Today is Wednesday, June 17, the 168th day of 2026. There are 197 days left in the year. On June 17, 1994, after leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Author Amy Griffin sued a former classmate for defamation on Monday, saying the woman’s statements in a New York Times story and a subsequent lawsuit alleging Griffin appropriated her stories of sexual abuse for her bestselling 2025 memoir “The Tell” are false in “every element.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) – After a shaky first term framed by a devastating wildfire and an ongoing struggle with widespread homelessness, Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is looking for a return trip to city hall Tuesday while facing challenges from both ends of the political spectrum.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A lightsaber with Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from “The Empire Strikes Back” that is expected to sell for seven figures headlines an upcoming auction of valuables from movies, music and other corners of pop culture.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) – For decades, a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert has been a hotbed of some of the most innovative flight research in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The B-52 that crashed during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California was in the air a very short time before slamming into the ground about halfway down the runway.

SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and longtime political rival of Republican President Donald Trump, said Monday the president had ordered the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) – A B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff Monday morning at a U.S. Air Force base in California’s Mojave Desert, officials said.