Norma Ashby confronts ‘Suvival vs. Taboo’ at Ridge WritersNorma Ashby will talk

about her long path con-fronting “Survival vs. Taboo”for her program at the RidgeWriters meeting on Thurs-day, July 11, starting 6:30p.m. This takes place in themeeting room of RidgecrestPresbyterian Church, 633W. Las Flores. The public isinvited and admission isfree.

Ashby has completed amemoir set in Hollywood inthe ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. Herchronicle begins when hermother threw her out oftheir house with nothingmore than a suitcase at theage of 18. The young girlsupported herself with thejobs she could find, but even-tually ran out of options andbecame a high-priced “ap-

pointments only” call girl.Terrified, she took the firststep, learning her trade froma former Owls Saloonmadam. In time, she had achild to raise and a new pro-fession. Years later, one ofher experiences caught theattention of the ACLU andthey took her case. She hasappeared on “Oprah” andthe “Sally Jessy Raphael

Show,” and spoken exten-sively around the country.

Ashby had the idea of put-ting her story to paper longago, at one point sharing itwith a writing class that re-acted in an unexpected way.Since then, she has weighedher approach as to how can-did to go, and how to dealwith privacy considerations.She remains undecided andfor that reason, will open herto presentation to plenty ofquestions and input fromthe audience.

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Just for you, Super Food & Friendly, too!Serving Kernville for 34 Years!

NewsWednesday, July 3, 2019 www.ridgecrestca.com A2

QUESTIONS? Contact Publisher John Watkins at 375-4481 x101 or atjwatkins@ridgecrestca.com

Helen Claire Johantgen(Heck) passed away peace-fully surrounded by someof her family on June 26,2019.

Helen was born in SanDiego, CA and grew up inRidgecrest, CA. She at-tended Pierce Elementaryand Saint Ann School un-til she moved on to Bur-roughs High School. Shegraduated from BurroughsHigh School in 1975. Sheattended and played tennisfor Cerro Coso until 1977when she met her hus-band, John Heck, andmoved to Mechanicsburg,PA. Helen and John cele-brated their 40th weddinganniversary on June 23,2019. They had three chil-dren, Casey Bryant, Alison

Rae, and DanielStephen. The familymoved to Poquoson, VA in1988, where they lived un-til moving to NewportNews, VA in 2017. Helenworked for the PoquosonPublic Library for over 20years before retiring inJanuary 2018.

She is survived by herhusband and children, hermother, Helen Jackson,her younger siblings - BessJohantgen Reed, John Jo-hantgen, Jeannie Fitch,and Francis Johantgenand many nieces andnephews. She was preced-ed in death by her father,John "Jack" Johantgen,brother Knud Nielsen, andsister Marie Johantgen.

The family thanks He-len's many doctors andnurses at Virginia Oncolo-gy and elsewhere for theirdiagnosis and longtimetreatment of her rare im-mune deficiency.

A memorial service willbe held on July 13, 2019 at1 p.m. at Weymouth Fu-neral Home in NewportNews. A celebration of He-len's life will be held at St.Michael's Hall in NewportNews immediately follow-ing the service. In lieu offlowers, the family re-quests donations be givento the Immune DeficiencyFoundation or Dining forWomen.

Helen Claire Johantgen (Heck)

OBITUARY

Change to NAWS ChinaLake hazmat storage permit

Naval Air Weapons Sta-tion China Lake issued anotification of a Class 1modification to its Re-source Conservation andRecovery Act Part B per-mit for storage of haz-ardous wastes.

The modification in-cludes:

— Addition of wastecodes for treated wood

— Revisions to addressregulated equipment as-sociated with the liquidpetroleum waste tanks at

the Hazardous WasteStorage Facility

— Revisions to recordkeeping

— Revision of trainingrequirements to meet re-cent regulatory changes;

— Change requested bythe California Depart-ment of Toxic SubstancesControl (DTSC) in thevertical soil samplingmethod in the MonitoringPlan for the Burro CanyonTreatment Facility

— And addition of des-

ignated Emergency Co-ordinator in the Spill Re-sponse Plan.

Elly Daoud with theDTSC is the agency con-tact for this Class 1* Per-mit Modification. If youhave questions or com-ments regarding this No-tice or the Permit Modifi-cation, please contactDaoud at the followinglocation:

Elly Daoud Departmentof Toxic Substances Con-trol 8800 Cal Center

Drive Sacramento CA95826-3200 (916) 255-3573

elly.daoud@dtsc.ca.gov Questions or comments

may be addressed to Mar-go Allen, NAWS ChinaLake Public Affairs Offi-cer, at 760-939-1683, bysending them tomargo.allen@navy.mil, ormailing to NAWS, Attn:Margo Allen, 1 Adminis-tration Circle, STOP 1014,China Lake CA 93555-6100.

City updating its traffic signalsThe City of Ridgecrest

will be updating the traf-fic signals along SouthChina Lake Boulevard,between California Av-enue and CollegeHeights Boulevard, tooperate in coordinationwith each other.

The intersections at

California Avenue,Church Avenue, UpjohnAvenue, Rader Avenue,Bowman Road and Col-lege Heights Boulevardwill be affected, with theresults being improvedefficiency and prioriti-zation of traffic flowalong the S. China Lake

Blvd. corridor, and re-duced congestion.

This coordination willintroduce new signaltimings as well as newpatterns for left turns.The analysis for thesechanges was performedbased on posted speedlimits, so the City asks

that everyone drive safe-ly and patiently duringthis time.

The corridor will take afew days to synchronizecompletely; if you noticeanything out of the ordi-nary, please call the Pub-lic Works Department at760-499-5083.

Summer youth volleyball camp at Cerro CosoCerro Coso Community

College Women’s Volley-ball is hosting a SummerYouth Volleyball SkillsCamp July 22 – 25 in theCollege Gymnasium.

Ages 9 – 13 will trainfrom 8 to 10:30 a.m. andages 14 and up will trainfrom 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.Coaching and instruction

from Cerro Coso Volleyballcoaching staff and players.

Cost is $80 per camperand includes a camp t-shirt, daily instruction onall volleyball skill sets(passing, serving, spiking,setting, and blocking), aswell as volleyball rotationsand systems. Additionalchild from same house-

hold is only $70. Please register by July

12th for a t-shirt, all regis-trations after this date willnot guarantee a shirt.

Participation in theskills camp is a great wayto get ready for the up-coming volleyball season.

Volleyball attire re-quires: shorts, t-shirt, no

jewelry, tennis shoes (noVans), knee pads optional,but helpful. Bring a waterbottle and the college willsupply the water.

Contact coach KimYoung for registration in-formation at 760-382-4448 or email her at Kim-berly.young@cerrocoso.edu.

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NewsWednesday, June 3, 2019 www.ridgecrestca.com A7

QUESTIONS? Contact Publisher John Watkins at 375-4481 x101 or atjwatkins@ridgecrestca.com

MORENO VALLEY,Calif. - The Bureau ofLand Management hasappointed five members tothe California Desert Dis-trict citizen-based DesertAdvisory Council, whichadvises the agency on over10 million acres of south-ern California desert pub-lic land management is-sues. The DAC is com-posed of members withdiverse interests and back-grounds.

"The Desert AdvisoryCouncil is a valuable pan-el of citizens that providesinput and advice into themanagement of more than

11 million acres of publicland throughout thesouthern Californiadesert,” states Ben Gruber,Acting California DesertDistrict Manager. "I wel-come the newest mem-bers and look forward tocontinuing the strongworking relationship weenjoy with the council.”

The newly appointedmembers of the BLM Cal-ifornia Desert District Ad-visory Council include:

— James Kenney, ar-chaeological interests

— James Bagley, public-at-large

— Samuel P. White-

head, public-at-large— Daniel Taylor, devel-

oped outdoor recreationinterests

— Edward S. Stovin, off-highway-vehicle users

Resource AdvisoryCouncils, such as the DAC,are composed of citizenschosen for their expertisein natural resource issuesand help the BLM carryout its nation-wide stew-ardship of 245 millionacres – the largest landportfolio of any federalagency. The BLM main-tains 38-chartered advi-sory committees in theWest, where most BLM-

managed land is located. Each RAC consists of

10 to 15 members whorepresent stakeholder in-terests in public land man-agement, such as conser-vationists, outdoor recre-ationists, ranchers, indus-try officials, tribal lead-ers, state and local govern-ment officers, academicsand others.

For more informationon becoming involved inthe California Desert Dis-trict Advisory Council,please visithttps://www.blm.gov/get-involved/rac/california/california-desert-district.

BLM appoints 5 toDesert Advisory Council MORENO VALLEY,

Calif. – With the approach-ing Independence Day hol-iday, visitors to public landsare reminded that fire re-strictions remain in effectand will most likely contin-ue into the winter seasonthroughout the CaliforniaDesert District, due to wild-land fire danger.

Fire officials estimatethat nearly 90 percent ofwildland fires impactingBLM-managed publiclands in California over thelast decade have been hu-man caused. Individualswho spark wildfires, inten-tionally or unintentionally,may be held responsible forfire suppression and prop-erty damage costs.

The public is reminded ofthe following precautions:

— Visitors are responsiblefor checking fire and targetshooting restrictions beforevisiting public lands. All re-striction information isavailable on the BLM Cal-ifornia fire restrictions web-site athttps://go.usa.gov/xmUEG.

— The possession or useof all fireworks, including“safe and sane,” floating skylanterns, fire balloons oracetylene balloons, is pro-hibited year-round on allBLM-managed publiclands, regardless of thosewithin the city limits where“safe and sane” fireworksare allowed.

— Where legal to have or

use, please make surecampfires, cigarettes or ci-gars are put out when fin-ished and disposed of prop-erly.

— Carry a shovel and wa-ter at all times, and checkweather forecasts and firedanger conditions beforeleaving home.

— Park motor vehiclesaway from locations whereexhaust could cause grass orother combustibles to ignite.

— The possession or useof any steel jacketed or steelcore ammunition of anycaliber is illegal on BLM-managed public lands year-round except when legallyhunting.

— One less spark meansone less wildland fire. Learnmore about preventing awildland fire athttp://www.readyforwild-fire.org/. Free campfire per-mits are available online athttp://www.preventwild-fireca.org/Campfire-Per-mit/, and at BLM, ForestService and CAL FIRE of-fices.

For more informationabout wildfire preventionfrom the BLM, please con-tact: California Desert Dis-trict Office 951-697-5200;Barstow Field Office, 760-252-6000; El Centro FieldOffice, 760-337-4400; Nee-dles Field Office, 760-326-7000; Palm Springs-SouthCoast Field Office, 760-833-7100; or RidgecrestField Office, 760-384-5400.

BLM reminds the publicto be wildland fire aware

On July 1, 2018, theKern County Sheriff’s Of-fice received a grant fromthe Alcohol BeverageControl totaling$100,000.

During the grant yearwhich ended June 30,deputies from the KernCounty Sheriff’s Officeconducted 42 decoy oper-

ations and 26 general en-forcement operations.That resulted in 132 ar-rests for violations rang-ing from narcoticscharges, providing minorswith alcoholic beverages,and minors in possessionof alcoholic beverages.

Deputies also conduct-ed seven IMPACT inspec-

tion operations at numer-ous locations in the coun-ty. These inspections areto ensure businesses li-censed through ABC areup-to-date and in compli-ance with requirements,as well as dealing withblight issues at the loca-tions. The Sheriff’s Officeis committed to working

in partnership with thecommunity to addressthese issues involving un-derage drinking andblight issues at these ABClicensed establishments. Ifyou have any issues withthese types of locations,please contact the KernCounty Sheriff’s Office oryour local ABC office.

KCSO grant results in 132 DUI arrests

W W W . R I D G E C R E S T C A . C O M

This Fourth of July may we not forget:

We live in the land of the free, because of the brave.

Thank you to our veterans and the men and women serving in our armed forces today.

www.McCarthyforCongress.comPaid for by Kevin McCarthy for Congress

NewsWednesday, June 3, 2019 www.ridgecrestca.com A8

QUESTIONS? Contact Publisher John Watkins at 375-4481 x101 or atjwatkins@ridgecrestca.com

KERNVILLE — Cele-brate Independence Dayon the Sequoia NationalForest! Hike a trail, fish inour beautiful rivers andlakes, and see the fireworksover Lake Isabella on Sat-urday, July 6. The Fourthof July weekend is alwaysbusy on the Forest. If youhave not reserved a camp-site, you will be able tofind somewhere to camp.Visit www.fs.usda.gov/se-quoia or on our app at se-quoia.oncell.com to helpplan your trip.

Know before you go -things to be aware of thissummer: • Campfire re-strictions are in effect be-low 5,000 feet: On the Se-quoia National Forest andGiant Sequoia NationalMonument, campfires andbarbecues are only allowedin developed campgroundsor areas designated as ex-empt from fire restrictions.A list of designated ex-empt areas is availableonline or at one of ouroffices. Visitors are al-lowed to have a portable

gas stove or lantern (withan off switch/valve) outsidedeveloped or designatedareas with a valid Califor-nia campfire permit. Acampfire permit can beobtained, free of charge, atany Forest Service, CALFIRE, or Bureau of LandManagement office or byvisiting the SequoiaNational Forest website. •Fireworks, exploding tar-gets, tracer rounds, andother incendiary ammu-nition or devices are not al-lowed in the Sequoia Na-tional Forest and GiantSequoia National Monu-ment at any time. This in-cludes sparklers and so-called safe and sanefireworks. • Campingalong the Upper Kern: Topromote a healthy ecosys-tem along the Wild andScenic Upper Kern River,camping is now permit-ted only in developed (fee)campgrounds and unde-veloped (free) camping ar-eas. Day-use activities suchas fishing and picnickingare allowed within the rest

of the corridor, but camp-ing is not allowed outsideof the named fee and freecamping areas. • Pleaseuse caution when aroundany body of water. Alwayswatch young children andplease wear a life jacket.The Kern River is flowingswift and dangerously fastthis year. If you plan onrafting on the river, planyour trip with anexperienced professionalraft guide. • Old GoldledgeCampground implement-ed a new permit system.The free permit program isonly in place during highuse Holiday weekends,such as Labor Day Week-end. Forms and informa-tion are available onlineat fs.usda.gov/goto/Old-GoldledgeCampground-Permit or the Kern RiverRanger District Office(11380 Kernville Road,Kernville, CA 93238). •Please be advised NO glassis allowed along the upperand lower Kern River or onthe shores of LakeIsabella. • Dispersed

camping is allowed on theshores of Isabella Lake atAuxiliary Dam, Old Isabel-la, and South Fork Recre-ation Area for a fee of $10per day or $50 for the year.You can obtain your pass atGolden State Surplus inLake Isabella, Sierra Gate-way Market in South Lakeor at any Forest ServiceOffice. There is also freedispersed camping at StineCove and Hanning Flat.

Regular office hours: The Kernville Forest

Service Office is open sev-en days a week from 8:00AM to 4:30 PM, (760)376-3781.

The Lake Isabella Of-fice is open on weekdaysfrom 8:00 AM to 4:30PM, (760) 379-5646.

The Blackrock RangerStation is open Thursdaythrough Monday from8:00 AM to 4:30 PM,(559) 539-2607, extension2276.

The Kern River RangerDistrict's three offices areclosed on Thursday, July 4,2019.

Independence Day on the Kern River Ranger District

It’s all over but thecounting.

President Trump willwin re-election in a land-slide.

I know, it’s early…wayearly in some people’smind to make that state-ment with the actual bal-

lot-counting more thana year from now. Howdare I say that now?

Consider:The performance of the

Democrat candidates onthe dais of the recent de-bates.

The far left social agen-da of the Democratic Par-ty. Who really wants that?

Trumps success in tar-iffs and a new agreementwith Mexico and Canada.The President is runningthe country like a busi-ness. Wow, imagine that!

My good friend TriceHarvey on several timessaid money is the “milk ofpolitics-got to have it.”

Trump has plenty in thebank and is still raisingstrong.

President Trump andthe GOP raised over $105million in the secondquarter and had $100million cash on hand.This haul of cash waslarger by a big marginwhen looking at formerPresident Obama’s col-lection in the 2012 elec-tion cycle.

Now I realize a lot offunny things can happenbetween now and No-vember 2020 but as ofJuly 3, 2019, Trump's re-election bid seems prettysolid.

Helping the GOP is agrowing feud betweenSenator Chuck Schumerand Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi.

Seems Nancy is upset atthe Senate Dems agreeingto the $4.6 billion borderbill. Nancy and her Pro-gressive wing of the par-ty wanted to hold Trumphostage as they soughtgreater restrictions onTrump and his policies aswell as more protectionsfor migrant children.

They felt it (approvingthe bill) neutralized themin dealings with the Sen-ate, too. Meanwhile, theHouse moderates loved

making Pelosi and heragenda “toast” in this case.

Thus the emergency ofChuck vs. Schumer.

What’s in it for ourCongressman Kevin Mc-Carthy?

How about a sweep ofGOP candidates, or atleast enough to put himback in power, possibly asSpeaker of the House.

He is a prolificfundraiser for the GOPand can string together abunch of IOU’s that canbe cashed in when itcomes to the Speakerelection. An ar-dent booster of PresidentTrump will help his cause,

too.His elevation to the

Speakership will also helpChina Lake, Ridgecrestand China Lake, too.

Here’s wishing all aHappy and Safe July 4th.Good time for family,friends and BBQs.

— John Watkins is thepublisher of the Daily In-dependent. Contact himat jwatkins@ridgecrest-ca.com.

•••The views expressed

are those of the colum-nist and do not neces-

sarily represent the offi-cial stance of the Daily

Independent.

JOHN WATKINS

Publisher’s Pen: The November 2020 election

The Kern County Sher-iff’s Office has receivedreports of a scam involvingpeople pretending to bewith the Sheriff’s Office.

On June 30, a personreceived a phone callclaiming they had a felonywarrant for failure to ap-pear, and was given “in-structions” regarding pay-ment.

The would-be victimwent so far as to go to thestore and purchase giftcards. The suspect stayedon the phone the wholetime, and knew the exactmileage it would take toarrive at the store.

The victim said as hewas leaving the store, thesuspect told him to givehim the 13-digit card

number, and it was thatpoint the victim realized itwas a scam and hung upthe phone.

In this case, the phonenumber appeared real,with a local area code, andeven a fake directory usingthe real names of our staff.

Normally, warrant pay-ments are processedthrough the Kern CountySuperior Court, notKCSO. The Kern CountySheriff’s Office will neverask for warrant paymentover the phone.

If you suspect a poten-tial scam, make sure youcall the real number forthe agency or business.The Sheriff’s Office Com-munication Center can bereached at 661-861-3110.

KCSO warnsof scam

W W W . R I D G E C R E S T C A . C O M

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tyler Skaggs stood in front ofa Los Angeles Angels logo a week ago, flanked by starteammate Shohei Ohtani and a translator. They werefilming a video to drum up All-Star support for anoth-er teammate, Tommy La Stella. Ohtani dutifully extolledthe virtues of La Stella as Skaggs stood nearby wearinga grin.

“And,” Skaggs said when Ohtani’s translation was com-plete, “he’s pretty hairy.”

Skaggs, the 27-year-old Angels pitcher found dead inhis hotel room in Southlake, Texas, brimmed with a con-fidence that he leavened with a dry wit. He grew up anAngels fan in Santa Monica and joined the organiza-tion as a first-round draft pick. He battled injuriesthroughout his career, but his belief in himself neverslackened. Last year on Players Weekend, MajorLeague Baseball’s annual event honoring youth sports,he wore the nickname “SWAGGY” across his back, andhe competed with demonstrative verve.

The death of Skaggs stunned the sport and left theindustry in mourning. The Southlake Police Departmentdid not offer a cause of death but indicated neither foulplay nor suicide was suspected. A game between the An-gels and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arling-ton was postponed.

“Tyler was one of the bright, young lights in thisworld,” former Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Weall feel the pain of his loss and pray for some comfortto his family.”

Skaggs was approaching the prime of life — healthyon the mound, and newly wed to his wife, Carli, in De-cember. For the Angels, there was the sickening sym-metry of a decade ago, when 22-year-old pitcher NickAdenhart was killed by a drunken driver. The organi-zation released a statement during the afternoon thatread, in part, “Tyler has, and always will be, an impor-tant part of the Angels Family.” His teammates relayedtheir grief and shock.

“Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel rightnow,” outfielder Mike Trout wrote. “Our thoughts andprayers are with Carli and their families. Remember-ing him as a great teammate, friend, and person who

will forever remain in our hearts … We love you, 45.”“We lost an amazing human being,” pitcher Parker

Bridwell wrote.“I know he was very close with his mom,” general man-

ager Billy Eppler said. “They raised a great son, and itshowed with how people gravitated toward him. He al-ways found the good side of everything, the good sideof people.”

The baseball fraternity echoed those sentiments.Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper said theleft-handed Skaggs possessed the best arm of anypitcher he faced in amateur baseball. Former teammateHuston Street recalled Skaggs’ blend of certainty andcalm. Another former Angel, Jered Weaver, describedSkaggs as the “ultimate competitor.”

The fiery nature of Skaggs was apparent in one of hisfinal games. When Angels manager Brad Ausmusmade a move to remove Skaggs during an outingagainst the Toronto Blue Jays, a quiet clash ensued. Aus-mus suggested Skaggs’ time on the mound was comingto an end.

“Why is someone warming up?” Skaggs asked Aus-mus. “This is my game. That shouldn’t happen. Hangup the phone.”

Skaggs developed some of his fire under the tutelageof his mother, Debbie Skaggs, who was a physical ed-ucation teacher and softball coach at Santa MonicaHigh.

“She’s really hard on me,” Skaggs told the Los Ange-les Times in 2008. “Even now, she says I should getstraight A’s. She makes me do my curveball drill. Shesays, ‘Go run around the block until you get tired.’ ”

The exertion proved fruitful. As a senior, Skaggs re-ceived an invitation to a predraft workout at Angel Sta-dium. Mike Butcher, the team’s pitching coach, watchedwith scouting director Eddie Bane as Skaggs flungcurveballs and sliders.

“You’re the one searching the country,” Butcher toldBane, “but are there any 17-year-olds better than thisone right here?”

The Angels selected Skaggs with the 40th pick in the2009 draft. He joined one of the most decorated draftclasses in franchise history, chosen in the same year asTrout, pitcher Garrett Richards and outfielder RandalGrichuk.

Skaggs could appreciate his place in Angels lore. Hefollowed the team obsessively as a teenager. He attend-ed playoff games at Angel Stadium. He could rattle offthe names of early-round draft picks such as BrandonWood and Dallas McPherson.

“Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon, Brad Fullmer,Jarrod Washburn, Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz, Shige-

Wishing You A HappyWishing You A HappyHave a Safe and

Happy 4th of July

SSeeaarrlleess VVaalllleeyyMMiinneerraallss

B1RIDGECRESTCA.COM DAILY INDEPENDENTW E D N E S D A Y, J U L Y 3 , 2 0 1 9

BREAKING NEWS AT RIDGECRESTCA.COMSPORTS

SPORTS EDITOR LJENNINGS@RIDGECRESTCA.COM PHONE: 760-375-4481

ALLEN J. SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMESAngels fans pay their respects at dusk by placing flowers at a growing memorial at Angel Stadium in Anaheim after hearing the news that Angel pitcher TylerSkaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Texas Monday, July 1, 2019.

MONICA HERNDON/TAMPA BAY TIMESLos Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggsthrows during the third inning against the TampaBay Rays on Thursday, June 13, 2019, at TropicanaField in St. Petersburg, Fla. Skaggs died at age 27.

Angels’ Tyler Skaggs remembered forconfidence, competitiveness and wit

BY ANDY MCCULLOUGHLos Angeles TImes

SEE SKAGGS, B7

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SportsWednesday, July 3, 2019 www.ridgecrestca.com B2

QUESTIONS? Contact Sports Editor Lauren Jennings at 375-4481 x114 or atljennings@ridgecrestca.com

LYON, France — The UnitedStates is one game away fromback-to-back World Cup titles.

Alex Morgan scored a go-aheadgoal on her birthday and AlyssaNaeher saved a late penalty kickto give the U.S. women’s nation-al team a 2-1 victory over Englandduring its World Cup semifinalTuesday at Stade de Lyon.

The U.S. will now stay in Lyonto play for the title Sunday againsteither Sweden or Netherlands,who play each other Wednesday.England will compete for thirdplace Saturday in Nice.

With the score 2-1 in favor ofthe Americans, the announcedcrowd of 53,512 fell silent whenEngland earned a penalty kick inthe 69th minute. The call came af-ter England broke loose and racedup the field. Defender DemiStokes crossed the ball to EllenWhite directly in front of thegoal, but White tripped and felland Naeher chased the ball overto the end line.

The Video Assistant Referee re-viewed the play and determined

U.S. defender Becky Sauerbrunncommitted a penalty, coming incontact with White before theEnglish star hit the ground. Li-onesses captain Steph Houghtonstepped up to take the shot, agrounder to the left side of the net.Naeher anticipated the shot anddove in front of it to prevent thegoal and preserve the Americans’2-1 lead.

Naeher, who had been doubt-ed by many entering her first bigtournament as the starting U.S.goalkeeper, received a standingovation from fans and hugs fromteammates.

The entire second half waschippy and physical, but MillieBright cost England when shedrove her studs into Morgan’sshin in the 86th minute. The ref-eree handed out Bright’s secondyellow card of the night, ejectingher from the match and leavingEngland to fend off the reigningchamps with 10 players.

U.S. coach Jill Ellis shockedmany when she chose to benchMegan Rapinoe for the semifinal,a move that was not explained byU.S. Soccer before the game ex-cept to say it was not for discipli-

nary reasons. Christen Press start-ed in Rapinoe’s place on the leftwing and nailed a header into theupper corner of England net fora 1-0 lead 10 minutes in.

Nine minutes later, White be-came the top scorer in the tourna-ment with her sixth goal, anequalizer that brought the Li-onesses even 1-1. She didn’t enjoythat title alone for long, though.Alex Morgan scored her sixthWorld Cup goal in the 31st minutewhen she got her head a ballpassed forward by Lindsey Ho-ran.

After the goal, U.S. fans in thestadium sang “Happy Birthday” tothe star, who turned 30 Tuesday.

Another big VAR decision inthe 69th minute preserved theUnited States’ lead. Whitecharged the net to receive a longball forward, paused for half a sec-ond to confound Naeher andthen tapped the ball into the leftside of the net. Before play re-sumed, however, the referee sig-naled for video review and thewords “NO GOAL | OFFSIDE”flashed on the big screen mo-ments later to a loud cheer fromthe crowd.

SEBASTIAN GOLLNOW/DPA/ABACA PRESSAlex Morgan from the USA, left, duels with England's MillieBright, right, on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 during the semifinalround of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup at Stade de Lyonin Decines-Charpieu, France.

USA to play for World Cup title after beating England 2-1 in semifinalBY ALICIA DELGALLO

Orlando Sentinel

Behind the door that keepsout the noise and cool air andleads to the Kings’ locker roomat their practice rink, ToddMcLellan bounced around likea new student on a college cam-pus.

The sight of him in a Kings T-shirt might seem odd at first, butthere was no ambiguity withhis energy. The first-year Kingscoach can’t get enough done inhis new surroundings, althoughhe sometimes needs directions.

“It is still new,” McLellan said.“I’m walking in to the wrongrooms. I’m opening up thewrong doors. But it’s exciting. It’srefreshing.”

After wrapping up his time inhis offseason home in Kelowna,Canada, upon his hiring in April,McLellan is settling into life asKings coach. He closed on a

South Bay residence with hiswife, Debbie, and some localshave recognized him when he’spoked around, even if they thinkhe’s still coaching the EdmontonOilers.

“They’re wondering if we’remaking any moves,” McLellansaid jokingly.

McLellan made his first bigpublic appearance at the NHLdraft, and he’s gotten a firsthandlook at the team’s prospectswith this week’s developmentcamp. Pulling Kings’ gear overhis head is no longer an alienfeeling for the former coach ofthe San Jose Sharks and Oilers.

“I know there’s a lot of work todo, but just personally, in mysurroundings, I feel good and Ifeel comfortable here,” McLellansaid. “I feel like I’m part of theKings family.”

Among his opening tasks isreaching out to the Kings’ estab-lished players to start that rela-

tionship and get a feel for theleadership dynamic. McLellan istaking over a team that needs atough-love push, but he alsohas to make it known that hisdoor is always open.

Captain Anze Kopitar spokewith McLellan shortly after hishiring and said he got a healthyimpression of both sides of thewell-respected coach.

“I talked to Todd for about anhour and a half, and you can tell,he’s going to be strict and he’sgoing to push us,” Kopitar saidin a phone interview from Slove-nia. “But at the same time, Ithink we can go to him and tellhim things.”

Kopitar heads the remaininggroup of proven players thatincludes Drew Doughty,Jonathan Quick, Alec Martinez,Jeff Carter and Dustin Brown.That group has acknowledgedresting on its Stanley Cup lau-rels, and that manifested in un-

productive practices and littleevidence of urgency. It didn’thelp that they had a stop-gap in-terim coach in Willie Desjardins,whose fractured relationshipwith Ilya Kovalchuk infectedthe Kings’ locker room.

McLellan said he plans onmeeting with Kovalchuk, prob-ably when Kovalchuk returns tothe area.

“I’d like that to be a personalsit-down,” McLellan said. “Ithink there’s going to be a lotmore value in me looking him inthe eye, talking to him, than justto make a phone call.

“He’s a good player and he’s animportant player. We have to fig-ure how to use him and he hasto figure out how to be used, andwe’ll be fine.”

Straight-forward communi-cation has defined McLellan inhis coaching career, from hisstart as a championship-win-ning minor league coach, to his

playoff runs with the Sharks,through his last stint with Ed-monton. McLellan has steppedinto all kinds of NHL lockerrooms, and he commands re-spect with strength in one handand finesse in the other.

“If it means being a little bitmore firm, he’ll do that, but hetreats the players as profession-als,” said Kings assistant coachTrent Yawney, who worked un-der McLellan in San Jose andEdmonton. “He develops rela-tionships with them and he’s un-canny at reading personalities.He knows which guy might needa little bit of a hug and whichguy might need a little bit of akick in the ass, not necessarily inan embarrassing way, but a waythat may get a little bit more outof him. He’s all about makingthe guys better.”

New Kings coach Todd McLellan looks to unlock the door to successBY CURTIS ZUPKE

Los Angeles Times

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toshi Hasegawa, Percival, something (Scott) Schoe-neweis, Ben Weber had a weird windup,” he told theTimes this spring. “I love it. I knew all those guys.”

Skaggs took a circuitous route to join their ranks inthe majors. In the summer of 2010, the Angels shippedhim to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a four-play-er package in exchange for pitcher Dan Haren. After thetrade, Skaggs ran into Bane at a minor league game inReno. Bane was sad to see Skaggs depart the organiza-tion.

“And he told me, ‘Relax. Don’t worry about it. I’m stillgoing to play in the major leagues,’ ” Bane said. “That wasthe start of him growing up and becoming like he was.You hate to say the word ‘was,’ because it doesn’t makeany sense.”

Skaggs reached the big leagues at 20 in 2012, but couldnot find a foothold in Arizona. The Diamondbacks dealthim back to Anaheim before the 2014 season.

Health issues dogged Skaggs during his second stintwith the Angels. He required Tommy John surgery inthe summer of 2014. He made it back two years later,but was limited to 26 appearances in the majors in 2016and 2017. Skaggs started 24 games last season andshowed signs of dominance this year.

His influence on his teammates was sizable. A fan ofthe Minnesota Vikings, Skaggs often traded jabs withTrout, baseball’s biggest Philadelphia Eagles fan, overtheir NFC rivalry. Skaggs donated his time to the Chil-dren’s Hospital of Orange County, and volunteered toaccompany bullpen coach Andrew Bailey on a trip to achildren’s hospital in Minnesota this May.

“Besides being our resident DJ, he was someone whoput his arm around people and he was a great teammate,”Eppler said.

Skaggs relished the competition of his profession. Anouting last April offered an insight into his psyche. Forseven scoreless innings, he dueled with Houston Astrosstarter Gerritt Cole. Skaggs stood on the mound atMinute Maid Park and silenced one of the most danger-ous lineups in baseball. There was no where he wouldrather be.

“It’s what you live for,” Skaggs said.

SKAGGSContinued from B1

ALLEN J. SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/The Big A features a memorial to Angels pitcherTyler Skaggs at Angel Stadium in Anaheim after itwas announced that Angel pitcher Tyler Skaggswas found dead in his hotel room in Texas Monday,July 1, 2019.

McLellan, 51, kiddedthat he knew coaching washis calling “when they toldme I couldn’t play any-more.” He got injured latein his playing career, inEurope, and when theteam’s coach moved intohis building, the two chat-ted about game tactics andpractice planning.

“That really stirred thedrink for me,” McLellansaid.

McLellan’s break-through came when hewas hired to coach theHouston Aeros, then theminor league affiliate ofthe Minnesota Wild. Itwas at that time that for-mer Wild general manag-er Doug Risebrough gavethe ambitious McLellancoaching advice that he’sretained to this day.

“He said it’s his job toslow everything down (forme) now, because when Iwas a young guy … as soonas they hired me, I wasthinking NHL,” McLellansaid. “I needed to gothrough the process of hit-ting every stop and expe-riencing a lot of things,and I still have to do thosethings. I still have to learn

new tricks. But I think asI left major junior and gotto the pro level was whenI really believed that Icould have an impact, andit turned out well for me,to this point.”

McLellan became a hotNHL coaching candidateduring a three-year runas assistant coach with theDetroit Red Wings, un-der Mike Babcock, cappedby the 2008 Stanley Cup.A week later, he landed inSan Jose, with Yawney,and the two are picking itup again after just 20games with the Oilers lastseason.

In San Jose, McLellan’sstyle tilted toward a fastpace, an aggressive attackand a high volume ofshots. He oversaw one ofthe most potent powerplays in the league whileYawney directed a defensethat ranked in the top 10in goals against in all threeof his seasons there.

Jay Woodcroft hascoached with McLellan inDetroit, San Jose and Ed-monton. He calls McLel-lan’s power plays “well or-ganized, well thought-outand purposeful.”

“He has the ability tobreak down the otherteam’s penalty kill and findwhere the weakness lays,”said Woodcroft, head

coach of the BakersfieldCondors, an affiliate ofEdmonton.

The Kings are a differentanimal. Among the dis-turbing numbers is thatthey ranked 27th on thepower play and 29th onthe penalty kill last season.Kopitar, a Selke Trophywinner in 2017-18, did notreceive one vote for theaward last season.Doughty and Quick mustbounce back from outlierseasons as well. Kopitarhedged when asked if theKings would be a playoffteam next season.

“There’s some little waysto go,” Kopitar said. “Idon’t know if there’s movesplanned here, but comeSeptember or October,when training camp starts,I still think we have somereally good pieces in place.With some commitmentand a really good start,we have that in our sight.Would it make sense forme to guarantee we’ llmake the playoffs? Ab-solutely not. But that’s ob-viously where we want togo.”

Some of those goodpieces involve a bumpercrop of young talent tosupport and even push theveteran regime. Woodcroftsaid McLellan’s modernstyle of explaining his sys-

tems and doling out con-sequences, such as playingtime, gets everybody onboard.

“I think Todd is a com-mon sense communica-tor,” Woodcroft said. “Hehas a gift for boiling thingsdown to the lowest com-mon denominator. Heholds people accountable.I believe he creates a want-to-play-for mind-set in hisplayers, rather than ahave-to-play-for mind-set.”

McLellan likens theKings’ old-young makeupto his cup of coffee in theNHL. He played fivegames in 1987-88 for theNew York Islanders asthey moved from their dy-nasty era — with BryanTrottier, Denis Potvin andBilly Smith — to the nextstep.

“We are going to be uni-fied as a group when wehit the ice,” McLellan saidof the Kings. “If every-body plays to their poten-tial and has a career year,the interaction really isn’tgoing to matter. We’re go-ing to be one good team.That’s what we’re hopingfor.”

McLellan finished withinterviews on this day andmade his way back downthe hallway, hopefullyopening up the right doorsto his new home.

AL SEIB/LOS ANGELES TIMESLA Kings' new coach Todd McLellan, right, addresses a press conference after his introduction Wednes-day April 17, 2019 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, Calif.

KINGSContinued from B2

LOS ANGELES —The Los AngelesMarathon disqualified70-year-old runnerFrank Meza, sayingthat video camerasshow he left the coursefor a portion of hisrecord-setting perform-ance in March and thathis time during onestretch was so fast as tobe “impossible.”

Though Meza has re-peatedly denied cheat-ing, he has come underscrutiny with the long-distance communityquestioning his finishin 2 hours 53 minutes10 seconds — thefastest ever for a manhis age.

Amid the accusa-tions, officials with

Conqur EnduranceGroup, which operatesthe marathon, beganreviewing video fromrace cameras and se-curity cameras at re-tail stores along the26.2 miles fromDodger Stadium toSanta Monica.

The footage showedMeza, a retired physi-cian, stepped off thecourse and reenteredat another point, offi-cials said.

“The video evidenceis confirmed by a cred-ible eyewitness reportand our calculationthat Dr. Meza’s actualrunning time for atleast one 5K coursesegment would havehad to have been fasterthan the current 70-74age-group 5K worldrecord,” they stated,

adding that his pacewould have been “animpossible feat duringa marathon.”

It might seem unlike-ly that an elderly, recre-ational runner couldbecome the topic of na-tional debate, but themarathon communitytakes its ethics serious-ly and has been left dis-trustful by a history offraud. The Meza storyhas sparked thousandsof online posts, fol-lowed by a series of ar-ticles on the websitemarathoninvestiga-tion.com, which citedvideo and statistical ev-idence suggesting hecheated in more thanone event.

On Monday, Meza re-iterated his previousassertion that, duringlast spring’s race, he

left the course in searchof a restroom and con-tinued along the side-walk for some distancebefore finding one.

“I didn’t cut thecourse,” he said.

Officials also citedhim for wearing hisnumbered bib on hiship instead of pinningit to his shirt, whichhas raised concernsthat he passed the bibto another runner for aportion of themarathon.

Unlike many seriousrunners, Meza said hehas never carried a GPSdevice that might con-firm his location at alltimes.

Asked about the un-usually fast 5K pacecited by officials, he

could not offer an ex-planation.

“I don’t know,” hesaid. “I wish I did.”

Before this spring,Meza was better knownfor devoting his freetime to low-cost healthcare and mentoringLatino students. He is alifelong runner who hasserved as an assistantcoach for track andcross-country at LosAngeles Loyola High.

It wasn’t until age 60that he began enteringmarathons and, after afew years, showing sig-nificant progress. Ashis results improved,the California Interna-tional Marathon twicequestioned his irregu-lar splits, the timesrecorded at various

points along its Sacra-mento course.

Officials disqualifiedhim in both instancesand ultimately bannedhim from the event.

The L.A. Marathoninitially voiced con-cerns about Meza in2015, asking him to runthe following year withan official observer. Hechose instead to enter aNorthern Californiamarathon in 2016.

With this latest dis-qualification, L.A. offi-cials have again askedMeza to run with anobserver. He said heplans to enter in 2020to prove he can finishthe marathon in lessthan three hours.

“That’s my only silverlining,” he said.

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LA Marathon disqualifies senior runner Frank Meza for alleged cheatingBY DAVID WHARTON

Los Angeles Times