JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 884

Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 101-73 Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, clinching home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs; earlier this week the Lakers also beat the Golden State Warriors 119-103 Thursday at Chase Center. Both games were played with multiple regular-season absences reported for opposing teams.

Los Angeles' victory on Friday featured LeBron James finishing with 28 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, and secured at least the No. 4 seed; News.az reported the Lakers at 52-29, trailing the Denver Nuggets by one game but holding the tiebreaker with one regular-season game remaining. Teams now prepare for final seeding scenarios this weekend.

Green Bay — High school baseball posted multiple decisive results Thursday, April 9, as De Pere routed Green Bay Southwest 25-0 and Sheboygan South defeated Green Bay East/West 11-0; De Pere scored in every inning, finished with 11 hits, and Charles Buysse threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout while several hitters recorded multi-run games.

Oxford and other regional venues also produced notable outcomes this week: Ohio split a Wednesday doubleheader with Miami, winning the first game 13-8 and losing the second 8-5, with senior Shelby Westler compiling five hits and 12 RBI across the day; Peotone’s Sophie Klawitter struck out 16 and threw a no-hitter in a Thursday victory, reflecting strong individual and team performances.

Dallas saw Jason Robertson score the decisive goal Thursday at American Airlines Center, lifting the Stars to a 5-4 comeback win over the Minnesota Wild and ending the Wild's April unbeaten run in a high-intensity game that featured multiple lead changes and physical play.

The Stars' victory moved them four points ahead in the Central Division with three regular-season games remaining and likely secured home-ice advantage for the opening games of their upcoming first-round series; Wild players and coaches acknowledged the setback and their reduced margin for error this week.

Salt Lake City. The Utah Mammoth beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 Thursday at Delta Center, with Dylan Guenther scoring his 39th goal and Clayton Keller adding three assists; less than an hour later the Anaheim Ducks' 6-1 win over the San Jose Sharks clinched Utah's first NHL playoff berth in its second season.

The Mammoth now sit in the first Western Conference wild-card spot with 90 points and a six-point lead over Nashville; the team announced first-round single-game tickets will go on sale Friday, April 10, with a 9:30 a.m. presale for app users and a 10 a.m. general sale.

Porterville, California — Detective Randy Hoppert of the Tulare County Sheriff's Office was shot while deputies served an eviction notice Thursday morning and later died at Sierra View Medical Center after a tactical rescue.

Officials say the shooting triggered an hourslong standoff; by about 6 p.m. the suspect left the home, continued firing, and was killed after an armored vehicle ran over him, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said.

Washington — On April 9–10, US President Donald Trump used Truth Social to sharply attack several conservative commentators, naming Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, after they publicly criticized US operations related to Iran, calling them 'nut jobs' and accusing them of seeking publicity.

The posts intensified a public split within Trump’s support base this week, reviving past feuds and drawing media attention to potential political consequences; outlets reported critics accused Trump of abandoning anti-war promises and suggested the rift could affect Republican cohesion ahead of November midterm elections.

Washington — The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday proposed raising first-class stamp prices from 78 cents to 82 cents, a 4.8 percent increase set to take effect July 12 pending Postal Regulatory Commission approval. The agency announced the proposal April 9 amid warnings it could exhaust cash as soon as February and reports of sustained net losses.

Sioux Falls and national lawmakers responded this week with oversight actions: Senator Mike Rounds requested an Office of Inspector General visit to review slow mail delivery, and Rep. Dusty Johnson recently toured a processing center. The Postal Regulatory Commission approved a temporary 8 percent surcharge for priority mail effective April 26 and accepted a plan to suspend employer pension contributions starting April 10.

WOODLAND, Calif. — A Yolo County grand jury this week returned indictments and authorities arrested multiple people tied to a July 1 fireworks warehouse explosion near Esparto that killed seven and injured two. Prosecutors allege illegal storage of more than one million pounds of pyrotechnics and have named several defendants, including a former sheriff’s lieutenant.

The arrests came Friday and included a fireworks company CEO taken into custody in Florida and held pending extradition; prosecutors say eight defendants face about 30 charges with five charged with murder. The DA’s office scheduled a news conference this week and court proceedings, extradition actions and prosecutions are expected to follow within days to weeks.

NEWARK, N.J. The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth Thursday with a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center, securing their first postseason appearance since 2022; Egor Chinakhov recorded three points while Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson added multi-point performances.

Pittsburgh sits second in the Metropolitan Division and will likely face the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets or New York Islanders in the first round; Stuart Skinner, who returned to practice Tuesday after an eye injury, made 19 saves and Bryan Rust scored his 29th goal of the season.

Buffalo, N.Y.: Rookie Colten Ellis recorded his first NHL shutout, stopping 37 shots as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-0 on Thursday night; Josh Doan scored twice while Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin also tallied.

The win brought Buffalo to 49 victories and preserved its Atlantic Division lead with a week left in the regular season; Columbus dropped to a 1-6-1 stretch in eight games, sits ninth in the East, and has two games remaining.