Bass, who became chair of the USCM’s Homelessness Task Force in June, hosted the group of visiting mayors, who shared best practices and identified potential solutions to barriers that they hope to communicate to White House officials and federal lawmakers.

“When we join together as mayors, we build the national momentum to get this solved,” Bass said during a press conference on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Westin Bonaventure hotel in downtown L.A., where the mayors had gathered.

“Mayors are on the ground. Mayors are first responders. And we bear the responsibility to make sure that no one in the U.S. is left without housing, is left without support services and left to live and die on our streets,” Bass said.

USCM President and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said elected officials need to start calling out outdated or failing policies, such as the fact that federal funding to combat homelessness often goes to state or county governments but not to the cities.

The group of mayors also brought up the need for policymakers to tackle issues like mental health illnesses and substance abuse as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness.

Wade Kapszukiewicz, the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, listed some major requests that the group of mayors is seeking from the federal government, including a dramatic increase in housing vouchers, more federal protections for tenants facing evictions, increased emergency rental assistance and more investments in mental health and other support services.

“(We’re) not interested in talking; we’re interested in doing,” Kapszukiewicz said.

Immediately following the press conference, the mayors participated in a discussion with White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, who announced that the Biden administration will issue guidance to increase the flexibility in the federal housing voucher program to shorten the time someone must wait for housing.

In addition, Tanden announced that the Biden administration launch a program to better ensure that people coming out of treatment for, say, substance abuse, will have access to Medicaid services.

“We know the federal government can be a burden or it can be a partner, and our goal is to be a partner,” Tanden said.

The Biden administration had previously set a goal of reducing homelessness nationwide by 25% by the year 2025.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ two-day event wrapped up on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the mayors toured Skid Row, the epicenter of L.A.’s homeless crisis, and the Hilda L. Solis Care First Village, which provides interim housing near L.A.’s Chinatown.

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  The first view the final placement of two solid rocket motors as part of the California Science Center’s “Go for Stack” Thursday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. The process of moving the space shuttle Endeavour into a vertical launch-position display. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  Work crews install the first of two recently arrived 116-foot-long Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs) are lifted by a large, 450-foot-tall crane from their temporary location outside the California Science Center at Exhibition Park into their final vertical positions. Tuesday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

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  Work crews lift the first of two recently arrived 116-foot-long Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs) are lifted by a large, 450-foot-tall crane from their temporary location outside the California Science Center at Exhibition Park into their final vertical positions. Tuesday, Los Angeles CA/USA. Nov 7, 2023. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

The twins are both standing tall once more. Endeavour will rise anew to join them soon.

On Thursday, Nov. 9, both 116-foot-long Solid Rocket Motors of the Space Shuttle Endeavour were visible, secured in their final vertical positions at the California Science Center, the latest step in “Go for Stack” — a complex process of installing Endeavour’s 20-story vertical display — which will become the centerpiece of the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Exposition Park.

The first of the two towering engines was hoisted up by crane on Tuesday and was joined by its mate on Wednesday.

The Thursday event was a chance for media to see the dramatic scale of the vertical display before the components are fully enclosed in scaffolding that will protect the components during construction. According to the California Science Center, those barriers will be built around the full shuttle stack to protect it from the weather and construction. The scaffolding will be covered with plywood and Kevlar fabric.

The $400,000 million, 200,000-square-foot Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will nearly double the California Science Center’s educational exhibit areas with an artifact collection of aircraft and spacecraft, hands-on exhibits to encourage people of all ages to learn about the “principles of atmospheric flight and the exploration of the universe,” the center explained in a statement.

The engines — which once propelled America’s famed space shuttles into orbit — chugged down the freeway last month, trekking from storage in the desert to their new upright home.

The giant motors — each 116 feet long, more than 12 feet in diameter and both 104,000 pounds —  will ultimately become part of the only vertical, launch-ready configuration of a shuttle in the world. Science Center officials began the process of creating the display last July.

The new exhibit won’t be open until sometime after 2025. The public will have until the end of this year to catch a glimpse of Endeavour — still horizontally, however — at its current display at the museum.

Miguel Solorio, 44, was arrested in 1998 for a fatal drive-by shooting in Whittie and eventually sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Superior Court Judge William Ryan overturned Solorio’s conviction during a Los Angeles court hearing that Solorio attended remotely.Attorneys with the California Innocence Project petitioned for Solorio’s release, arguing that his conviction was based on faulty eyewitness identification practices.

In a letter last month, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said it had “confidently and definitively” concluded that Solorio is entitled to be released.

The Innocence Project said the case against Solorio relied heavily on a now-debunked method of identifying a suspect that results in contaminating the witnesses’ memory by repeatedly showing photos of the same person over and over.

In Solorio’s case, before it was in the news four eyewitnesses shown his photo did not identify him as the suspect, and some even pointed to a different person. But rather than pursue other leads, law enforcement continued to present the witnesses with photos of Solorio until some of them eventually identified him, his lawyers said.

“This case is a tragic example of what happens when law enforcement officials develop tunnel vision in their pursuit of a suspect,” said Sarah Pace, an attorney with the Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law. “Once a witness mentioned Solorio’s name, law enforcement officers zeroed in on only him, disregarding other evidence and possible suspects, and putting their own judgment about guilt or innocence above the facts.”

The district attorney’s letter noted that “new documentable scientific consensus emerged in 2020 that a witness’s memory for a suspect should be tested only once, as even the test itself contaminates the witness’s memory.”

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has up to five days to process Solorio’s release from Mule Creek State Prison southeast of Sacramento.

The retailer said it also updated its technology and grocery offerings at Amazon Fresh stores in Pasadena, Irvine and Woodland Hills.

The services were previously available only to Amazon Prime members.

Delivery fees for Amazon Fresh orders online range from $4.95 to $13.95 for customers without a Prime membership. That’s $4 more than Prime members pay per delivery. Prime members also get free delivery on orders over $100.

In its Thursday, Nov. 9 announcement, Amazon said customers also can order delivery from a variety of grocery and specialty retailers available on Amazon.com. Locally, that includes Bristol Farms and Cardenas Markets.

Amazon said it plans to expand grocery delivery and free pickup to all of its Whole Foods Markets, too.

Legal headwinds

Despite the expanded services, Amazon is reportedly facing lawsuits and getting into legal battles with landlords as the number of “zombie” stores — or properties where it was supposed to open Amazon Fresh grocery stores — is starting to pile up, Business Insider reported.

The company has been trying to establish a larger presence in the grocery marketplace, Supermarket News said, but that has been a struggle since the e-commerce giant first acquired the Whole Foods grocery brand in 2017.

Meanwhile, three local stores have been revamped.

Amazon said it added thousands of new products and Krispy Kreme Doughnut shops to Fresh stores in Pasadena, Irvine and Woodland Hills, according to Claire Peters, vice president worldwide for Amazon Fresh. The clunky Dash Carts are more user-friendly, too.

The carts, which are made heavy with technology that helps track what shoppers put inside them, got updated software and hardware providing real-time receipt totals. The carts can alert a shopper to store discounts and produce can be weighed on a built-in scale in the basket.

The smartcart allows shoppers to skip the checkout line, much like Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. When they’re ready to check out, customers exit the store through the Amazon Dash Cart lane and their payment is processed using the credit card associated with their Amazon account.

Shoppers also can check out the traditional way with cashiers.

The Southern California store upgrades follow the redesign of two Amazon Fresh stores in the Chicago area.

“We really spent the last couple months diving deep to understand what our customers really want,” Peters said. “They are focused on selection, value and convenience, so we improved on those areas.”

Peters said the Krispy Kreme shops are especially popular among shoppers.

“From what I’ve seen, everyone loves those — and our coffee sampling,” she said.

The typically five-day festival is widely celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists in India and across the world, usually in late October or early November depending on the Hindu lunar calendar. Communities come together to enjoy big feasts, festive lights, colorful fireworks and rangoli displays, and cultural customs depending on the region or religion.

Diwali — derived from “Deepavali,” which translates to a “row of lights” — celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

Here are some events across the southland honoring the Diwali tradition.

Inland Empire

Nov. 10-13: The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Los Angeles, the region’s largest Indian mandir located in Chino Hills, celebrates the Festival of Lights all weekend. Organizers shared suggestions for families to celebrate at home, starting Friday, Nov. 10 with the Dhanteras Puja prayers.  On Saturday, Nov. 11, all are invited to a children’s Diwali celebration at the mandir from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with activities, arts and crafts.

On Sunday, Nov. 12, an inaugural community Diwali celebration will include traditional and contemporary activities, starting at 4 p.m. There will be mehndi and henna booths, diya or oil lamp-lighting, rangoli/mandala art, a special veterans’ tribute program, and cultural performances from various regions of India. As part of Diwali community service, all are invited to bring food or clean hygienic goods to donate to local shelters and pantries. There will also be a blood drive and care-kit-making booths all weekend long.

On Monday, Nov. 13, the Festival of Lights continues with the Annakut celebration, which will include vibrant art displays, lights, and a grand food offering to sacred images at the mandir temple.

From Saturday through Monday, all weekend long, the mandir light and sound shows will be every 30 minutes beginning at 6:30 through 8 p.m.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Los Angeles is located at 15100 Fairfield Ranch Rd. in Chino Hills. For more information and registration, visit bapsladiwali.org.

Los Angeles County

Nov. 10-12: The Pasadena Hindu Temple, located at 676 S. Rosemead Blvd., celebrates Diwali Mahotsav 2023 all weekend long with puja prayers and events. Dhanteras puja prayer begins Friday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. More prayers are sheduled for Sunday, Nov. 12 starting at 4 p.m. A Diwali cultural program will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Monrovia High School, featuring a dinner and cultural performances. Visit thepasadenahindutemple.org for more details.

Nov. 11: The Center for Yoga in Larchmont Village celebrates a Festival of Lights Kirtan and Ecstatic Dance fundraiser to celebrate the start of Diwali. There will be live music, spiritual chanting and dancing. For more information and tickets: centerforyogala.com

Nov. 11: Elevate Lounge celebrates “Bollywood Dhamaka, A Diwali Bollywood Party,” at 811 Wilshire Blvd, 21st floor. Desi attire is recommended. Contact 605-933-9873 for @bihevents on Instagram for more info.

Nov. 11: Free Diwali Mela Block Party at the Greenway Court Theater, 544 North Fairfax Ave, starting at 4:30 p.m. The celebration includes live Bollywood and musical performances, Desi food and drink. KriyaShakti Performing Arts also hosts month-long performances of the new one-act play, “ABCD: American Born Confused Desi,” at the Greenway Court Theater, beginning Saturday.

Nov. 12: Celebrate Deepavali/Diwali at the Art of Living Dome, 948 West Adams Boulevard, in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 12 with lamp-lighting, a guided breathing and meditation session, the puja ritual, Indian cuisine and pani puri stations, a Bollywood flash mob and more. Visit artofliving.org for more info.

Nov. 12: The Awareness Center, 2801 E. Foothill Blvd., in Pasadena celebrates Diwali with different forms of yoga, dance, a puja ceremony and more, beginning at 6 p.m. Registration is $25 registration at awarenesscenteryoga.com/events.

Nov. 12: Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center LA offers an online and in-person Diwali celebration on Sunday, Nov. 12, at its studio at 3741 West 27th Street in Los Angeles. The program begins with a 5:30 p.m. Lakshmi puja prayer, and samosas and chai will be served. Suggested donation is $25. For more info, visit sivanandala.org/program/online-diwali-festival-of-light.

Orange County

Nov. 10: The Orange County Indian Women Diwali meetup will be held at 1 p.m. at Sweet Shade Park, 15 Sweet Shade in Irvine. Children are welcome. The OC South Asian Student Association also celebrates Diwali with a party on Friday, Nov. 10 at the Irvine Great Park poolhouse and veranda, 120 Newington Drive, at 6 p.m.

Nov. 11: The Southern California chapter of Akhil Bhartiya Shree Swami Samarth Gurupeeth organization celebrates Diwali at the Chinmaya Mission of Los Angeles, 14451 Franklin Avenue in Tustin, from 3 to p.m. Join for festivities, food, music and other traditions. To participate and attend, visit bit.ly/absss-diwali.

Nov 17: Join the Desi Indian Youth Association for a Diwali gala dinner fundraiser with a four-course meal, live music and dancing at the Yorba Linda Community Center, 4501 Casa Loma Ave. Tickets are $50. Visit www.diyaca.org for more info.

LOS ANGELES — A former Malibu resident was sentenced Thursday to nearly 16 years in prison for defrauding several people out of more than $3 million with bogus claims he had access to stock shares of Alibaba prior to its initial public offering.

Frank Rosenthal, 48, pleaded guilty in July in downtown Los Angeles to two federal counts of wire fraud.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha ordered restitution of $1.18 million along with the 188-month federal prison sentence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rosenthal admitted making false claims of having inside connections at Goldman Sachs that would provide him with special access to purchase discounted shares of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba before its initial public offering.

The defendant carried out his scheme through a middleman, David Kunkle, by making fraudulent representations and pressuring Kunkle to solicit funds from his relatives and acquaintances for the purportedly lucrative investment opportunity, according to Rosenthal’s plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court.

To lend legitimacy to his fraudulent scheme, Rosenthal negotiated and drafted loan agreements and promissory notes with the victims that promised the victims significant returns on their loans and investments, court papers show.

The DOJ said that after obtaining their money, Rosenthal lulled his victims by, among other ways, falsely stating that Alibaba shares had been purchased and sold. Rosenthal paid his earlier victims with money from later victims’ funds.

Instead of using victims’ funds to purchase shares of Alibaba, Rosenthal used the money to support his lavish lifestyle, which included the $16,000 monthly rent of a Malibu home.

The California Home Act, effective Jan. 1, 2022, paved the way for residential lot splitting (into two lots), allowing up to four separate living units to be built for a maximum of two units on each of the two lots.

In October, Assembly Bill 1033 reinstated ADU sales separate from the primary home. And AB 976 also signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October removed ADU owner-occupancy requirements. These two new laws offer a viable pathway for ADU construction and expansion for homeowners and real estate investors.

Also see: Duplex housing law met with resistance from California cities

“Yes, arguably more housing, more affordable housing allows less expensive properties in more expensive neighborhoods,” said Guy Cecala, executive chair at Inside Mortgage Finance. “There’s a crying need for more housing and more affordable housing,”

“It’s carving up single-family homes. Most people living in those neighborhoods don’t support them,” said Cecala, referring to common NIMBY reactions to new housing development.

If you’re looking to build an ADU from scratch, stick-built construction costs will run $350 to $400 per square foot, according to Mark Lefitz, vice president of business development at EZ Plans, an architect-design firm. “Soft costs (professional fees such as architectural and engineering and city fees) are $12,000 to $15,000.”

Also see: Want to jump on the ‘granny flat’ trend? This company was created to help

So, for example, an 800-square-foot ADU could cost $320,000 to build (or more depending on the interior).

You can also look into factory-manufactured ADUs which are then installed on site.

“Prefabs can be more expensive than stick builds,” said Steve Lefler, a consultant with Tiny House Alliance. “Electrical circuit costs and sewer connection costs are the biggest expenses.

More housing news: The least affordable housing market since 1984 is getting worse

If a homeowner doesn’t want to go to such lengths building an ADU and then selling it, they can opt to split the lot and sell it to a developer.

Matt Lucido, CEO of Yardsworth, has been buying dozens of inner-city lots in Los Angeles. Ideally, he looks for rectangular lots, say 6,000 to 9,000 square feet with small homes already on the property.

His firm provides a $5,000 non-refundable deposit to the lot seller with a six-month escrow period. A long escrow period is needed to square up the lot-split legal entitlements with the city.

Also see: Cash buyers flood US housing market, no-mortgage buys at 10-year high

“The seller makes somewhere between $100,000 and $250,000 for the lot split sale,” said Lucido. “If we can’t get the split done, the seller keeps the deposit.”

While Lucido is working on constructing properties on certain lot splits, none are completed and sold yet. So, it’s hard to know how much money a lot-split home would fetch since these ADU and lot-splitting laws are relatively new.

So, let’s say you do a lot split but keep the primary residence. How does that affect your property taxes?

“The land carries its own base (separate from the structure),” said Claude Parrish, a property assessor for Orange County. “The city building department must approve it.”

Affordability: 7 in 10 Californians say their kids will be worse off

Cities, I should note, have to follow state law. They cannot make arbitrary decisions like declining lot-split requests.

Parrish offered an example of land valued at $100,000 and evenly split 50/50. One parcel would have land assessed at $50,000 and so would the other parcel. The work involved, he said, is “not for the faint of heart.”

The Subdivision Map Act, enacted in 1974, enables cities and counties to administer, control and supervise the development of land, according to Chris Akin, a title operations manager at Lawyers Title.

“The sale of the ADU and corresponding lot split would have to conform to the Subdivision Map Act,” said Akin. “It’s a mini subdivision.”

Lots that are ineligible include those that have improper zoning (they must be zoned as single-family residential), do not meet minimum lot square footage requirements, cannot have been previously split or exist in floodplain (property near water).

Full disclosure: My firm, Mortgage Grader, does business with Lawyers Title.

So now, how to you finance the ADU construction? Well, that comes in many forms.

Examples range from the FHA 203(k) property rehabilitation loan to Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle and Freddie Mac’s CHOICE Renovation. A cash-out refinance of your existing mortgage or a home equity line of credit also can finance the build.

If you have an existing mortgage there could be problems splitting the property lot. Mortgage lenders don’t allow for partial reconveyances, so homeowners will need to clear any mortgage liens at the time of lot sale or lot split.

If you are considering buying a residential home (or building on a property you already own) to build ADUs and do a lot split, the first thing would be to hire a licensed appraiser. He or she can objectively help you to calculate the projected completed value and what rents these mini homes will command.

Next would be hiring a construction cost estimator. You’ll need an expert to figure out if it’s worth the investment.

Lastly, if you are going to hire a contractor, check him or her out thoroughly. The worst client and reader complaints I’ve heard over the years have been about nightmare contractors who did horrible work, some of which had to be redone. Some contractors even took the money and never did the work or just disappeared for days at a time.

Have your attorney review and approve ahead of signing anything.

Freddie Mac rate news

The 30-year fixed rate fell to an average 7.5%, 26 basis points lower than last week. The 15-year fixed rate fell 22 basis points to 7.03% from a week ago.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 2.5% mortgage application increase compared with last week.

Bottom line: Assuming a borrower gets the average 30-year fixed rate on a conforming $726,200 loan, last year’s payment was $207 less than this week’s payment of $5,078.

What I see: Locally, well-qualified borrowers can get the following fixed-rate mortgages with 1 point: A 30-year FHA at 6.625%, a 15-year conventional at 6.5%, a 30-year conventional at 6.99%, a 15-year conventional high balance at 7.375% ($726,201 to $1,089,300), a 30-year high balance conventional at 7.75% and a jumbo 30-year fixed at 7.25%.

Note: The 30-year FHA conforming loan is limited to loans of $644,000 in the Inland Empire and $726,200 in LA and Orange counties.

Eye catcher loan program of the week: A 30-year adjustable, interest-only and fixed for the first five years, rate at 7.5% with 1 point cost.

Jeff Lazerson is a mortgage broker. He can be reached at 949-334-2424 or jlazerson@mortgagegrader.com.

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia will not run for reelection in 2024, the moderate Democrat announced on social media Thursday.

“I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Manchin said in a message posted on social media.

The Democratic Caucus controls the chamber with a narrow 51-49 margin, and Manchin’s decision not to run again in such a deeply red state puts Democrats in a tough spot, as they’ll be defending seats in other competitive states.

Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released a statement minutes after Manchin’s announcement, saying, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

It’s unclear what specifically Manchin will do after leaving Capitol Hill. Earlier this year, he stoked speculation of a third-party presidential campaign, when he spoke at a No Labels forum at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire.

“I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win,” Manchin said at the time in July. “And if I get in a race, I’m going to win.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Smith, the first player to win 100 open beach volleyball tournaments, has been suspended since May 31 and may not participate or attend USA Volleyball sanctioned events, according to USA Volleyball’s suspended list.

The reason for the suspension is listed by USA Volleyball as “U.S. Center for SafeSport administrative hold.”

When asked if the listing of Smith suspension was accurate and what was the reason for the suspension, Liani Reyna, USA Volleyball manager for SafeSport, said: “I have no comment.”

USA Volleyball communications manager B.J. Hoeptner-Evans also declined to comment.

Smith, in a series of telephone interviews and text messages since October 10, said he has “no idea why” he has been suspended by USA Volleyball.

Smith said he was unaware of the suspension until he was informed of it by SCNG more than four months after it went into effect.

“I’m not sure why you are hell bent on trying to mess with me?” Smith said in a text Thursday in response to a question about when he was last a member of USA Volleyball. “I think it is time to stop trying to find a way to tarnish my career. You must have better things to do?”

Smith on October 12 said he spoke with Reyna “who knows nothing.”

Smith said he is no longer a member of USA Volleyball. Nineteen persons on USA Volleyball’s suspended members list have “U.S. Center for SafeSport administrative hold” cited as the rule or code violation for their suspension. All 19 were suspended after their USA Volleyball membership had lapsed.

Smith said he does not remember when he was last a member of USA Volleyball.

“Don’t know,” he said. “Haven’t kept track.”

On Oct. 12, Smith also said he spoke to an official at the U.S. Center for SafeSport after speaking with Reyna. Smith said he did not recall the name of the U.S. Center for SafeSport official he spoke to.

The SafeSport official told Smith “they have no reason to investigate because I am not a USAV member,” Smith wrote in an Oct. 12 text. “She said USAV had no reason to post my name on their suspended list as I am not a member (of USA Volleyball). There is no suspension of non members. If I was trying to become a member, then they could open an investigation. I don’t have a reason to become a member.

“If for some reason there was a serious offense reporter, I am sure I would have heard something from other sources (of course there is not).

“If I decide to become a member of the USAV, I may find out what the issue is but like I said, no reason to do so at this time. Still, my curiosity is peaked!

“The gal at safe sport said there is a range of potential offenses that could be reported including verbal abuse all the way to much worse stuff which I think is listed on their site.”

Smith said the SafeSport official encouraged him to check back with USA Volleyball to see if they would remove his name from the suspended list. More than three weeks ago he said he contacted USA Volleyball again about the suspension. Smith said on Monday he still had not heard back from USA Volleyball.

A U.S. Center for SafeSport spokesman declined to comment on Smith’s status as suspended.

Hoeptner-Evans, USA Volleyball’s communications manager, initially declined to comment on the Smith suspension in early October. On Wednesday SCNG contacted Hoeptner-Evans again detailing Smith’s comments and asking for the reason for the suspension and if the national governing body would confirm that the suspension is still in place. Hoeptner-Evans said she would relay the questions to her bosses at USA Volleyball. In an email Thursday, Hoeptner-Evans wrote, “we do not have a response for your article.”

Smith, 66, has been involved in coaching and putting on clinics since retiring as a player in 2001. He coaches the Sinjin Beach Club, an age-group program based out of Santa Monica, adjacent to the Annenberg Beach House.

“Beach volleyball isn’t just a sport, it’s a lifestyle,” reads the Sinjin Beach Club website. “Our club embodies this by giving our players the tools to compete at the highest level and to have fun while doing so. We achieve this by offering elite coaches and drills that have been tested and proven by King of the Beach, Sinjin Smith. The most important thing to us is growing the sport and bringing it back to what it used to be.”

Smith has also run camps for the past 21 years. This past summer, Sinjin Smith’s Beach Volleyball Camps (BVC) operated camps in nine Los Angeles County communities.

Smith is the third current or former U.S. Olympic volleyball team member to be suspended by USA Volleyball in recent years.

Scott Touzinsky, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with the United States volleyball team, was suspended by USA Volleyball in July 2018 in response to allegations of sexual misconduct involving an underage female athlete at a camp or clinic in Canada, according to U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Volleyball documents obtained by the Southern California News Group.  

Beach player Taylor Crabb was suspended by USA Volleyball in 2017 for misconduct involving a minor-aged girl, according to USA Volleyball documents obtained by SCNG. USA Volleyball’s board of directors voted unanimously in May 2019 to extend the suspension through Sept. 28, 2021, after Crabb breached a settlement agreement for the first suspension by coaching at a camp for junior girls.

The decision was made with the clear realization that it would prevent Crabb from competing in the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020. An arbitrator later reduced Crabb’s suspension, clearing the way for him to compete in the 2021 Olympic Games. Crabb, however, missed the Tokyo Games after contracting COVID just days before the Olympics. He most recently teamed with Taylor Sander to win his first Manhattan Beach Open on Aug. 20.

Smith, a 1996 Olympian, led UCLA to NCAA titles in 1978 and 1979 and was a member of the U.S national team indoors from 1979 to 1982 before focusing on the beach game.

Smith won AVP International titles in parts of three decades. He was so dominant that the International Volleyball Hall of Fame called him the “King of the Beach” when he was inducted into the hall in 2003.

Smith even inspired an Electronic Arts video game fittingly called “King of the Beach.”

Smith was also influential off the beach, playing a leading role in the creation of the AVP, eventually serving as president and on the board of directors for the group. He was also a driving force behind the creation FIVB World Tour. Smith also served as president of the Beach Volleyball World Council.

SAN FRANCISCO — The man accused of bludgeoning former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer was caught up in conspiracies when he broke into her San Francisco home last year, his defense attorney said at his trial opened Thursday.

The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, sent shockwaves through the political world just days before last year’s midterm elections.

Defense attorney Jodi Linker said Thursday she won’t dispute that her client David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi, an encounter caught on police body camera video. Instead, she will argue that he believed “with every ounce of his body” that he was taking action to stop corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors.

“This is not a ‘whodunit.’ But what the government fails to acknowledge is the ‘whydunit,’ and the why matters in this case,” she said.

DePape pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official with intent to retaliate against the official for performance of their duties. Paul Pelosi is expected to testify next week.

Federal prosecutor Laura Vartain Horn told jurors that DePape started planning the attack in August and that the evidence and FBI testimony will show he researched his targets online, collecting phone numbers and addresses, even paying for a public records service to find information about Nancy Pelosi and others.

During her opening statement, Vartain Horn showed a photo of Paul Pelosi lying in a pool of blood. She also played a call DePape made to a television station repeating conspiracy theories.

“The evidence in this case is going show that when the defendant used this hammer to break into the Pelosi’s home he intended to kidnap Nancy Pelosi,” Vartain Horn said, holding a hammer inside a plastic evidence bag.

DePape posted rants on a blog and an online forum about aliens, communists, religious minorities, and global elites. He questioned the results of the 2020 election and echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles. The websites were taken down shortly after his arrest.

If convicted, DePape faces life in prison. He was also charged in state court with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies. He pleaded not guilty to those charges. A state trial has not been scheduled.

In the courtroom Thursday were Christine Pelosi, one of the Pelosis’ daughters, as well as Gypsy Taub, DePape’s ex-girlfriend, and Taub’s and DePape’s two teenage sons. Taub called DePape’s name softly and blew a kiss, and he smiled and waved in return.

A Canadian citizen, DePape moved to the United States more than 20 years ago after falling in love with Taub, a Berkeley pro-nudity activist well-known in the Bay Area, his stepfather, Gene DePape said. In recent years, David DePape had been homeless and struggling with drug abuse and mental illness, Taub told local media.

Federal prosecutors say DePape smashed his shoulder through a glass panel on a door in the back of the Pelosis’ Pacific Heights mansion and confronted a sleeping Paul Pelosi, who was wearing boxer shorts and a pajama top.

“Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?” DePape asked, standing over Paul Pelosi around 2 a.m. holding a hammer and zip ties, according to court records. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington and under the protection of her security detail, which does not extend to family members.

Paul Pelosi called 911 and two police officers showed up and witnessed DePape strike Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer, knocking him unconscious, court records showed.

Nancy Pelosi’s husband of 60 years later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands.

After his arrest, DePape, 43, allegedly told a San Francisco detective that he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage. He said that if she told him the truth, he would let her go and if she lied, he was going to “break her kneecaps” to show other members of Congress there were “consequences to actions,” according to prosecutors.

DePape, who lived in a garage in the Bay Area city of Richmond and had been doing odd carpentry jobs to support himself, allegedly told authorities he had other targets, including a women’s and queer studies professor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

One of those targets is included in the defense’s short witness list, though their name has been redacted. Other possible witnesses are DePape, Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff, Daniel Bernal, extremism and antisemitism researcher Elizabeth Yates, and federal public defender Catherine Goulet.

The prosecution’s list of potential witnesses contains 15 names, including the surgeon who operated on Paul Pelosi, federal agents, San Francisco police officers and several first responders.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled last month that the jury can see footage that shows Paul Pelosi struggling to breathe and the police officers trying to stop the bleeding.