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CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR COVID Carla Mendez, 17, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Esteban Torres High School in Los Angeles. Officials peg the total size of California’s incentive program, officially dubbed “ Vax MOTHER WHO KILLED GABRIEL FERNANDEZ IS DENIED RESENTENCING A judge this week rejected a resentencing request by a Palmdale woman who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old-son, who died after months of beatings, starvation CALIFORNIA BILL WOULD GIVE HEALTHCARE WORKERS COVID Assembly Bill 650 by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) would award $10,000 bonuses to California healthcare workers.

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CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR COVID Carla Mendez, 17, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Esteban Torres High School in Los Angeles. Officials peg the total size of California’s incentive program, officially dubbed “ Vax MOTHER WHO KILLED GABRIEL FERNANDEZ IS DENIED RESENTENCING A judge this week rejected a resentencing request by a Palmdale woman who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old-son, who died after months of beatings, starvation CALIFORNIA BILL WOULD GIVE HEALTHCARE WORKERS COVID Assembly Bill 650 by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) would award $10,000 bonuses to California healthcare workers.

The pay

BESTCOVERY | EXPERT REVIEWS AND RANKINGS Experts review and identify the best products and services in a variety of categories including computers, electronics, digital cameras, video games and more. SUDOKU - FREE DAILY SUDOKU GAMES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Free daily Sudoku games from the Los Angeles Times. Check back each day for a new puzzle or explore ones we recently published.

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Welcome to the free mini crossword puzzles by the Los Angeles Times. Follow the clues and attempt to fill in all the puzzle’s squares. Check back each day for a new puzzle or explore ones we EXPLAINER: SPAIN'S MIGRANT CRISIS IN NORTH AFRICA AVENUE 26 NIGHT MARKET IN LINCOLN HEIGHTS HEATS UP. TAKE A A year later, Times photojournalist Wally Skalij takes us around the Avenue 26 night market in Lincoln Heights, where weekend crowds have been growing over the last few months in THE TIMES DEBUTS ‘UNSHAKEN,’ A COMPREHENSIVE EARTHQUAKE 9 hours ago · On Sunday, June 13, the Los Angeles Times will debut “Unshaken,” a 24-page guide to preparing for Southern California’s next major earthquake. The guide will have several

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CLAYTON KERSHAW, DODGERS' OFFENSE EXCEL IN ROUT OF RANGERS 12 minutes ago · On a night of all-you-can-eat offense, Clayton Kershaw produced two singles and an RBI on Friday for the Dodgers. He pitched pretty well too, surrendering only ARCHIVES - LOS ANGELES TIMES Los Angeles Times subscribers have full access to articles on the Los Angeles Times website. This includes most articles published since

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FOO FIGHTERS SHOW'S VACCINATION REQUIREMENT UPSETS SOME 8 hours ago · Why fans would be surprised the band is on board with vaccinations is a bit of a mystery, considering the Foo Fighters’ participation last month in L.A.'s Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite

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NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA, THE NATION AND WORLD The L.A. Times is a leading source of breaking news, entertainment, sports, politics, and more for Southern California and the world. L.A. COUNTY REOPENING: COVID-19 VACCINE, MASK, TESTING Los Angeles County is eagerly awaiting a full reopening June 15. But despite the excitement, it won’t be a complete return to a pre-pandemic normal. Here are five things to expect as L.A. County

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CALIFORNIA'S COVID-19 VACCINE LOTTERY OFFERS CASH PRIZES California has announced $116.5 million in prizes for people who have or will receive COVID-19 vaccines. The idea of the “Vax for the Win” program is to increase interest in vaccinations — a CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR COVID Carla Mendez, 17, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Esteban Torres High School in Los Angeles. Officials peg the total size of California’s incentive program, officially dubbed “ Vax SUDOKU - FREE DAILY SUDOKU GAMES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Free daily Sudoku games from the Los Angeles Times. Check back each day for a new puzzle or explore ones we recently published. BEST CLASSIC SPIDER SOLITAIRE Best Classic Spider Solitaire brings the popular spider version game of the solitaire card game to the palm of your hand. As with every Solitaire game it is your objective to sort cards onto piles. NEWSOM'S CALIFORNIA STIMULUS CHECKS: WHO GETS $600, $1100 California. California legislators approve $7.6-billion COVID-19 package, including $600 stimulus checks. Crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders COVID SHORTAGES SHAKE UP USED CAR SALES, TO SELLERS There were about 101,000 used cars for sale in the L.A. region during the week that ended April 4, down 12% from the same week in 2020, and off 18% from 2019, according to EXPLAINER: SPAIN'S MIGRANT CRISIS IN NORTH AFRICA NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA, THE NATION AND WORLD The L.A. Times is a leading source of breaking news, entertainment, sports, politics, and more for Southern California and the world. L.A. COUNTY REOPENING: COVID-19 VACCINE, MASK, TESTING Los Angeles County is eagerly awaiting a full reopening June 15. But despite the excitement, it won’t be a complete return to a pre-pandemic normal. Here are five things to expect as L.A. County

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CALIFORNIA'S COVID-19 VACCINE LOTTERY OFFERS CASH PRIZES California has announced $116.5 million in prizes for people who have or will receive COVID-19 vaccines. The idea of the “Vax for the Win” program is to increase interest in vaccinations — a CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR COVID Carla Mendez, 17, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Esteban Torres High School in Los Angeles. Officials peg the total size of California’s incentive program, officially dubbed “ Vax SUDOKU - FREE DAILY SUDOKU GAMES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Free daily Sudoku games from the Los Angeles Times. Check back each day for a new puzzle or explore ones we recently published. BEST CLASSIC SPIDER SOLITAIRE Best Classic Spider Solitaire brings the popular spider version game of the solitaire card game to the palm of your hand. As with every Solitaire game it is your objective to sort cards onto piles. NEWSOM'S CALIFORNIA STIMULUS CHECKS: WHO GETS $600, $1100 California. California legislators approve $7.6-billion COVID-19 package, including $600 stimulus checks. Crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders COVID SHORTAGES SHAKE UP USED CAR SALES, TO SELLERS There were about 101,000 used cars for sale in the L.A. region during the week that ended April 4, down 12% from the same week in 2020, and off 18% from 2019, according to EXPLAINER: SPAIN'S MIGRANT CRISIS IN NORTH AFRICA OP-ED: MY DAUGHTER FELL OFF THE MENTAL HEALTH CARE CLIFF Our mental health system has failed my daughter. Again. Actually, that’s not true. There is no system, no real help for her. My 20-year-old daughter tried to kill herself three weeks ago. She THEIR VENICE HOME FEELS UNSAFE. THEY DON'T BLAME THE When Arthur and Rini Kraus bought their condo 19 years ago in Venice, every day was a postcard from paradise. They took long walks, enjoyed

gazing across open

GAMES, PUZZLES & CROSSWORD Welcome to the new L.A. Times games section, with a refreshed look and even more games! We are excited to present old favorites, like our Daily Crossword and Daily Sudoku, along with a wide MOTHER WHO KILLED GABRIEL FERNANDEZ IS DENIED RESENTENCING A judge this week rejected a resentencing request by a Palmdale woman who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old-son, who died after months of beatings, starvation IS YOUR OFFICE REOPENING? A GUIDE FOR GOING BACK AFTER After more than a year of Zooming from home, some companies are beginning to bring employees back to the office. Work is going to feel very different. Some employees hope that a BESTSELLERS LIST SUNDAY, MAY 30 1. The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman (Viking: $16) A special edition of the poem delivered at President Biden’s inauguration. 2. Klara

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CALIFORNIA'S CONTROVERSIAL MATH OVERHAUL FOCUSES ON EQUITY California educators are working on a plan to overhaul the way math is taught in K-12 schools. The plan has drawn critics who say it will hold back gifted students, while supporters say it will WHO'S RUNNING AGAINST NEWSOM IN CALIFORNIA RECALL ELECTION California. L.A. icon Angelyne, former porn star Mary Carey ready to replace Newsom in recall. Angelyne and porn star Mary Carey, who ran

in 2003 to

WHY PRICES ARE GOING UP AT AMERICAN GROCERY STORES The higher prices that food makers have been warning about for months have hit U.S. grocery carts. Seafood prices are up 18.7%, on average,

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Music

REVIEW: ON ‘CHANGES,’ JUSTIN BIEBER FINDS SALVATION THROUGH HOT MARRIED SEX AND CHILLED-OUT R&B Justin Bieber’s new album is “Changes.”

(YouTube)

By Mikael Wood Pop Music

Critic

Feb. 13, 2020

9:08 PM

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The most striking image in “Seasons” — the thinly veiled 10-part

commercial

that Justin Bieber has been rolling out piecemeal on YouTube to promote his fifth studio album — is the sight of the 25-year-old pop superstar zipping himself into a personal oxygen chamber. Proof (if you required it) that pop superstars are nothing like the rest of us, it’s a blunt visual expression of what the documentary series makes clear in plenty of other ways: Bieber, scarred from the experience of global celebrity, is in deep need of protection. Again and again, we see the people around him — his wife, Hailey Baldwin; his manager, Scooter Braun; his one-time “swagger coach,” Ryan Good — doing all they can to create a kind of safe space around Bieber, who talks frankly in the show about having his nervous system wrecked at a young age by too much money, too many drugs, too much

adulation.

The singer makes yet another cocoon for himself on “Changes,” a low-key set of gentle electro-R&B jams that depicts his relationship with Baldwin as a refuge from the unkind world he’s still not quite ready to reenter. Long on clean-toned guitars and drowsy soul grooves — and many, many words about the love of a good woman — it represents a distinct shift from the throbbing EDM of Bieber’s last album, 2015’s “Purpose

”;

its stylistic consistency marks a new approach, too, after the freelance dabbling Bieber did between LPs in far-flung collaborations with Luis Fonsi, David Guetta, Dan + Shay and others. Yet R&B has always been where Bieber — who, don’t forget, came up under the tutelage of Usher — goes for comfort and redemption. It’s the natural home for his high, breathy voice and for the little vocal flourishes at which he excels; you can hear how gratified he is to have some space to stretch out in songs such as “Habitual” and “Available,” which sound like demos compared with the tight grid-like structures of “Purpose” hits such as “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean?” In these songs and others, “Changes” can recall “Journals,” the intimate collection of digital singles Bieber released in 2013, at the end of a year in which his paparazzi exploits (including his novel use of a restaurant’s mop bucket) put a serious dent in his popularity. Chief among the studio pros here? Poo Bear, who also worked behind the scenes on “Journals” — and who can be seen regularly in “Seasons,” one more protector swaddling Bieber as they compose the relaxed melodies and appealingly quirky lyrics here.

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“Let’s not miss out on each other / Let’s get it in expeditiously,” he coos in “Come Around Me,” while “Intentions” deploys an unexpected financial-planning metaphor: “Heart full of equity, you’re an asset.” In “All Around Me” he describes the comforts of a long-term relationship like someone twice his age — then ends the track with a newborn’s squeal. (Perhaps there’s an announcement in store for the final episode of the YouTube series.) It all suggests that Bieber is finally in a good place, though the question this very chill — and often very lovely — album poses for the singer is whether that place can overlap with the spot he once held at the center of pop. The sprinkling of on-trend trap drums indicate he’s thinking about it, as do streaming-bait guest spots by

Post Malone

and Travis Scott. And Bieber’s 127 million Instagram followers — that’s twice the number Drake has — prove the spot is there for the retaking if he wants it. But the slow-burning “Changes” feels for the most part like a willful retreat from a scene that demands instant engagement. Which you’d say was precisely the point of the thing if Bieber weren’t headed out on a stadium tour in May. How this cozy, small-scaled stuff plays in those gigantic spaces is anyone’s guess. There’s only so much oxygen in the open air. -------------------------

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