candidate fears God and respects others, especially the vulnerable, she said.

Democrats haven’t done enough to show evangelicals that a majority of the party’s platform — including healthcare for all and expanding federal programs to help those in need — aligns with their values, said Bishop Joshua Rodriguez, a founding pastor of a church in Jersey City, N.J.

“We believe in pro-life, but from the womb to the tomb,” said Rodriguez, who was in Orlando for a summit hosted by the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, founded by the Salgueros.

Rodriguez doesn’t like to see evangelicals painted broadly as supporting Trump’s policies, and wants Democrats and evangelical leaders to collaborate on issues both groups champion.

Evangelicals of all races are more socially conservative than their nonreligious counterparts, but there are divisions along racial lines on political issues, according to a 2016 national study by University of Maryland professor Janelle Wong.

Half of white evangelicals agree with the statement “immigrants hurt the economy,” compared with 25% of Latino evangelicals, the study found. “For Latino evangelicals, their community identity is much broader than just evangelicals,” Wong said.

Mike Madrid, a Latino Republican consultant based in California, said the president’s strategy to run a race-based campaign will only split the evangelical electorate.

“Because of the overt anti-Latino policies that are coming out daily from the president and the Republican Party, you are forcing the Latino population to choose between their racial identity and their religious beliefs,” he said.

But Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, a well-known evangelical pastor who delivered a prayer at Trump’s inauguration, said Democrats’ stances on abortion will likely keep Latino evangelicals away from the polls.

“If they can’t support Trump,” he said, “they’re probably gonna stay home.”

For Jonathan Rivera, a pastor at Calvario, that’s not an option. He was conflicted about whom to vote for during the 2016 presidential election. So he didn’t cast a ballot.

“I regretted it immediately after and I felt, if anything, once President Trump came into office, I felt even more responsible,” said Rivera. “I felt like my silence was complicit in his election.”

Rivera, 27, said he’s a Christian first and Latino second. The dual identities aren’t a balance but a tension, because policy issues directly impact people in his church and their families, he said.

“And tensions aren’t balanced, they’re managed,” said Rivera, a registered independent. “And so you do the best that you can with it.”

With Trump’s rhetoric proving harmful to his community, Rivera said he believes he’s not alone in realizing he cannot afford to sit out this election.

“I think a lot of Latino evangelicals believe that we don’t have a candidate, but we have to do better than President Trump,” he said. “I don’t think that means Republican or Democrat. I just think that means better.”

Gabriel Salguero says Latino evangelicals are never a given for one party because they take their political cues from scripture, not party ideology.

“The very American temptation is to co-opt religion,” Salguero said, but “God is not a Republican and God is not a Democrat.”

Martin Frk hasn’t been in Los Angeles long, yet he’s already made quite an impression.

Frk scored two third-period goals in his debut with the Kings, and Jeff Carter scored the winner in overtime and also had an assist as Los Angeles rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Friday night.

Frk scored his first goal early in the third and cut a two-goal Sharks lead in half. He tied it with another score with 1:24 left in regulation.

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Carter scored the winner at 1:31 of overtime when he picked up a loose puck in front of the crease and fired it past Aaron Dell, who had just stopped a shot by Alex Iafallo.

“Nice to see Marty Frk come up and contribute, use his tools,” Kings coach Todd McClellan said. “That shot that he has and the ability to find ice was real important and a good aggressive play in overtime got us the win.”

Jack Campbell had 22 saves as the Kings snapped a three-game skid.

Highlights from the Kings’ overtime win over the Sharks on Friday.

The 26-year-old Frk, who signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, was recalled from Ontario of the WHL on Monday. He was playing in his 101st career NHL game (98 with Detroit, and two with Carolina).

Frk scored both goals from the slot.

He blasted in his first goal off a backhanded pass from Nikolai Prokhorkin, and tied it after receiving a backhanded pass from Carter.

“I got lucky,” Frk said. “I was twice in the good spot and it went in, so I’m really happy for that, couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Joe Thornton snapped a 47-game goal-scoring drought and added an assist for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight and are 1-9-1 over their last 11.

Thornton hadn’t scored in a regular-season game since March 18 of last season.

“You can’t dress 12 forwards then have eight or nine show up,” Sharks interim coach Bob Boughner said. “That was the problem tonight. We had to shorten our bench. We had a couple guys not sticking with the structure, not playing within the team system. They know who they are. It’s a wake-up call for a couple of guys in that room right now.”

Dell turned back 33 shots for San Jose.

Thornton scored at 11:39 of the second on a backhanded pass from Radim Simek, giving San Jose a 2-0 lead.

Erik Karlsson also scored for San Jose. Karlsson scored on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line at 6:16 of the second. His fourth goal broke a scoreless tie.

Thornton had an assist on Karlsson’s goal, the 1,078th of his career. He needs one more to tie Adam Oates for seventh on the NHL’s all-time list.

“We have a good hockey team,” Karlsson said. “We should be a good hockey team. We’re not a good hockey team right now.

SAN DIEGO — 

As Kedon Slovis kneeled along the sideline in obvious pain, clutching his right elbow, the worst possible outcome in one of its worst bowl performances unfolded in front of USC.

Slovis was in and out of the medical tent in Friday’s 49-24 Holiday Bowl defeat to Iowa, after first slamming his head against the turf in the second quarter. But as the Trojans kept it close early in the third quarter, it was Slovis’ elbow injury that proved to be a turning point.

The standout freshman never returned, as Matt Fink took his place.

USC coach Clay Helton had no update on Slovis’ status after the game. Slovis was injured when he was sacked by Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa on a pass attempt, forcing a fumble.

The quarterback will have an MRI in the coming days, but with the offseason ahead, it may be a while before an update is provided.

“Possible sprain, hopefully,” Helton said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

When Slovis does return, he’ll be without his top target from this season, Michael Pittman Jr. The senior captain finished his USC career at the Holiday Bowl on Friday, but it was hardly the exit he’d been hoping for.

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Pittman Jr. finished with six catches for 53 yards. With USC still within striking distance, after Slovis’ injury, the wideout uncharacteristically lost a fumble.

Asked if he had any thoughts on his final game as a Trojan, Pittman responded, “No. Not really.”

Slovis, upon his return, should have no shortage of new top targets to choose from.

On Friday night, he seemed to favor Amon-ra St. Brown, who surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the first time, on Friday. St. Brown finished with nine catches for 163 yards.

Surprise onside

Helton could feel the tides turning. So at halftime, he told his team to expect something it hadn’t done all season.

And when the Trojans scored a quick touchdown to open that half, Helton figured he had nothing to lose in calling a surprise onside kick. Not with how effectively Iowa was holding on to the ball.

“We haven’t had four possessions in a half in a long time,” Helton said of USC’s first-half offense. “That’s one of the reasons I chose to do the surprise onside in the second half, knowing that we were two scores down.”

Highlights from USC’s loss to Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.

The kick worked — one of the few things that did work on Friday. But what came after went horribly wrong.

Slovis injured his elbow, Fink came in, and a USC drive that started at midfield stalled after four plays.

Drew Richmond out

After transferring to USC this fall and winning the starting right tackle job out of camp, Drew Richmond’s final season was cut short, as a foot sprain suffered in practice kept him out.

Richmond was confident earlier in the week that he’d suit up, finishing out his lone season at USC on a high note. But Helton ruled out Richmond and shifted usual starting guard Jalen McKenzie into his tackle spot. Reserve lineman Liam Jimmons, who dislocated his elbow earlier in the season, played in McKenzie’s place at right guard.

Etc.

Cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart suffered a knee injury late in the fourth that had him writhing in pain. Helton said afterward that they “hope it’s not severe.” … Freshman running back Kenan Christon suffered a head injury in the fourth and was held out. … Wideout Tyler Vaughns missed the first quarter with an undisclosed issue. He played in the second.

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we hope everyone had the best holiday season.

We’ve got lots to get to today on in our return edition. While I was sorry Santa Anita postponed its opener two days, it did give me enough time to finish “The Irishman.”

The big news while we were away was the release of the report by Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. In short, it found Santa Anita conducted no criminal activity, and that includes the trainers, owners and jockeys. It also didn’t find any causes of the breakdown despite concentrating on four areas.

Here’s what I wrote about it the day the investigation was announced. Just click here.

Now, we are ready to start the marathon Santa Anita meeting. Saturday’s opening day card is nothing short of spectacular. First post is 11 a.m., so don’t sleep in this Saturday.

Here’s what I wrote about the opener, although most of it is observations from Craig Fravel, the chief executive of racing for The Stronach Group. He pretty much said there would be no racing on sealed surfaces, although there is the tiniest bit of a hedge on that. But he made his thoughts pretty clear. You can read the story. Just click here.

OK, let’s get going with today’s card.

Santa Anita preview

As we mentioned, there are 11 races starting at 11 a.m. There are seven stakes race, six of the graded. So, here they are, in chronological order.

$75,000 Lady of Shamrock Stakes: This one is early in the card as the second race for 3-year-old fillies going a mile. We’re going to go quickly on this one. Keeper Ofthe Stars is the favorite at 5-2 for trainer Jonathan Wong and jockey Abel Cedillo. Brill is second favorite at 3-1 for Don Chatios and Flavien Prat.

Grade 2 $200,000 San Antonio Stakes: It’s for older horses going 1 1/16 miles and has Gift Box, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, as the 9-5 favorite for John Sadler and Joel Rosario. He won this race last year over the late Battle of Midway. He is five-of-17 lifetime and two-for-three at Santa Anita. His last race was a fourth in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs.

Midcourt is the second favorite at 2-1 for John Shirreffs and Victor Espinoza. He is four for five this year and is coming off a win in the Native Diver at Del Mar. He has won four in a row. Post is at 1:08 p.m.

Grade 1 $300,000 American Oaks: There are eight 3-year-old fillies going 1 ¼ miles on the turf. It starts partway up the hillside course, which has been closed to sprints. Lady Prancealot is the 2-1 favorite for Richard Baltas and Joe Bravo. She is three for seven this year and is coming off a Grade 3 win at Keeneland.

Vibrance is the second choice at 3-1 for Michael McCarthy and Cedillo. She hasn’t won since she broke her maiden at Del Mar on Aug. 29, 2018. She was third last out in the Red Carpet Handicap at Del Mar. Post is 1:44 p.m..

Grade 1 $300,000 La Brea: This one is for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs. Bellafina is the 9-5 favorite for Simon Callaghan and Prat. She has impressive credentials with three Grade 1 wins. She is six-of-12 lifetime and coming off a second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Bell’s the One is the second favorite at 7-2 for Neil Pessin and Javier Castellano, who will be riding her for the first time. She is five-of-nine lifetime and coming off a Grade 2 win at Keeneland, her only graded stakes win. Post is 2:15 p.m.

Grade 3 $100,000 Robert J. Frankel Stakes: Older fillies and mares will be going 1 1/8 miles on the turf in this race. Mirth is 5-2 favorite for Phil D’Amato and Mike Smith. She has won five-of-17 lifetime and was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She led going into the stretch in 1 1/4-mile race. This shorter distance should benefit her. She won the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita this year.

Excellent Sunset is the second choice at 7-2 for Baltas and Rosario. She is only two-for-15 lifetime and is coming off a second in an allowance race. Prior she was third in the Kathryn Crosby, a race she won last year. Post is 2:51 p.m.

Grade 1 $300,000 Runhappy Malibu Stakes: It only has five horses going seven furlongs but they are a good group of horses. The favorite at 4-5 is Omaha Beach for Richard Mandella and Smith. As you remember, he was the favorite in the Kentucky Derby before scratching a few days before the race with a throat issue. He took awhile to return but won his first race back at Santa Anita and then finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Roadster, who was the early “A” Derby horse in Bob Baffert’s barn is the second favorite at 3-1. He will be ridden by Rosario. Roadster won the Santa Anita Derby but performed poorly in the Kentucky Derby. He hasn’t won since the Santa Anita Derby. Post is 3:26 p.m.

Grade 2 $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile: This race is for 3-year-olds going, you guessed it, on the turf. Mo Forza is the 9-5 favorite for Peter Miller and Rosario. He’s coming off wins in the Hollywood Turf Cup and the Twilight Derby. He has won three of eight this year.

Neptune’s Storm is the 3-1 second choice for Baltas and Cedillo. He has won four of 10 this year and was second in the Hollywood Turf Cup and third in the Twilight Derby. Post is 4:00 p.m.

Here are the field sizes, in order: 7, 8, 9, 11, 7, 8, 9, 8, 5, 11, 10. A very good card all around.

Ciaran Thornton’s SA picks of the day

RACE FOUR: No. 9 No Parking Here (8-1)

RACE 10: No. 2 Originaire (15-1)

I give you two value plays Saturday to start the winter meet with a common theme — a new jockey set to make some noise at the Great Race Place. Jockey Umberto Rispoli rides both my value plays Saturday. He is a jockey everyone needs to watch, a champion Italian jockey who has been racing in Hong Kong over the last few years and will do very well at Santa Anita starting with a debut win for us today in race four.

No Parking Here ships down from Golden Gate for trainer Steven Miyadi off two straight second-place finishes. The horse has two seconds and a third from four starts at this distance. Top last race best and an excellent closing kick we are getting great value at 8-1. Miyadi is 25% shipping and 64% in the money.

In race 10, Originaire from trainer Jeff Mullins is a big price closer in a very wide-open race that has a vulnerable 9-5 favorite. We have a major jockey upgrade today for Originare, who has a devastating late kick that has been wasted numerous times by late jockey moves. A 15-1 morning line and likely higher come post time this is a must use value play for us.

Ciaran Thornton is the handicapper for Californiapick4.com, which offers daily full card picks, longshots of the day, best bets of the day.

Golden Gate weekend preview

Matt Dinerman, the race caller at Golden Gate, is back with his weekly look at what’s happening at Golden Gate Fields. Matt’s boundless enthusiasm can be heard in his calls and seen in his writing. Take it away, Matt.

“We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Two days down, 95 more to go in the Golden Gate Fields winter-spring meet. Yes, the meet began the day after Christmas and so far, there has been plenty of competitive races and close finishes. First post, unless noted, is 12:45 p.m. each race day. Closing day of the meet is June 14, so we’ve got lots of racing and a long (but fun and hopefully profitable) meet ahead of us.

“A couple of dates to jot down: Saturday, Feb. 16 is the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby for 3-year-olds. Once again, the El Camino Real Derby offers 10 Kentucky Derby points to the winner. For the second straight season, this race also gives the winner an all-expenses paid berth to the Preakness.

“On April 25-26 is the second annual Gold Rush Weekend. It is comprised of eight stakes races in 48 hours, combining top-class racing, good-sized betting pools and Bay Area culture and on-track festivities. Last year’s Gold Rush Weekend Saturday broke the record for most live handle in a Golden Gate Fields race card while Sunday offered more large pools and an on-track Dollar Day crowd.

“Here’s the stakes schedule:

Saturday

“–$250,000 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and up on turf (which this time, gives the winner a free berth into the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes on Preakness Day at Pimlico.)

“–$100,000 California Derby for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles.

“–$75,000 Lost In The Fog Stakes for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs.

“–$75,000 California Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles.

“–$75,000 Golden Poppy Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 1/1 miles on turf.

“–$75,000 Camilla Urso for fillies and mares going five furlongs on the turf.

Sunday

“–$100,000 Silky Sullivan Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

“–$100,000 Campanile Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

“To end, here are two day-makers this weekend at Golden Gate:

“–Saturday: In Race 7, No. 5 Crazy Sexy Munny (5-1) proved she loved routing last time out. Although she got a clear lead in her last start, she has proven the ability to rate in the past sprinting and I believe is versatile enough to relax off a pacesetter if she needs to while routing. She loves this track, with four wins and two seconds from six starts on Tapeta, and has posted a sharp workout since her last victory.

“–Sunday: In Race 7, No. 9 Awesome Summer (4-1) makes his career debut at this California-bred maiden special weight level. He is a half sibling to stakes winning sprinter Summerismage and sports a pair of bullet workouts for good horseman Bob Hess. Sr. leading up to this run.”

Big races preview

A look at graded stakes or races worth $100,000 or more on Saturday. All times PST.

10:22 Laurel (3): $100,000 Dave’s Friend Stakes, 3 and up, 6 furlongs. Favorite: Threefiveindia (4-5)

10:30 Gulfstream (4): $100,000 Janus Stakes, 3 and up, 5 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Extravagant Kid (5-2)

10:54 Aqueduct (4): $100,000 Alex M. Robb Stakes, NY-breds 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles. Favorite: Mr. Buff (3-5)

11:18 Laurel (5): $100,000 Gin Talking Stakes, fillies 2-years-old, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Cofactor (7-2)

11:30 Gulfstream (6): $100,000 Abundantia Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 5 furlongs on turf. Favorite: Girls Know Best (8-5)

11:51 Laurel (6): $100,000 Native Dancer Stakes, 3 and up, 1 1/8 miles. Favorite: Monongahela (8-5)

12:20 Laurel (7): $100,000 Heft Stakes, 2-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Monday Morning Qb (5-2)

12:49 Laurel (8): $100,000 Willa On the Move Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 6 furlongs. Favorite: Baby Boss (2-1)

1:08 Santa Anita (5): Grade 2 $200,000 San Antonio Stakes, 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles. Favorite: Gift Box (9-5)

1:44 Santa Anita (6): Grade 1 $300,000 American Oaks, fillies 3-years-old, 1 ¼ miles on turf. Favorite: Lady Prancealot (2-1)

2:00 Gulfstream (11): $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes, 3 and up, 2 miles on turf. Favorite: Salute the Colonel (2-1)

2:18 Santa Anita (7): Grade 1 $300,000 La Brea Stakes, fillies 3-years-old, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Bellafina (9-5)

2:50 Sunland (9): $100,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap, NM-bred fillies and mares 3 and up, 5 ½ furlongs. Favorite: Waltzing Attila (5-2)

2:51 Santa Anita (8): Grade 3 $100,000 Robert J. Frankel Stakes, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/8 miles on turf. Favorite: Mirth (5-2)

3:26 Santa Anita (9): Grade 1 $300,000 Malibu Stakes, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs. Favorite: Omaha Beach (4-5)

4:00 Santa Anita (10): Grade 2 $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile on turf. Favorite: Mo Forza (9-5)

Los Alamitos weekend preview

It’s time to turn things over to marketing and media guru Orlando Gutierrez, who will tell us about the upcoming weekend at Los Alamitos. Orlando, the floor is yours.

“Los Alamitos Race Course is already up and running for its 70^th year of racing in Orange County. The track opened on Friday night and continues with racing Saturday and Sunday night. Live night racing will be held here through Dec. 20, 2020. The only weekend off during this span will be during Super Bowl weekend on Jan. 30 through Feb. 2. The track will host a stakes program worth approximately $10 million in 2020. Michael Wrona will be in the announcer’s booth, as he takes over as the track’s full-time announcer following the retirement of Ed Burgart. Burgart will still be a part of the Los Alamitos racing program as the morning line maker.

“Saturday’s seventh is a 300-yard dash for 2-year-old maidens, but a lot of them have shown promise in stakes trials and allowance events. Among the eight will be Erik Flores’ Royaltys Molly, a filly who is eligible for the trials to the $400,000 Los Alamitos Oaks to be held on March 7. For Royaltys Molly, this race could be key to her continued progress towards the Oaks trials. The filly has made only two career starts and has finished out of the top three both times. She did show promise running fourth in her career debut. Her dam is the outstanding champion-aged mare Five Bar Molly. Having rested since running in the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Nov. 24, Royaltys Molly could be sitting on a big upcoming effort. Ed Allred’s Sounds Good, fourth in her Two Million trial, and recent allowance runner-up Separate Delight are among the others in this field.

“The 2019 racing season at Los Alamitos concluded on Dec. 15 with a few new leaders. Chris O’Dell, who had Grade 1 winners Powerful Favorite, Thermonuclear Energy, Runforyourlife and more, won his first ever quarter-horse training title with 70 wins, while ending Paul Jones’ streak of eight straight. Jesus Rios Ayala won his third consecutive quarter-horse jockey title with 75 wins with Vinnie Bednar finishing second with 71 wins. Allred was the leading owner with 78 quarter-horse wins. Edgar Payeras cruised to his first leading thoroughbred jockey title with 66 wins – 20 more than runner-up Ramon Guce, while trainer Angela Aquino won her second thoroughbred training title with 32 wins. Jesus Nunez, the breed’s leading trainer the past two years, finished second with 29. Ashley Garcia finished as the leading thoroughbred owner with 13 victories.

“Allred’s He Looks Hot, winner of the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions, climbed to the top spot in the latest American Quarter Horse Assn. National Poll for older horses. With Bednar up for trainer Scott Willoughby, the 7-year-old also equaled Rylees Boy as the oldest horses to win the Champion of Champions. In the 2-year-old poll, All American Futurity winner Mr Jess Jenkins remains at the top. The biggest mover was Ron Hartley’s Cartel Jess Rockin, who debuted in fourth following her victory in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on closing night. The John Cooper trainee’s victory was the final race called by Burgart before his retirement. The final polls for 2019 will be released in early January. The biggest race left the national calendar is the Grade 1 $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park on Sunday afternoon.”

Chris Wade’s LA pick of the day

RACE FIVE: No. 1 RF Gonna Thunder (3-1)

He can be trouble prone, but should be much better than he appears on paper based on everything factored in (trouble plus track variant). Gray gelding comes in with a super jockey/trainer (29%) combo that wins at a 29% clip and his late running ability makes him one to watch at a good price.

Final thought

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter you can click here and sign up. Remember, it’s free, and all we need is your email, nothing more. Tell your friends, or even people you don’t like that much.

Any thoughts, you can reach me at [email protected] You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa.

And now the star of the show, Saturday’s entries.

Santa Anita Entries for Saturday, December 28.

Santa Anita, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. 3rd day of a 60-day meet.

FIRST RACE.

6 Furlongs. Purse: $55,000. Maiden Special Weight. 2 year olds.

SECOND RACE.

1 Mile Turf. Purse: $75,000. ‘Lady Of Shamrock Stakes’. Fillies. 3 year olds.

THIRD RACE.

6 Furlongs. Purse: $23,000. Maiden Claiming. Fillies. 2 year olds. Claiming Price $30,000.

FOURTH RACE.

1 Mile Turf. Purse: $34,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $62,500.

FIFTH RACE.

1 1/16 Mile. Purse: $200,000. ‘San Antonio Stakes’. 3 year olds and up.

SIXTH RACE.

About 1¼ Mile Turf. Purse: $300,000. ‘American Oaks’. Stakes. Fillies. 3 year olds.

SEVENTH RACE.

7 Furlongs. Purse: $300,000. ‘La Brea Stakes’. Fillies. 3 year olds.

EIGHTH RACE.

1 1/8 Mile Turf. Purse: $100,000. ‘Robert J. Frankel Stakes’. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up.

NINTH RACE.

7 Furlongs. Purse: $300,000. ‘Malibu Stakes’. 3 year olds.

TENTH RACE.

1 Mile Turf. Purse: $200,000. ‘Mathis Brothers Mile’. Stakes. 3 year olds.

ELEVENTH RACE.

6 Furlongs. Purse: $32,000. Maiden Claiming. 2 year olds. Claiming Price $50,000. State bred.

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Real estate association executive makes surprise entry but faces big challenges to compete with Campa-Najjar

SAN DIEGO — 

The focus of the 50th Congressional District race understandably has been on the Republican candidates.

It’s a heavily Republican district soon to be vacated by GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, who pleaded guilty to felony misuse of campaign funds this month and announced he would be resigning after the holidays.

Also, Ammar Campa-Najjar, who lost to Hunter last year by only a few percentage points, was the lone Democrat in the race and was expected to advance from the March primary to the November general election.

Now he has company.

Marisa Calderon, executive director of the National Assn. of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, had begun running in the neighboring 53rd District, where Democratic incumbent Susan Davis chose not to seek reelection. Shortly before the filing deadline, Calderon shifted to the Hunter district.

What impact she may have, and how much of a threat she poses to Campa-Najjar, is uncertain. Right now, it doesn’t seem like much. That, of course, could change depending on what kind of campaign she runs, how much money she raises and whether she has a compelling message.

Campa-Najjar, a small-business owner and university lecturer, has been running for three years in the sprawling district, which stretches from near the border with Mexico in East County up to Temecula. He was born and raised in East County and was a political unknown until he ran against Hunter, who was under indictment during the 2018 campaign and tarnished by unflattering details of his personal behavior.

Now Campa-Najjar pretty much has become a household name in the district, in part because that race and the current one have received considerable local and national media coverage. Campa-Najjar also has built an extensive campaign, and has raised and spent millions of dollars. He has received dozens of endorsements from local, state and federal elected officials, numerous unions and Democratic organizations, including the California Democratic Party.

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Polls have shown him in contention with, or ahead of, a small handful of high-profile Republican candidates. He has pursued populist themes about family economic concerns, access to health care, expanding educational opportunities, assisting small businesses and “ending corporate welfare.”

Calderon is recognized nationally in the residential real estate industry, with particular expertise in the Hispanic homebuying market. She has been director of the Hispanic real estate organization for nearly a decade. She also has experience in the financial services industry and, according to her website, has served on the advisory board of the Banc of California, the Fannie Mae Affordable Housing advisory council and the California Wilderness Coalition.

In a questionnaire for Ballotpedia, she said her top issues are addressing San Diego’s affordable housing crisis, working to fix the immigration system and protecting the environment. She’s also stressing pocketbook issues.

Given Campa-Najjar’s considerable head start, it’s hard to see what Calderon’s path to victory would be. Asked in an email about where she differed with Campa-Najjar, Calderon answered the question broadly.

“I can tell you how I differ from all the candidates: Whether it’s from being a businesswoman, or a Latina and working mom, I think voters trust real-world, non-political experience,” she said.

Ten candidates are running but only a few are well-known: former radio talk show host Carl DeMaio, former Rep. Darrell Issa and state Sen. Brian Jones among the Republicans, and Democrat Campa-Najjar.

Calderon initially set her sights on the Davis seat in a Democratic district that politically might seem more friendly. Seventeen candidates have filed to run for that office, including two women with considerable political backing and/or financial resources: San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez and Sara Jacobs, granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs.

“Congress needs more well-qualified women in its ranks,” Calderon said, explaining her shift. “Since it’s clear they’re headed for that outcome in the 53rd, I turned my attention to the 50th, where that isn’t the case.”

Candidate Helen Horvath, a psychologist who is registered as having no political party preference, no doubt disagrees.

Calderon also said she was spurred to enter the race when Hunter announced his retirement, adding that “I thought I was best to stop Darrell Issa from getting back to D.C., because he’s exactly what’s wrong with Congress.”

She also said, “The lesson for a lot of Democrats coming out of 2018 is that moderate, female candidates give us our best shot to compete in battleground districts, and that’s what I intend to do here.”

Calderon said she was encouraged to run by Emily’s List, which backs Democratic women who support abortion rights. So far, she has not been endorsed by the group. She said she has been endorsed by former candidates Josh Butner and Patrick Malloy, “who together received the majority of votes cast for Democrats in the primary election in the 50th last year.”

Under the California primary system, the two candidates with the most votes advance to November, regardless of party affiliation. There was a time when some Democratic operatives thought having a second candidate in the race might land both in the fall election, given the advantageous Democratic turnout in March. But that was when the Republican field looked like it would be larger, potentially resulting in a greater split of the GOP vote.

“The math just doesn’t work,” said Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party.

Rodriguez-Kennedy said he didn’t really know much about Calderon, and said of her candidacy, “It’s not helpful.” (He noted that he is friends with Campa-Najjar.)

Still, he didn’t see her as an impediment to Campa-Najjar winning one of the top two spots.

Campa-Najjar said he wasn’t overly concerned about the sudden Democratic competition.

“I don’t think too much about it,” he said. “I’m really focused on my race.”

He did question Calderon’s commitment to the East County district, in part because it wasn’t her first choice.

Calderon said she has “deep connections to this district — having worked here, and with multiple generations of my family having settled in this area of Southern California.”

One connection she doesn’t have is residency. Like DeMaio of Rancho Bernardo and Issa of Vista, Calderon, whose home is in San Diego’s College Area, lives outside the district.

Legally, that’s permissible. Politically, maybe not so much.

A Los Angeles judge has overturned a jury’s award of $15.4 million in damages to former Times sports columnist T.J. Simers against the newspaper for age and disability discrimination, saying the amount was not justified because of misconduct by the plaintiff’s attorney and that the award was excessive.

Superior Court Judge William A. MacLaughlin ordered that a new trial be held in regard to what damages Simers should receive related to his claim. Simers said he was demoted in 2013 from columnist to a reporter once he developed health problems.

“Plaintiff is entitled to substantial compensation, but the damages awarded by the jury are excessive and cannot be justified by the evidence,” the judge ruled.

Simers’ attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.

It would be the third time a jury must consider the sole issue of damages in the case. An appeals court has already upheld a verdict that Simers suffered age and disability discrimination at the newspaper.

In the most recent case, a jury in August awarded Simers more than $15 million in damages. But in his Dec. 23 ruling, MacLaughlin overturned the award and issued a scathing rebuke of Simers’ attorney.

Specifically, the judge faulted the attorney for presenting evidence about the newspaper’s finances to jurors. MacLaughlin said information about the paper’s finances should not have been presented to jurors or considered when determining damages.

“The misconduct of [Simer’s] counsel, which had no basis whatsoever in the evidence and violated the court’s instruction that the jury should not consider the defendant’s wealth, was so egregious, harmful and prejudicial that no instruction and admonition would have prevented the harm done and that nothing short of a new trial could or can alleviate that harm,” the judge wrote.

The judge ruled that there was no justification for $450,000 in damages awarded to Simers for the period in 2013 when The Times’ investigation into his conduct was ongoing but which took place before his demotion. MacLaughlin also found that the jury’s award of an additional $15 million in damages covering the period before and after the trial was excessive.

“It is not the act of harm that is compensable — it is, rather, the effect on the person and, in the court’s view, it is Simers who was, by far, the best witness to describe that,” MacLaughlin said in his ruling. Simers “testified that, contrary to the medical opinions, he does not have depression, that he deals with the sense of loss and that he is going on with his life, often through continued activity with his family.”

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the Los Angeles Times was part of Chicago-based Tronc Inc. Tronc, now called Tribune Publishing, sold The Times to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2018. But Tribune Publishing assumed liability for the Simers case as part of the sale.

At the time of the jury’s decision, Simers’ attorney, Carney Shegerian, said the verdict on age and disability discrimination was a vindication for the sports columnist and his family. His lead trial lawyer, Nick Rowley, said it would eventually mean about a $22-million payout because of interest.

Tribune’s lawyers, in appealing the damages, contended Simers suffered minimal harm and that the stress he felt was health-related and not the personnel investigation into his conduct.

Simers joined The Times in 1990 as a sportswriter and became a columnist 10 years later. He alleged in his lawsuit and at trial that his troubles began after he suffered what was initially diagnosed as a mini-stroke in March 2013 while covering baseball spring training in Arizona. He later was diagnosed with complex migraine syndrome.

After his health problems surfaced, Simers contended, his work came under increased scrutiny and criticism by the newspaper’s top two managers at the time — both of whom praised his writing and reporting.

In May 2013, The Times cut Simers’ three weekly columns to two in hopes of improving their quality, citing several recent ones that were “poorly written or reflected poorly” on the newspaper.

The next month, Simers was suspended with pay after the Sports Business Journal reported that he and television producer Mike Tollin were developing a comedy based loosely on the writer’s life.

Times editors said Simers had violated the newspaper’s ethics guidelines on conflicts of interest by not fully disclosing his business relationship with Tollin, who had made a short video featuring the columnist, his daughter and NBA star Dwight Howard.

Simers maintained that his immediate supervisors knew of his relationship with Tollin and that the sitcom project was dead.

In August 2013, after an internal investigation, Simers’ editors told him his column was being taken away and that he would become a reporter, keeping his full pay and benefits. They later offered him a one-year contract to resume his column, on the condition that he agreed to abide by the paper’s ethics guidelines.

Simers instead resigned Sept. 6, 2013, a day after accepting a job at the Orange County Register with a salary of $190,000. Simers took a buyout from the Register in June 2014 and retired.

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Authorities deactivated an Amber Alert on Friday evening, after quickly finding a 3-year-old girl who had allegedly been abducted by her mother during a custody visit in Orange County.

Christina Lujan, 39, was visiting her mom and daughter, Josephine Lujan, in Garden Grove on Friday afternoon. When Lujan’s mother went inside her house and came back out, both Lujan and the girl were gone, according to the California Highway Patrol and the Garden Grove Police Department.

The CHP dispatched an alert at roughly 5:35 p.m. warning that Lujan “should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Authorities found Lujan off the 15 Freeway in San Bernardino, according to the CHP, and deactivated the alert at 7:11 p.m.

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Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, Dec. 28.

Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week:

Top stories

Church erases debt. Working with a debt-forgiveness nonprofit, an Eagle Rock church is helping to wipe out $5.3 million in medical debt for 5,555 low-income households in the Los Angeles area.

L.A. rents are skyrocketing. Average rent in the city of L.A. has ballooned to $2,527, a 65% increase since 2010, according to a new study. That’s significantly higher than the national average of 36%. Family incomes have been unable to keep pace.

So are game ticket prices. Amid the race to outfit athletic venues with gourmet dining, luxury suites, VIP seats and video boards, going to professional sporting events has become all but unaffordable for the typical family in the L.A. area.

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Waiting for a miracle. An Army officer arrived last week at the San Diego airport to a swarm of hugs and tears where his family waited for him at the curb. He came to say goodbye to his mother before her scheduled deportation date of Jan. 2.

Climate change lessons. California students are eager to engage in a growing youth climate activist movement, science educators say. But widespread science teacher shortages and the lack of training among many current teachers may hinder state efforts to implement new standards for climate change education.

Christmas storm strands drivers. A strong winter storm barreled into Southern California on Christmas Day and spent the night, dumping rain and blanketing the mountains with heavy snow. Interstates 5 and 15 were shut down until Friday morning as several drivers were left stranded for up to eight hours.

Plus: Is it safe to go to the beach after the most recent storm? Here are some precautions and commonly asked questions about rain and pollution.

Naming controversy. California is dotted with numerous racially offensive place names, many of them holdovers from the Gold Rush. One lawyer is fighting the town of Lone Pine to change the derogatory name of a historic campground.

New internet rules. A sweeping new California law that aims to rewrite the rules of the internet and make online life more transparent is set to go into effect on Jan. 1. Businesses must comply, but they’re scrambling to keep up.

Predicting homelessness. Is there a way to predict who will become homeless? These UCLA researchers say they’ve analyzed millions of interactions between Los Angeles County’s social services agencies and residents and significantly improved the odds of identifying who’s at risk.

The year that was. We asked you, our Essential California readers, to tell us about how this year’s headlines affected your lives. More than 70 of you wrote in to share your experiences. Here’s what you had to say.

This week’s most popular stories in Essential California

1. Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom bows out with a Venice Beach goodbye after 40 years. Los Angeles Times

2. He claimed Chumash ancestry and raised millions. But experts say he’s not Chumash. Los Angeles Times

3. A 111-year-old, believed to be the oldest man in the U.S., celebrates his birthday in Laguna Woods. Orange County Register

4. First of two holiday-week storms packs an unexpected wallop across the Southland. Los Angeles Times

5. ‘Our worst nightmare’: Vandalism at Persian synagogue stuns congregation. Los Angeles Times

ICYMI, here are this week’s great reads

Fake snow is in high demand. Just don’t ask how it’s made. Los Angeles Times

Chinese restaurants are closing. That’s a good thing, the owners say. New York Times

A cornucopia of riches: The fantastic crew over at Longreads have released their Best of 2019 year-end collection, which includes guest story picks for crime reporting, science, sports, essays and more. Longreads

Plus, a W.S. Merwin poem to close out your year. Poetry Foundation

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to Julia Wick. Follow her on Twitter @Sherlyholmes. (And a giant thanks to the legendary Diya Chacko for all her help on the Saturday edition.)

“Ford v Ferrari,” the latest film from James Mangold (“Logan,” “The Wolverine”) centers on one of the most legendary tales of the Ford Motor Co.: when it hired Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon) and poured every ounce of engineering (and money) into its now iconic GT40 to try to beat Ferrari at the running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale).

Production designer François Audouy talked to The Envelope about how he detailed the 1960s period piece that’s based on a true story.

This is your third film with James Mangold. What stands out to you working with the director?

With Jim, the look of the movie comes out organically. He doesn’t rush into things and lets the sauce simmer. He trusts the process and has a lot of patience in prep to let the visual voice develop. That’s why I love collaborating with him.

What did you focus on in prep to visually tell the allegory?

Neither of us are car gurus, so we had to become experts in the material. We did a deep dive into all the imagery of the period and, visually, we were inspired by the 1966 film “Grand Prix” for its visceral look at racing.

But an early moment for us was when we put the images of all the cars up on the wall. The cars were going to be the constant in the film. Just looking at them inspired us to use color in interesting ways. We didn’t want a sepia-toned film; we wanted to harness the kaleidoscope of color that presented itself.

How did you use color to distinguish location and the company cultures of Ford and Ferrari?

There are no subtitles to tell you where you are, so we created clarity through specific color palettes and architectural motifs. With Ford, steely blues add a feeling of a cool corporate America. Then with Ferrari, we added warm naturalistic earth tones that also contrast with the sun-bleached palette of Shelby’s workshops in Venice, Calif.

One hurdle looked to be recreating the Ford factory in Michigan. How did you accomplish that?

Nearly every sequence was shot on location in Southern California, Georgia or Le Mans, France. A gigantic old factory in downtown Los Angeles stood in for the Ford factory. We took over the whole building and restored the location — building out the management offices above and the three assembly lines of cars down below — all of which worked under their own power.

That’s really cool.

It was. We went to great lengths to make that factory scene where we’re introduced to Henry Ford II [Tracy Letts] as authentic as we could. We even found 21 Ford Falcons, bought them and stripped them down to recreate them being born on the assembly line. If you look closely, each row tells a story: The first being the cars coming out of primer, the middle being painted cars with their windshields attached and the third row is the finished cherry-red car ready for sale.

How difficult was detailing the sets behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The Le Mans track, known as the Circuit de la Sarthe, no longer resembles the 1966 version, so everything from the grandstands to the track itself had to be created from scratch. In our research, we learned racing aficionados know every turn and inch of the iconic track, so we couldn’t fake it. We had to cast every turn and match nearly every hump in the road.

Then how did you pull the nostalgic racing sequence together?

We needed to represent the race in a very macro way and divided it into four different pieces. The grandstands, VIP boxes, car pits and press boxes were all built at the Agua Dulce Airpark in Santa Clarita, Calif. We collected over 300 photos of Le Mans, and the organization provided us with never-before-seen footage of the 1966 race, which allowed us to detail the set with the period-correct banners, advertisements, posters and signage.

We also took over the Grand Prize of America racetrack in Hutchinson Island [in Georgia] and completely re-dressed it. We used about 3,200 feet of the Road Atlanta in Braselton to recreate a full-scaled version of the Dunlop Bridge. And we found a stretch of Route 46 outside of Statesboro for the Mulsanne Straight and the hairpin turn in the movie. Each piece represented a very specific part of the race that we storyboarded and fed into [the early viewing system] previs, so it was all planned out before shooting.

Were the Le Mans scenes the biggest accomplishment on the project?

In a way. As a production designer, you have to be a believer. What I’m most proud of on this film is that it’s really hard to tell the difference between the practical and visual effects. I think it speaks to the tight integration we had between all the departments. We were real partners in bringing Jim’s vision to the screen.

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