Los angeles

The Los Angeles Rams have claimed former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield off waivers, according to reports. The Carolina Panthers waived Mayfield on Monday after he played just seven games with the team. Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks said waiving the quarterback was a mutual decision between both parties, according to an ESPN report . Wilks said Mayfield asked to be released after finding out he wouldn’t be the starting quarterback or backup in Carolina going forward, the report added. The Panthers (4-8) — still in contention to win the lowly NFC South — will continue the season with former Jets’ quarterback Sam Darnold and PJ Walker. The Rams will take on the remaining $1.35 million left on Mayfield’s contract. The former Browns’ draft pick is in the final year of a four-year, $32.6 million deal and will be a free agent at the end of the season. “This is a tough business,” Wilks told reporters on Monday. “Sitting in this seat, it was a tough decision on my part, but … [Read more...] about Los Angeles Rams claim Baker Mayfield off waivers: reports

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Even though Shohei Ohtani is back in Japan for the offseason, he has been in frequent contact with Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian about the team’s offseason moves. “We talk a lot. He’s asking me daily who we’re getting,” Minasian said during baseball’s winter meetings. “He’s into it. We have a lot of players like that. Mike (Trout) and Anthony (Rendon) are like that. I think it’s a very motivated group. “They want to see activity. They want to see the organization making a commitment to making the team better. We’ll see how it shakes out when we get to spring training what exactly we have, but we’re going to continue to look for opportunities to improve," he said. Minasian also reiterated his support for Ohtani taking whatever role he deems best for Japan during the World Baseball Classic in March. Ohtani said he is open to being a reliever. “I don’t have any issue with whatever he does. He’s not one I’m worried about,” Minasian said. “He … [Read more...] about Ohtani keeping watch on Angels’ offseason moves from afar

Former National League MVP Cody Bellinger and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a $17.5 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP, was cut by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Nov. 18 after the 27-year-old outfielder hit .210 with 19 homers, 150 strikeouts and a .654 OPS in 144 games. “Got a track record of a lot of success and dynamic defense,” Cubs manager David Ross said at the winter meetings in San Diego. “I remember when he first got in the league first base, smooth hands, dynamic center fielder, great outfielder. Hadn’t had the success he had early on, but definitely a lot of potential for a great player.” Bellinger figures to play center for the Cubs. He had a $17 million contract this season and likely would have received a slight raise in arbitration. “Playing through an injury, … [Read more...] about AP source: Cody Bellinger, Cubs agree to $17.5M, 1-year deal

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 Whether in cardboard, wood or porcelain, little villages — with houses, shops, miniature figures and snowy fir trees — have long been part of many families' holiday decorating tradition. They're also popular now as part of an ongoing love of the cozy and the do-it-yourself. “ Nostalgia is at the forefront of holiday decor this year,” says Dayna Isom Johnson, a trend expert at the crafts site Etsy.com. “So it’s no surprise that tiny Christmas villages are trending. “From classic scenery with snowy layers to modern ceramics with clean lines, families are putting their creative spin on this decades-old tradition,” she says. Little 19th century-style villages came to America with European immigrants and were further popularized by the father of five-and-dime stores, F.W. Woolworth, who sold tiny German-made cardboard houses. In the 1970s and '80s came ceramic … [Read more...] about Mini but very merry: Holiday villages a flexible tradition

Henry Fuhrmann, editor and mentor to generations of journalists at the Los Angeles Times, died earlier this month at the age of 65. Henry was a brilliant editor passionate about language, whose work was instrumental in changing newspaper standards for describing immigrants and people from minority communities, and in guiding this paper’s transition online. Here I want to highlight an aspect of his work that was equally heroic: his care for the next generation. I first met Henry at a journalism seminar organized by the Los Angeles chapter of the Asian American Journalists Assn. As a prize for correctly answering a question that I’m sure was quite trivial, he gave me a plain cream diner mug with black text: “Los Angeles Times Copy Desk.” Advertisement That mug meant so much to me. At the time I was fresh out of college, without steady work, connections or promising prospects in journalism. I took it as evidence that Henry thought I was good enough to work for the L.A. … [Read more...] about In memory of Henry Fuhrmann, who believed in us before we believed in ourselves

Skid Row in Los Angeles. Photo: David Swanson/Bloomberg via Getty Images Sam Quinones has covered gangs, crime, and the border for 35 years, including a ten-year stint at the L.A. Times . He established himself as a leading voice on the opioid epidemic with the 2015 book Dreamland , which told the story of how prescription-drug companies and a sophisticated black-tar heroin operation in Mexico wreaked havoc across the U.S. In his follow-up, 2021’s The Least of Us , Quinones focused on the rise of two synthetic drugs: fentanyl, which had become ascendant in the intervening years, and a frighteningly potent form of meth that can quickly inflict tremendous damage on users. The extreme effects of these drugs, Quinones believes, has worsened the homelessness crisis in America. I spoke with Quinones about the ravages of meth and fentanyl, how they have exacerbated social problems around the country, and what local and federal governments can do to stem the problem. … [Read more...] about How Frighteningly Strong Meth Has Supercharged Homelessness