The prosecution’s star witness has yet to take the stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial. But jurors are already hearing Michael Cohen’s words as prosecutors work to directly tie Trump to payments to silence women with damaging claims about him before the 2016 election. The second week of testimony in the case will wrap up Friday after jurors heard a potentially crucial piece of evidence: a recording of Trump and Cohen, then his attorney, discussing a plan to pay off an ex-Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. The former president denies the affair. Prosecutors have spent ..read more

Only 13 thoroughbreds have won the coveted Triple Crown of horse racing in the 100-plus years since Sir Barton became the first to win all three big races — the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes — in the same year. American Pharoah’s sweep in 2015 ended a 25-year Triple Crown lull. Three years later, Justify’s sweep made him the 13th horse ever to win the Triple Crown. But which of the 13 champions had the fastest time overall? That would be horse racing legend Secretariat, who earned the three-race title in 1973 and holds the fastest combined time for each of the th ..read more

An aviation worker — who went public with safety concerns and alleged retaliation by his employer — has died following a brief illness, weeks after another Boeing whistleblower’s death, attorneys who represented both men said Thursday. Joshua Dean, 45, of Wichita, Kansas, died Tuesday after he received multiple diagnoses that included the flu, pneumonia and MRSA, prompting his family to seek an autopsy, attorney Robert Turkewitz said. “He was a healthy individual who ate well and exercised,” Turkewitz told NBC News. “So it just seems odd that he went so fast.” Dea ..read more

Finished just in time for the 150th Kentucky Derby is Churchill Downs’ latest enhancement that promises to give spectators a keen look at the 20 thoroughbreds competing in Saturday’s milestone race. Some fans will have a closer view than others in the track’s new $200 million paddock that offers a clear vista of the Twin Spires from inside and allows spectators to observe horses from several levels of a stadium-like layout as they parade around a circle before heading to the track. “The Twin Spires are back in focus, and that’s very important to us,” Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers sai ..read more

A tuberculosis outbreak among residents of a single-room occupancy hotel in Long Beach has left one person dead and led to the hospitalizations of nine others, prompting the declaration of a public health emergency, city officials said Thursday. The city Department of Health and Human Services insists the risk of exposure to the general public is low, with the outbreak restricted to a “distinct population” of people with “significant barriers to care, including homelessness and housing insecurity, mental illness, substance abuse and serious medical comorbidities.” As of April 29, a total of 14 ..read more

Police in University Park are searching for the driver who struck two elderly women – killing one of them – and took off on Thursday. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the hit-and-run was reported at 1:18 p.m. on the 2600 block of Magnolia Avenue. There, a driver backing out of a private driveway hit two women and then fled the scene eastbound on 25th Street. The woman who was killed in the crash was described as an 80-year-old woman who died at the scene. The surviving victim was described as a 90-year-old woman who remains in critical condition at a local hospital. A detailed d ..read more

Visitors to the libraries in Orange County this month will notice displays of books written by Asian American Pacific Islander authors. Its part of Orange County Public Libraries’ celebration of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. The celebration in the month of May includes author talks with celebrity chef and author Jet Tila as well as fiction writers Julie Abe and E.P. Tuazon. “When I was little, the best thing in life was just to go to a bookstore and go to the library,” recalled Abe, 33, who has penned several books in her fiction collection.   She described the mom ..read more

Firefighters battled a house fire in Lynwood Thursday afternoon following a response to a family disturbance from LA Sheriff’s Deputies. The person was reportedly suffering from a mental illness and was armed with a gun, according to Sergeant Valdez with the LASD Century Station. When deputies arrived, the home at 4800 Olanda Street was engulfed in flames. Deputies also reported hearing what they believed were gunshots. Firefighters extinguished the fire just after 5 p.m. One man was detained and it is still unknown if there are any injuries ..read more

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed more than 200 people were arrested from the UCLA campus as officers tried to clear out the pro-Palestinian protesters’ encampment Thursday morning. LAPD Interim Chief Dominic Choi confirmed a total of 210 people were arrested by the UCLA Police Department “for failure to disperse.”  “Last night, the Los Angeles Police Department was part of the unified command convened at the request of the UCLA Police Department,” Choi said in a social media posting. “ I am thankful there were no serious injuries to officers or protestors.” The LA County Public ..read more

UCLA Chancellor, Gene D. Block, addressed the Bruin community after a weeks of unrest that culminated early Thursday after officers dismantled the pro-Palestinian encampment. “Our community is in deep pain. We are reeling from days of violence and division. And we hope with all our hearts that we can return to a place where our students, faculty and staff feel safe and, one day, connected again,” wrote Block. The chancellor said that Thursday’s operation was carried out with guidance from several important principles. “The need to support the safety and wellbeing of Bruins, the need to support ..read more