Is LA Throwing a World Cup Party No One Will Attend?
Not long after Los Angeles was selected as one of 11 American cities to host next summer's FIFA World Cup, tourism officials started predicting the potential economic impact. Among the most optimistic? That the weeks-long tournament could pour almost $600 million into the local economy, mostly from international fans.
Pessimism has since taken over.
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Associated Press
34 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Victor Perez makes first US Open ace at Oakmont in 42 years, pulls within 4 shots of the lead
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Victor Perez capped a nice second-day rally with a tournament highlight — the first U.S. Open ace at Oakmont since 1983. Perez hit a 7-iron on the sixth hole, a 192-yard par 3. The ball landed short of the hole, took a couple of bounces and rolled in. Perez ended up shooting an even-par 70 on Friday despite an early triple bogey. He's at 1 over through two rounds and was tied for sixth when play was suspended because of rain with only a few players left on the course. 'Obviously, a hole-in-one takes a bit of luck,' Perez said. 'I was trying to hit something maybe 15, 20 feet past the hole.' A double eagle, or albatross — like the one Patrick Reed made Thursday — is much more rare than an ace. However, the last time Oakmont yielded a hole-in-one during this national championship was 42 years ago, when Scott Simpson had one on No. 16. The 1994, 2007 and 2016 U.S. Opens, also held at this course, all came and went without an ace. Perez, a Frenchman who earned a spot for this tournament at a qualifier in Canada, said he's on a bit of a hole-in-one run. 'I've actually had two this month, against all odds,' he said. 'Back in the Bahamas, where I live.' After shooting a first-round 71, Perez started Friday on No. 10 and quickly made a triple-bogey 8 on No. 12. 'Obviously, it wasn't an ideal start. Kind of put myself a little bit behind the 8-ball after three holes,' he said. 'It was a bit unfortunate, but I was able to kind of keep my head going and bounce back.' He was at 4 over when he birdied the par-4 fifth hole. Then came his ace, which he celebrated by doing a leaping chest bump with his caddie. 'You try to just make pars and survive,' Perez said. 'When you get kind of a chip-in, bonuses, something like that, it definitely kicks off. So it was nice to have a little bit of emotion.' By the time Friday was over, Perez was just four strokes off the lead. He said he'd have happily signed up to be 1 over through 36 holes. 'A hundred percent,' he said. Savor the moment James Nicholas clearly wanted to enjoy himself at Oakmont this week. The 28-year-old from Scarsdale, New York — who played football in addition to golf at Yale — qualified for the U.S. Open in New Jersey earlier this month and then turned some heads with a first-round 69 on Thursday. Friday wasn't as kind as Nicholas shot 45 on the front nine, including a quadruple bogey on No. 5. But he rebounded with a 33 on the back, smiling and egging on his supporters after making three straight birdies. Nicholas flipped his putter and caught it out of the air after missing a par putt on No. 18. Perhaps he thought that would cost him the weekend, but he ended up making the cut right on the number at 7 over. Executive visit Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stopped by for Friday's second around and declared his state to be 'the golf capital of the United States.' He'd surely receive some pushback on that, but Pennsylvania has been quite popular to the USGA. This is the 95th USGA championship held in the commonwealth, the most of any state. Oakmont is hosting the U.S. Open for a record 10th time. 'It's a sense of pride for Pennsylvania, and particularly western Pennsylvania, to know that this is the course that's been chosen more than any other for a U.S. Open,' Shapiro said. 'It's also big business. It means our hotels and our restaurants, our bars are filled because of this. It also opens up people's eyes to the beauty of western Pennsylvania, the great culture of western Pennsylvania.' Hastings hangs around Justin Hastings shot a second straight 73 to become the lone amateur to make the cut. The 21-year-old Hastings is the first player from the Cayman Islands to compete in the U.S. Open. He earned his spot by winning the Latin America Amateur in January in Argentina. That win also got him into the Masters, where he missed the cut by two strokes but was the top amateur. Hastings just finished his senior season at San Diego State, where he won the Mountain West individual title. Hoping for some help The rainstorm near the end of the second round was significant enough to halt play, and there's a chance for more of that over the weekend. That could be welcome if a softer course becomes a bit more manageable. 'It was starting to look like another day of hot, dry weather and the weekend would be very difficult out here,' said Adam Scott, who is three shots off the lead. 'There were certain greens that had a slickness about them and a firmness too. Fairways even getting a little bit like that. So the rain might keep it under control, hopefully, and spare us some frustrations.' ___ AP golf:
CBS News
35 minutes ago
- CBS News
Roseville-based company hosts program to guide high schoolers to high-demand trade careers
ROSEVILLE – A unique summer program is giving high school students a head start on a stable, well-paying career, not in a college classroom, but on the job site. Monday marked the first day of a week-long course designed to introduce students to careers in construction. It's part of the Heavy Metal Summer Experience, a national program focused on showing students the wide range of opportunities available in the skilled trades. The goal is to expose young people to career paths that don't require a four-year degree. Instead, students can pursue training through trade schools and apprenticeship programs, often avoiding student debt altogether. The Roseville-based company Intech Mechanical is hosting the program for the second year in a row. For one week, many of the company's staff step into the role of instructors, sharing real-world knowledge and guiding hands-on training. According to Gary Myers, a partner at Intech Mechanical and director of the local program, the effort is both timely and necessary. "Our industry needed to do a better job of promoting the construction industry as a whole," Myers said. "And teaching these high school kids there's a lot of opportunities, whether that's being a sheet metal worker, plumber, pipe fitter, electrician, construction worker, laborer, whatever that is." The program comes at a critical time. The skilled trades are facing a significant shortage of workers as older generations retire, leaving tens of thousands of job openings across the country. Fields like electrical work and pipefitting are experiencing especially high demand and programs like this are helping prepare the next generation to step in.
New York Times
39 minutes ago
- New York Times
Even Before His Return to the White House, Trump Was Becoming a Crypto Czar
Donald J. Trump got a small taste last year of life as a cryptocurrency mogul. His stake in World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency firm that he unveiled during the presidential campaign, earned about $57 million, making it one of the Trump family's most lucrative investments in 2024. And a licensing deal involving a related industry, NFT collectibles, produced another $1.2 million. Mr. Trump's wife, Melania, contributed to the family income, receiving $217,000 in licensing fees related to a digital token. The results, detailed in Mr. Trump's mandatory financial disclosure report for 2024 and released on Friday, previewed the crypto riches he is now poised to reap as president. Since Mr. Trump took office a second time this year, his crypto fortunes have skyrocketed through a series of business ventures that pose unprecedented conflicts of interest. Not only is Mr. Trump a major operator in the crypto industry, he is also its top policymaker — and a symbol of its rising stature in Washington. Even as the president seeks to deregulate and promote the industry, Mr. Trump's personal net worth has soared through crypto. Though the information in the financial disclosure ends as of Dec. 31, 2024, World Liberty announced this year that it had sold more than a half-billion dollars' worth of its coin, a significant portion of which the Trump family was entitled to. Separately, Mr. Trump developed a personal cryptocurrency known as $TRUMP, a memecoin launched days before his inauguration, that on paper could be worth billions of dollars. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
